Reading the Comments

[ricevermicelli]

Slate reviewed a bunch of ice cream books this week, including my favorite. I happen to agree with the review, although I can see plenty of ways you could disagree if you wanted. You could like a different ice cream book better, or think that the focus on strawberry ice cream was misplaced, or, hey, pick your point. It's a big universe, the interesting part is that all of the people are different. What boggles me is the number of comments that take issue with the existence of ice cream books. Or the existence of books. Or the existence of home cooking. It is one thing to disagree with a writer about how she forms her opinions, it's entirely another to slouch in and ask why alla youse degenerates are wasting your time when you can buy food in stores.

I know you can buy food in stores. I am the only person I know who has ever had a nutritionist change tacks in mid-session and start advising her against doing so much cooking, which makes me think that my ratio of purchased prepared vs. self-prepared food is kind of unusual (although it's probably slightly low among people who read this LJ), but I do know that food, at various stages of ready to consume, can be had for mere money. I had noticed that even before the nutritionist brought it up. Nonetheless, I am not in a position to look down my nose and question whether anyone needs a whole book dedicated to ice cream. I paid good money for just such a book, and I have not been sorry. My cookbook collection includes several entire books that might be considered frivolous, including two constructed around a central theme of Paris, an additional few that broaden the concept out as far as France, several focused on Italy, and two more that looked at that "Paris" thing and decided it was indefensibly broad, so they narrowed it down to macarons. I have bought cookbooks because I liked the restaurants they were sold in (which is why my copy of Flour has errata hand-corrected by Joanne Chang).

I am, in short, in no position to entertain quibbles about whether it's worthwhile to invest in cookbooks, even very specific ones.

I feel a little guilty lately, because people are cooking for us. They're delivering food today, just in time for me to sleep all weekend. If this chemotherapy cycle goes like the last one, it goes kind of like this: one day of infusion, two days of sleep, two days of climbing the walls in the hospital (I hope not), return home and COOK for four days, get miserably hungry and mood-swingy on the weekend, wrestle with steroid side-effects, go get infused again.

Steroid side effects can include manic episodes, which explains the bit last weekend when I made cornbread in order to make croutons for salad, and tried two different ways to roast chicken or parts thereof. That also explains Wednesday, when I made ice cream, and then, because I was having a craving for Rocky Road, also made marshmallows. Fortunately, the high didn't drop me until the kitchen was reasonably clean, but I know I was irrational because I stopped before I made the caramel.

Three of these cycles to go, guys. Thanks for the food, because I really will sleep all weekend.

Comments

[zathrus.livejournal.com]

That is boggling. You might as well ask why people knit, when you can buy perfectly good sweaters in stores. (Oh, wait, some people probably do ask that.... I recently had a little girl discover the end of the yarn in the middle of a yarn ball and ask me what it was doing there and where the ball had gone. Boggle.) I have a long shelf overflowing with (and bending under....) cookbooks, and yet I just added your favorite ice cream cookbook to my Christmas wish list. (At Christmastime, ice cream will probably not be quite as appealing as it is right now. This is good; it might allow me to get through the initial thrill of owning such a cookbook without gaining a million pounds.) I have no idea where I'm going to store it, but whatever; some books defend their own existence quite sufficiently.

Newt

[ericakeithley.livejournal.com]

It's funny that you just posted this, because I just posted my manifesto on why I like rotisserie chickens. After reading your post I had many random thoughts that I should wait and construct into a coherernt whole, but, hey, it's nap time, I have tons to get done before they get up, and I'm afraid that I'd tear my hear if I actually read the comments on Slate. Here are a few ideas:

1. How do you roast your chickens? I consider myself a self-prepare rather than a purchase-prepared consumer, but I just went on and on about a purchased-prepared food. I could actually be starting with a raw bird like you. Please tell me that it is inexpensive and easy or fun, because otherwise I'll just have to accept my new persona as a lame cook.

2. Again, didn't read the review of ice cream cookbooks, but I really hope that they mentioned the Ben and Jerry's book, because Robbbbbb uses it as a Bible, and really it is that good.

3. This post and mine and a recent one of notoriousphd's posts reminds me that some many people don't cook as much as we do. Which is sad, since I really enjoy cooking. I mean, obviously the tasty and mostly healthy food I generate is the primary goal, but I happen to thing that cooking is fun, and, like most afficionados, I wonder why other people don't realize this!

4. Good luck with the chemo. Wish we could bring some food. Although, clearly not a rotisserie chicken. :)

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

These days, my preferred method for roasting chicken is very loosely adapted from the Zuni Cafe recipe on Smittenkitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/12/10/zuni-cafe-roast-chicken-bread-salad/): Start with two chickens, 5 lbs or under, and a bunch of thyme. Pat the chickens dry with paper towels, inside and out. Slip sprigs of thyme under the skin on the breast going as far back towards the legs as you can get them, as many as you can fit before you get bored and think it looks like there's enough. Put both chickens in a 9x13 Pyrex roasting pan (no reason why pyrex, that's just what I've got). Coat them with an appalling quantity of kosher salt (do NOT substitute table salt, it's not the same), and let them sit in the fridge overnight. Don't cover them if you can help it - you'd sort of prefer them to dry a little.

Next day, take the roasting pan out of the fridge, and let it come towards room temp while you heat the oven to 350. Cook the chickens, basting every 30 minutes, until done, as judged by little pop up timer things or a meat thermometer (I aim for 180). Remove chickens from pan to serving platter, and skim some of the fat off the pan juice, which you can hand around at the table. It's very salty, but (IMO) really good. The bread salad recipe up there is also really good. Fussy, but awesome. I make it a lot less often then I roast chicken, but it disappears in a hurry when I do.

The overnight thing is optional but I think the results are good enough that it's usually worth it. On the other hand, sometimes you need to cook tonight's dinner and not tomorrow's, and the results if you just put the chickens straight in the oven certainly aren't bad.

If you have a source of good, reasonably priced rotisserie chicken, you're not lame for taking advantage. If I had that locally, I'd take advantage. Sometimes I try to take advantage even though I don't really have that. Sometimes, there are really good reasons to go with prepared food. It would be awful, for example, if I let my preference for my own cooking keep us from ever picking up some stuff at the grocery store to have dinner at the beach.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

that sounds delightful as a chicken thing. i've taken note to self, of sorts...

soon, i shall have a nice "kitchen space" almsot as large as my current "living area". gods. i can't wait.

knowing many professional cooks, famous, accredited, otherwise, my dad, ... well, i have ideas. aspirations. but really, i dunno! we'll see.

cooking good things is nice. sometimes, you just wish food were ready. it's a rare rare rare thing the last couple decades, when someone makes food for ME outside of a 'raunt. perhaps i aspire to make food for others. one day.

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[mizarchivist]

IF what I had sent over (the rice/spinach/turkey etc) thing is worth a second round and IF it's good, but... please feel free to pass on the critique via email or our food liaison-goddess. I harbor no ego on this, so don't hesitate. Generally I do brown rice, but asciikitty chose speed over all, so white it was.
I eat it with the hummus and preferably wrapped in a pita or something, but that's me. YMMV.

Also, I did take your advice and let go The Pirate King. I'm going to go with John Green's Paper Towns instead, as Ready Player One's dystopian future is too much for me this month.

[(Anonymous)]

"What boggles me is the number of comments that take issue..."
I wouldn't have expected ice cream to start a fuss, but I guess \anything/ on the net will bring out a certain fraction of the ... overstressed ...; I remember how-dare-you-creeb-when-there-are-people-dying-in-Africa comments when Making Light was discussing the Columbia re-entry breakup.

/CHip

[drwex]

I have this generic belief that the comments threads on most any public posting anywhere are somewhere between wading in a toxic waste pond and spear-fishing in a fast-moving stream.