:)

"Lucille" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

You have that right, I was going to suggest you should be embarrassed that you polished it so much, not that they were from 1958 !!

I dunno, what was it happened to your kitchen cabinets ???

Sounds like fun. It was amazing to me when the SIL got the knives I'd been looking at. They fit my hands really well. When working in France, before the vogue hit here - I bought some lovely Laguiole knives. Everyone in town had their own - seems the tradition was for each member of the family to have a Laguiole, plus a set of the non-folding ones for when guests came. So, each person had their knive, and it came to the table with them. I bought a really nice set with beautiful wood handles, and the traditional carved spine - with a little bee on them - and fortunately I got them back after the travelled to the XDH (who stole my good "rocks" glasses, handmade native American rugs, my mug collection from the UK, and half my Calphalon). But, I have those 2 knives. Ended up buying the carving set for a couple of people as wedding gifts - and I know they still use them. Laguiole isn't very far from where I lived/worked - so the then beau (French guy) would get a kick out of going with me to some little town, with a bunch of places to look at the knives made by the artisans. Of course, this DH thinks it'a a bit quirky when I want to use the knives - after all - they're like dress-up jack-knives. But, gorgeous, and nice to use.

For the curious - this page shows the locking ones - I have one with the corkscrew - locally referred to as a Shepherd's knive, and one without. They come in a size selection - mine might be a "ladies" .

You asked for it...you got it!

Cranberry Cake with hot butter sauce

2 T. butter 1 c. sugar Beat together then add 1 tsp. vanilla 2 c. flour 3 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt Add dry ingredients alternately with 1 c. milk

Fold in 2 c. raw, whole cranberries.

Pour into greased & floured 8x8 pan. Bake at 350.

Hot butter sauce

1/2 c. butter, melted 1 c. sugar 1/2 c. cream Simmer 3-4 minutes. Add 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour warm butter sauce over individual pieces of the cake.

The cake is not sweet and, of course, the cranberries make it tart, so you really need the sauce over it. MMMMmmmmm!

Joan

Funny how a bunch of us from all over would know about some restaurant like this. I was out with Donna a couple of weeks ago, and we were discussing NH, and then Kittery, and then I was telling her about the restaurant we'd eat at in the center island of Rt 1 in Hampton, and this place - with all the connected rooms, etc in Kittery. Immediately she piped up "the Quarterdeck" - as the bell went off in my head.

There's not much of anything in Amesbury which is why we stayed in Hampton Falls (though not on the beachfront - found a great modern place more in town or the "historic" place right in town. And spent a lot of time going to Portsmouth, Kittery, even up to Freeport. The historic place - at least their pub would be open pretty late and they made some mean hot chocolate plus drinks! I just cannot remember the name of the place - it had been restored a few times it seemed, and had a nice restaurant and pub. We stayed there when the boss came up, or for the briefer trips. I can remember it being in town, by a crossroads - across from a hardware store. Down the street from Lamies.

Ah, well.

ellice

"Joan E." ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

I notice how you stress 'need' in the sauce lol - Many thanks.

I think I know the place you mean, it's not far from the exit on the I95 that takes you off, then runs along the road left, to Freeport proper. I will go just about anywhere for clams and squid, but will judge a place by how they handle squid.

When I tried to cook using the cabinet, it got very messy so I went back to using the pot and polishing the bottom.

My friend just blew the horn and is sitting on the driveway waiting for me so there's no point in throwing anything--it'll only bounce back and make a mess for you.

Lucille

Whoa, did you say Under Armour? It's been a while since I trekked out there, and didn't realize they had one. The boys generally use Under Armour shirts for dance, and I refuse to pay full price for them. Do they have good discounts in the Under Armour store?

Best wishes, Ericka

DH calls my Le Creuset the Magic Pot because of all the good things that come out of it. Between that and my cast iron frying pan, I do have good bicep muscles underneath the flab.

Donna in Virginia

Just make sure you check your prices elsewhere before you go. Two years ago at Christmas we found the best deal at Amazon - my big 5 1/2 qt pot plus a free pasta pot for $125. I don't see any deals quite that good right now at Amazon, but I know what I've seen at Le Creuset outlet isn't always the lowest price.

Donna in Virginia

Good criteria. I'm more of a clams person myself. And oysters. After vacation one year at the beach in Brittany, we went to Cancale a couple of times, and walked out in the famous oyster beds - got one of the oyster farmers to feed us fresh oysters right then. Amazingly yummy - and I'm really careful with shellfish, but. Don't know if I hadn't been with the French guy the treatment would've been the same, but it worked then.

ellice

I did say Underarmour. We use it for hockey stuff, and DH has some great soccer shorts that he uses for softball as well. The discounts are really good on the "last year's" style. All the hockey pro shops carry it - and we can get a decent discount generally from them.

Just LMK when you're heading this way for a visit! I'm sure Donna (speaking for her out of turn) and I can hook up.

ellice

About three years back I had a heck of a deal! 5 pieces of Le Creuset, and they threw in an extra baking dish for free. I think the whole lot was about $150. they counted the lids of the pots as a piece, so I got the 4 1/5 qt oval, the 2 qt round Dutch ovens, a largish oval baking dish, and the free smaller rectangular one.

Gill

As you might imagine, it certainly won't be until Nutcracker is wrapped up (speaking of, the boys might be interviewed on the news about Nut--I'll let you know when & if we end up being able to do it). After that, though, might be worth the trip. It's easy to find fun gifts for girl dancers. They seem to require a million and one assorted cute accessories, but the boys are very bare bones, especially at this age. Nice shirts, shorts, and socks are about all they want or need. (Well, and dance shoes, but those are pretty utilitarian. Maybe one of these days I'll spring for the dance sneakers, but it's hard to get excited about paying for those when their feet are growing so fast that they'll be out of them in no time and they can't wear them to class anyway.) Anyway, I'll see what I can do about getting away for a shopping run. Gotta be able to ditch the kids, because I just refuse to do the outlet mall with them, especially anytime near the holidays.

Best wishes, Ericka

Love, love, love the Wusthof knives. My mom bought some Germany in the late 1970s when Dad was stationed over there. And her knives are still going strong, including the 4" pairing knife that she gave me, as it doesn't fit her hand but does mine. I have now managed to acquire my own set, and like you, love the smaller Chef's knife!

--Mickey Edmonton, AB

to reply: mickey18385 at yahoo dot com

I've been lusting after the Le Creuset pieces for a while now... What do y'all use these for? Since DH and I are mostly "vegetarian" (I don't eat anything that has knees... and lobster have *joints*), we don't do a lot a casserole cooking, though we will make vegetable gratins on occasion. I just don't want to spend the money on something that I won't use.

Yup. That's what DH and I did. I wanted the Calphalon pro pans, but saw no need to get the entire set right away. A couple of sauce pans, and a saute pan really encompass 90% of our cooking. So, we just registered for a few separate pieces, which allowed folks some flexibility in how much they spent on gifts. Since getting married, we've acquired more specialized pieces here and there. I didn't think I'd like the paninni pan/griddle nearly as much as I do. LOL.

--Mickey Edmonton, AB

to reply: mickey18385 at yahoo dot com

It is huge, but for cutting larger veggies (think turnips) it is the best thing in the world.

Cheryl

UNDER ARMOUR - sign me UP!!!! DS needs 2-3 more and DD could use another.

Erika - do you have a Marshall's or TJ Maxx near you? IF SO, I found DD a men's medium shirt that we think might really be more like a boys size.

Cheryl

I do. Was it really small? My boys are 9 and 11 and they're beanpoles. They're supposed to dance in tops that are near skin-tight. I usually have to get youth smalls or mediums to get them snug enough.

Best wishes, Ericka