Little Susie Homebreakertag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-14921322008-04-02T09:40:13-07:00Good Cooking, Fine Sewing, and the Leisure HoursTypePadParis Kitchenettetag:typepad.com,2003:post-478701282008-04-02T09:40:13-07:002008-04-02T09:40:13-07:00The best meals I ate in Paris last week— and later, south in the Languedoc region— were the ones I prepared in our own kitchen, and ate at home. I didn't plan it that way, and it's no criticism of French restaurants, but it was a revelation. It started because of jet lag. My lover and I were hungry, and awake, when we arrived, late, in the city. We were staying at a friend's apartment who lives around the corner from one of the original cobblestone roads to Rome, Rue Mouffetard, where there are several farmer's market stalls, and plentiful...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2008/04/paris-kit.htmlMy Teeny Tiny Tasty Super Bowl Partytag:typepad.com,2003:post-415658422008-01-18T13:31:00-08:002008-01-18T13:31:00-08:00Let me introduce you to one of the NFL's most surprising fans: me. I barely know the rules of the game, but I am a total sucker for anything political, poignant, or scandalous about big league sports. This year I'll be cheering Eli Manning and the Giants— and the special note to my teeny tiny Super Bowl party, as usual, will be the food. I know how to make a chili for people who hate chili. —A chili for vegetarians that the meat-lovers will demand for seconds. —A chili you can make in minutes but will make everything believe you...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2008/01/my-teeny-tiny-t.htmlKeep Your Shears in My Hearttag:typepad.com,2003:post-415672922007-12-26T14:00:00-08:002007-12-26T14:00:00-08:00Jonny made a Fimo heart for me to stash my beloved shears. You're in My Heart is carved on the left ventricle. I just wrote about the importance of a good blade in my sewing column for a recent edition of Craft magazine. But back to love. For today's theme, I thought of the song that was playing the first time I made love to someone who knew what they were doing. Did I know what I was doing? No. But this really helped: Photo: Honey Lee Cottrell.Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/12/keep-your-shear.htmlThe League of Amazing Latkestag:typepad.com,2003:post-415660522007-12-21T13:35:00-08:002007-12-21T13:35:00-08:00I dream about potato pancakes. There aren't enough Hanukkah parties to sate my appetite; I always want more. I used to cry like a spoiled brat because even though I have the perfect recipe— and I do mean "the best latke you've ever tasted"— my routine took a couple hours of numbing handwork to prepare, and ruined any possibility of a quick fix. I don't like squeezing water out of potato gratings in cheesecloth scraps until my arms fall off. I don't care to spend all day grating a mountain of potatoes plus part of my knuckles. Yet nothing but...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/12/the-league-of-a.htmlPatternholic Purges Her Stashtag:typepad.com,2003:post-425868242007-12-08T11:46:59-08:002007-12-08T11:46:59-08:00I can't take it anymore. I"ved got too many patterns, and they're all staring at me and MOCKING me for letting them collect dust. I almost threw them in the recycling bin, but that seemed like a crime. Nearly all of these patterns have never been opened or used. Most are out of print. Would you like a bunch of practically perfect patterns, Missy? I'll take your humble dollars and go buy some needles and bobbins, which I really DO need some more of. The thing that got me in trouble was two-fold. A couple of old-fashioned sewing stores in...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/12/patternholic-pu.htmlEggnog to Die Fortag:typepad.com,2003:post-415665042007-12-06T13:45:00-08:002007-12-06T13:45:00-08:00Homemade Eggnog. The very words incite delirium. I only make eggnog once a year, for a big party at Yuletide. The word orgy comes to mind. I've never seen so many people's eyes roll back in their heads, simultaneously. You want the recipe? You shall have it. It's not hard, just a bit time-consuming. You have to break a lot of eggs. And you will be spoiled. That supermarket eggnog is going to taste like Elmer's Glue after this. My recipe is adapted from the first cookbook I ever bought with my own money when I was 16: The Vegetarian...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/12/eggnog-to-die-f.htmlRe-Inventing the Oniontag:typepad.com,2003:post-415653342007-11-23T01:19:00-08:002007-11-23T01:19:00-08:00One odd thing about belonging to a farm share, or a "veggie scheme," is that sometimes you end up with a surplus of a seasonal item that you cannot seem to eat quickly enough. I've had a couple of "red cabbage tantrums" that won't soon be forgotten. This summer, the bountiful crop in my refrigerator has been the onion. I've amassed purplette cocktail onions, gold cippolines, blanco di maggio, Italian roasting onions, scallions, leeks, and Stockton Reds. They are more than a simple martini and tomato sandwich could tear through. I decided to make onion soup, and destroy three or...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/11/re-inventing-th.htmlMom's Baked Apples with the Marshmallow Buttplugtag:typepad.com,2003:post-418645462007-11-22T07:12:13-08:002007-11-22T07:12:13-08:00There's something about a cold snap that begs for baked apples. Baked apples with ice cream, pecans, brown sugar... and gooey, toasted marshmallow melting on your tongue. Go ahead, tell me how bad you want it! When my friend Steve Harsin visited me this fall to help catalog my dad's library, he shared his mother's baked apple recipe with me, which involved plugging the cored fruit with a marshmallow, before you pop it in the oven. It's a brilliant improvisation on the old Betty Crocker standby. I stuffed the apples with a flourish. "It's like a marshmallow buttplug!" Steve said:...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/11/moms-baked-appl.htmlIf You Want to End War and Stuff You Got to Sing Loudtag:typepad.com,2003:post-418795422007-11-22T06:55:00-08:002007-11-22T06:55:00-08:00Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song "Alice's Restaurant." You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant Walk right in, it's around the back Just a half a mile from the railroad track You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on- two years ago on...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/11/if-you-want-to.htmlIf I Could Have Stuffing Every Daytag:typepad.com,2003:post-415666682007-11-21T13:49:00-08:002007-11-21T13:49:00-08:00Why do we only eat stuffing once a year? Everyone says it's their favorite part of Thanksgiving, and yet we starve ourselves. It's bread pudding, and that gives you a clue right there. I love bread. I love pudding. Pour on the butter and let's have a party. I make two stuffings, one traditional and one for the vegetarians, although that's a bit of a joke because the carnivores eat all the veggie dressing too. I used to buy loaves of bread and dry them out before cutting them into cubes by hand, but I decided that is not where...Susie Brighthttp://susiebright.blogs.com/susiehomebreaker/2007/11/if-i-could-have.html