The dinner went off very well. Everyone seemed to have a great time. The dining rooms were all very loud We had three rooms full of people to serve and 4 hearth fires (for the coals needed to cook at the main hearth) going so we were running around quite a bit. We had enough food for everyone with just a small amount left over on the meat. I was told one fellow went up for 2nds and 3rds for the Indian Pudding and vanilla ice cream!:) There was a young girl with a violin playing while the guests had their dinner and a soldier and traveler that stopped by and sat with the guests in each room. I stayed mostly in the back modern kitchen and barn keeping things warm in the ovens and watching the coal fires, washing dishes that could not go into the dishwasher. Wayne was out front more than I helping at the hearth and carving the roast. We only had one accident. There was a realitivly new person tending the hearth cooking. The cod cakes were cooked in a cast iron pan. She would put the hot pan on the table for me to take the cakes out and plate and serve. The cloth on the handle of the cast iron flatpan fell off. She, not even thinking grabbed the hot handle and burned her hand. Not badly, but enough to give out a yell. She was a trooper though and continued on through out the night cooking. Her hand was a bit red still at the end of the night but she said it was ok. I do have some pictures but have not downloaded them yet. Hope to have them shortly. It was a busy, tiring night but also lots of fun. We may volunteer in April again. NancyLouise

Fairway had nice squid last weekend. My NewEngland scallops are from another market. I wanted frozen seafood so i can use it throughout the week. Fairway has a nice white balsamic, very thick almost like honey. We had the cod salad for lunch yesterday over baby arugula and the Kumatoes with just a thin stream of the balsamic. I've salted cod many ways. A quick salting using fresh cod is kosher salt, a 1/4 cup for 2-3 hours in glass in the fridge. It will draw a bit of water and make a slurry rather quickly. Rinse and soak in milk or yogurt milk, (non-fat plain yogurt mixed with water), over night. Most of my cod this season was in salt for 3-4 days in a slurry created by the salt and water it extracted. I then rinsed and soaked in water 24 hours, portioned and frozen. -Soaking in milk again before using. Not a full 'salt' cod that has been air dried. Does not have the 'fishy' deep flavor of a dry salt that i love but the quality does make a difference in a true dry salt fish. Lots of rinsing and a final bath of milk/yogurt helps. A thick fillet from a large watery fish like cod does benefit from a dry salt brine if only an hour. A good chef or fish-n-chip joint will do just that to extract some surface water before cooking. Similar reasoning to dry brining meats. Though much less time is needed. I'm making the shrimp/salmon this morning. Adding a few scallops. It will be ready this afternoon with just a few hours in marinade, best left overnight, but need to keep the fork out as it is really for tomorrow...a bit seafood overkill having Bouillabaisse tonight.

Things are changing hourly, lol. Good thing we are in a festive mood. Our boiler stopped working, scratched our heads about that mysterious 'boiler' room downstairs and the temp seemed sorta fine. Turns out we have two...one for upstairs and one for down. Rarely use the downstairs heat as it is half in soil built into a hill and keeps a nice 65. DH was fussing down there and cranked the heat... Called a # on the unit and the owner of the company stopped by in an hour and changed the thermostat. (when does that ever happen!?) Turns out he installed the originals and was full of stories about the neighborhood and our original owners...and yes, we need a new boiler and it is ordered...MerryChristmas, yikes. $ Had to postpone our trip by a couple days...travel xmas morn. Menu is still the same. Pork butt is in the oven on low and slow for tamales. Ground all my spice mixes. Making 3 mustards. Toasting croutons for the oyster stew that is now going to be a seafood stew Saturday. Soaking salt cod for cakes. Managed our shopping trip after the boiler was semi-fixed. Near a re-peat of the Thanksgiving shopping...one of everything for a mixed veg roast with the turkey. Crazy crowded but they had all lanes open for quick check-out. Jolly crowd and seems good moods are all around. Scrapped Costco and Rockland Bakery as the traffic was unusual for 2pm and it has been gray and raining for two days. Can live without any of that. Guessing it is gift shopping and kids are off school tomorrow so mom's are doing the last minute things. Always amazed what little it costs for feeding 6-8 for 5 days when so much of it is harvest garden goods. Food, meals and cooking is always my gift so no other shopping is needed and the type of shopping i don't like is gifting and wrapping. Need a substitute for file/sassafras. DH has everything for an oyster/andouille gumbo he is insisting on making...thought i had some deep in the cupboard. (but it would have been 20yrs old) If this was colder temps we would be deep in snow right now. Wow is it raining non-stop....

How do you get salt inside a baked potato? Or do you eat them without salt? I sometimes eat potatoes without salt, and the same for squash and corn. I find that salt on these (and a few other vegetables) detracts from the natural sweetness of the vegetable. I do not consider it a flavor enhancer. I like to add herbs at the end (such as parsley and basil) or else the flavor gets cooked out. I also often cut the salt in a new recipe in half, as I find that most people like more salt than I do. I pretty much never add salt at the table, but I will add pepper. The flavor of pepper changes when it is cooked, and sometimes I want that change and sometimes I do not. I often prefer to add olive oil at the end also. When I sauté mushrooms, I add pepper (and sometimes dried thyme) while cooking, but I never add pepper to cooked mushrooms. I also do not add any salt to mushrooms, but I will often add a bit of white wine at the end and allow that to evaporate. If I want salt on a baked potato, I have no problem with the salt being on the food instead of in it. I sometimes add sumac to rice after it is cooked but never before, and I have some za'atar that I add to some dishes at the table. Other spice mixtures I add during the cooking process. I made pita bread last night and added za'atar to the pita before baking it, and I did not remember that I had pepper or chili powder in the za'atar, as I store it in the freezer, since it has sesame seeds in it. I also made hummus, and I often add extra ingredients to hummus after it has been made, particularly olives and maybe a bit more olive oil. When I make fresh pasta, I add salt to the dough and none to the cooking water.