So I went to visit my friend C. who works as a pastry chef at a local restaurant here in S.F. She is always asking me to come in a cook with her for a day. A day in the life of a pastry chef. The idea has a lot of appeal. But the hours:( I get up early, but her hours are truly punishing. Anyway, it was really cool checking out her little pastry chef area. She gets a lot done in a relatively small space. While I was there (1 1/2 hours) she made 3 tarts with mango pastry cream, a ton of tiramisu, spiced nuts and other assorted toppings and plating accessories, and finished up a whole bunch of assembly. WOW!

Like most people who go out to eat I imagine these super creative people coming up with recipes and lovingly preparing the food just for me. Well check it out. Yes they are creative, yes they love food and the techniques of cooking, but no it's not always the case that they themselves have come up with the recipes. Of course we all know that lots of things we eat in restaurants are classic preparations that were created long ago. Perhaps our chef that night will tweak the recipe or make it using a different vegetable. That I understand. But what I didn't know was that sometimes these great cooks use the same consulting body that you or I could when making our own home cooked stuff. So I'm helping C. make the spiced nuts. First she has me breaking the walnut halves up a little. Then she pulls out a book and says, "double this recipe and assemble the ingredients, but use 1/3 the pepper." The book was a Martha Stewart cookbook. Who knew? I've always wanted this particular, book and didn't know if it was any good. Well if its good enough for C. I guess it's good enough for me. I can't wait until I go in and work a whole day.

I have a cooking fantasy. I also found out the other day, I'm not the only one with it. No it doesn't involve having any kind of food smeared on me, uh uh no way. My fantasy is one I play with whenever I look in the refridgerator. Take today for example. I open the fridge and I see a huge jar filled with lemons. It takes up way too much room, I never use it and even wonder if it has gone bad, but still I hesitate to throw it away. I mean I might need those preserved lemons; what if Jaques Pepin came over and wanted to cook something. I would be so proud to have such an exotic ingredient for him to exclaim over. "Why you're the best stocked cook I've ever dropped in on" he would say, as I point out my rendered duck fat and balsamic glaze. It's my favorite cooking fantasy; having the best stocked refridgerator and cupboards. Just in case... So B_ and I were talking about stuff we had in our fridges and both of us realized we had the same fantasy. This made me feel a lot better about my obsessive condiment habit and buying all kinds of spices even though I never intend to make my own garam masala. So I ask you.. What's in your refridgerator? Here's my list:

Vinegars: These alone indicate a real sickness!
apple cider, balsamic, white balsamic, red wine, rice vinegar, blood orange, balsamic glaze, garlic/spice infused, & finally ume plum vinegar

More condiments:sweet black soy sauce, regular soy sauce, tamari, fish sauce, sriracha chili sauce,
2 mexican chili sauces, sesame oil, green curry paste, red curry paste, tamarind paste, pickled ginger, lea and perrins, tomato paste and olive paste in a tube, candied ginger puree

Mustards: I am not as bad about these as some people I know
full grain mustard, dijon, and yellow mustard in a squeeze bottle 'cos sometimes nothing else will do.

Weird stuff: homemade kimchee, preserved lemons, tomato jam, spicy takuan (pickled radish)

Just for Jaques: rendered duck fat, anchovy paste, brandied cherries and salted french capers oh la la...

I won't even get into what is in my cupboards!

So Jaques; anytime you want to drop in and cook I'm sure you'll be pleasently surprised at what you'll have to work with.

White trash cooking has reached consensus. What it is is cooking cheap, with ingredients you mostly have on hand and has a definite Southern flavor. We had lots of sausage, biscuits and grits and a great version of Puppy chow or suger chex party mix and lots of cheap bourbon. Trader Joes bourbon is pretty darn good. Oh yeah and did I mention fried spam and onions. One of the best cooking clubs ever I say.

It's cooking club again. White trash cooking! Something no one can seem to agree on what it consists of. Is it the fairly hideous suburban cassaroles our mothers made? Is it Southern cooking? Or is it something much worse?

For example: Tell me the name of this white trash dish. Several cups of Cherrios are placed in a bag. Add chocolate syrup and shake to coat. Add a bunch of powdered sugar and shake again until coated. Plate and enjoy!

Hint: The look of this dish may be familiar to those of us who had pets as children.

Answer: wohcyppup