>  ML> > Our passing grade was 75 my first year of high school, then it
>  ML> dropped > to 65 the next year and stayed that way until I graduated.
>  ML> Ha, that must have been confusing. Were they
>  ML> flunking too many kids?
> I have no idea; it's ancient history.

The kids at least must have noticed and had
some kind of hypothesis about it.

>  ML> complaining about how I pulled out the violin
>  ML> and couldn't make it sound right, and she
>  ML> replied, it probably sounded right to anyone
>  ML> else, and my reply was, hey, that's not the
>  ML> point, is it.
> I know, I've done things that would be perfectly acceptable to someone
> else but to me, they had a flaw of some sort or other. I've then re-done
> them to my satisfaction. (As ye sew, so shall ye rip.)

That's why a lot of factories sell seconds.

>  ML> That would almost definitely have worked, but
>  ML> there was so much tannin in the leaves that I
>  ML> figured it wasn't worth it.
> Probably the best thing would have been to cook it in several changes of
> water, again like pre frosted collards.

If we had been sufficiently malnourished or
frugal, I'd likely have done something like
that, but in none of the households I frequent
is malnourishment or frugality a motivator.
Sometimes I feel like the voice crying out in
the desert or the king fighting against the 
tides when perfectly good stuff goes into the
compost or, worse, down the disposal.

> I make sure the dishes have a good pre rinse and have never noticed a
> taste of Cascade (or other dishwasher detergent).

I always do. Even the unscented so-called ones
have an odor and flavor.

> I think most of us here want our kitchen set up to be logically useful.

For us, anyway. Your logic and my logic may not
totally coincide, but having had plenty of
experience I adapt pretty decently to many kinds
of kitchens, if they're clean and have a good
knife or two (the more the merrier up to a
point). I also prefer gas to electric.

> spent a lot of extra time looking for things

Ha, we've all dealt with situations where we
were called on to do tasks with the wrong kinds
of tools or none at all. Not my favorite 
activity, and luckily echo people almost always
have the right tools mixed in with the wrong ones.

>  ML> way most of the time, but Bonnie's son and
>  ML> Lilli are both like icebergs. I had to
>  ML> order Lilli out of her own kitchen and
>  ML> stay out whenever I was cooking.
> I could see that happening. (G)

And then she keeps coming in and poking around,
and I have the utmost difficulty getting her to
understand that the quality of what her supper
depends on her noninterference. My peeps tend to 
be really basic cooks with no actual sense of
food, but they also hang around with people who
know how ... and never learn. Rosemary's late
husband was quite knowledgeable about all things
food and was Julia's nominee to edit the most 
recent edition of Larousse Gastronomique - he 
made the short list, but the job went to Jenifer 
Harvey Lang, whose credentials were no better 
but whose husband was George Lang. During all 
the years I cooked, ate, and stayed with them, 
Rosemary was very much out of the kitchen.
Lilli cooked wholesome California food for
wholesome California boys and whose repertoire
thus consisted of the same 7 things, year in
and year out (I don't know what they were, as
the kids moved out 30 years ago); since then
she makes breakfast and broils the heck out of
steaks, and that's about it. Oh, yeah, she boils
or microwaves vegetables. Bonnie is a fairly
ungifted cook despite having been besties with
some of the bigger names in the business; she
works from recipes and follows them imperfectly,
also to the food's detriment much of the time.
So I have a use on this planet.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.01

      Title: Bean Curd with Chinese Parsley
 Categories: Vegetarian, Beans, Chinese
      Yield: 3 servings

      2    Hot Italian peppers               1/4 ts Salt
    1/2 sm Sweet red bell pepper             1/2 lb Medium bean curd, cubed
      1 ts Cornstarch                          1 tb Soy sauce
      2 tb Oil                               1/2 c  Chopped Chinese parsley

  Slice hot peppers into long strips.  Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water.
  Heat oil in a wok.  When hot, add hot pepper & fry for 30 seconds.  Slice
&
  fry sweet peppers in the same way.

  Add cubes of tofu.  Drizzle in soy sauce & add cornstarch mixture.
Scatter
  the parsley over the top.  Turn the heat up slightly & cook till sauce
  thickens.  Serve hot.

  Madhur Jaffrey, "World of the East Vegetarian Cookbook"

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