This series may not be the longest Daily Kos series, but it comes pretty close! We have been coming to the virtual dinner table for at least nine years now and sharing our love of food and cooking here on a political blog that focuses on electing more and better Democrats and for the most part our WFD diaries remain free from the pie-fights that often plague the site during primary season. We offer a refuge and a haven and also encourage those who like to read and maybe comment but just don't excel at writing about politics (that would be me; heh). This gives them an outlet to share their passion about something that we can all agree on: the importance and enjoyment of good food!
Tonight as we embark on our tenth year I would like to invite you to reminisce on some past moments and recipes that I have gathered for our table. So pull up your chair, pour yourself a beverage, and indulge in some nostalgia both savory and sweet.
Our humble beginnings and some highlights are documented in the anniversary diary I did a few years back. I had to do some creative searching using the tags because before the DK4 invention of Groups we were just on our own! Every Saturday night someone would hopefully publish a diary around 7:30pm Eastern and we would all gather to comment, share, learn, and teach each other our cooking successes. We certainly have had our share of wonderful teachers over the years whether it be Asinus Asinum Fricat aka Patric Juillet sharing his worldly professional chef knowledge of various cuisines, or perhaps Ojibwa sharing his Native American traditions, or simple home cooking styles of folks like Cordelia Lear who was our fearless leader for many years, or even the occasional well-known Kossacks like slinkerwink, noweasels or RL Miller who are known for their political diaries but certainly know their way around food too.
Then there are the amazing diaries that taught us not just how to cook, but the science behind it. Yes, I'm referring to our departed friend Translator. He left us a wealth of great cooking knowledge as well as wonderful tales and scientific debates.
What's for Dinner? v5.43: Obscure Kitchen Chemistry was one of my favorites. Here's a wonderful example of the type of comment thread "Doc" would hold: This was in response to comments regarding how older eggs are easier to peel when hard-boiled.
Top of the class! (7+ / 0-)
Actually it is more complicated, but partially correct. If you look at an old egg and a new egg, you will see that there is an air space on the blunt end of it. As eggs get older, water evaporates through the pores of the shell, decreasing the amount of liquid in the egg. Since the shell is porous (unless it has been treated to clog the pores, a common way to preserve them), air has to come in to fill up the void. Most of that air fills the space on the blunt end, but that air comes in from all directions.
This affects the membrane betwixt the egg proper and the shell, weakening the bonds there, and then making the shell easier to remove.
Warmest regards,
Doc
by Translator on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:35:00 PM PDT
When I stepped up and published
my very first WFD I had the fortune of making it to the rec list. Translator was right there to support my efforts and I have never forgotten it:
Hey folks, we all helped a winner (5+ / 0-)
here. This diary has now been on the Recommend List and has over 100 comments! Well done!
Warmest regards,
Doc
Time for real health care reform, not just to patch the patches.
by Translator on Sat Nov 21, 2009 at 06:26:11 PM PST
Then there is this one, which I neglected to note the date/time stamp but I do believe it was from an anniversary diary:
This series is pure magick! (3+ / 0-)
When I was in real trouble and hurting, this (much smaller at the time) group took me in as one of their own. I shall not go into those details, since I have been exonerated.
The point is that this subset of the Kos community represents the best, brightest, and most tolerant part of the universe of Kos, and if anyone can think of a better one, please say so.
Without Kos in general, and this group in particular, the strong likelihood is that I would no longer exist. Now do you understand why I am so attached here?
I remember the days of several contributors who either stopped or got mad. I shall NOT mention names, because they provided, for the most part, good contributions.
Warmest regards,
Doc
That's a tough one because as many of us know, it was not enough in the end. RIP Doc.
Another great teacher who I miss around the WFD table is commonmass. I did not follow the dustup that ultimately ended in his flameout of an exit and I do hope he is ok these days. He was always kind and respectful here at WFD.
Happy Anniversary, WFD!!! (17+ / 0-)
And thank you, Cordelia, for tonight's diary.
As a relative newcomer to participating in the series, I must say I have enjoyed each and every one of them over about the 6 months that I have been reading and commenting (when I can!). The reception of my first WFD diary was perhaps the warmest one could hope for in any dKos community diary. This is a fun place, and my best wishes to all of you who make this happen every Saturday! Guten Appetit!
commonmass in the 5th Anniversary Diary by Cordelia Lear
And if you ever need a primer on lobstah. . .
What's for Dinner? v6.51: Lobster, Maine's Treasure Redux
A very happy anniversary indeed to WFD! (10+ / 0-)
I have enjoyed reading the series for several years now, and have enjoyed the opportunity to write a number of diaries for WFD, too. WFD is not just a venerable series here at DK, but it has discerning readers who love to cook and love to know what's happening in one another's kitchens.
Cooking is a deep passion of mine, and I have to say that I have learned so much reading and writing for WFD. I wish the series many more years of success, and look forward to continuing to contribute.
Let's raise a glass to What's For Dinner!
by commonmass on Sat Jul 27, 2013 at 05:02:38 PM PDT
Ok, now for some more recent WFD kudos!
Congratulations to everyone involved in putting these WFD diaries together each week and thanks to everyone who shows up week after week to share tips and recipes.
Thanks to one of our regulars, I got up the courage to make Gravlax for the first time this week. I used a recipe that Commonmass posted back a few weeks ago and it turned out great. It's certainly something that I will be making again.
Thanks CM and to everyone else for making this a great place to be on Saturday evenings.
by Mr Robert on Sat Jul 26, 2014 at 06:22:32 PM PDT
WFD is one of the reasons I check dKos on Saturdays. Thanks for livening up the place.
by novapsyche on Sat Jul 26, 2014 at 06:29:02 PM PDT
Huzza and Na zdravie to What's For Dinner?! (5+ / 0-)
I would happily welcome your company at an actual feast. Together, with our recipes and dishes and talents, I believe we could take on the world of conservative oppression and usher their deluded folk into a new realm of inspired culinary and otherwise healthful and beneficent being.
WFD tonight was food with friends; there was some prepared pulled piggy bits mixed with peppery spices; then wrapped in some lettuce leaves with peppers, cucumbers, daikon, rice noodles, peppery sauces, carrot, onion, lime, some other things, and served alongside a vegetable salad dressed with a spicy peanut sauce.
And beer. Of course.
CHEERS to our little group.
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
by yojimbo on Sun Jul 27, 2014 at 12:00:07 AM PDT
And TX Scotia sent me her contribution:
While I came to DailyKos in 2004 for the politics, What's for Dinner? is one of the first community diaries that I followed for the recipes and lively conversation. The first WFD diary I commented in was by Runs With Scissors in 2008 (I know, I am slow to start!). So many WFD diarists and commentors have shaped the way I cook and I appreciate everyone of y'all. Just a few from long ago: Asinus Asinum Fricat - the flamboyant French chef living in Ireland, Cordelia Lear - who like many before and after, took up the task of moderator and kept this group going….thank you all!!!, Translator - he always brilliantly explained the science behind cooking and threw in a few delicious recipes to boot, drchelo - a very special woman who taught me to be kind and be true to your own ideals.
Here's one of drchelo's recipes that I make every year:
drchelo's Mother's Chutney a la Mexico City 1956
Apple Mango Chutney II (my version)
(Makes about 5 1/2 – 6 cups)
2 cup raw Mangoes peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
2 cups Apples, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks ( the apples I used were wild and organic!)
1-2 cups Water
2 teaspoon fresh Ginger,chopped
8 cloves Garlic both spicy and mild, chopped
1 1/2 cup organic cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups Sugar
2-2 1/2 teaspoons Salt
5 cardamom pods, crushed in a motar and pestle and seeds used, pods discarded
6 teaspoons Raisins
1 1/2″ jalapeno, cut in 1/2 longwise and chopped (remove seeds and/or veins for less kick)
2″ serranos cut in 1/2 longwise and chopped (remove seeds and/or veins for less kick)
16 Almonds, blanched (use raw almonds and pour boiling water over them, let sit for a few minutes and then drain, peel the skin off and chop the almonds)
Cook mangoes and apples in 1 C water with the ginger and the garlic until they are tender, and the water is mostly absorbed.
Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, cardamom, raisins and chilies and cook until thickened (add more water as needed).
Cool and add almonds, pour into sterilized jars, and cover tightly with sterilized lids and either process as for canning or place in the fridge or freezer.
It's all good.
And long-time commenter tapestry had this in a previous anniversary diary. I still chuckle at the recipe!
I don't remember when or why (13+ / 0-)
I first found WFD. It has been a few years, though, since one of my favorite diaries is cookiebear's " ... I'm Sick to Death of Tomatoes." The description of roasting Hatch chilies will never leave me.
How to Roast Fresh Hatch Green Chiles When It's 106 Degrees Out, You're So Tired Your Head is Spinning and All You Want To Do Is Lay On The Sofa and Watch DVDs of the HBO Series Rome:
1. Find candle and place on table in front of sofa;
2. Pull Hatch green chiles from refrigerator; choose one or two; chop off top, split down side and remove seeds, putting them into the container for future compost;
3. Take chiles, a pair of tongs and two plates to sofa; place on table next to candle;
4. Light candle; arrange so nothing blocks view of television (esp. important now, as Cleopatra has made her first appearance);
5. Put one chile in tongs; lie down on sofa while holding chile over flame of the candle;
6. Whenever you hear (or feel) the skin popping, move chile a bit to ensure entire surface gets roasted by the candle;
7. Repeat.
That year (2006) my garden had produced bumper crops of tomatoes and chilies, so cookiebear was singing my song.
Every now and again, I get mad at Translator for leaving us. I'll have a question that I just know he could answer in depth and accurately. I miss him. I wish he'd been able to find another path.
by tapestry on Sat Jul 27, 2013 at 05:31:35 PM PDT
There are so many more wonderful contributions we have had over the years there is no way I could cover them all in this diary, so don't feel sad if we left out your favorite! That's what the comments are for!
Please feel free to add your favorite memories, or a favorite diary or comment link if you are so inclined.
So, what's for dinner at your place? Here's to another year of WFD!
Cheers!