4 posts tagged “cooking”

When I registered at Williams Sonoma for our wedding, the point was to register for stuff that I would use daily, and also be able to replace /complete on my own if needed (we had a small wedding, so there was no hoping for big gifts). One of my favorite things we ended up with were their Duralux Picardie tumblers. We bought the 12 oz size, and have only managed to break one in over 10 years.

Right before Queenie was born, and I was nesting, I became convinced -- convinced! -- that she would not/ could not be born without my buying a complete set of the Picardie juice glasses. Bought them from Williams Sonoma. Love them.

For months now, I've been meaning to buy the 8.5 oz set (see above). The girls have moved past sippy cups, I'm trying to weed out plastic, the juice glasses are kind of small for water or milk for the older one, and the 12 oz are ungainly. But we've been tight on budget, and so I've resisted. I've also been unable to find a local W-S. But today, I could resist no more, and thought I'd look them up online, or send Clive to the nearest store in BH (I cannot actually step foot into a W-S store, that would be trouble, especially given my current knife problem).

They are gone. And have been for just over 2 months (a couple years from W-S, though).

Oh, W-S still sells tempered glass tumblers, but they are Spanish, not French. They are even-sided, not odd, like my beloved Picardies. And they do not match. But it is worse than this.

The Duralex company is in liquidation. Meaning, I cannot even get them from the UK site that imports their brand.

And, some bastard on eBay is selling 6 of them for over $40 with over $10 shipping. Robbery! These are EVERY DAY cafe glasses.

There is also a nice person selling them for a reasonable price which of course I am watching and if you are reading this you will not, I repeat, NOT, bid on these because you are kind and understand my duress.

In any case, I am now sad, and obsessed, all at the same time.

I am also not alone in my sadness, as I found pages of posts about this on Chowhound, as well.

Sigh. Wish me luck !

edited to add: Seems they may have them still at World Market. They are listed online, at least. I will be near one tomorrow, and so will check the shelves. Stay tuned! $2 each!

edited 6_08 to add: Do I have actual readers or are there more crazy people like me? Last night I put 3 sets of these glasses in my cart online. Today, after checking the local store (none). I went back online to order 2 sets (the third I put in by accident).....only to find that they will only let me order one! I am currently blaming  vox for  this. I  KNEW I shouldn't have tagged  it. Sigh. And on top of it they charged me for *gift wrapping.*  Damn.

I made tacos last night and it was the first time I've even had home tacos in those hard, store-bought shells since I was a tiny, no-taste kid. And you know what? Everyone was thrilled.

Considering how awful my week has been, that's a damn big deal.

So, thank you 365-days-of-Crockpoting-blog-lady. You made my month.

I have become addicted to Merken spice. Have you tried it? It's a Chilean blend of Cacho de Cabra chili pepper, corriander, cumin, and salt. Essentially, a smoky, spicy paprika. It's got more of a kick than Spanish paprika, and is crazy warming and homey on chilly nights in a veggie or chicken stew, on mashed potatoes, or in eggs.

I'm craving it now, and wished I had made some Chilean stew for dinner. We had a nice crusty trout, but still. Here's a basic and flexible recipe my whole family loves. If making it for the kids, I usually use Spanish or regular paprika with a bit of cumin and a touch (the teeniest bit) of smoke flavoring, and save the actual Merken in a shaker on the table.

I've also made it into a vegetable soup that I'm quite in love with by replacing the meat with a 3 bean combo and adding extra water. It's all pretty fail-proof and quick:

Brown approx. 1 lb. chicken thighs in olive oil with 1 large onion. You can substitute ground beef, pork, beans, etc.

When meat is cooked, sprinkle with lots of paprika (at least 2 TBL).

Add some water to cover meat. Then add veggies and potatoes, whatever sounds good in the mix. I normally use:

1 chopped medium sweet potato
2 c. fresh green beans or 1 c. frozen, thawed peas
2 sliced medium zucchini
1 c. fresh or frozen, thawed corn

Bring everything to a boil and let it simmer until the water is reduced and think like a stew. Part way through the simmering add:

salt to taste
cumin to taste (if using regular paprika)

You can add a bit of chipotle spice to the end if using regular or Spanish paprika.