It's a tricksy place, the Cooking Forum...

Can't wait to see what you got!

OH!!!! HOW FUN!!!!!

I'm so glad it arrived safely. I was worried you were out of town.

Hopefully nothing was broken. . . . ??

Bwwwaaaahhhaaahhaa!

Good one Doris!

Nothing broken!

Can't post pics today because *rf* daughter (rat fink) took all the AA batteries for her CD player (including the ones in the camera--ARGH). I'll get some tomorrow.

Doris really checked out my posts and put together a box with a theme of seafood and BBQ ~ kind of surf and turf. :-)

Doris is a graphic artist and made both cards that were in the boxes. They are very well done. I especially love the one with her uncle holding a large halibut he caught in Alaska. She wrote quite a bit about how she researched me, a bit about her shopping adventures and lots about herself, her family and pets (I followed Typo's introduction to the CF).

This is a well researched and thought out swap box. I can see that Doris really put a lot of herself into this project. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Doris, for putting together such a fantastic box!

She instructed that I open the wrapped gift first. Inside, I found a tiara and earrings and a note that said "Please put these on! You are Queen for the day!" So I did!! How FUN!!!

So here we go!

All from NC~
- Summer Squash Curry (this looks so YUMMY!!!!) from Blessed Earth Farm
- Spice It Up! Mean Green Seafood Sauce (yum, spicy)
- Capsicana "Zing" Gourmet Sauce (Doris must have read that I really like spicy food)
- Southern Season Lemon Garlic Seafood Sauce (looks like it has lots of dill in it~I love lemon and dill on fish, especially salmon)
- Jim's Own Homestyle BBQ Sauce - "A Gallon of Taste in Every Pint" (I can't wait to try this)
- House-Autrey Seafood Breader for fish and chips (we prefer fish tacos here)

\- Forbidden Rice \- Exotic Black Rice from China (very interesting~I love different kinds of rice) \- Cabernet Wine\-soaked oakwood chips for BBQ \- Cherrywood smoking chips \- I think she saw my post on my new smoker :\-))) \- "Tame the Flame" Grilling and BBQ Cookbook (YIPPEEE!! A COOKBOOK!! \- I know what I'll be reading tonight) \- 4 Cedar Planks for Salmon (Can't wait to try it \- I'll have to research for instructions) \- 3 Flexible cutting mats (I think I'm gonna LOVE these!) \- Ramekins for MLC \- Yes, yes, yes!!! I really wanted these...I won't be a MLC virgin anymore!! \- "Our State" Magazine \- Down Home in North Carolina \- a red handmade wool knitted mitt (this is so cool) \- and WOW!!!, the most beautiful white glass fish platter to serve fish on \- salmon will look stunning on this. I can't wait to post a picture of it for you all to see! What a great box!!! I'm looking forward to learning more about NC. I know some people who have visited there (one couple wants to move there) and they just rave about the state. Doris, I really love the wool mitt, because it was made by you and because it so fits into the country look of my front room/kitchen \- something I will cherish for a long time. It really would look good on my woodburning stove next to a cast iron dutch oven. Do you know how much heat it will handle? It's almost too beautiful to use. I'd be afraid to get it dirty. :\-)

Wow! What a great box of goodies, Doris! You done good! I'll have to check out some of those sauces when I get down to Southern Season next.

Enjoy your toys, Barb! BTW, North Carolina does indeed have a lot to rave about - come on over and see for yourself!
Teresa

What a great package, nice going, Doris! Looking forward to the pictures! Great theme and I'm looking forward to hearing about Barb's MLC adventures! Enjoy your package, Barb!

Carol

How fun!!! Doris you not only have a great imagination you are quite creative too! Great package

Barb, I want to see you as 'Queen for a Day!' Too cute! Enjoy!

Barb, I hope you and your family enjoy these new toys.

Will you be wearing the crown all weekend? Keep reminding your family, you are the queen - you have the crown to prove it. :)

I smiled when you mentioned your daughter. My DD also *borrows* batteries to use in her portable CD player.

The knitted oven mitt is 100% wool, knitted double strand and then felted. It should withstand heat just fine. Don't worry about getting this dirty - to felt it I washed it in my washing machine, in hot water three times. So it is pretty sturdy. If you wash it, I would suggest cold water; to prevent further shrinking and then laying flat to dry. You may have to reshape slightly when you do this.

The Summer Squash Curry is very good. I bought this at the Carrboro Farmers Market . This is made locally and the lady who makes and sells it says this has been her best seller for the past 14 years.

Spice It Up! Mean Green Seafood Sauce and Capsicana "Zing" Gourmet Sauce I purchased when DH and I went to Wilmington the first of August.

Jim's Own Homestyle BBQ Sauce is our favorite BBQ sauce. We especially love it on baby back pork ribs.

House-Autrey Seafood Breader is another NC product that is a staple in this house. I made fish and chips last night using Alton Brown's recipe and DH told me to go back to using the House-Autrey Breader instead.

I know you have a new smoker and thought the wood chips would be perfect. I am interested in hearing how you like the Cabernet Wine-soaked chips.

Taming the Flame is a wonderful cookbook by Elizabeth Karmel . This cookbook has a variation of one of my favorite recipes - Shrimp and Grits - from the Chapel Hill restaurant - Crooks Corner. I can't wait to try her version. She also has a cool website called Girls at the Grill - I see several recipes here I would like to try.

You can find recipes for Cedar Plank Grilling here. Here is another web site with some yummy looking Plank Recipes . These planks also came from the Carrboro Farmers Market - I purchased some for myself. The recipe for Lemony Planked Salmon found in the first link is delicious.

I look forward to hearing about your MLC experience. Being the expert baker that you are, I expect no less than perfect Molten Lava Cakes.

The fish platter looked like it would be a nice complement to your blue and white dishes. We are fortunate in this area to be able to buy Vietri dishes at discounted prices. I refrained from buying one of these for myself, but think I may go back and get one. It is so hard to stay focused when swap shopping. I kept seeing things I needed!

Sending you packages from several states was fun. Originally it was going to be the one package from Louisiana which had the card and Southern Living magazine. This was meant to make you scratch your head, as Riverrat was the only participant from Louisiana (I think) and her swap package had already been received. I conspired with HanArt to do this before the hurricane came. After Katrina hit and you posted about your swap partner being evacuated, I was afraid you were worried. So this is when I enlisted co-conspirer number 2 - Cindy_NY. She was gracious enough to send you another note and a I Love NY t-shirt (t-shirt was her idea).

I really enjoyed researching your tastes and had so much fun traveling here and there looking for just the right thing. Even the speeding ticket I got on the way to Carrboro did not put a damper on my mission. Heck, I bought myself a fresh flower bouquet, along with lots of other goodies to help ease the pain.

Now, if I can only conquer this "swap withdrawal" I'm going through . .

omg, I don't know where to start. :-) Thanks for all the great links. I would love to come visit NC someday, as it looks like such a wonderful, inviting place. And I love water. This is such a nice, unexpected experience, learning about another area of the country. I have only been as far west as Denver. :-(((

"I made fish and chips last night using Alton Brown's recipe and DH told me to go back to using the House-Autrey Breader instead."

Now, THERE'S a compliment! I will keep this for my son's next fishing trip for cod. Fish tacos here are made two ways; either with grilled fish or battered, fried fish. We really LOVE fish tacos here.

I bookmarked the link to "Girls at the Grill" for later to spend time perusing the site. And I didn't get time to read the cookbook last night...had a fire in the firepit and then a soak in the spa instead. :-))) I'm gonna go check out the book right now.

Thank you for the plank cooking links. Lemony Planked Salmon sounds wonderful. There was some wild Alaskan salmon on sale around here recently. I should get some if it is still available.

"Being the expert baker that you are, I expect no less than perfect Molten Lava Cakes."

Yikes, the pressure is on!!

The Vietri fish platter is just stunning...you really need to reward yourself for all those hours toiling away in the stores swap shopping, and get one for yourself!!

Oh yes, the t-shirt...thanks Cindy, it's so cute. You guys are so sneaky!! At that point, I didn't know what to think, with the disaster and all. And I sure do hope Ophelia doesn't loop around and head for the Carolinas, like they are suggesting as a possibility.

The way to conquer swap withdrawal is to go buy some stuff for yourself that you normally wouldn't... :-)))))

What a fabulous, well thought out package! I've bookmarked the grilling site and the two planked recipe sites to use later on. I still need to break in those planks that David/Lakeguy sent in the last swap!

Doris, you did great--I love Vietri too, I don't know how you held yourself back!

Barb, you've go the fixin's for a number of great meals. Let us hear what you do with them and ENJOY!

I'd forgotten all about the current swap until Doris told me that you'd finally received the real thing. LOL Sounds like a wonderful package. I need to try those cedar planks one of these days myself. Have eaten a delicious cedar-planked Gulf fish with horseradish crust at Emeril's NOLA restaurant a couple times.

Enjoy all your goodies!

Fabulous package Barb! I love fish taco's too but I'm ready to grill some salmon on cedar planks. It just sounds sooo good. Really nice swapbox Doris.

Barb, What a great assortment of goodies. Enjoy them.

Doris, How clever to tease from other states. Very nice swap gifts!

Jayne

Finally, I have pictures...

First, I was instructed to open the package

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Inside, I found

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Doris' lovely cards

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Bottled sauces (summer squash curry on far right)

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BBQ Cookbook, Fish Breader, *Forbidden Rice*, and NC magazine

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FABULOUS Vietri Fish Platter

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BBQ wood chips and MLC ramekins

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Cedar planks and flexible cutting matts

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Thank you again, Doris, for such wonderful swap gifts!

Barb

ps - I did downsize the pics ~ not showing up as such in the preview

Another wonderful swap box. What a great idea, "decoying" from other states!!

I really like that fish platter, it's very unique, and Doris' cards are beautiful, aren't they?

Annie

Forgot to check back for these pictures. What a wonderful assortment of stuff!!! I LOVE the story of all the sneaky little helpers you had, Doris.

Barb, I know you'll enjoy all of these wonderful gifts - these swap packages just amaze me...

Stacy (BTW - what is a fish breader?)

Doris, that was really sneaky. LOL!

What a great swap package. I like the theme.

Barb, have you made the MLC yet?

Ann

I haven't made the MLC yet. I might *do it* today. Fish Breader is breading for frying fish. I'm waiting for my son to go fishing so it will be really
great, fresh fish.

Here is one pic I forgot to post...a pic of the wool handmade mitt Doris made. I really love this, as it is something I can enjoy for years to come.
It is placed next to a cast iron bean pot on my Vermont Castings woodstove. I think it looks perfect there.

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barb

All of those things are fabulous! You are one lucky lady, Barb! I love that you were hoodwinked, how funny is that?! Bamboozled! ! !

So, if you make MLC, will I be the last virgin? (Let me tell you how I almost choked typing that question!)

Have fun! Marcia