Chicken Cheese Curry: The chicken cheese curry recipe in Menu 50 (page 202) no longer works as written because the Campbell's Soup folks have apparently changed the formulation of their condensed cheddar cheese soup (the only brand on the market, so far as I know, when I the recipe was written). I can propose two solutions to the problem. (1) You can make a roughly equivalent quantity of a very thick white sauce (per cup desired, cook 3 tbsp of flour briefly in butter; stir in 1 cup milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils), then stir in a lot of grated cheddar cheese and use the resulting mixture in place of the condensed cheese soup. (2) You can use, instead of condensed cheddar cheese soup, La Preferida brand canned "Ready to use aged Cheddar Cheese Sauce (mild)" (in the Mexican section of my grocery store). The canned cheese sauce gives the better approximation to the original recipe. It comes in 15-oz rather than 10-oz cans, but I just substitute it can for can; I always think that more sauce and more cheese are both good things. (08/28/14) Tewksbury Tweets: Li'l Louie wants to know what the heck Tewksbury Tweets (Menu 50) are. A Tewksbury Tweet is a sort of a cross between a cookie and a candy -- a sweet chocolate oatmeal cluster. When my husband was a kid, they were served under that name in the public-school cafeterias in his home town (Tewksbury, Massachusetts). We occasionally got them with school lunches in North Carolina, too, but I don't recall that they had any particular name, so I adopted the one from Tewksbury. (3/22/05)
Gluten-free newsflash: I've just made a few changes to the "Special diets" page, under the "Chelsie" gluten-free diet. First, Dixie Crystals powdered sugar is now gluten-free. Second, distilled vinegar, no matter what its source, has now been declared gluten-free, by both www.celiac.com and the American Dietetics Association (though I wouldn't use it without first warning any celiacs you cook for). Finally, I've added the names of some soy-based products that can be used as gluten-free, dairy-free substitutes for milk. (9/7/04)
Availability has changed yet again: Copies will no longer be available at Chez Pierre in Tallahassee. Many thanks to Karen and Eric for contributing such a large chunk of our sales over the last few months. Copies are still available at The Wine Warehouse and Wine Club and at Southern Seafood (full contact information on the "Where can I buy it?" page). (10 Dec 03)
Another change in availability: Sorry, copies are no longer available locally in North Carolina. They are still available at three locations in Tallahassee and directly from the author. (21 Jun 03)
Change in availability: My father has sold his used-book store (The Book Cellar, Raleigh-Durham Airport, North Carolina), so Hit the Kitchen Running is no longer available there. He does still have a few copies to sell, though, so if you're in central North Carolina and would like to save shipping by buying a copy locally, e-mail me, and I'll put you in touch. (14 Jun 03)
New bookmarks: Because of the change in web-site address, the bookmark that came with your copy of the cookbook is now probably out of date. At bookmark.doc, I've posted an MS Word file from which you can print a new, up-to-date copy (plus a few extra to give away to people who may be interested in the book). If you prefer the version without cutting lines, open the file, type control-a to select the whole page, then click "Format > Borders and Shading." In the "Preview" panel at the right, click on the lines to make them disappear, then click "okay." (13 May 03)
Good news for allergen control: When cooking for allergy sufferers, I've always worry about my cutting board as a source of contamination. Now, though, I've acquired a package of the new Saran Disposable Cutting Sheets. They seem like overkill for the sort of everyday use the ads are pushing, but for occasional contamination-free cutting, they're great. The manufacturer assures me they contain nothing but paper and hypoallergenic plastic and are free of all the food allergens I know of. (13 May 03)
Let the presses roll: The rumored second printing is now underway. The new copies should arrive within six weeks. (13 May 03)
IMPORTANT NOTICE: For its own convenience, EarthLink has decided arbitrarily to change the web and e-mail addresses of all the customers it acquired by purchasing InfiNet a few years ago. As a result, the address of this website has changed. Until 15 May 2003, it will still be available at this address (http://home.infinet.mindspring.com/~dthistle/cookbook). It is now also available (and after 15 May 2003 will only be available) at the new address: http://dthistle.home.infionline.net/cookbook. Please visit the new address and update your bookmark. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. (3 Apr 03)
Second printing: The good news is that I'm contemplating a second printing of Hit the Kitchen Running. The bad news is that G&R Publishing has discontinued the cover design used on the first printing. So if you particularly wanted more copies of the version with the nice tree and silly squirrels, get 'em now, while supplies last. The new cover will be pretty plain: probably black printing and a simple border on a green background with a brown wire binding. The content will be unchanged (except for name changes for a couple of recipes and correction of some typographical errors). (17 Feb 03)
Menus 3, 34, and 50: Yes, it's true. Ueli Stadler, manager of the Reed College Bookstore, tells me that copies of The Impoverished Student's Book of Cookery, Drinkery, & Housekeepery by Jay Rosenberg are now available. Contact Jim Shugrue at (503) 788-6659 or jim.shugrue@reed.edu. You could also visit http://bookstore.reed.edu, as it may soon be available there. (9 Feb 03)
Menus 3, 34, and 50: Jay Rosenberg tells me that, at long last, his book The Impoverished Student's Book of Cookery, Drinkery, & Housekeepery may soon be reprinted! I'll keep you posted. (3 Jan 03)
All menus: Georgie tells me that the index would be much more convenient if it directed readers to page numbers rather than menu numbers. Do you agree? Drop me an e-mail at dthistle@tdo.infi.net if you think I should change that in the next printing. (3 Jan 03)
Menu 7: Tom worries that, in the chicken recipe, the six-minute cooking time in a 400-degree oven isn't enough, because the chicken breasts are still pink on top and squashy to the touch. He's right--if the chicken breasts are pink and squashy, they aren't done. If the chicken breasts I'm cooking are particularly large or very cold, they sometimes don't quite finish cooking in six minutes. I take them out of the oven and, before removing them from the hot butter and vegetables, I turn them over and cook them very briefly in the simmering butter, until both sides are opaque and they are beginning to firm up. But don't overcook them! They should be barely cooked through and no firmer to the touch than the tip of your nose. They will continue to cook as they stand while you make the sauce, and they'll cook a little more when you put them back into the hot sauce before serving. (9 Dec 02)
Menu 1: "Ketchup" should appear in the list of staples. (25 Oct 02)
Menus 2, 12, and 25: Dan wants to know why I say to remove the sausage casing in the recipes for Lasagne and Sausage and peppers but not in the recipe for Chez Pierre sausage and zucchini. The answer is simple oversight--in fact, I remove the casing for all three recipes, because I like the nice crispy edges you get when you fry the sausage in shapeless lumps. If you prefer the neat round chunks you get by slicing the sausage with the casing in place, by all means, leave the casing on. (21 Oct 02)
Menu 4: The Motts people seem to have discontinued their little 8-oz jars of applesauce. Fortunately, they and many other companies now produce 4-oz single-serve tubs; two 4-oz tubs make 1 cup, the amount you need for the applesauce cake recipe. (15 Oct 02)