I saw “Worm Chocolate Souffle” on a menu once. Someone ought to make a book with photos of misspelled and/or badly translated menus.

There’s always marinated duck intestines, and if you don’t care for that there is always marinated goose intestines. Probably very tasty, I’m sure.

Absolutely everything is cooked Sichuan style, in a spicy broth. The waitperson ladles off the peppers with a skimmer before it’s served, and there are usually 2-3 cups of them (really!) Fish cut into slices with fatty skin (considered the best part)is the most often served, and then the head bones and all put in as well. Last year I had duck’s heads split length-wise–not much meat on a duck head. The points of the beak bones were nicely arranged around the dish’s edge and I initially thought, ‘Crabs!’ but it was not to be (the seafood in Qingdao is marvelous, BTW) This year it was frogs. My colleagues know I am not put off by much. However, that’s in the north; down in Guangzhou there is much I’d rather not eat.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll make those cinnamon rolls I’ve been hankering for. We bought this huge Good Housekeeping cookbook (w/pics – so we could how ours didn’t look anything like the picture) when we got married some …. time ago. The daughter is 33, that’s makes it… yeowza!

chicken and pastry is my preferred Southern soul food.

Stew up a whole chicken or chicken parts ’til tender. Cool and shread off the bone reserving the pot of stock.

Pastry:

3 C. plain flour
1/2 t. salt
4 T. Crisco

Sift salt and flour and cut in the Crisco as for regular pie pastry.

Approx. 1 C. cold water

Add enough of the water to make a workable dough. Roll very thin (like pie pastry). Cut into strips approx. 1 inch wide. Layer the strips between wax paper; will result in multiple and chill in fridge or freeze.

Adjust salt in chicken stock and shredded chicken to taste and bring to boil. Drop pastry strips in boiling stock and cook about 10-15 minutes (approx….I just pull out a strip and taste to see if it’s tender). If the mixture seems too thick (for the amount of stock you started out with), add a bit more water. Excess keeps well in the fridge for several days and individual servings can be nuked (usually needing a little more water).

Sorry the directions aren’t as specific as an anal retentative like me would prefer; just consider myself lucky to have gotten the recipe proportions right before Mother died.