Fat Guy

Okay, I do want to go deeper into this issue, but can we pause for a moment of reflection: Isn't that machine really cool?

If I had one of these machines I'd make a Ramos Fizz every day.

Here's focaccia experiment #1, ready to go in PJ's lunch this morning: I also packed a piece in a container that I'm leaving on the kitchen counter, so I can taste it at lunchtime to see how it holds up:

I am currently voting for the new J-Mart in the new (opened in May, I think) New World Mall near the intersection of Main and Roosevelt in Flushing, which I visited for the first time today. After walking around the place for about 20 minutes, I commented that "The bar has been raised." Clean and modern, incredible selection, prices that reflect high volume. Has anybody else been? Is there any serious competition closer than the New Jersey Super H Marts?

Judging from the customer video of that machine in operation, we're talking about something with a different order of magnitude of shaking.

It's hard to tell for sure from the video because it doesn't show the process from start to finish, but my memory is that the machine takes a cocktail shaker and after shaking they pour into a plastic cup. I think they happen to use a clear lucite shaker but I imagine a metal one would fit just as well.

A couple of times over the past month I've been told that pouring a carbonated beverage over ice makes the beverage flat. It does seem that when you pour a room-temperature carbonated beverage over ice it greatly decreases the carbonation. Why? This leads me to request a primer on carbonation. I just have no clue, I realize, how it all works. I assume there are others in the same boat.

I thought about the efficiency of it but clearly these guys are using it to great effect. There is very little time at all involved in insertion and extraction from the machine. Meanwhile, they're working on the two next drinks while the machine is giving an extended shake to two other drinks. I can't see the math that says this isn't a time saver. But what I really wonder is how effectively the thing shakes compared to a human.

Am I the last person to get the memo on the invention of this incredible, amazing machine? I was in Queens today and went to buy some bubble tea at one of the Asian malls. I noticed that the tea was shaken by this clever machine and I thought, how come every bar doesn't have one of these? Am I crazy or is this potentially a useful item in the cocktail universe? Here's a short video I shot with my phone:

For my first attempt at a cold-pizza substitute, today I made whole-wheat focaccia topped with tomatoes, grated parmesan and a little dried oregano and coarse salt. I actually only had one tomato, so only about a third of the focaccia has tomato. I just tasted a little bit. It's not terrible. I'll put a piece in tomorrow's lunch and see if he accepts or rejects it.

I wonder if that would get soggy though. Posted from my handheld using the Tapatalk app. Want to use eG Forums on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry? Get started at http://egullet.org/tapatalk

I like neither congealed mozzarella nor cold tomato sauce. I've got an experiment in the works that I'll report on later if it doesn't turn out disastrously -- or even if it does.

That was his nursery school, two years ago now, which was part of a synagogue. Since last year he has been in the regular New York City public-school system, where there are no such restrictions. Although, custom is to avoid nuts and whatever else some kids in the class are allergic to (this year it's sesame). Otherwise, if you pack those things, the teacher has to make sure your kid doesn't sit at the same table with the allergic kid.

Bertazzoni, the maker of my new kitchen range, makes a stainless griddle accessory that I totally want. However it costs $350 and I can't for the life of me think of how I'd store it. In terms of the term "plancha" I think that, while as far as the Spanish language is concerned you could correctly call any griddle a plancha, in contemporary professional cooking the plancha is distinguished from a plain-vanilla griddle by its chrome plating. A chrome-surfacw plancha is pretty non-reactive with food, is what I've been told. So when you cook on it you get a certain effect, very clean-simple, which is not exactly the same as cooking on a griddle. I remember about a decade ago when the plancha trend started in nice restaurants in New York. It's a great tool.

Great suggestions. Thank you.

I think there's a difference between cold cheese and cheese that has been melted and then allowed to re-solidify. I'm not terribly fond of the latter, though now that I think about it I've never really done a structured test. I don't have any good cheese candidates in the refrigerator at the moment -- I used up the last of my mozzarella last night in an omelet -- but next time I have cheese and a few spare minutes I'm going to set up a side-by-side comparison.

Just to clarify: my son is in grade 1 and at his school they eat lunch in the classroom in grades K through 2 -- the cafeteria culture doesn't become an issue until grade 3. At his current age the kids sit around little tables in the classroom and, although they peruse one another's lunches, sharing and trading are strictly forbidden (on account of allergy considerations). I think kids do indeed want to be like other kids -- some or even most of the time. But it can't be stated as a universal rule. One exception can occur when they have the opportunity to be better than other kids. Another exception can occur when they use adult models. There are others. I was a kid once. I remember plenty of situations when the last thing in the world I would have wanted was to be like the other kids.

I think the point about visual similarity may be a good one. Then again on most days the other kids' lunches look nothing like his and I think he enjoys that. So that factor could cut either way. I do think, though, that maybe a focaccia with tomato slices and a sprinkling of parmesan could be a viable option. I'm not sure I'm going to make focaccia for that purpose alone, though. There are also a lot of focaccia-like products you can buy to use as a base. I should see if Trader Joe's has anything promising.

I realize there are various positions on the parenting aspects of my question, and I assure you I have considered them. But assuming I am wedded to the idea of offering a better alternative, I'm still hoping to get some great ideas.

I'm pretty sure the microwave is not an option. I can check. There is a microwave in the classroom that they use for science stuff and whatnot but I assume the teacher will say that, when it comes to the issue of children using it for their lunches, she's not opening that can of worms. That's what I'd say.

I try to be relatively accommodating and let him have a good deal of taste independence, but I still feel responsible for his culinary taste. So if I can avoid a congealed-cheese situation I will. If he tastes the alternative -- whatever we come up with -- and likes cold pizza better, I'll probably go with the flow. But I prefer at least to offer a better alternative.

The thing I dislike the most about cold pizza (and grilled cheese) is the cheese that has melted and then congealed. I wonder, maybe a focaccia-like solution would make sense.

I'm wondering if anyone has any brilliant inspirations regarding cold pizza. A couple of kids in my son's class often bring pizza for lunch. They just eat it cold -- it has been sitting in their lunch bags all day and was probably purchased the previous day. It sounds gross but my son is demanding cold pizza for his lunch on occasion. (He also went through a cold grilled cheese phase.) Can anybody think of anything pizza-like that I could make that would be really good at room temperature?

In general I don't think I've ever had a problem with street-vendor food, fruit or otherwise.

A few more I'd like to nail down: Staub Berndes Mauviel Bourgeat Laguiole