Gifted Gourmet

To me the term "special dietary needs" would refer to all types of individual concerns, especially those which require careful monitoring of either certain types of foods and/or specific foods due to a specific disease, allergy, possibly other serious medical conditions. Some examples of conditions that may require special diets include: Diabetes Type 1 Crohn's Disease Celiac Disease Food Allergies Weight Management Vegetarian/ vegan Religious requirements (kosher, halal) Low gluten issues Lactose intolerance

You are aware, perhaps, of the Locavores of the San Francisco Bay area? website

On the other hand there is this short, but interesting and insightful essay: Eat local? No thanks from Too Many Chefs blog ...

A suggestion: you can place Pirouette cookies standing upright around outside of vanilla frosted cake using a bit of the frosting as glue. Then take grosgrain ribbon and place (around the cake and) around those cookies. Make a separate bow to place on seam.

I always thought that use of the term "prawn" was something British, and European ... sort of like the use of "aubergine" for the American term eggplant ... I personally like both of those terms and it does make one sound so, you know, cosmopolitan ... As far as Adam Balic's comments on Rock Lobster: wasn't that a song made famous by The B-52's from Athens, Georgia, in 1978?

Spinach and strawberry salad isn't particularly southern .. that is unless you drown it in a hot sugary bacon dressing ....

Independent UK article This is a remarkable article on incredible wine from 2005 ... enjoy yourself!

Men's Vogue this month: related article from Jeffrey Steingarten

article in UK Timesonline Scroll down to: TREAT OR HEALTH HAZARD? for some amazing facts ... stuff I never even considered ... Think this type of ban makes sense? Will it help to end childhood obesity?

Assuming that lethal injection is also none too utilitarian for those who cook large volumes of these hapless creatures ... what would one inject them with anyway? Prozac?

These are giving me some great incentives to try out all these cool variations! Keep them coming please!

One of my very favorite summer treats is chicken salad. Everyone has their own version of this delectable dish .. how about yours? Chinese chicken salad is said to have come from Wolfgang Puck .. another variation which is popular has grapes and fruits among the chicken bits ... still another has crunchiness added through the use of nuts ... and then there is curried chicken salad ... served on bread or a lettuce leaf .... so many variations! Is yours more salty than sweet? Unusual or standard? Mayo-dressed or vinaigrette? Ladies' delicate fancy chicken salad or heartier men's? Tell me about your own version!

Kinda ... but they are guilty of nothing less than tasting delicious ...

The product thus ending the dilemma over whether one should throw a lobster into boiling water ... and the stress? So? What have you to say about this device? article on lobster killing by eGullet's Steven Shaw hysterical article from the Julie/Julia Project

adorable! but how do they taste?

The most excellent resource which I have found on photographing food is on Michael Ray's website which is right here. To get the entire "picture" (a poor choice of wording), scroll down, enjoy his text, and luxuriate in his photographs which are remarkable!

Mostly for Italians, I presume ...

I realize that in the world of food, many words are used interchangeably. So my question is about which is which here ... What is the distinction made between shrimp, prawns, scampi, and langoustines? Is it all about size? origin? Or are they simply variations on the same theme, so to speak? If sauteed in garlic, butter, and a bit of lemon juice, does it really matter?

look similar? scroll down to see the prawns

Of course another variation New Orleans style on this is Chef John Folse' Creole Peach Cream Cheese Ice Cream

Have read about cream cheese ice cream which resembles a frozen cheesecake. Has anyone made or eaten this one? The recipe I will be using is from epicurious:recipe here and I think it will go nicely with a strawberry or raspberry topping. Your impressions? Ideas to make it more interesting?

I think that the best thing to make would be those fried green tomato blt sandwiches but they may develop a soggy crust due to the long wait period ... the cookies and pies will handle the time issues ... the rest is a crap shoot, so to speak .. enjoy this splendid day that you all have planned!

Manresa is glorious and one of the best tasting menus I have yet to experience! Here is a very long, but highly interesting, thread on Manresa in all its splendor from Flickr .. pictures by Pim ...

NYTimes Style Magazine Are you sanguine about bringing your child(ren) to an adult dinner party? As the host(ess), does it make you uncomfortable for the child? the parents? yourself?

Chef thumbs nose at ban: 10 courses of foie gras Chicago Suntimes ... more on this story ...