Alex

So was there any customs duty?

What'ss for desssert?

If you want a service for eight of that particular composition, and you want the mugs and serving pieces to match, and you want them to be well made, sturdy, and attractive, then yeah, $350 isn't an entirely unreasonable starting price (i.e., w/o sale or other discount, eBates rebate, etc.). If you want to save some money and you're patient -- it sounds like you are -- you can peruse Craigslist, set up an eBay search notification, check out estate sales, etc.

With pb&j, there are no rules, only preferences. I make my own pb from Planter's unsalted roasted peanuts, stocking up when they're on sale. I prefer two substantial pieces of toast (gluten-free nowadays, but fortunately there's a decent locally baked loaf). Then a layer of pb, a very light sprinking of kosher salt, and finally the fruit right on top of the pb. I'm not sure when I started doing that vs. putting it on the second piece of bread. At any given time we'll have four to eight different fruit concoctions in the fridge, so I guess I don't have a particular favorite, although I'm currently enamored of American Spoon Strawberry-Rhubarb Preserves. Then, of course, in the non-fruit spread category, we have Nutella (I actually prefer the Jif version), sliced banana, some bacon, or a thick slice of an in-season tomato. (I've even tried various combinations of the aforementioned. Yes, I'm odd.) I've made similar sandwiches with almond or cashew butter, but they just don't measure up.

You can make a snake. Or a car. Or an orca (#12)

John, could you give us some specific examples of "using too much stuff to make food" and of what makes you think your organizational skills are lacking?

"Local" pork burgers (home-ground locally raised tenderloin + bacon, with salt, pepper, and Penzey's lamb rub) on locally made gluten-free sandwich rolls. Mustardy cole slaw (farmers market cabbage and carrots) on the side (and occasionally on the burger). Washed down with Château Puech-Haut 2009 (and La Croix flavored sparkling water).

Pearls Before Swine, on taking pictures of one's food.

maarla, could you be more specific about your interest? For example: Do you have some experience in that area and are looking to share ideas? Are you working on a cookbook? Are you new to that type of cooking? Etc, etc.

They do. One reviewer does complain about the difficulty obtaining replacement parts, but there's no indication of how extensive the person's search was.

Top rated by Consumer Reports was, by far, the Breville Sous Chef BFP800XL/A. I have no personal experience with it, but I thought I'd pass along the info.

If you wanted to save some money, at least at first, you could start with this and a Mason jar.

It sounds like yours is a freezer-bowl model. However, the current ICE-100 is a compressor model, according to my Amazon search. I'm guessing Cuisinart re-assigned the old model number, and that yours is more like this model. I haven't looked, but I suspect used bowls crop up on eBay from time to time. We used this Cuisinart, with two bowls, for a long time. It's since been supplanted by a DeLonghi compressor model, but we still keep the bowls in the big freezer, just in case.

There are 122 e-magazines in our library system. Food- and drink-related ones are Allrecipes, The Beer Connoisseur, Bon Appétit, Clean Eating, Cook's Illustrated, Diabetic Living, Eating Well, Food Network Magazine, Gluten-Free Living, Martha Stewart Living, Mother Earth Living, Rachael Ray Every Day, Rodale's Organic Life, Taste of Home, Taste of Home Cooking School, Taste of Home Holiday, Vegetarian Today, and Weightwatchers.

To salt, to oil, To oil – perchance some herbs – ay, there’s the rub, For in that flap of skin, what smells may come When we have heated up our oven’s coil Must give us pause.

Yes, thank you, FP. We get to Chicago regularly, but (gasp!) haven't been to any of the places you wrote about, except for Eataly and the Art Institute. The Publican is now on the agenda for our next trip.

If there's a farmers market within reasonable driving distance from you that's open on Tuesday, I'd pick up an assortment of interesting-looking stuff then figure out what to do with it.

Ah, too bad. If you do get the chance to do the walking tour, it's on Forest, behind the house that's immediately north of the Heurtley house. I assume you're staying downtown or nearby. OP is an easy ride via Metra or the Green Line.

FP, are you going to Oak Park to see more FLW (and other cool) houses? A year ago we stayed in this airbnb in OP -- a coach house that he re-designed. We also ate at Citrine -- twice.

Full article, in The Atlantic The author posits four theories:

Farmers market vegetables, pre-pickling: cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, radishes, garlic scapes Ready for hibernation:

You're not over-thinking. Store it In the freezer, in an airtight container. Sounds like your dogs are treated very well.

I'm assuming you're not fluent in Japanese, haven't spend extended time in Japan, etc. 1. "...it will take a long time..." Exactly. I'm stereotyping a bit here, but at 18, although you want things NOW, it's not going to happen. Accept that this will be a long path -- and that's assuming your interests and focus don't change over the next 5-10 years. 2. Go to culinary school here. Get a Bachelor's degree along the way. Learn Japanese. Spend a few years in Japan teaching English (one of the few easy paths open to gaijin) while making contacts in the culinary world.

Has anyone tried the Cauliflower Pizza Crust (cauli + corn and potato starches + olive oil + sea salt)? I will if no one else has.

What chmike said. The dark sesame oil is not suited for that type of frying.