Alex

Add it to the chocolate before you start to melt it. (I'm not a pastry expert by any means, so my opinion might not mean much, but I've always started my liquids and chocolate together, usually in an improvised double boiler, and it's always worked out just fine.)

As Anna pointed out, no one lost their "focus for just a second." The restaurant owner deliberately swapped out almond powder for a groundnut mix, then knowingly served it to a severely allergic customer. The customer had made his allergy very clear to the restaurant. *And* this wasn't the first occurrence. As a side note, my students' not carefully reading the entire article/instructions/syllabus/etc. was a major pet peeve, and concern, of mine.

Through tomorrow (June 20), Groupon Goods has the Blendtec Classic 475 for $200. If this is your first Groupon, you can get an additional $10 off at checkout with the code WELCOME. You also can get a 9% rebate through Ebates (which you really should join if you do a significant amount of online shopping).

Welcome back, Soba. (AKA SobaAddict70, yes? Are you still addicted?)

Nice poster! I'll just miss you in Albuquerque -- I'm planning to be there all or most of the week of October 16. And Indianapolis is a little too far away for a comfortable overnight road trip. Are you planning to add any other dates -- Chicago, maybe? (You probably know about Iliana Regan and Elizabeth Restaurant.)

I assume this is the one you have. I concur with gfweb and Deryn.

I can't speak to paneer, but our local goat cheese folks freeze their 3-ounce (maybe 4-ounce) tubs when the expiration date is approaching, then sell them for a greatly reduced price at a farmers market. It's absolutely fine.

Great question! I wonder if that measurement varies by brand. The plastic cup that came with my Sanyo microprocessor machine (which guides the water level markings on the side of the bowl) is six ounces by volume.

I've always found it easier to use the 5/9 rule: F = C times 9/5, then add 32. C = F minus 32, then multiply by 5/9.

This is a good topic. We who live in this stubbornly parochial non-metric country know that one cup equals eight fluid ounces. Except that when we're using an automatic drip coffee maker, a cup is five ounces. Unless it's a Technivorm; then it's four ounces.

Waaay back in the last century -- 22 years ago, to be exact -- Cook's Illustrated conducted a tasting/rating of eight brands of dried spaghetti. Ronzoni and Mueller's came in 1st and 2nd; De Cecco was 3rd, Barilla 6th. I'm wondering if tastes have changed since then. For example, CI said the Barilla was a "'pleasant' tasting pasta with subtle wheat flavor and a firm, springy texture that two panelists found too 'rubbery.'"

I just finished The Family That Couldn't Sleep, a 2006 book about the history -- and politics -- of prion-related diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (aka mad cow disease) and kuru (which most likely was related to ritualistic cannibalism). Highly recommended.

Can I vote for neither? I'm willing to deal with the limited hours in order to eat local, and wonderful: Propaganda Doughnuts. If I were elsewhere and my choices were limited to DD and KK, I'd go and find an Entenmann's coffee cake.

They certainly do -- and no doubt this could be a cool assignment. However, much to some of my students' dismay, I was firmly in the "Don't even ask" camp (Intro and Abnormal Psych). But that's not a food-related topic (except as pertains to this assignment), so if you'd like to have a discussion about extra-credit opportunities, please feel free to start one in the Off-Topic Forum. I'd be glad to explain my reasoning there. Or I can reply to a PM.

I'm very sensitive to odors -- I'll sometimes notice them before others do, if they notice them at all -- so this is my #1 pet peeve at restaurants. And not just at restaurants, but at concerts, in waiting rooms (as Beth mentioned above) -- pretty much any place I'm in extended inescapable proximity to other humans.

I'm sure that David Ross will reply soon, but I wanted to get my two cents in while I was here. If you absolutely must stay on the Strip, I'd opt for Mizumi. However, if you're willing to invest in a relatively short cab ride, I'd recommend Kabuto, on W. Spring Mountain Rd.

Of the ones you mentioned, I'd opt for Swift & Sons. However, this month's Chicago magazine rated The Blanchard as their #1 new restaurant and singled out their steak frites for special mention. Their #8 new restaurant was Prime & Provisions, praising their bone-in ribeye and center-cut porterhouse; that's probably where I'd wind up if I were in the mood for a steak while in town. (Swift & Sons was their #6 new restaurant.)

The New York Times has discovered aquafaba.

Party! Party! Party!

I do this not for a meatloaf, but for Joan Nathan's Gefilte Fish Pâté. I "grind" the fish in a food processor (very carefully), then mix it for 15 minutes in the KA with sautéed onions, eggs, matzo meal, etc. Works beautifully. I have no reason to think it wouldn't also work for a meatloaf.

Here's the link. Could get interesting with toenails.

I don't see a maker's mark on the back; that would have made things much easier, of course. Replacements.com offers an identification service.

Is this a school project? It sounds like you want to make fruits and vegetable more appealing to those who normally wouldn't eat them.

Dress them up and walk them around town on a leash? Oh, wait. You probably want to cook and eat them. In that case, a more specific question would be helpful. Are you looking for a particular cooking method? (I'm guessing not, because that's very straightforward and there's tons of info on the 'net about that.) A suitable sauce/salsa? Appropriate accompaniments? Or...?

rbda, when you say "looking around," where are you looking? Craigslist? Ebay? And how close to a reasonably sized city are you? For example, in my relatively small metro area, there are two appropriate mixers: an older but very nice KA 600 Pro with all three attachments and one bowl, for $150, and a Bosch Universal Mixer (mixer w/attachments + food processor + blender), asking $400.