slbunge

Since you specifically said that money is no object, I would eat at Uni which is attached to Clio (the lower level). The restaurant is on the corner of Mass(achusetts) and Comm(onwealth) Avenues in the Back Bay. The concept is an American chef's interpretation of very high end sashimi. I have never been to Uni but have eaten at Clio and it was quite good. If not that, then I would try East Coast Grill as others have suggested. It will be significantly less expensive and more casual than Clio or Uni. I think they do a better job with fish than the Legal/Turner/Skipjack restaurants (all of those sort of meld together in my mind as one). If you are looking for a classic lobster roll Summer Shack is a good choice but the times I have strayed from the roll to the rest of the menu I have been a bit disappointed. Another good lobster roll can be had at the small and trendy B&G Oysters in the South End. In my opinion, their roll is better than Summer Shack but it costs about $10 more (B&G's version is $24). For that $10 you get a slightly more stuffed roll and a trendier scene and only you can decide if it is worth it to you. Another thing you might want to try is Daily Catch on Hanover Street in the north end. Tiny place that is best for lunch but has very good Italian-influenced seafoods on the menu. Their calamari with ink-pasta is really wonderful. Also, if you go there, you can stop off at Maria's pastry or Modern pastry for a cannoli (I'd steer clear of Mike's pastry).

I love that sort of cheeseball, and Wheat Thins always seem to be the right accompaniment.

I'd almost prefer that the people who handle my fish are properly trained in hygiene practices and not wear gloves. Gloves are currently used as a crutch and are no guarantee of anything accept that the handler will not get any of the fish to touch their hands. I've seen countless exchanges where staff doesn't change gloves between sales. I have seen many times when staff touches their hats or hair with gloves on and then proceeds to wrap the fish. And most of all, you rarely see anyone wash their hands just before reaching into the box of gloves to get their fingers all over the outside of the gloves they are about to put on. To me, I prefer their clean, bare hands on the fish and when they are done, because the hands will be wet and perhaps a bit slippery from handing the fish, they will be prompted to wash them. As far as the scale, since the only thing on the scale is fish that is already in the case, I see the little piece of wax paper as being for show. (Particularly since the waxed paper is grabbed, more often than not, with hands gloved from the previous sale.) When you get home, rinse your fish properly, cook it, and enjoy it. If the fishmonger is reputable, the surroundings appear to be well cared for, the employees wash their hands regularly, and the place smells of the sea I say forget all the modern hoopla of tiny pieces of waxed paper and thousands of vinyl gloves.

Can someone help me with the mardi gras treat of choice in my area: paczki First, let me say I had NEVER heard of this food item until I moved here 5 years ago. My introduction to it was mardi gras week 2000 when my husband announced that "poonshkis" would be available soon. "Poonshkis ?" Ok, now I know WHAT they are, but is that the correct pronunciation? ← Poonshki is preferred Punch-ki is used less frequently but they still know what you want. ← I would say that the way I have always heard it from Polish speakers in the Chicago area is similar to the 'punch-key' although the ch sound is somewhere between the 'ch' of church and the ch of Chicago. Also, the u sound in punch is a bit rounded, almost to the 'ou' sound. Also, keep in mind that it Paczki is actually the plural. Paczek would be the singular form of the delicious powdered donut. And it would be pronounced 'punch-ek' with the 'ch' being like in church this time and the u sound again being a bit rounded. Of course, all bets are off if all of these people I know ae speaking some sort of displaced-Polish of the midwestern settler.

This is my preference for temperature as well. Usually the rice pudding I make is flavored with just a cinnamon stick and the zest of a lemon. Simply and tasty.

Rats.

Finally something I can identify. That appears to be aluminum foil. ReynoldsWrap brand? Perhaps a sheet from the 50 foot roll?

For what it is worth, I saw it at a cheese/specialty store here in Boston about a week ago. Don't remember the price. Almost bought it but since I was walking and already had an armload of cheese, wine, etc. I passed. I'll pay closer attention when I am there again. I am an alarmingly frequent visitor to the store.

In my opinion, you can do no better for fish in San Diego than a visit to Point Loma Seafoods. Straightforward food served by people who know fish their fish. It can be a bit of a scene, you order at the counter for the fish market. No tables inside but they do have a few picnic tables outside. Most folks seem to be taking it to go. Also, if you are looking for food to snack on in the car, try the smoked Wahoo that they usually carry in the smoked fish case adjacent to the fresh fish case.

It's cultured butter from Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. We buy the same stuff. Love the flavor.

Sadly, I'm enough of a nerd to google 'Choya' from the bottle label and found it to be one of the alcoholic items she referenced upthread. Some sort of Japenese fruit liquor.

Making your mayonnaise? Make sure to keep it refrigerated at all times since it has no preservatives. Make only what you are going to use... lasts a few days ... ← I seem to remember a Good Eats episode about mayo from back when we basked in the glow of the Food Network. Alton was fairly specific about leaving the mayo out for a period of time after whipping and before refrigerating for long-term storage. Perhaps a few hours. I wish I could remember why. Anyone have the episode on tape or DVD?

Is that a bunch of rapini?

Your kids seem to be adventurous eaters. For kids, that at least. Was that something you worked at or did it just come sort of naturally? Do you pack a lunch every day? I've noticed in recent years that few of my colleagues do that anymore. I still do it because I eat better and it's cheap. Do you have trouble going without shoes throughout the winter in Atlanta?

Parsley seed?

When your spouse travels out of town for a job interview and she calls and the first thing out of your mouth is: 'Where did they take you to dinner?' When she calls back I'll ask how the interview went.

Perhaps I'm a rube but I've never seen pine nuts jarred in brine (oil?) like that. I always get them in a bag, just the nuts. Brine cured green peppercorns in a jar (we use Delicias brand) have been a sort of recent discovery for us. Nice heat and a little bit of tanginess. We often have them in a very simple pan sauce with quickly sauteed shrimp. The sweetness of shellfish and the bite of the peppercorn go well together.

Damn. But, I'm so good at the I'm-no-doctor-but-I-play-one-on-TV responses.

I think what we have is a late edition of the original and while there isn't 'squirrel stew' there is a section about game. The chapter has a number of recipes and prep methods for rabbit (or hare) as well as suggestions for preparing squirrel (including drawings of how to skin), opossum, porcupine, raccoon, muskrat, woodchuck, beaver (and beaver tail), armadillo, deer (moose and elk), bear, peccary(?), and wild boar. It is a short but fascinating chapter.

I don't have How to Cook Everything but I can say that with tons of recipe sources that we use here, Joy of Cooking is always at the ready and is used regularly. Neither I nor my wife have read it cover to cover but we constantly consult it when we need to confirm quantities or want to step a bit away from a recipe gleaned from an online source. Another great thing about it is that is has so many classic recipes. Not many other cookbooks have recipes for dead-simple french dressing or the classic sand tarts and sometimes that is just what you need to bring a meal of 'updated' recipes back from the brink of confusion. If for nothing else, the kitchen testing that went into that book and all of it's editions dwarfs what you might find in a newer book. I've never had a clunker from that book.

Summers between elementary school grades in Madison WI, my favorite lunch involved riding my bike to Bagels Forever where you could get fresh bagels for around 20 cents (I think they may be 30 cents now). Though Bagels Forever was a sort of large operation that mostly produced bagels to be frozen and sold from grocery stores, the salt bagel was only available fresh. They were good always, but best when they were still warm from the oven as they sat in the bin. I'd sit out front of the building and eat it plain. Fantastic memories. As a side note, around the same time we often toasted frozen bagels for breakfast and I would always select a plain bagel, toast it, and salt it.

Last night, while watching the start of the blizzard the very best thing I ate was a chunk of Piave Vecchio. A wonderful aged goat cheese from the Veneto region of Italy. Close to the perfect cheese for me. Slightly fruity tang. Perfectly 'not-too-hard' texture. Today, so far, only thing down the gullet has been coffee.

I'm a member of the Bonny Doon Vineyard wine club with the tongue-in-cheek name 'DEWN' or Distinctive Esoteric Wine Network (Bonny Doon wineclub info here). I joined when living in Milwaukee (no cracks about how Milwaukee is a suburb of Chicago, please) and have continued as a member since moving to Boston. I have always liked Bonny Doon's wine and the spirit of their founder, Randall Graham. The club selects either two or three wines per shipment and they include a nice write-up of about each wine. The wines tend to be limited production or limited availability wines from various grape varietals. The thing I like about this club is that, in general, it is wine that I would not be able to find at my local store. (The wines tend to be available at their website in the event that you want more bottles of one that you like.) The prices seem to always be at or slightly below $20 per bottle. Service, thus far, has been excellent. One last thing, that I almost hate to admit. The bottle labels are fantastic. Beautiful artwork on the front and very simple description of name, grape varietals, and year on the back. My favorite labels are from Gary Taxali. If you want more detailed information, feel free to PM me.

Bleach is affected by both eavporation and sunlight. You are correct that hot water will promote evaporation until it cools and the question is, how much of the active ingredient have you lost by that time. The reason that health inspectors don't like a solution is because the wide opening promotes evaporation. If the thing has been sitting around all day, it will be significantly more dilute at the end of the day than at the beginning. This is what the health inspectors are likely worried about. So, agreed, weak chlorine bleach solution stored in a closed container (e.g. spray bottle) should last for a good long time. One interesting thing, though, is that chlorine is not a terribly good 'contact' disinfectant. It is used in water supplies because it is cheap and because water supplies can rely on reasonably long residence times (and for many other reasons). A minimum of 15 minutes residence is required and most often you get much more than that in residential water distribution systems because of the distance your faucet is from where the chlorine is added. This would suggest that if disinfection is your goal, you may not want to immediately dry the surfaces you just washed down or you will be promoting shorter residence times. There is decent reading at public health sites regarding effectiveness based on residence times and strength if you are trying to evaluate the best approach for your risk tolerance. Let Google be your friend.

Even if they are a bit ripe, you can slice them and pan fry them in a good bit of vegetable oil. Top with a spicy tomato-based salsa. I like to use roasted tomatoes when pairing a salsa with plantains.