slbunge

It seems as if you and Bonny Doon are willing to embrace new technology for wine packaging as seen with your long commitment to synthetic cork and the more recent screw tops. I am wondering if you are thinking about (or could be cajoled into) packaging Big House Red in the boxed format. Not only would it save us all from lugging cases of bottles away from the liquor store, but it seems as if it is a nice format for dispensing wines since there is minimal oxygen uptake on a pour (at least wines that aren't created with cellaring in mind). Perhaps the stigma of the box is just too much for the distributors and sellers of your wines. Or possibly tooling up to fill and seal bags is prohibitively expensive. As a side note, weirdos like me use the mylar bags as lightweight water bags while camping and if Big House Red were initially inside, I wouldn't have to figure out how to secretly give Franzia to all my friends so I can have the bag.

Made this autumn's first batch of tomato sauce. Cleaning the cupboards out of last year's canned tomatoes. Proceeded to make baked polenta with tomato sauce and gorgonzola. Small green salad. Apple crisp for dessert. Feels great to get the oven going during this first chilly snap of fall.

If you had to choose between Bayona and Herbsaint for lunch which would you choose and why? Also, does anyone know if Uglesich's is open yet? Edited for grammar. My fourth grade english teacher, Sister Dorothy, would have frowned at the previous version.

A couple of things come to mind as I read the list of winners: First, I'm happy to see that the New Glarus brewery is still winning awards. We in Wisconsin continue to be spoiled by their great beers. It is great that educated tasters agree with my humble opinion that Point Special tastes better than Genuine Draft. I would go so far as to say that Point is far better. Lastly, I smiled when I saw Mickey's as a silver medalist. I had no idea when I was a youngster, drinking Big Mouth after Big Mouth, that I was enjoying something special. I just knew it had that malt liquor kick and the bottle was weird.

Huge brandywine tomato just out of the garden. Sliced, salted, and topped with two fried eggs (over-medium). Yum.

My wife is on her feet all day and swears by Dansko shoes because of the orthopedic footbed (they are also non-slip). We were shopping for a pair earlier this week and noticed that they now carry lace-up versions with one of the two footbed options. Look here if you are interested.

There is nothing like a really good gin gimlet (my preference is Bombay Saphire) on the first hot day of the late spring or early summer. Simple and refreshing.

Great idea Gordon. If you do that, in that warped section you can snug the laminate back to the substrate (maybe with construction adhesive and ringshank nails?) before installing the overlay. For installing the sheetmetal, you might consider stainless, flat-head deck screws and countersunk finishing washers. The screw heads wont be hidden but I think it is a nice finished look. A sheetmetal shop should be able to do really nice, crisp, right angle bends to cover up the edges in that section that runs down the left wall and comes out from underneath the counter. You might want to do a full scale mockup in kraft paper or something similar to minimize the chance of error.

Hmmmmm...now I'm curious. Google didn't help me at all. I suggest a bribe for your sister so she will try it and report. Have her snap a photo first. Edit: Found this about lemons via google and it mentions a sweet lemon, although it doesn't mention a connection with Mexico or what to do with it.

I believe that the Meyer Lemon is the most popular sweet lemon but there may be others out there. Not as strongly sour as a 'standard' lemon. Still a nice citrus flavor. I had a very nice panne cotta with Meyer lemon once.

Zagnut. Love the Zagnut.

A couple of recent favorite in the under $10 category are: Nobilo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) ~$8. Rustico Proseco (Italy) ~$9. Borsao Primizia (Spain) ~$7 Note: Prices are from Ray's Liquor in Wauwatosa Wisconsin.

Oh my word! I started monitoring this site at the right time. I have seen some amazing cabbages this year at the farmers' markets and was thinking about trying sauerkraut. Thanks for the posts, I'm going to try it myself. By the way, I have tried a couple of batches of crock pickles this summer (I think they may be similar to what you mean by fermented pickles). First batch was pretty good. Second batch was in the brine too long and got softer than I wanted. Let us know if you try pickles yourself.

Well, Frank's Kraut is as popular in Wisconsin owing to the German/Polish immigrant heritage and the continuing popularity of brats and polish sausages. Herdez Mexican food products are widely available in Milwaukee supermarkets but I'm not sure how wide their distribution spreads. As to the use of Worcestershire sauce, I use it in mushroom dishes and, as suggested, tomato dishes. I don't use it a lot but there is no substitute when a recipe has it listed.

Interesting discussion. Thanks for the insight Jonathan, I have been a fan of your since getting my first taste of an Egg Farm Dairy cheese many years ago. I share the same feelings about their being a whole range of cheese between what Ms Waters is looking for and the commercial cheeses in supermarkets. Reading the post from Jonathan makes me think about all the risks associated with calculating the cost of a pound of cheese. I'll continue to look for cheeses from small producers who seem to care about quality incredients and great taste. Those producers will know far more than I do about the specifics of their market conditions and I'll trust thier judgement on the selections they make. I expect to pay more for their cheese hoping that the price is not what the market will bear, but is fair.

mmmmmmmm.....Hellman's If I was stocking the fridge from scratch and found myself at the megamarket, in addition to Hellman's and Heinz, I would also come home with a bottle of Lea and Perrins worcestershire sauce, a jar of Claussen's sliced bread and butter pickles, a can of Frank's kraut (to open and put in a jar in the fridge), and a can of Herdez chipotles in adobo (again with the 'open can, pour into jar'). I'm sure I would find more while walking the aisles.

It never occured to me to look up a spanish version of the recipe. HELADO DE ELOTE 3 Elotes 1 Lt. Leche de vaca 3 Huevos de gallina 1 Onz. Maicena 2 Onz. Azúcar 1/2 Onz. Canela en rajas 2 Cucharadas Vainilla Cocer la leche a la que se ha adicionado canela en rajas, mantenerla en el fuego durante dos hervores. Cocer los elotes en agua, una vez cocidos, raspar el grano del elote, moler en grano no muy fino. Batir las claras y yemas de huevos a punto de turrón, mezclar la leche cocida con el grano molido, maicena, vainilla y azúcar; agregar los huevos batidos agitando constantemente hasta homogenizar todos los ingredientes. Hervir la mezcla, batiéndola constantemente para evitar se pegue a las paredes del recipiente, enfriar y vaciar en una taza sopera, poner a congelar. Da para seis raciones. Note: If any of you friendly Spanish speakers can help with a translation, please step forward. I get the jist of the recipe based on my broken understanding of Spanish (my three years of high-school Spanish taken long ago is all but gone) but I am not familiar with some of the words.

I think that 'Toro' is the belly cut of a tuna. The richest, fattiest part.

The recipes I have seen (a grand total of 2) call for cutting the whole kernels from the cob, cooking them in with the milk (or custard), and then straining. Of course I have this vague memory of reading about peircing the kernels with a knife while they are still on the cob and then scraping to get the milk. Perhaps it was a dream.

Went to the farmers' market today and the sweet corn seems to be hitting its stride. Have a hankering for sweet corn ice cream. I have looked at a few recipes but was hoping for some input (tips, recipes, sarcastic comments) from people who have actually made a batch.

My wife is a physician and spends days on her feet as well. She swears by the Dansko clogs that have a back and are essentially slip-in shoes (they have the orthotic footbed). We have gotten good service from shoescentral.net (or their affiliated site clogscentral.com). They have lots of comfort-based footwear, not just clogs. Because their site doesn't seem incredibly on-line buying friendly, we usually select the type of shoe, call their store in Portland to talk to a real person, and then have them shipped.

Just and FYI, Nueske's is a specialty meat processor from Wittenberg, WI that has been around forever and will ship anywhere. They smoke their cuts of meat (bacon included) using applewood and people tend to rave about it. Of course, it seems far more rewarding to try it at home as you described. Your photos showing the smoker taped with blue masking tape really endeared me to the whole operation. Well done!

Approximately 10'x11.5' and poorly laid out. Thankfully at this time of year there is also the backyard patio with the old-school Weber kettle grill and a propane burner (great for large paella pans or canning tomatoes).

I mistakenly bought baked 'Kettle Krisps' rather than 'Kettle Chips' at the store a week ago. I have never met a baked chip I liked until I had these. What I like most about them is that you get a really substantial potato flavor with no greasiness but there is just enough oil (sprayed on after baking apparently) so that the salt sticks. I haven't tried any of their flavors because I am partial to having only salt on my potato chips.

I've had salads with cantaloupe, honeydew, and mint (also red onion, pinenuts and feta). Also had soupe with cantaloupe and mint. In both cases, the flavors seemed to go well together. Not sure if it would work as a smoothie but it might be worth a try.