John Braise

No, I think they actually use those. Regular ballpoint pens work just fine upside down, and -1g should be a tougher case than 0g, so I don't think they'd need pressurized ink. Or they could use pencils. I bet Cheetos are bad news in space. Cheesin' up the instruments and whatnot.

These sound wonderful! Would you freeze them before cooking, and then cook them when you are ready for them? Or would you bake them, then freeze them, then reheat?

It keeps the hot stuff hot and the cold stuff cold.

First off, I'm the curious engineer referenced in the first post . It's not at all like parafilm. If you were to compare them, the cling-n-seal is much thinner, less stretchy, and noticably sticky only on one side. The parafilm kind of molds itself on whereas this stuff adheres. The color is similar though, and it's much closer to parafilm than to regular cling wrap. From what I can gather from the Glad website, it seems like they have a process to apply this adhesive (a food-based one that is found in chewing gum) to the web of material, somehow slightly texturize it and then remove some of the adhesive from the "hills" and leave it in the "valleys." So the fury of the adhesive is only unleashed when the material is pressed on. I think that's why it doesn't work so well the second time around - the adhesive has already been exposed at those points. But I think if you put it back on slightly off of its previous position, you can get some fresh glue to work with. I could be wrong. It's weird wild stuff.

You wish! Cost of living is one of the few things that keeps us from moving to Chicago. I (denise), would love to move back. But the thought of paying three times as much for a comparable house in Chicago keeps us in St. Paul. That and my family! Who, by the way, think Maggiano's is okay, but would rather eat pasta at the little neighborhood Italian resturant on the corner any day! I think Buca and Maggiano's, both of which we now have here, are okay if you have a big group, but we wouldn't expect the same quality of food that you would find at a smaller scale and nicer restaurants.

Is there a thickness requirement? Would a quesadilla be too thin? Could you throw a disk of dough in there and cook it, like naan? I'm enamored with the possibilities.

I'd bet marinating said Cheeto in LOX would make for an even more brilliant display.

In all my years of research, that powdered non-dairy creamer is about the most flammable solid I've found.

When Luci Ancora first opened up they were going to do a Northern Italy/Southern Italy thing with the two resturants, so they had very different menus, and in many people's opinion very different quality (OK, not very different, but different enough and Luci was better) About a year or so ago, they supposedly retooled Luci Ancora and brought it up to Luci's standard. The menus are still different, but they are more interchangable - an item on Ancora's menu could show up on Luci's menu the next night and vice versa. That said, I haven't been to Ancora since the change, so I don't know if it's true.

Lifelong St. Paulite checking in. There are a few excellent St. Paul restaurants that haven't been mentioned yet. Luci (and Luci Ancora) in Highland are, to me at least, mindbogglingly good. I don't think I've ever had anything there that wasn't spot on. The second one is Chet's Taverna on Raymond off of University. Cozy, excellent food. Highly seasonal, local, organic where possible; it's almost like a smaller, less polished, original version of Heartland.

I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I don't get mayo on fries. I like mayo. I like fries. But together it's just incomprehensible. Belgians seem to love it, and they're the best fry makers in the world (or at least the most prolific), so it can't be bad. But to me it seems sick and twisted.

Chef Fowke, you're truly a credit to Pastronomy.

I've made this recipe for Frijoles Negros from The 3 Guys from Miami website a few times and it's excellent (the ham is not optional ). Actually, most of their recipes are really good. Poke around their recipe page here and you're bound to get some good ideas.

I remember seeing an Australian(??) version of the turducken called an osturducken. Ostrich, turkey, chicken, duck. I thought that was horrific, but bringing mammals in adds a whole new dimension. OK, how about a side of beef wrapped around a lamb, ostrich, turkey, chicken, duck? With maybe a single, perfect soft boiled egg inside the duck.

Just in terms of chef's knives, generally speaking, Japanese knives are ground to a shallower angle (already said) are lighter, and they have a few unique forms. German knives are what I think of as the "classic" shape, and have more of a curve from bolster to tip than a typical French chef's knife.

I go through the same phases. I tend to get in a rut of picking the same types of things, varying the formula a bit, but generally cooking from the same set of ingredients/techniques. My brain just get stuck on roasting, for example. As the list of new roastables dwindles down to just those things that I really have no interest in roasting, it's almost like I start to shut off. Nothing sounds good. I know roasting is good, I'm getting better at it, there are still a few things to try, but I don't want another damn chicken. And I can't get out of that must roast/can't roast loop. It's incredibly stupid. Anyway, what I need is a mission. Use a cookbook you haven't cooked out of. Choose a recipe at random, something you'd never choose. Go to the farmers market and pick out something you've never used. Or try a cuisine you don't usually cook. I'll usually find something in there that's new, or at least a new spin, which inevitably leads to another rut. Who likes soup?

AHA! I knew there was something out there that might help me out! Where do I get this cork? I've never seen it before. Does it come in big sheets or what? I'm clueless We just recently installed cork flooring and really like it. It's a little squishy, so it's comfortable to stand on, and so far it seems to be pretty durable. We got it from AmCork (recommended), but there are a million places that sell it. Google "cork flooring". This is the exact one we picked out. It looks great. They came in 12"x12" tiles, but there are a few other sizes you can find. I never saw them offered in sheets, though. Overall, installation wasn't bad. It was a pretty healthy weekend project. Prepping the subfloor was a different animal altogether. 3 layers of old flooring and, oh, about 10 billion inch long staples deep into maple. Never again.

I know this thread is dying out, but I thought I'd add in a couple of my experiences. For a toothier, more bread-like crust, I think the higher gluten flours work best. AP, bread flour, or even bread machine flour. I've also tried some of Shirley Corriher's breadmaking tips from Cookwise, like adding in a bit of crushed vitamin C, a little soy flour, etc to stimulate yeast activity. That worked well, but I generally prefer the crunchier, lighter crusts. To get a crunchier crust, a lot of tips have already been mentioned, but substituting half of the water with white wine works really well. Bloom the yeast in water, and then add any remaning water and heated wine to the flour (or sponge if you're so inclined). Using lower gluten flours works in your favor as well (or sub in half cake flour). Adding in a little (probably one part in 10 or less) semolina flour adds a nice flavor and also serves to crisp things up. Careful with the semolina, though, I've made crusts that could cut diamonds. I'll reiterate that the dough should really be very wet. Unworkable without plenty of flour on your counter.

Look to the cork grasshoppa.

About 11x14. Almost the exact same layout as the Perlow's kitchen from the kitchen remodeling thread. Basically an L with a stove in the short leg and 14' of countertop with a sink and dishwasher on the long leg. A fridge and a small section of countertop are all alone opposite the long leg. We just recently remodeled it and couldn't be happier.

Patent a cooking technique. "A method by which liquid water is heated in a vessel..." "An apparatus used to..." You get the idea. Prepare to sue for damages. <Alternatively, write about the suckiest first post to eGullet...>