Rachel Perlow

The 16-quart size is now available via Amazon, for $30! It is not exactly the same as the one I bought last year, at Target itself, mine is taller, this is wider, but they are both 16-qt.

OK, here we go: The incredible amazing Chefmate saucepan and more - this was when many of us took Fat Guy's advice and bought pots at Target. Stock pots, I need one -- We should just merge this thread into that one.

You don't need to pay for All-Clad for a stockpot. Like Jake recommended, you can get something decent for less than half the price at a restaurant supply store. I got mine (16 qt) at Target for ~$30. It has a nice thick bottom and tall sides. There's been other discussion of stockpots in the past. I'll do a search and post again.

For those in the NJ/NY area, lobsters were on sale this week at ShopRite, $5.99 for all sizes, up to and even over 5 lbs. See my post, click here, for more details. I say were because my local ShopRite is closing at 9 PM, so get there quick and have a lobsterific New Years dinner!

Jeez, I've never had that problem with the OJ, your store must truly suck. ~~~ Anyway, we just got back from the madhouse that is ShopRite in Englewood on New Years Eve. Jason wanted to leave once he saw the parking lot. And, he claimed to have a headache. The only thing which got him in was my secret weapon -- lobsters were on sale for $5.99/lb, up to 5 lbs. Now, normally, they only have 1-1.5 lb chicks for $9.99. I never buy those, who knows how long they've been waiting in the tank. However, once or twice a year they have this lobster sale, and when they do, they get in the big monsters. In fact, they only had the little chicks and the 5+ pounders (I wanted to get 2 3-pounders). We got two, one is just a hair over 5 lbs, the other is over 6! (Even though the circular said the sale was for up to 5 lbs, at the fish counter we were told there was no limit, it is a 24 hour ShopRite, but they close at 9 tonight and are not open tomorrow, so I suppose they wanted to clear out the stock, I don't know if was unlimited earlier in the week.) I just wanted to get the one larger one, but Jason got big eyes (and his headache went away, magically!) so we got both. I guess it's lobster salad for lunch tomorrow. Like I said, I never buy the regular lobsters, but when they have this sale, they just get so many more in stock that there is a brisk turnover and you know they're good. The fish counter lady was pulling them out with that suction cupped grapper thing, click, and they looked frisky. They will be sacrificed to Baby New Year later this evening.

Yeah, yeah, Jon. I'm wordy. But you failed to point out that the cheap corn is only available during the summer. Kris made an excellent point, "The corn on the cob here is really hit or miss, you never know when you are going to get a good one and price doesn't seem to make a difference, some of the more expensive ones I have splurged on have been the worst." That's because it is more expensive in the off-season because it has to be shipped from further away and cheaper when plentiful, and in season. The sugar in sweet corn starts turning to starch as soon as the ear is killed by taking it off the stalk. The supersweet varieties loose sugar too, but they have so much more in the first place, which is why they are still sweet days after harvesting. One more thing. The corn bread I speak of is nothing like that corn pastry/bun pictured above. It is more of a not too sweet quickbread that is usually served accompanying barbecue or chili. Here's a link to my recipe on the corn bread thread.

I understand your suspicion, but the sell by dates don't seem unusually close. I would think that would happen more with in-store specials, but these are company-wide sales, they are planned for more in advance than a getting-rid-of-excess-stock sale would indicate. Besides, don't you think having OJ and Soda (Pepsi products are 5 12-packs for $10 this week, that's less than 17 cents per can) be loss leaders is reason enough?

In both our fresh and frozen/reheated egg rolls (see photolog above), the filling is just too wet. Any advice on getting a filling more like in a restaurant egg roll?

I don't think that's the reason the price is regularly low. It's called a "loss leader." They want you in there so you'll buy some of the regularly priced stuff too.

Am I the only one that liked the purple paint? The food was ghastly, I'm amazed that the "Executive Chef" was still there a month later. Thankfully, the epilogue said he's since departed. I'm sure that was a relief to new head chef, Andy.

Florida's Natural and Tropicana regularly take turns at being the loss-leaders in the circular. I simply won't buy orange juice at regular prices anymore, as I usually buy several at the $2 per half-gallon "sale" price.

Generally, corn is used as a vegetable side dish, hopefully as sweet summer corn on the cob. But I usually keep a bag of frozen corn in the house. Actually, I used to use it more than I do now. But then I've been using a lot less frozen vegetables than I used to, trying to be more seasonal, and having discovered a wider variety of fresh produce to enjoy (I'd never had dark leafy greens like kale and collard before I joined an organic produce co-op (um, which I no longer participate in since...), discovering Han Ah Reum and other Asian stores with produce for significantly less than at the supermarket. But anyway, back to corn. The frozen corn I primarily use in soups and when I want to make corn bread with fancy additions. Hmm, another reason I don't use convenience corn as much is that we pig out on fresh New Jersey corn in the summer, you just don't want it as much the rest of the year when you get such good corn on the cob. Which begs the question, how sweet is the corn on the cob you get in Japan? In the summer, I can get multiple ears of corn for a dollar (3-10 for $1 depending on sales and availability), and it is very sweet. Now, in winter, I suppose they're more expensive, having to be shipped to NJ and all. I checked, fresh corn is not available at all at my local supermarket (Shop Rite), but I also check freshdirect.com (which delivers in Manhattan) and they have corn on the cob for $0.59 per ear. I'm sure it isn't as good as our summer corn, but if you really want it... Anyway, the only way to get corn on the cob at Shop Rite is frozen. I was thinking that a lot of Japanese foods are sweet, which may be why the Japanese love the addition of corn to most everything. Opinions?

You could always substitute veal liver.

One more thing, don't bother buying mustard sauce. It is really easy to make. click here for the recipe, which is all over the web, everywhere but Joe's Stone Crab recipe page.

Or, try the mail order sources, listed here.

Reviewing the sites you posted, Gamby's seems like the best value. I wonder about this statement on the Combs' site: "Crabbers harvest both claws of the male and female crab. They are not allowed to harvest egg bearing female crabs. Stone crabs start to regenerate their claws within ninety days." I was under the impression that they only harvest one claw at a time (I presumed the larger of the two), so that the crab would be left with one claw with which to defend itself. Hmm, looking at Billy's Fishing Tour, it states, "Adult stone crabs with claws longer than 2 3/4 inches are declawed, egg-bearing females are spared. By law, crabs must be then returned to the sea where they will regenerate new claws in aproximately one year!" So, does anyone know the deal with this? How do the crabs survive with no claws?

Try Billy's, where you can order by the pound. Here's a couple previous threads: Ft. Lauderdale dining, with a link to our CH report about Billy's Stone Crab Claws

I just noticed this thread (searching for my thread about Billy's, which I have a feeling you've read) -- Glad south Florida did not disappoint!

If the butcher dept of your stores don't have it, check the frozen kosher section, there will probably be 1 lb boxes of frozen chicken livers.

We stopped by the Pasta Factory on Saturday night, after our Christmas Day Chinese Food dinner. I wanted dessert, but I didn't want ice cream, which is all that Taipei Noodle House had. On the drive home I was inspired... Where had we recently had wonderful desserts? The Pasta Factory. I ordered the apple spice cake, which was accompanied by delicious house-made vanilla gelato and mango sauce. Jason ordered the cheesecake, which, while NY in style, was amazingly light and fluffy. It was frosted with whipped cream and served over strawberry coulis. One of the best cheesecakes either of us had had in a long time. We had gotten there just as they were opening (as a kosher restaurant, they are closed Friday and don't open on Saturday until 7 PM), so Chef Barry had time to chat with us. Apparently, he's been working on a cheesecake cookbook for the past few years -- I hope it gets published soon. In addition to the desserts we ordered, the chef sent out a few items he's been working on for us to taste, including mango and chocolate sorbets. Both were excellent, although the mango could have been a little tarter (he agreed it should have more lime juice). So, I ended up with some frozen desserts anyway! They have revised their dinner menu for the season, there are a lot of items I want to try. But many of the favorites are still there. Since Jason mentioned them in the Times, he cannot take the tuna ceviche appetizer or roasted day boat cod entree off the menu!

East Saigon is closed. Since there is some discussion here about Taipai Noodle House, I've changed the topic title so we can focus on Taipai. I love their homemade noodles, especially in soups and chafing dishes. And they make an excellent Ginger Chicken. Also, while the crunchy noodles on the table are ubiquitous, they are really good and crunchy! They are always packed to the gills on weekend nights, but make an excellent choice for a weekday dinner.

You're welcome. Stock pictures?

Me too! I checked the thread because, I thought, "what the hell is that?!"

I also sometimes put diced tomato in guacamole, you could have added some of them.

[heresy]The only thing I could think of is peas. I've seen in the past, but not made, a recipe for mock guacamole that is made with peas. You could have pureed some in the FP or blender and added that to even out the tartness.[/heresy]