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prasantrin

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Everything posted by prasantrin

  1. I load as I go, but then turn on the machine whether it's full or not. Good thing someone asked, or I'd never have been able to admit that. Whatever would we do without eG?
  2. I'd make the mango pudding recipe I have in the recipe forum (unless it was purged in the move from recipe gullet), but to make it lighter, I'd use milk instead of cream, or for at least half the cream. It's not a pudding pudding since it's made with gelatin, but it's pudding-esque.
  3. See, that tells you how well behaved he was! I remember seeing him at the beginning, but I thought he had left. I played Wii with one of the Krum grandchildren in KC. I had a good time with him.
  4. My +1 and I are in for everything all weekend long!
  5. I don't remember any children at the events last year, except for Tammy's son, but he only dropped by for a hello and left right away. There were a number of young children (under the age of 12--probably under the age of 8) at Kansas City. I don't recall any poor behaviour on the part of any of them (though I do recall such from some of the adults--ha ha), and the only time I really noticed any of them was when one of them threw up at the end of the night. I don't even recall young children (under the age of 12) staying for events in Chicago, though I do remember a few stopping by to pick up a parent. If we're taking a vote, I vote that children be allowed at least to the Saturday dinner, and to any of the more casual outings. Don't know what's on the schedule for Thursday, but the Friday evening dinners I've been to have been a little more adult-only. But a warning, if I'm cranky, I will still be searing like a sailor, so cover all delicate ears.
  6. Is this the mixer? Blender? Food processor?
  7. So if you discussed it with your wife, what reason did she give for thinking it was a bad idea to bring your child into the liquor store? In your original post, you said, "I think she is concerned that our kid might get too curious about what we are buying" which implied you were not certain. Aside from your child being underage, what other reason did she give for being concerned? All young children are curious. It's a natural part of child development. I doubt your child, no matter how smart you think she is, is thinking, "Look at all these bottles of alcohol. I hope Mommy and Daddy pick some up so I can try getting drunk for the first time." At most she's probably thinking, "Look at all these pretty bottles." Unless she's grabbing them off the shelf (and if you're a diligent parent, she won't be), there's really not much of a problem, is there? I'm still with Harters on this one. FWIW, I used to go to liquor stores when I was young, and I'm not an alcoholic in any way. In fact, I rarely drink. Come to think of it, I used to be allowed to drink small sips of alcohol when I was a very young child (I remember having Kahlua at age 5 or 6, very small glasses of Dubonnet around the age of 8, and drinking some whiskey when I was 10). And my relationship with alcohol has absolutely nothing to do with having entered liquor stores as a baby, toddler, or young child; it has everything to do with my parents setting an example of how to drink responsibly. If you're worried about your daughter being overly affected by entering liquor stores, you may have much more to worry about than you realize.
  8. I never said you had. I was simply stating that you need to experience much more than just "the best cocktail bars in LA". You hadn't mentioned visiting any others, so I was simply advising you to increase your frame of reference. Further on that, if you can visit Tokyo on your way to the Philippines, there are some interesting cocktail bars there, many of which focus on simple cocktails made with precision. It might be worth a visit just to see what others are doing in Asia. In terms of exposure, you might want to consider developing a line of non-alcoholic "cocktails". Then you can try these out at one of the weekend markets (Salcedo, Legaspi, Mercato Centrale) and use that exposure to market your other cocktail venture. The types of people who visit those markets are also the types who might be attracted to a cocktail bar.
  9. Well, it's certainly an excuse to talk about one's child, isn't it? Maybe he wants to do just that. Personally, I don't see how a 1-year old can be affected adversely by simply being in a liquor store, but perhaps DanM's child is more susceptible to outside forces than other children. And two questions to DanM--you wrote Why don't you ask her why she was concerned? He's 1-year old--just how deep do you think his curiosity goes?
  10. You need to get out more. Most of the "best cocktail bars" in the US are not in LA, so you'd be wise to visit other cities (Chicago, New York) to check out their cocktail bars. Have you investigated purchasing alcohol in (or importing alcohol to) the Philippines? Premium alcohol is far from cheap there, and if you're going to open a "serious" cocktail bar, you likely won't want to rely on just the cheap stuff. Not only that, but you have to remember the costs of doing business in the Philippines are not cheap. In addition to standard start-up costs, you're going to need a lot of extra money to grease the palms of those whose help you will need (minor bureaucrats, major bureaucrats, real estate agents, etc.). And rents in Manila are not cheap, at least not in the areas you'll want to be in (like in or around Greenbelt, Glorietta--pretty much anywhere in Makati). If you're serious about opening in Manila, I would recommend starting with a sort of "secret" club, only open to those with memberships or reservations. If you can operate out of your home, even better since that would reduce overhead costs. Offer classes if you can (but you'll need a heck of a lot more practice and skill to appear legitimate, but then again, will they know the difference?), or offer a cocktail catering service. Lots of well-heeled folks (especially the newly well heeled) would probably love to have such a service at one of their parties. On that note, however, you would need contacts. I don't know much about your heels, but it's hard to break into that segment of the population unless you know people in that group or are one of those people.
  11. If you're going to be chauffeured around by your hosts, and if you're going to be in Manila on a Saturday or Sunday, I would request to be taken to one of the weekend markets--Salcedo on Saturday, Mercato Centrale on Sunday, and the third one. . . Legaspi? On Sunday, I think. I think they'd be willing to take you to places like that--clean, fashionable. Filipinos only want to show foreigners the best of what they have, and they might be more reluctant to take you to the less-than-posh places. Anyway, all three of those markets have a wide variety of Filipino specialties--both fresh produce and ready-to-eat foods. You can certainly find street-type foods there. The first two I mentioned would be high on my list, Legaspi a little lower--iirc it was a little smaller than Salcedo, at least. (And if you go to Salcedo, you can buy the old-style ensaimadas from the Pamanga and Medina stands. Mmmmmmmmm!)
  12. I agree! Old Dutch in a box, but the original Bar-B-Q flavour, not that new fangled crappy BBQ flavour they now have in the bag! Although the Old Dutch Sour Cream & Green Onion Rip-L chips in the bag are awfully good (but it has to be the Rip-L ones, not the regular S&O chips). They're a lot like my long lost all-time favourite S&O chips, O'Ryans! Oh my poor O'Ryans, how I miss you so!
  13. I read the article a few times, and looked at the slideshow... Where does it say the milk is unpasteurized and unhomogenized? I did see that they have a pasteurization machine, but does that mean all their milk is pasteurized (although I assume it is, since in most states, it would be illegal to sell unpasteurized milk in such a fashion--pun unintended)? The article says they used to sell their raw milk to a co-op, but not if they still sell raw milk in addition to pasteurized milk. According to the article, antibiotics are only used when cows are sick. They don't claim to be organic (if they were, I think they would be required to remove cows from milking for a period of time (or perhaps permanently?) after being given antibiotics). And I don't see anywhere in the article that hormones are mentioned. And I would hardly say the milk is "conventional". The cattle are certainly treated better than your average dairy cattle. I would imagine stress-free cattle might produce better tasting milk than regular cattle, and these cattle are certainly treated well enough to have less stress. Plus feed makes a difference (I thought grass was supposed to produce better tasting milk, but I've never done a taste test comparing hay-fed cow's milk to grass-fed cow's milk). The way these cattle are treated reminds me of wagyu. Really, the only way to say if this particular milk is worth the premium price is to taste it. It would be terribly small-minded to judge it as being a rip-off without having tried it. Anyone want to give it a go? I would, but I'm in Canada and don't have a whole foods within 500km of my house.
  14. I can't speak to Manolo Blahnik milk, but when I lived in Japan, I used to pay a premium price for non-homogenized milk from special dairies. These were well-known dairies in areas famous for milk production, so I guess you could say they were "designer" dairies. An ordinary 1L carton of milk could be had for about Y200 (less if on special), but for some premium milks, 900g would go for Y500, and some other brands were even more expensive. Was it worth it? You bet.
  15. Many more ideas here My mother mentioned she mashed up some sardines and fried them with some onions, garlic, ketchup and some other stuff. She schmeared it on bread to give to the kids on the farm, and they all loved it. Keep in mind, these are kids from the farm (in the Philippines), so their tastes may be quite different.
  16. I use a spoon, too! The inside-out method is just too messy for me, and you can get closer to the peel with a spoon (less waste, and less itchy tongue from slurping out any extra flesh left on the peel). I usually don't even bother with the cubes, though, and just eat the mango straight from the peel. A ripe mango is too alluring to waste time with cubing! (As you can tell, in my house fresh mangoes are never used as a garnish or an ingredient. . . just straight eating!) (An aside, my mother has promised to bring some mangoes from the Philippines back with her in July. She will buy some green ones so they will be ripe by the time she reaches home. Personal importation of mangoes is not verboten in Canada!)
  17. There are also some ideas in this old thread It's really not that hard, even when ripe, especially if you stand them vertically (stem-end pointing up) and slide your knife along the sides. People in SE and S Asia have been doing it for centuries without much difficulty.
  18. If the little booklet isn't helping, call the number on the little booklet. They'll be better prepared to answer your questions. And as for "is it worth it", well, that all depends on you, doesn't it? How much do you want what you're buying, and how much money are you willing to pay (and work are you willing to do) to get it? Not really a question other people can answer for you.
  19. I should add. . . I don't mind, but it's really up to the organisers and the location, etc.
  20. I remember a past gathering where someone (one of the organisers??) said it wasn't really for younger children, but there have been young children at other events. I certainly don't mind them! (Except for the throw-up incident, but given that I once threw up on the couch belonging to the Thai ambassador to Canada, I shouldn't really complain about that one ).
  21. I think it's even funnier seeing Johnny with a camera taking pictures of his food. Maybe you could ask if he has changed his mind about taking pictures in restaurants/bars/cocktail lounges.
  22. Shortly before my mother left for her 4-month stint "back home", she bought some salted eggs. I think she had planned to bring them with her, but she forgot. She says they were the best salted eggs she's had in a long time. I'm not going to eat them, but I'd like to save them for her if I can. Options: Leave out in the open until she returns (mid July)--no air conditioning in the house, so room temp may be relatively high by mid-July. Refrigerate Freeze--in shell or out? Which option will provide the best result? (i.e. least degradation of product) (FWIW, I thought there was a similar topic, but could not find it.)
  23. Maybe we should all put a little more thought into what it is we are eating. We might have lower levels of morbid obesity in this country. I don't know about that. I've met a lot of people who think a lot about what they eat (and whom I would label "picky eaters", or at least "high maintenance eaters"), and they're quite a bit larger than I am. And I'm not small (short, but definitely not thin). Ditto on the fried chicken skin, except I'll often just dust it with cornstarch and fry it straight. If you're eating it immediately, I think corn starch makes it oh-so-much crispier.
  24. Yes, but not in years. The last time I made pate a choux was maybe 5 years ago, and gougeres even farther back than that. It seemed normal after doing the initial flour dump and after the addition of the first two eggs, but then I dumped in 3+4 at the same time, and it seemed wet, so I mixed a little longer. It was still kind of wet, but I went ahead and added the 5th egg. Then it was very wet. It was sort of like a more glutinous poundcake batter, I thought. When I baked a test batch (I froze most of it prior to baking, but baked 6 to see what would happen), they baked up very flat. There was a little bit of poofing, but then they fell flat like a souffle. I had wanted to fill them, but if I decide to go ahead and bake and serve my frozen dough, I'll just serve them as is since I won't be able to get any filling in them at all! And I'll call them something else, like mini-cheese souffles, so people won't mind if they're flat, and what they don't know won't hurt them! But ya, they taste pretty good as is!
  25. I used room temperature large eggs (I think Canadian large and US large are about the same), 114g butter (1/2 cup), 122g water, 122g milk, half tsp salt, 136g flour (4.8oz). I didn't measure the cheese, but I used parmesan plus some grated cheddar. The only other thing I can think I might have done wrong is not mixing enough both before beginning to add the eggs, and after adding each egg. Maybe I didn't let it dry enough? It was nice and shiny, though, so I figured it was OK.
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