Jensen

Yes, all dogs will track but some breeds will do better than others at it, not because they are able to smell better, but because their conformation allows them to do it for a prolonged period of time. You wouldn't consider using a pug or a boxer for truffle hunting; they can smell as well as any other dog but their conformation (specifically the muzzle conformation) makes them impractical choices. It's the same as the breed in which I'm involved...whippets. All dogs will chase a lure but, on a whippet-based track, not one of them will do it faster than a whippet (and that includes greyhounds). If I were going to get a dog specifically for truffles, I would probably go to either a kennel for working scenthounds or a kennel for working field dogs (springers, labs, what have you...your basic hunting/retrieving dog). I'd look for good feet, a strong muzzle, and a biddable temperament.

Oregon, I think.

Have you looked into obedience training? I think one of the skills learned through it is scent-based. Or maybe that's tracking training. Either one might be a good precursor to more specialised training, since it opens up the channels of communication between dog and handler.

I'm just getting caught up on my eGullet reading so have no idea whether this has been answered yet or not but... Is it a flying squirrel? Those big eyes look vaguely familiar.

This week's blogs from Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons are very insightful and address a number of the issue mentioned here: Top Chef Blogs

Ann, I've been buying goat trim for my dogs and have always added people cuts to my order for me. If you have a shoulder roast, I came up with this recipe: Braised Chevon Here's what it looks like: (It works well with beef too but I liked it better with chevon.) I have a couple of chevon shoulder roasts in the freezer right now that I'd bought to make carnitas with. Perhaps I'll try that tomorrow!

Oh, if anyone is curious, the "barbecued pie" (as all the folk at the race meet were calling it after I told my tale of woe to all who would listen) turned out beautifully. I thought the crust might have been a little overdone on the bottom but it wasn't. I might just have to do this Weber baking thing more often...

Andiesenji, if you happen across a photo of one of these diffusers on the web, could you shoot me the link to it? It sounds like something the Spouse could whip up for me in a matter of minutes. Thanks! (edited because I forgot my manners)

Well, I must have jinxed myself with this thread. I'm off to the dog races tomorrow and, as tomorrow is Derby Day and we always have a potluck lunch, I figured I would take derby pie (my version, not the trademarked one). Before dinner, I got the pastry made up and put it in the fridge to chill. Then we went out for a leisurely dinner, all the while I'm thinking "Great, it will be cooler in the house when we get home." Damned if the thermal coupler in my oven didn't pack it in! (According to the Spouse...all I know is that the oven didn't get over 150 and the kitchen smelled really gassy.) I'd already committed PUBLICLY to the derby pie so I couldn't very well back out and, since we'd taken our time over dinner, it was too late to call neighbours about borrowing their ovens. Weber gas grill to the rescue! The Spouse cut a piece of tinfoil roughly the same size as a half-sheet pan, crimped the edges all around, and put it under the grill of the Weber gas grill. (That means it sat right on top of the upside-down-v-shaped iron piece thingies.) And we baked that derby pie on the barbie... The Spouse said he reckoned the temperature was around 300 for the duration of the baking. So, for anyone else wondering about "summer kitchens", it would appear that the tinfoil heat diffuser is a good thing to know about!

Thanks all for the tips. I never even thought of plugging the crock pot in outside. Doh! (Note to self: check out electric roasters!)

I ate an avocado salad in Glasgow many years ago that was stellar... Sliced avocado and bacon rashers topped with a hot, bacon fat-based dressing

This one is good. Definitely eminently drinkable plonk! I bought a bottle of this the other night. Never again.

When the mercury rises, what's the best way to continue with one's oven cookery? This past weekend, I slow-roasted a pork shoulder on my gas grill and I have in the past made meatloaf the same way. The heat doesn't seem to be distributed the same as in the oven though and I do worry about under- or over-cooking things. Is there a secret to this? Or a better solution? (Please don't suggest getting up before the sun. It's just not an option for me.)

Well, I opted to go to bed early last night (since I already knew that Lee Anne would be going home) so I haven't seen the episode yet. It will be on sometime during the week. However, one of the first things the Spouse said to me this morning when I got up was "I can't believe they didn't send that bitch Tiffani home." A response like that from a non-foodie (one whom I'm still amazed is now apparently hooked on Top Chef) means it must have been a good episode!

I guess I don't need to stay up to watch the episode now.

Unless it's going grey-ish (which the old-fashioned, really RED rhubarb tends to do when overcooked), then I'd say it is just varietal.

I used stewed rhubarb as a condiment for roast pork today: Excellent flavour combination!

Marlena Spieler just had an article in (I think) the SF Chronicle about rhubarb. Yes, she did: link She attributes the loss of colour to overcooking. There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhubarb in NorCal either but what has made its appearance in some farmer's markets is "Valencia rhubarb". It's green when ready to eat and so you don't have to worry about the colour loss. When stewed, it looks quite similar to applesauce. I stewed some on Sunday afternoon and, after eating some of it in the usual way (with yogurt instead of ice cream though), I used it as the "sauce" on my luncheon smorrebrod today. Roast pork and rhubarb is apparently a flavour match made in heaven! Who knew?

Thanks for another superb blog, Klary. An excellent week all around: fun parties, FouFou lost and found, and perfect brownies for 20. Does life get any better? I particularly liked the open invite to eGulleteers for meeting up in Amsterdam. I'm trying to plan a cycling tour of the Netherlands for the Spawn and me after her graduation from high school next year. Perhaps I'll be able to take you up on the invitation!

When I was very young, my mum often made soft-cooked eggs for breakfast. Her technique was to put the eggs in a measuring cup (a bowl would work) and then fill it with the hottest water the tap could produce. The eggs sat in that water while the pot of water on the stove came to a boil. Perhaps that would help prevent cracking for your next attempt?

I buy a locally-produced olive oil: Bariani Olive Oil Each bottle is labelled with the harvest date (by season, e.g. Fall 2005) and the bottling date. It is unbelievably good. There's also an olive oil tasting room in Berkeley: Stonehouse Olive Oil. I have a bottle of one of their "varietal" oils (my own term for it ); it's not dated but the product is wonderful. I think if you're looking for oil to make something like your gelato, you should follow Jim Dixon's advice: order it. I wouldn't think that any national vendor's distribution system would allow for the sort of date-conscious consumption that you're looking for.

That's the kicker...often people who suffer migraines from ingesting MSG will also suffer migraines from ingesting food that is high in glutamates. Parmesan cheese is a well-known trigger for migraines (well, well-known among those of us who get migraines ). I can only hope that those people who dismiss MSG as a migraine trigger so off-handedly will one day suffer a massive migraine of their own. Perhaps then the cavalier attitude will be tempered with some empathy. I have gotten a migraine after consuming MSG-laden food but I've also NOT had one after similar consumption. Any overly salty food might trigger a migraine for me so I've come to put it down to a sudden change in hydration (or the "sodium" part of MSG and not the "glutamate" part).

Ditto on what Therese said...sweeten it yourself! When I first moved to the States, I had a really hard time eating any yogurt here as it all tasted unbelievably sweet to me. I went on a quest for a plain yogurt that I could handle and discovered that the TJ's low-fat plain yogurt is really quite good and not too sour at all.

Dave is growing on me (i just wish I could kick his ass through my TV screen "quit your boo-hooing!") Stephen definitely deserved to be axed. He really has no clue about the BOH (neither do I but at least I know I have no clue). If the previews of next week are to be interpreted, my money would be on Tiffani to go next. Unfortunate, IMO (I don't have a problem with her at all) but I think that's how it will go down.

I knew, I just knew. I'll rest easy tonight. This vote, this single vote, was worth all of the senseless criticism from cake haters that cake lovers, clearly the more sophisticated, worldly group of the two, had to endure today. Sleep well, Marlene. Sleep well. You, my dear, have a fan in New Orleans. Never doubt it. ← Please forgive the excessive quoting but... PUH-LEASE! If this isn't the most self-congratulatory, masturbatory bit of cake crumb I've ever read, then I'll be a monkey's uncle! (And, barring a trip to Sweden for the operation, I'm not anyone's uncle!) And in case anyone is interested, I consider Boston cream pie to be the bastard child of a cake mother and a pie father...custard enclosed by a cake "crust". In all seriousness, I do offer the following books as interesting PIE reads: As Easy As Pie by Susan G. Purdy (someone with admin rights can feel free to amazonify that text) This is a cookbook for nothing but pie...sweet, savoury, baked, fried. You name it, it's there. I've made probably half of the recipes out of this book and they are ALL good. My other recommendation is "American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America's Back Roads" by Pascale le Daroulec. (Again, please amazonify that if you like)