FistFullaRoux

I seem to recall that there is a shop in Los Angeles that specialized in European candy. Saw it on an episode of The Osbournes. Unless I hallucinated it. Quite likely. Can't seem to find a website... That would probably be a good place to see if they do mail order.

Oh. My. God. All of this over one statement, or lack of a statement. In the words of William Shatner on Saturday Night Live, when confronted with Trekkies who questioned the timing of certain things in the series, and mixed up stardates.... "Get a life." I'm all for a rousing dustup over minutiae, but please...

IIRC, this was the one that the DOD had originally called "Dirty Rice", but had to change it after people unfamiliar with the original dish refused even taste it. Evidently, "dirty" isn't a good food adjective for some people...

Edited to add - an estimated 5000 head of cattle dead throught the Erath/Henry area. Lots of dairy and beef farms are going to suffer badly.

Even though I don't drink anymore, I still have a couple of them around for various needs, but the big one holds my poker money. We have a little group that gets together for nickel/dime/quarter games. 3 raise limit, .50 max raise Texas Hold 'em (And we've been doing this for years, long before you could get 11.5g poker chips at Wal Mart and watch hours of it on TV). One holds soldering iron/solder/assorted electronics repair type stuff, and another holds my wife's sewing stuff. These things are quite valuable, and if someone would figure it out, they could sell a few, if they were decently made. The bags of more recent vintage seem to wear out quicker, and the seams aren't as reliable. I also had a black bag from Bacardi that I can't seem to locate anymore...

Hurricane Rita has devastated a large part of Southern Louisiana. It basically landed on the part of the Louisiana Gulf Coast that escaped major damage from Katrina. My hometown of Abbeville, LA is under a lot of water, and my mom's house has at least 3 feet of saltwater in it, 5 miles inland from Vermilion Bay. All of my friends and family are safe, if scattered. Here's what I know of regarding major food entities from Cameron, Vermilion, and Iberia Parishes that are as of tonight underwater. This does not include points north and east that may have suffered wind damage or who will lose stock because of power outages. This does also not include transportation issues because of the economics of travel and transport (gas prices), or preparation (natural gas) -Lots of shrimp, oysters, and blue crab come from Vermilion Bay and through Vermilion Parish. Lots of seafood processors in the area as well. -Consider much of Louisiana's sugar cane crop ruined, and the ability to process the cane at least somewhat comprimised. -Cameron and Vermilion parishes have a lot of cattle/beef/milk producers. It is difficult to even hazard a guess of the number of dead or injured livestock and damaged dairies. -Other major local crops impacted include rice, yams, peppers, and soybeans. -I haven't heard anything specific regarding Avery Island, but Tabasco is likely to be at limited to no production for quite a while. Same with the Trappey's, Konriko, and Mahatma/Water Maid brands and products. -Cajun Power products are an unknown, but the area around their facility south of Abbeville is known to have flooding. -A large percentage of Louisiana's crawfish farms are underwater right now. It's not going to affect the mudbugs themselves too much, depending on the salinity of the water covering them. But many farmers will lose their stock to wandering. They may simply go somewhere else. There is also flooding and damage at a large plant that processes crawfish bait. -Also underwater, a major alligator proccessing plant, and a large talapia farm. -The Steens Syrup plant is on the banks of the Vermilion River and is above the water at the moment, but the river can still rise, and their raw material is sugar cane. -Lord knows how many smaller farms, specialty companies, restaurants, food manufacturers, processors, and other food related businesses are underwater or destroyed right now. Louisiana's food industry, already reeling from Katrina, has recieved a major blow from Rita as well. In the space of 4 weeks, the entire coast of Louisiana has been impacted by flooding, high winds, and extended power outages. Major infrastructure damage affects all industries, but especially food due to spoilage issues. The full impact may not be known for a number of years. edited because I forgot to list some stuff.

Regarding the brownies, I'm not sure if this is the same thing, but they are available by themselves via mail order. Google "mre heater chemical" without the quotes, and it's about halfway down the first link for a little less than a buck apiece. I may have to order a batch since they come so highly recommended... And for more info on the chemical heater, see http://science.howstuffworks.com/mre4.htm It's a surprisingly simple chemical reaction, but damned effective. Edited to add - My favorite quote from the above article; "...if you grew up like a lot of Americans, eating casseroles, Hamburger Helper and lots of prepared foods out of a can or a jar, then an MRE is a completely normal, completely acceptable meal for you. If, on the other hand, you are the sort of person who prefers a salad of mixed greens with essence of cranberries effused in a vinaigrette dressing, along with a filet topped with a caramelized red onion glaze, baby carrots and angel hair pasta on the side, finishing with a strawberry sorbet and mixed fresh berries for dessert, then the MRE menu is unlikely to suit you. Of course, given all that, it is unlikely that you will enjoy any part of the military experience…"

Little gutbombs there, but the couple I've tried aren't bad. From all accounts they beat the hell out of the old C rations. I also know a little trick with the warmers and another easily found object that will very quickly get the attention of the local constabulary... Voice of experience here, thanks to a friend who recently returned from Afghanistan and his welcome home celebration. He saved several of the warmer packs just for the occasion. Great party trick. Can't wait to see what you've done with the plating...

Don't any of you watch Emeril? Always add either hot stock to cold roux, or cold stock to hot roux. Fixes it every time. You can do hot/hot, but as stated above, it takes forever, and requires far more energy than I am willing to expend.

Basically, her employer finds it easier and cheaper to pay her to stay home, for now at least. We are very fortunate in that way. She's still getting paid, she hasn't lost seniority or aything, other benefits (including insurance, thank God) are still covered and in force. It's just annoying to her that she couldn't go back, even if she felt she could.

Hell, show it to them. I'll give you my email address so I can communicate with them. Not that I am against the surgery. I understand that there are many benefits, and most of the people who have had it have gone on to a better life, increased lifespan, had kids, landed a guy or girl (depending on their goals), improved their self-image, etc. I started this thread so people can learn about one of the more difficult experiences. You can only make an informed decision by knowing of the good, bad, and ugly. I am not against the doctors who do the surgery. I am not against the surgery. But I can't really sit by with good conscience and pretend that these side effects and others do not happen. Not everybody gets to have the perfect experience. It's a major surgery, and an elective one at that. I wouldn't want to have the surgery, then find out about something that could happen 18 months later. It may not change my mind, but it has to be part of the decision making process. And if it did happen down the road, at least I'd be kind of prepared for it.

Been a while since I updated, and I figured this is as good a time as any. The TPN is helping a lot. There has been slow but steady progress in the movement department. She still uses a walker occasionally at home, but mostly she can "furniture walk", meaning she can go a few steps as long as she has something to stabilize herself with. We use the wheelchair when we go somewhere, mostly for her peace of mind. 4 weeks ago, her neurologist wasn't completely happy with the rate of recovery, so she had a feeding tube put into the old stomach (which is still attached to the plumbing, still secreting the gastric juices) to help bump up the nutritional intake. She had problems with it from day 1. In theory, the old stomach should have been able to take a slow but steady stream of Glucerna. In reality, the tube leaked, almost none of the product was digested, and the surgery site became necrotic and infected because the surgeon tied the "clamps" that hold the tube in place too tightly - cutting off the bloodflow to the skin. The feeding tube was removed 10 days ago, and we are still dealing with the infection. Antidepressants are now a major part of her daily routine. All in all, it's still your basic nightmare. There are bright spots sometimes, but it's been a long road, and we aren't seeing the end of it yet. She's been unable to work for 13 weeks now, because her company does not have, and won't provide, facilities for medical waste. Her employer will not let her work as long as she has to carry around a gallon of solution and a pump, with the needles and everything else. Diabetics within the company are expected to take care of what they need in private, and not dispose of anything at work. They can put the used needles back into their kit, and drop them into a disposal container at home. I just thank God she hasn't developed a soap opera addiction sitting at home all day.

New Orleans. The city that care forgot. The Big Easy. All of those conjure up images of lounging, eating, singing, dancing, and lounging some more. The city has little bits of itself scattered all over the country, and some will not go back. They will bring a little New Orleans with them, where it will multiply and grow. There will be neighborhoods of folks from New Orleans everywhere. Medians all over the country will be the neutral ground. Snow cones will now be widely known as snowballs. Crawfish will be sold outside of Louisiana in greater quantities. Food is a touchstone to our past. It is often a source of comfort and familiarity. It's important to the culture and people of any region. I made red beans and rice tonight, even though it's a Wednesday. They taste bitter now. I couldn't eat it. I couldn't remind myself of it that much. Media reports are one thing. That comfort food thing brought it too close to home. I'll never be able to make Bananas Foster again without feeling the sting of the memory. All that's left are memories, and I can't stand it.

Birmingham has an outstanding medical community, along with a teaching hospital. This is a great city to get sick in. We have consulted with 3 neurologists, 4 dieticians and nutritionists, 2 more bariatric surgeons, and 2 or 3 gastroenterologists. They all agree than the surgery is the root problem. The reduced absorption of nutrients is part of the gastric bypass surgery. The thought is "If we can make them eat less, and absorb less of the little amount they eat, they will lose weight faster." The body is supposed to find it's own level following surgery. It will know when to ask for food, and how use it more effeciently. This has not happened ith my wife. It is damn near impossible to eat the amount that would be required for her, considering the levels of vitamins and such that are being pumped into her right now. Let me reiterate. Each doctor or nutritionist/dietician we have spoken to has said that the surgery IS the root cause of the neuropathy. Every single one. Her diet figures very little into this, as she could pop Centrums all day long, but the vitamin levels in her blood would still fall. She cannot absorb enough nutrients by mouth to avoid this. It's the way her body is made. The small intestine which was bypassed was more critical to her overall health than many people. The surgery is designed to do exactly what it is doing. The problem comes from her body not being able to find that balance where the food she puts into her mouth is enough to stabilize her. We were fortunate that her neurologist has seen someone else with this recently. My wife is getting TPN, and is having a shunt put in tomorrow to remove the central line from her neck. She's going to have to deal with the Hyperalimentation for a long while, and has a greuling rehab ahead. The good news is that she may be discharged from the hospital Monday, which means that they think the major life or death medical issues have been resolved, they have located the problem (by process of elimination), and she can start rehab in earnest. We're not sure if she is going to a rehab facility in town or if she would get home health care. We're fighting the insurance company about this at the moment. Thanks again for all of the kind words and thoughts. We're not out of the woods yet.

I absolutely DETEST sweet spaghetti sauce, always look for ' no sugar added ' when I am looking for ones to use as a base for a quick sauce..... So, I use a drizzle of HONEY , not sugar, in the sauce, if it is too acidic. For some reason it mellows, but doesn't sweeten. Kathy ← You can also try adding some sweetish red wine and letting it simmer for a bit. A little olive oil will also help balance out the sweet/acid thing.

And thanks for all of the good thoughts and prayers. We need them. I know we have Catholic, Southern Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, and Wicca covered just by the people we know... Kinda wish we knew a Druid so we could cover all of the bases

I think the Lap Band is the better option overall, as far as side effects and complications. However, I have not been able to locate an insurance company that will cover this version. They are more than happy to pay for the more dangerous one. Regarding the medical community not pushing the surgery, I have to disagree with Docsconz. http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitnes...reut/index.html The link above is froma recent CNN story. What it boils down to is that obesity by itself is not now a criteria for surgery. Right now there needs to be co-morbidities like diabetes, sleep apnea, or musculoskeletal problems. Just being fat is not enough to get the surgery, you have to be sick too. This article states that the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, along with manufacturers of some of the equipment used in the surgery, are trying to make obesity alone be considered the main reason for the surgery. Remember that this is an elective procedure. It does have it's place. Lots of people have gotten tremendous benefit from it. What I'm talking about in this thread is a "new" complication. It's always been a potential problem, but the sheer number of patients having this serious side effect is rather startling. Once again, I think my wife will end up happier, even with a feeding tube, than she was at 320+ pounds. This is one more thing to look out for, especiall since it strikes with so little warning, and mimics other minor problems at first. Edited to add: OK, maybe not the medical community as a whole, but the people who are in business to do the surgery are the ones pushing for new criteria. Which is scarier than the entire medical community doing it. This makes it look like pure profiteering. Not that there is anything wrong with making a buck, mind you. But changing the point of having the surgery, or making it available for those who don't truly need it reeks of plastic surgery. Which is ironic since many insurance carriers will not pay for the plastic surgery after the weight loss. My wife has 20 pounds of extra skin hanging off of her, and we would have to foot the bill to have the "apron" removed.

Previous thread here - http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=35979 My wife had gastric bypass in February of 2004. She has lost 179 pounds and until last Friday was healthier and happier than she had been in her whole life. Last Saturday, she fell down. It looked like she caught her foot on a welcome mat, and we didn't pay much attention to it. The next day, she fell again, after complaining of numbness in her feet and legs. She fell twice on Monday, saw her doctor Tuesday, and was admitted into the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday, she couldn't get out of bed without assistance, and couldn't even sit up for more than 15 minutes. Thursday, her hands began to go numb Doing some reasearch on my own into this, I found a study (link here) released in October of last year, saying that up to 16% of gastric bypass patients had developed neuropathy secondary to the gastric bypass surgery. It's due to the malabsorption built into the surgery by the bypassing of 3 feet of small intestine. Since the surgery is not reversable, the options are very limited. My healthy, happy 37 year old wife is in the hospital now, and will stay for about 3 weeks while they boost her body with nutrients fed in through a central line. She will probably go home with a permanent feeding tube, even though she can eat normal food. Problem is, now she can't eat enough. The surgery is too effective for her. My wife will have to relearn how to walk, since the nerves in her legs have basically shut down. She has no noticeable muscle tone from the knees down, and can barely move her foot. She walked 70 feet yesterday, with the assistance of 2 physical therapists and a walker. She was dancing 2 weeks ago. Thank God we saw this early, and it is still fixable at this point. She developed this very quickly, with no warning, and it could have progressed very quickly to paralysis or death. The nerves were not damaged too bad, and thankfully her doctor recognized that something was really wrong. If you know anyone who has had this surgery, even if they are doing well now, warn them about this side effect. It is only being undestood now, and it is treatable when caught early. Once the nerves have been damaged past a certain point, it is permanent. It is nothing she did wrong. It is nothing that could have been avoided with extra vitamins. It is the reduced absorption of calories and nutrients that is the root of thins. It's sort of related to Beriberi. I'm scared shitless. If they are just figuring this out, what else is down the road?

I think the LapBand is the better method. Problem is, there aren't any insurance companies (that I know of) that will cover it. They are happy to do the Roux-en-Y surgery, which has more complications. It boggles the mind.

IMHO, 15 is way too young to consider this surgery, unless she is in dire need of it. If she's just fat but otherwise healthy, there is no way she should even find a doctor that would consider it. It's a great surgery, it probably saved my wife's life, but it is fraught with potential problems and it not a quick fix. Anyone who thinks that it is the easy way out is totally and completely wrong. It's not just the fact that is makes the stomach smaller, it forces lifestyle changes. You simply do not have the option of doing something that is not allowed. You can cheat on a diet. There is no cheating with gastric bypass. People have gotten stupid about the whole thing. A lady who works with my wife forced herself to gain over 50 pounds so she would qualify for the surgery. That is just ludicrous.

An update - Not a really good one: Last Friday, my wife felt great, we were looking at houses, she was happy, mobile, and 179 pounds lighter than when we started all of this. My wife is right now in the hospital with weakness/numbness in her legs, and her hands are starting to give her trouble. She can't walk without assistance, her legs crumple with no warning, and she has started developing problems with her hands. I, like everyone else, got into the mantra of "protien and water" being the most crucial part of the new diet. We were wrong. Or at least we didn't grasp the complete story of this particular complication. There was always a risk of this, but it was written of as pretty rare, and nothing to worry about. This was early 2004. Since then new information has come to light, and the rate of occurence of neuropathy is something like 16 percent. It seems to be related to a vitamin B complex deficiency. It's similar to Beriberi, of all things. When she had the surgery, not only was her stomach made smaller, but 3 feet of small intestine was bypassed as well. These 3 feet allow the body to absorb fewer calories, but also reduce the nutrients that the body absorbs, including the B complex vitamins. It's not that she was eating the wrong things, it's just that her body wasn't absorbing all of it. I add this to this thread as advice to anyone considering the surgery, or someone who may have to help care for someone with this surgery. A 16 percent occurence rate is pretty damn high for something this serious. This is really only coming to light in the last year or so, since the operation got "popular", and the screening and education processes may have been short-changed. It is preventable, but that's whats so frustrating about it. We will hopefully find out about her vitamin requirements, and be able to boost the intake to the proper level. The neurologist is confident that it can be reversed, but she will have physical therapy for a while, and will have to basically relearn to walk and do other things. And she was healthy a week ago. I've never seen or heard of anything like this that can progress this quickly, and out of the blue. Except maybe for strokes and trauma patients. It really started about a week ago when she said she had pins and needles on her leg, and we both wrote it off as a pinched nerve from sitting cross-legged. We were wrong. If you have had the surgery, get this checked out if you have any weakness/numbness/pins and needles in your legs or hands, or if you have a fast unexplained gait change. The earlier it's caught the less chance of permanent damage to the nerves.

Methinks they are doing that to make up for losing an extra person (or possibly 2), as in contestants who call GR an asshole, then walk off the set. Fox paid for x number of episodes, and a contestant leaving cuts down the number of possible episodes by one. He can't be eliminated if he walks off, and there are rules to follow for shows that give away prizes. If my math is correct, this means that at least one more will bail on the show before it's done. They are stretching it for 2 extra shows, I think... Or I could be completely wrong, and it simply gives the producers the chance to give Ramsey even more time to hurl invective around the kitchen, which seems to be the whole premise of the show anyway...

I blame Fox. I was hoping for a better show, completely aware that the food was not going to be the focus. It seems to be Ramsey's drill instructor persona and little else, except for his underlings version of the same. The writing (and there are writers) sucks. When he called one contestant a "plank" on the first show, I was lost. "You're a plank." was the best he could come up with? Before he even tasted the dish? If this is what Fox does to a potentially great show with a great premise, I shudder to think of what they will do with Kitchen Confidential...

I missed it this week. I got stuck teaching someone the concept of the mouse as it relates to a computer. I hate working in people's homes.... But I digress. "Blueberry" was not long for the kitchen, I could tell from ep 1. Too high strung and too busy trying to overcompensate for an obvious self esteem issue. (before anyone starts going off, I know. I've lived it.) It was like 3rd grade dodgeball all over again. The bully asshole picking on the kid who he knows is going to lose it. I don't think many people could have stood up to that kind of pressure. It's a lot like boot camp. Here you are, isn't it pretty, now get to work and don't stop until I get tired of watching you work. I don't feel so much pity for him, since he did it to himself. He heard about the audition, went there, and did what they asked him...

Sorry for the lag time here. I meant that it was a shame that they had to resort to any kind of gimmick, celebrity or otherwise. It was not a shot against Emeril.