Verjuice

A friend and I are driving down from S.Fe to sit our National Board exams in acupuncture this weekend, and we'd like to enjoy a great dinner afterwards, preferably something we can't get in Santa Fe, and good enough to drive back to Albuquerque for. We'll be a couple of exhausted girls looking for a casual but awesome dining experience. Any fabulous unusual ethnic eats in ABQ?

Are there places along the Mayan Riviera that I absolutely should not miss eating at? Particular dishes to keep a hungry eye out for? And although it's off the topic, any strong recommendations for places to stay? I'm going to be on my own for a while before my sister joins me in Tulum later on, and she's into suitcases and resorts while I dig backpacks and nature. Have read great things about KaiLuumII , both here and elsewhere... and we are very flexible, location-wise, except Cancun is out of the question.

I won't tolerate foaminess in any form, even in mousses and souffles.

Cranial MRIs on folks who had never tried either beverage showed that people universally preferred Pepsi when they didn't know which they were drinking. Funny what marketing and/or conditioning can do to a person, eh? I'll see if I can locate that study.

Delivery pizza (first one in years) with pineapple and jalapeno. Nothing- and I mean nothing- else would do.

I've read that the difference between the two is that Coke is vanilla-based and Pepsi is citrus-based. Makes sense, come to think of it. Pepsi has that sharp acid tang, which I happen to prefer to Coke's nuance-free roundness...

I was visiting family in the U.A.E. last month, and my sister insisted on McDonalds at some point. She came home with a large order of fries and two McArabias. WTF?Apparently, McD's clever marketing tactic for catering to all of the locals who shun the place. Utterly ineffective, though. By the way, it is composed of grilled chicken with tomato, lettuce, onion etc., stuffed into a round pita and then packaed in a paper envelope (just like the apple pies used to be, but larger).

Does anyone have strong feelings regarding which stage of cooking ro add the salt? I find that I am much more likely to oversalt at the table if I don't salt enough at the beginning of cooking...

A cup of soup, I tell myself. Most days, though, it's almonds out of the glove compartment, dried apricots, an apple, a latte. I suppose I could eat real food if I didn't mind scarfing down my food, or if I was inclined to eat while driving, or if I wasn't fazed by Tupperware or microwaves, but these things bother me enough that I prefer to stave off my hunger with a quiet snack and wait to have a great supper.

I just opened a couple of bottles of Quady Vya vermouth. How should I store them and how long will they be good for? I found a thread that had info on it claiming that port can stick around for about a week. Is vermouth the same? If so, then I'm going to have to get busy . Any help would be dearly appreciated!

I love to luxuriate in the company of a gigantic bowl of roasted, salted pistachios when I'm guzzling prosecco. With Kir royales,which I drink less often, pistachios are even better; I think it must remind me of the Middle Eastern pistachio/sour cherry combination I find so delectable in desserts . I also adore Marcona almonds with fino sherry. Pecans freshly toasted and spiced accordingly are great with cocktails. I think. A big bowl of black walnuts in the shell and a bottle of Belgian beer, like Chimay. The pronounced bitterness works really well with the astringency of the nuts, and they're both so meaty and luscious. Honey-roasted macadamias and Myer's rum? Maybe not. How about cashews? And brazil nuts? Perhaps with something similarly big and buttery. Exceot I hate that crap, and I love cashews and brazil nuts.

It's called matcha, and it's perfect for this. I'm pretty sure it's just a super high quality and extra high potency pulverized tea leaves in powder form. Pricey, yes, but a little goes a long way, and you get the potency of flavor and the vibrant green color that is so appealing. It's what is used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, too.

Gorgonzola-Dolcelatte is like gorgonzola with mascarpone. Actually, I think it really is gorgonzola with mascarpone! Shropshire blue.

Yeah, that's the stuff. The person who recommended it also mentioned that it couldn't be found in the States, but apparently they were misinformed. I found it at the nearest liquor store and picked some up last night, but I haven't had the chance to taste it yet. Outside of margaritas, what should I do with this stuff?

Anyone tried this stuff? I hear it takes margaritas to a whole new level...

Congratulations, Neil! I don't often get hungry for dessert while I'm in the middle of eating my dessert, but the images alone made my bowl of ice cream utterly uninteresting to me. Best of luck!

FARINA.

When I first visited London as a teenager, I was thrilled to discover the chip butty; it reassured me that there were other likeminded folk out there, as committed as I secretly was to the "starch marathon" (as Nigel Slater calls it) that was the stuff my childhood dreams were made of. Sliced bread smeared with cold butter. Hot, salty french fries sandwiched between the bread slices. Warm enough to melt the butter. This is key. Funny. I am not a carb junkie by any stretch of the imagination, but I can't resist making this sandwich if I think about it for more than a few minutes at a time. I've often been tempted to play around, you know, add cornichons or homemade aioli or whatever, but I resist. It's perfect already.

Saw a bumper sticker today: "Friends don't let friends go to Starbucks". Count me in. Their straight coffee is the worst. I haven't had it in years, but I remember that it tasted like a combination of old laundry water, ashtray sediment and suet. Horrid. Dunkin Donuts strikes a nostalgic chord with me, though I don't like their coffee anymore either. I have found that it's really hit-or-miss. The town I live in only has one DD, and it's neither convenient location-wise nor reliable quality-wise: the two things it had going for it when I lived near a half dozen of them in the Northeast. Has anyone else noticed that DD's coffee has a generic baked-goods aroma to it that permeates your every skin pore and hair follicle for about three hours after you've finished your coffee? Even if I don't actually enter a DD to get my coffee, it still smells like cake/doughnut/muffin to me .

You Can Do Anything with Crepes! Essentially an antiquated guidebook of cream sauces. Chicken, beef, oysters, chicken, "crab", chicken and pimientos, chicken and mushroom, chicken, cat, chicken. A handful of actual crepe recipes scattered throughout, none of which are keepers .

I have family in the Worcester area and I visit a couple times a year, so I don't know so much about the hole-in-wall gems that I'm sure you will find eventually, but here are some suggestions anyway: Sole Proprietor is reeeaaally popular, and granted they have excellent turnover and I have never had a bad meal there (or, for that matter, a really good one). They have an absudly extensive menu. Sushi included. I find that they aren't very good at anything in particular, but they do make an awesome garnish that you can request as a side dish (I don't think it's on the menu). It's the Spicy Szechuan slaw. Sounds gimmicky and gross, but it's great. I used to love their little fish market before they closed it down, because you could buy some of their better appetizers frozen and take them home to prepare, but they've taken my favorites off the menu since then, too. 111 Chop House I like. Same owner. Steaks, chops, salads, cute on the outside too. Struck Cafe on Chandler Street. I haven't been in years but I used to adore the place. I think that they also run a small catering company? My cousins who live in the area love Romaine's in Northborough I like Living Earth, the health food store: they have a cute little cafe called the Garden Cafe. All vegetarian, and good for lunch when you'r e downtown and it's a toss-up between franchises. Caffe Dolce on Shrewsbury Street used to have lovely coffee and desserts. It's right across from 111 Chop House, practically. Elsa's Bushel and Peck used to make great sandwiches. I think there are a couple of locations, one of them on Chandler St. Sahara on Highland St (Rt. 9) for Middle Eastern is nice. It's also good for when the Sole Proprietor next door is packed. Shiraz is a little Armenian place on Park. There's also the cafe at the Worcester Art Museum. Hope this helps.

La Salamandra Dulce de Leche slathered on hunks of toasted week-old banana bread. Gave up on the banana bread halfway through the second slice and devoted my attention to the dulce de leche spoonfuls of it, sprinkled with fleur de sel. I had a hard day. Dee-lish!

-All jarred "gourmet" sauces and dips. Yuck. And almost all jarred/bottles salad dressings and marinades. Especially the designer ones: Charlie Trotter, Bobby Flay, Vong... they all taste like sugary dormitory soup stoppered in a bottle. -Exotic fruit in the States... $2.49 for a single passion fruit at my local Whole Foods. What the heck can you do with a single passion fruit?! Also, $2.89 for one quince. -White truffle oil. Tastes like a cheap imitation but doesn't charge like one. -Jarred olives and cornichons. Better bought in bulk. Especially at the rate at which I consume them. -TVP is the worst stuff on the planet and any price is too high. -Most low-fat anythings. -Frozen gnocchi.

I once lived with a woman who had a similar, er, quirk. She drank huge amounts of the following, all of which are widely available: 1) Quady Essencia black muscat dessert wine 2) Manischewitz Concord Grape wine 3) Half Beaujolais Nouveau, half Coke 4) Port 5) Bonny Doon Big House Red and Sprite or 7Up or Tonic Water 6) White Merlot or White Zin with a shot of Framboise or Creme de Cassis 7) Mateus Of course, none of these are drinkable

Thanks, you guys- I just picked up some Ommegang and Hennepin and look forward to trying them. Rick, other beers that I have tried in the past include the usual array of domestic brews. I hate the light colored ones (but will tolerate a few sips of Rolling Rock). I have had many of the beers in the Samuel Adams collection, hated the Hefeweizen, too. I don't mind Smithwick but I find Guinness a bit too rich and brothy and reminiscent of tar/laundry/suet. I don't care for Fat Tire ir Blue Paddle or any of those. Newcastle Brown Ale for my pizza dough, but in a pinch Honey Brown will do. On another note, earlier today I made Claudia Fleming's deep, dark Guinness Stout Gingerbread, but replaced the GS with Chimay. yUMMO Any recommendations for good lambic? The fruit-flavored stuff that fllies off the shelves here is offensive.