Varmint

We often use blackstrap mollasses.

I'm not sure if I should bow and say "I'm not worthy" or just get downright spiteful.

Has anyone actually purchased the mozzarella beginner's kit? I'd like to hear how well it worked and the quality of the cheese. What's the advantage of using vegetable versus animal rennin? I'm looking for some hard core enzymology and food science here!

Please do. My in-laws fly up to the Met for the Saturday matinee about 8 times a year, and they have talked about grabbing a bite to eat during the intermission. Granted, that's a lot different than running over to Picholine to grab their cheese course, but your story sounds interesting.

The typical answer is that they eat it well done because that's the way they've always eaten it. My four children, the oldest of whom is 8, complain if I overcook the meat. They certainly don't have the most discerning palates; they just get fed rare and tender cuts far more often.

The L.A. Times has a simple recipe of a peach and raspberry "crustless" pie (one man's crustless pie is another man's cobbler, crisp or grunt). Anyhow, the combination of peaches, a tart berry such as blackberries (gooseberries are great!), and blueberries is a great combination. I make tons of fruit cobbler this time of year, and the two constants are peaches and blueberries. Anyhow, click HERE for the recipe.

I prepare all different kinds of flavors of roasted nuts during the Christmas season to give away as gifts. Some are sweet (Bourbon Maple), some are savory (bitter garlic). I'd be surprised if Suvir didn't have a number of different spice combinations that would go well with nuts.

Has anyone here actually been inflicted with a confirmed case of salmonella? If so, how severe were your symptoms? I often wonder how big of a deal this is.

Careful about that food as art discussion, as Shaw will start bringing up Plato's Dialogues!

I use the rounded edge of the sink above my garbage disposal. That makes it very easy to deal with the eggs and not worry about the shells.

I'm always amazed to see dry and overcooked pork tenderloin. That's one of the simplest cuts of meat to cook properly, yet your experience is not all that unusual. Do diners still have a phobia over pork that is cooked less than medium-well? I certainly hope that this isn't what led to the overcooking. But then, what's worse, an ignorant or inattentive staff?

Thanks again, Suvir. Excellent, informative post. We in the sticks cannot get such a wide variety of rice. Can you recommend good mail order sources?

Wow, thanks for that post. Very few of us have much of an appreciation of rice beyond basmati, arborio, jasmine and carnaroli. Way back when I was in college, a professor was talking about East Asian cultures, particularly some particular areas of China. He indicated that much of the Chinese had a near reverence with rice as well, to the extent that it would be disrespectful to the rice (not the cook) to leave a grain remaining in a bowl. Whether that's true or myth, I don't know. Is there something analogous in the Indian culture?

Knock 'em dead tomorrow! All the best from North Cackalacky!

Speaking of screaming kids, and certainly off topic, when we went to Maine for vacation with our 4 little ones (all 8 and under), my 3 year old was having trouble staying in his seat. We often use a booster with him that keeps him strapped to the seat, but at this lobster pound, they didn't have such an option. Anyhow, I threatened to strap him in using my belt, but I threatened him by saying, "You had better keep seated or I'll use my belt on you." Man, you should have seen the looks we got from the customers around us. My wife wanted to crawl under the table.

The 5 fruit cobbler I made at my house this past weekend. Sorry, I had to get this thread away from New York.

Um, guys, I'm not familiar with loomi, but how does it differ from lemonade?

Based on Tommy's comment above about his use of his wrist, I'd fathom a guess that his choice of music would be "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors.

Hell, we have a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant down here in Raleigh -- "Dalat." The thought was that a pure Vietnamese would be too "weird" for the folks around here, so they had to have a full Chinese menu as well. They serve pretty darned good pho, fortunately.

Rochelle- Thanks again for your great journal. I look forward to every new installment. Do you sense any competition between you and your classmates? Do they ask about your recipe notebook to see if they can get any useful information? As a lawyer, I remember how competitive some of my classmates were back in law school. I'd like to think it's not the same in culinary school, but as exams approach, I'm curious.

I can think of two reasons of why I prefer a small onion from time to time. First, I may not have a need for all that onion in a big one. I recognize that I may not pull that half onion out of the fridge for future use, so I'll just use a smaller onion. Second, the size of the dice, when I typically cut an onion, comes out smaller with a small onion. The "rings" of a large onion are usually thicker, and the size of the dice is dependent on the ring size (unless I want to take extra time to mince the onion).

I don't disagree that Mimma's is good, it's just that there are better choices in the Milwaukee area. For example, try Bartolotta's in Wauwatosa, Cafe Siciliano in Mequon, Third Ward Caffe downtown, and the place in the Knickerbocker Hotel.

Once again, I'm in agreement with Southern Girl: FIGS!! (from the tree in my front yard -- the birds get them very quickly) Purple hull peas Wild strawberries

I'd be surprised if the pulled pork didn't already have some seasoning/sauce on it beyond any smokey flavor that could have come through during the cooking process. Thus, you'll want to be careful that your dips or sauces don't ruin the seasoning on the pork. One thing you might consider (if you're of an interactive mind-set) is to try the pork with nothing added. Then conduct a tasting using different sauces to determine the group's likes and dislikes. This type of event with something as relatively mundane as pulled pork can be quite fun. Hell, Shaw and I had a hot dog tasting party once (I can't really understand why any of those guests have turned down all subsequent dinner invitations ). Edit: Gee, it would help to check for grammar before posting!

So Southern Girl, where did you go?