bandregg

It's my understanding that Pop's bakery is going to focus on the products that they already make (read: breads) and make those available to the public as well. They'll probably also turn out some sweets, but I doubt that they'll make the jump to real pastries and cakes.

These are also excellent questions for someone like myself who is considering a career change into the world of cookery and possible culinary school to jumpstart that.

What about masa harina? I just made a lovely venison black-bean chili from Stephan Pyles that calls for 2 teaspoons of masa stirred in at the end.

Livable wage pay and proportionate pay betwen executives and workers is one of my values that impacts most of my purchase decisions. That's why I care. I'd also argue that Walmart is "bad" people corporately, but maybe locking employees in stores, semi-legally discouraging collective bargining, and not helping workers afford health benefits (while executives can and have them as part of their compinsation package) isn't bad to you. If you value cost as king and price only, then WF may not be the place for you to shop. Maybe that's Walmart. And both firms market themselves to these somewhat discreet populations. My problem with the original article of discussion is that it's just so poorly written. There are little to no real numbers or sources to back up supposition and complaints about the marketing of local food and organic food ignore that WF tries to provide both. What's worse though, what makes the article so bad in my eyes, is that it wasn't written from the journalistic standpoint of impartiality. The author wasn't standing in a WF one day and saying "why do they offer conventional and organic of the same thing" (that's a good question and one of market dynamics I'd guess). Instead the author says, "There's this store that markets itself as selling organic food. I think there is something wrong with that."

Phoebe, If you want to sell at the DFM and you need an inspected kitchen have you considered talking to one of the other baked good vendors, or someone like the guys in the Pop's bakery about renting time in their kitchens? I sorely miss phoebecakes but I'll be honest, I wouldn't keep a bakery in business with my custom.

In Durham, NC it's an environmental code violation to run a commercial food smoker in the city limits. I suspect that a true pit would be classified as the same.

You wrote earlier that Whole Foods had told at least one lie in their promotions, specifically about salaries, which isn't a lie at all. It is commonly accepted business practice for salaries to be equated differently from stock options, health benefits, and bonuses. But, if it is a lie, then it's fraud and actionable, so in the words of the gambler "Put up or Shut up." More importantly to me, Don't speak for where my views come from. You don't know me, you don't know my family, and speaking for me shows you as ignorant to the many opinions in this world and how they're formed. And that is black and white.

To summarize what I see as the arguments here (and that's what I see, not what everyone really wanted to say but didn't get across well), Whole Foods is selling to its customers with a message of local is better, organic is better, and we offer those things. This has raised the question of whether or not local is better, or organic is better, and most importantly, and the point of the article and several posts, does Whole Foods really offer these things. Oh, and this is different from the tranditional grocery marketing of "good product, good price, good value" that larger chains including Walmart continue to use. Let's turn the tiger by the tail and ask if other stores, selling produce and groceries for less, are doing anything differently in their marketing. Or, "is cheaper better." My biases are that "good value" to me means that suppliers and employees are offered a livable wage, that I can find local products when they're available, and that I enjoy shopping at a store. I don't have any qualms at all with Whole Foods advertising their "good corporate citizenship" if it exists, and from what I've seen locally, it does. I have many more problems with Walmart setting up shop in small rural towns and providing low cost sundries and advertising that they're "there for the little people, and providing jobs for those without work" when it's their store that closed the local hardware, flower shop, and grocery, which left people without jobs and the inability to shop any place but walmart. If you can say with proof that Whole Foods doesn't offer local produce, or doesn't offer organic food, or isn't a good corporate citizen, I'll be the first one to join your class action lawsuit; I give them a ton of money a year. But, let's not throw stones when we can't see the sin.

I've never brined ribs or shoulder myself. There is more than enough fat to keep the meat nice and tender and a little salt in the rub takes care of that.

[ edited after checking my source. ] According to "The Great American Seafood Cookbook" by Loomis you shouldn't ever cook a fish prior to it going through rigor as the cooking process causes rigor to onset at an explosive rate and the fish will explode within itself yeilding dry, crumbly meat. I'm not sure how this would affect fish that are blast frozen before rigor and then allowed to thaw. Perhaps the freezing process terminates rigor or the slow thaw prevents damage to the fish.

I've used Guglhupf for a few birthday cakes and I've used you for birthday cupcakes, but I have to say that generally I just don't think about buying cakes. That may be because it isn't on my radar and if it was I'd shop differently, but that's a big leap. My wife discovered two years ago that she's allergic to wheat, so that also puts a stop to pastry shopping for fun and weight gain unless I'm buying just for myself and that's rare. I do love a good sweet treat after a bike ride though. In Kansas City where I grew up we had the most wonderful French Bakery, Napoleon's. I was fortunate enough to have a girlfriend who worked there and was regularly given huge bags of end of day bread and treats by the owners. Ah, the memories. I can guarantee you one customer.

Sorry for the misspelling, but the fish was delicious last night none the less. The main fish guy at Fowlers was saying that he's sourcing as much locally as he can, but that the salmon and the bass were farmed but safe. He also had live scallops, which I never see around here, but alas for another time. A large number of fish are frozen on the catch boat and are sold for raw consumption, like every tuna caught.

On the fish front I just got an email from Fowlers claiming to have a load of shashimi grade fish in today: tuna, flounder, salmon, and striped bass. I'll probably swing by and buy some for dinner on the way home.

Saturday is my wife and I's semi-regular Meat Fling. I'll be smoking a brisket, a pork shoulder, a couple of chickens, and for the special guests a couple of racks of ribs. All done in my weber smoker. We'll also have a small keg and I supposed people may bring sides, but it's all about the meat.

I go to Tyler's for beer. I've eaten there and at the Tyler's in Carrboro a number of times and I just find it "good food." I'd rather cook than pay for that.

I buy my fish from the fish counters at Whole Foods or the Earth Fare in Chapel Hill; Whole Foods now displays the source for the individual fish on their price tags. I generally know what I'm looking for going in and what I'm looking at when I'm there so I don't ask too much of the counter help. There isn't generally anything interesting available, though I just picked up some lovely shad roes at the Whole Foods and Earth Fare has had skate. If you want lobster or bulk oysters then Fishmongers is the place to go, on Main St. They preportedly sell other fish at their market, but you can't see it, so I'm not sure what good that is. There is a fish store on University Dr. on Enterprise St. near downtown that does a good business and will cut on site to meet your needs.

I wouldn't use a silicone baking mat; it will keep the bottom from crisping against the pan. I've found that I don't even have to worry about flipping them around or over and when they're done they release from the pan pretty easy. That side is just a little crispier than the others, but no where burned.

In one word the problem is: education. There is a lack of education about food, food choices, calories, exercise, and health. And education needs to be taught with simple examples and guidelines. There is a terrific scene in "Super Size Me" where Subway's Jarod gives a seminar about weight and food choice. Afterword he talks with a mother and daughter who thank him profusely for being there and teaching people without making judgement. BUT, after Jarod leaves the frame the girl says, "I think it's great, and it will really help, but it was easy for him. I can't afford to eat at Subway everyday." Which, by the way, wasn't his advice at all. That lack of understanding what she'd just been told, and the want for an easy, simple solution was the most disturbing part of the movie for me. People need to be taught that there is a direct connection between food and health and well-being and taught and taugh again. A constant theme in Cornbread Nation 3: Foods of the Mountain South is that poverty never meant that people ate unheathily. There are a lot of ways to eat very healthy without spending much money, heck even at Whole Foods dried lentils and other dried beans are remarkably cheap.

Did you witness a crime being committed? Were you the victim of a crime during this walk? My wife and I are regularly in downtown after dark and I rarely feel unsafe or threatened, but I do know a lot of people who feel like you do. The closest I've gotten to figuring it out is that people read about crime in the paper and somehow translate that to downtown. I've been reading the crime briefs for a long time and don't recall ever reading about anything happening between the Carolina Theatre and Brightleaf. I welcome the influx of new restauants and I sincerely hope that there is enough daytime business to keep them going until the nighttime business catches up. Joe and Jo's seems to have enough business and I consider them in downtown. We now have a pharmacy (Gurley's on Main) and restaurants only add to the draw for more people to live in downtown. I'd love to see a grocery as well. I'll do anything to promote these places. I'd rather be mugged than see more exburb development in Durham County. I hate seeing business dragged away from exiting locations in downtown or at least "in town" because some developer thinks we need another 150 house development near Southpoint. Ugh.

I like Alice and I like her approach to food. I have my doubts about the food lunch program based on what her work in NY in the same vein. She was complaining that the kids weren't willing to try the mesclun and thought that the feta tasted bad, and she dispaired at that. But, she also didn't offer other possibilities. If the kids didn't have palates that enjoyed this wonderful, healthy food then there was nothing she could do. I'd rather see a program like Detlefchef describes where we serve good, healthy food that the kids are willing to at least try and start changing their diets there. A good roast chicken, some fresh fruit, healthy bread, I would have killed for that option in school and I wasn't an adventurous eater.

You'll definitely want to check the times for some of the places that you want to go. It seems like Liuzza's stops serving at 5p right now.

Susie and I went to Elaine's for her birthday and had a delightful time. As a starter I had the "Fois Gras BLT" which is one of the two best dishes I've had in the past year. It was a tender lobe of fois gras seared and then put between two small pieces of sandwich style bread with candied bacon, arugula, perfect tomatoes, and just a touch of house made mayo. I could have just kept eating those throughout the night and I would have been in heaven.

Susie and I tried to go to Super Taqueria today at lunch and it was closed. We went down Roxboro a little further to Carniceria Superior Taqueria Mercado, or whatever it's called, and it was open and delicious.

I get in on Thursday night for my SFA work weekend; I'm thinking that the Longbranch might be just the answer for dinner.

I asked our waitress for the scoop on Friday night and she said that Andy and Aby are leaving to start their own place. Let's just hope it's in Durham.