Moopheus

I've never considered the deflation to be a bad thing; it's just part of the cheesecake. Then again, I've never bothered with a water bath, either. I like the slightly denser part at the edge. Cracks, on the other hand, can be avoided with a little care in the cooling stage. I've never liked any kind of topping on my cheesecake. Too bad the Mother Wonderful's book is out of print; I've made some pretty good cheescakes from that book.

I'd guess they won't go too cheap, since they're starting in high rent locations and are trying to pass on a better price to the farmers. I'd have to agree that if they want to get people to see Colmbian coffee as a quality coffee, then their smartest move would be to feature drinks that showcase the good points of their best beans, rather than a strict 'market' approach of trying to duplicate every drink Starbucks has. But then, they may also have a different idea of what makes a good espresso, etc.

In my neighborhood there is a restaurant that bills itself as Japanese tapas. Have not dared to try it yet.

I'd think if they were going to be used them for crumbs, it'd be easier to roll the dough out into a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake it into one big wafer.

There aren't strict definitions, and the terms "bittersweet" and "semisweet" can be used in packaging more or less interchangeably. In general, though, most chocolate sold as bittersweet has between 55 and 85% cocoa mass and the rest is mostly sugar. Chocolate sold as "dark" and has no percentage specified is probably at the lower end of this range. So the taste can vary quite a bit, and which to use depends a lot on preference and what you're using it for.

I had my knives done there once; I think it cost about $30 for five. Which is partly why I decided to invest in an Edgepro system. As I recall they did a decent job. I don't think I'd trust one of those roaming trucks, but that's not from personal experience.

There was an article in today's NY Times about coffee drinking in Columbia and the Columbian coffee grower's federation's plans to bring Juan Valdez cafes to America, beginning with DC and New York. Anybody have a notion of whether this could be something to look forward to?

When I was in college the main reason we ordered from Domino's was the local shop offered 25 cent sodas with each pizza. Someone on the floor would order a pizza, and we'd get 20 or 30 sodas to go with it. When we actually wanted pizza to eat, we'd order from one of the local places. Eventually Domino's had to end that special.

The other day I made the chocolate wafer cookies. She says to chill the dough before slicing, but I found it was still pretty soft and hard to handle after being refrigerated. So I froze it solid, after which it was much easier to slice. The were quite chocolatey. Since the dough had no eggs, it was tempting to not bother with the actual baking.

Particularly if the yield is stated in "servings". The "servings" are usually pretty small.

I don't overcook my spaghetti or use too much sauce (actually, I use less than my Italian grandparents). I can get plenty of strands on the fork. When you're biting through a forkful of strands of spaghetti, there's no way you can tell if those strands happen to be long or short.

Sure, but the spaghetti does not really have to be very long for this to happen. Maybe three or four times the width of you fork.I have to admit, I'd think a very short piece of spaghetti would be hard to hold on your fork. But beyond a certain minimum length, I would still say it does not matter. Riboflavinjoe said: What happens between consenting adults and their food in the privacy of their own homes should be their own business.

The second edition of this book is still in print, and coincidentally I happened to buy a copy today at the Strand. Though that recipe is now on p.43.

That only indicates that the length is completely arbitrary--packaged pasta is cut for the convenience of the producer. I've broken my spaghetti in half my whole life--so did my mother, and her mother too. I've cooked it whole, and as far as I can tell, it made not the slightest bit of difference. Either way, you twirl it up and stick it in your mouth. Of course, if you make your own pasta, you can cut it to whatever length you darn well feel like.

In fact, the pasta polizei will come and break you if you do it. The ghosts of untold millions of Italian grandmothers will wail in the night. All of the flavor runs out through the break, a trick that should only be reserved for the calories of chocolate chip cookies. Sauce will refuse to stick to the pasta, run off on to the floor, staining your pants along the way. Dogs and cats will live together; frogs will rain from the sky. Pope Unctious XIX declared in his infallible way that God whispered in his ear the perfect and unalterable dimensions of the pasta box into which all spaghetti must be fit. Have you been breaking your pasta?!? HAVE YOU?!? Say ten Hail Marios and get a bigger pot.

One of my favorite places to visit! Indeed, I have standing reservations at all the best places in town. Carby foods (rice, wheat, oats, potatoes, corn, beans, fruit, etc.) have basically supported most of human civilization for the last 10,000 years or so. For most of that time, most people were not overweight. Carbs are not the problem. But more practically, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. It covers a lot of ground, most of the recipes are not difficult or especially time consuming to make.

I think they do mail order from Brooklyn, and retail at GCT.

And to think the Applebees and Red Lobsters of the world want to keep us safe from all of this.

That's my favorite part of the store! I always load up on nuts and dried fruits when I'm there.

I usually preboil the pasta until it's about half done. The noodles will continue to absorb moisture in the oven, and if they're fully cooked before going into the oven, then they'll be overcooked (to my taste anyway) when done. I do the same with mac & cheese. If they're not cooked at all before going into the oven, you might end up with some undercooked and dry bits. I also usually bake the lasagna uncovered. I agree that serving it piping hot is not best, but then I also think it's sometimes better as leftovers out of the fridge the next day.

I think I may have actually done take-out from that place the last time I was in San Francisco. Pretty good Indian food; I recall being told by a local that he didn't know of anyone who'd had the pizza. High up on the weird places I've eaten list has to be the Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, Nevada. It's about 130 miles north of Vegas and notorious in certain circles for being the closest populated spot to Area 51. A roadside diner decorated with UFO-related paraphernalia, with pro-gun and -smoking messages mixed in. The weirdest place I've eaten, not a restaurant, had to be a picnic lunch at the bottom of a subsidence crater at the Nevada Test Site. Foodgeek's memory of the restaurant with the moosehead reminded me of a bar in Utah I went to many years ago that had an extensive collection of mounted animal heads, small and large, the centerpiece of which was a St. Bernard.

I've been eating Smucker's peanut butter for many years now. Grew up on Skippy, but now hydrogenated and sweetened peanut butter tastes weird to me. Jif in particular is so sweet it should be labeled a confection. We go through peanut butter fast enough to not bother refrigerating, just give it a quick stir before using.

I think all of the Sanpellegrino sodas, including Chinotto and the Bitter, are great. I got hooked on them in my younger days when I used to frequent the cafes of Boston's North End. They go great with a cannoli. And no, they aren't cheap, here in Brooklyn generally about $4 per six pack. I've tried the Moka, and thought it was okay, but really prefer the Manhattan Special.

"Served with sizzling"

Here's some interesting statistics about Applebee's position relative to their 'casual dining' chain competition. They're still number 1 in terms of sales, but other chains appear to be growing faster and doing better in terms of per restaurant sales. Applebee's just has a lot more locations. It seems to me that I see ads for Applebee's practically every time I turn on the TV. Pretty annoying, actually.