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Not likely ... I live in Sacramento! Owen has tagged me and I plan on tagging Mayhaw Man for next week. (I haven't told him that yet so shhhhh...it's a secret) Damn and here I was going to try and get tagged in the upcoming weeks since my wife and I will be taking a "vacation" to NY and NJ for 3 weeks from Australia. We'll be there from the 30thMar - 17thApr, so if anyway can't do their foodblog, PM me. Cheers Tom

Sorry no comment or answers cept for c'mon Tommy get it together Cheers Tom

My wife and I weren't going out yet - we were just going through the friendship stage. She lived in Caldwell NJ and I was across on vacation from Australia and staying with her. That morning she left for work, and ten minutes later I headed down to Shoprite ..... she came home to a huge pot of Manhattan clam chowder, fresh bread rolls that I'd made and a green salad. The meal was an absolute success and she froze the rest of the chowder for when I'd left. On the other hand the first meal she cooked for me was eggplant parmajana (spelling) - we ended up ordering pizza in that night Tom

And I thought the $16 strawberries at Molly Stone were bad. But hey, if anybody wants a Great Deal, Trader Joe's organic nuts are ridiculously cheap compared to other places. I keep bags of hazel nuts, pistachios, pine nuts in my freezer. Makes me feel like I have a trust fund or am one of the Hilton sisters. (No jokes, please, about Paris Hilton and frozen nuts.) nyuck nyuck nyuck Why did the name Paris Hilton just suddenly jump out at me??

Ahhhh flying rats ... almost as bad as tree rats Mighty tasty tho Just for the record tho.. I'm still trying to work out what kosher is. I live in Australia at present and there isn't alot of it around. Yeah, yeah call me stupid I'm used to it

When I can get fresh Italian tomatoes, I usually: 1. Boil them so I can skin them easily 2. Mince an onion 3. Crush tomatoes and add onion to slow cooker with a cple of minced cloves of garlic. 4. Add fresh oregano 5. Let simmer for a few hours in slow cooker I have no idea what it is about his sauce mainly because he won't tell me. In my opinion more subtle than mine.. it's got more "body" however, if that makes sense? Tom Note: Australian pizza's are heavier on sauce than NY style pizza maybe that might be part of the problem.

Geez I saw the topic title and immediatly thought Olive Garden

OK guys I've been challenged to a pizza cook off with my father in law. My pizza sauce is good but his is kick ass. I need help coz I'll be damned if I'll lose to FIL ANY help would be appreciated!!!! Tom

Yup you've got it in one!!!!! It's good to see someone else with the same impression I too liked to liberate equipment and gear from them. My favourite conversation with them went like this: Me: Do you have any crates of HE for the M-203's? REMF: Yeah we've got about 30 crates HE and WP Me: Well can I grab a couple of crates? REMF: Well I could issue them to you BUT what if someone else wants them?? Me: <bang head against table> Me: Waits 10 minutes until said REMF goes out the back and liberates 4 crates instead of the 2 we actually wanted. Me laughs all the way back to my platoon's lines, thinking about the REMF trying to explain that one.

Hey Beto-- who are you with? I'm curious Regards Tom

I've got some contacts, so I'll do some homework and get back to you on that one Mabelline. It's been awhile since I was in the forces but some of my mates in the Australian army should def be able to help. Regards Tom

No offense Mabelline - or Beto (and this may seem out of line) but if you're going to look into "adopt a platoon", maybe check out some of the platoons that are further out of green zone - that's the supposed safe zone -where they don't have access to as much. Or hell maybe even adopt 2 platoons Regards Tom

Oddly enough, the Boudreaux's Buttpaste guy is IN my office complex in Covington, LA (George Boudreaux, a guy who made a ton on a funny idea-great t-shirts incidentally). How much do you want? I am sure that I can get a butt load It's be great publicity for him and and it's for a great cause too Regards Tom

Hey Beto please don't tell me you're a REMF J/K

Another couple of things I thought of last night: Thick socks because Army socks suck and after 6 months of deplyment your originals are buggered. Tinea cream because after a week on the ground everyone's got it and it's a pain in the azz. Regards Tom

PS Don;t tell the the muslim Iraqi's what's in hotdogs

From personal experience we always avoided asking for pork products as much as we wanted them. Xmas time in Saudi I would have killed for a ham and somehow my family sourced a company that would ship it through to us but we somehow resisted. My advice for this is seeing the country is 95% (maybe just less than that) try to avoid sending pork products - that way no one is embarrassed, either the soldier that opens it or possibly "customs". As for spices, I'd suggest sending in the original containers/ unopened even if they are in bulk. That way the guys who check out the packages don't have to worry about the contents and on top of that the guys on the ground can then split up the spices etc between themselves. NOTE: As much as I wished for a beer or ANY other sort of alcohol while in the ME... PLEASE don't even contemplate it. I realize you were prob joking about the scotch but that's one thing that will automatically be confiscated... call me on the worry BUT during GW1 people sent alot of bottles of alcohol and they were confiscated, shipped straight back to the US and gone by the time we got home sooooooooo all the REMF's got it and we who were doing the job missed out

OK here's complete list of things that I always got family to send over when I was stationed in Somalia and during GW1: cotton buds (for cleaning weapons) pore cleanser (for cleaning yourself) baby wipes (for cleaning yourself) moisturizer (for baby soft skin ) newspapers no matter how old they were decent COFFEE (preferably instant because of trying to find a percolator) hard candy (for the soldiers and hearts and minds) any sort of spices preferably in plastic containers LETTERS from anyone (we didn't care if we knew the person writing it) AA batteries for personal stereos (there were never enough to steal ) Non army issue toilet paper oreos - double stuffed industrial type soap (the gritty kind) - even with showers it's a bitch to get rid of all the dirt after being on the ground for so long clearasil or any other acne cream I know alot of this sounds very unsoldierlike but it's amazing how it contributes to morale. During Somalia because we interacted with the general population a fair bit, my batallion also got family and friends to ship across small stuffed animals, candies and such to hand out to the local kids. When I can think of more I'll repost them Regards Tom

When I was in the service we used to use the pipe cleaners for keeping our rifles and handguns clean. A touch of oil and then run the cleaner along a groove and bingo a ton of muck, carbon would disappear. Another good one are cotton buds (same principle).... and that's buds not balls If you want a list of anything else we would use or kill for just let me know and I'll post a complete list. edited for spelling

If you want you can also freeze live unshucked oysters for about a month before using. If they're shucked I wouldn't try it but in all honesty unlike lobster, crab etc the taste doesn't detiorate because they're locked in their own "zip lock" bag. However if I've frozen them I usually only use them grilled, baked etc but sometimes if I feel evil I'll eat them raw Regards Tom Note: These are Australian oysters and I can get them fresh everything second day so I don't know how this would effect you

In Australia you can either buy your oysters either live (unopened) or shucked. Both are entirely safe to eat raw. When I buy live oysters I actually do place them in the freezer for about 20 minutes, flat side up. This seems to loosen the muscle and make them a hell of alot easier to shuck. I also do this with clams and cockles. Works like a charm Regards Tom

how bout in a buffalo then??

I can't resist throw some prawns on the barbie. But seriously how about a roast leg of lamb with all the trimmings, roast potatoes, roast carrots and pumpkin. Served with gravy and a real mint sauce

It would be a long trip for you but Freeman's Fish Market in Maplewood has an outstanding reputation. Don't think they have any barrimundi tho! http://www.freemansfishmarket.com/ Ok the barramundi is a real disappointment Damn that's one thing I really will miss once we move back to NJ. I'll definitely check out Freeman's though. Regards Tom

They used to, but I think they may have discontinued it. Used to, you could address mail to "any soldier" and they'd pick someone that didn't regularly get mail. But I read where they discontinued it due to the potential for various forms of mischief, including things that one can see, like bombs, and things that one cannot, like poison. But I'm not sure. They may have found a way to reinstate it with some sort of increased security methods. I'm pretty sure they're still doing this. Check out the following site and they should be able to help you. http://www.lt-smash.us/ There's alot of links to other milblogs and you might find exactly what you're looking for there. Cheers Tom