chemprof

Thai Basil Pepper Jelly This is good as: an appetizer when spread over cream cheese or goat cheese and served with crackers or toasted bread rounds or a condiment with pork or lamb (or even chicken!). This recipe is adapted from one called "Walt's Habanero Jelly" which can be found in various places on the net including "recipesource.com". 2 c chopped red and yellow bell pepper 1 c fresh thai basil leaves 1-1/2 c vinegar (1/2 & 1/2) rice wine and cider 5 c sugar 1 T lime or lemon juice 5 habanero chiles (orange and/or red) 1 tsp butter 1 pkg pectin (powder, sure-jell) Prepare jelly jars according to directions (wash w/ hot soapy water, sterilize lids by pouring boiling water over). I like to use the little 1/2 cup jars. Seed and stem bell peppers, chop finely CAREFULLY seed and stem habanero peppers (I highly recommend you wear a mask and gloves when you do this...these are the most toxic things I have worked with outside the lab!). Chop finely (I use a small food processor/chopper for this). Measure sugar into a bowl. Place the chiles, bell peppers, dry pectin, vinegar and butter in a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar immediately, return to a rolling boil and boil exactly one minute. Remove from heat and fill prepared jelly jars. Wipe rims with damp cloth, cover with lid and screw on bands tightly. Invert for 5 minutes then turn over and let cool slowly. After jars are cool check seals by pressing top of jars. If lid springs up, jar is not sealed (But can be kept in fridge!). I shake these occasionally as they cool to distribute the peppers so it looks nice. Tastes just as good if you don't and just stir before serving. ;-) Variations: You can use from 5-15 habaneros, depending on how much heat you want! I usually use about 10. I have made rosemary by subbing about 1/4-1/2 cups of chopped rosemary leaves. You might want to use all cider vinegar for that version. Keywords: Hot and Spicy, Easy, Appetizer, Condiment ( RG1106 )

Thai Basil Pepper Jelly This is good as: an appetizer when spread over cream cheese or goat cheese and served with crackers or toasted bread rounds or a condiment with pork or lamb (or even chicken!). This recipe is adapted from one called "Walt's Habanero Jelly" which can be found in various places on the net including "recipesource.com". 2 c chopped red and yellow bell pepper 1 c fresh thai basil leaves 1-1/2 c vinegar (1/2 & 1/2) rice wine and cider 5 c sugar 1 T lime or lemon juice 5 habanero chiles (orange and/or red) 1 tsp butter 1 pkg pectin (powder, sure-jell) Prepare jelly jars according to directions (wash w/ hot soapy water, sterilize lids by pouring boiling water over). I like to use the little 1/2 cup jars. Seed and stem bell peppers, chop finely CAREFULLY seed and stem habanero peppers (I highly recommend you wear a mask and gloves when you do this...these are the most toxic things I have worked with outside the lab!). Chop finely (I use a small food processor/chopper for this). Measure sugar into a bowl. Place the chiles, bell peppers, dry pectin, vinegar and butter in a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar immediately, return to a rolling boil and boil exactly one minute. Remove from heat and fill prepared jelly jars. Wipe rims with damp cloth, cover with lid and screw on bands tightly. Invert for 5 minutes then turn over and let cool slowly. After jars are cool check seals by pressing top of jars. If lid springs up, jar is not sealed (But can be kept in fridge!). I shake these occasionally as they cool to distribute the peppers so it looks nice. Tastes just as good if you don't and just stir before serving. ;-) Variations: You can use from 5-15 habaneros, depending on how much heat you want! I usually use about 10. I have made rosemary by subbing about 1/4-1/2 cups of chopped rosemary leaves. You might want to use all cider vinegar for that version. Keywords: Hot and Spicy, Easy, Appetizer, Condiment ( RG1106 )

We LOVED the old Orange Crush! It wasn't orange, though, and as I recall it tasted kind of like Fresca (and looked like it too). Am I remembering correctly? When I was a kid (late 60's) we used to fill up the car on trips to Myrtle Beach and haul all we could back to Winston-Salem, where it wasn't available. I remember when it finally was available in NC, but by then it was the nasty orange stuff. My mother lived on Cheerwine. She used to get it shipped to her in Fla. Anne

I just looked at my jar of Mt Olive bread & butter pickles and realized that they are themselves a product of the south. Mt Olive pickles are produced in Mt Olive NC, according to the label. Yes, and as they say on the local public radio undwriting tag, they're at the corner of "Cucumber and Vine" in Mt. Olive. Anne EDIT to add...on topic: My Chik-fil-a that I was just eating for lunch had THREE pickles on it. All which needed to be removed. As others have said, the "juice" they leave behind is tasty.

I just wanted to check back in and say thank you to everyone for all the input. I hope to try the Corner Bistro at some point (I'm headed back up to DC for a conference at the end of the month and staying with a friend in Arlington). Unfortunately, b/c of time constraints and travel snafus, we ended up at my "emergency" reservation at Clydes, which was fine. Everyone was happy with their meal, and the service was attentive and well-informed about the menu. I was crazy enough to order soft-shell crabs and I didn't regret it (I'd like to point out that I've had them prepared while still kickin' by a friend's mom fromt he Eastern Shore, so I've had fresh ones!). Steve, thanks for letting me know about your involvement with Cafe Atlantico. What a great place. A friend of mine and I regularly (about once per year) take a vanload of students up to the Smithsonian. After a morning of examining exhibits for a class, we let them loose and we sneak off for lunch at a nice nearby restaurant (walking distance). Ever since we happened by chance on the Cafe Atlantico's $20 Latin American Dim Sum a few years ago, that restaurant has always been Cafe Atlantico. It makes the 5-hr drive up Fri afternoon, drive back Saturday night totally worth it. We do miss th $20 version of the dim sum though. Thanks again- Anne

Thanks for all the feedback! Steve, you have some good questions. To give you an idea of what I think a good restaurant is that you might be familiar with, I've been to Tenpenh and Cafe Atlantico (Latin American Dim Sum) in DC and I thought they were both very, very good. I'm traveling with 4 others, and we all like good wine, though 2 of the four are more informed about their wine than the rest of us. I'm trying to find a place that is not to far from our hotel, and not too much chain hell. We're going to be doing a lot of driving this weekend (the purpose of our visit is to go to a wedding in Alexandria on Sunday, and Tyson's Corner was as close as we could get a decent hotel!). We're driving up from NC tomorrow and back on Monday. Colvin Run sounds amazing, but probably a bit more than folks would want to spend and I probably couldn't get a researvation at this late date. I'm definitely going to keep it in mind for the future. I have an "emergency backup" reservation at Clyde's but I'm going to continue checking into other options y'all have suggested. Once again, many thanks! Anne

Hi Folks- I'm headed with a group up to NOVA this weekend and we're staying in Tyson's Corner. Can anyone recommend a good restaurant? Here's what's been reccommended to us: PF Changs The Palm The Daily Grille I know PF Changs is a chain (I've been to one in Charlotte), and on looking at info re The Palm and the Daily Grille, I'm not sure. The Palm seems more expensive than we'd want to deal with for what we'd get (which seem like mainly the chanceof seeing someone famous). I've also looked at Clyde's on the Washington Post web site and I though it looked ok. Any suggestions would be appreciated. It looks like Tyson's is the home of chains and it's just the trick to pick which one.. Anne

I'm surprised I haven't seen this mentioned yet: Pop-tarts. Lots and lots of pop-tarts washed down with coffee (If you've ever taken p-chem early in the morning you'll understand!). I had "meal plan" as part of my compensation for being an RA. Unfortunately, the cafeteria wasn't open when chem majors weren't: a. in bed or b. in lab. Therefore the cash equivalent of my meal plan was spendable at various snack bars on campus. Some had no hot food (hence pop-tarts and coffee from my dorm's basement mini-mart) and the rest were grills. I'd like to eat a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich to this day, but I can't, I just can't. Believe it or not, that was the best option (other than the campus creamery made ice cream!). The best part, of course was the end of semester "spend out your meal plan" junk food e extravaganza (no, you didn't get the unspent money refunded). Lots and lots and lots of 2L sodas and lance snack crackers and chips. Oh, and more poptarts. I also would make "arroz con pollo" with packaged yellow rice, a can of chicken and frozen peas. I would serve it with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Very advanced! That was probably the best of my experiments (ketchup and kraft M&C was one of the worst!). Anne

Katie- I get that brand too and I second it's amazingness. I will say it's about the most I've every spent on an ingredient but oh my! I can usually make a bottle last a year. I like it drizzled over fresh tomatoes (german johnsons or other heirloom if you can get it) with fresh mozz. and basil. Ahh..is it summer yet? Anne

Rodney/Kyle- Good luck with your barbeque venture in Portland...hopefully it will be appreciated and successful (by me for sure if I ever get back there!). Thanks for the wonderful pics of Texas 'cue. I went to grad school in College Station, and I especially appreciated the pic of Duddley's Draw, the site of many, many youthful pitcher of beer (grad school is stressful!). It looks like it's still as charmingly decrepit as it was in the '80's. Anne

Ok, I think chains are evil in general, but... As has been stated before, sometimes, sadly, it's be best you can get. When I lived in College Station, TX, truly, the best seafood was Red Lobster. But now it makes me insane in Greensboro, NC, that there are GREAT restarurants that I'm worried will go out of business b/c they are trying to compete with the Olive Garden, etc. BTW, the Waffle House is very popular with my students. I'm sure they are often some of the "wierdest people there". But I love them . My favorite thing is that the local headquarters has a sign on the front that says "Freeway Foods, Inc.". This is funny (to me at least). Anne

I agree joler...Earthfare sux! When will we get a Whole Foods in GSO!?? Preferably in the crappy Winn-Dixie close to my house that is slooooooowlly dying. Anne

Hey- Sorry I'm a bit late to this. However, I want to make one corrections vis a vis Basil's Tratoria in Greensboro. It's NOT closing (YET). We went relatively soon after that story appeared in the Business Journal...if only to get the last fried oyster salad before they closed shop. Apparently, reports of their death had been greatly exaggerated. They denied it (closing in the near future), however, they might have been running a bit scared at that point since we're pretty sure J. Basul himself stopped by to ask us how our meal was. It's almost april and they're still there--- Anne