jgm

I've never had Pretzeltime. And actually, the only pretzels I've had at Aunt Annie's are the cinnamon-sugar. Basically a pretzel-shaped cinnamon roll, dipped in lots of butter and cinnamon-sugar. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work. I will not go to the mall after work.

Crisco has out a low trans-fat shortening. I would suggest the possibility of substituting it for part of the butter. You'll have to experiment, though, because I doubt it would behave the same way butter will in a recipe. Also (you probably already know this) many people are substituting stuff like applesauce for fat in baking. Usually about 1-to-1 substitution at 50% works. In other words, if the recipe calls for 2 cups of butter, you'd substitue 50% of it, or 1 cup. And you'd use a 1-to-1 substitution, so you'd use 1 cup of applesauce. I do agree that eating less cake is a better approach than sacrificing texture and flavor, but there are times when, depending on the recipe, the sacrifice is minimal, and you can have a healthier product that way. It's a decision to be made on a case-by-case basis. As we eat fewer and fewer saturated fats, and make other types of changes, our palates also change. Sometimes a revered "old" recipe can taste heavy and dull, and the recipe can actually be improved by doing a little remodeling.

While I think that at 47, probably the only thing you're too old for is the Miss America pageant I have one reservation about taking on a waitressing job. Abra's reply says it all. I'm about halfway between you and Abra, so I feel qualified to raise concerns. How long will you be able to waitress? I think that there's a good chance that the answer is "only a few years", and then you'll have those years invested in getting experience in a job you can no longer do. Will you then find yourself at 55, needing at least 10 years' more work, and not qualified to do anything else? Without knowing your background, it's hard to say. Maybe you have enough other experience that you could go back to something else at that point. But if what you're going back to is office work, your skills will be X years out of date. Software will have changed by then, along with several other things. That could be a problem. And once you hit 50, the more difficult it is to be hired. Obviously, that's illegal, but it's also true. I also think you should take into consideration the retirement funds you already do or do not have. If building up additional funds for retirement is not an issue for you at this time, that's a different situation than if you need to get serious about socking away some bucks. If your situation is the latter, then unequivocally, my answer is to look for a job with a company that has a good retirement plan, doing whatever you can be hired to do. Think about this carefully. Maybe try it part-time for awhile, along with a part-time office job. I do understand that you're sick of office work. Before I got my present position, I looked at all kinds of things because I was really, really burned out. But I found a job in a much smaller office than I've ever worked in before, and it's turned out well. Consider doing what you know how to do already, but in a different environment than you've been in before.

Ditto. I wish our Chick-Fil-A was still open. If you're out shopping and have to have a meal, it's at least one of the least offensive places.

In a recent edition of the Wichita Eagle, Joe Stumpe writes an appreciative column on the Metro Dogs stand, and proprietor Michael Gonzalez, in Wichita's Towne East: I rarely shop at the malls, but the next time I'm in Towne East, I'll look this guy up. In fact, next time I'm in the neighborhood I may make a special trip. Sounds pretty good to me!

Confession is good for the soul, right? Here goes: Breyers Neapolitan ice cream Haagen Dazs Swiss Vanilla Almond ice cream Lemon meringue pie (better yet: the last of the filling in the pan it was cooked in) Raw pie crust Pillsbury Toaster Strudel pastries, cherry Lemon curd - I can make myself sick on it, and still be craving more Cashews My dirty little temptation story: Several years ago, some friends and I volunteered to make a dinner for the city's overflow shelter for the homeless. We put together a great chicken and noodle dinner that was a hit. But we didn't tell them about the molasses cookies. One of our friends had to be out of town that weekend, so he baked several dozen molasses cookies as his contribution. (I would say there were at least 12 dozen cookies in the box.) They were the best damn cookies I'd ever tasted. None of us could keep our hands off them, and just before the meal, a couple of the guys went out and bought oreos to give to the people in the shelter, because we had devoured every last cookie. We were at least honest enough to 'fess up to our friend when he came back, but I can't say that we were completely forgiven. We do understand we'll have to answer for this someday, and we know we have no defense. I don't know which will haunt me more until my dying days: the memory of those wonderful cookies, or the guilt over consuming something that was specifically intended for people much less fortunate than myself.

Years ago, my workplace was often the scene of arguments about food smells. I tried to stay out of it. On one particular day, I went into one of the cubicles to perform a particular task that required the equipment in that cubicle. The smell of beans was strong and unmistakable. So when the supervisor walked by, I turned around and got his attention. I complained about the strong smell of beans in the cubicle. And I reminded him that I normally don't complain about such things, but this odor was so strong it offended even me. Deadpan, he told me he could smell it too, and he also found it offensive. "But it's not beans," he maintained. "If you'll turn around, you'll find your monitor is on fire." I quickly unplugged it, and we propped the cubicle door open to let it air out. And all afternoon, we could hear, "Ewwww who brought the beans?"

Just what I need: a backseat driver for my kitchen.

I would use it to squeeze the water out of (thawed) frozen spinach.

I've been contemplating getting a chinois for a couple of years now. And as my cooking skills (and sense of adventure) increase, I run into situations more and more where one could be used. So I'm watching Alton Brown's program a week or two ago, and he's straining stuff through a large strainer lined with cheesecloth. And he says, point blank, that a cheesecloth-lined strainer will do everything a chinois will do, for a fraction of the price... and storage space. Storage space is a major issue for me. If I get one, I think it will have to live in the garage. I can understand that the mesh of a chinois is much stronger than that of a strainer, and will withstand pressure as one is trying to strain out as much liquid as possible. I'm unsure of whether I would ever have the need to press THAT hard. Comments? Suggestions?

{Did we have the same mother? Mine once suggested I take zinc to try to deal with my chocolate obsession. She was utterly disgusted when I asked her why I'd want to do that, when I could have a candy bar.} I think the menu sounds wonderful. How are you planning to cook the green beans and the asparagus? The scalloped tomatoes dish sounds yummy. How many people are you serving?

Just think of what they could do if they were backed up by all of the people like me (and believe me, there are many) whose sentiments are similar, but who would not be willing to work with PETA. I would love to see higher standards set up for the treatment of all food animals (and others), and I would love to see some sort of symbol that could be placed on packaging, that would give me confidence that the animal lived and was killed in a humane manner. But the beef, pork, and poultry industries are extremely powerful, and it's going to be extremely difficult to get that type of legislation passed. The answer? The backing of large numbers of people, and PETA will not have that anytime soon --and not at all, if they don't change their tactics. That's why I say that animals are suffering because of them. There is more, much more, to be done. If PETA has to do it alone, it'll take a lot longer to get it done than if there were a more moderate (and well-behaved) organization that moderates like me could support.

Has anybody checked eBay?

I don't have much experience with lamb, so I'm looking to educate myself. Why do you advise using olive oil and not lamb fat?

It's difficult for me to picture exactly what you can and cannot do. How about walking through your favorite cooking store, and looking into the possibilities? There's an onion chopper that works by twisting two halves of a container in opposite directions. Maybe you could put one of those rubber jar grips on the counter, and twist it against that. Don't forget the electric jar opener. At my house, we'd be hard pressed to find room for it on our counter, but we could cope with it for a few weeks. There may also be electric can openers that would be easy to work with one hand. I have arthritis in my hands. Most of the time, it just means they're sore. But when I have a flare-up, I'm grateful for my battery-operated pepper grinder. I've also seen one at Williams-Sonoma that is ball-shaped, with two handles that are squeezed together; it's intended for one-handed use. I think you may be able to use an Oxo mandoline. It's very simple in construction and doesn't have a bunch of parts to put together. Perhaps you could brace it with one hand and move the food with the other. How about a mezzaluna with the accompanying chopping dish that has the depression for the mezzaluna? If you can't wash your right hand, "Wet Ones" makes an anti-bacterial wipe that you could use. Also, consider baby wipes for hand cleaning. Also, consider the possibility of making out menus a week at a time, and having your husband or a friend assist you with doing as much prep ahead of time as possible. I'm thinking about the kind of do-ahead prep that restaurants do; not only chopping and slicing, but also partially cooking certain things ahead of time, then finishing them off just before mealtime. This also looks like a good time to explore sandwiches! If you don't have Marlena Spieler's book on grilled cheese sandwiches, I recommend it. I know this must be overwhelming right now, to think of how you're going to cope in the coming weeks. I predict that other (former) broken-arm sufferers will offer suggestions, upon seeing your cast, and that you will discover a few tricks yourself. It will come together. If you're anything like me, patience will be the biggest challenge.

Anybody remember Jello 1-2-3? Not that I'm suggesting it. But we did eat a fair amount of that, come to think of it.

I'm under the impression that some of the states, notably California, have been leaders in various legislative endeavors to protect the public, or at least let them know about various hazards. I'm also under the impression that the FDA is an agency that sometimes buckles to the whims of politicians; I'm thinking specifically of the issue of the morning-after pill. That particular issue is more about politics than the health of the consumers who might take the drug. If these two impressions are true, then it's obvious why we want the states to have the power to force labeling of consumer products. Anyone who has better knowledge of this than I is welcome to jump in with more concrete information.

That says it all.

I just think it's bizarre. And it strikes me that at a time when we're worrying more and more about how fat we're all getting (myself included), we seem to be hell bent on concocting more and more extremely high-fat, high-calorie foods. If the cookie and candy bar companies don't do it, count on the fast food/junk food people. Regardless of how it tastes, when will we, collectively as a nation, come to our senses and understand that it's just not reasonable to eat something like this? If I wanted to blow my calorie allotment for the day, I'd rather do it on... I don't know, something made with quality ingredients, cooked by someone who knows what they're doing. Not something that's thrown together for the sheer sport of seeing if anyone will be stupid enough to actually eat it.

If you have a Marie Callender's near you, get a bowl for take out. Take it home and dissect it. Strain the solids out, spread them out on a tray, and make note of what's there. Taste the broth. It's probably, but not necessarily, a chicken broth base with seasonings. Look through vegetable soup recipes in cookbooks you have, and you can get a general idea of the types of things that should go in. This is what I did to figure out how to make Carrabba's lentil sausage soup. One idea - my husband and I don't really care for parsnips, but when I make chicken broth-based vegetable soups, I put chunks of parsnips in to flavor the broth, and then remove them. They really add a nice flavor.

Cherry pie, made with tart cherries from a friend's tree Apple pie Coconut meringue, chocolate meringue, and lemon meringue pie Chocolate soda: ice cream, chocolate syrup, seltzer Coke floats! Must be made with ice cream, not soft serve. My mom's cheesecake My mom's chocolate fudge brownies with chocolate fudge icing

When my friends tell me they have allergies, I make sure to respect them, even if I believe they're lying --or maybe just out to lunch. One guy, a few years ago, told me he was allergic to tomatoes; however, he could put half a pizza away with no problem. Let him get a slice of tomato on a sandwich, it had to come off! Neither would he eat spaghetti or other Italian dishes. When I pointed out the tomato sauce on pizza, he countered with an excuse that it doesn't amount to that much. I didn't bother pointing out that tomato sauce is fairly concentrated, and he was getting far more of it than he believed. Oh well. One disturbing thing that I've seen over the last 15 years or so, is a particular doctor in town makes a living from diagnosing allergies in people. He apparently does a blood test of some sort, and then at the next appointment hands them a long list of things they must not eat. Everyone I've known who has gone to his clinic has followed his instructions to the letter for awhile... but begin backsliding, and later admit they didn't notice any difference in the way they felt. In this instance, I think it's fairly clear that the man is making a living diagnosing "allergies" in food. He doesn't deal with allergies to cats, dogs, etc.

I did the books on tape version, and I loved it. Highly recommended. I can't wait to see what she does next. Just arrived, via the "used and new" button on Amazon: The Armchair James Beard. Very enjoyable, and less than $10, including shipping.

Peach Melba. Vanilla ice cream with peach chunks, with raspberry swirled through it. And then leave it alone. No crunchy stuff.

Ditto. Why mess with a good thing?