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1. You can brown the pale parts of roast chicken and turkey, rather than leaving it in the oven longer, thereby drying out the meat. Often there's a section or two somewhere that didn't take on that wonderful, glorious, caramel brown color. I saw somebody famous do this, but I can't remember who it was. 2. Do not use this tool to thaw out your plumbing, should it ever freeze. A blow (hair) dryer works perfectly well for this, and will not ignite nearby parts of your house. If you don't believe me, ask your local firefighter. 3. The next time an ice storm knocks out our power for 4 days like it did last January, I'm going to try frying eggs with it. I'll let you know. . .

I attended a coffee tasting at our local Starbuck's a few months ago. I don't normally care much for their coffee -- too strong, with a bit of a burnt taste. Their lattes are the best available locally, and in winter, I have them quite often, so I decided to see if I could find one of their coffees that I liked. What I grew to understand in that tasting, was that certain ... uh, for lack of a better term... flavor qualities in certain coffees, marry well with certain other flavors. One coffee I tasted by itself, and didn't care for it. But then they passed out samples of their coffee cake, and it was a great combination! Ditto with other types of coffee and other desserts. I was pretty surprised. Very much like pairing wine and food. I suspect there are some coffees that taste better with raw sugar, and others may taste better with refined sugar. And, of course, taste is pretty much a personal preference thing.

I can't wait. I have it pre-ordered on Amazon. They've promised it around October 4. Must remember to warn the UPS guy. I've yet to actually tackle him, in anticipation of a package. Yet. I've read parts of the blog and loved it. My eyes won't tolerate a lot of computer time, so I've decided to wait for the book.

Busboy, Will you marry me? What else will you do around the house? This has possibilities.

You have pretty clearly expressed my own thoughts. While I hate the thought of government intruding into our lives, as it seems to be doing more and more, I also hate the idea of animals suffering needlessly. If I always had the option of purchasing cruelty-free (or some other similar term, let's not get hung up on this particular term) meat, I would do so. This is a really, really difficult subject for me. I am a carnivore. I have given careful thought to being a vegetarian, and have not been able to go there, although I do eat more meatless meals than I used to. I will confess to not having carefully read this entire thread (yet). So if this question has been asked, please chastise me appropriately. Is it absolutely necessary to enlarge the livers of these animals in order to have foie gras at all? If it's necessary, is there any "gentler" way to do it? Is anybody studying it in a serious way? I have read comments by those who raise ducks that the ducks don't seem to mind this, and will follow the feeders (with their tubes) around, even after they'd just been fed. That's not consistent with an experience I recently had. In a wild area near my home, a Muscovy duck appeared last spring. He couldn't fly; this breed is raised mainly for its meat, and I assume he got away from his original home. At the end of July, I think he became prey for another animal. But for several months, I fed him twice a day, or was willing to. He didn't always show up. And when he was full, he walked away, even though he hadn't eaten all I'd given him. Given that behavior, I'm having a hard time believing he would have enjoyed being force fed.

More from today's Chicago Tribune Here [Excerpt added by moderator] More at the link above.

I second the manchego nomination. Look for a cheese aged 1 year or more. It's semi-hard, a bit crumbly, with a wonderful nutty flavor. There are some available that are aged only 3 months, and they're a whole 'nother animal. Nowhere near as tasty as the longer-aged stuff. Enjoy!

Why I like Rachel Ray: OK, she's not my favorite TV personality. But there's a point to be made here, that many have missed. Rachel cooks with primarily fresh ingredients, and shows that it can be done easily. I posted on another thread a story about being at a meeting a few nights ago, and hearing a woman describe chicken breasts baked with instant rice and canned soup as "real food." It made me so sad. I used to think like she does, and cook like she does. But slowly, I started migrating toward fresh ingredients and nothing-out-of-a-box cooking. As my cooking skills grew, my palate also changed, and I have not only discovered a whole new world of flavors and food experiences, but I have grown to hate the junk food I used to eat. It's not a philosophical thing, or a food-snob thing. It really doesn't taste good anymore. While we (almost) all detest Sandra Lee's "fake-it" cooking, we fail to recognize that Rachel Ray is the very person who can preach to the fresh food-impoverished masses. Mainstream America can identify with her, and here's hoping they'll prefer her show over Sandra's. Once learning Rachel's style of cooking, these cooks are primed and ready to graduate to more sophisticated and ambitious dishes. Undoubtedly, many won't. But Rachel is the person who is best positioned to help a lot of people make the transition to good food. Her show isn't geared to people like us, and we need to get off her back. She's a lifeline being thrown to a junk-food laden America, and she may well lead many out of that hellhole, and into a better way of eating.

Don't we have any enterpreneurs among us? Seems like this is a golden opportunity to build a simple, very good tool, and sell it for a reasonable price. Anybody...?

Check out this link. Not highly specific, but it looks like one of the first signs of renewal... (I think registration may be required)

How about baked winter fruit (apples, pears, raisins, etc.) with fig essence drizzled over it?

Oh, how about perfection? I see those wonderful, artistic cookies in the Williams-Sonoma catalogs, and I wonder if realistically, they are something I could do. The icing they use is obviously pretty thin, because it makes such a wonderful, smooth coating on the cookies. I've taken a couple of cake decorating classes, so I know a couple of minor tricks. Their cookies are miniature works of art, and I just don't have a feel for whether I could even hope to come close to reproducing something like that. I want them to look good enough so that people won't say, "Oh well. At least they taste good." I'm going to look into that "Creative Cookies" book. Thanks for the recommendation.

While we're on the subject... I have fantasies of doing sugar cookies, and frosting them, and of course, in my fantasies, they look as good as the ones Martha does, and the ones in the Williams-Sonoma catalog. Could we also discuss some tips for using these frostings? I know that there are different kinds of recipes, and I think the ones I'm thinking about, are not the same as the ones needed in the original question. But with either type... some instructions for dealing with them would be very helpful.

Undoubtedly, some places will not reopen. Their loss will be felt acutely by many. Life, however, goes on; the loss of good restaurants also creates opportunities for new restaurants. New legends spring up after old ones fade. I've never been to NOLA, but I've long been aware of a creative, exciting mindset among food lovers in the area. I'm looking forward to seeing which of the cream rises to the top. There's plenty of it to go around!

I made my first batch of cookies at age 7. But since they consisted of sugar, water, and orange food coloring, they really didn't get eaten. I entered a cherry pie baking contest at age 11, and managed to get one of the top ribbons. That established my reputation. I started cooking more seriously in college, especially when a boyfriend who had taken cooking lessons while spending a summer in France, considered himself to be a better cook than I was. Competition developed. By the time it was all said and done, he'd turned out to be gay (a really excellent human being, just not husband material) and I had begun to progress beyond quiche. Somewhere in my mid-20's, I decided to stop just reading cooking magazines, and actually cook from them. So I started with a mushroom salad with garlic aioli. I'd purchased a Cuisinart food processor (a CFP 5A, which I still have) and was anxious to put it to work. But the salad. Oh dear. The salad was very, very garlicky. I was on a shoestring budget and determined not to waste the food, so I ate it. After two days, I had to admit defeat and throw it out. People were avoiding me at work. Years later, I realized that the recipe had called for a certain number of garlic cloves, and I'd used that number of heads of garlic. No wonder. Since then, it's been a little of this, a little of that. I wish I'd pursued it more diligently, but it's really never too late. There was a lovely winter in 1988 or so, when a local chef who was teaching at the vocational technical school, offered evening classes for adult enthusiasts. They were wonderful, and gave me the courage to try things I'd never tried before. We actually made Beef Wellington. It's mainly been since finding eGullet that I've developed the interest and courage to stretch and try lots of new things. After all, help is never more than a few hours --if even that-- away. The flops are fewer and fewer, but at least now I'm able to figure out what went wrong, instead of just scratching my head (and getting flour in my hair).

I'm speechless. I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

If you have a contract, stick to the terms of the contract. It can cause problems for you if you don't. Sometime when you're talking with your attorney, you might want to bring up the subject and find out what your state's laws say about enforcing contracts -- whether you can do it sometimes and not others, and the implications of giving people a break at times like this. Human nature being what it is, this same group will pull this again if you let them do it this time. My wedding was very small, and we had LOTS of cake leftover. The neighbors really enjoyed it. This family can spread the wealth if they want to, but you're not obligated to absorb the cost of their mistake. I don't know how you would feel about this... but consider the possibility of offering the frozen items to them, uncooked, along with instructions for cooking at a later date. (I'm not in the food biz, so there may be reasons for not doing this that I wouldn't anticipate.) If that would work for you, they might well enjoy a fancy dinner, with almost no effort, in a few weeks.

I love kids of all sizes and ages, but there are places they don't belong. I've never been in this particular bar, but it sounds like a place children should not be taken. If you're properly engaging in conversations with your friends at this bar, then you're not "with" your child. You're stringing him along and avoiding guilt. It's one of those "quality time" things. And if you're "with" your child at these times, you're probably not holding up your end of the conversation with your friends. I encourage you to leave your child at home when you go to this particular bar. If it bothers you to not spend as much time with him on the weekend, consider taking some time off during the week to make up for it. If I were your companion for drinks, I would deeply resent it if you brought your child along, although I probably wouldn't show it. There will be points during the evening at which you will be neglecting me and the conversation in order to attend to the child's (very legitimate) needs. If I'm going to clear out an evening to spend with you, especially at a "nice" place where the cocktails are pricey, I expect you do to the same. I'm sure your child is wonderful, and I'd probably love to spend some time laughing and playing with him in your living room or in a park. (I've been known to "borrow" friends' children, just to get a kid fix.) And I know you are deeply in love with him, as you should be, but I'm reminding you that there are times when it is appropriate to separate yourself and socialize with your adult friends, giving them your full attention. It'll be good for you, and good for them. It's part of having balance in your life.

These have been a mainstay at potlucks in my area for years. And I love 'em! I prefer apple rings, but these are an acceptable substitute.

So has the repairman come? What was the verdict?

Or how about if we just get brutally honest about all this? Chocolate MegaHips Cake Chocolate Triple Chin Pie Chocolate Flabby Arms Mousse Triple Chocolate Blubber Butt Dessert You get the idea.

Ditto. Considering how well-coordinated many of the teams seem to be, it's always been obvious to me that the chefs had some sort of heads-up on the "secret" ingredient. I would think that they would also be able to specify a grocery list of some sort, based upon the final choice, or would have an idea of what else is going to be available to them. The show is probably better for it. After all, who wants to see a chef saying "I have only two dishes to present, because all of the other things I could think to make with this ingredient, require other ingredients that are not available tonight."

I tried one of these in the late 70's, and no matter what I did, it was moldy in a few days. Do you have any problems with mold? I'd much rather have butter at a spreadable, near room temperature, and I like the idea of these things. Even if it was freshly washed, doused with boiling water and allowed to cool, it still grew mold. Any ideas?

I've never made one of these cakes, but I've tasted them plenty of times, and they're just fine. I'm 50, and they've been around since I was a young child at least, and probably longer than that. From what I remember, mayonnaise cakes are really moist, probably due to all that fat. I don't know if anybody's ever researched and/or written much about it, but there seems to be a history among American women (that's a generalization) of experimenting with putting unusual things in cakes. I have a feeling that cake mix companies have been part of that effort, too. But over the years, I've seen a lot of seemingly unlikely ingredients mixed into a cake at one time or another. Part of it is probably due to "making do" with whatever ingredients you have on hand. I assume the mayonnaise cake came out of this uh...? tradition?

Although I don't remember the name of it, I do remember covering this territory in a thread last fall. What it boils down to, is that there's a clash between food lovers like us, and, uh, the rest of the world, including (but not limited to) non-cooks, so-so cooks, terrible cooks, and relatives with incredibly sensitive feelings and no talent in the kitchen. It can create a lot of friction and irritation. Several people pointed out, and I have grown to agree with them, that family holiday gatherings are for renewing ties and making memories, and not as much about the food--in some households, at least. The general recommendation was for food lovers to create and enjoy their ultimate holiday feast on another weekend, and do what they must on Thanksgiving and other holidays. It's very hard to look at the lovingly prepared, elaborate spreads in the cooking magazines, and then go to Aunt Helen's and eat Stovetop Stuffing, canned green beans, and gravy from a jar. You can fight with your relatives and be miserable, or go along to get along, and create your dream feast at another time of your choosing.