Tracy K.

I've just let my subscription to Cooks Illustrated lapse because they were simply too repetitive. They have an extremely active chat on their website. I've also just picked up subscriptions to Gourmet and Bon Appetit. IMHO, I liked Gourmet more before Ruth Reichl and her ego showed up. Both are owned now by Conde Nast, and although they originate from different coasts, I too find them to mirror one another in content too often. However, the subscriptions were inexpensive, and if you buy a few off the newsstand, you've paid for the subscription anyway. I am entirely sick of the heavy advertorial content...but I suppose nowadays they have to keep their costs under control. I picked up a load of old copies of each at our library for 25 cents each...prior to merging with Conde Nast and editorial changes. More recipes, more interesting content, no advertorials to wade through. In sum, though, I've found some really creative things that have made the subscripstions worthwhile. The one thing I made from "Everyday Food" took far longer than it should have...and it was a simple pasta and winter squash recipe. Found the best recipe for rice pudding in Taunton's food pub.

I just want to clarify the statement about "pink is your friend"--I'd rather say that an instant-read thermometer is your friend. The "recommended" temperature for pork is usually 160, but today's leaner pork can be cooked to lower temperatures because of better farming practices. If there were any trichinosis present, and there is virtually no chance of that anymore, it would be killed when the pork reached 137 degrees. I've seen recommendations for cooking pork to 140, which just passes this 137 threshold. That would give you something a little on the rare side, which is unappetizing to some. Just remember that the meat will continue cooking for a few minutes after it is removed from the heat and the temperature will rise about 5 more degrees. As for brining, it will definitely help any problem with overcooking. I once had to leave some chops on the grill for much longer than I would have liked, and the internal temperature was about 190-200--extremely well done. (Luckily not burnt--a closed-lid on the Weber) The chops were still juicy and flavorful--I am serious here. My mom had a wonderfully easy way to make pork chops. Just spread with your favorite mustard (she usually used a coarse grain 'moutard de meaux'' or dijon. and broil or grill. Mmmmmm.

According to a good friend who is Orthodox and strictly Kosher...he and his family go by the circle-U, which is the Union of Orthodox symbol. Also, here in the Chicago area, a triangle with CRC written in it stands for Chicago Rabinnical Council, which he also accepts. They can't even use our plates or glasses, so when we have them over, it's Coke from a can, or a disposable plate or glass. He even checks the hot dog buns at Wrigley field that are sold with the Best's Kosher dogs. Also, a stricltly Kosher household, and even those that keep Kosher on the Sabbath only, have, basically, two different kitchens with two sets of dishes, pots, etc. I once read that at the White House, when the Israelis or anyone else keeping kosher would dine at a state dinner, a Rabbi would come in and supervise using blowtorches on the stainless steel counters to make the kitchen kosher.

If you are concerned about your beef, you can always eat Kosher beef. It will be more expensive, and depending on where you live can be difficult to locate. However, Kosher standards are more strict than the government's. (To steal a line from Hebrew National, "We answer to a higher authority.")

I love Northern Spys, but they are indeed hard to find. The reason they can be so hard to find is that the trees take a long time to begin to bear fruit, so some truck farmers/orchards don't feel they can give up the space for something that won't produce quickly. Plus, they tend to bruise and don't look quite so picture-perfect as the uninformed would want. Haven't seen Spygold yet, which is a cross between Northern Spy and Golden Delicious (duh!) and I assume would hold together very well. Biting into a Spy is like biting into a gallon of the most delicious cider ever. (And pasteurization of cider is ruining my tastebud's memory...but that's another subject.) My experience with the Arkansas Black was interesting--I didn't realize that you have to let it sit for a while after harvest as it is considered a storage apple. If you have one right off the tree, it tastes like nothing. I love a winesap too, and often use a mix of apples in pies. However, I am still fighting the onset of autumn, so no apple pies for a few weeks....

You should have enough natural pectin from the orange and lemon peels. You do need an acid, which would come from the lemons themselves...I've found with marmalade-type recipes that some things take quite a while to set up--after they have been canned/put in jars. Overcooking actually causes the pectin to break down, resulting in something that will never gel. You can use a thermometer to test for the gelling point: add 8 degrees to your boiling point for water (which is different at different altitudes. An instant-read thermometer should work. Try the recipe again...it sounds really different!

I recall reading the article that went with the recipe, where they basically stated that the recipe is from the Quaker Oatmeal box, and they added sugar to make it more gooey. They may have tinkered with it otherwise, but I haven't tried it since it really isn't a "new" recipe.

Don't forget to go out and look at some real tires. They're not perfectly smooth, so doing the fondant in sections would be fine. As for the tread, I'd emboss it into the fondant, since real tread does go inward. You could also have some fun with the lettering on the side of the tire. You'll need the tire size, rating, etc. That would be a great place to sneak in the happy birthday part too. I'm concerned about the rim. Make certain it is thoroughly washed, and if your cake is truly tire shaped with a hole in it, place the rim on top of a set of separators. Heaven only knows what kinds of lubricants or metal filings come out of a hubcap, even straight from the manufacturer, so I'd keep it away from the cake itself. I'd also go with a chocolate fondant (Rose Levy Beranbaum has a great recipe if you're going to make it) and airbrush the black, if you have an airbrush, or crush up some black halloween decorations and dust them on. Food coloring definitely changes the taste, and a lot of people don't like the taste of fondant in the first place. However, Rose's fondant tastes like a tootsie roll... :) Good luck!

I was once in a bakery in a tony north-shore suburb of Chicago where I saw exactly that--a woman changing a baby's diaper on the wrapping table, which was clearly visible from the shop. The poor thing's hiney was so close to the saw which cuts the cellophane (call OSHA), and who knows what evil lurked in the rest of the place. The hardest thing was trying to find the health department official, as this town did not have it's own...it 'shared' the official with another town. Several phone calls (even the town's police department didn't know who to call) and voicemail messages later I was able to track down the person. She said that she went right out and inspected...oh they couldn't get a baby sitter, etc. etc. No, I did not buy anything and told everyone I knew about the incident. (Yup, I'm a narc.) Well, the place closed, but re-opened with a new name in the other town shared by the health inspector. Won't go there either. I also once called a health inspector in a larger suburb about a cockroach in a popular bakery. The inspector was very happy that I called. The moral to my story...unless you know who is doing the cooking, eat kosher. As for your home...well, I'll just beware of turkey this Thanksgiving.... Hey, wait, I'm cooking this Thanksgiving. Memo to self, keep infant son out of kitchen at crucial moments....

Tony's meat market in Wyckoff always used to roast a pig at Giants games at the Meadowlands, I'm sure they could get you one. There's nothing like the tenderness and flavor of a roast pig....

I've rarely had luck securing fresh fava beans (unless from my own garden)...I saw them recently at a grocery store at $8+ per pound...right, sure. I have had success with frozen favas...anywhere that sells middle-eastern items might have them. The nice thing about frozen favas is that you don't have to blanch them in order to peel them...the little gems just pop out once I've rinsed them off (since they ought to have been blanched before freezing anyway).

Yes, but you wouldn't need to use it on expensive meat, would you. Also, the instructions call for you to sprinkle it on just before cooking. For the record...I have a jar of tenderizer that's been sitting in the pantry for, oh maybe 8 years...seldom used...so I'm not trying to beat that drum.

Hello flannery, and welcome to the wonderful world of wedding cakes. I agree completely with amyd...if you have a large flat tip and a turntable, you can re-create this look with ease. Also, I wouldn't mess with marzipan or fondant pleats if you haven't got the time to practice (although I'd guess that if that cake were fondant, it would be applied in two pieces for each tier...a disc for the top of the cake and then the sides would be rolled, cut, pleated and wrapped around the cake, joined with the edges of the top and smoothed at the seam on the side...at least that's the way I'd do it.). You mentioned using fresh flowers. Sprays like that are made like corsages. I'd say you have a couple of options, the easiest would be to have your friend's florist make up the sprays, have them taped to chopsticks or the florist pick could be slid into a drinking straw that you stick into the cake, then hide the join with a little buttercream. Don't add the flowers until you get to the reception--the sprays can be stored in the refrigerator, which is what florist's do. If you want to make them yourself, check out some flower arranging books (also, sugarcraft books will give examples of sprays) at the library or Barnes and Noble, buy some florist tape (any florist would sell you some, or try some craft stores (if you're in Manhattan, trek out to Jersey to a Michael's craft store), go to a greenmarket or grocery store, buy some cheap flowers and practice. It's really quite simple, although you need good dexterity and your hand might cramp up a little the first few times (it's teeny, pinch-y type of work). You start at the far end, say with a stephanotis blossom or some other small flower or bud, then work your way backwards inserting larger flowers, greens, etc. along the way, wrapping the stems in florist tape (don't forget to pull on the tape as you go to expose the sticky adhesive before you wrap the stems). As for the colors of the flowers, see if you can get a fabric scrap from one of the bridesmaid dresses (a little cut from a hem or seam is enough) and take it with you when you look at flowers. Also, practice coloring the frosting...use paste color and be very sparing at first--food coloring deepens on standing. There are a number of different green colors available, some are pretty insipid. A "leaf green" would be a good all-purpose color, but it can come out a little yellow. Add a teeny touch (just a tip of a toothpick touch) of a red (use "red red"--I swear that's the name of the color) to dull it down a bit. But definitely practice with the coloring beforehand and write down your color "recipe" so the final cake will turn out the way you want. Good luck, and remember, the best part of a wedding cake is seeing it destroyed and eaten!

It's interesting that the instructions for tenderizers calls for one to pierce the meat before sprinkling on the powder. Commercial tenderizers contain papain, a "proteolytic" (i.e., breaks down protein) enzyme which actually comes from papayas. It has been used since the 18th century in all sorts of ways besides tenderizing meat. It can help a bee or jellyfish sting and speed wound healing. It's even been found to have some anti-bacterial properties. If you were to simply wrap a tough cut of meat in a papaya leaf overnight, the meat would be tenderized. Some people are allergic to papain, but that's the only bad thing I've ever heard about it.

The other name for the raisin pie is "funeral pie", so you might want to stay away from that one.... I'd vote for the shoofly pie...very Penna.

I have a full can of Barritts but you can't have it. I have an empty bottle of Tropical Fantasy (Pineapple)...that was the one bottled in the NY/NJ area that got embroiled in an urban legend dispute that it was designed to make African-American men sterile. So I drank some...but I'm a girl.... I have a bottle of Pepsi that was bottled in the Soviet Union when Pepsi first started selling there under 'peristroyka'--it is slowly evaporating. (Ah, that Soviet technology....) Boylan's used to be sold only in the Patterson, NJ area, but I think they sold out or sold the bottling rights, so you can get it in a lot of places. It was always a hoot to go in and simply order a "birch". And to think that as my husband was enjoying his diet Orange Crush (which he loves) a few days ago, I was lamenting the lack of any grape soda anymore. I lived on grape soda and Faygo Red Pop when I was growing up. Then this topic arrives. Egulleteers are omniscient!!!! However, I don't think I'll be searching out nor trying the Mountain Dew Black whatever...these line extensions are messing with too many good things.

The cake using the box mix is the "famous" Bacardi cake. There's an oomphed-up version in "The Cake Mix Doctor".

Wait a second, I thought that Krispy Kremes invaded DC during the Clinton administration...in his mouth....

1) My grandfather used to work in a "pop shop" bottling soft drinks, my uncles worked for Owens-Illinois and Libbey Glass--and boy did we hear it if there were beverages in cans around. Glass definitely is the way to go; however, what do you do if the case falls and breaks...and the floor gets sticky...and you have to clean it up.... Oh, I know, do what Grandpa used to do when a keg "accidentally" fell of the wagon...go upstairs early and go to bed. 2) Do not even think about ruining the mighty Gosling's Black Seal. However, keep in mind that you can get a reasonable facsimile of a Dark and Stormy using Vernor's (another topic entirely...mmm, Vernor's). However, you cannot get a reasonable facsimile of Bermuda from a ziploc bag of pink sand.... (On our first, of many, visits there our cab driver gave us a mini Chivas bottle filled with sand--now there's class for you.) 3) "Tastes like chicken"

Has anyone been to Namaskaar on Rte. 4 in Paramus? We used to go when it first opened years ago, but moved out of the area. It was expensive, but tasty.

I have been dying (no pun intended! or maybe pun intended??) to get my hands on a recipe for Ossa di Morti that is made at Veniero's on 11th street (1st ave) in NYC. [Don't step on the ConEd grate in the street out in front....] There are two types of recipes out there that I've been able to find, both looking through every cookbook I can find and searching the net...one has nuts or chocolate and is shaped like a bone (this seems to be more northern Italian); the other is Sicilian/Calabrian has no nuts, seems to be more of a meringue and, most importantly for me, flavored with clove. The version Veniero's bakes during October looks like a small, coffee-colored disc with a marshmallow-shaped, hollow, white cookie on top of the base. They are hard, keep forever, and I can't stop eating them, when I can get my hands on them. (Which is difficult now that I live in Chicagoland....). I don't know if I would use them as a teething biscuit, as they never would seem to dissolve, just break off into chunks. I have family in Ohio and there is a bagel shop there that makes teething bagels...egg bagels about finger-thickness...that my son just loves. They eventually soften, bit by bit.

We had the same cabinets you have now in an apartment we rented in Stamford about 16 years ago...strictly "contractor-grade" crud. I'm not surprised that they are not holding up. In terms of design...I've never liked the stove across the room from the sink. Maybe you could put the stove on the other side of the room, perhaps where the "L" shape of the counter is, because you never know when you have to throw something flaming/filthy into the sink! A product plug that will cost you around $300, and you would get good use out of it even though you don't cook--we installed an "Insta-Hot" by the sink. It's simply a small water heater that plugs into an outlet you'd install under the sink. Like the name says, you press the lever and you get hot water instantly--for tea, instant soups, soaking messy pans, warming baby bottles . I didn't think I'd use it, but the ladies at the plumber's raved about theirs. It's great and I wouldn't be without it now. Be ready for real problems with electrical and plumbing issues. Once those cabinets come off the walls, you'll never know what you'll find--we found live electrical wires connected to nothing...on all walls (Quote from electrician "Oh, this is really dangerous." These wires had been hidden 50 years like that.) We also had to bring our sink/diswasher drain up to code. As mentioned before about outlets, I'm sure that GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets are code in NYC. Do it right...you want to be safe. Even if you don't cook much, having the kitchen torn up and off limits for whatever amount of time is very trying. One can only do paper plates/takeout for so long. Good luck!

The lake does have an effect on the timing of the growing season in Michigan. Our Chicagoland weather comes whipping across the plains with nothing to buffer it, so our soil temperatures take a while to warm up in the spring (it's the soil temperature that controls how quickly spring comes along). With that big body of water at a nearly constant temperature, probably somewhere in the 30's no matter what the air temperture, the soil temps in Michigan get going earlier due to the moderating effects of the lake temperature. I won't go further, but there are other differences in the soil between Illinois and Michigan.... (I'm also a Master Gardener...)

I don't think that the only reason these three places closed up was due to corporate-restaurant-concept oversaturation...look at PFChang's, that seems to be hopping all the time. (I talk to a lot of high school kids who just love that place.) My husband has a penchant for trying chain restaurants, so we were at the On The Border and the Applebee's up there. Typical concept food--bland, sweet, etc. I'd have to say that the On The Border was very poorly managed, and the food at the Applebee's was horrid...I had a dish with capers where the kitchen personnel didn't drain the capers before dumping them on the dish...I can only take so much salt.... Besides, if people want to have an inexpensive sitdown, there are plenty of options at Northbrook Court, and I think that's where people went instead. And speaking of "concepts", I actually miss the Shaw's that was next to Over the Border...their menu was often a bit more creative than the location downtown...and the evening clientelle was actually better.