natasha1270

Ok, I see. You need to bring the same containers that the store uses. Not that people are just bringing their own tupperware or whatnot. Thanks!

How does this work at the checkout?

I'm confused. Is this about buying from the bulk bins or buying bulk quantities ala costco? Alot of the bulk bin buying depends on how fast things turnover at your particular store. The nice thing about the bins is that you can control how much of the product that you purchase. I wanted to try chia & flax seeds in my smoothies so I was glad the WF bulk bin had them so I would't get stuck with a huge supply of them if I found out I didn't like them.

Oil works well for some items. I also use rubbing alchol to remove any remaining sticker and oil residue. In a pinch, I've found a dab of vodka will do the trick as well.

Was going to list diet coke but they supposedly use natural flavoring oils so I'll just say I enjoy whatever artificial flavorings are in my coffeemate italian sweet cream coffee creamer.

I used to be a diet pepsi drinker but when I had to cut back on caffeine, I switched to caffeine-free diet coke (or cfdc as I like to call it) for the bubbles since I prefer the diet pepsi taste. Coke is definitely more carbonated than Pepsi. Now I can't tolerate the bubbles so much so no more soda for me.

I used Lucy's recipe for my first batch and this recipe for candied algerian clementines for my second. With the 1st recipe (shown in the pic above), the fruit turned the most translucent. The 2nd I had a higher percentage that retained shape but the fruit also darkened more. I'm a little candied out right now but I also found this process that goes a little deeper into the percentages and fruit selection, etc. that I would like to experiment with: http://www.workphilippines.net/livelihood/food-processing/how-to-make-candied-fruits-and-vegetables-work-philippines/ another picture (btw: the cut up fruit was one of the collapse victims)

The drawers are on the end of the kitchen where I'm generally standing when I take the photos. All the large drawers are on the kitchen side of the passthrough/counter. Excellent! I thought as much but had to ask. I guess I'm not used to seeing lower cabinets without a drawer on top. I wish I had more drawers in my kitchen. Container Store has one that can be added to an existing cabinet that I am thinking of purchasing to hold smaller, flatter items that get lost in my pantry cabinet.

The ecstasy! This was my first time candying whole fruit and I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not sure if this is how they are supposed to turn out on the inside but at least a couple did not totally collapse so I thought I would open one up and take a picture: The reduced syrup is like a very fragrant orange blossom honey but still runny. It seems like there is a point where they become oversaturated and thus prone to collapse because only the larger mandarins 'survived' while all the smaller ones collapsed.

I remember jgarner's kitchen remodel thread and she seemed very pleased with the marmoleum they used. I think it would be a great choice for your mid-century kitchen.

Very nice! But where are the drawers?!

Wha?! Isn't the whole point to eat them while they are hot and still crispy? Do you reheat?

For myself: definitely guilty of finding the occasional fossilized french fry in the car.

Whatever wheaty snacky things my sister used to let her toddlers go to town on in the backseat ended up smooshed into all the upholstery, crevices, carpeting, door handles. What a disaster area! I've yet to see a no-spill sippy cup they couldn't mishandle. Of course, many moons ago when my own son was a toddler I have a vague hazy recollection of a terrible chocolate milk accident in the backseat that did not end well for the car upholstery either.

Not really. You can form them by hand (pat a cake style), use a rolling pin to roll them out between some parchment paper or create a makeshift press with whatever flat surfaces you have handy. A tortilla press is pretty handy when you want to make a quantity of them, though.

Trader Joes is very competitively priced in the butter dept.

I stocked up a bit on Kerrygold when Giant had it on sale a few weeks back 2 for $5. I'm not much of a milk person and I usually get my milk/heavy cream/creamer at Balduccis because I prefer the brands they carry. It's probably more than WF but at least I can use a 10% or 5% coupon there (I must be a loyalty card marketers dream!). Although WF fairly recently started carrying Snowville products which is supposed to be very tasty.

As far as a one-stop grocery shop, Whole Foods would definitely qualify as whole paycheck here. I rarely buy staples such as butter, OJ, sugar or flour there because they will never be able to sell it as low as my local chain Safeway or Giant which are 5 minutes away, usually has them on sale and doubles my coupon! It's best treated as a hybrid-specialty store. eta: my WF is extremely walkable but I pass the both other stores each day on my drive home from work. Plus they are offering gas rewards for $ spent which is definitely something I'm minding these days.

No access to the video here either but I found this write-up of another attempt at it: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/man-versus-gateau-cooking-the-heston-blumenthal-way-424268.html After trying to imagine how you are going to accomplish the vacuum aerated layer, I wonder if you couldn't just pick up a plastic spray bottle or atomiser and keep it immersed in hot water between spraying so it remains fluid for the final layer?

I think you have a really good list already. The only things I would add that I don't see listed (but you probably already have or access to) are cloves, cumin & anise and maybe pepitas and plantains.

If it is only the finish that has been destroyed, try Howard's Restor-a-Finish. I have not used it before but alot of vintage furniture lovers swear by the stuff. http://howardproducts.com/restora.htm

I was in Whole Foods today and decided to scan the milk aisle. Does your WF carry the 365 Heavy Cream in the plastic bottles? In ours, there are no additives. My local WF carries 365, Natural by Nature, Horizon & 1 other in a carton (I forget the brand name) brand heavy cream. 365 & Natural by Nature listed only cream in the ingredients. Horizon is ultra-pasteurized and lists cream, carageenan & sodium citrate. The other brand listed only cream & carageenan. eta: remembered that the other brand is Organic Valley. According to their website they offer a pasteurized version that only contains cream but my store seems to stock the u-p version with carrageenan.

The agony! I've been candying some fantastic mini-mandarins and like ermintrude all was going swimmingly but tonight they collapsed into themselves Unfortunately, I believe my mistake was that I did not let them cool fully in the syrup before putting them in the jar. I quickly put the mandarins and syrup back in a pot and brought back up to heat and a few of them seemed to plump back up. I'll let them cool overnight and cross my fingers although I suspect the interior integrity is shot. Already planning to pick up another case to try again because the one I pulled out to try was delicious!

Depending on your design aesthetic, you might expand your search to include drafting stools.

Here is a look at milk industry courtesy NPR from 2009: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112002639 Interestingly, one of the commenters suggests that various inter-province regulations is helping to keep milk local in Canada.