=Mark

Why do women pay so much for dry cleaning?

WTF?

The last couple places where Ms. Froio worked I noticed portions were on the petit side (I'm not suggesting the bigger is always better thing, but literally a $20 entree that would have made an adequate appetizer). What is the case at Raspberry?

In the Cook's Tour episode from Thailand the elevator in Tony's hotel had a picture of a Durian with a circle and a slash through it...

Problem: I didn't see any of the episodes, but I so want to generate a brilliant bon mot...

I tend to be fairly straightforward with these classifications. Dealing with the organic world there seem to be 3 basic divisions, animal (Consume oxygen and release CO2, usually mobile) plant (Consume CO2 and release oxygen, generally immobile) and fungus (I'm keeping this fairly broad, not going into microbiology with the yeasts, bacteria and blue-green algae). If it is a derived from a plant, it's a vegetable. If it comes from animal sources, it's, well, animal (OK, meat). This includes fish and poultry. And yes, mushrooms are not veggies, fungi are more closely related to animals than plants. They consume O2 and release CO2. They also tend to be immobile. I consider the ovo/lacto veggie arguments are to somehow rationalize the consumption of non vegetable foods by folks who still want to label themselves vegetarians. I don't buy it. I'm a bovo porco vegetarian, a veg who also consumes beef and pork. So, while I consider putting tomatoes on a veggie pie fine, cheese and bacon aren't gonna cut it. As for mushrooms, you decide how fine you want to draw distinctions. Of course this is all by opinion, I could be wrong... As for me, I've been placed in a situation where I have no choice but to consider the local pizza joint's "Portabella Special" for dinner. Thin crust, fresh made tomato sauce, buffalo mozz, sliced portabellas, sliced red onions and basil infused olive oil drizzeled on top prior to serving.

All fruits are vegetables but not all vegetables are fruits. The seed bearing bodies of the vegetable kingdom are botanically considered fruits. As far as I know I've not heard of a vegetarian denied fruits, unless they are also on Adkins. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, olives and gourds are all fruits. Tubers (potatoes), Plant stalks (celery), and leaves (greens) are also vegetables but are not fruits. Niether dairy products nor eggs are derived from plants, and are obviously not vegetables.

Of course cheese and eggs aren't vegetarian either...

One of my favorite Jalapeno Jack recepies involves the cheese, pulled pork, slice of onion and a dollop of Hoboken Eddie's Mean Green hotsauce prepared with hearty bread on a Pie Iron. Butter one side of each of the slices of bread and fit into pie iron. Layer with pulled pork, onions, hot sauce and jalapeno jack cheese. Close and lock pie iron, place in fire or over stove. Flip every minute or so. When smoke starts coming from side of iron, open and check for doneness. Remove when golden to dark brown, let sit for a minute and tear into it!

A popular misperception is that those who indulge in lots of hot, spicy chile peppers can somehow ruin their sense of taste; to somehow “burn out” their tastebuds. Nothing could be further from the truth. Chileheads are able to detect many more flavors than their mild mannered brethren, whose senses have been overwhelmed by heat. Capsaicin itself does not interact in any way with the tastebuds, instead these chemicals stimulate the pain receptors that cause the sensation of pain, and in particular, heat. Capsaicin, like any other substance that affects the nervous system can be made to develop a tolerance, requiring larger and larger quantities to elicit the same effect. The fact that capsaicin does not interact with taste buds can be demonstrated simply by recalling instances where after chopping peppers you have neglected to wash your hands and inadvertently touch the eyes or other “sensitive” parts of the body. I’ll guarantee those heat receptors will be signaling “Hot! Hot! Hot!!!” to your brain. I’ll further advise you to consider whether those particular body parts happen to be sporting taste buds… As for whether chile aficionados can taste more or less than those more moderate folks, consider the cuisines that feature lots of hot and spicy dishes such as Thai, Indian and some parts of China. Many of these foods besides having staggeringly large quantities of hot chile peppers, also have many layers of flavors from various spices, herbs and condiments. To those who are not used to even moderate heat, these secondary nuances of flavor are overwhelmed by the sheer fiery blast. To those who have cultivated a taste for hot, spicy foods, all of these flavors can be detected and appreciated. After developing a resistance to capsaicin, it takes much more of it to cause further stimulation of the heat receptors. People who enjoy hot peppers have not learned to endure the pain, the truth is they don’t feel it as much. They can even appreciate the different flavors of different peppers such as the citrus-like flavor of habaneros or the smoky rich flavors of a smoke dried jalapeno, or Chipotle chile.

Just because Julia has a friend doesn't mean anyone else has to like him. I think most folks feel he has gone somewhat over the top with his schtik, to which I can suggest folks check out the "Cooking at the CIA" PBS cooking series. An hour of that dry as dust show will have you crying for Emeril...

Julia Alton Brown Tony Bourdain David Rosengarten Kieth Floyd Emeril Martin Yan (I know how to count already!) the sober Graham Kerr Rachel Ray (call the Perky Police/ Lousy tipper) Whomever those yutzes are on "How to Boil Water"

It is also one of the priciest beers sold in this country. Not worth it IMHO for what is essentially Asian Budweiser.

Actually this is a common misperception. Due to the high percentage of oil and acidity mayonaise actually acts as a preservative, isolating bacteria and preventing it's spread. Generally the mayo laden foods such as salads are at risk more from their protein content such as eggs, cheese and meats. This is demonstrated when a nearly empty jar of mayo is left unopen at room temperature. The mayo left in the jar wil change from opaque to translucent over a period of days, but will not spoil or mold (this info was gleaned from carefully monitored experiments... ).

Hoboken Eddie's Mean Green Hotsauce.

Went to school at West Virginia Wesleyan in the wild appalachians (Nearest liquor store and fast food was 17 miles away) 25 years ago. Cafeteria service was run by SAGA (Southern Appalachian Garbage Association), and you could see the progression from whole cuts of beast, to stews, then chopped and formed stuff (AKA "meat wads") and finally chili and spaghetti sauce (how is it that only cafeteria spaghetti sauce separates into tomato meat glop sitting on top with runny pink watery stuff sloshing across bottom of plate?). They used to serve a "Continental Breakfast" on weekends with donuts, danish, fruit, milk and juices until 10am. We used to borrow a friends hunting jacket along with a couple quart jars and ziplock bags and load up with like 15 lbs. of supplies (Yeah, caught the eyes of some servers when one of us would load trays with a dozen glasses of juice and the other would get a dozen glasses of milk...). We supplied our group of buddies with unlimited free munchies for most of the weekend (Yeah, what tommy said)

There were a couple of generators running on our street the night of the blackout. They were noisy, and I heard more bitching about the generators than about the blackout. Apparently more expensive generators run quieter. That is true, and the reason you want the voltage regulator is because without them anything with computer modules (Most electronic entertainment equipment such as TVs and video games) will quickly be fried by the voltage variations.

Last year had a storm which cut off power to my house for 5 days. Have been on low level survival mode since... I've got lots of canned goods and two of those 2.5 gallon containers of spring water. I've got lots of candles and oil lamps as well as 2 hurricane lanterns, half a dozen flashlights (Standard, florescent, a florescent camping lantern and a rechargeable million candlepower spotlight). I've got a power inverter so I can run lights, fan, tv and radio from car battery. I've also got a separate 12 volt DC power supply which will also power the inverter. I've got a 40 Qt. thermoelectric cooler that will run on both AC and DC. I keep the freezer stocked with 1 and 2 liter bottles of water for use in a couple heavy duty 50 Qt. marine coolers (Way cheaper than buying that "Blue Ice" crap, and when they melt you can drink them). I also have one drawer in my fridge devoted to storing nothing but batteries, all sizes (10 ea. D cells alone). 2 weather radios, several multiband radios and a AC/DC cable ready 9 inch color TV with built in DVD (Why is it that cable and phone always work, even when the power is out?). If I come across a decent generator with automatic voltage regulation and at least a 3 hour run time for under $500 I'm there baby!

Would be neat if we could put together a tee shirt as with Varmints shindig. I would nominate this image:

My pop culture sensibilities aren't quite what they used to be. I've seen J-Lo's pic a few times (usually on tabloid covers) but have no idea (really) who she is. So, a clue please? Soba The latest overhyped media pop-tart of the moment. Half a dozen bad movies and an affair with Ben Affleck that has the general public wishing they'd just shut up and rent a room...

With J-Lo as head waitress?

"Topping the findings of the July 29 inspection is "evidence of live flies" in the kitchen prep area at Rocco's, located at 12 E. 22nd St., records show. The pretty-boy chef from Queens also was nailed for keeping metal spoons in a "container of greasy stagnant water" - in other words, a greasy spoon violation." Do you think they staged these violations to make it seem more like "reality tv"? On todays channel 7 ABC Noon News there was a short story about a "Food Related Website" Carrying this story. They did not specify which one...

Of course grilling the chicken on an unopened beer can has the potential for entertainment...

A number of folks on the various BBQ lists have tried this and came to the same conclusions here... An amusing concept with marginal results at best.

A full sized pork butt will need to smoke for 6 to 8 hours at 220 to 250 degrees. The temp will rise to about 160 - 170 degrees and then hold there for 2 or 3 hours while the collagen and fat break down and render off. You also want to go easy on the smoke if you are going to use wood for flavoring. Lots of folks like to see tons of smoke billowing around but over that long a cooking time it may impart a bitter flavor. Here is my first try on my Weber Smoky Mountain (Pictures you can actually see! ) Starting out... 10:00am - A half pork butt ready for smoking 10:30am - Beginning setup. Umbrella shading thermometer from sun. Purchasing that clamp-on umbrella the day before would later avert tragedy! 2:30pm - They didn't forecast rain... One inch of rain in 40 minutes halfway thru the smoke session! Luckily with the umbrella the temp in the Weber Smokey Mountain drops only from 250 to 239. 5:30pm - This pig be done! 6:00pm - Well rested Smoked butt ready to be pulled 6:20pm - The finished product! Edited to add - "I still have not seen Al's butt!"