petite tête de chou

If all you have is a few mint leaves your infusion will be quite weak (not necessarily a bad thing). It takes a surprising amount of fresh mint to make a decently strong and flavorful tea.

This happened to me the first few times, too. When I increased the heat and added a bit more oil to the cauliflower it was definitely crispier.

There's quite a bit of information on this thread about pairing different teas with tasty bits.

I specifically make my meatloaf and meatballs a day in advance to develop the flavors. But then, I'm no food safety specialist.

Absolutely. When I'm looking at a great food photo the LAST thing on my mind is pornography.

I found lots of threads concerning specific ingredient substitutions but not much else. Ingredient Substitutions Mega-List That said, I've substituted various acids in recipes. Lemon juice for vinegar and vice versa. Tomato products can be juggled successfully. Such as tomato paste for ketchup or canned tomatoes for fresh (using my common sense on this one). Actually, I'm out of tomato sauce right now but have tons of canned, diced tomatoes. A quick whirl in the blender and voila, tomato sauce, albeit a bit thinner. Sometimes an ingredient substitution leads to a new, improved, highly personalized dish. Yay for imagination and taking risks!

I second the idea of grinding them to a powder. This powder is incredibly versatile and adds that "certain something." There's more ideas here... Dried Shitakes, Needs ideas, please Dried morels, how would you use them? Dried Mushrooms 101, The how's why's and what's - I hope Soaking dried mushrooms, Should you use the soaking water? And if you do decide to grind some of them into powder...dried shitakes..texture??, grinding them

If it's a two pound loaf, say, break it down into four four parts and wrap separately. That way, only the bit that you're using is exposed to the temperature and humidity changes.

See post #15. Substitute raspberries for the blackberries and add 1-2 tsp. of pureed chipotle before simmering. Blackberries, suggestions?

Same here with the browning, Miz Duck. Seems like a lost opportunity for flavoring.

Black peppercorns fly outta my house! We love, love freshly ground black pepper.

Stuff with preferred cheese, dip in batter and deep fry.

Here's small thread with good ideas- Beef Tongue and (in) Cheek, do you have any suggestions?

Consider using a killing funnel. They keep the bird relatively still and make it easier to bleed the animal.

Grilled peanut butter and (precooked) sliced chicken sandwich served with cream of tomato soup that has crushed peanuts on top. Mmm-mm good.

All kinds of ideas... Stuffing chicken breasts, Any ideas for what to put inside? Stuffed chicken breasts, Help me salvage this

Raspberry preserves, honey, marmalade, peanut butter, maple or chocolate syrups by the spoonful. To make the raid seem a little more special I use my trusty, slightly bent sterling teaspoon for dippin.' By the fingerful- brown sugar, cookie/cake sprinkles and even a bit of unsweetened cocoa. Go figure. Let's not forget a handful or two of dry cereal.

Simmer spice/s of choice on low heat in oil (butter, schmaltz, bacon fat, peanut oil, lard, olive oil, unrefined corn oil etc). Use the spiced oil in stir-fries, vinaigrettes or bbq sauce, brush on grilled vegetables, drizzle on rice or pasta etc. The oil will help extract and bloom whatever flavor is left in those old spices.

But I'm a woman, confident in myself and extremely difficult to intimidate socially. My mother feels very similar to your lady friend- very outdated and potentially harmful views of a lone woman in society. feh-

I ask for a table. There's more room for my various reading materials, crosswords, side dishes, salad dressings...you get the idea. When I've sat at the bar inevitably some guy tried to pick me up. I save us both the trouble and get a table every time now. eta- shpelling correktshun

A real letdown is being served any type meat that has a great crust (or grill marks), fat is nice and crispy, lord knows it *looks* juicy but ALAS..it's shoe leather. Further, it's an insult to shoe leather. -grumble-

I love dining alone. It frees me up to read my newspaper or magazine (not a tacky habit in the restaurants, well, diners that I frequent) and I don't have to talk. Dining Solo and because it's a related, funny thread..People You've Met While Dining Alone, or Strange Dining Companions

Absolutely true! Yay!

I didn't intend to mean that his menu had to be completely rearranged. Scargo is free to prepare and enjoy the meal as originally planned. Wether he cooks the chicken himself or buys one, this is the polite and gracious road to travel, as you have pointed out.

Well, your partner *did* ask pretty please. You gotta do it. And as much as you'd like to let li'l-miss-pissy-pants know what an inconvenience this is, don't. That's sorta tacky and if your partner knew, I bet it would make her unhappy. And you *don't* want that.