jhlurie

I called El Gran Mexicano tonight (thinking I could have the food waiting for me) and got a message about it being "closed for renovation". Since that's often code-talk for "we're closed and trying to see if we can scrape together enough cash to re-open", does anyone know anything definitive? The phone message DID say "we will be open next week" though. Normally I might find that reassuring... except that they didn't specify WHICH WEEK either "this week" or "next week" were. Please don't make the only good Mexican food left in the area go away. Please.

Jason has at least MET Bill Gates. Maybe we should ask him!

Rachel, I've been following this thread for a while now. Hopefully in the next year or two, my wife and I will redo our kitchen and dining room. Thus it has been interesting following the ups and downs of your remodeling. A few things... The quote above...I'm not clear on it. Are you suggesting bringing a propane tank into the house? I doubt that is safe. But maybe I'm misreading you. Another version of this quote was ORIGINALLY written by Rachel in the middle of the summer, I believe (she's sort of reiterating something she wrote way back at the beginning of this, I think). But she's not necessarily talking about taking anything inside. I mean even in late October weather, its not THAT cold out! (especially if you live further south than Rachel) Then again... I've also known people who had indoor burners built into their fireplaces., and got around the renovation issue that way. Usually they were fed by central gas lines though...

Are you sure you're not thinking of Pabst Blue Ribbon? here... Edit to say... but guess what... it was from Pabst Breweries. But its an antique can... either the label is quite old, or its simply been a less well-known ongoing concern. But I can't find references to it as a modern product.

And if Depot tries pointing out those "extenuating circumstances" as an excuse, you should slam the hell out of them. When one thing goes wrong, its a misfortune. When two things go wrong, its a warning signal. Three--a definite pattern worthy of complaint, and four... an unforgiveable breach. Then again, I know you've done this mental math yourself already! The mere fact that you had weeks of waiting time after one task was "done" before they would submit your order for the next part--putting you on the bottom of a "list" for the next part to be manufactured or shipped... that alone probably added three or four weeks between various orders, right? It's the waiting that killed more than the stuff that was broken. Ah, well. I saw what it looked like on Saturday though--it does finally look like a real kitchen, disregarding the ceiling, I mean.

Yes, "Milwaukee's Beast" seems to be a fairly universal name for that product! I remember endless mocking the product at college, and yet they ALWAYS bought it... because it was the cheapest. Then again, I'm pretty demanding. For me, the top 30 or so "bad beers" ALL taste equivalently horrible. I can't sit down and enjoy a Corona that much more than I can a "Beast".

Yeah, Mark! You actually memorize the locations of Internet Cafes? Shudder. (oh, yeah, and on a completely seperate topic, nice Friday the 13th thing-a-ma-bob.)

Same theme as before... if they aren't fresh from the oven, don't bother. I'm guessing they will be cold in them there Grocery store boxes.

I think its because they are juice oranges, not the types we usually peel.

Yes, and its a real deal when combined with the cost of the 1700 mile drive from Seattle!

Nah...

Holly's got most of it here. It's to the point where I can get Krispy Creme Donuts at about 10 different neighborhood delis or supermarkets, and frankly I don't bother. Why? Because they aren't 1/10th as good as the specimens you get in a full service Krispy Kreme store. It's more then that they are warm, or sweet. They are, in fact, only semi-solid--they literally melt when your mouth comes in contact with them. If you aren't having a Krispy Kreme within a few minutes of the oven, you shouldn't bother. I will say, however, that this is only true for the "original" variety--plain cake covered with glaze. A few of the other donut varieties made by the franchise are reasonably good cooled off. But the flip-side of that is that the "original" glazed is the only one that is truly a trancendent experience when "served" correctly. The "sweetness" a few people have noted is much less pronounced when the donut is fresh out of the oven, by the way. When it cools you start to taste the glaze more than the batter, and that's most of the problem with it cooling. Even warming it back up doesn't fix this.

Yes, cottage fries. You are correct. Home fries would be cut and peeled a bit differently, wouldn't they?

Someone here recommended Fink's Home Fries, right? I had them a few days ago and they were well worth it.

Sure, but find me a mom and pop deli where I can go get s'mores at 1 in the morning! Wouldn't graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, a microwave oven or stove-top, and the comforts of your own home do? Why do you need to go out for something like s'mores--you can just buy the ingredients.

Assuming this is on the level (I'm sorry Dodge, since I don't know you in real life I need that disclaimer--its nothing personal), it is indeed proof that she doesn't read eGullet (at least very closely). eGullet--as a community--virtually NEVER lets people post simply to please themselves or each other. Well, at least not on serious issues (issues about "Pie" or "Steak" or "tommy's Kitties" are something else entirely). The vitriol part may occasionally be true, but we don't automatically take comments from posters (anonymous or otherwise) as inherent gospel--your post included. We debate things and analyze them. Take a look at the debates over the NY Times reviewing process--its pretty clear that we don't let comments stand without some debate. Posting something negative is NOT automatically a 'dis from the entire community, because we've got enough brains to argue over it. Their are constant "reality checks" when someone says something which makes no sense, and innaccurate facts are often addressed by other posters. With civility, we hope. This is also a case of putting us all in a single container--never a good idea. A dialogue between one or two people--who may have been feeding off each other in the way described so inelegantly in that response--is typified as the default behavior for a community of several thousand people. Great. Now I no longer feel special!

Varies with the type of garlic, I think. The "storage" time varies widely.

Reading the Kurlansky Book on Salt now. Unexpectedly fascinating (the "Cod" book didn't tempt me, but I knew a bit more about salt already, so I tried this one). The book is very food oriented, but also prominetly discusses the role of salt as both currency and as a politcal and religious tool. It seems somewhat ludicrous now, but for most of history Salt was precious--a rare commodity. Modern knowledge of geology has clued us in on how common, and easy to aquire, salt is... but for most of history this was not true. And not only was Salt rare, but somehow ancient man figured out he was healthier if he licked the rock than if he didn't. I'm only a bit into the book (about a fifth of the way--its a LONG book), but I like the way how, almost immediately, he deals with the fact that "sodium chloride" and "salt" are not synonyms, the way most people have been raised to believe (not the eGullet type of people, mind you). He says: Webster's differs a bit: Looking in some science books Kurlansky's definition works as well as Webster's if you simply insert the word "ionic" before the word "substance". Most (but not all) forms of salt are edible, and most good for you in moderation. Yum, Magnesium Chloride! Yay, Potassium Chloride! Woohoo! Mmm. Need some pretzels now.

Whew. For a moment I thought you were talking about this instead of this. I'd hate to eat that first one.

Yeah... I did too (specifically with hamburger meat, but hey, same idea) actually - checking timestamps--I mentioned it AFTER snowangel's quote... sorry.

Hmm. Our topics are getting a bit repetitive the last few days.

You know... brisket is pretty good cold. Different from steak, which I think has to be slightly warmer. Hamburger? As a full patty its horrible cold, but crumbled up when cold and put into a salad as a cold topping it works.

Yes, I've been there too (this buffet is a different place from the "Look See" I mentioned earlier--which is an actual restaurant which also periodically HAS a buffet). That larger buffet isn't bad, as such things go--at least for a local. I wouldn't travel for it.

It depends on the meat used, I think. Chicken - fridge cold Steak - a few minutes out of the fridge Sausage - either Turkey - fridge Lamb - room temp Pork - hmmm. Somewhere between, I think. Meatloaf - fridge cold if you must. with cold ketchup.

Ah yes, Cosi. Home of the $8.99 sandwich.