jhlurie

For some reason my parents didn't believe in sloppy joes. As a kid I maybe had one two or three times in a restaurant. Maybe the same amount of times as an adult since then... But still... to confuse a Sloppy Joe with any kind of Club Sandwich is just wrong. But Loose Meat sandwiches are cool. Push up the debris and drop it on my bun.

The whole noodle/salad comment by LaurieA-B is interesting. At the Thai restaurants I really like, usually its the salads/larbs which take me over the top. I rarely eat noodle dishes at Thai restaurants, since a good curry is inevitably the number two dish after the salad or larb. Admittedly the salads and larbs are more beef/chickeny, with maybe an occasional Papaya, but that's the Americanization right there.

Panko rules.

I have to agree with Jason on the Drake's Coffee Cakes. There is no logical reason why they should be as totally satisying as they are. For years, even at times when I'd sworn off pretty much all junk food, I always held onto the Drake's Coffee Cakes. Drake's Coffee Cakes rule.

The skinnier the dog the better in my experience. "Crispness" is a very important element in the "taste" of a hot dog. Sometimes a thicker dog can be good, though, if its been split while cooking.

I normally hate inserting myself into other people's dining experiences. Even if they are talking about something I know, I really don't think they want a complete stranger addressing them. In a normal restaurant the idea repulses me. Hibachi is a slightly different matter, partially because the atmosphere is built so that you are all watching a common "show" (the chef) and partially because its more of a social setting, like a bar. Then again... who knows what THEY think. I suppose the key is to see where their eyes go. If its exclusively down to the table, or even just at each other, I keep my mouth shut.

My brother lives in Hamden and keeps threatening to take me here. Maybe next time I'll actually let him, assuming Fat Guy hasn't gone nuts.

Rochelle, very definitely try to keep your personal observations in. It's what divides these diaries from mere "rote" reporting. Explain what you do, and then why, and then how you feel about it. Of course, you also have to satisfy yourself. If this is the Sept 11th blues speaking, you'll get over it soon. If not, then experimentation certainly can't hurt. But the core has to stay with you, or else you are doing both yourself, and your goal of documenting your experience a disservice. In moments of doubt you might think you aren't an interesting person, but obviously that's not true. Or maybe you don't think that! Either way, keep up the good work.

I dunno. I guess I'm in the minority in kind of liking them. Obviously you can't do this so easily with the vending machines... but at the dippin' dots booths they will flavor mix for you. You can take little balls of vanilla and orange, for example, and make a kid of weird creamsicle.

Isn't it time to take the blue plastic off the fridge? No... seriously I suppose you are keeping it on until the work is done to avoid extra damage to the finish... right?

Okay... recently some one gave me some Jim Beam Black Label. I fully expected it to suck, but it didn't. Has anyone else tried this?

Even though it comes in a brown bottle, I frequently think that Budweiser is totally skunked.

Maybe we can work on a definition of "skunky" Does this match your understanding of the term?

I wonder if there is even a legitimate way to make Onion Rings without a deep fryer, DStone. Maybe there is a way to Pan Fry them? I'm dubious... I suspect that a "baking" method might exist... but would it taste the same? I doubt it.

Let me add, relevent to our "Ranch Dressing" discussion the other day, that I see Onion Rings as one of the few legitimate uses for Ranch dressing. But as always, blue cheese might work even better. Q: Dstone... do you distinguish between Onion Rings in this context and Onion Loaf? Someone might have a recipe for that... (note that I'm not referring to Onion Loaf bread, but instead the kind that's a big loaf of fried onions...) Q2: Do you have a deep fryer?

In other words, no... its the same thing.

I'm convinced I've had this under another name, but my mind is blank. Are there other similar Korean dishes?

Yes, that's my understanding of salsa too. I was quite surprised to see how ignorant Webster's dictionary is on the subject of salsa. Yeah... right. Eliminate every word in that definition except the word "sauce" and its correct. Or at least add the word "usually" in there somewhere.

Still... you've got to love any system where you go back to the bottom of a list when something arrives broken or wrong. They you have to beg favors to get a replacement with rush status. Maybe you aren't paying anything extra, but it still makes me wonder how the whole system stays afloat.

What, are you saying I have an anger management problem, you stupid fucking asshole? Hah. You are going to scare away a newbie, Perlow. Take your pill! You know... one of the yellow ones. How's the most recent part of the renovation going? I just realized I haven't actually stepped foot into your place for quite a while... Remember, the thing which started the whole suggestion for the "good cop/bad cop" bit was Rachel saying something about how you guys were back-logged on a list or something. The idea makes my skin crawl, because what if you are on a list, wait the time, they eventually ship it, and it BREAKS in shipping? Are you back on a list again? And how the heck were you even still on a list that far into a renovation? When did you go on it in the first place? I'm trying to remember...

I'm assuming this is the older thread, although after this long I can't say for sure. Reading it, there was a question (from me) about Salsa vs. Chutney. As for my definition, again, I think the older thread helps. Salsa is a very free-form thing--the word means "sauce" or something similarly vague. The older thread originally had some topic description along those lines, but I think it got lost with one of the upgrades. My original contention was never really that salsa and chutney are the same thing. Merely that if you start throwing fruit into salsa, that you are getting pretty close...

As much as I hate crediting "Time" with getting anything right... the article in the recent Time Magazine did make a good case for this. Leptin, PYY3-36, and other hormones, and a growing suspicion than our histories of obesity, stress and different foods from our ancestors is damaging the ability of our hypothalamuses to properly trigger what is called "thermogenesis". That and too much food.

macrosan keeps the weight off with that funky chicken dance.

I missed this little debate until now. For years, since first reading about Adkins, I've been wary of it. It's a fallacy that the human body was made for a diet of nothing but Fat and Protien--just take a look at our teeth for a moment. That said, we should always strive to take wisdom out of ignorance. We do eat too many carbs. Time Magazine weighed in, just last week. Quite favorably towards Adkins, actually. But the real genesis of our weight problems may be hormonal--as in "hormonal imblance". Read the article. The article also talks about the differences between simple and complex carbs. I was shocked to hear someone who I thought should know better tell me a few weeks ago that "a carb is a carb". Crapola. My 8th grade Biology class was enough to convince me that's not true, and that was a generation ago. Also in Time, Adkins and Dean Ornish have a little fight... BTW: I've lost 25 pounds in the past few months. How? Mostly by cutting total consumption... although I have ALSO cut out unneccesary carbs when possible. Doubtless, I will eventually put it back on. But that's just a matter of my lack of discipline.

Rosie... have you ever eaten it out west? California, Texas... heck I've ever had great Mexican in Kansas City.