jhlurie

Is there something generational or regional about this belief that beer is nutritious? I've never heard of anything so foolish, and to my knowledge nobody from my part of the world or my approximate cultural background believes it either. Then again, believing that wine is "healthy" seems like a stretch to me as well. I like wine, mind you, but most of the supposed health benefits can be gotten just as easily by eating a bunch of grapes.

If we are done with the Francophilia, dare I suggest that German food goes well with beer? As for Italian food, yes, Pizza is a given (does Plotnicki eat Pizza, since it's more of a blue-collar American thing? ). But in the depths of Italian America, beer also occasionally passes the lips of people eating pasta as well. Personally, the combination of grains would make me gassy, but hey, it's done.

This isn't very different from what I suggested on page 1 of this topic... one part of speech can be made into another when something becomes implied. Right?

Friendship Circles™ These new ones look worth trying: "A rich chocolaty filling sandwiched between two crunchy vanilla cookies and embossed with the word "friend" in many languages." It's a reverse Oreo.

that may be so. but i think you all agree with me. Yeah... in seven or eight years she'll be pretty. Is that what you were looking for?

tommy you need help.

{Insert image of Tagalong Peanut Butter Patty cookie box here--I'm self editing due to our copyright and fair use policy, which was developed after this post }

When I'm energetic, I believe it's because my blood sugar is not low. I feel differently, am more energized and see things in a clearer perspective. I notice when I'm very busy and don't eat, my blood sugar sinks and I get blue when I have no reason to feel down in any way. I then realize 'hey, eat something.' Sure enough, I bounce back and feel good again. IMO, there's definitely a major link between foods and mood and it's biological as well as our having association with so-called 'comfort' foods. I've never heard anyone say a celery stalk made them feel good but mention mashed potatoes, buffalo wings, fried chicken....umm, I feel better already! This is all well and good, but you were linking this to relaxing and going to sleep. When I want to go to sleep or "relax" the last thing I want are elevated blood sugar levels. Feeling both emotionally good and "awake" seems to be substantially different from feeling relaxed and sleepy. I don't think you get to these places with the same food.

I was just going to be a wiseass and answer "booze" to the original question, but the diversion from the original topic has changed that impulse. I'm no lightweight, but I find that when I'm upset that I DON'T eat. The times when I have a drink before bed are linked more to either a celebratory mood or a need to make myself sleepy, as oppossed to calming myself down (the sugar in the booze picks me up, but the alcohol brings me down...). Now as to food before bed, I'm making a concerted effort these days to NOT eat in the last hour before bed. But when I did, it was usually to give myself a quick energy boost so that I could do all of the little pre-bed-time rituals without falling asleep standing in front of the sink with a toothbrush in my mouth. Unfortunately the premise of this thread gives me a little bit of trouble, but in a different way from Jinmyo. We've got all kinds of talk about what substances bring us up and down, and those are really two completely different things. When I want to "relax" I don't feel a pressing need to feel energetic, but on the other hand, when I feel energetic my mood is indeed better.

I dare you to use "to appetize" in a real print publication somewhere!!!

How about we start suggesting some GOOD words and phrases? Of course, then they will eventually become overused as well and a "Son of overused restaurant reviewer words & metaphors" thread will have to be made. words I like to see in a review: "enjoy" -- it's an honest no B.S word "chef" -- ya' gotta have one "clean" -- for now this is still a good word, but I could see it being overused. "I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle" -- I just love that one...

As bad as "ubiquitous" or "sublime" is "synergy" or "synergistic".

You know its funny. Jason Perlow and I were trying to describe this to tommy the other day and it wound up sounding like this... ---------------------------------------------------------- tommy: you know... those triangle cookies... Jason: blah blah blah Apricot blah. Triangle blah. War blah. Esther blah blan blah Ancient. Prune, Strawberry blah. Blah blah blah. Poppyseeds. Crisco Jewish bakery blah. Blah. tommy: Eh? Me: Okay... It's a cookie, see... tommy: Ug. Me: And it's shaped like a guy's hat. tommy: Um. Me: You see, we beat the guy, so we make a cookie out of his hat. tommy: Uh? The odd thing is, tommy was more intelligible than either me or Jason, and he was the one with no idea what we were talking about.

Hey... don't blame me. My only part of this was sitting there with a stupid look on my face when tommy asked "hey, isn't that Easter" and Rachel said "yeah, uh... I don't know... anyone got a calendar?"

Let's assume "hot" means cooked. Cold means "directly from the refrigerator". At least for this thread.

Consider this an extension of the Leftovers thread. For years people have been trying to convince me that pizza is even better the next day cold. I've never gotten this. But I'll admit that there are some hot foods I prefer cold--Fried Chicken comes to mind. What else fits this category? And why?

And the true "Jewish" response to your logic, Steven is simply to say "feh" and give you the downward hand wave.

You didn't write that.

What isn't being said here is that what constitutes "good writing" isn't the same in all environments. Good writing is neither long nor short. It can't get bogged down in details, but it also can't take shortcuts. It has to be specific, but it also has to be transcendent. It should reflect a high education, but shouldn't rely on four syllable words. I could go on all day. Writing is contradiction. For the purpose of something like a food review we want to see the type of prose described by Steven precisely because food is such a sensual experience. It's not as much a matter of good writing as it is a matter of good food writing. But if you go overboard, it becomes "purple prose". for example: "I was in heaven! The delightful sensation of eating egg rolls at China Palace is still fresh and vivid in my mind. An explosion of flavor fills your mouth as you break the wrapper with your teeth. The filling inside is a delight of different flavors and aromas, which dance joyfully in-between your cheeks." For me that kind of language is a bit over the top.

Come to think of it, consider the various implications of the word "nosh"... The nosh is both the food being eaten as well as the act of eating it, right?

True... but I think its a twisting of the former usage as a modifier. It started out that way and through mis-use became something else. Like so... Egullet: Enlightening transformed eventually to Egullet: For Discussion and Enlightening See? Eventually even the inclusion of "Egullet" would seem to become unnecessary--after all you KNOW where you are. So you'd be left simply with "For Discussion and Enlightening". Taken even a step further it became obvious that the terms appetizer and appetizing were so close that, yes, that additional corruption of the meaning snuck in there. But I've noticed this mis-use of "ing" words in plenty of other places...

I don't know Wilfrid. In the context you describe (under the name of an establishment) it sounds more like a descriptive term, instead of a noun OR a verb. "Wolfies: Appetizing..." See... they are saying that Wolfies is appetizing. Never mind the fact that Wolfies is making the food and is not the food itself (I mean you aren't eating Wolfies, you are eating Wolfies food). So maybe it is: "(The food at) Wolfies (is) appetizing." It's like saying: "Ford: Reliable..." Translated: ("The cars from) Ford (are) reliable."

A very scary occurance: I got to the point of actually having typed the single word reply "sublime" into this post before I went back and read tommy's contribution. The fact that we had the same thought is very frightening. Also, now that I think of it, some other qualifiers are: "extraordinary" "top notch" (when the reviewer is trying to appear informal) "homestyle" "sublime" "sublime" "sublime" "sublime"

This is VERY off-topic, but just this once I can't resist noticing that a person named BON is having a conversation with a person named AMI, and neither of them appears to be French. Well, my Good Friends, I guess its a coincidence. Back to the raw beef discussion. I'm fairly positive myself that this is a western derived thing. Raw beef is a part of many western cultures already, and it's inclusion in sushi is a natural outgrowth of an attempt at fusion.

Ditto on the Stinger. One of the best after-dinner drinks in the universe. I've seen a lot of people use a mix of 2/3 brandy and 1/3 Creme de Menthe, from what I've seen, but Miss J's reference seems to have about half as much Creme de Menthe as that. Fair enough. Green Creme de Menthe? Throw it away.