DMH

In my family we always have good ole mortons iodized and then, for the finer things, some kosher salt. I must admit i don't remember the brand of the salt but it does the trick. before i left australia i saw this pink salt in a few places. when i looked into it i found that it was salt taken from the River Murray that is currently over salinated (?). in order to help out with that problem they are extracting it and selling it. i thought it was a noble and tasty effort to help the environment and liven up foods...

< He stands the bar up on edge (the long side is on the table and the short edge is vertical to the table), and cradles it between his body and his arm, then takes the chef's knife handle in one hand and holds the tip of the blade in his other hand, and shaves down the vertical edge. The chocolate comes off in almost uniform chunks with little or no effort! It's almost like the chocolate has a hidden "grain", and if you cut with the "grain", it works like magic! > Wow, chefpeon, that trick sounds great. I will try it next time I am faced with a block of chocolate at work...although maybe I will try it at home first so I don't look like a fool in a kitchen full of people...hehe. I always heard that when chopping blocks of chocolate you should start at the corners. It's a bit easier but still doesn't make cutting chocolate any better.

Sounds like everyone is eating some delectable things... My dining lately has been a little boring but that will last only until I start getting paid at my new job... So, my last outings were... Arby's - gotta love that Beef n' Cheddar washed down with a Jamocha shake. I hadn't had it in at least two years so it was a nice fast food treat. The Ashley - this was a new restaurant for me. It's in downtown Stuart, FL. We thought it was going to be a bit nicer but it turned out to be just average pub food. I had a Cobb salad with a nice buttermilk dressing. The bacon was wonderfully crispy. For dessert we shared a really dense chocolate cake covered with caramelized walnuts. It was called Chocolate Blitz and it made up for an otherwise average meal. The Pasta Factory - This place has been around for ages in Calle Ocho, Little Havana. I had never been there but I had always heard pretty good things about it. It was not amazing but not bad if you are looking for simple, inexpensive pasta dishes. They have really yummy spinach pies. All the pasta is made in house and part of the attraction (apparently) is that on Saturdays you can see the pasta being made on these massive pasta machines that are on display. You also get a second bowl of pasta free....i didn't make it that far. I'm going to throw in a fourth dining experience for anyone in Miami. The potato gnochi in a light pink sauce at Berries in Coconut Grove is awesome!!!

OK, here you go... Abbey Brewing Company 1115 16th Street Miami Beach, FL 33139 It was on that PubCrawler's website... Let us know if you end up trying it and if it's any good.

There is a place in South Beach called The Abbey. I haven't been there in a few years, as I have been overseas, but I do recall them having a pretty good beer selection. I'm not sure of it's exact location but it is near the movie theatre on Lincoln Rd. I bet you can find it in the yello pages or something.

Well, I haven't ever really gone out of my way to buy a free range, hormone free chicken...i am usually lazy enough to settle for a supermarket bird. I have though, on two occasions, purchased a couple of free range chicken breasts. In size they were smaller and the first time i cooked them they were pretty bad. the texture was sort of stringy and dried out. I though maybe i had overcooked them or somehing so next time i tried the same brand of free range bird again....and again the texture was pretty horrid and the flavour was nothing too extraordinary. So, I think it is just the brand that i am getting and i am still hopeful that if i find a proper free range chicken it will taste better than any other chicken i have ever tried tried. I hate the fact that some packaging can say that the chickens are free range and really they were only 'free range' for about 5 minutes a day. At least thats what i heard somewhere.

hmmm...i suppose it's a little late for suggestions for PCL's trip to Adelaide but.... a few weeks ago, after saving up some money, a group of friends and i went to the Bridgewater Mill. Wow, it was fantastic. Le Tu Thai has done some wonderful things with the menu. Oddly enough though, the more Asian inspired food on the menu was disappointing. Everything else was fantastic. Cibo is another favorite of mine. The salmon pizza is one of the best. Another great pizza place ( i love pizza), is Amalfi's on Frome St. just off Rundle St. The place has nice atmosphere and the food is good and uncomplicated. Urban Bistro was very good. Unfortunately we were running late for something so we had to eat real fast and that ruined the enjoyment of it all. I'll have to go back and make sure I have plenty of time to savor the experience... One last suggestion is the little Russian stall in the Central Market. Not sure what its called but you see an entire Russian family cooking in there and the food is really nice. The borscht was beautiful and the pieroshki (?) is always a nice snack. Oh and since we are in the Central Market, I must say the greek yogurt stall is absolutely delicious. The yogurt itself is great and then they come with different toppings like mixed berries, muesli, banana and passionfruit, etc.....good stuff. I hope these suggestions come in handy for somebody. Happy eating!

My boyfriend is allergic to egg (egg whites in particular) and I think he is embarassed about his allergy. Whenever we go out to eat, which is pretty rare, he asks me to ask the waiter if there is any egg in certain things. I have asked him and tried to encourage him to ask himself (what's the big deal?) and he just won't. It's the strangest thing becase that is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Also, he refuses to get one of those scratch tests done. His father was allergic to egg but he grew out of it. So, i figure, if there is the slightest possibility that you could grow out of an allergy and suddenly be able to eat all these wonderful things, why in heaven's name wouldn't you get the freakin' test done. Anyways, I think the allergy card is a pretty neat idea. Whether not it's a matter of being embarassed or not. Like some people have noted in previous posts, a lot of the time people who say they are allergic often aren't really. I used to say I was allergic to garlic just becasue some chefs feel the need to use way too much of it. So yeah, the card would be good so people know who to take seriously and who is just a picky eater.

Nutella is heaven in a jar. Sometimes, when I am not eating it straight up on a spoon, I make little sandwich cookies with it. Take a bite and it oozes from the sides....it's delectable. I had Kinder Bueno for the first time about two nights ago. I must say I think it has become a new favorite. Is the core of those Ferrero Rocher chocolates Nutella or just something similar?...those are pretty tasty too!