HungryChris

I would do some kind of oyster thing. In the shell, drizzeled with garlic scampi butter, chopped parsely and dusted with a mixture of grated parm cheese and bread crumbs and perhaps topped with a roasted red pepper heart, baked to a golden brown. A dry champagne.......... I've talked myself into it!

I get Gorganzola from Trader Joes that I am crazy about, but can't remember the name. I just look for a little blue and red circle on the label. A salad with leafy green and red tipped lettuce, homemade croutons with lots of thyme and garlic infused olive oil and carmelized shallots, julienned beets and plenty of crumbled Gorganzola cheese, dressed with vinegrette makes it happen for me! Throw in a hot buttered sourdough roll and a crisp white wine and I am weak at the knees.

I too, must speak up in favor of the Lodge cast iron DO. You can't beat it! I got mine in the camping section of Walmart and have never looked back.

Yeah, what he said. It's a molcajete.

Tommy, I am told by friends that the Cab is a much more uniform and a more stable product. After my experience with the merlot, I won't be buying that stuff again. It's too bad though, cause my first two tastings where damned good.

OK, In spite of anything I said in defense of Three Buck Chuck in the past. I have to admit that I opened a bottle of merlot last night and poured it right down the sink. It tasted like cheap grape juice and nothing like the first few bottles that I have sampled. I had noticed a slight variation of taste in the past, but nothing like this. This was just plain awful.

A "regular" grinder is a salami grinder and always has been, here in CT. It is made with cooked salami, provalone cheese, sliced tomatoes and iceburg lettuce that has been sliced thin, mixed with salt and pepper and olive oil. For the best one imaginable, visit Bennedito's near Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, CT. It is a tiny little place but well renouned in the area as the best. Just look at the line at noon, that says it all!

I believe that nonstick cookware is not allowed on US submarines for the same reason. I think I read that production of phosgene gas is a possibility from super heating nonstick cookware. Frankly, I just don't like the stuff and would just rather spend a few minutes scrubbing to get the finish back.

Thank You, Vengroff!! I don't think the stuff is wonderfull, but I get my dander up when I think I am dealing with a wine snob!!!!

Vengroff, Just because a wine is cheap, that doesn't mean it's bad, either. It may not be to your liking, but that will not stop others from enjoying it.

A lot of people are alarmed by this stuff and put it down as if it threatens them. I don't get it. I think it is great that we have the opportunity to have a dinner wine for knock around pasta meals and chicken in sauce meals that don't cost an arm and a leg! Get out of my way! I'm headed for TJ's for Three buck Chuck!

I think that Trader Joe's has exclusive rights to sell this wine. I don't think you will find it anywhere else. Whenever I go to TJ's I get a few bottles just to have around. I probably give more away than I drink at home and people are usually quite interested in trying the stuff. It's not a great wine, but for some meals it works well. I like to serve the Merlot in my best balloon stemware, it cracks me up, but it's not bad. Cheers!

I do not pretend to know much about champagne or "domestic champangne", but I do know that when the wedding of my sister became an issue, my father decided that rather than having an open bar, he wanted to serve just "domestic champagne". He went on a quest to determine what the best one was ( this was in the early eighties) and Korbel came up the winner. It was at that ceremony that I first tasted the stuff and frankly, I liked it and still do! Call it what you will, I really don't think it sucks. I am quite fond of it, but then again, I am one of those folks who buy the bubbly only once a year at most.

If you folks don't mind, I'd like to join in as well. I haven't brewed in a few years, but would love to go find my stuff and have another bash at it. I love the idea of everyone doing the same recipe. I could be ready by the weekend of Dec 13, provided the ingredients are decided upon fairly soon. Cheers! HC

The company I work for, (CSC) gave us a free certificate to pick apples a few years ago and Deb and I had so much fun doing it, (picking apples, that is), we went back to a place that let you pick your own apples last year. The Honey Crisp is the apple that stands out in my mind as the best tasting of the bunch, but it didn't last well. I suspect that it is the short storage time of the Honey Crisp that has kept it quiet. HC

We had occaision to sample the Frank Pepe's clam pie today. The last two times we went there we were greeted by a sign that said "No Clam Pies Today". When we asked what that was about, we were told that the clams had not been delivered. The last time, as we left, a Connecticut Shellfish truck pulled up as we pulled out. The clam pie we had today had the indesputable flavor of fresh clams. I think this is a flavor that if you are not accustomed to, can be missed completely. If you know what a fresh clam tastes like, you know enough to appreciate it when you encounter it. That is what we had today, and that was a damned good pizza! The travel Channel was there filming today, BTW. HC

Having worked in food service for many years in many capacities, I am very forgiving in most categories. One of the things that drives me insane, is walking into a place where there are workers "hanging out" at the same time there are unbussed tables. I just want to say to them, "If it looks to you like nothing needs to be done, punch out, we don't want you here."

I too have an abundance of pears, this year. I intend to make and freeze pear sorbet. I learned the hard way that lemon juice must be waiting for the pear juice when the pears are juiced or pureed or the juice will turn brown as apple cider in a heart beat if it is not acidified. I have a pear tree that produces pears that grow sweet, but never ripen into the soft pears we are familiar with. Pear sorbet with pears from my own tree for Thanksgiving dessert will be something I will serve with pride this year. HC

I do this too. Isn't it interesting and at times dissapointing how some things just don't have that same eye opening kick after they have been frozen. I like to make frozen lunches that I can just grab from the freezer in the AM and take to work to throw in the mike. Some things do way better than others. Stuffed Cabbage, for example is a winner, while Chili seems to be a looser. Go figure. O.K, O.K, topic police, cuff me!

Hot and Sour Split Pea (made with smoked shoulder leftovers) Turkey Chicken Pasta Fagiole (I think Olive Garden does this one well) Ramen

I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed ourselves Saturday night. Thanks, Varmint for busting your ass and your pocketbook for that event. We met a lot of people, including some friends and neighbors of yours that just made us feel right at home! What a great spot to live! We sat next to Lorita and Bob who were both thrilled and blown away that we would come to a pig pickin from as far away as Connecticut without knowing anybody. My response was that while I have never met you or your wife, I kinda felt like I knew you. They didn't get that at all, but smiled and nodded their heads with approval nonetheless. Until last Saturday, Hushpuppies were shoes to me. Malawry set me straight on that issue and I now have my mind right! The were better than I ever thought possible, my thanks to you, Malawry!! I had to check with Mrs. Varmint about the power tools and cooking stuff and Varmint, your story checks out. You found a good woman!! As it turns out we both bought an 18'' chainsaw the day before. I'm guessing she got the one on sale at Sears too. We missed the VD Stew and the Lemoncello. We figured the "staff dinner" wiped out Katie's Lemoncello, oh well. We went back to the hotel and recovered for a while, then went to 42nd St Oyster Bar. It was packed, but we got a seat at the bar within a few minutes and I had a half dozen gulf oysters and a beautiful pan sauted soft shell crab. Deb had some cajun fried oysters that I helped her finish. They were great! Sunday we went to the state farmers market and even though it was Sunday and a lot of the places were not open by the time we had to leave, we could get some sense of how nice it must be on Saturday. We took your lead, Varmint and had breakfast at the "round resturaunt". Deb and I had eggs and grits and buiscuits and I had "red eye gravy". What the hell is that? Thanks again!!!!!!! HC

St Patrick's Day, 1976. Myself and six male coworkers went to Boston and got a suite of rooms on the top floor overlooking the Charles River. I can't remember the name of the hotel. We had talked about this and saved for it for over a year and it was a big deal to us. I regestered under the name of my great grandfather, Timothy O'Leary. We started out bar hopping from a limo, per our plan. A few hours and quite a few cocktails later we arrived back at the hotel with 4 limos, which was not in the plan. We had room service set up a buffet in the room complete with a guy making omelettes to order and runners replenishing stuff. There must have been 8 or ten items. There was a group of about 40 or 50 people we 'picked up' on our travels, the majority of them were women. Every place we went into we looked for women in groups and sent over drinks and basically acted like we were made of money. We also bought every bottle of green food coloring in the city for the hotel pool, which was finally turned green when we had just about given up. I remember having King Crab Legs with melted butter that just couldn't have been any better! I must of had 4 or 5 helpings. The next morning people seemed to emerge from every nook and cranny and the fact that I was hung over seemed to add to the mystery of where they came from, every time I looked up it seemed there were more people in the room feeling about the same as me. Next thing ya know, there is the same guy making omelettes to order for everybody. It took me the greater part of two years to recover financially from that night. Aside from buying cars or houses, that was the most money I have ever spent at one time. I have to say I'll never do it again, but it still puts a smile on my face thinking about it!

Let's face it, once the heat starts to build under that hog, the real sun will shine in Raleigh! Weathermen be damned!!!

In NYCity, I have had wonderful oysters at Balthazar and I think even better at Gramercy Tavern, but there is the price issue. The Grand Central Oyster Bar has good quality oysters if it's packed, but the last time I was there I watched the bartender pick the oysters from the ice while all the shuckers were just hanging around and I could tell by the taste that the oysters had been open for some time. Beside opening them myself, I think being at the door at the Union Oyster House, in Boston when they open in the morning, is the best place for good oysters between NY and Boston. Please do not go there for dinner and expect freshly opened oysters, cause that just won't happen! Be there when they open the doors and go get a seat at the bar. That is what eating oysters is all about and if you don't like them then, you have to find another passion in your life! HC

This isn't going to help you out in the city, but I feel that this is a good place to put the info anyway. At the Chowder Pot III off of exit 56 on I-95 (I think it's Branford) you can get a dozen Blue Points opened while you watch (if you sit at the bar) for $9.95. That's the best deal I know of beside buying them and bringing them home to open. I just had a dozen last Sunday. They have always been fresh and flavorful in my experience. I think they are as reasonable as they are because Connecticut Shellfish is about a hundred yards away.