[Pernod, Herbsaint, Pastis, Etc. Cocktails]

I've had no complaints (excepting licorice-haters) from the following:

1 oz pastis

3/4 oz triple sec (typ. Cointreau)

3/4 oz lime juice

I don't recall where I found the drink, but I think they called it a "Johnsons Delight"

For some reason I just had to give it a try...

mjohnson in los alamos

[HB Eggs Techniques]

Consider your altitude!

I lectured my new wife at length (note - I learned that this isn't really a good idea) that the wise folks at eGullet/CooksIllustrated/whatever say she shouldn't cook them the way that she did.

New wife replied "OK Wise Guy, go cook some eggs".

I applied all of my Internet/magazine/tribal lore obtained knowledge and whipped up 1 dozen (barely) soft boiled eggs for egg salad.

We live at 7500 feet and boil our eggs for a _long_ time now.

Mike in Los Alamos, NM

[The Martini]

A even more inventive method is to first down a shot of vermouth and then exhaling into the glass of gin.  For the sake of not spreading germs, however, this method should be used only when making your own drink.

The most unique method for adding just a mist of vermouth came from the cold war. (This is a complete rumour but having met some of those guys, I'd believe it)

During an aboveground nuclear test in the Pacific (early '50s?) one of the engineers placed a bottle of vermouth very near the device. Atop his bunker some miles downrange he placed two cocktail glasses in the open to dose them with the proper amount (fragments of molecules?) of vermouth in preparation for the post-test cocktails.

Weather conditions would have been chosen to avoid having the fallout come near the bunkers and shock waves don't carry material very far so while it may have happened, he probably just got a glass of gin.

mike

[Oily beans]

I have a Kitchenaid grinder that has the jar on top that holds the beans.  The grinder is a burr design.  It works great with dry beans but not with oily ones.  Most dark roast , French roast or expresso beans I've seen are oily.  I don't think it's a question of where you get the beans, the age of the beans, or inferior beans.  These kind of beans are oily.  How the heck are you suppose to grind them?

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Yeah, cute machine but maybe not such a good design. We have one and it will get grounds packed up in the spout.

I found a solution though...

Once every few pounds, or more often if the beans are oily, I take the jar off and put a handful of barley into the hopper (black plastic conical area with the burrs at the bottom). Covering it with the palm of my hand, I grind all of the grain. I readjust the grind to fine and repeat with another handful of barley. Then I brush all of the dust into the grinder. I reset the grind setting and add maybe 2 Tbsp of beans. Grinding this last bit will flush the grain residue out the spout. I replace the jar and get on with life.

Maybe grinding the barely is bad for the grinder but it seems to prevent the spout from getting clogged. It used to clog up so badly that it nearly got a trip through the kitchen window. Now we can cope while we save up for a grinder with a better path for the grounds.

mike