Carrot Top

Maybe, maybe not. But just as gummy bears and steak don't go together, either do high heels and professional cooking. CJ alluded to prof soccer and team spirit and coaching at one point. If you take part of any team and hang them with a brick around their neck there's going to be an additional challenge to be overcome, both physical and emotional. I seriously believe that regardless of Howie's previous showings he would have topped over the edge in terms of attitude and performance if indeed he'd been wearing the high heels that night. He would have been the volcano that finally blew. And he would be the one gone. So far he's been a low-level stressor, a negative energy that has had to be overcome by the others time and time again. This is supremely non-professional and does not belong as part of being called "chef". The contestants overall have shown lots of interesting lapses of knowledge and they've taken some jumps that didn't work. But none of them have given off the smell of bully as Howie has. He should not be rewarded for this. And I can not believe that I am so involved in this TV show.

I have to admit to having evil fantasies of seeing Howie in particular in high heels and a low-cut shirt. Not for the usual reason but ooooh. I can just imagine his mood.

Never said it was, Nika. But one of the things that I do see in the overall movement is a focus on self, a focus on smallness, a focus on sufficiency without the need of the outside world. A turning of the back towards many complex issues, combined with a zealous missionary flag that others should be doing this too.

LOL, I agree. At least they had aprons, I was worried they were not going to get any. The producers must be men- They should walk around in high heels for hours. ← What was curious to me was the look Padma gave the women chefs when they mentioned the disadvantage of the high heels. It was full of incomprehension and disdain. For fear of ranting, I won't go into details about my feelings on that look she offered up.

Mmm. Nonsense everywhere. The only times in life I've seen things work in a passable manner is when people need each other for something. In the workplace, how often do you hear: "Yeah, he sucks but we need him because he can do-this-or-that or get-us-this-or-that." Most marriages survive on this basis. Always did. ............................................... In terms of earlier discussion, there are other people aside from urban dwellers or those who prefer to put their minds to other tasks that are excluded from the locavore movement. The rural poor. The ones who come from generations previous who had to stop farming because the farming was not making them a living or even providing for enough food to live on. (Edited to alter the word "exist" to "survive" in the marriage sentence because it seemed to fit better. )

I think that just to keep things fair, the guys should have to wear high heels and low-cut tops during the next challenge.

One vegetable patch is good, constructive global thinking is better. Mmm. Isn't there a saying about the preservatives in the food making one live longer, John? You may have more time to worry about all this than even you anticipated.

I'm all for locavores doing the locavore thing. It's one way, one valid way. If it's about food quality or reducing carbon footprints (gotta love whoever invented that phrase - it's a beaut, both musically and rhetorically) it's an excellent thing in ways. My philosophic stance remains that global interdependence is a good thing. Regardless of carbon footprints. My reasoning behind this is the belief that if we were not reliant on each other globally for many items we all consider to be neccesities, human nature being what it is we would likely just try to destroy each other. Moreso, that is, than we already do.

Mutatis mutandis of course. That's what I always say, and as a matter of fact I'm thinking of silk-screening it on t-shirts with colorful little veggies flying around the perimeter. I'm not sure that the system is getting better for everyone. I'm willing to be persuaded though.

Specify the stories, Fabby, so we can see. I'll give it a shot. (Ha, ha, I just hit the wrong letter and wrote "shit" instead of "shot". A fine morning it is. )

Who's this "we" and this "all"? I didn't realize that a "we all" had been formed by consensus. And never in my life saw an "all" when it came to people or things, that actually made sense or even worked. Personally I don't need excuses and really don't care if a thing is hard or not to do. But that "we" and that "all" (and yes, even the concept that I might need an excuse note) is quite disturbing.

Mr. Goodbar Grows a Claw.

Revenge of the One-Armed Redbug. And something about the look in his eyes makes me wonder if he's one of those lobsters those furriners dumped outside the B&M plant.

I found my curiosity piqued by a post made yesterday in "The Old Foodie" blog titled "Wasting Food is an Offense". Janet wrote about fines being levied for specified food wastage, and among the offenses listed were feeding pets bread and milk, or feeding livestock bread products. I'd like to know more about rationing during those times and how it affected things, and am most curious to hear about how people managed to feed their pets and livestock if rationing was so tight for humans! My knowledge is very general and based mostly upon snippets dropped by Elizabeth David within her broader-based writings or odds and ends of other people's stories now and again.

Usually with this cut I find that both the texture and the flavor are improved by an overnight marination in the fridge in a yogurt/lemon juice/honey/mint/black pepper marinade. Grill them quickly over high heat and you might find that even people who don't like lamb like it this way.

Well there is that Santa Claus aspect to the man. And we do know that Santa Claus does live forever.

Maybe the Foundation purchased the rights to use (for advertising purposes, with the agreement that they could attach their name to it) a bundle of things that happened in the past? This would effectively increase (by fell swoop and contract) in the public eye the perception of their generosity and staying power/seniority in the food world.

I'm not really sure if you're going to get exactly the right effect without having experienced it yourself. Don't you think you should head out with Eddie next Friday night to study this?

I just came across a recipe for Prune Pithiviers in Dorie Greenspan's "Sweet Times", filled with a prune Armagnac pecan blend. Interesting. The ham one from Julia I've had and it is good but the concept of other fillings has never quite sunk in with me and Pithiviers. Hard to walk away from that indescribably delicious almond one. But this one sounds good, too.

Pretzels, in little chipped fake-wood laminate bowls.

Based on the foods you noted above, some sort of jerky would fit into the menu maybe. Highly spiced to induce thirst. I hope you are also planning on including a large battered jukebox, enough drunk guys to start a fight, and some good-quality floozys in the decor.

Katie encapsulted what seemed to me to be a close-to-perfect philosophy on eating or not eating bunnies in her posts in the Not a Sweet Little Bunny thread, and I admit that thoughts of Katie's pet bunny will haunt me forever and will prevent me from eating any future pet bunnies that may force their way into my home. Another post I distinctly remember (and one that will remain in memory) is when she posed the question of why are young inexperienced male sommeliers (in my mind they always dressed in Ralph Lauren and were strangely skinny) hired in certain restaurants rather than female sommeliers with possibly more knowledge. That question hung there like a balloon that had an inappropriate saying emblazoned across it . . . and like a balloon it finally disappeared into the distance to land wherever it will. I like that balloon she lofted in that question though, and though nobody attempted an answer, I'll keep the question somewhere in my mind. She also seems to be an exceptionally pleasant person. She deserves all good things and many of them. Best to you, Katie. Don't be a stranger.

Those ideas are really fun as is the concept. I hope you'll let us know how it proceeds.

One good thing about seeing Ratatouille is that I didn't have to see "No Reservations" instead. My very favorite part is where the rat gets inside the guys chef's coat and tickles him so that he dances around like a . . . well . . . like oil-coated linguine on electroshock. Obviously when I say oil I mean EVOO. But as far as direction given by a rat pulling on your hair it happens all the time.

Love it. I see it as a movie. Black and white except for the scenes that occured within restaurants or galleries/museums. These scenes would be drenched in color, deep scarlets and blues jumping off the screen with shocking aggression. Naturally it would have to be a light comedy with horror movie undertones. Naturally it would preview at Cannes and win some-prize-or-other. It's a shame, really, because the history of gastonomy is a fairly easy one to consume and comprehend as it has not been all mucked up by the writings of academics. Yet. .................................................. I woke up this morning with the sureness of thought that it should not be cooking that aspires to be art but rather that it should be that art aspires to be cooking. And if I can remember why I thought this I'll try to write a post later, for all this lovely focus on talking about art and Adria et al has been a fantastic way to avoid writing this thing I have due yesterday.