I_call_the_duck

I remember reading that years ago. Unfortunately, real estate in my freezer is too valuable for non food-related items.

From the cheering section: Wohoo!! You go, guys! Keep up the good work! Toasted: Our first wine and food epiphany came with truffles. We had a truffled-cheese and paired it with a glass of Vacqueras. Taste explosion. Amazing.

a soft pretzel isn't like toast, it's really more like a bagel--just a dense piece of dough. so it's kinda salty and works well with mustard; what's the difference? an old coworker of mine used to put cream cheese on his soft pretzels. is that so different from a salt bagel? anyhow, yeah, so anyway, pretzel/mustard/coffee = BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. ← I meant bagel. It was nearing my bedtime when I posted that, and I couldn't think of a similar carb. What's so different than a salt bagel? It just is. But it's the mustard thing. I have no problem having a pretzel for breakfast, but mustard? It has to be one of those Philly things I may never understand. Like scrapple (ducks).

There has to be a diamond tie pin and a white silk scarf somewhere in there too. Also, I can't imagine Shola to be a man of leisure, considering the amount of time he puts into his dinners.

While we're on the subject of soft pretzels, being a recent emigrant to Philly, can someone please explain the pretzels and mustard thing for breakfast? I can understand the pretzel part, since it's like toast, but mustard? ETA: I meant bagel instead of toast. I wrote this close to my bedtime, so I couldn't think of a similar carb.

Naive little me had to look up the definition of boulevardier. From dictionary.com, I got "a man about town". Not to be nitpicky, isn't then a "boulevardier-about-town" repetitive and redundant? Sounds like a great place. Can't wait to try it out. Anyone want to join us?

That stuff is amazing. The store where I purchased my new cookware was out of stock of Barkeepers Friend at the time, so it was several weeks before I remembered to pick some up. My pans were already stained from use, but they came right out with BK. I wound up cleaning every single pan that night. Oh my, I need to get out more...

I don't know if they still are, but deep-fried oreos were quite ubiquitous in NYC street fairs a few years ago. I love anything deep-fried. I think if you coat shoe leather in batter or bread crumbs and stick it in hot oil it would also taste good.

Looks a lot like the chicken shepherd's pie I made this weekend. Not pretty by any means, but tasted fine. And I agree with Carrot Top. Grub, that bread doesn't look that bad.

This thread has been up for about two days, so where's the King of Eggs, percyn?

That was too funny! Jason, sounds like you and Rachel had a lot of fun. Slider Seders? Yeah, why not?! But then you couldn't ask the four questions properly, beginning with "Why is this night different from all of the other nights?" ← I can see the Passover menu now... Sliders with matzoh, gefilte fish nibbles, the seder plate made out of those little boxes, leaving some soda for Elijah (no liquor license at WC). Gives a whole new meaning to “Why is this Night Different from all Other Nights”?

Good food, good wine, good company. Lots of fun. Thanks, Jim!

My husband eats almost anything. There are two dishes I eat that he doesn't like, so I look forward to the days when he's working late or out with the guys. One of them is chicken steamed with Chinese shrimp sauce. The other is steamed egg custard with ground pork. Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly selfish, I'll make a carbornara. He does like that, but my excuse for not making it for dinner is that I haven't quite perfected the recipe, and more bacon for me!

I used to think that it was weird for people to keep film and batteries in their freezers. Until I read this thread.

Bond Girl, I'm sorry to hear about the latest pondscum. Happy Birthday, johnnyd. We just celebrated our six-month wedding anniversary, so I shouldn't be even thinking about this, but since this brings out my morbid side, I'll bite... How about a heart with a big fist in it? or a marzipan cupid pierced in the heart by a flame thrower?

I don't know how I missed the Cold Turkey blog, but I found it very inspirational and heartwarming. Having moved from New York where there are pretty stringent anti-smoking laws, to Philadelphia where there aren't any, I've found that when eating out, even second-hand smoke ruins my senses. (BTW, I am a non-smoker.) It's great to go into a restaurant and be able to smell the food and not smoke. I just skimmed through the blog, but I'd like to congratulate Dave the Cook, Marlene, and snowangel for having the courage to start this, and all those who have also tried to quit during those last two weeks. To everyone, I admire your decision to quit smoking. I applaud your successes and hope that your failures are brief and won't bring you down, but will strengthen your resolve to achieve your goal. To those who will be having their last cigarette, I wish you luck and want you to know that I am behind you every step of the way.

OMG, it sounds like an Abbott & Costello routine. Chris, I'm sorry to hear about your gas range problems. I was especially distressed to hear that you almost missed your old electric range even when you were using your wok. That's really bad--to miss your electric stove that much! When we were house hunting, I told our broker that I would absolutely not even look at houses with electric ranges. I wish I had something constructive to tell you, but since the good people at Whirlpool aren’t going to help, it sounds like your best bet is to go to that metalsmith to see if anything can be done. A thought...is there a reputable dealer in your area that you can ask for advice? The gas company?

My favorite bagel places are: H&H. (80th St. & Broadway) Stop for some lox next door at Zabar's. Ess-a Bagels. (two locations, 21st St. & 1st Ave., and 51st St. and 3rd Ave.

Yesterday, faced with the option to make either the Porter-Glazed Short Ribs and Marlene’s Short Ribs, with Port, Wine and Honey, we chose the latter. The only thing I did different was to wrap the garlic halves in cheesecloth so I could save the carrots and onions. Oh, and I was about 2T. short of grainy mustard, so I supplemented it with Dijon. We served it with fried polenta. Marlene, they were absolutely wonderful, and my husband sends you a special thank-you for the recipe. Lori--my husband put a temporary moratorium on my buying cookbooks, so I got the book from the library, and made Coq au Vin (which turned out great—the sauce was so smooth and silky). This help me convince him that I needed to buy the book because "there was no way that I can copy all the recipes plus the notes I wanted." Our schedules have been busy of late, so I haven’t made anything else from the book yet. But going through the book, for my next trick, I’m debating between the Chicken Do-Piaza, Beef Rendang, or Soy-Glazed Chicken Thighs With Star Anise and Orange Peel.

Thanks, Ah Leung. I love this dish. We used to have it a lot during the summer when we had an overabundance of tomatoes from the garden. Never had it with eggs, so I'll have to try that next time. Beefsteak tomatoes are good, but it works well with cherry tomatoes too (just need to slice them in half before cooking).

My husband used to call chicken pot pies "chicken Popeye."

That has got to be one of my favorite Far Side cartoons. In fact, my catch-all folder is labeled “fud.” My husband hasn't gotten to the habit of saying it, but knows what I mean when I do, and my brother says "fud" too. We call breakfast "brittit", because that's what my husband said when he was a kid. Some of our best food malapropisms comes from misspellings that we encounter on signs or menus. Such as “mapple” when we saw a sign for “Mapple Turkey Breast”, or “dumpings” when we saw “Shrimp Dumping in Noodle Soup” on a menu.

I absolutely love the concept of breakfast in bed, but am not crazy about the actual act. Namely...the resultant crumbs or food particles that will fall in my bed. I'm very particular about not allowing food in my bedroom, for fear of unwanted visitors. But if we were away from home, that would be a different story. 'Tis my dream to have breakfast in bed, and my husband said that we can do so on our honeymoon. Until we saw the room service rates....$16 for two eggs?! My practical side got the better of me. There's always next time. I think we saw a B&B that serves BIB!! I'll have eggs benedict, fresh-squeezed OJ, a good cup of coffee, and of course...a rose .

A joke in my family is to lift the plate up to your face and ask the person sitting across from you "where was this plate was made?" While that person is reading the bottom of the plate, he/she won't notice that you're licking the plate. I came really close to doing that at my last SK dinner. edited for clarification

If I ever need a blood transfusion, can I have this instead?