Octaveman

Now, collecting is different and as a collector, I can see how you'd be very picky about your working toaster. Still, a lot of money for an everyday toaster. I personally wouldn't mind if 9/10 of the bread was toasted marginally even and paying less than half what you paid for yours. Anyway, nice collection and I bow northward in your general direction. Do you have any toasters that toast a picture into the bread? Seriously, my current toaster is crap. I thnk I got it free when I opened a bank account with the old Crocker Bank back in the 80's. I was just telling my wife this past Sunday that I wanted to get a new one. So please make some recommendations for reasonably priced toasters so I can have nicely toasted Thompson's. Appreciate it, Bob

uh...$120...for a toaster...to toast bread...wow...wow...and wow. And that's the sale price...wow. I don't care how rich I get, I will never spend that much money to toast a bagle. Now I'm no Elwood Blues making my toast on a wire hanger over a burner on his stove but is there a decent toaster for under a much more reasonable $40?

If you stop in San Jose, I'd suggest Original Joe's downtown for Italian and steaks. Very nice italian decor with waiters in tux's but diners are informal. Very good food IMHO.

Being a Japanese knife lover, I MUST stay aware of my angles otherwise they will cut like softer German knive's and who wants that? I sharpen all my blades on stones and I try to keep my angles consistant to acheive a combined 25-30*.

I've made Garlic Lettuce from Breath of a Wok by Grace Young and it's really good. I've used it as a bed for grilled fish or as a side with other stir-fry dishes.

My board did the same thing. I used gorilla glue and a bar clamp to fix it.

I cut onions on my board too. I just don't let them sit there long and I wash my board when I'm done. If the board does start to smell, sand it down.

So, when people say they prefer cast iron, are we talking Le Crueset type pans or Lodge type pans? I'm more inclined to get cast iron because of the results I get with my CI fry pans. Also, why hasn't clay been recommended as a roaster for veggies?

If you can get juicy apricots, halve them, skewer them end to end three to a stick, freeze them and dip them in melted chocolate just like chocolate covered frozen banana's. They have this at the Gilroy Garlic Fest and my wife and I ALWAYS get a stick or two. Damn good.

The three comments from people who don't like them are the only three people who have used them. So 100% of the people who've tried them and made a post said they don't like them and use something else. There was no need to back up the reasons with definitive evidence of their conclusions. It's a knife forum. People who have a large amount of knowledge about knives and how to sharpen them and keep them sharp say these boards are too hard on knives. There are more posts on bamboo boards because they are close enough to wood boards in their hardness and feel that it warrants additional discussion. Why discuss the epicurean boards if all the knife fanatics who have used them agree they suck? What? Doesn't dull your knives? Not hard on your knives? First of all, whether you use a board or you cut a cucumber in your hand, your knife will get dull and they do so beginning with the very first use. It's impossible to keep this from happening. There are some boards that are harder on knives than others and those boards will dull your knives faster than others. The Epicurean is harder on your knives compared to end-grain maple, for example, but I guess you can say it's easier on your knives than a granite countertop. The object is to find a happy medium between softness (where you knife gets stuck in the board) and hardness (when your knife bounces off the board). The epicurean is closer to the latter. All boards will leave marks from the knife if your knife is sharp enough and hard enough. That should not be how you judge the boards quality or whether it's good or bad for your knife. End-grain boards are the best for not quickly deforming your knife's edge with soft poly's and bamboo in close proximity. If your happy with these boards then keep on using them. They're great looking boards and are easy to move around. Just know that they are harder on knives than most boards out there. There are a lot of people that think Cutco are great knives too but they're not. Joe: I've seen those boards before and am seriously thinking of getting one. I think they're made to just stay on your counter. Good to hear what someone thinks about them and after 7 years that's a sound recommendation. They have them with different hardness levels too. Many sushi bars use them as their counter tops.

I've given these boards some thought in the past when I was shopping around for a new board but a man I know that sells them on his website HERE gave some advice about them. He also has a food/knife forum HERE. The subject of these boards came up and he does not recommend them. This is a quote from one of his posts. Wood is best. It always has been. End grain would be first choice and edge grain would be second. Next would be poly then bamboo and that's it. Bamboo is a little tough on edges. The Epicurean boards are definitely tough on edges and not recommended. I have a big one for rolling out dough. It seems they have their recommended uses but a main cutting board shouldn't be one of them. Hope this helps. Cheers, Bob

I second Fidel's. Out of the way place...very good. I super second In-N-Out. Double-Double is the only burger to get.

For BBQ that can't be beat. Shortly after moving down here 21 years ago from the bay area, I began a quest to find a good bbq place. I had a list I downloaded from the net and just started going down it until I found one I liked. Phil's was #4 down the list. I never made it to #5. I second Puerto Nuevo for the lobster. Rockin Baja Lobster in Old Town is pretty good as is Coyote Grill for Mexican. I always recommend Nacho's Taco Shop at 7589 Univeristy Ave in La Mesa. Until recently moving, I lived a block away from this place and the ate there all the time. Very good. Not typical for a taco shop. Al Pastor taco's are great as is the shrimp ceviche. If you get carne asada, ask them to cook it with their salsa...yumm.

Do tell.

Well, I got my Peppermill and love it. The thing that I like about it the most has to be that it's powered. With a 24-48 hour initial charge, the battery will last. Most chargable batteries I've seen lose power with non-use but this one hangs on. It's not heavy or cumbersome at all. The neck to grip it is small and easy to grasp and hold. I can pick it up with one hand and grind away and can stir the pepper into the sauce at the same time or saute and grind at same time as well. The finest grind is very fine and puts a nice dusting on foods. The largest grind though is not quite as "cracked" as I would have liked but it's still pretty big. As Rachel said, sifting the grind to get the bigger chunks will be needed if that's what you're looking for. Just do it ahead of time, no big deal. The light is an added bonus but I don't see it's need for home use. As far as how much is produced by the mill. It can produce a fair amount of pepper so it may take a few uses to get accustomed to it but basically you shouldn't linger over the food. A quick pass or two is all that's needed. Another thing of beauty about this mill is that the grind is consistant. There's no pausing between turns like with a regular twist mill (non-crank that is) possibly causing too much pepper in one spot and not enough in another. You just move it over your food and it is done. Clean and simple. I called Jim to talk to him about his mill and he was very nice to deal with. I ordered the white one and will get the black one when it comes in stock. It shipped the day after I place my order. I recommend this to anyone wanting a powered mill. Cheers, Bob

Diet Coke, not Diet Pepsi, give me Diet Coke or I'll have to drink water. Also, I've found that nothing compares to a peppersteak sandwich at the Garlic Festival in Gilroy. Quite possibly the saute'd calamari too.

I've tried those mushrooms and if soaked too long they will get mushy. I find that soaking them for about 10 minutes in hot water is enough to keep them firm enough to cook with.

Funny thing about award mileage is that airlines WANT you to use them for things other than flights. Things like various products discussed here, upgrade to first class, hotel, car rentals etc. The problem is that the actual cost of those items or services when using miles are so astronomically high in terms of real cost. For example. I used to fly back home about 5 times per year and the cost divided by the miles I received averaged $0.18/mile. If was going to get that toaster, it would effectively be costing me $144. The LC would be $8,640!!! And the kicker is that the airlines probably get this stuff for super cheap if not for free. Of course this is just my particular situation. Your actual cost would be affected by cost of your flights and miles received for them. So longer flights would obviously bring the cost/mile down a little but still. Right now it costs ~$0.11/mile to fly to JCK and back. Just something to think about before you go redeeming your miles for various stuff.

Due to the overwhelming response to the few questions I had, I decided to go with the Peppermills Supreme 2000. Thanks Rachel. It was cool to see the different grinds and very thorough review. The black is backordered until April so I decided to get the white one for white pepper and I'll have the black for my own mix ( I need one right now). Thanks again, Bob

At the risk of getting slammed for not researching before asking questions, I thought that pepper mills that 'crushed" rather than "ground" were better. With this in mind how does the Unicorn brand that grinds (unless I've missed something) compare to the William Bounds brand that crushes? I've got a POS grinder I want to replace so which one should I/we get? TIA, Bob

Very nice. I've been to the Anchor Bar and being someone who LOVES wings but hasn't really had good ones here in San Diego, I thoroughly enjoyed my double order. I've been wanting to make my own wings and your post has inspired me to give it a go. Thanks.

Yep, like many so far, I've tried them when I received as a gift. Got Top Sirloin strips. Not bad but I would never buy them myself. But then again I feel that all mail-order meat is very overpriced.

Dick's Last Resort downtown is a party bar. There are also some bars in Pacific Beach that are party bars but I'm outa touch since I've been out of college for 18 years and I'm married with two kids. Ah yes, I still remember the good ol' college days of going to Woodstock's Pizza with the guys and having four pitchers of beer before the pizza showed up. Then you can't eat pizza w/o beer so we were forced to get more. Good times. Anyway, in case you were wondering about "fun" bars suitable for a bacholor party , shoot me a PM and I'll get you some names of places that are perfect for that kind of stuff. Cheers, Bob

If stones are used, the type of knife doesn't determine which stone to sharpen on. How dull the knife or cleaver is should be the determining factor. I approach my cleaver just like I would any other knife when it comes to which stone to start with. That article by Chad is a good one and you can learn quite a bit from it. Basically, pick a stone to start with. If the knife/cleaver needs just a touch up, start at 3000 or 4000 grit. If it's dull, go down to 1000 grit. If it's taking too long to get an edge on the 1k (and you should get a good edge before moving up grits), go down to a 625 or so. You shouldn't need to go this low if you keep your knives healthy though. If you go with stones, here is a good place to buy. Norton stones Cheers, Bob

Daves, thanks. That's really a shame. When I visited in 1999 everything about it was perfect. Most everyone in the party had the salmon but I had the buffalo tenderloin. It is to this day the best I've ever had. I'm bummed now. I wonder where that chef went to. Thanks for the posts.