halloweencat

if you're calling someone a "spic" (and i'm assuming that's a racial slur in britain as it is in america), then it doesn't matter much if it's in public or private. i couldn't patronize the establishment of someone like that. cheers :) hc

isn't the basic recipie just slice and toss with enough olive oil to coat, spread on a sheet and bake for 40 min at 400? and the alternate is 50 min at 350? i made this a few weeks ago, but i think it needed to cook longer. only a few pieces were what i think this recipie is aiming for...but they were good. i just bought another head of cauliflower this week to try again. :) cheers :) hc

any animal that's still alive. there's no real justification for eating an animal or part of an animal that's still alive, except to induldge a questionable sense of epicurianism. endangered or threatened animals. brains, tongue (although i've had it), testicles, things like that. brussell sprouts. bugs, generally. hard boiled eggs (reprise). they stink. any cheese that smells like vomit. cheese with maggots. cheers :) hc

hey all :) i'm looking for the best electric ice cream maker with an internal compressor, so that i don't have to pre-freeze bowls. granted, it will be more of an expense, but our household consumes a lot of frozen treats, and i also will never again have to deal with ....a bowl that will not get cold enough, despite days in the freezer (this happened with our freezer that was inside our fridge, if you know what i mean) .....cranking every three minutes when i'm trying to prep for dinner party, and trying to coordinate a million other things .....accomodate a bowl insert in my freezer when i need that space for everything else i'm doing for a dinner/party .....feel sad that i can't provide a yummy treat because i didn't think 24 hours beforehand to freeze the bowl now, don't get me wrong, i think those hand-crank models are great, i just think for my needs i'd like a bowl that doesn't need pre-freezing. and i'd also like something that doesn't cost an arm-and-a-leg, so those $1000k machines are out (sadly). the only two i could find that fit the bill were these... cuisinart http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com/cat/pip.cfm...test=1&flash=on lello http://www.chefscatalog.com/store/catalog/...&showCrumb=true (i looked the lello up on amazon, and there appear to be some customer service issues, plus folks who feel it wasn't well-designed; e.g., the crank can get stuck or pull out, etc.) any other candidates out there? is a used or refurbished high-end model a good thought? if so, where would one acquire one? cheers :) hc

rich, i'm glad you try to keep tabs on your ex-racers...but, just a heads up, i've read a lot of (sad) reports on rescue sites and ex-racer-type sites that warn that many folks who thought they had provided good homes for their horses with other folks found their horses untraceable afterwards, or found out their former horses were sold at auctions frequented by slaugherers. hope this isn't the case with your former horses. cheers --

i found that same scientist quoted elsewhere... <snip> According to Dr. Donald Broom, the animal welfare advisor to the British government, "The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically, and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and mammals." Adds Dr. Austin Williams, a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service zoologist, fish "are sentient organisms, so of course they feel pain." Ditto for lobsters. Jelle Atema, a marine biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., and one of the nation's leading experts on lobsters, says, "I personally believe they do feel pain." In fact, those live-lobster "appetizers" at Heat and other trendy eateries may feel even more pain that we would if, say, Hannibal Lecter decided to hack off one of our legs for a midnight snack. According to invertebrate zoologist Jaren G. Horsley, "The lobster does not have an autonomic nervous system that puts it into a state of shock when it is harmed. It probably feels itself being cut. ... I think the lobster is in a great deal of pain from being cut open ... [and] feels all the pain until its nervous system is destroyed" during cooking </snip> cheers -- hc

i've read that the "screaming" is air venting out of the shell. lobsters have no vocal cords, so they cannot "scream." they do seem to experience pain. cheers --

here's some information i found... <snip> Oxford University zoologist Dr. John Baker, found that lobsters dropped into boiling water, showed "powerful struggling movements" for up to two minutes and he concluded that these were not reflex actions but indications of pain. He also experimented with other methods of cooking them, such as starting off with the water cold and then gradually heating it, but concluded that this just led to more prolonged suffering. ... And according to invertebrate zoologist Dr Jaren G. Horsley, "The lobster does not have an autonomic nervous system that puts it into a state of shock when it is harmed. It probably feels itself being cut... I think the lobster is in a great deal of pain from being cut open... and feels all the pain until its nervous system is destroyed" during cooking. </snip> cheers -- hc

just saying, since "there's no evidence" does not equate to "they definitely don't feel pain," killing before boiling should be the standard. cheers :) hc

given the question of "do you feel insulted if a guest adds/alters a dish you cooked with salt, pepper, etc.", how do folks on this thread feel about this question, "as an author of a recipie, do you feel insulted if a cook adds/alters a dish you originated with x, y, z?" i think they're comparable. i think it's wise that, generally, folks taste their food first, but i can also see the wisdom of a guest who has eaten of a cook's kitchen previously, and knows that that cook tends to use less salt (say) than the guest normally likes. if that's the general experience of a guest with a particular cook, i can see why that guest would not engage in the taste-test. cheers :) hc

jgm, hey :) if you want a quick rundown of tea and food pairings that folks love, check out the recent thread "i confess: tea and chocolate." cheers :) hc

i wonder if you could garner increased profits if you offered both the "jug" version as well as one that used a superior wine (dub this version with some sort of "royale," "luxe," etc. appellation). many people operate with a mindset of wanting "the best," whether or not they can taste or appreciate it. you would charge more for this "royale" version, of course. ;) cheers : hc

overhead is a part of every manufacturer's, business owner's, etc. cost. when a clothing manufacterer has to pay more for labor or materials, enough so that it will cause a persistent enough gouge in the bottom line, that person has to decide whether to increase the price of goods. i also think there are +so+ many practices and customs involved with tipping that a patron has room to feel he/she is tipping appropriately, and at the same time the server feels shortchanged. for example, i know a lot of people who don't tip on the tax. i think it's a reasonable argument. but that server who is expecting 20% on the taxed bill and doesn't realize that the patron is calculating 15% (which is acceptable/practiced many places) on the pre-tax bill is not being stiffed, in the basic sense. cheers :) hc

in the bbc series "the duchess of duke street" (the central character is working class who climbs the social ladder via her extraordinary cooking skills) a recurrant theme is that "the duchess" (the working class character) has achieved incredible success, but never forgets where she comes from, and refuses to alter her coarse accent or often stentorian tone. i have a strong recollection of her putting milk in first when serving tea. i have a special fondness for food history, especially as it relates to how it defines us as classes, genders, etc. i would love to see a thread on egullet that takes a look at films in a historical cuisine context. interesting films to me in this vein are "babette's feast" and "vatel." cheers :) hc

i think this phrase alone is great. :) cheers :) hc

gingerpeach :) i think you've hit on it. :) i love chocolate with tea, but perhaps there's something in particular with the bergamot. btw, on the tea primer thread, i mention that for years i didn't know how to brew a cup of tea --- lipton tea bags, steeping 20 minutes, 40 minutes, 2 hours, whatever. i certainly didn't get what the big deal was re earl grey, with this method. when i first brewed a (fairly reasonably) properly prepared cup of tea -- boy, i sure got what the deal was with the earl after that. :) cheers :) hc

ooooo! i'll check it out... thanks edemuth. :) btw, i'm just getting over being sick -- we have not yet mentioned how wonderful honey is in tea, but i assure you, after the past 10 days, i can ardently attest to it. cheers :) hc

i made these a week or two ago (see my posts upthread), but am now reporting on the result. pretty darn good. :) very easy to make. the garlic mashed potato recipie that i used was great. i hadn't seen any breadcrumbs in the supermarket that didn't look extremely processed, so i decided to try cornmeal instead (a very light coating). one of the madeliene pans i used was nonstick, so i'm not sure the addition of the cornmeal or breadcrumbs made/would have made a difference. in the nonstick one (which was for tiny madeleines) they clung slightly to the tray. (SO had dusted them with the cornmeal; they were barely dusted, before i put the potatoes in them i thought they needed more, but didn't attend to them). they were terrific with the reduction sauce that was made to accompany the meal. there were a few left over, and i popped them in the fridge, but they didn't reheat well at all (in the microwave). if i had a couple more, i would try reheating in the toaster oven. cheers :) hc

Question for you, halloweencat, If your focus is kidnapping and slavery why did you post on egullet society for culinary arts and letters? Thanks Kate ← a post upthread (was it yours?) folded in children working on family farms, which was not the focus of the original post. the focus of the original post was and is the use of children as slaves in the production of cocoa, which is certainly an egullet sphere. and, as i stated, i was looking to see if any egulleters had information about chocolate companies that took this problem seriously, and worked not to use cacoa beans from these sources. i certainly don't want to be making or eating chocolate if it comes from this sort of production, and if what i have to do is become a little more aware regarding cacoa farming, i want to do that. also, a post upthread mentions unsubstantiated claims...from what i've seen on the web (perusing news stories, etc.), this seems to be a real problem, so i'm a little confused by the post. cheers -- hc

thanks, andrew. :) cheers :) hc

great googling, andrew. :) seems fitting that you (with your strawberry avatar) should find the goods. in your google travels, did it seem like these species were still available? cheers :) hc

i'm reading a book on waddesdon manor, a country house in england. it was famed for its horticulture and gardening as much as for its art collections. one inhabitant recalls that on a visit to the estate, she was served strawberries that were grown on the estate that were so dark they were almost black. she also notes that, sadly, this variety has died out since then. she referred to them as "black strawberries." has anyone heard of this variety? cheers :) hc

a very simple combination for me, but a very powerful one, taste- and enjoyment-wise....tea (earl grey mainly) and dark chocolate (like a small wedge of sharffenberger or vrona). that's it. no cake. no scones. just the tea and the chocolate. heightens my appreciation of both. sound strange to anyone? yours? cheers :) hc

someone posted on dick's dock positively on egullet previously. i've not been, but i have passed the restaurant front as both a pedestrian and a car passenger a few times. it's decidedly unfancy, hokey even, in decor. i cannot comment on the food, as i have no knowledge of it. cheers :) hc

thank you for your information and links. :) fwiw, the focus here (at least my focus) is not the family farm, but kidnapping and slavery. cheers :) hc