MelissaH

I'm afraid I already have plans to be elsewhere on those dates, so you'll have to take me off the list. But I'll be watching you from afar, and wishing I could be in two places at once. MelissaH

By salt - are we talking fine like a Morton's table salt or Kosher. If Kosher the coarser Morton's or the more fine Diamond Crystal? Also if you can pin down the level of salting it would be great. I am planning some for the holidays. Thanks! I keep Diamond Crystal in my kitchen, so that's what I use. As far as level, that I think is up to you. Taste, taste, taste! MelissaH

I've made JAZ's recipe with pecans several times and it's just as crack-like as with walnuts! Yup, pecans work just fine. I find I like this procedure much better than those calling for an egg white. Don't forget to salt afterwards. MelissaH

I don't have the new edition, but I was able to look inside on Amazon. Based on what I saw, there are now weight measurements, in both grams and ounces, as well as volume. This might be enough to push me over the edge to getting the new edition. MelissaH

Proportions, please? MelissaH

I don't like bagel guillotines. I play hockey a couple of mornings a week, and after that I don't have the energy to drive the hour or so home from the rink without a boost. So I stop at a supermarket along the way, grab a packet of almond butter from the stash I keep in the car before heading inside, purchase a bagel, and then use their guillotine to slice it before spurting the almond butter on. Best case: the guillotine smashes the bagel while it slices through. Worst and more often case: the inside of the bagel gets shredded and compressed and the bagel gets smashed in the process of slicing. So lately, I've started asking the people working in the bakery section to please slice the bagel for me with a knife. They complain about doing it, and I've had them tell me they aren't supposed to do so, but they usually do it anyway. End result: an unsmashed, uncompressed, sliced bagel. My preferred technique, when I have a knife, is to hold it upright, thumb on one side and fingers on the other, and use a sharp serrated knife to slice through. But keep in mind that what I get around here is a subpar upstate bagel! MelissaH

If you wanted to clarify it, how would you do so? Filtering through a coffee filter? (That strikes me as potentially painfully slow.) Or maybe a gelatin clarification? MelissaH

My GE Monogram self-cleans the oven and racks nicely. (It seems like the racks themselves determine whether they can safely handle a self-cleaning cycle. And this was one of the reasons we chose this particular range.) After a self-cleaning, I just have to wipe the ridges that the racks slide on with a bit of oil afterwards, or the racks don't slide. The manual warned me about this. I typically use grapeseed oil, which doesn't burn and smell at typical oven temperatures the way other oils can. As far as other smells, I did get a little odor the first time I self-cleaned. After that, I haven't had any issues with odor. Because the oven does not have an electronic control panel, it's something I only do when I'm home and awake; the fan turning off is my signal that the self-clean cycle is complete and it's time to turn the oven off. I should note that we did have a problem with the latch sliding shut and not releasing. We think we've traced the problem to a bad solenoid. The first time, a quick re-clean cycle (on for an hour, then off to cool) got it to unlatch. The second time, we pretty much had to dismantle the oven and take the door off to get it to unlatch. However, with a little (ahem) hardware modification, we've made sure that a stuck latch will never again stop us from opening the oven. We've also purchased the part that we modified, so that if we ever need to, we can replace our latch with one that's intact. MelissaH

My husband's classic T-giving dessert is pumpkin cheesecake. I also like Dorie Greenspan's All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake. MelissaH

I almost always take leftovers home. Like many of you, my exception is if it's something that is fried or otherwise won't reheat well. Most of our lunches are recycled from dinners. MelissaH

Your brownies look delicious. (I particularly appreciate the nuts in them, as I like nuts in my brownies, but my husband doesn't, so I usually leave them out or I'll eat the whole batch myself.) Do you prefer yours cakey, fudgy, or somewhere in-between? MelissaH

I know people are saying earlier rather than later. However, I'd just like to point out that I'll likely be in Philadelphia for some committee meetings on August 17 of next year, and I'd have no problem hanging around for a few extra days to eat. MelissaH

For the dirt that goes on/in a Dirt Cake, we've had pretty good luck with oreos that have been buzzed in a food processor. But your dirt looks pretty good, too. MelissaH

I'm just glad to know I'm not the only fixie rider out there! MelissaH

A few years ago, I brought back 4 six-packs of beer plus a few bombers. Any more than that, and the bag would have been overweight. Plastic wrap was easier to find than bubble wrap. Each bottle got wrapped in plastic wrap as tightly as I could, both around the circumference AND top-to-bottom. Then, each bottle got slid into a sock, rolled up in a shirt, or otherwise padded. And finally, the bottles got packed in the bag, with more clothing around and between so that nothing could shift or otherwise move. Everything survived without a problem. MelissaH

Thanks for asking. I can't help with the recipe, but just ate the last of the really good stuff I brought home from Brooklyn and would like to make some of my own. MelissaH

My first thought was canola oil. I've had bottles of canola oil that start to smell fishy after relatively short periods of storage in a dark and cool cabinet. It didn't need to be heated to get that fishy smell. I won't buy canola oil anymore. MelissaH

Caramelized onions? With sauteed mushrooms? MelissaH

Ears perking up until that word "frequently". MelissaH

What mkayahara said. MelissaH

Is eating while you walk considered uncouth and just not done, as a general rule? MelissaH

Add me to the list of people who are no longer confused. MelissaH

I wish some of the whitefish made it to my part of New York. I know we see it on the rare occasions we shop in Buffalo, and also on the somewhat less rare occasions when we shop in Rochester. Alas, I've never seen whitefish sold in CNY, in any of my usual shopping grounds. MelissaH

Red cabbage juice is a classic pH indicator, and because it's edible, it's popular among teachers. As far as food that changes color when you blow on it due to a pH change, that sounds more far-fetched to me; you'd probably have better luck with something that's thermochromic, although I can't think of anything thermochromic that I'd want to eat, off the top of my head. MelissaH

My next-door neighbor serves sugar snaps tossed in sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt as a finger food at every party during pea season. They fly off the plate. MelissaH