JanMcBaker

Maybe this place can give you some information--- www.monell.org The Monell Center is a non-profit independent scientific institute dedicated to interdisciplinary basic research on the senses of taste, smell, and chemosensory irritation. Good luck!

I'll call your *URP* and add a bit of 'rising gorge'! Just too, too horrifyingly descriptive, Rachel! And I had to read it as I'm having lunch!

Lori! I've been loving your blog. It's a wonderful reminder to us here in the Philadelphia corner of PA that most of the state is probably more like your area and not what I'm used to in the 'big city.' I'd be thrilled to join Katie Loeb in a visit out your way. I could bring chocolate chip cookies--- I think Katie can attest to how well I make them!

Actually, the Brauhaus is already closed. I think it closed at the end of May.

I like bologna and Swiss on rye with mayo--- to be specific, Dietz and Watson bologna and Hellman's mayo.

I saw peaches last week at Fair Food too. You might not want to wait, Bob! They smelled peachy so I got a few...... Tasted like mid-summer peaches! Sweet, juicy and peachy tasting! I was amazed!

Hear, hear! Thanks Sandy for putting this pizza trip together! Now we just have to find which Santucci's was the better one! And this was my first time at Tacconelli's too. Definitely worth the wait, and I definitely want to go back again! It was nice seeing Sandy and Gary again, and nice meeting Nicki (sp?) and her doggies.

Ditto on the cooked, crumbled bacon. A yummy way to have bacon and eggs! Try to get a somewhat thicker sliced bacon. I like to cook the slices first, then chop it up and add it to the mix. And I like to use a small (1-2 tbl) scoop to fill the whites. Makes it so much easier and faster!

Hi-- I'm in for pizza. I should be OK for either day if it has to be changed. I can also take 3 people along. If anyone wants to take SEPTA, the R8 ends right behind Joseph's pizza.

I can't help it! I've never had occasion to register for anything, but the first two items on the thread list made me think of a possibility---- first was this, then 'food by mail'....... hmmmmm---- "Did you ever register for..."..."food by mail...." Wouldn't that be a neat thing if there was a way to register for some foods of the month club for a wedding present!

By the way, can Magnalite be used over a flame on the stovetop, like if I wanted to brown something in it then put it in the oven?

I've had good luck with a local thrift store-- stuff I bought and stuff I let get away for some crazy reason! Stuff that I got includes a Maganlite Dutch oven for about $7, and 3-4 knives for about $7 total--- a Wusthoff serrated knife, an F. Dick butcher's knife, and a Wester Brothers knife. The one I let get away was about $300-400 retail worth of Le Creuset pieces that I could have gotten for about $80 total, but I figured my sister would have killed me if I brought more kitchen ware home. So all I bought was an oval casserole for $7. It's a couple years later and I'm still kicking myself over not getting the rest.

I don't have them, but I did find www.toastabags.com. You can order them there, and also watch 'toastabags-- the movie'! (honest!)

All I can think of is Pennypark Park. There's various sections of it in the NE. Or there's Burholme Park at Cottman and Central Aves. That's not too far from Gaeta's. And for anyone thinking of taking Septa from center city, the R8 ends in the NE right by Joseph's . It wouldn't be far from there to Gaeta's and assorted Santucci's. It's not close to Tacconelli's though. Just a thought..... Oh, and I think I'd prefer June 24-25.

Something about Gaeta's was bugging me so I just called them--- they're take-out only---no eat in! So..... Joseph's instead of Gaeta's? Also-- I should be available either day, but I prefer starting in the afternoon. I'm also available to drive, and could take 3 other people. I'm in the Northeast, so if anyone wants to take Septa to the NE I can see about picking you up.

I don't know how this goes with health laws, but how about a dab of nail polish in some outstanding color?

Every once in a while something triggers me to look up what company owns a certain food product. My latest research came about from a recent visit to Target. They had 'Back to Nature' granola on sale so I got a couple bags. It wasn't till after I got home that I realized it didn't say they were organic. I'm almost certain that other BTN products I've bought at Whole Foods were organic. I checked them out online. Turns out that BTN is owned by Kraft, which also owns BocaBurgers. That reminded me that Kashi is owned by Kellog's. Nestle owns Power Bars, and Danone has a majority ownership in Stonyfield Farms, which acquired Brown Cow yogurt about 3 years ago. Soooo... what's my point? Oh yeah--- does who owns a company play any part in your purchases? I have to think the multinationals think so, else why not state right on the packages that they own certain brands? Does it matter? Should we care about such subterfuge, or that certain brands aren't the small, friendly-sounding companies they appear to be?

I think one of the qualities is -- PAY ATTENTION--- both to what you're doing, and to what the food is doing as you're doing whatever you're doing to it.

My peeve is with the Chinese restaurants that have the 'hot and spicy' symbol next to certain dishes. Instead of being able to order such a dish straight off the menu, almost invariably the default version is mild and insipid. Too often you have to special order it to be hot! If it's shown on the menu as hot and/ or spicy in the first place, either make it that way or take the dang symbols off the menu! yeesh!

Hmmm--- maybe banning Cool-Whip would help prevent an oil shortage?

In all the Rachel Ray bashing, there is something about it that I haven't seen. Either I missed the comments, or no one else has made them. Anyway, while Rachel has been taking full advantage of her fame ( And are there many, if any, among us who would not do the same if given the opportunity?), I think the real 'villain', for want of a better word, has been ignored. Rachel couldn't be all over the Food Network and elsewhere without the support and encouragement of said network. FoodTV's just following the dictum of "If it succeeds, play it to death!", such as what other networks have done with the plethora of so-called 'reality' shows. If a new show idea succeeds, the networks' mantra is 'more and more is even better!'. And I guess in Rachel's case, her success seems to bear that out.

What I don't understand is why spread your preferred spread on only one slice? I've seen that elsewhere and I don't get it. Why have a dry slice on your sandwich? Plus, the mayo on both bread slices helps glue the sandwich together!

A good Kaiser roll would be nice......ooohhhh-- and good onion rolls!! Ones that have onions inside the rolls, not just some scattered on top. I made some decent ones recently with frozen challah dough......but I digress. My original suggestion was a pommes frites stand. But I'll take a really good onion roll any day! (Edited by me to correct my spelling of 'pommes frites.' And how lazy was I that I couldn't look up the spelling in the first place?! )

This topic caught my eye since I kept forgetting to ask about it. So where does one get potato flour? I've seen potato starch in the Kosher aisle in my local supermarkets, but not potato flour. It's also used as an ingredient in wheat free recipes.

This thread reminded me of something I heard recently, I think about the new food pyramid and eating recommendations. Instead of saying "Enjoy a wide variety of foods', it's now recommended that you 'Have a wide variety of foods', because 'enjoy' was thought to be too hedonistic! How's that for a food neurosis!