JanMcBaker

By pulling the nutritional info available to everyone (not just residents of NYC), they are getting around the proposed NYC menu legislation. It's a sort of a reverse of the saying "cutting off your nose to spite your face". Do we fault the chains for this reaction? Have the NYC politicians/officials gone too far? I know when I walk into a McDonald's and order a Big Mac, I'm not getting health food. I know it's full of fat and everything else that's not good for me. They can post all the caloric info on the menus that they want, it won't deter me or impact my ordering. I'm there for a reason and saving calories isn't it. ← This is getting ridiculous. Why stop with food? Why not post health information alongside everything that can affect your health? For example, why not post the effects at the gas pumps of exhaust on your lungs? Or the hazards of sun and skin cancer near windows you buy at the hardware store?

aawwww-- does that mean no 'yummy' sounds allowed? (Or aloud?)

And I wonder where that $2 million's going to go-- if allocated money works the same with the state as I think it does on the federal level, then they gotta use it or lose it.

I've got no problem with it. That's how I usually eat them, but then I have them at home-- I'm too cheap to order them in a restaurant! But if I ever had occasion to have them in a restaurant, I'd probably be couth and take the 'eye' off the bone with a knife and fork. But I'd make damn sure I took the rest of it home to gnaw on the bones in private!

I understand what your point is, but on the other hand, what is the point of using trans fats? Isn't it strictly a manufactured product? I don't think trans fats are 'naturally occurring', are they? Why am I asking all these questions? Can't I make a declarative sentence? eeee!!!

Based on how my oven is, I'd say if you're going to put the stone or bricks on the floor of the oven, make sure it doesn't cover any holes that might be on the bottom. I have a sqaure baking stone that I put directly on the oven floor, and luckily it fits just within the ventilation holes that run along the edge of the oven floor, side to side and front to back. However, I don't know how much of the rack can be covered, if you're going to do that rather than put them on the floor of your oven.

That is what happened with the last batch of cole slaw I made, for New Year's. I went to Bell's Market, and for some reason I thought they'd have a variety of cabbage sizes. The SMALLEST they had was at least 7 pounds!! Needless to say, I made a load of slaw, and still had a large chunk left over. It was very nice cabbage though-- not stringy at all like some large ones I've had. If I get one that big again, maybe I'll 'multi-task' it, and use the outside leaves for stuffed cabbage and the rest for slaw. And if I just want a small batch, maybe I'll give the already shredded cabbage a try. As for potato salad, the packaged store-bought ones have a strange texture to me, both in the potatoes and the dressing. I don't know how to describe the potato texture, and the dressing just doesn't have that nice mayonaise creaminess to it. I guess it's the processing that changes them. Katie-- There is a Genuardi's near me, so I'll have to see if they have the potato salad you got. Or would I be stereotyping to say that it seems like a Radnor-style potato salad rather than a Huntington Valley style?

Thanks to all for the suggestions! I have tried doctoring some of them, but it took so much doctoring that I might as well have made it myself! Or it still didn't work.... Rich-- I guess the Wegman's stuff is packed to order at their deli counter? And Katie, yes, I'll have to try Genuardi's- that sounds promising!

So here's the thing-- I usually make my own cole slaw and potato salad. But once in a while-- just once in a while, mind you!-- it would be nice to be able to pop into a store and just buy a pint of good slaw or potato salad. However, any that I've tried just haven't been to my taste. So does anyone know of some good store-bought slaw and/ or potato salad? Preferably in NE Philadelphia? I imagine any that I might like would probably come from a deli that makes them in-house, as any pre-packaged ones I've tried have a strange taste and texture to me. To give you an idea of what I like-- and they're both pretty basic-- for slaw I grate the cabbage and squeeze out some of the liquid, and the dressing is mayo, cider vinegar, some sugar, S&P, and onion powder ( I didn't grow up with onion in our slaw so as much as I love onion, it just doesn't work for me in slaw. I like the onion powder better in this instance.) Potato salad is sliced, cooked red potatoes, with dressing of mayo thinned with some sweet gherkin juice, lots of chopped gherkins and finely chopped onion, S&P. The store slaw can have some grated carrot in it, but it should be creamy, with a nice sweet/ acid balance to it. And the potato salad doesn't have to have gherkins in it, but they do add a nice tang. So let's hear it-- does anyone know of good store-bought slaw and potato salad in NE Philly? Thank you!

Really? I think the saltiness of the melted butter goes nicely with a sweet jelly/jam. SB (especially a nice homemade wild strawberry jam ) ← That made me think of one of my favorites, kind of a 'dessert' after a bacon and egg breakfast. Slice of toast, buttered, usually with grape jelly or strawberry preserves, and some bacon on top..... Sweet, salty, fatty, carbs.... yummy!

Oh yeah! Roy Rogers! And the double-r bar burgers..... They weren't bad. Or maybe it just seemed that way after putting on the BBQ and horseradish sauces. And their salad bar had the only cottage cheese I could ever tolerate-- which means it was probably the fullest-fat cottage cheese available. Also went to Sizzler's, Gino's, Toddle House, Hot Shoppes..... Oh, and of course heard the Chicken Delight jingle. Always wanted to get chicken from there when I was a kid, but money was rather tight so we never did....

....and for her somewhat snarky, 'yes this IS the best recipe for ....' attitude, and for believing that practically everything is better with bacon, I like reading Ann Hodgman's two books-- 'Beat This' and 'Beat That.'

I loved reading those books too. I wasn't sure about including them here though-- are they cookbooks with narrative, or memoirs with recipes? Either way, it was certainly an immense loss when she died. I still remember the shock I felt when I read of her death, and yes, I shed some tears also.

Now one or both of those could be really interesting in the Reading Terminal Market here in Philadelphia!

How about this one--- blood-rare steak, toad-in-the-hole, oatmeal....

Well, not yet, anyway! New words have to get started somehow don't they?

...and the Brooklyn trip ended with some of us also getting a hotdog at Nathan's on Coney Island! Double burp....

Sounds good to me. And to add for myself, try not to pay attention to those reports about studies explaining what we should be eating or not eating....

Oh Charlie, bacon pizza is fabulous! I first heard about it years ago from, of all people, my doctor at the time! She and her husband, also a doctor, would have it once in a while. It sounded kind of strange to me at first because of the tomato part (sudden 'duh' moment here-- I love BLT's!!). But then I tried it and loved it! Yummy!

Well, I brought home-made (NO- not ho-made ) chocolate chip cookies on my initial pizza club tour-- but then that was the Brooklyn trip, and what a special occasion that was!

I love Land O Lakes American cheese for a classic, American cheese on white bread, grilled cheese sandwich. Melts very nicely, as opposed to other brands which just get a bit soft. Oh, and I also like those 'gruyere' cheese foil-wrapped triangles and an apple for an easy, 'don't have to think about it' lunch.

...or forged as in counterfeit?

I'm up for a go-round... And about Santucci's-- I know the one we hit was a dud, but that might not be representative of the others. As far as I know, there's at least two factions of Santucci's, a la a certain steak sandwich family whose name I'm blanking out on at the moment. Heck, we could probably do a tour just on the various Santucci incarnations. Besides the Pennypack Circle one, there's a Santucci's on Welsh Rd. just below Bustleton, one near Knights and Woodhaven, and one on Aramingo Ave. I don't think they're all named 'Santucci Bros. Pizza', but Santucci is part of the name. Santucci update, if anyone's interested---Listed on one Santucci website are Knights and Woodhaven, 2313 E. Venango, 8202 Roosevelt Blvd. ( the dud), and 3862 Terrace St.. Other Santucci's are at 901 Tyson Ave., 4010 Cottman Ave., Welsh Rd., and 4019 'O' St.

If the amount of the butter seems rather critical, I'll weigh it. Either .5 ounce, or I go with 14 gms., for a tablespoon of butter. You can't always rely that a single stick from a pound a butter is going to weigh 4 ounces, either. By law, the entire package has to weigh one pound, not necessarily that each stick will weigh four ounces. Hence, the 'not labeled for individual sale' regulations-- you're not always going to get a full four ounces in a 'quarter-pound' stick.

Indeed, and I wouldn't rule out lobel's donating a steak, it couldn't hurt to ask... with V at the helm the steak tasting would be much more professional. ← That would be awesome. I'm just sayin' -- I'm certainly willing to pay for this kind of experiment. ← Ditto for me, about contributing to the costs. I love being able to taste an assortment of a given foodstuff side by side. It's much easier to see the differences when you can taste things one after the other, as opposed to relying on your memory over time of various items.