srhcb

"Ethnic Food" is what Grandmas made. In my case, I had a Serbian Grandmother who came to this Country when she was 15, and a Scotch/English Grandmother whose family has been here since the 1600's. We ate lamb, sarma, saurkraut, strudel and potica my Mother learned from her Mother, and my Dad's favorites; Pasty, Roast Beef, Scalloped Potatos, Pork Pie and custards and cream pies she'd learned from her Mother-In-Law. My Mom also had a BS in Home Economics, so we had all the 50's and 60's foods, including the early half-hearted attempts at Italian and Chinese fare. I started cooking about 15 years ago and have added more recent items incorporating fresh ingredients and exotic spices and seasonings into my repertoire. Put that all together, and I guess that if anything it would be called "American" cusine? SB (still can't hold a candle to Mom's and Grandmas'cooking though)

Hold on! I'll grab my checkbook. SB (aspiring network bigshot)

Of this, there is no doubt. While I love the American cars of the 50's and 60's, they pale in comparsion to modern vehicles in every respect, save perhaps "character". To use a food analogy, simpler might mean better, but it might also just mean cruder. In this regard, the evolution of the old corner grocery store with a gas pump out front, and gas stations with pop machines, melted chocolate and stale potato chips into today's convenience stores is a good example of concurrent social and commercial change. SB (is "good old" days an oxymoron?)

Treet vs Spam? Okay, now that's hilarious. Which is supposed to be the "upscale one," and which the pate of the trailer parks? ← But FTR, Treet is the impostor and Spam the genuine article. ← I previously offered this up on several threads on a few boards, but had no takers. I have a 30 oz can of USDA generic "Luncheon Meat". (Ingredients: pork, water, salt, sugar, pepper, sodium nitrite) Yes, that's fake SPAM! It is "NOT TO BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED", but I think gifting would be okay? (That's how I got it.) If anyone wants to give it a try, please let me know. SB (No need to rush. It has no Expiration Date) PS: Lest I be accused of stealing food from the needy, I'll explain that the item in question was found abandoned in a rental unit, possibly meant as recompense for three months back rent?

Are those new episodes or simply the reruns? link by any chance? ← Either way, I'll watch! SB

I don't know where you got your info, but that just isnt true. They make much more than a penny per gallon... ← Gasoline pricing is very complicated. The station owner adds 2-10 cents per gallon, depending on several factors, one of which is the anticipated replacement cost. Of this 2-10 cent markup, around .2-1.5 cents/gallon would be the station owners profit. SB (wanna buy a gas station?)

paprika?

Too bad you couldn't get a picture of the Ikea store with a saab hybrid parked out front! SB (that would have been an urban-trendies wet dream)

On the northwest corner of the Rock Creek/Grantsburg exit off I35, between Northern Minnesota and the Twin Cities, there's a service station I've always called "Cecils". Back when I drove a (not new) 67 Plymouth GTX, I had to plan on at least one pit stop along the 200 mile route to add a quart of oil and fill the tank with (leaded) premium. Being located about two-thirds of distance when going South, I would generally stop there on both the way down and back. It used to be a typical small gas station, with a garage stall on one end where Cecil, (at least that was what the name tag on his mechanic's coveralls said), would be working on an old car/truck/tractor. Right next door was a small roadside cafe that was popular with both locals and truck drivers. I had homemade soup and pie there a few times, and both were pretty good. Cecil's claim to fame was his practice of keeping his chocolate candy, (and Copenhagen snuff), in the pop cooler. Since few over the road truckers had air conditioning back then, they appreciated this, and it built up trade for both the fuel and cafe businesses. Personally, I like cold M&M's, and would always buy a bag during the summer months. Today it's a BP self-service station/convenience store. I try and stop there at least once per round trip these days, since my car likes the BP Gold, (unleaded) premium gas. If I'm heading back up North I'll usually get a can of pop and some (room temperature) candy too. The cafe is now attached and expanded into a family-style restaurant. I've never eaten there, but judging from the parking lot it's still popular with truckers. I've inquired at the store, but other than me nobody seems to remember Cecil, if that really was his name. SB (will leave a copy of this story off next time I stop there)

I find even badly trained dogs and children preferable to obnoxious, opinionated, and churlish (often inebriated) adults. SB (plus, neither children nor dogs smoke; another "problem" solved!)

Check out the Miracle Whip Web Site for answers to all your questions. I think Kraft made a serious marketing error by failing to differentiate between Miracle Whip and mayo. Since they offer both products, you'd think they would want people to buy a jar of each? SB (also prefers MW on a BLT)

Cases involving dogs being brought into questionably appropriate public places by owners who claim to need for "emotional support" should be referred to the ASPCA/ SB (Alternately, I'd let the dog in but leave the owner outside)

I was just thinking that four of the five have textural "issues"? SB

I also like Miracle Whip for some things (tuna salad), and mayo for others (turkey sandwiches). SB (doesn't ever dare suggest a Velveeta lovers thread)

This would also describe my experience. I do, however, wash my board immediately after use. SB (has a real good sniffer too!) (not big, just good)

I purchase some books with the intent of cooking from them, and others just to read, although there always ends up being some overlap. There are some books I don't use because they don't work for me. Christopher Kimball's Yellow Farnhouse Cook Book is one example. None of the recipes seemed to work, and I was a faithful reader of Cooks Illustrated at the time besides. I ended up giving the book to my sister. I've also had trouble with Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Breads (earlier edition). Some of the recipes are in my standard repertoire, but others were just plain flops. In both cases I think it's just a lack of communication. SB (prefers gratuitous porn) (gotta draw the line somewhere) PS: Next thing you know people will demand "redeeming social value" in politics!

The quote was probably out of context. Anyway, Times readers already know aluminum foil is supposed to be used for hats to keep the government from reading your mind! SB (doesn't mind having his mind read) (that's why he posts here)

Two books that come to my mind which contain excellent recipes with instructions and techniques, and beautiful photos that enhances but doesn't overwhelm the text are Baking with Julia and Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. SB

I heartily understand your reaction, Steve. What prompted this thread was this one in the New York forum. As for me, amuses (when offered) are part of a meal, but I find it hard to imagine judging a restaurant largely on amuses or choosing one restaurant over another because of the quality of its amuses. By contrast, I can definitely imagine choosing one Korean restaurant over another because of the quality or variety of the banchan, because that's so often a large percentage of the meal. ← I went back and read the referenced post, which I'd previously skipped over, in order to get some idea what you meant. Around here, "amuse" would be the waitress telling a dirty joke! SB (would give Jacques Pepin's Olive Rabbit and Radish Mice "amuses" a big "thumbs up")

But we can drink their milk! SB (couldn't think of anything else)

I think so. But why? SB

I thought kitchenimage provided a pretty good explanation too. The only relevant recipe I could find was Bernard Clayton's for homemade soda crackers, where he specified a 1 hr - overnight rest in the refrigerator for the dough. There was no explanation why, and I've never tried it, but I've always thought it might be kind of fun to make my own soda crackers? SB (then, some homemade Velveeta to go with!)

We can apply the theory of menu item "down market" prices being displayed in odd amounts to "trick" consumers, with "upmarket" products being rounded off in a more forthright fashion to another well known product. For this product, which in it's various forms costs approximately 5,000 times a good menu entree, the break point appears to be right around $130,000. 2007 Mercedes Benz MSRP, (including destination charges): 2007 SL550 RWD 2-Dr Roadster V8 $94,800 2007 SL55 AMG RWD 2-Dr Roadster V8 $128,800 2007 SL600 RWD 2-Dr Roadster V12 $132,000 2007 SL65 AMG RWD 2-Dr Roadster V12 $186,000 $130,000/5,000 = $26 (decimal eliminated by me) This seems surprisingly close to being conguous with the menu item pricing theory? SB (included the "$" because Mercedes Benz does)

If I may be so bold as to somewhat expand the parameter of the conversation to encompass another unusual aspect of restaurant seating .... Restaurants are second only to the statutorily privileged confines of law offices as the preferred venue for conducting meetings related to illicit business deals. (Restaurants are, of course, a lawyer's first choice, since it affords them a meal at somebody else's expense.) Although a bustling public space might seem unsuitable for discussion of illegal matters, it's actually quite the opposite, for several reasons. First, a busy dining room is the closest thing to a purely chaotic area that you could devise. This works to the advantage of those wishing to be visible but not closely observed. Law enforcement agents prefer clearly delineated spaces and predictable, controllable circumstances. (Conversely, despite what you might see in the movies, meetings in a dark alley, an abandoned warehouse, or in remote rural locations are inherently suspicious, and thus usually work to the law's advantage.) Next, unlike other crowded public places, patrons in restaurants voluntarily segregate themselves into groups already having a common focal point, (ie: eating and talking with friends/associates), so they're unlikely to be interested in what's happening around them. Any group trying disguise their interest in the happenings at another table would be conspicuous by their unusual behavior. (Although, as mentioned in a previous post, I prefer to sit with my back to a wall at a corner table near an exit, my ideal occupants of adjoining tables would be: grandmothers showing baby pictures, young couple(s) obviously dating, used car salesmen talking shop, and a family with young children. With these "neighbors" you could openly discuss the assassination of world leaders without fear of arousing suspicion.) (In the opposite case, harkening back to docbrite's post, the purposeful seating of two neatly dressed men, the older cleanly shaven and the younger sporting a neat mustache, within the proximity of your table would immediately trigger a "Caution!" alarm, especially if they're wearing shiny boots, but I digress ....) Another fairly well known aspect of the bar and restaurant business is that criminal elements quite often have either direct investments in, or at lease good relationships with the owners and managers. This gives them sort of a home field advantage, in that the management and staff can alert them to any "suspicious legal activity", (to misappropriate a phrase). (Enough years ago that the Statute of Limitations has long since expired, I benefitted from just such a realtionship. A friend of my then-girlfriend worked as a waitress in her family's pizzeria. Her older brother happened to be the local Chief of Police, and one afternoon as she waited on the table where he was meeting with two strangers on apparent police business she overheard my name being mentioned several times. She got word to me, and although I subsequently did meet with the men, who turned out to be from the US Treasury BATF, I was well prepared, and the meeting took place on my terms, on a remote rural road.) So, although it's not exactly on-topic with the original post, I hope this story gives you something to think about the next time you're in a crowded restaurant rumored to be frequented by shady characters. (See if you can seperate the "good guys" from the "bad guys"?) SB (current honest law-abiding citizen)