phaelon56

Actually.... the Oneida pattern I chose is longer than much of the other flatware I looked at, European or otherwise. One of the things I really appreciate is being able to get replacement pieces quite easily. On occasion I've had friends or kids of friends who apparently tossed out a spoon or fork when emptying their late (or so it would seem). I appreciate the fact that it's made right here in NY state but rumour around here has it that Oneida production will move offshore soner than later - probably within the next year.

How did you like the JMB? I've received it as gifts on two occasions and it was remarkably smoth and well balanced. I think others may be underwhelmed by it but it was the delicacy and balance of flavors that really appealed to me (and the price that has kept me from keeping it on hand regularly). There's lots of faux JMB out there and from what I understand, there are only two farms that are consistently producing the best quality "real thing". Mavis Banks is one and I can't recall the other.

I have an Alp - got a gently used one for $175 incl shipping which was a great deal. It's not ideal for the beginning roaster unless you are patient and have good ears/good snese of smell. There is no window in which one can view the color of the roasting beans. For most roasting newbies. stopping the roast just before the beans reach the desired color level is the easiest way to control roast level. The Alp lacks the viewing window and the motor is nopisy enough that it takes practice to be able to discern the sound of the cracks and know when to stop roasting. I go by the sound of the cracks and the smell of the smoke and do reasonably well but would love to have the new Hot Top. It's a lot snazzier than the Alp but the biggest difference is much more rugged build quality and a viewing window (albeit at a much higher price - about $600). Alps were known for some QC problems awhile back but it's my understadnignt hat those have been resolved. The manufacturer has had and continues to enjoy a good reputation for standing behind the product and helping get probelms resolved. As for the cost issue - if you're presently spending $6 - $12 per pound for roasted coffee but can get the same type of beans for $3 - $6 and with greater control over roast level and the opportunity to know exactly when it was really roasted.... the cost of the roaster is not an issue. I do encourage those who've tried the hot air fluid bed roaster to try a drum roast from an Alp or similar device - the drum roast flavor profile is much less bright and more pleasant for many of us although the brighter more acidic flavor profile of the hot air roasted beans does have its adherents.

I bought Paul Revere pattern in 18/8 stainless that is made by Oneida. It's not modern as in Danish type aesthetic but it is plain with nice clean lines and a great feel. The pistol grip handle on the knives is a bit much for some people but they have an alternate knife handle in that pattern that is much smaller and lighter in weight and feel. I have big hands and like the pistol grip. Prices on this are not chesap but IMHO not outrageous - it's readily available in outlet malls that stock Oneida and replacement pieces are easy to get. I admit to a bias in this matter as Oneida is a local business up where I come from and I like suporting local businesses. I agree with all who enjoy eating their daily meals on a spiffy table setting with decent plates and flatware - it really enhances the dining experience. I remain baffled by friends who are great cooks, serve wonderful meals on beautiful china and continue to use flimsy feeling flatware that is overly ornamented and noy comfortable to hold. I, OTOH, am only a fair cook and serve all my meals on plain white oval plates from the restaurant supply house but my flatware is great. No wonder I eat out more than at home The Oneida product is not cheap - Amazon sells the five piece place setting at $29.95 but I have seen it elsewhere online for as low as $21.75 for the five piece and about $250 for the service for eight that includes the extra serving spoons etc. Paul Revere at Amazon

How about the place in my old neighborhood where the parkign lot sign said "Funeral Home and Deli Parking". Thank God they were actually comepletely separate businesses. That sign actually made it into the "Weird Signs" section of National Lampoon magazine.

This is actually presently under discussion in the Nescafe Iced Coffee thread bu this is what really caught my attention.... I want some of this coffee. The heck with $100 per pound Kopi Luwak coffee that has been digested and eliminated out the back end by civets. I want volcano cone virgin picked coffee and nothing else will do. I hope Santa is listening.

Coffee is well known for its laxative effects - you and your mother are far from being the only ones....

For those of you who have not experienced this delightful cultural tradition, here's a description.... In restaurants, the preparation is typically done in the kitchen but the pan of roasting beans is brought out to the group before it is ground so that all may partake of smelling the vapors (an integral part of the ceremony). A special type of incense is customarily burned at tableside throughout the duration of the ceremony. The traditional method of pouring usually involves a free pour into the demitasse from about 12" - 14" above it in a continuous stream - fascinating to watch and partake not to mention that the coffee is so damn good. I've been fortunate enough to do this on two occasions, once in Denver on the first occasion that I ever tried Ethiopian food and more recently in the Adams-Morgan area of Washington DC. It's best done with a group (4 or more). I'm personally curious as to the variations in spices and the amounts that are added as well as to possible variations on the bean varieties (some add limited amounts of spices to the coffee and others do not). Have any of you tried it and where? How was it? I'l be visiting NYC this weekend and will be free on both Saturday afternoon and mid-day Sunday. There's a small Ethiopian restaurant on Mulberry or Mott in Little Italy (just south of Houston if I recall correctly) that offers the ceremony on Sundays and Queen of Sheba on 9th Avenue may have it by now (they did not last year but said they were going to add it to the menu options). I think Meskerem may also offer it at their Village location but Sheba's is the easiest spot for me as I'l be driving out through the Lincoln Tunnel afterwards to get home. It's best done with a group of four or more - any egulleteers up to joing me for this ?

Hardly an original concept for a thread but since our companion thread has folks spending so much time on the dark side.... how about some warm and fuzzy memories of your favorite coffee/espresso experiences? Perhaps it's not really the best cup you've ever really had per se but for whatever reason is very memorable. Mine would have to be back around 1979 or so when my GF spent six months in Colombia South America teaching. She brought back a few vacuum packed pounds of a special grade of Colombian Supremo that was available only for export - much higher quality than what was sold for the local Colombian market. I promptly brewed up a small pot with my trusty Melitta and for the first time ever, discovered a coffee that was ruined rather than benefiting from having half 'n half added (I have typically always added half 'n half to my coffee - even the good stuff). This stuff was so good that drinking it black was the only viable option. Thinking about that first cup still evokes tangible taste recollection not to mention the intensity of being in love for the first time. I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the first time I tried Ethiopian coffee made in the traditional manner, which is the preparation method used in the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. It was like drinking liquid gold (or so it seemed.... never having drunk liquid gold but I'm struggling for an analogy). I exited the restaurant (in Denver CO) and was greeted by the largest and most visible double rainbow I've ever been lucky enough to see - somehow very apropos.

How do you know it wasn't? Yet they made god fried cheese curds. Go figure. On second thought.... don't. I never thought of cheese as something that could benefit from frying (mozarella sticks being a prime example) but then I was at an international foods store (International Food Warehouse in Lodi NJ) and they were going out samples in the cheese department. The cheese in question is from Cyprus and served as a breakfast food. They just throw it on a skillet and fry until it gets a bit lacey in texture. Incredibly delicious. This store also served god-awful capuccino in their little cafe but I digress (frequently).

I was a bit amazed when I worked for a spell at a South Carolina based company. I was down there for training and when we went to lunch, 13 of the 15 people at the table got sweet tea and quaffed it the way I drink water with a meal. I like my iced tea sweetened but the sweet tea I find in the South tends to be to sweet and adding sugar to already chilled iced tea is typically an exercise in futility (it never really dissolves). I wish more places would follow the lead of Gramercy Tavern restaurant in NYC. Order iced tea and you'l receive it unsweetened but they bring a small shot glass of simple syrup that you can add according to your desired level of sweetness. Nice touch. Then again.... you pay for the privilege.

The Toddy system has been around for many years, is well proven and makes a phenomenally good coffee extract ideal for makign iced drinks. Some people even mix it with a bit of water and serve it as a convenient but far higher quality for instant coffee. It's limited only by the quality of the beans you use to do the cold brewing process. I know some extremely particular, dmeanding and discerning espresso aficionados who swear by the Toddy system for cold drinks. I don't have one but did once have an iced cappucci made from a Toddy brewer when I visited Cafe Brazil in the Deep Ellum section of Dallas TX. Very significant aspect of Toddy for some folks is the fact that the output is extremely low in acidity. People who are acid sensitive can often easily handle hot coffee made from Toddy extract mixed with hot water.

I love my Alp too. The drum roasted taste is great. It is tough to hear the cracks but I seem to do okay on roast tiem by just semelling the smoke and also listening to the cracks. I haven't really scorched a single batch and was at a bit lighter roast level than I wanted another time but apart from that no problems. You are aware of how sensitive the Alp is to ambient temperature? I've been advised that it's a big issue - if you're roasting outdoors, in a garage or in front of an open window where temps are cooler, that may be causing the lower heat levels. Sooner than later I wil upgrade to a Hot Top rather than get another Alp (althouh I've been happy with mine).

I'm well familiar with the advantages of buying fresh roasted coffee orm roasting your own - the idea being that one knows exactly when it was roasted and can be sure of using the roasted coffe in the optimal time window (2 - 10 days after roasting). The issue of deterioration and rapidly declining qualities is well known and proven - for some of us freezing by means of careful packaging, thawing etc is a good means of ensuring that we always have a supply of good fresh beans on hand. I'm baffled by loose tea. How significant and rapid is the deterioration when it's exposed to air? Will vacuum packing (e.g. with one of those machines that vacuum packs and seals in your kitchen) preserve freshness? Would freezing make a big difference? Also.... does one simply rely on the integrity of the vendor or the assumption that they have plenty of product turnover to ensure that the freshest possible product is being purchased> Sorry if this seems rather elmentary to you tea aficionados but many of us are clueless about this and in need of some educating.

I'm a relative newbie to tea but have found the loose tea I've purchased in tins to be distinctly better than the bagged tea, e.g. I bought some Twinings Early Grey in bags and also in a tin. The loose tea had a richer and fresher taste. I'm uncertain as to whether this is an inherent bag vs. loose issue, if it's related to the amount of tea in my tea ball vs the amount in the bag or if if it's just that the tin has fresher tea than the bags.

When you ask the difference between the daily shrimp special and the shrimp entree on the regular menu.... and the waiter says "get the special - it has two bags of shrimp instead of one!".

I think most of King Crimson's music os very good for.... uhhhh.... ingestion. Forget about digestion.

For me it had to be the time I ate at Yono's in Albany, back in their original location (a gorgeous old townhouse just off the Empire Plaza in downtown). They had an Indonesian and French menu, very uspcale with tuxedoed waiters. Country music playing in the background - go figure.

If you were an Illy espresso cup collector your confession would already long since have been made (I am not one although I do have favored cups).

The one Williams-Sonoma sells is 14"x16" rectangular. If you make a standard size batch of pizza dough and split to make two thin crust pizzas, this size stone is just big enough to hold the pie comfortably with a bit of room around the edges. WS sells it for $29 online. I'm no big fan of theirs and think they are usually overpriced but I received mine as a gift. What I have noticed is that the WS stone is thicker than the cheapo round pizza stones that all the mass market retailers like K-mart sell these days (and theirs are usually around $20). I know at least one person whose cheapo stone broke in normal use. Mine has been through plenty and is still holding up nicely. I'm also guessing that thicker=more thermal mass - always a good thing when baking and looking focr consistency of heat delivery.

Recognizing that many of us have a preference for milk based espresso drinks.... I'm curious to know what some of you find to be hte most suitable - something that is robust enough to cut through the milk but still retains the appropriate undertones (chocolatey, fruity etc.). I've had some espresso blends (e.g. Sweet Maria's Monkey Blend) that really shine as straight espresso but fall short when used in a latte or cappa. Anything goes - can be your fsavorite comemrcial blend or just list what beans and ratios you use when home blending.

Case in point _ I was in midtown a few weeks ago on a Friday night. There's a new Red Lobster restaurant in Times Square that had a huge line waiting for tables. When I came down the escalator from the movies at AMC25 on 42nd Street the was an even larger line waiting to get into the Applebee's on the second floor. Just curious.... how was this (the food and drink) handled at previous conventions in NYC when they occured? Was there ever a central location where such things are catered or did the delegates in fact just go out on their own throughout town? Also, I think the fact that the average delegate would not be heading to le Bernadin, Daniel, Nobu etc is hardly the point - NY is chock full of great small restaurants that are independently owned and could use the extra business. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the cruise ship companies are the ones who initiated the entire idea - competition continues to get tougher for them and their marketing efforts keep developing a longer reach.

Perhaps it depends on the tea? I'm a regular coffee drinker but certain coffees are far more acidic than others. Robust beans and therefore cheap mass market coffees in general tend to have higher caffeine content and be more acidic than arabicas in generals. Sumatran and Indonesian coffees tend to be very low acid and I favor them for that reason. Interestingly.... when I was forced to make a hospital stay of four a five days a couple years back due to a gastro-intestinal condition, they put me on the BRAT diet for three days. It's intended to have the absolute lowest impact on your system (short of a liquid diet). Consists of banana, rice, applesauce and tea. Small portion of each at every meal and although sweetener and lemon are allowed for the tea, milk/cream is not. They made me wait another full day after that before I was allowed to have coffee. It would indicate that they consider coffee to be more egregious than tea re/the stomach but then again..... the swil that passes for coffee in most hosptials bears little resemblence to real coffee.

If you don't plan to get into making espresso.... the retro style Kitchenaid burr grinder that's $129 is a good bet. It looks cool and it's very solidly built. If espreso making is in your future, those who've been trying out the Kitchenaid say that it doesn't grind quite finely enough. A Solis Maestro at about $100 or the new Maestro Plus at about $150 are a better bet. In the very long haul, one might expect durability of the Kitchaid to be better based on surface appearances. if it were my monery to invest and I planned on serious espresso making in the future.... I'd shop around for a deal on a gently used Rancilio Rockey or perhaps a Cunill Tranquillo or an Anfim. One of those three should be available in the $175 - $200 range if you search for awhile.

The prices at Sweet Maria's are indeed higher but I use them particularly for the variety of beans available, many of which you won't find elsewhere. Just as differing batches of grapes (both source and vintage) make for significant differences in wine (e.g. not all California Merlots are equal), there are generic commodity arabica beans of a particular variety (e.g. Colombian, Mexican Altura, Guatemala Antigua etc) and then there are estate grown. In many cases, the estate grown beans of particular lots or those from specific co-ops may have some distinct qualitative differences. Typically the best and least abundant of particular crops goe to the highest bidders and make their way to some smaller specialty roasters and also to folks like Sweet Maria's. The big guys like Starbucks have to buy in such large quantities that they must take a wider variety of quality levels in a particular bean in order to get the amount they need. Some people speculate that this is one of the reasons for Starbucks "signature roast" style. The dark roast tends to mask the subtleties and nuances of flavor. For example, one will still taste the difference between Guatemalan, Ethiopian and Sumatran but the subtleties that will make allow one to discern between better and lesser grades of the same bean are masked by the dark roast. The good news for large roasters and bean purveyors is consistency - they can offer specific varietals year in and year out and the consumer will get what they expect when ordering a cup. Are straight estate varietals (i.e. not batches that are blended from the same varietal bean but of multiple provenances) better? In theory, yes and I think that often they are but I won't claim that we can all taste the difference easily (I especially wont claim that I can). I do know that the flexibility and potential one has for making a killer espresso blend at home is greatly improved by having a good variety of quality beans.