phaelon56

Hello and welcome to eGullet! As a solo consumer I often find it difficult to use up cheese quickly enough before the quality deteriorates. There has been discussion here at eGullet about using home vacuum sealing equipment, such as the Tilia machine, to repackage cheese at home into smaller portions. What is your opinion of this technique and can you suggest other tips for home storage that may help preserve the integrity of cheeses for longer?

You've piqued my curiosity more than just a bit. I'm skeptical but might just try this to satisfy my curiosity. I do see a fundamental problem in that smell, color and an approximation of internal bean temperature are all indicators used to measure roast time and level. It would seem that the oil cooking process would eliminate the opportunity to use these metrics.

Historically that was the case but the lever operated piston replaced the pressure of steam long ago (in the 30's IIRC), followed by Gaggia's revolutionary introduction of a pump to force the water through at a higher and more consistent pressure. I was actually blessed enough to receive a one-on-one lecture yesterday on this time line from one of the owners of the LaMarzocco Espresso Machine company. Fascinating experience to say the least and the day of training I received was transformative on a personal level. I have found my calling. More to follow.

Thanks lalitha - good points all. I had intended to shoot this under only natural ligfht as it was morning but it appears that I had left on the overhead halogens without realizing it. I'll try a redo when I get back from travel.

I recently made guava cheese flan (guava paste and creamcheese in a flan recipe). It was the first flan I ever made but was amazingly good - served it at a group funtion and everyone, even a few not-too-food-adventurous young boys, all scarfed it up. I used this Guava Cheese Flan recipe from the McCormick web site because it was the firt one I found and it looked good. I had a half tin left over and have been advised that it freezes well provided one uses the frozen portion within 3 - 4 months.

Okay... I think we still have a few people - I PM'd laurel with my cell # as a just in case and will see whoever at 7 on Wednesday.

I've been to the 47th Street Meskerem - it was "okay" but not abave average for the genre. Have been to Ghenet not for dinner but for the Ethiopian Coffee ceremony. It was pleasant, if a bit short on atmosphere. We did order a few app style items before the coffee and they were excellent. Queen of Sheba is my favorite of the places in NY. Best atmosphere of the bunch, friendly staff and their crispy fish (served as a whole fish) is outstanding. Be advised that they have live music on certain nights starting at 9 PM or so - if you're there on one of those nights conversation becomes difficult to carry on.

The larger size of the Foreman grill makes a damn good substitute and they're cheap. Some of our local banks even give you a free one for opening a checking account.

This trend (for many of us like eGulleteers who don't buy many convenience foods) would explain why I don't bother clipping coupons like so many people I know - apart from cleaning products and toiletries I almost never see coupons for the basic foods that I buy. There are things such as dry breakfast cereal that would be good coupon candidates but I always seem to find generics that are just as good and way cheaper.

That is still one hell of a lot of Scotch Bonnet peppers. Even for a Jamaican place. I rarely think to notice other people's carts but realized how far away from their roots some people can get. A young female cashier, who was unquestionably of Hispanic descent (safe guess based on her name tag, appearance and accent), recently looked at the plantains I was buying and asked if they were bananas.

My local super-grocer (Wegman's) now carries a decent assortment of specialty meats from D'Artagnan, the Hudson Vallely foie gras folks. I haven't bothered trying their chorizo or linguica, as there's already a good and much cheaper brand stocked elsewhere locally that is made by Portuguese folks from the New Haven area. They do have an Andouille sausage. Curious to know if anyone here has tried the D'Artagnan product.

All in the same recipe? Mmmmmm... how tasty and convenient - salad, entree and dessert all in one easy dish made from pre-assembled modules? That's what I call convenient! Seriously though..... we had a neighbor when I was a kid who would look at store bought cake mixes and say "Why would someone buy one of those?". My mom. although she made cookies from scratch, viewed ready made cake mixes as a huge convenience factor but was disgusted by store bought frosting (and still is for very good reasons).

It's conceivable that the two are related. Alcoholics (and other addicts) who "get with the program" of the 12 Step recovery process eventually get to the stage where they begin to make amends - it's a necessary and crucial part of recovery. That said, once the recovery process is underway, recovering alcoholics often find themselves in social situatiosn where alcohol is served or readily available. Have some wine or beer and offer it as a pre-dinner drink "in case someone wants some" but I'd be inclined not to serve it with the meal, especially in light of the fact that at least two of you probably won't be drinking anyway. You've received great suggestions here already - culinary and otherwise. be yourself, cook and serve a "nice meal" just as you would if friends came over. If they're coming to visit after ten years of not setting foot in your house it's definitley not for the food. The blessing of a child/grandchild should be plenty for a topic of conversation.

I used to buy an alternate brand with the right icy textureat the Shop-Rite in Lyndhurst but if memory serves correctly, they had a woman's name as the brand. Luigi's still had better flavor. There's also an Italian Ice shop on the left on the main drag in Lyndhurst as you're heading south on Rte 17. Can't recall the name but it's just past the train station - never did get a chance to try it when I was living there.

I'm not familiar with the Dark and Stormy but in my drinking days I occasionally enjoyed a "Rum Float". Make a rum sour in a tall glas and then float a shot or two of dark rum onto the top by pouring it gently down the side of the glass or over the back of a bar spoon. Drinking with a straw allows one to lift the straw to get an infusion of dark rum into each sip of the sour. As the melting ice begins to weaken the rum sour portion of the drink, the straight dark rum starts to blend in, leaving the balance of the drink with a nice kick.

I'm just going to bus it and maybe rent a car for one day if I go up to Olympia. Plenty of walking is cool too, what with the food I'll need to burn off. I'm going to post the eG Hot Pot gathering as a separate thread now to ensure that anyone not aware of it has a chance to pipe up and join in.

I'm a biter... all the way. Can't help myself. Jason - I noticed the Luigi's Italian Ice in hte freezer. What do you thinik sabout the texture change they introduced a couple years ago? I was not pleased - the Luigi's now have a smoother less crystalline texture that just doesn't seem right for an Italian Ice.

I learned the same practice in Scouts. We also had to be sure the the blade faced down and the sharp edge (e.g. when handing someone an axe or hatchet) faced away from both people towards the side. We were also taught to say "Thank you" once we had the knife/axe firmly in hand and could not let go of the object until the other party said "Thank you" (in the event that were the hander and not the handee). I just got Mario Batali's "Simple Italian Food" book today. The cork with the octopus tip is the first thing I happened to notice when thumbing through the book. There must be something to it if Molto Mario swears by the practice. From my childhood: If you swim in less than one hour after eating you'll get cramps and drown (this has been disproven) If you swallow gum it stays in your stomach forever and does not get digested Swallowing a spoonful of dry sugar will cure the hiccups (this really works due to sugar's granular nature - salt or sand would do the same thing but don't taste as good) Chocolate causes acne

You're forgetting the fifth major food group. Junior's Cheesecake has an outlet in GCT if I recall correctly.

Not in NY state. We have a glove law and where I live it's rigidly enforced. Restaurants got tired of paying the fines for violations and it's a rare occasion when someone is lax enough to allow food handling (of food served raw or food that has already been cooked) without gloves or tongs. Not sure if it's strictly enforced in NYC but here in central NY it's become standard practice for all - even little mom 'n pop neighborhood deli's and pizza shops.

Am I the only one who thinks the researchers at the University of Guelph Ontario have way too much time on their hands. I've never really given much thought to kitchen sanitation practices when preparing food at home but just do what common sense dictates. I have never once gotten sick from food I prepared at home (Have also not gotten sick from food prepared elsewhere with the exception of some contaminated raw oysters at a restaurant once many years ago). In a restaurant kitchen I believe the phrase used is "Thank goodness there was a clean napkin (or a sheet of paper etc) there when that steak (fish, chicken etc) hit the floor. Throw it back on the broiler for a minute."

I really wish I could find printed text for a scene from Apocalypse Now. It's when Chef tells Martin Sheen how he joined the service expecting to use his saucier talents and arrived in the mess kitchen just in time to see a gorgeous hunk of beef dropped into boiling water until it turned gray. Might have to watch the DVD again and transcribe that - it's a classic and belongs in the "Crimes Against Food" hall of fame.

Here's a good site that offers instructions for the traditional churning method that uses soured cream and also one for making it from fresh cream with blenders/mixers. Making Butter at Home

I don't get it either but it is a cultural thing to a significant extent. In the African-American community, E&J brandy with coke is very popular among the ladies and Hennessey rules among the men - both with and without Coke. This is of course a generalization but it's based on having a number of African-American friends and having tended bar for years at an entertainment venue where we had specific cultural mixes of crowds for particular musical artists. I used to work with a bartender who was known to get apoplectic at the service bar when a waitron ordered a Crown Royal whiskey sour or any other desecration of good liquor. His catch phrase to describe all such evil-doers: "bimbo puke" (no gender on this one - applies to both men and women). One of our other bartenders swore that there was no way I could tell the difference between cheap whiskey and decent sour mash if I was doing shots (thrown back as shots - not sipped on ice). We did a shoot-out between Corby's blended bar whiskey and Jack Daniel's - I was wrong on three out of five. Greatest alcohol crime witnessed: watching a woman take four packages of Sweet 'n Low sweetener and dump them into a flute of good champagne. "I like it sweet" says she "I hope you don't mind.". I do.

Thanks Laurel. Please post to confirm here once you have the res made and I'll get back to you with whatever the number is that have confirmed. I think right now it's six including me but that number may rise. OT but so bizarre it's worth commenting on: renting a decnt bike in Seattle with a helmet and a lock is $30 per day plus tax. I can rent a car for $31 with taxes and fees included. Is that bizarre or what?