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I think it's good to have one of those encyclopedic cookbooks like Joy of Cooking so that you know that whatever it is you want to make, you have easy access to a version that works. It might not be the best possible version, but it probably will turn out right. You can find amazing recipes on the Internet, but it takes a certain familiarity with either the recipe or the author to wade through the junk, and novices by definition don't really have that yet. That said, the Joy of Cooking is definitely one of my least-used cookbooks. My favorite cookbooks (like Bouchon) have color photographs of the food, and I think that's really useful when you're first learning. The JOC's black and white drawings don't always quite do it. I don't know if Bouchon is beginner-level, but it sure is pretty, and has several really basic recipes, like how to roast a chicken. You won't find recipes for everything you would possibly ever want to eat in a book like that, though. Also, this isn't exactly a cookbook recommendation, but for a beginner, I would consider subscribing to Cook's Illustrated. It's very explanation-heavy and has big pictures and recommendations on tools and techniques. Their recipes aren't necessarily the most authentic version of whatever it is being made, but they definitely work and they do try to make sure that you can get everything in their recipes at your "average" chain supermarket.

The best rabbit I've ever had was a braised rabbit on pappardelle pasta I had at The Girl and The Fig in Sonoma. I think the sauce was a little mustardy and a little garlicky. I think there was also a bit of pork smokiness from some bacon lardons. So good!

I just tried making jam for the first time this month, and I'm amazed at how much better it is than even my favorite store brands. I've made the plain strawberry jam, the praline milk jam, and am in the process of making the kiwi lemon jam, all from Ferber's book. The strawberry did not want to set, so I ended up adding a package of liquid pectin. And after that, it was perfect. Gorgeous whole strawberries in translucent red jelly. I don't know why I bothered with the whole sterile process -- it's all gone now (we ate three jars and gave three away, which have also been eaten). The praline milk jam is also really good and really interesting. I made the hazelnut praline powder, and blanched, dried, and ground the almonds, so it ended up being much more time-intensive than I anticipated. I was concerned that the milk-sugar solution would never reduce -- four hours over a double boiler did not thicken it at all. I transfered all of it to my saucier to simmer over direct heat and that speeded everything up nicely, and there was no burning. And then when I added the two types of ground nuts, it basically became the texture of peanut butter. Really interesting stuff! It's as if dulce de leche and nutella somehow mated and this milk jam was their offspring. The kiwi isn't finished yet, but the flavor of the syrup so far is outstanding.

I've had the non-refrigerated tofu from a box before, and I'd say it's fine. At least good enough for camping. But, you can't re-seal the tofu, so he would need to either eat it all the day it's opened or bring ziplock bags for storing it. It might start to ferment or just get crushed up or something even in a bag, but I don't think it would become poisonous before it would realistically get eaten. And, it's mostly water, so you have to think about whether it's worth it to haul (and continue to carry the box as trash) when you're carrying drinking water or are filtering your water already. I've brought these Tastybite meals before, and if he does bring tofu, he can just add it to that pretty easily. The tastybite meals are in little foil pouches (once you've taken them out of the box) and are really ideal for backpacking. Prep is pretty easy too -- just boil the pouch.

Hehe, I just bought a pair of those forcep-like tongs last week (I already have several pairs of "normal" tongs in various lengths, but they don't work for picking up jars). I was trying preserving for the first time and couldn't find the proper rubberized tongs anywhere and didn't want to order them online, so I gave up and just bought those. Now we're ready for anything: canning, sauteeing, barbecuing, home birthing (okay, hopefully not that one. Ow). There is a tong for everything.

I never saw chow fun on local menus until I moved to San Francisco and started going to lunch in Chinatown with a Chinese coworker who had grown up in the city. Beef chow fun was one of her favorites, so of course I had to try it. And it was amazing -- a dark sauce and beef bits (strips of flank steak) on soft, wide rice noodles. There may have been vegetables too, but the wide noodles were the revelation. It's a bit similar to pappardelle pasta, but the rice flour makes it softer.

I would think a super fine mist with a spray bottle or a quick pass-over with a kitchen torch would do it. Test on one first, though.

I've been looking, too. It's hard to find much locally except for the Ball jars. Here are some interesting ones that I'm considering ordering. Edit: Aha, I finally found the kind I've been looking for! Square jelly jars, hexagon jelly jars, etc, all here!

Oh, I really agree. The book really rambled for me in the middle and had me thinking, "sure, this is interesting, but what is the point? What is this moving toward in the end?" It was just a bit strange to have the book be a hybrid of a biography of Batali, an autobiography of the author, and a travelogue. All interesting stuff, but it really needed a strong-handed editor in my view.

You can see the dish being prepared here. Plated, it's a little spiraly stack of the veg rounds.

Wait, where are all these homes with basements? I didn't think homes were built that way anymore -- at least they aren't out on the west coast, or my part of it. I even own an "older" (that is, built in 1946, still with the original tiny square of a kitchen) home and there's very little built-in storage. We went as far as removing the water heater in the laundry area and installing a tankless version in order to reclaim enough space in a corner for a tall, narrow bookcase that has become our "pantry." We even got rid of the microwave in order to keep all possible counter and storage space. When I last lived in an apartment, I had to shop in pretty small quantities then too, but the kitchen was twice as big and had its own pantry. I would love a real pantry so that the pots and all the appliances could be put away.

I've had ceramic crack by placing it directly on a heated pizza stone. I don't worry about my Le Creuset baking dishes cracking, but I don't put anything I'm not sure about on there and definitely not anything handmade.

Hmm, regular glass or ceramic probably would crack, but I've had no problems with putting pyrex directly on a hot stone, and there wouldn't be a problem with metal, either. But for something that could crack, it would be safer to let it heat up on a rack and then move it down to a stone.

I think baking directly on a pizza stone really helps. The direct transfer of heat to the crust is really effective. Also, if the middle of the dough is thicker than it is at the edges, the bottom crust may end up underbaked and the edges will bake too quickly. I've done that one before. And, if you use a clear pyrex pie pan, you can do a visual inspection of the bottom crust. You can't tell if the crust is baked all the way through, but it does help.

There shouldn't be any white or lighter-colored streaks. The first time I made a chocolate torte, I was so worried about deflating the air in the whipped eggs that I left light-colored streaks in the batter, which ended up being absolutely disgusting in the baked end product. So, I would make sure it's all the same color and also make sure the eggs have been whisked well enough. Also, I can't say for sure, but using a loaf pan might have contributed to the problem. The only thing in that torte that is making it a solid "cake" is the eggs. I'm not sure that would really work in something as big and deep as a loaf pan. You might have had to bake it for longer to get the eggs to start to set, and that might have caused a problem with the eggs. When I make a chocolate torte, which I haven't admittedly done in a few years, I don't put it in single-serving ramekins either, but I use a round springform pan. I think it's about 8 inches. So, if you used something like that, at least the depth would be the same. Good luck!

The ganache might have been too hot when the eggs were added, especially if the recipe didn't call for you to temper the eggs by adding a little bit of the ganache in to the eggs to heat them up (while quickly whisking to avoid cooking the eggs) and then returning the tempered eggs to the ganache. Or, if it seemed like the problem happened during baking, maybe the eggs weren't fully incorporated into the ganache.

The last time I bought oxtails, they'd been packaged in plastic, which had made them slimy. Yuck. And I think there were little bone fragments stuck to the oxtails, too. They got a wash-off and patted dry before I used them. When I buy a whole chicken, I usually wash it off and then let it air-dry in the fridge. As for fruits and veg, I feel I should always wash them to get rid of pesticides, but I don't always do it. I don't wash packaged salad mix that's already been washed. I don't wash the tops of cans, but I would probably wipe one off before using it if I noticed it was really dusty.

You could try a bunch of small single servings of fruit parfait, presented on a cupcake or cake tier. Small clear cups (disposable would be easiest) with fruit on the bottom, nonfat vanilla yogurt (or whipped topping) in the middle, more fruit, and then whipped topping on the top. There are some soy-based ones that are actually pretty good. Fruit isn't the lowest calore food there is, but it's not junk either. My other thought would be some sort of modified carrot cake with a soy cream cheese topping. Or, there's a carrot cake in the Voluptuous Vegan cookbook (you can view the recipe online by searching for it inside the book on Amazon) that's actually pretty good. That one has a coconut-cardamom sauce for a topping, and it is really tasty. Maybe the recipe could be sufficiently de-calorized or just presented in small portions.

This was quite a while back, but I remember an assignment in my 9th grade economics class where we each had to write a formal letter of complaint to a company whose product we were dissatisfied with. We'd each send in our letters, get experience being responsible consumers, and find out how companies deal with complaints. One smart kid wrote to Nike and ended up getting a replacement pair of shoes. Me? I wrote to some company that produced single servings of orange juice in a box. I complained that despite the juice being well within its purchase date, it tasted off and stale, like an old vitamin C tablet. To my embarrassment (I was a shy kid), I received a very nice letter in return, apologizing for the product. I also received a big flat of more juice boxes, which tasted just as bad. I did not send another letter. I'm not sure if complaint letters today work like they did in 1990. I wouldn't assume that email gets you very far with anyone, and talking over the phone just doesn't have the same impact. But I think more people are apt to try calling under the assumption that you might be able to argue your way to what you want.

An infestation recently emerged in my cupboards. Ugggh. Tried the dryer sheets and that didn't really help. Maybe I needed to use the whole thing of dryer sheets? Anyway, we discovered that the biggest problem was with a bag of pecans. We should have kept them in the freezer anyway so that they wouldn't go rancid, but holy crap, who knew that they woud be such a breeding ground for the little bastards? After tossing pretty much everything and vaccuuming a lot, I think they're finally gone now. Lesson learned: freeze nuts even if you think, "bah, I'm sure I'll use these soon."

If all you want is a slice of a round trunk, you might be able to get one by calling a local tree service company. When we had to have a tree removed from our yard, there was so much leftover wood that I would have welcomed anyone who wanted to take some of it away. The wood will probably split as it dries, making it unusable for a real cutting board, but it would probably be okay for presenting cheese. Just definitely disenfect it first.

Many people do carry explanatory cards with them or on their dogs. But requiring such a card isn't just a matter of avoiding bureacracy -- it would change the nature of what rights to access a disabled person has. Those rights cannot depend on carrying something with you. The fact that one NYT story has been done on this doesn't mean a real problem exists with the current system. Any dog that is disruptive at all can still be made to leave. There is also no access requirement for therapy dogs; only service dogs who perform specific tasks for their handlers. If some restaraunts have only been allowing guide dogs for the blind, then they have been in the wrong for a while now.

There are a number of people who either own or train therapy dogs at dogster.com. <- That link goes right to the service and therapy dog forum. I didn't know a lot about it either, but after reading a number of personal accounts of people who have had trouble getting access to buildings or businesses and stories of how other customers can often be very difficult to deal with because so few people really understand the laws and etiquette around service animals, I cannot seriously imagine that there could possibly be many people "faking it" with pets posing as service animals. It really seems tough and uncomfortable to have to explain yourself on a daily basis, be stared at, and hear a bunch of comments about what you're doing. Parents often don't even know to tell their kids not to pet or otherwise distract service animals when they're working. What I found really interesting is that service animals are basically treated as essential equipment for a disabled person. So just as you can't require a person using a wheelchair to provide proof that the wheelchair is real and necessary because that would make their access dependent on carrying proof with them, you cannot require service animal handlers to produce papers about their service animals. To do so would violate what I understand to be the assumptions behind the ADA, that the right to access is inherent and not dependent on something else you've bought, carry with you, or earned. People are often concerned that this means that a lot of fake service animals will get through, but I really doubt it. If a service animal, real or fake, acts up or is disruptive, it can be legally denied access in the first place or removed. That seems to solve all the potential problems right there. If the animal is a problem, it goes.

I love the cornbread from the Bread Baker's Apprentice. Polenta, buttermilk, honey, corn bits inside, BACON on top ... mmm. But for a quickbread, it's not exactly quick. You have to first soak the polenta in buttermilk overnight to soften it up.

Please, I SO needed this laugh! You can have that death match at my house, I haven't had a chicken pot pie, EVER. ← No! Never had one? In the fall, you really must try one. The recipe I used is from the Pie and Pastry Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It's awesome. In fact, I think it's the first thing I made for my husband when we first started to date. It's labor intensive and steams up the whole house, though, so only make it if someone else is going to be there to try it and call you a genius.