Jaymes

It is possible to slip the fortunes in after they're shaped, though; I've done it. Actually, after the second batch didn't work out, I considered sitting down with some fortune cookies from the market and tweezers. But after perusing this site: Making Fortune Cookies, they look so adorable that I think we're gonna keep trying.

I make a pretty good 'quickie' green chile stew starting with those smoked pork chops. They are indeed a terrific thing to have waiting in your fridge after a busy day. Especially on crisp fall evenings. Which, God knows, I'm hoping eventually will arrive. Even in Texas.

Made the fortune cookies. They looked great, and the flavor was great. The little "fortunes" were a hit. But the cookies never got fully hardened or crisp. They had a chewy texture, even the three that were left over until this morning. They tasted so good that we ate them, but that chewy texture was a little off-putting. I'm wondering what we did wrong. Why didn't they harden? Anyone know?

Want to thank you. I've spent the last couple of hours turning out perfect cookies with little "fortunes" that say things like "Happy Birthday Daddy" and "You're the best daddy ever" and "Thank you for taking me to the park" and "I love you, Daddy." Honestly, RWood, not at all sure I could have done it without your link and tips. So thanks for taking the time to post them.

I dunno. Lots of folks make these. Fill them with cute little personalized "fortunes." Today is son-in-law's birthday and his favorite dinner is Asian style scallops so that's what we're making. Thought it would be fun for dessert to have fortune cookies with cute little phrases from the kiddos inside. I've never tried to make these, but know that lots of folks do. So how hard could it be, I decide. Turns out it might not be "hard," but it sure is tricky. Wasn't helpful that I didn't start this endeavor until about 3pm yesterday, so had no time to experiment before the family got home. Decided to ask for help and try again today so we can have them for tonight's birthday dinner. I used Paula Deen's recipe yesterday (here). The batter tasted great, but I couldn't get those little suckers to bake evenly. For one thing, I had a hard time spreading the batter out evenly to make a 4" circle. And then they just burned around the outside edges. Admittedly, our oven isn't much good for delicate baking, but it occurs to me that other people must have less-than-perfect ovens and manage to make these pretty little things. I do note that Paula's recipe adds no additional oil, and no cornstarch or other binder. So I'm asking... Any of you make fortune cookies? Any tips, hints, recipes, methods to try?

And that would be my question. Did you wrap it in banana leaves?

You can go through buckets of tomatillo salsa on chilaquiles. And buckets more on Enchiladas Verdes, my personal very favorite enchiladas. In fact, when we go out for Mexican and I order Enchiladas Verdes, which I almost always do, I always ask for an extra portion of the sauce.

Perhaps the people in Dallas haven't figured out that you can park in the lot, go inside and order a burger, and take it with you. Well, everyone but Jeff. True that. You still have to wait in a line, but at least your car's not idling the entire time. And it's often quite pleasant to sit out on the patio.

Back to the beginning... Jaymes, were the beans spoiled by being out overnight? I've left out pintos, rice, even some stews and braises (covered), without any problems. I never put hot, or even very warm, food in fridge. The main reasons I was a little worried about that pot of beans were because they started off pretty hot, the kitchen has been warmer than usual in this heat wave, those charro beans are full of bacon and chopped pork butt, and we have a household that includes several very small children (under the age of three). So I did my "usual" checking routine (that we discussed in another thread), which involves me looking, smelling and, finally, eating whatever it is that I'm worried about. I was afraid that the bacon and pork in the beans might have gone a little sour overnight. But they looked, smelled and tasted fine, and when, by dinnertime, I still felt fine, I just served them up. Although I was careful to bring them to a pretty good boil before I ladled them into everyone's bean bowls and passed around the tortillas.

I'm with the ice crystals crowd. The more the better. Put the ice cream in first, then pour the root beer over. Keep root beer handy to add as the liquid gets lower. I also have mugs in the freezer, for RBFs and for regular beer. I like IBC root beer but there are several artisanal root beer brewers that produce good quality old-fashioned root beer. Vanilla is the classic choice for a reason. It's the best. But sometimes I use chocolate ice cream instead, just because I'm up for an occasional change.

Interesting ideas for the flowers, but I never have any, as I keep pinching back the basil to keep it from bolting (flowering). As soon as it does, the plant gets woody, and the leaves that do come are much less soft and flavorful. If you want the flowers, that's obviously fine. But if you want to have good basil all season long, you should definitely keep the plant pinched or cut back long before the flowers begin to appear.

Thanks for all of the good info here. I've definitely decided to switch camps and join the "too hot" crowd.

So it happened again. This morning I got up to discover a big pot of charro beans still sitting on the stove from last night's dinner. I had gone to bed early, and my daughter and her husband said they'd clean up the kitchen. When I expressed surprise (and regret) that the beans had been left out all night long, my daughter said, "Oh no. They were too hot to put into the fridge, so I decided to let them cool off and I forgot about them." This theory about "too hot to put into the fridge" is not something she learned at my house. When dinner is finished, and there's something in a large pot or Dutch oven, and there's too much of it to put into plastic containers, I always just went right ahead and put it into the fridge, hot or not. I did take care to move away anything that might suffer from close proximity, such as butter or eggs or milk or something in a flimsy plastic bag like cheese from the deli, but other than that, didn't even give it a second thought. The "too hot to put into the fridge" thing came from my daughter's husband's family, and it has resulted time and time again in things sitting out all night long. Chili. Soups. Stews. Casseroles. Stock. You name it, if it's something that was cooked in a big pot, the chances are it was left out overnight because it was "too hot to put into the fridge" and then forgotten about. I'm truly puzzled. My parents never had any hesitation to put hot stuff into the fridge in the home I grew up in, and never did I in the home my daughter grew up in. This "too hot" thing is new to me, and I'm not a fan, to say the least. I say put the damn thing in. What say y'all?

You might try making a batch of the "original" nachos as well. Since you are a lover of all things nacho, could be fun and interesting to compare and see what you think.

For some forty years, I've been mixing up cottage cheese with some other tasty stuff to go into that middle space in your glass relish tray at Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. I do serve it cold, and never thought about tossing it with hot noodles, but who knows. Maybe it will give you inspiration. I call it: Not Just Cottage Cheese 1 pound cottage cheese, drained 1 cup chopped fresh spinach 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1 tablespoon blue cheese dressing 1 tablespoon Italian dressing 1 tablespoon dill weed or basil 1 tablespoon seasoned salt Additional salt, black pepper, Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste Combine all ingredients and chill. Serve with crudites, or crackers, or stuffed into tomatoes or cucumber boats.

Nachos are not so much "Mexican food" as they are border food, although it's true that in the strictest sense, all of the Mexico/US border was at one time Mexico, and nachos were invented in Mexico (Piedras Negras across the Texas border from Eagle Pass), and by a Mexican named Ignacio "Nacho." Still, the border is kind of its own country. I'm in Texas and, for the most part anyway, the most popular nachos down here are not the big pile of cold tortilla chips loaded down with a bunch of gooey stuff. They are instead hot, with each cheese-, jalapeno- and (sometimes) refried-beans-laden corn tortilla chip its own perfect, sublime entity. And they are wonderful. This site explains it pretty well: "Homesick Texan" nachos So I really don't know what the "typical recipe" is for that other style. I suppose if I had to make them for some reason (that escapes me now), I'd make a carne seco-type shredded beef chuck roast, and a pot of classic Ro-Tel chile con queso, and an olla of charro beans, and some salsa and pico and guacamole to ladle over the big pile of cold chips. But to give you the most helpful advice I can (and assuming you are asking about the big pile of chips type of "nacho"), I'd suggest you ask your question in one of the US Southwest forums, rather than the Mexican food forums. Most Mexican food aficionados consider that big pile of cold chips covered with assorted goop to be American bar food, not Mexican at all. And probably rarely (and I'm betting never) make them.

The presentation might be a little too "retro," but if you recall the olden days (and I'm pretty sure you do), you might remember that the moms made popsickles in those aluminum ice trays. You buy some popsickle sticks, pour your mixture into the ice tray, pop a stick into each square, put the whole thing into your freezer. When it's solid, you just take out the tray and give that lever a lift. And voila, popsickles.

"Forced"? I don't get your reasoning. Surely nobody is "forced" to wait on table unless perhaps they're working at the prison cafeteria. As for being pleasant to nasty customers, there is a line of "nastiness" to be sure, and when a consumer, in this case a restaurant customer, crosses it, a good boss is going to back up the employee. But if the customer is merely run-of-the-mill, everyday unpleasant and difficult, the owner of the restaurant, just like the owner of any retail outlet, is absolutely going to expect the employee to put up with it. Tipping system or no tipping system. That wouldn't change one iota. If you don't think so, you don't understand how the world works. At least this way, the "very big tip" goes to the waiter that actually put up with it. Justly, in my view. As for this relationship being akin to prostitution, of course it is. All sales are basically the same principle. I'm going to be nice to you in the hopes that you purchase a product or service from me. It's all a matter of degree. How much will I put up with from you? How much will I want from you? What's it worth to me? How much product or service will I provide you? In the case of prostitution, it's a pretty intimate service. In the case of a used car, or insurance, or the fellow that wants to come cut your lawn, not so intimate, but it all starts the same way. Form a relationship. Trust me. Like me. I might not really like you because I think you're unpleasant, or too old, or too young, or too fat, or too conservative, or too liberal, or too light, or too dark, or too poor, or too "merry" but I'm going to pretend to like you because I want something from you and I've got rent to pay and children to clothe and educate, and food to put on the table. I can tell you that I owned a small business for about eight years. A travel agency. And I had overhead to pay and a payroll to meet. We certainly put up with a lot of jerks, and I damn well did expect my agents to deal with clients that they didn't particularly like. Of course, as I said above, there's a line, and if a client crossed over from being a jerk to being abusive, I told them to leave. But that only happened about three times or so over the eight years. An overbearing, demanding, know-it-all, "I've-traveled-all-over-the-world-and-I-never..." arrogant jerk, on the other hand, came in at least once a week. If my agents wanted to keep their jobs, the first thing we all needed to do was to keep our doors open in an increasingly difficult economy. I remember once attending a sales/motivational seminar being held for employees of a local bank. The bank's business had been falling off, primarily because that bank had gained a reputation in our town for grumpy service, for employees that waited on you begrudgingly, behaving as though they were doing you a favor to interrupt their very important and busy schedule to bother to wait on you, even going so far as to snap at you if you did or said something they didn't like -- as opposed to giving you that big, fake, phony "prostitute" smile and friendly insincere "personal" greeting. I had told the manager of that bank branch that I was going to move my agency account elsewhere, because I was tired of putting up with his tellers and that attitude, so he invited me to the seminar to demonstrate that things were going to change. I remember one comment in particular that the motivational speaker made: "When customers walk in, you should treat them as though they were bringing you a gift. Because they are. Your job." The tipping custom may bring that seller/buyer prostitute/john relationship into much sharper and less-subtle focus, but it's all sales. Anybody that isn't willing to gut up and shut up and put up with a difficult customer has no business dealing with the public. And it's contagious. Get one surly employee with an entitled, "I don't have to put up with you, asshole" attitude, and your entire staff is at risk of adopting it. They'll kill your business. You'll have to close your doors and then nobody will have a job. Put them back in accounting, or in the kitchen working the line. Put the politicians and prostitutes and salespeople and phony insincere glad-handers and servers willing to bust their asses no matter what for a big tip out front. They'll keep your bottom line in the black. Which is better for everybody. Don't you think? With all due respect, I have to say I don't think so. The tipping system is problematic, unless you have a boss who cares at least a little bit (don't hold your breath), and you actually get decent tips. In smaller towns, at least, this is not a given. When I first went off to university, I waited tables, really briefly. I did 'gut up and shut up and put up with a difficult customer' (several, in fact). I put up with a bum-grabber (charming, he tried for my crotch next time I passed, after which I made annoyingly time-consuming detours), a family who'd apparently had their children raised by wolves, and left a lot of praise and a religious tract as a tip, and a drunk or two. I smiled, and I smiled, and I smiled. I was accommodating and efficient, and by the end of one morning, I begged to be the bus/dish'boy', a job that paid the minimum wage. The boss kept his bottom line black by paying waitresses as little as he could legally get away with, and telling them that being groped and poorly tipped was 'part of the job if you're cute'. I don't think I'm particularly soft (I've been self employed most of my life, and spent several years doing heavily physical work for 89 hours a week), but I don't think anyone should have to put with that sort of thing, especially for sub-minimum wage and the possibility of a tip. The tipping system is just no good, apart, perhaps, from at places where a 20% tip for good service is considered 'standard' by at least half the clientele. I've spoken with plenty of people who have waited tables, and my experience is far from unique. It would make more sense for restaurants to charge a bit more up front, and pay waitstaff a living wage. They do this in plenty of countries, and it doesn't seem to be hurting business, nor have I noticed poorer service. If the only way an establishment can stay in the black is by underpaying staff and relying on the kindness of strangers to make up the difference, I don't think they really belong in business. I'm not sorry I had the experience; it makes me pay much more attention to what is going on when I dine out, and it is at least partly the reason that I'll tip 20% (or at least a dollar, if the cheque comes to under $5) if the waiter seemed to be giving the job his or her best shot. I agree with you that it would be better if restaurant workers (and in fact, everyone) made a liveable wage, and tips would be on top of that. It so happens that I raised three kids and every one of them, and I myself in my younger years, waited tables. I get that not every boss or situation is ideal. And that it can be exploitative. And demeaning. My main issue with dcarch is the notion that a waiter is FORCED to wait on a "nasty" customer. And the idea that the server/customer/tip relationship is the only other sales relationship that smacks of "prostitution." And that waitstaff are the only ones that have to put up with unpleasant, disagreeable, demanding customers. And that if it were not for the current tipping policy, they wouldn't "be forced" to.

"Forced"? I don't get your reasoning. Surely nobody is "forced" to wait on table unless perhaps they're working at the prison cafeteria. As for being pleasant to nasty customers, there is a line of "nastiness" to be sure, and when a consumer, in this case a restaurant customer, crosses it, a good boss is going to back up the employee. But if the customer is merely run-of-the-mill, everyday unpleasant and difficult, the owner of the restaurant, just like the owner of any retail outlet, is absolutely going to expect the employee to put up with it. Tipping system or no tipping system. That wouldn't change one iota. If you don't think so, you don't understand how the world works. At least this way, the "very big tip" goes to the waiter that actually put up with it. Justly, in my view. As for this relationship being akin to prostitution, of course it is. All sales are basically the same principle. I'm going to be nice to you in the hopes that you purchase a product or service from me. It's all a matter of degree. How much will I put up with from you? How much will I want from you? What's it worth to me? How much product or service will I provide you? In the case of prostitution, it's a pretty intimate service. In the case of a used car, or insurance, or the fellow that wants to come cut your lawn, not so intimate, but it all starts the same way. Form a relationship. Trust me. Like me. I might not really like you because I think you're unpleasant, or too old, or too young, or too fat, or too conservative, or too liberal, or too light, or too dark, or too poor, or too "merry" but I'm going to pretend to like you because I want something from you and I've got rent to pay and children to clothe and educate, and food to put on the table. I can tell you that I owned a small business for about eight years. A travel agency. And I had overhead to pay and a payroll to meet. We certainly put up with a lot of jerks, and I damn well did expect my agents to deal with clients that they didn't particularly like. Of course, as I said above, there's a line, and if a client crossed over from being a jerk to being abusive, I told them to leave. But that only happened about three times or so over the eight years. An overbearing, demanding, know-it-all, "I've-traveled-all-over-the-world-and-I-never..." arrogant jerk, on the other hand, came in at least once a week. If my agents wanted to keep their jobs, the first thing we all needed to do was to keep our doors open in an increasingly difficult economy. I remember once attending a sales/motivational seminar being held for employees of a local bank. The bank's business had been falling off, primarily because that bank had gained a reputation in our town for grumpy service, for employees that waited on you begrudgingly, behaving as though they were doing you a favor to interrupt their very important and busy schedule to bother to wait on you, even going so far as to snap at you if you did or said something they didn't like -- as opposed to giving you that big, fake, phony "prostitute" smile and friendly insincere "personal" greeting. I had told the manager of that bank branch that I was going to move my agency account elsewhere, because I was tired of putting up with his tellers and that attitude, so he invited me to the seminar to demonstrate that things were going to change. I remember one comment in particular that the motivational speaker made: "When customers walk in, you should treat them as though they were bringing you a gift. Because they are. Your job." The tipping custom may bring that seller/buyer prostitute/john relationship into much sharper and less-subtle focus, but it's all sales. Anybody that isn't willing to gut up and shut up and put up with a difficult customer has no business dealing with the public. And it's contagious. Get one surly employee with an entitled, "I don't have to put up with you, asshole" attitude, and your entire staff is at risk of adopting it. They'll kill your business. You'll have to close your doors and then nobody will have a job. Put them back in accounting, or in the kitchen working the line. Put the politicians and prostitutes and salespeople and phony insincere glad-handers and servers willing to bust their asses no matter what for a big tip out front. They'll keep your bottom line in the black. Which is better for everybody. Don't you think?

I'd just like to point out that we've had a great many discussions on eG that were perfectly pleasant regarding tipping in restaurants. Of course, they were in response to questions that seemed to be sincere inquiries regarding tipping practices. I'm sorry, but I simply don't think that's the case here. Even the title: "Is everyone incompetent?" suggests pretty strongly to me that the OP isn't interested in fairness. What do you think, Pedro? Is "everyone" incompetent? In fact, a close reading of all of the OP's posts leads me to believe he's here for exactly the opposite reason. He doesn't care what others think or do. His real purpose is to justify the maligning in his newspaper of restaurants that he believes haven't treated him in the proper and respectful manner he deserves. He takes pleasure in the possibility that he's hurt them in some way, even taking off-topic pot-shots at the name "Fuzzy Taco." Maybe the owner's nickname is Fuzzy. Who knows? But it sounds to me more like retribution and revenge than any kind of serious impartial review. In my opinion, anyway, what you refer to as "naked aggression and pseudo-psychological analyses" and "rude responses" are not responses to a "perfectly valid question." They are instead responses to a kid with a "take that, you didn't know who you were dealing with, and I'll make you sorry you dissed me" attitude, and a public means - the student newspaper - to express it. A far cry from an honest discussion about tipping practices. Something we've actually done quite well on eG in the past.

The Julia Child recipe in MTAOFC (which, since we've discussed onions, calls for 6 cups of sliced onions to 3 lbs of beef) adds 2 tbls light brown sugar to "mask the beer's slightly bitter quality" and a little vinegar at the end to "give character." Excellent recipe, and I recommend it.

I've been told that everywhere in the US that an attempt has been made to abolish this practice and pay the waitstaff a "fairer" salary, it has been vigorously opposed by the very folks that are supposedly being harmed by the current policy. Many servers say they prefer it this way. They believe that across the board, they make more money with tips than they would with a fixed salary. They do feel that if they're really good at their job, they make more money than someone that isn't. That, like most salesmen, they're in charge of their own remuneration and that it's commensurate with effort and ability. More work for more reward. And there's always the possibility of a big tip, kind of like winning a mini-lottery. They also enjoy going home with immediate cash, vs waiting two weeks until payday. As one server friend told me, I can go into any new town, get a job, and that night I'll have money in my pocket. So who knows. I suppose like most things, there are pluses and minuses.

It seems to me that part of good cooking habits is to make the procedures into 'habits'. Never, ever taste from the spoon you are cooking with. Then you don't have to keep track of who is going to eat your food. An easy answer to the problem is a container full of teaspoons designated for tasting only sitting near where the cook is working. One taste and into the sink they go. And make sure the spoon bowl is down and the handle up. I took some cooking classes recently and was stunned to see the spoon container with the bowl pointed up. I think this is particularly important for folks who work with chocolate. It's so tempting to lick the spoon, lick your fingers, etc. You must be ruthless about NEVER doing this. (Well, IMH (or not so H)O.) I absolutely agree with this. It's stunning to me how many people think it's just fine to taste repeatedly with the same spoon from the dish they're cooking and then planning to serve others. I live in a big family with several toddlers. The kids go to preschool and bring home stuff. The mom (my daughter) is a school teacher and she brings home stuff. The son (her husband) works in a large office downtown and brings home stuff. You are contagious long before you are aware of any symptoms. Having some sort of cold or flu go through this family is a nightmare. You might be right that at any given time several of the members are exchanging bodily fluids, but that's no excuse for lazy hygiene at the cook stove. And you don't have to go through a couple dozen spoons, either. I get a small coffee mug or cup and one spoon and have it sitting at the ready beside the cooking pot. It's a simple matter to take the large cooking spoon and drop a small amount of whatever I'm preparing into that mug and taste it with my one soup or teaspoon. I can also try out various herbs and spices in my tasting cup, without ruining the whole pot. I cannot tell you how many times through the years I've been a guest in someone's home and gone through some sort of subterfuge to avoid eating a dish that I saw the host eat out of while he/she cooked it. For various reasons, I am extremely susceptible to infections and I just can't take the chance. That sort of arrogance ("I don't think I'm getting sick and even if I am it's no big deal so why should I bother keeping my bodily fluids to myself.") really pisses me off.

I'd go get some green chiles and Mexican cheese and make Calabacitas: Calabacitas (for the non-Spanish speakers, "calabasas" are squash; so in the Spanish manner of adding "itas" to something to indicate the diminutive, "calabacitas" are little squash - in this case, cubes). 2 lbs summer squash, cut into bite-sized pieces (you can use yellow, or zucchini, or patty-pan, or a mixture, or whatever) 1 T butter or vegetable oil 1/2 small white onion, diced 3 tomatoes, diced (canned, stewed are fine) a couple of large, mild green chiles, blistered, peeled, seeds and veins removed (you can use a 4oz can of green chiles; I prefer the whole chiles, and I chop them myself) 8 oz-can yellow corn, drained (or fresh, cooked corn) 1 C cheese - grated (if you're somewhere were you can get Mexican cheese and you have a favorite that melts well, use that; if not, good-quality mild Cheddar works fine) salt & pepper to taste Note: You don't have to chop the vegetables too finely; in fact, I prefer a larger dice for this. Boil diced squash until just barely tender. Do not overcook, as you're going to be cooking it a little more. Drain squash and set aside. Put the butter or oil into the pot and saute onions, tomatoes and chiles until onions are clear. Return squash to pot. Add corn and stir to combine. Try not to stir it too much. You don't want the squash to break down. Salt and pepper to taste (you're going to be adding cheese, which is salty, so don't oversalt at this point). Heat through. Add cheese. When cheese is melted, serve immediately.

Two thoughts: First, nobody has more of a reputation for being a poor tipper than a single old gray-haired lady pushing 70 and dining alone. That's me. And I'm on a fixed income, so rarely order extras such as appetizers, desserts, or drinks of any kind (don't routinely drink a lot of alcohol and not a fan of sodas or other sweet beverages with meals). When I perceive that my server would like to put me on the back burner (speaking figuratively, of course), I just get even more friendly and pleasantly insistent that my service be as good as anyone else's. And I tip well enough that they remember me on my next visit. Second, I find the title of this thread to be disingenuous. After reading your initial question, subsequent posts and questions, it appears to me that you are not so much interested in our opinions as you are in proving your own. Which seems to be that it's okay to publicly malign a restaurant for what you, rightly or wrongly, have decided must be intentionally insulting service because you are a college student.