Suzanne F

Shiewie -- any chance you can translate "a packet of lemon jelly crystals (I use Cottees since that's what my friend used)" into a product easily available in the U.S.? The recipe sounds good, but I don't know what that is. I was going to say "mac & cheese" but hillvalley beat me to it.

?Better Burger (3rd Ave & 37th St or 8th at 19th) ?Le Zinc (Duane St, Tribeca) Maybe HWOE will let you borrow his dork hat -- from Minnesota, teal and purple, with earflaps.

Oh ye of little faith (not that you have much reason to get your hopes up ) (Shit, the Yankees beat the Sox tonight ) Anyway, still OT: Lady T, it's a class on "How to Market Your Freelance Editing Services." Do you think people here would be interested in a précis?

After reading about all of you at Varmint's don't I wish I could! But I've got a class to go to on Saturday.

Jeez, you Midwesterners are the ultimate party animals! This is one of the very, very few times I regret leaving Detroit.

By all means, Al Dente and everyone else, let us NYers know when you're coming and we'll show you some real NORTHERN hospitality. Which Varmint can attest to, right?

I find that keeping an inventory inside the door to the cabinet where I keep the less-used stuff is a big help. Especially since I've got a 32-bottle rack, plus a 2-tier lazy susan out on the counter, AND 2 shelves in a small cabinet. Unlike Jinmyo, though, I only update officially once a month. ALSO: This is not an endorsement, simply a posting as a public service: Just got a catalogue from Spices etc., with a 24-jar spice rack. You can buy just the rack, without their spices. Looks like the jars are a fairly standard size, so you could probably used your own. Mountable on the wall, and probably also on a cabinet door.

Think of it this way: Just add water, and we're all really well-prepared for the next disaster!

Yup. Remember my shopping cart, that spent the night at your place? That liner makes it possible to pack without bags.

Oh, no, not only a NY thing: when we're in Florida, it drives me up a wall that they pack that way. I guess they figure you're going to schlep everything from your garage into your kitchen, and that you're too old and feeble to carry more than one light bag at a time. But they DO pack that way at the Pathmark I go to, which makes it difficult to keep track when I'm having it delivered. Otherwise, I pack myself, with almost no bags whatsoever (shopping cart with liner).

Re Maggie's last post: it struck me last night that "The Ballad of Varmint's Pig Pickin'" can only be written along the lines of Rashomon.

Jinmyo said this on the current "Food snobs" thread, but I think it applies here, too.

Gee, I don't consider it overstock so much as insurance against the total disappearance from the market of: tuna beans Tomato products butter pasta products rice (many varieties) and, of course, hot sauce

Oh. My. God. Having flashbacks to living on 25¢ cans of bonito and 8 for a dollar containers of yogurt during my last year of college. If I knew then what I know now . . . Basics for cheap eats: canned fish, which you've already got. Canned beans (can actually be cheaper than dried, if you count the time). Pasta. Onions. Garlic. Good parmesan. Strong ready-to-eat smoked sausage. Canned tomatoes. Whatever green vegetable is in season. Dried herbs. Rice. The best quality cheese and sausage will give you maximum flavor from minimum quantities. And yes, shop the Asian markets. Fresh produce, strong flavors.

I made a large jar of Meyer lemons a little less than 2 years ago. They kept popping up, too. So I weighted them down with a heavy-duty plastic bag filled with water. Once they were well-infused with the brine, they sank on their own. Along the same lines, as Mottmott discussed, I use a cloth napkin on my artichokes. Learned that at work. Then I throw it in the wash with a hint of bleach, and it's good for the next time. (Cloth napkins are also excellent for straining liquids like tomato water, instead of using a dozen layers of cheesecloth.)

Baked chicken thighs with cilantro pesto under the skin Sliced chayote baked with creme fraiche Mashed green plantains, moistened with the juices from the chicken Salad of watercress, radicchio, Boston, romaine, cucumber, and avocado, with balsamic vinegar and olive oil Paumanok Chenin Blanc

Elections? We don' need no stinkin' elections. I prefer "Our Fearelyse Leader."

totally different crystalline structure. How does Splenda® compare to sugar on these terms?

Whatever!

Thanks for more pix, =Mark. I hope they all appreciated your fabulous portobellos!

If you do get a lot of them to ripen and want to dry them, you can dry them in the oven. Cut in half, squeeze out the goosh, place them cut side up on parchment-covered sheet pans, and leave them overnight at the lowest oven temperature with the door ajar. I've had good luck with that, them store them in sealed bags in the freezer.

Sam: Oh, I love the facade of it all being real research. (I'm just an SSB manqué.) And I like having that framework within which to consider what I do or do not like about the burger. RW: we're not really comparing one burger against another, so I'm not concerned about having very different styles. Each burger is judged on its own merit according to our individual tastes. As for trying another on the same day, that's been mentioned, and Our Fearelyse Leader expressed a preference NOT to. Me too, mainly because I can't eat that much -- Molly's held me until after 10pm! But that doesn't mean that other folks couldn't. Or maybe she and I could share the second one; we both hate to leave food.

Yes, Kim dear, I KNOW you're addicted. But WHY? As Groucho Marx said to the man with 12 children, "I love my cigar, too, but sometimes I take it out."

Fat Guy, may I respectfully request that you back off a little? You're being so solemn. Having rules is simply a mechanism to justify getting together to eat and drink and talk -- and maybe be able to write it off I went into this as a quest for good food first, a social occasion as a close second, with no real expectation that we'd come up with a definitive answer. So far, BC has been a total success for me.

Or just plain old water? This should probably go on the "Cuisines I don't get" thread, but I really don't understand why people in general -- not just you, Kate -- drink stuff like sodas or "ice tea" all day. Okay, if the water where you are tastes nasty, maybe; but otherwise ? ? ? I don't get it.