SuzySushi

Hmmmn.... maybe I just don't think the taste of durian is that distinctive! I've never eaten durian by itself, but durian cakes and candies I've tried don't have, to me, a distinctive flavor, either. Or maybe the durian is just so diluted that I can't taste it!

Neat piece! Congratulations!

Really? A mild taste? That's surprising. But anyway, all sorts of sweets made with durian are extremely common in Malaysia, a country that grows delicious durians. ← That's if you can get past the smell! It's probably diluted with milk or cream quite a bit. I don't find the taste itself that distinctive.

I must confess to the let-the-pets-lick-the-plates thing, but we always wash on the "sanitize" cycle in the dishwasher, with plenty of dishwashing powder. We don't let others see the pets licking the plates, but believe me, we wouldn't eat off them if there were any question about their cleanliness. Washing off only the upper side of the plate? Yech! ← I see nothing wrong with using pets as our "prewash" cycle. What I do object to is my sister's practice of keeping her cats' litterbox in the kitchen!

As Jason noted, most of the seafood and meat flavors are made purely as novelties (it would appear from the labels that most are made by the same companies). Sweet potato ice cream, made with purple ube (aka Okinawan sweet potatoes) is a popular flavor here in Hawaii. One Japanese company out of California makes cherry blossom ice cream that I can find packaged in some supermarkets here. Both flavors are tasty. Some shops in Chinatown here and in NYC (I don't know where else, but I would bet other Chinese stores sell it) sell durian ice cream. It needs to be double-wrapped or placed in a separate freezer because of its strong odor, but it has a mild taste. And I tried chocolate garlic ice cream in Gilroy, California (the garlic capital of the world). It didn't taste bad, though the chocolate was more evident than the garlic. That, too, is sold more as a novelty.

...when you get excited because after a much-too-long absence, one of your favourite members is posting again! Nice to see you again SobaAddict! ← Word!

I don't mind dining in an empty or half-empty restaurant; it makes me think the place hasn't been "discovered" yet and I'm an insider. If I like the food and atmosphere, I'd then spread the word to my friends. As others have suggested, you can build traffic on slow nights by promoting specials -- particular menus, special events, or lower midweek prices.

Alarming: using the same sponge to wipe the kitchen counter as to wipe up a spill from the floor (and no. . . the floor was not clean enough to eat off!). Amazing: My husband's cousin's husband (in France) slicing a baguette by holding both the bread and the knife in the air and letting the slices fall into a serving basket several inches below it. He says he always does it that way so he doesn't need to wash a cutting board!

You can also try Safeway Select products. They make one line with aspartame and one line with Splenda; some of the flavors are better than others. So far, the best sugar-free product we've tried is Dreyer's/Edy's mint chocolate chip. It's not full-fat, though.

Ooops... found 4 more recent acquisitions I forgot to count (these things proliferate like wire coathangers!): Thai Cooking and Korean Cuisine, both from the Wei-Chuan series Around the World in 350 Recipes, a bargain book by Hermes House, and The Best American Classics by Cook's Illustrated

Wonderful blog! Brings back lots of happy memories of traveling in rural France. Thank you so much!

My husband swears by Miller's natural casing hot dogs, out of Oakland, CA (since 1910). We served them at our July 4th picnic, and everyone commented on how tasty they are. No one even bothered to use condiments!

Add 7 more for me, between Goodwill and the 60th annual McKinley Book Sale (a weeklong Honolulu event said to be the largest public library booksale in the USA): James McNair's Fish Cookbook James McNair's Potato Cookbook Fabulous Vegetarian Recipes by Johna Blinn (my husband grabbed this one -- how can you go wrong for 30 cents?) Food Writers' Favorites: Appetizers Weekends Are Entertaining by Time-Life Books Bon Appetit Entertaining with Style Marlene Sorosky's Season's Greetings

Did some searching & Googling of "a la mode" as it refers to food. The print edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (compact edition) has no reference to the term being used for ice cream, although it does refer to the beef dish. The "official" story traces the origin of "a la mode" meaning "topped with ice cream" to a professor named Charles Watson Townsend, who liked to eat his apple pie with a scoop of ice cream and introduced that dessert to Delmonico's in the mid-1890s. It was then publicized by The New York Sun. See: History of Apple Pie

bavila -- Getting off-topic here, but after being given penicillin many times as a child, I developed an allergy to amoxicillin as an adult, and I still eat blue cheeses with no problem. However, I've read that all blue cheeses should be avoided. I'd definitely check with your pediatrician or an allergist before feeding them to your son.

I bought it a couple of years ago; dipped into it as bedtime reading; haven't cooked anything from it. I'm with you on missing his TV shows!

A clamp to hold a small wheel of brie in shape while slicing it into strips?

Kraft Foods plans to buy the LU biscuit (cookie) division from France's Groupe Danone. LU products include the Petit Ecolier and Pims lines of chocolate-covered cookies. The purchase will give Kraft a greater European and worldwide base. I hope it also means they will expand distribution of LU cookies in the USA! Source

The brouhaha over Chinese food (and other product) safety is partly political and media hype, partly based in truth. Several thoughts here. First of all, as gfron1 says, For instance, a few years ago in Vietnam, there was a scandal over formaldehyde being widely used in manufacturing fresh noodles for pho. At the height of the "mad cow" scare, there were articles coming out about unsanitary meatpacking processes in Britain. Remember also that in China, the food industry (or at least food processed commercially for export to the West) is relatively new and unregulated. It was only 101 years ago, that Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, meant as an expose of how workers were treated in the U.S. meatpacking industry, instead shocked readers with its descriptions of unsanitary and unsavory food practices and led to the passage of the Pure Food & Drug Act and ultimately the creation of the FDA. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/opinion/02tue4.html China has a ways to go to catch up.

Looks like you have a few more than I do, but a similar eclectic selection! Here's my spice rack. I also have a few seasonings stored in the freezer (homemade curry powder from Malaysia, Aleppo pepper, lime leaves, curry leaves).

Boo hoo hoo! The photos are making me cry!!! Oh, for that glorious meal!!!

Count me as another one who loved the movie. Saw it with my husband, 10 year old daughter, and non-foodie stepson who, however, adores Paris. We all were utterly charmed. It really is a love-letter to food. I'd eat at Remy's place any day!

Bubble tea, jelly drinks. etc. are very popular here in Hawaii, but a large percentage of the population is Asian-American... most of the drinks are either freshly made or Asian canned brands. Even Jamba Juice is offering "chewy" drinks now. It would be my guess that the main reason they haven't caught on with "middle America" is that none of the major U.S. beverage manufacturers has dared to market one yet.

I think it's waaaaaay cool!!! (Or is that waaaaaay hot???) Agree with Sanrensho about the lettering on the propane tank being upside-down!

In Wal-Mart the other day, here was a big endcap of Ratatouille-themed partyware (paper plates, party favors, etc.). I guess they're betting a lot of people will do Ratatouille parties this summer. Wonder how those products will do. I've been eagerly anticipating the movie ever since seeing the first trailers last year (we're planning to see it tomorrow as a family event), and I love food, but I don't think I'd want to serve a meal on plates depicting a rat, even a cartoon version.