SuzySushi

Nope... See's Candies and Fanny Farmer are two totally different companies. The candies just seem similar! See's Candies was founded in Los Angeles in 1921 by Charles See using his mother Mary's recipes. The shops were designed to resemble her black-and-white kitchen. The company was bought by Berkshire Hathaway (owned by investment guru Warren Buffett) in 1972. Fanny Farmer was founded in Rochester, New York, in 1919 by a Canadian candymaker who named it after Fannie Meritt Farmer of the Boston Cooking School (she had become famous for developing level spoon measurements). It was acquired by Archibald Candy Corp. of Chicago (which owned competing brand Fannie May) in the 1990s. Fanny Farmer and Fannie May are now owned by Alpine Confections, Inc. of Chicago.

Delicious!!!! If that's the food in the middle of nowhere, what's the food like in the middle of somewhere???

OMG, I've just read through this whole thread and my mouth is watering!!! Gotta go find a Filipino buffet for lunch! Noah is adorable!!!

Oooooooooh!!! That looks good!!!

I spent several days in Takayama on my last trip to Japan, and it's a place very much worth seeing. I stayed in a minshuku while I was there... I don't remember the name and it wasn't the one I'd originally booked. Very friendly, good food (local mountain specialties), but I did speak enough Japanese to get around.

Gotta add Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Nissin Top Ramen to my list... kids' favorites!!! They prefer these brands to the from-scratch versions. Who am I to fight? LOL! Kinda reminds me of a friend who always baked her own great breads. I was over there visiting one day when her son bounced in asking excitedly, "Can I go to Billy's house for dinner tonight? They're having peanut butter & marshmallow fluff on Wonder bread!!!"

New Orleans Restaurateurs Vow to Return but the rebuilt city's food scene may be substantially different...

3 more I had on order arrived: Taste by David Rosengarten It's All American Food ditto Paris Boulangerie-Patisserie by Linda Dannenberg

Japanese curry roux like House brand Java Curry Mix or S&B Golden Curry. I wouldn't know where to start from scratch making my own Japanese-style curry, and neither would my Japanese friends. It's a unique flavor and consistency. Various Thai curry pastes. Yes, I could make them from scratch, but I typically use only a small quantity at a time and my freezer space is limited; these are shelf-stable. Girard's Light Champagne salad dressing. Tastes like a really good French vinaigrette. Barilla pasta sauce. I use it as a base to spin off my own creations. I don't have Mrs. Dash in the house, but I do have Ducros' Cuisinez tout à la Marocaine, a Moroccan-style spice blend I discovered in France and now have traveling friends send me.

From today's Specialty Food News, published by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT):

I remember Sokolov writing excellent reviews for a couple of years after Claiborne left the post. I was amazed that he remained trim and fit! ← I remember him, too. Sokolov and the NYT parted ways shortly after he wrote an article comparing different brands of dog foods via *his own* taste tests. Word is, the NYT was not as amused as I was!

If you want a really quick rundown without recipes, the food pages of the Eyewitness Guide to Italy is pretty good, showing photos and brief desctiptions of typical regional dishes.

I read that McIlhenny, the maker of Tabasco sauce, is up & running, but don't know about Baumer. I'm wondering what's going to happen to my beloved Vietnamese iced coffee, which is made with the coffee & chickory blend from Café du Monde. (Still, my sacrifice pales in comparison to that of those who have lost everything.)

fermented soybeans It has a strong cheesy odor and a gooey consistency like okra.

Shrug! As a born & bred New Yorker, pizza already is carryout food to me... you take a triangular slice, fold it into a narrower triangle (crust-side out, of course), and eat it neatly starting from the tip. No problem; no cone necessary.

You mean the Greek appetizer? That's usually kasseri or kefalotiri, which are harder cheeses than haloumi, and they usually use brandy (higher alcohol content & easier to flame).

Chalumi = aka haloumi in the USA.

Haricots verts are the very fine green beans. They generally command a price difference because they're picked earlier and need more delicate handling.

I would think it's unroasted tahini. A Lebanese friend of mine uses tahini to grease the pan for her semolina cake; it makes a wonderful difference in the flavor.

Hachiya (the pointy shaped) persimmons are ripe when they're slightly soft. Until then, they're pretty astringent. Fuyu (tomato-shaped) persimmons can be eaten when they're still hard; they're crisp and juicy inside. Besides eating persimmons as-is, or drying them, you can mash the pulp to use in puddings, cakes, and even ice cream.

It's hot here -- all -- year -- long. So I refrigerate (or freeze) just about everything canned, bottled, or jarred after it's opened, even peanut butter, soy sauce (the brand I use says to refrigerate after opening), and sesame oil. Whole grains get refrigerated, too. Crackers get refrigerated to keep them crisp; bread gets frozen. White rice, dry breakfast cereal, dry pasta, AP and bread flour, dry beans, olive oil, cooking oil, and Worcestershire sauce stay unrefrigerated.

But you pulled yourself out of the slums with the haricots verts!

I usually gently roll the sealed packets of yakisoba between the palms of my hands before opening, to help loosen the strands of noodles.

The sophisticated spicing, IMHO. Italian food, Japanese food, Chinese food, and Thai food have clear "flavor profiles" where a handful of seasonings will produce a desired taste (eg., garlic + basil or orgeano for Italian; Japanese soy sauce + sake + sugar for Japanese; garlic + ginger & soy sauce for Chinese; fish sauce + lime juice + sugar + chiles for Thai). With Indian food, this isn't true unless one uses a prepared curry powder (which brings authenticity into question). More typically, spices and seasonings are combined uniquely for every dish, and without the taste memories of having grown up in that culture or spending a lot of time in an Indian kitchen, that's difficult to do by winging it. I'm also less sure of myself in Indian cooking than in almost any other cuisine.

The Japanese make these neat little triangular plastic bins that fit inside a corner of the kitchen sink. They're made for vegetable scraps and can be used with a plastic produce bag if you prefer. That saves on counter space. You can get them at stores that sell Japanese housewares (and the 99-cent stores around here).