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Kudos to you GlorifiedRice! I think the results look fabulous; something to bring out the kid in all of us. Have you actually eaten one of these? I would. People have been pickling all sorts of things in creative ways forever, so hey why not? Didn't you mention that you might use them in chicken salad?

While channel surfing today I landed on the esteemed Food Network in the middle of a show called “Gotta Get It.” It’s actually not listed by that name on their website but is under the generic category of “Food Network Specials.” I’ve seen several episodes of it but I don’t think it’s become a regularly shown series yet. I think it’s an entertaining show for food gadget geeks like myself which showcases a lot of kitchen and home entertaining gizmos, from super cheap to outrageously expensive. The one that caught my eye in this installment of the show was a product called the Lazy Drinker. It’s a combination portable cooler, alcohol and mixer holder, drink maker/dispenser, and drinks recipe database. With the top of the line model you can attach up to 16 different liquors/mixers and use the included database to dispense mixed drinks using their repertoire of 5,000 recipes. The company says that you can even adjust the amounts used in the pre-programmed recipes or program your own which is great since some of the names of their recipes sound like versions of the endless lists of "tinis" cocktails popular at many bars which usually end up tasting like a combo of Skittles and Everclear. Very cool concept I thought, but of course since it sounded too good to be true, I checked out the Popular Science website to see what their experience was with this device. Not surprisingly, they had mixed–pun intended –results. After they gave it a work out, pitting it against a real person, the real person came out ahead (not as far ahead as I would have guessed though) creating more subtly tasting drinks in their opinion. They detailed their efforts here. According to the Lazydrinker Website the units run from $550.00 for an 8-valve do-it-yourself (cooler excluded) to a preassembled 16-valve one for $750.00. So what do you think? Would you purchase this device? If I had money to burn I’d like to have it, albeit one that works consistently, especially when entertaining for a party, cookout or a picnic. I’d probably choose to find some garage gadget guru-computer geek type person, buy the parts myself, and pay him or her put it together for me for a lot less money since among the glitches Popular Mechanics found was the thing’s inability to make my favorite cocktail, the Manhattan! Timidly awaiting the slings, arrows and flames of our resident eG old-school cocktail purists.

Well I watched it too and I have to say that I got into it to my surprise! There were quite a lot of hilarious moments IMHO, made all the more hilarious in that they seemed completely unintentionally so. For instance, I cringed when the woman who made the dessert for the wedding told the Dinner Impossible chef that she was making a cobbler--to be served in a martini glass--and explained that it would have a both a bottom AND a top crust. The chef said something to the effect of "well, then that would be a pie, wouldn't it?" She replied, "no it's a cobbler.... this is what I do chef, this is what I do!" And the chef dryly replied "and I don't?" Too funny. I was kind of pulling for the Brazilian lady, she seemed very sweet and sincere, but alas she too got the ax. I think JAG is my favorite so far also and has indeed "been in the trenches" since he's a former Marine. Do you think Food Network will go out on a limb and actually have a person of color hosting a show for a change? That would be refreshing since I believe I read here elsewhere that the powers-that-be at FN were trying to avoid using anyone with a "foreign" accent or "too ethnic." (JAG is Latino, BTW with a cool NY accent.) The whole coming way under budget for a wedding reception for 100 people was just ridiculous, but I was so totally annoyed by the bride complaining that all of the vegetarian dishes were "just side dishes" and not what she wanted. Sorry, but any couple dimwitted enough to hand over their reception to a reality tv show with a bunch of folks who've never worked together and who have only six hours to shop for and prepare the food deserve every gagtastic bite they get. I thought a lot of the food looked pretty good considering the restrictions the teams had to deal with. I think I'll keep watching.

Hey GlorifiedRice! Thanks for the update. I've never made pickles or conducted any experiments with them of this nature, but I wonder if the amount of sugar used combined with ascorbic acid in the Kool Aid was drawing out whatever liquid present originally in the pickles? How long have they been marinating btw?

That's absolutely true, but what's even scarier is that many folks really, really, REALLY enjoy and expect this type of food because they’ve been conditioned from a very young age to enjoy and expect it, at least in the U.S. IMHO. This conditioning has been done by those schools that serve mostly reheated, pre-made packaged foods; the fast food and snack food industries of course; and being raised on good old fashioned home non-cooking where mac and "cheese" came from a blue box, soup and vegetables always came from a can, and more often than not where a meal began with a trip to the freezer and a quick review of microwave instructions or the words “just add water.” Top that off with years of families eating bad mass-produced delivery pizza or Syscofied “Chinese” and “Mexican” take out. With all of that it’s really more of a mystery why the owners or managers of these restaurants and bars would even bother or take a chance screwing around with the tastes and expectations of a majority of their clientele.

OH......... MY............ GAWD! I can't wait to see the "fruits" of your labor. I have another flavor combo suggestion: grape Kool-Aid mixed with lemonade Kool-Aid, in tribute to a childhood favorite, grape Kool-Aid with lemon slices. And please don't forget photos of the finished products and perhaps one of you actually eating a Koolickle.

Wow. With all of the creative, ingenius culinary minds here I would have thought there would be an onslaught of suggestions on how to best enhance the "Koolickle" experience. A blogger fascinated with the same subject matter even suggested that the instant breakfast beverage, Tang, might be a suitable alternative to the Kool-Aid. Any suggestions for the appropriate ice cream to pair with these day glo treats? Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond to accompany the cherry flavored ones perhaps?

Well, let's not go overboard. The listed serving size there is 1/2 ounce. If you compare that site's numbers for potato chips, you'll see that pork rinds are equivalent in fat and calories and have twice as much sodium as chips. Not nutritious, particularly... ← I'll try not to risk going overboard again Andrew but the Flat Earth Chips would not be a nutritious snack alternative for me. Comparing the nutrition profile of pork rinds to their Tangy Tomato Ranch Chips you have a snack with nearly twenty grams of carbohydrates, almost the same amount of sodium, 2 grams of protein as opposed to 9 grams, and an almost equal amount of fat grams per serving (50 grams compared to 45 grams). This type of snack just doesn't work for me in that I've had, and continue to have, much better weight loss success going the lower carb/higher protein/moderate amount of fats route. The chips do have the slight advantage of containing small percentages of various vitamins and minerals, but I already get vitamins and minerals from the amount of vegetables and fruits I consume (my diet is lower carb not NO carb), so even that's not very impressive to me. As I said, to each his/her own; if people think these snacks taste good and are beneficial to their health, that's great. BTW, I find it rather odd that a company touting how nutritious and natural their products are don't include the nutritional profiles on their website; you have to go to the Frito Lay website for that. Could it be that the label reflects the inclusion of modified corn starch, sugar, corn syrup solids, and artificial colors in their list of ingredients?

Interesting. Like prasantrin observed there are many factors to be considered. One that comes to mind is how much food did they have on hand when this experiment started? Did they have to start with an empty refrigerator/pantry, or were they allowed certain staples such as sugar, flour, salt, spices, cooking oil, a few canned goods? Where do they purchase their groceries and how? For instance a poor person may not have a car and thus may not be in a position to take advantage of purchasing items at different stores to get the best price. Also, I don't know about Oregon, but the big box stores that may have the best food deals in bulk like Costco are no where near the poorer neighborhoods in the DC/MD/VA area; these are pretty much located in certain suburban locations. As a matter of fact, many poor neighborhoods in our area are lucky to have a grocery store nearby at all. I know one thing for sure; in this area a person is likely to starve on $21.00/week for groceries. Edited to add additional/clarifying comments.

News flash for for those flying pig, flat earth chip women, we already have a tasty, nutritious, all natural snack; they're called PORK RINDS! High in protein, low in carbs AND fat, and relatively moderate in calories as you can see here. To each his/her own but, especially at this time of year, why would anyone want to buy preformed chips with berry, mango, peach and tomato flavors when the real stuff is starting to bust out all over right now?

So, like what happened to the promised Iron Chef/Throwdown/Mano-a-Mano Thingy cookoff between Fat Guy and slkinsey? Once and for all we were to see how cast iron stacks up against carbon steel. Inquiring minds and taste buds want to know.

Well just to get this out of the way, just about anything goes for any meal for me. However, if I could have a personal chef prepare a different savory soup everyday from any Asian culture--Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, etc.--that would be heaven for me for breakfast. But to try and address your original question, my heritage is Southern and as far as I can remember sweets were never the main focus of breakfast. It would always be a "grits and fill-in-the blank" breakfast: ham or sausage or bacon with eggs OR liver, onions and gravy OR fried fish or salmon cakes. Doughnuts, cereal, poptarts and the like were definitely not traditional. The closest thing to sweets would be the jelly, jam, fruit butter, or syrup you would put on biscuits. Even that old American standby of pancakes would be a special thing on Sundays only. Perhaps it's because my parents and their parents were raised on farms without those processed convenience foods? I don't know. I do know that I distinctly remember the heavy marketing of breakfast cereals as a "balanced" breakfast and I remember, as a child, being very influenced by that marketing. Since this marketing was shamelessly directed at children, I recall that my brother and I, both city kids, would bug my mom to buy things like Cocoa Crispies, Apple Jacks, Captain Crunch, and my favorite, Lucky Charms which we gobbled up. Mom, being a good old farm gal wouldn't touch the stuff. The other food, actually a beverage, that seems so American and "right" for breakfast is coffee. I know our nation started out as a bunch of hot tea drinkers, but there's just something completely unnatural to me about drinking hot tea in the morning or as a part of breakfast. I'm sure one of the learned members of eG can explain that phenomena--new trade routes, coffee is American and tea was the beverage of the English Empire, who knows--but the vast majority of people I know are coffee drinkers for breakfast, with only a few "oddball" hot tea drinkers in the mix. And I mean oddball in a most affectionate way, of course.

Well if you missed the original airing the awards show is scheduled to be re-aired on April 19th at 9:00 pm EST. I enjoyed his rant as well although I thought his comments about the show "Dinner: Impossible" and the chef, Robert Irvine as "Can four professional cooks make onion dip for 40-- in time?!!!" was a complete mischaracterization. One of the few shows on FTV I enjoy actually. The "Red Carpet" slide show here demonstrates that the show is indeed as cringe-worthy and bizarre as he described.

Of course, since running a restaurant is a risky business with a high percentage of failure, perhaps the philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." They know for sure that people will order those same dishes over and over again so why risk being authentic and go out of business. There are very tasty local exceptions to this rule I'm happy to say.

Thanks for starting this topic pennbrew. I've often wondered the same thing and not just about Chinese restaurants. I've noticed this cloning going on in other cuisines as well. For instance the DC area has a plethora of Ethiopian restaurants, yet I've noticed the exact same menu items offered from menu to menu which always leaves me wondering what's being held back, what assumptions are being made about which of their dishes might be unacceptable to the American palate? I wonder if the direct approach might not be the best approach? Has anyone ever just asked a restaurant owner why this is so?

You're ham sounds like it was quite delicious Bella, I mean you can't go wrong with bourbon and brown sugar. There's so many wonderful things I like to make with ham leftovers. It's my favorite piece of meat since it can be used in so many ways. One favorite is bean soup, using one of the 15 bean soup mixtures. I use the beans but discard the seasoning packet that's normally included and add my own seasonings. I combine the ham bone with the beans (I never soak them BTW), onions and garlic and plenty of water. Then after simmering for about 2 1/2 hours or so, I add some diced ham and vegetables like carrots, potatoes, celery, etc. plus a can of Rotelle tomatoes. I like a good bowl of hot soup whether or not it's warm or cold outside. Also, given how flavorful your ham is, have you considered making your own version of chicken cordon bleu adding the cheese of your choice? You might also try another favorite of mine, deviled ham, for sandwiches. I even like to render some of the ham fat for making hash browns. Let us know what you come up with.

Well how uncool and un-foodie is this: I hate raw fennel and overly anisey/licorice tasting things. I like the taste of fennel seed in sausages and certain spice mixtures such as five spice powder, but sipping anisette or ouzo or crunching through a pile of raw fennel in a salad would make me hurl. I do like fennel when cooked and part of my not very traditional recipe for ratatouille where I either saute or grill the main components before combining them and finishing them in the oven. Also uncool/non-foodie vegetable dislikes: radicchio, escarole, frisee, belgian endive. Lovely to look at, but way too bitter.

I totally agree with both of your points jumanggy; she is definitely a frighteningly bad talk show host. Or more accurate to say a HOLLER/YELL/SHOUT show host. However, without her talk show, which I've seen all of three times, and only portions of each show, we wouldn't have one of those wonderfully uncomfortable on-screen moments. I don't know if anyone saw this, but it's when she "interviewed" James Caan on the set of his show "Las Vegas." His facial expressions as he listened to her inane babble and questions, his response to one particularly stupid question, and him quickly walking/running away from her at the end with a look of disgust on his face was priceless and hilarious. Even better, she didn't even seem to notice.

Hi Kim. Really loved living vicariously through you and Mr. Kim's foray through New York City. I'm a fellow rube from Virginia, just a bit north of you and would have been just as bug eyed happy as you obviously were. I like the fact that you jumped in with both feet without feeling much intimidation and so open to trying new things. Thoroughly enjoyed your photos of all the gorgeous pastries at Bouchon and Payard--you must have been snapping away at warp speed to get so many lovely shots at Payard's--but as much as I love sweets in general, the money shot for me was that succulent looking Greek country sausage at Molyvos and your description of it. I could dive into a plate of that with some warm fresh pita bread and Greek side dishes/salads anytime. Right now would be good as a matter of fact. New Yorkers are so fortunate to have all of those wonderful places at their fingertips. Don't forget to take us along on your next trip!

Thanks for the inside intel Leonard. I guess I shouldn't be shocked or disappointed since this is the Food Network after all, jive ass to the bitter end. To backtrack a little bit, I really didn't know what to make of the show when it first debuted. It was an interesting premise, but showing up unexpectedly to challenge a blindsided cook/chef in front of his/her family, friends, colleagues and oftentimes clients seemed a bit unfair and even cruel. But Bobby has always come through with a lot of respect for the competitor, so I keep watching since I love watching someone, meaning the competitors, who has devoted themselves to preparing and perfecting just one type of food and never seem to lose their enthusiasm for doing so. Back to the topic at hand, the one throwdown I felt was most definitely fixed was the one that pitted him against the Marine, Captain D., who was an expert at making steaks. No way, given what's currently going on in this country and the world, would they have Bobby beat this guy in front of his fellow Marines, and he didn't. On other occasions, I thought that maybe, if not throwing a contest, that he didn't put his best food forward, doing things so differently as to pretty much guarantee that he would lose; the fried chicken battle comes to mind. I find the comments of the jerk chicken judge to be rather hypocritical. Though we may share the same ethnic background, for her to express dismay that the contest was fixed but then state that she would "never" vote against a Black woman cooking that type of food as a matter of principle, makes her no more ethical than the show's producers. The back story on the cocktail contest explains a lot since it made no sense to me whatsoever when I watched it that the competitor wouldn't go with his slam dunk. Like you, I'd really like to know if Bobby is in on "The Big Fix."

I love using cast iron for all the well-known reasons. However, the one thing I wonder is why Lodge or some other company hasn't tried to develop a line of cast iron products that weigh less but still produce the same results. It would be great to see Lodge try to do this since they could keep marketing to the $100 a pan Williams-Sonoma crowd and offer something new to their "old school" customers as well. I seem to remember hearing about a company that claimed their cast iron was lighter but can't recall the name. Could the same cooking results be realized with less hefty cast iron?

I just saw Bobby's latest throwdown "Battle Cheesecake" against Alan Rosen of Junior's Cheesecake. Both cheesecakes had me drooling. Rosen's was a Devil's Food cheesecake while Bobby's was a caramel apple walnut rendition. Both appealed to me since I love chocolate and cheesecake so combining the best of both worlds just gives me more to love. Apples and cheese are a natural fit of course. Well SURPRISE, Bobby won! It obviously tasted as good as it looked and it looked wonderful. The judges remarked that it was a difficult decision but that they gave the edge to Bobby's cake for being more creamy and sophisticated, and that the Junior's entry, while very good, the cheesecake itself was overwhelmed by the chocolate. Personally I can still see myself enjoying both immensely and neither recipe seems to be beyond the reach of a decent home cook. Flay's Caramel Apple Cheesecake I would have posted a link to the Junior's recipe but the one given on the Food Network website is screwed up such as giving ingredients for the devil's food cake portion but instructions for a sponge cake and the rest of it doesn't match Mr. Rosen's on air prep at all. Rosen was obviously a bit shocked and disappointed but Flay gave him his props and I thought that both men handled the situation graciously with good humor. As competitive as I think Bobby Flay is, sometimes I've gotten the impression that he's "thrown" a few of these matches in favor of the hometown guy or gal.

So sorry to hear this BarbaraY. Some questions: are cheese, chocolate off limits as well? Is there an acid threshhold she can deal with such as the relatively small amount of acid in mayonnaise which could be used to make a variety of salad dressings? How about buttermilk and/or sour cream used as an ingredient in salad dressings like blue cheese, ranch, green goddess, etc.? What types of cuisines does she like?

Thanks for the laugh rconnelly. Just the names he concocted were hysterical: up and coming rock star chef of the near future, "Corey Speed," alleged world famous chefs "Everett Gavage" "Chas Mirepoix" and the senior fellow from the Brookings Institute, "Claudine Suvide." A couple of days late for April Fools' Day, but still much appreciated. The scary thing is just maybe in some culinary school somewhere, someone is at least contemplating the creation of a celebrity chef development division. Truth may indeed catch up with fiction sooner than we think.

While his abrasive style is quite popular with many Americans, it's never been my cup of tea. But I think you're right and HSN being a "family-oriented" channel simply could not risk that a few of those choice phrases might fall out of his mouth on air. I'm sure Wolfgang Puck got the same speech but it obviously didn't take to well since he still has somewhat of a reputation, flirting shamelessly using sexually suggestive phrases with whichever adorably cute female show host he's paired with--seeing them get all tongue-tied and flustered is pretty funny--and is a "potty" mouth who's said shit on the air more than a couple of times. Also, it's pretty hilarious when he's on how much disinterest or sometimes disdain he has for customers calling in to give gushing testimonials about his products. I have no doubt that if Ramsay became a regular his dark side would emerge eventually. Now that would be some must see tv.