C. sapidus

Limes were eight for a dollar at the grocery store, so last night we made this Santiago Variation from Cocktail DB. Simple and refreshing. Mrs. Crab doesn’t like full-strength cocktails, so I mixed hers with Jamaican ginger beer, which was also good.

Hey, who put the good tea in our break room, and what are you doing with my knife? I had that same Chicago Cutlery knife for 20 years, but recently replaced it with a Hattori HD (also very light, but much sharper). I envy your taco selection. More Salvadorans and fewer Mexicans have settled here, so we see more pupusas than tacos. I find pupusas a bit heavy - do you have them in your area? Mmm, pumpkin ice cream.

Building permit requirements vary greatly by locale. We had to get a permit for our kitchen renovation, which included closing in a doorway, changing plumbing and electric, adding a hood, and running a gas line to the kitchen. We did not need an architect because we did not make any structural changes. A screenshot from the Ikea kitchen planner was sufficient. Again, different cities and counties have different requirements. Local requirements also vary on what jobs require a licensed contractor. In our city, we could completely re-wire the house ourselves, but we would need to hire a licensed plumber to change out a sink or faucet. Go figure – I’m way more dangerous around electricity than plumbing. The best advice is to check with your local building authority. Some building authorities have a web site with frequently asked questions, permit application forms, etc. Since you are in earthquake country, I expect the building authority to have pretty stringent requirements, especially if you move any walls. Good luck!

Coconut milk. Coconut rice is delicious, no other ingredients required.

Agedashi looks delicious, so thanks for the suggestion. Funny that you mention ma po tofu - I had that in mind as the destination rather than the starting point. Elder son loves hot/spicy food, but we are building up younger son's chile tolerance. My wife reminded me that the boys enjoy tofu-based meatless "BBQ ribs", so perhaps this windmill has already been tilted at. I didn't mean to hijack this thread, which has been fascinating. Please carry on.

Perhaps some of you, for obvious reasons, are missing the positive aspects of this societal pressure on mothers. If I feed our children a steady diet of Spaghetti-Os and chicken fingers, society will condone my behavior while judging my wife mercilessly. Sometimes, it is good to be a guy. Please note the above, OK? The other day, younger son described how he would vomit if he had to eat tofu. I asked him if he knew what tofu was, and, long story short, he had no idea. It turns out that a recent cartoon episode (Camp Lazlo, FWIW) featured a camp cook who made tofu hot dogs every Friday. Somehow, the cartoon cook managed to impart the resilience of vulcanized rubber into the normally soft soybean derivative. No recipe was provided, so I can only surmise that molecular gastronomy was involved. Anyway, my new goal is to prepare kid-friendly tofu. I will probably start with tofu playing a minor role in something the boys already enjoy, such as fried rice, and work up from there. Since I have never cooked with tofu before, this will be an interesting challenge.

I took two water polo vacations in the Bay area 20 years ago, so I look forward to seeing what it is like to live and eat in The City. Despite your disclaimer, testing computer games is our sons’ ultimate fantasy job. Can I tell them that you had to study very hard and get very good grades? You understand that I’ll tell them that anyway, right? Your avatar is beautiful, but I have no idea what it is. Would you enlighten, please? Your kitchen feels light and open. Is the curved, open cupboard in the second picture your bar? Is your range next to the refrigerator? If so, how does that work when you are cooking? Thanks!

Thanks, Rachel. I'm pretty sure it isn't me, um, unless this is even more secret than I thought. I'd be happy to chow down on that taco, though.

We also chose Blue Star, in our case a 36-inch cooktop rather than a range. After nearly a year, we are absolutely delighted. As Marya points out, Blue Star has dedicated burners that go very high and very low. Even the regular burners have no problem melting chocolate without a double boiler or steaming rice. Fabulous FB makes a good point: sales and service are spotty in some areas of the country, so do enquire. Also, make sure your vent hood will handle the high-powered burners. Even with a 600-CFM Vent-a-Hood, I occasionally drive everyone out of the kitchen with capsaicin fumes. Prizer-Painter (Blue Star manufacturer) David Rosengarten article comparing Blue Star, Viking, Jade, and DCS. And for the truly obsessed, the archive of all Blue Star threads on GardenWeb. I’ve posted this before, but this is our setup.

I’ll go out on a limb and mention a controversial choice: Ledo Pizza (click). Caveats: it is definitely not Philly or NY pizza. Few have neutral opinions about Ledo’s – most folks either love it or hate it. It is a franchise (albeit a local franchise), so quality varies somewhat by location. The crust is unique: medium-depth and almost flaky like a good pie crust. The sauce is the most flavorful I have ever had on a pizza, and the toppings are generous – thick hunks of pepperoni, huge chunks of Italian sausage, thick-cut crispy bacon. I grew up minutes from the original store near the University of Maryland, so I am probably biased. I also like pizza with jalapeno chilies and anchovies, so consider yourself warned.

The United Nations produces a biennial report on the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. Lots of good information, but the overall trend is pretty clear from the 2004 report: United Nations - The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (clickety)

Mei: Your foodblog is delightful, and your zest for life is refreshing. Thank you for sharing your stay in the Netherlands. I made some nasi goreng and shrimp chips in your honor and posted it on the Dinner! thread. Enjoy (or not, and tell me all the things I did wrong). Nasi goreng (clickety)

Russ: very well put. It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. Thanks for the historical perspective. To the herdsman, grass is freely available. To the fisherman, fish in international waters are freely available. Grass and fish are therefore common resources - no one owns them or can exclude others from using them. The fishing boat is a tremendous economic resource for the fisherman. In relative terms, the herd is also a tremendous economic resource for the herdsman. The fisherman (or perhaps the bank) owns the boat, and the herdsman owns the herd. These are therefore privately owned resources. The key distinction is between owned resources versus common resources. The Tragedy of the Commons only applies to common resources that no one owns or controls. Ownership creates the right to exclude others from using a resource. This is critical because ownership provides an economic incentive to maintain the resource. For example, consider how most folks take care of their personal vehicles versus how most folks treat rental cars. Perhaps cars aren’t the best analogy for a New Yorker.

Serve the chili over rice?

The article lumps two somewhat different problems together. Fishing in national waters is more amenable to technical solutions, as illustrated by the return of rockfish to the Chesapeake Bay. Fortunately, crabs and oysters are predominantly found in national waters. On the other hand, over-fishing in international waters will probably continue until most commercial fisheries collapse. This will leave farm-raised fish and near-shore fishing as the primary seafood sources. The problem is that no one "owns" international waters. Instead, they are available for common use by all. Garret Hardin’s 1968 Science article, The Tragegy of the Commons, explains the economics underpinning the problem (substitute “fishing boat captain” and "catch more fish" for “herdsman” and "add another animal"). An excerpt: The rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another.... But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing a commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit — in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all. Wikipedia has a good selection of links, including a link to the original article.

I scored 43% Dixie - "barely Yankee". Sounds about right for someone from Maryland, just north of DC.

Interesting – I’m the opposite. If I don’t plan the week’s meals, I wind up with stuff that doesn’t get used. If I plan meals, shop from a list, and make something on Friday that uses leftovers, we have little or no wasted food. I think the key is your statement that “this requires a certain skill, improvisation, and fantasy.” You clearly have the talent to improvise and produce wonderful meals. Me, I’ll keep plodding along with a shopping list – I’m better at organization than improvisation. Yes, I have not been deluged with offers of cash for my “free” time.

I seem to be in the minority here, but my main holiday craving is Bourbon sweet potatoes with orange sauce. Sweet potatoes, orange juice, Bourbon, lots of butter, brown sugar, warm spices, and chopped walnuts. What's not to like? Make a moat of sweet potatoes and a lake of orange sauce, and eat enough to last until next holiday season. No marshmallows. Ever. Mom made her holiday cranberries from scratch. They were tart, not too sweet, and had plenty of texture - a wholly different food from the gelatinous blob that comes from a can.

Do you go to several different grocery stores? Yes. Mrs. Crab goes to Costco and/or Sam’s, we go to the farmer’s markets together, and I shop at various international markets. Do you clip coupons? No, but I used to dutifully make a pile of coupons that I never remembered to use. We use discount cards at the grocery store and look for specials. What do you usually buy at the grocery store? Mrs. Crab gets the bulk items – meat, paper goods, Jamaican beef patties, etc. We get produce and bread from the farmer’s market. I pick up produce and specialty items at the Asian or Latino markets, and fill in anything missing at the regular grocery store. Do you tend to buy more meat or more produce? More produce, probably somewhere between 3:2 and 2:1 (two produce drawers, one meat drawer). If we find a great deal on meat, we stock up in the freezer. Are you too ashamed to make purchases from the "reject bin?" Nah. Don’t usually see things I need, though. Do you make a list? Absolutely, I plan meals for the week and make a shopping list. Produce is flexible, depending on what looks good in the store. I also keep a mental list of ingredients needed to make certain things. For example, today I saw pomelos and bought one to make the pomelo salad from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. I have wanted to make that for a while. How many refrigerators and pantries do you have for food storage? We have a regular refrigerator and a dorm fridge in the kitchen, and a freezer downstairs. Our pantry space will expand when we renovate our house. Do you enjoy grocery shopping as much as I do? Probably not, but shopping has become more interesting as I learn about new ingredients. I get a particular kick out of finding unusual ingredients in our little Asian market.

When I first started earning a pittance, eating meat regularly simply wasn’t an option. Most nights, I dined quite happily on Mexican vegetarian and egg dishes: huevos rancheros; huevos al albanil; requeson revuelto con salsa de jitomate; arroz verde; chayotes or hongos al vapor; calabacitas guisadas; papas chirrionas; and camotes. For a change of pace I would make fettuccini Alfredo, spaghetti and sausage, spinach curry, or frozen pizza. Chilies, garlic, onions, cilantro, herbs and spices, and a little feta cheese sprinkled on top provided enough satisfying flavor that I never felt meat-deprived. I would probably still eat this way if the rest of the family wasn’t so carnivorous. Can you find inexpensive foods that satisfy you while fitting into your schedule and budget? Fried rice is a great way to use up leftovers.

Percy, thanks. Yes, the depth flavor is what I crave in this dish. It is like quick and easy mole, thickened with eggs rather than ground pepitas, etc.

Thanks a lot, Maggie - I need another time-consuming obsession like a fish needs a bicycle. Anyway, here goes. Please be gentle – this is my first time. A Thai chef mis-measured through haste His fish sauce, bird chilies, shrimp paste An excess of shallot Offended the palate His curries, the dog wouldn’t taste . . . and in a similar vein, but more in keeping with the spirit of limericks: An amorous lad from Thailand Did not know his gal preferred bland His meal of larb gai And curry Chiang Mai Left him alone, pestle in hand A love-stricken man from Bangkok Put chilies galore in his krok His date took a taste, Departed posthaste, And left the chef holding his saak *Krok and saak = Thai mortar and pestle. Yeah, I know, if you have to explain the joke, it isn’t funny. Probably doesn’t rhyme, anyway.

My ultimate comfort food is bricklayer’s eggs (huevos al albanil) from Diane Kennedy. Toasted pasilla and guajillo chilies are steeped in boiling water and pureed with garlic and white onion (I used shallots). Fry the chile paste until dry, and then lower the heat and mix in the eggs. Serve on flame-warmed flour tortillas topped with feta cheese and Mexican oregano. Huevos al albanil (Bricklayer's eggs)

Ludja is spot-on about Maryland. In the 1860s, the tobacco trade promoted close commercial and culinary ties between Baltimore, Virginia, and the Eastern Shore. Western Maryland, too cold for tobacco, developed closer ties with Pennsylvania. I agree that Appalachian cookery strongly reflects Southern influence, but I'm not sure of the history.

With the dry noodles, I soak them in hot water. When they are soft, rinse them under cold water then drain them well before frying. With packaged fresh ones, bring to room temperature, then separate and warm them up in the microwave before stir-frying. Make sure the pan you're using is well oiled and hot before you add the noodles. You don't want to stir them too much or they will break up and turn into a clump. I find the dry ones hold up better for someone new to stir-frying these noodles. ← Susan, Dejah: I have printed out your suggestions and folded them into the noodle chapter of Thai Food. Thank you!