jsmith

Reminds me of the funniest thing I ever read in a vegetarian cookbook - because there are more varieties of plants than varieties of meat vegetarians have many more options available to them when it comes to eating than meat eaters do. I was a vegetarian for 7 years, and 95% of the vegetarians I knew were under 25 - all had parents who weren't vegetarians. I think this is one of the reasons that vegetarian cookbooks are such crap usually. Imagine what regular cookbooks would be like if they were all purchased by people in there early 20s trying to make food they weren't brought up on.

I think 15% is fine for acceptable service for a typical meal (I tip higher if the service is above average). Maybe she took issue with the fact that she was waiting on two people for $1.25. I get the impression from reading stories here that when two people split a small dish and order nothing else, they often behave in a high maintenance way (hot water with lemons, water with extra lemons to make lemonade, etc.) I probably would have left the $10 if I was the couple and the service was fine, but I wouldn't leave a 33% tip for a full meal at restaurant of the type you describe. One more thought, maybe the service was snotty.

I've had lobster oil and basalmic vinegar for dipping bread in that was quite tasty. I believe when I googled the recipe it was herbs, maybe some vegetables and lobster bits (shells with bits of meat) cooked in oil and strained.

When I lived in Vancouver I would always tell visitors that they should try to go somewhere on B.C. Ferries, and eat at The White Spot (but not one of the ones on the ferries). Neither are really fantastic experiences, but there's something about them that is as "BC" as you're going to get. Everyone I know has strong memories of the ferries going back to their childhoods and who doesn't get all warm and fuzzy when thinking about a pirate pack? The Naam is the same to me. It's as "Vegetarian Vancouver" as you're going to get. I don't know any vegetarians that haven't eaten there more times than they can remember, who doesn't roll there eyes when you mention the service. The fact that the service has improved would make me less likely to recommend it. Oh, if you do get the ferries, try to go to the Sunshine coast. Then you can tell everyone you "Rode the queen of Surrey for 45 minutes"

Thanks for all the advice for everyone. I guess I'll have to think some more about if it's worth the bother to get a grinder. I've never asked a butcher to grind meat for me because I assumed that they would just clean the thing once a day and have little bits of other meat building up in it throughout the day sitting at room temperature.

Thanks for the fast replys. I didn't realize the hand crankers were such a pain. To be honest, I'm not much of a ground meat kind of guy. I probably use it less than once a month, so I figured an electric grinder would be overkill for me. Is it the general consensus that hand powered meat grinders are more trouble than they're worth, or do Bleachboy and Rachellindsay just have a couple lemons?

I want to grind my own meat, ranging from about half a pound to three pounds at a time (not very frequently). I figure I should be getting a hand crank meat grinder. I've researched what I could, but all I could find was that #10 seems to be the size to get for casual use. Other than that, what should I be looking for? Is there some killer brand from 50 years ago that is the only brand to get? Is there a current brand that is better? Is clamp on the side of the counter better, or free standing? Are different models easier to clean? I see a bunch on ebay for $10-$20, but they all look pretty similar to the untrained eye. Also, on grinding meat, I've seen posts here referring to cleaning meat before grinding. What does cleaning meat involve? Thanks for any advice.

I like the Joy of Cooking, though it doesn't seem to be popular here. The format is nice: A section detailing the technique, and the critical points. Next a very basic, standard recipe. After the recipe, usually 5-10 recipes building on the previous recipe that mostly give you ideas for expanding on the standard recipe. It doesn't go into really high end cooking techniques, but I find it great for learning the basics.

Everything looks amazing, but if I die without making the fried Camambert my life will be incomplete! If you don't mind me asking, is it as simple as wrapping a wedge in Phyllo and frying it, or is there anything else involved? Do you keep the rind on, or remove it? Your friend is very lucky!

While I do worry about declining stocks, whenever my oceanographer friend mentions the looming extinction of a species I can never resist the line “We better eat a whole bunch now before they’re all gone!” Always goes over well.

I don’t have much experience working in restaurants, but several years ago I was paid under the table as a dishwasher in a now closed restaurant. Three incidents stick out in my mind: I would start work an hour or two after service began, frequently arriving to a huge pile of dirty dishes in the sink. I would wash like crazy and after about two hours I would be caught up and just dealing with new dishes. I came in to this one day. A couple hours later I reach the bottom of the sink and what do I find but a bowl of prawns (put there to defrost and long forgotten about). I showed them to the chef… he took one look at them, rinsed them off, and threw them in a frying pan, eventually ending up on someone’s plate. I guess the cooking would kill most bacteria, but I had been washing dishes over them for two hours, plus the time they spent before I got there. Another time all the chef was making a sauce in a frying pan. All the burners were in use, and he needed one so he took the frying pan off the stove, put it on the floor (uncovered of course) and left it there for five minutes while we busily rushed around it. Another time (still same place) he butchered a large piece of meat beside the area where the dishes come out of the dishwasher. I’m not talking about nice controlled cuts either, there was a lot of hacking and splattering going on less than a foot from the just cleaned drinking glasses! edited to reflect merging with parent topic