gfweb

Hellman's on left, Duke's on right. Dukes was creamier and had less "body", it was a shade or two more yellow than H's D's was just a little more oily in the mouth and maybe more eggy. H's had a slightly greater tang. When tasted blindly there wasn't a clear difference except for the texture. But when does one eat spoons of mayo? In a pot. salad I think they'd be equivalent even given D's hideous oiliness.

Impressive selection of stuff. Esp cheeses. I'm bending, Rotuts.

Rollercoaster.

Maybe getting a spot on Eater as "the foraging guy" would brand you better? If you know Kenji Alt, he might be good for advice.

I butterfly and pound. Texture and even (quick) cooking.

Just ordered Duke's from Amazon. One of my favorite sides is pot.salad...we shall see.

And what is a vanilla slice? Whatever it is I'd rather call it snot block.

We are talking about Boston. Cranks abound. Brother Rotuts excepted of course.

vile foreigner?

Is the cake going to actually be used for the sacrament of communion? If so, will it be passed on plates or handed out individually? Will it be "paired" with wine or grape juice? A sweet cake might well clash on the tongue with the grape.

Great article by Kenji http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/the-food-lab-excerpt-the-best-meatloaf-recipe.html

British food criticism seems to be all about snark and the "clever" put-down. Actual substance is optional. Only the rare Brit critic pulls it off eg Jay Rayner (who used to frequent this site).

All the electronics look annoying.

So Alton Brown questions Bourdain's skills and holds up a series of Good Eats shows as some kind of equivalent to running a restaurant and a CIA education? http://greatideas.people.com/2015/08/12/alton-brown-camp-cutthroat-food-network-anthony-bourdain/ Seriously, Alton?

Yup. That's pokeweed. A poison if you eat it and a PITA in the garden.

Uncooked onion = agita for me.

Not much more to say. I impale the weiner on a skewer...spiral cut...then roast on the gas flame of a stove burner. Gets done fast. Some tomato-y onions ala a NYC dog cart would be just right.

Late breakfast. Spiralized hot dog roasted on a gas burner. As fast as a uwave and you get char!

BT, do you adjust the recipe eg less panade, for a SV loaf?

Maybe the solution is to grow your own cooks. Get a relationship with the local community college and let them rotate through your kitchen. You'll have a list of trusted people after a while.

Kerry, what do you do with 20 provencal tomatoes?

Portobello mushrooms are just big criminis. A marketer invented the name to boost sales,which it really did. Likewise with Chilean sea bass, which used to be named patagonian toothfish.

Looking at the photo of the samovar, I can't see what the gear puller's screw would push against. I think I'd put a torch on the thing and have the thermal expansion crack the scale.

I don't know about the whole publisher helping distribution thing. Anymore I only buy books on Amazon. Only bookstores I see are in airports. Could be wrong of course...

I think the publishers have done you a favor in declining your book. Its clear that they are all in tough times and from what you've told us about their offers I can't imagine that they'd do any more for you than exactly what is in the contract, and probably they'd try to chisel on that. I think you'd end up marketing it yourself mostly and thinking that they screwed you. So why not go ahead as you had planned and self-publish. You might want to get tax/legal advice before actually getting started. Perhaps there would be advantages to incorporating your own imprint for the book...or doing it through the restaurant.