Malkavian

Sadie's experience mirrors mine, also growing up in western NC (Rutherford county fyi) and now living in Charlotte--chops I can't recall offhand, but leg goes for 4.99-6.99 a pound depending on venue. Right now the meat cases I've seen are full of chops and shanks, and a fair portion of legs that are left over from easter stocking-up. Most places seem to at least stock a few items of lamb constantly but nothing like a prominent spot in the case except around holidays. I'm hoping that post-easter I can get a decent looking leg a little cheaper as surplus gets sold off--I've never tried chops due to the expense, but I love doing up leg or shanks when I have the chance (and the budget!)

I have a very small (something like 8oz capacity maybe?) french press that i love for making a quick cup for myself--however I have some concerns about my black & decker grinder being able to meet the proper coarseness level, and to my eye it makes a noticable amount of dust. The coffee tastes alright, but at this point I'm not sufficiently experienced to tell whether that's the coffee or the brewing process that needs improvement. Would it be bad for consistency to use a mortar and pestle to grind the beans?

Totally unrelated to this thread, I happened to buy some dried hibiscus at the local whole foods market while i was picking up some other things today. Operating mostly off the cuff, I made an infusion of about 5 flowers to 8 or 10 ounces of hot water and let steep for just a minute or two. I have to say, I'm intrigued, but MAN was the resulting liquor tart! Done the "right" way (and i assume there is some prescribed method, I just haven't found it yet) the stuff isn't quite so puckering is it? But wow, the color...

I've used it to great success as a glaze for smoked or grilled salmon

Was shopping for my new kitchen today, mostly picking up odds and ends (funnels, pepper mill, etc) but I did intend to make at least a perusal of the pots and pans section of the store to see if anything caught my eye. Long story short, after some slightly glassy eyed wandering through racks of all-clad, calphalon and so forth, I ended up with a Cal "Select Savings" stainless 2.5qt saucepan. What I'm curious about is the fact that it rang in at a little over half the price of comparable products --I paid about 40 for this, vs around 100 for the other smaller stainless items. The corporate website makes no differentiation but the prices they list fall in line with what I saw at a retail location. I'm not particularly concerned I bought something sub-par really--I'm sure what I got will suffice for anything I'll likely to need it for, just trying to figure out what's up with the price break.

While I definitely have a Hiromoto HC gyuto in 180 or 210mm in my future, I'm trying to figure if i need something a little heavier to compliment it...I don't presently do a *lot* of work like breaking down chickens or whole fish, but it's something I do from time to time, and I'm a right-tool-for-the-right-job person....also the idea of possibly chipping the blade of a relatively expensive (at least to me) knife gives me the creeps. Would something like a deba or honesuki be appropriate? I *do* have an old harris teeter cleaver and chef's knife knocking around somewhere, but I'm wondering if the effort to keep a good edge on those would be somewhat akin to the old saying about polishing a turd.

I've had good luck using a brewing/winemaking sanitizer like B-Brite or 1-step to get the odor of (among other things) whey protein gone wrong out of lexan water bottles--that's a bit of a specialty product to be sure, but I find it works well for odors and cooked-on things

I've been trying to find a place that still offered the Hiramoto HC knives since apparently they're discontinued...Hida Tool & Hardware has some Hiramoto knives --is the middle column there (they claim to be carbon steel and seem in line with the high value mentioned far upthread) the same as the HC series on japanesechefsknife.com ?

Holy crap Doodad, I grew up in Spindale, the next town over from Forest City Small world! I'd be really interested in what you could find out about the recipe's origins. In fact, I may quiz my grandparents, one side of the family is firmly rooted in that county, the others from coastal NC and see if they recall having anything similar. There's a bit of a Jewish community in the county now as far as I know, but I don't know about the era when your mom or grandmother were growing up. If your mother's still in the area and you head that way to visit, shoot me a PM, perhaps we can meet for a bite (Edited: Need better reading comprehension)

Please explain! ← I'm guessing they get fed the scraps that would otherwise go down the disposal

Same here--While I have no qualms about taking a piece of fiction or my notebook (or hell, even my chainmaille projects a few times) to my favorite bar or pizza joint and lingering while i drink and nibble, but I'd never quite figured if it got you on some kind of "table camping ninny" blacklist at a "real" restaurant... Being able to relax with a good drink and the likes of a smoked salmon & cheese platter or similar and do serious page turning is a heavenly evening to me, but I don't know many places (yet) that are agreeable to that sort of system (Let's be fair, by "real" in this context i mean any place where you're actually seated by the staff ) As for the original topic--I often dine alone, and enjoy it very much. My personality is very focused around "me" time--couple that with just plain flat out having few friends means I cant just call someone up and say "hey, let's head to [Waldhorns|the Saucer|Pho Real|etc]" so my dining tends to be spontaneous, and solitary. That said, I take every chance to make eating out a truly comprehensive sensory experience (whether by enjoying a book along side the food, the beer or wine pairing, bringing a cigar for afters or any combination of those) so I tend not to really notice that i'm actually by myself that much.

This was my mom's traditional cut of choice for "ribs" --she would spread these out in a baking pan and cover with barbecue sauce and cook covered until tender, then take the top off and blast with the broiler to brown. Not high class by any means but it was yummy.

It's been a while since I cooked any shark (for the above cited reasons) but I seem to remember the fishermen I was getting recipes from saying it was essential to do as the site linked above says, and cut out the dark meat (tastes positively foul)

So far I have very little experience with grains like Quinoa. However, the brewer in me is wondering loudly if they can be had in malted form (Google turns nothing up..yet..)

I could see kids getting a kick out of yard long beans if they aren't too difficult to grow. My list would be: Tomatoes Cukes Bell peppers pole beans Radishes/potatoes/carrots (one thing they can dig in the dirt for)