DCP

Or plastic utensils. Or plastic grocery bags. ← And it's a lovely place for a metal spoon rest - learned that the hard way.

Indeed. Such is the peril of taking other people at face value and not fact-checking. The visit to RTM included both a Rick's Steak and crepe from Profi's, and the former wasn't purchased by me. Pardon the mix-up.

We like OK Lee's prices a lot, but the produce can be hit-or-miss. The last few times we've been, I've eyed the deep-discount produce, clearly overripe past any normally salable point - and wondered: if it's in such bad shape, who's buying it? Even much of the non-discounted fruit seems picked-over, and can involve lots of cutting to yield usable flesh. Having just acquired a small ice cream maker a month or so ago, it occurred to me that the overripe fruit might make good sorbet. Yesterday, that turned out to be a correct assessment. 8 squishy kiwis ($0.99) neatly slipped out of their skins once halved (no peeling, no hassle) making a fine verdant and refreshingly tart sorbet with the addition of 1/2 cup each of 1:2 simple syrup (half and half sugar/Splenda) and fruit juice - the dregs from the bottom of last week's fruit salad. I'll be attempting the same with the $0.79 cantaloupe (smelled a little funky outside, but the inside is probably fine) this evening, having rested and re-frozen the ice cream maker's container. Cheap treat to beat the heat, this sorbet is.

Good call on Tony Luke's. I enjoyed one of their sandwiches yesterday. Shame about them losing their lease.

Right - such as proper temperature control. If the oil is too cold, you get a grease-soaked mess. I've also heard it claimed (I believe Alton Brown is one proponent, but can't locate a citation at the moment) that frying done properly is an extremely low-fat proposition, as the food's surface water flashes to steam to create an oil-resistant outer crust. I'd like to believe this, but it's done poorly often enough - and my own technique is not well-refined.

Seasoned, toasted nori strips - preferably with extra chili. Salty, spicy, and umami all at once. Sahale Snacks' spiced dried fruit and nut mixtures.

All depends on the packaging, I suppose. I find frozen butterflied ebi (sweet shrimp) a bit difficult to manage, but whole fillets can be easily sliced from frozen and allowed to thaw in a single layer on a plate. (Be sure to soak up the excess liquid before serving.) Had you tried partially thawing the salmon, enough to separate the slices, and then thawing completely? I would try that approach.

I'll heartily second both of these recommendations. Hershel's pastrami Reuben is shamefully delicious, though a hair on the pricey side (and worth every penny). Bassett's 'Gadzooks' flavor is singularly worth the visit. Tried one a month or so ago, and it was just OK - the flavors didn't work well together for me. The taste was overwhelmingly that of sharp provolone, with bland pork and lots of liquid from the greens. I did like the sautéed spinach, but felt that it made the whole thing unmanageably soggy. Last weekend's jaunt to the Rib Stand for a combo #1 (rib meat sandwich, sides, drink) with cheese and spicy sauce was heavenly. Just a matter of taste, or has anyone else found DiNic's signature sandwich lacking?

That would be Casu Marzu from Sardinia. A creamy delicacy that started as a round of Pecorino, but good luck finding any outside of Italy. I'd probably still try it if someone cleaned out the maggots first.

They go down pretty smoothly, don't they? I'll pretend I didn't once grab a case at the local bulk retailer and kill a few at a time.

I've only ever gotten flash-frozen fillets marked as being for sushi from the local Han Ah Reum. However, I'd considered the Trader Joe's route as well, since they're a more frequent stop. Tell me, how has their flash-frozen seafood worked out for you for sushi? Any particularly good, bad, or otherwise notable varieties? I assume you slice it directly from frozen and let thaw to use.

Likewise, although my mother did always save the last bite of her dripping-filled sugar cone for me. Untold tastes later, it's become my preference: but only sometimes (see below). Exactly. Soft-serve, frozen yogurt, and frozen custard perfectly fill the nooks and crannies of cake cones. I know I'm not the only one who pushes the filling down with my tongue to ensure a completely-filled cone. The cone, which would otherwise taste rather like cardboard, adds a nice crunch to the soft-serve. Another consideration is that the smaller openings of sugar cones necessitate a balancing act. I have sometimes noticed that cake cones get more generous servings, presumably because of that very issue. On the other hand, on most days, I'd just as soon go without a cone - the mess factor, and having to juggle things like wallet/keys without being able to set down the ice cream momentarily make it a hassle.

Just posted in another Water Ice thread about a new discovery in West Philly: Accu Pizza at 48th and Spruce. Very tasty and cheap - will be returning for more soon. Edit: corrected URL.

While wandering around West Philly on foot yesterday, we saw several folks carrying an orange sorbet-looking concoction. It being somewhat warm outside, we asked where they got it - "48th and Spruce." After walking several blocks over, there were lots of shops around, but then we spied the advertised Water Ice on the outside of Accu Pizza at 4802 Spruce. The water ice is in the back, and they carried about 10 flavors. Two mediums (about a 3.5" cup) plus a bottled water was $3 even - that's $1 each for the water ice, if you're counting, and it was generously piled another couple inches past the top of the cup. We tasted the watermelon and thought it too sweet, so we bought a lemon (refreshingly tart, not too sweet) and a mango (deliciously sweet) - both smooth, and best combined with each other. It's been enough months since I had Rita's as to find a comparison difficult, but I'd certainly go back without hesitation - price notwithstanding.

Interesting! That would certainly explain the flavor. Thanks for the details.

Will definitely have to keep my eyes out for the York flavor. Reese's seems hit or miss - some (like Klondike) are tasty, while others (can't think of the brand) are bland and insipid.

Excellent. Thanks for the details.

Agreed that the 3 Musketeers are the least interesting of the batch. Not coincidentally, I use the same justification of the small size - but then, just switch to another bar for a new flavor, and then back again. No great surprise that the box empties in short order.

As was I, before shopping at some well-equipped beverage sources. Now, I'm just confused. One particular store I can think of carries quite a wide selection (premixed), all with different shades of color, viscosities, and caloric content. To wit: * Collins Mix * Vodka Collins Mix * Sweet and Sour Mix * Sour Mix * Whiskey Sour Mix And then, of course, there are the non-liquid ones. Of the former, some call for refrigeration post-opening, and some don't. To the amateur such as myself, this situation is unconscionable. Or perhaps it just calls for a day of tasting with a few tools from the lab.

Sounds delicious. About 9 months ago I was on a plum wine kick and picked up a bottle of every sort I could find. One in particular was knock-you-over strong, and we were positive it was actually mislabeled plum brandy. Never figured out what to do with it, and I'm fairly sure it was tossed during a kitchen re-organization. Fairly sure I know which place it came from, and can hunt down the brand if you like.

Did get to try Fra' Mani's Mortadella on Saturday, newly-stocked in the charcuterie case. Well worth a try - I'm wishing I'd brought home about 3x the ~1/3 lb. I bought. (Even sliced thin, it was only 9 slices.) No pistachio nuts as are found in other varieties, but they were not missed. The spicing was excellent. I'd have shared a photo, but it didn't last long enough.

Not sure if this is off-topic, but I've been recently put-off by apparent quality changes in Fra' Mani's products. After tasting their amazing sopressata from local dealer (er, purveyor) The Wine Source earlier this winter, it was finally back in stock last week. I'd specifically found other brands to be in a smaller-diameter casing, with inferior textures and flavors - the Fra' Mani was delicate and sweet. Last weekend, however, the product did not meet expectations. It was noticeably tougher and tasted overwhelmingly of nitrites/preservatives - competing with porky goodness on the flavors, and overpowering them in the aftertaste. This is especially perplexing given their website's indication that there are no added nitrites. So, what gives? Any idea? I'll be chatting with the store's expert when I'm back Saturday, but wondered if others had noticed or had any ideas.

That's the kind of excellent service that hooks and keeps me as a customer. It's a shame that it's become so uncommon that it elicits such strong responses from us. I can count the number of times a similar incident has occurred to me on one hand, though.

There are many, many recipe management tools for MacOS X - for example, see these search results from Versiontracker.com. Particularly well-rated are YummySoup! (From a former MasterCook user) and MacGourmet. Personally, I settled on Measuring Cup for some time before deciding that I needed a cross-platform solution accessible from anywhere. I'm now using RecipeZaar with much success. Particularly, I like the automatic nutritional data calculations it offers. Edited to add: nutritional data calculations from RecipeZaar.

Well-said. There simply isn't a substitute for touching and smelling - appearance is only a very small part of the big picture in terms of ripeness. On the few occasions I've just grabbed what was available, the 'produce roulette' has yielded everything from a surprisingly good subject to 00. Frankly, it's not worth the gamble. Particularly so when I'm making fruit salad and need everything to be a similar degree of ripeness - or carefully-selected degrees on a per-fruit basis so that it will remain tasty over the following days. Of course, this is all on the East coast of the US - I found produce far better on the whole during my years in California.