Jon Savage

It is making more sense now. Looks like he brought it home in an ISI Siphon or the like (sealed). He then proceeded to try to open said (pressurized) siphon with a screwdriver in the bathroom (why) of his girlfriend's apartment. I'm guessing he had the siphon between his knees at the time since the explosion blew a chunk out of one of his calves and also did significant damage to his naughty bits. Talk about adding insult to injury the local police also will be pressing charges against him. If not a darwin award winner certainly a runner up. full article More on the extent of his injuries

Thanks to this thread last night's dinner worred out well.

I had a dozen oysters a month or so ago. Oyster shucking virgin and all that but armed with several eg searches and a real live Oyster knife (no glove) and a side towel happily shucked same and wife and myself had a feast w/o blood sweat or tears. Finding the "keyhole" (as noted in several threads) on the ass end of the oyster is in fact the key. Find that, wiggle in, and a quick twist will suffice. Some oysters will likely prove recalcitrant. No matter. Set those aside to revisit once their brethren have been taken care of. They too will succumb. Shuck, (sniff if dubious), slurp and enjoy.

A slow bbq'd/smoked standing rib roast; zucchini gratin and some excellent company for the 4th.

and it is funny. Watched it over the last couple days and found it to be enjoyable.

That sounds very pricey unless it is some kind of special (heirloom breed/organic/whatever) pork belly. I typically pay $1.50 - $3 /lb depending on whether it is on sale or not. The best prices are usually at Asian markets. Niman Ranch belly goes for $38.98 for a 13-14 lb average piece; even with shipping that probably equates to less than $6/lb

He doesn't get it. Italian Pizza as I've enjoyed it in Italy for nearly 30 years is sublime. Knife, fork minimal toppings and all.

Agreed. Generally hot enough not to lead to many food safety issues anyway unless it is a hollandaise or the like.

From here: The Ethics Code Thingie

I'd also be gratful for those. Glad things are hopping. Actually last word was that he, Leipheimer and Horner were racing in Mellow Johhny's livery (Lance Armstrong's bike shop in Austin). This is a result of a rarely enforced UCI rule which prohibits first tier teams from participating in "national level races". Clicky

I'm hearing it is in Las Vegas.

Wow. That's impressive. Still trying to wrap my mind around how that could happen cutting a potato.

I've been enjoying that dish for the better part of 30 years in Venice. It is in a word... Special. Always different yet still the same. Really any small bait fish will do in lieu of sardines. Tonight's smelt were superb.

Agreed. That food fills a needful niche. I don't make a habit of it but every 6-8 weeks or so boy does a fast food burger hit the spot for me. As for Padma... She makes a good living selling many aspects of herself. I can't fault her for that.

I've had them just gutted, scaled and grilled. Sublime. Sarde en saor is also a favorite preparation (I ate pounds of this in Venice recently). I've been hard pressed to find Sardines fresh enough to play with in So Cal but did come across some lovely largish smelt on the way home from work yesterday. Prepped them the same way as I'd do Sardines to fry, butterflied, dredged in seasoned flour and *briefly* fried. Our dinner tonight:

Got a pound of smelt there on the way home from work butterflied them, dredged in a little flour and spices.... Tasty dinner for two for about 3 bucks.

if things are a little off resulting in a tip of less than my usual 15-20%+ then no I feel no need to speak to the manager. If service was so awry as to result in *no* tip (once in a blue moon for me) then I've probably already spoken to the manager about the abyssal service.

Trader Joe's sells Mirepoix. People buy it. Go figure.

Life has kind of gotten in the way since I got back- I'd like to add more and will try to do so There are quite a few stores that seem to combine houswares and hardware. I was sorely tempted by a food mill this last trip but I've never really bought anything for the kitchen there with the exception of my pasta machine, purchased maybe in '83 (living a few hours away at the time so luggage was not an issue

Hey thanks. That list is a nifty reference.

I read the article in the IHT (same as the NY times one) on the plane back from Europe Thursday- I'm really intrigued and will have to drag my lazy ass up from Long Beach one of these days. The use of twitter to track the truck is sheer genius.

Do Mori is OK although perhaps a bit "pricier" than other chiceti places. Still it is nice for a bite or two. Certainly not expensive by any interpretation I can think of. I'll agree on Da Alberto mentioned several times upthread. We found it quite by accident well into a chicheti crawl one evening (theirs are excellent BTW) and made a res for last Saturday night when a friend from Geneva would be joining us for dinner. Excellent food so good that my wife and I went back for lunch a couple of days later. Dinner for three was right around 100 Euro.

There is actually a decent externally vented hood . Glad you are enjoying these posts. I'll freely admit I'm jealous that you have a flat here- we've been looking a bit and it seems we can get something (already restored) in Castello for <300,000 Euro or so. Not an immediate plan but something we've been thinking about for several years now. Ash Wednesday and the city is returning to normal. We've really been lucky it has only rained once in the almost 2 weeks we've been here and today is another fine sunny day. About 10 C in the sun so very very pleasant. I'm drinking a caffee coretto in Campo S. Maria Formosa at the moment since there is the conjunction of a sunny table and WiFI access here.

Thanks - this has been a very enjoyable read so far

Fat Tuesday here and hopelessly behind on this. I'll try to fill out the rest of the trip when I get home this weekend.