Stephanie

For those of you interested in this scotch, I found it at Ambassador Liquors (1020 2nd Ave) for $45.99 That's about right. In the Uk it's £25 and at the airport they had it on sale for two bottles for £40. I brought one to the dinner, the other got me through the blizzard S It's under $40 at Warehouse Wines and Spirits on Broadway and St. Marks Place. (Is it called St. Marks Place at that point?) It's Astor Place there. St. Mark's Place begins east of 3rd Avenue.

My mother's hamentaschen recipe comes from, believe it or not, one of Maida Heatter's books. It's a regular cookie dough with grated orange and lemon peel, and Mom fills them with lekvar augmented with chopped walnuts. They're nice and small (not like the bakery behemoths) and they stay soft if wrapped properly. I hope she'll have made them by the time I see her on Saturday!

Twix Cookies & Cream and Chocolate Fudge varieties. They were around for a brief time in the early 90's.

I think most Greeks would plotz and/or attack you if you implied they were Catholic. But I get your general point.

I like to put in sliced American cheese--Land O' Lakes from the deli counter. Crack eggs, beat in bowl, add torn-up pieces of cheese (approx. one slice per two eggs), then scramble. It's the very first thing I ever learned how to cook and it's still a favorite.

I still have a cookbook I got when I moved off campus junior year: The Campus Survival Cookbook #1. Written in 1973, it's a hoot to read today--lots of meat, eggs, butter, etc., and all menus "average out at $1.00 per meal"! I keep it around because it's got good conversion tables, interesting cooking tips, and a killer chicken cacciatore recipe.

Even funnier in its context: it's raining donuts.

I just saw this episode last night--I think Bart says "fig paste." Yes, I've got too much time on my hands.....

Here's my favorite.

I think I read somewhere about a study that showed that people tend to eat what's put in front of them and to "clean their plate." So if you are increasingly served larger portions, you'll get used to them. I bet if you went back 20 or 30 years ago and showed people then what are "standard" junk food portions today, they probably would have thought them absurdly large.

I went several years ago with a friend of mine (it was her birthday), and had a wonderful if not terribly filling meal. I've heard talk that the quality has gone down some--can anyone confirm this?

I have no problem asking for doggie bags in less expensive restaurants. In fact, I'll sometimes deliberately only eat half my entree so that I can take the rest home. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of food I eat--I hate the size of American portions sometimes--and making 2 (or more) meals out of one dish saves money.

I agree. There are lots of foods that I haven't eaten since the government mandated nutritional information on packaging and I got to see fat and sodium counts.

I just got back from a very nice dinner at BRS Brooklyn. It seemed fairly empty for a Friday night, even as early as I went. I started out with a small glass of Bishoden sake. There are several sakes you can get in that size, which probably holds no more than a double shot, and a few of them go for only $3. The Bishoden was not too dry; I think the menu described it as "fruity." My appetizer was a special, saba mackerel stew cooked in miso. The saba was nicely cooked and the broth/gravy was a little rich, almost as if cream or something similar had been added. I like that I was brought a separate tray to put the bones on. I tried the roll with spicy scallops and smelt roe. The scallop was almost buttery in texture and not too spicy, and the smelt roe added a nice contrasting texture. I also had several nigiri sushi pieces: a special of baby eel, a special of hamaga (sp?) mackerel, salmon, smoked yellowtail, arctic char, fluke, tuna, and egg. (I had wanted to try the trout, but they were out of it.) I was impressed by the quality of fish, particularly the arctic char and hamaga. The baby eel was tender and not overly sweet. The only thing I didn't like was the smoked yellowtail, which may be an acquired taste. I also thought that while the pieces of fish were a nice size (not too big), the rice was not big enough, leaving the fish to flop over the rice. When my sushi was brought out, I was told that they use tamari soy sauce rather than regular soy sauce, and that the wasabi was fresh-grated. I'd never had fresh wasabi before--what a difference from the green paste you usually get! I was actually taking little nibbles of it to taste it without the soy sauce. When it came time for dessert, the waiter said "I'm going to bring a surprise for you." It turned out to be a sponge cake roll filled with a mixture of sweetened red beans & whipped cream, topped with red bean ice cream and chocolate sauce. The ice cream was just OK, but I enjoyed the cake. The sponge cake part had a hint of almond to it, and I later found out it had been soaked in plum wine. The service was very solicitous, except for the fact that I kept getting pushed to try more sake. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my appetizer and my dessert had been comped. I don't know if this is just a new business thing or if that's something BRS in Manhattan does. Even with the comps, the tab with tax & tip came to just under $47 for 1 person. Definitely a top-notch place, and a good addition to the neighborhood if you want something a cut above Yamato or The Gingko Leaf.

There is a Canadian chain called the Chippery that makes fresh potato chips in-house. They now have branches in the U.S., including one in New York. One of their flavors is ketchup chips.

Homemade French toast, OJ, and the Times. Oh, and one Girl Scout cookie (Thin Mint).

Yes, you can use non-dairy topping and margarine BUT read the ingredients list and make sure they are certified Kosher-Pareve. Some things that appear non-dairy have trace dairy elements such as casein, which would make them unsuitable for pareve baked goods. To make absolutely sure, you may want to use liquid oils like canola rather than solid fats. Of course, how this will ultimately affect your recipes I have no idea.

The inside of the Creamsicle is ice cream; the inside of the Dreamsicle is ice milk. This according to Cecil Adams, from his Straight Dope website. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_356a.html I always wondered about that--thank you!

Indian-style dish with peas, potatoes, tofu and diced tomatoes. Spiced it up with sauteed onion, garlic, and cumin seeds, plus ground cumin, chili powder, salt & pepper, and a lot of garam masala. (I may have overdone the spices a tad.) I have plenty of leftovers, and I felt it nicely balanced out the chips 'n beer I had while watching the Super Bowl.

It is definitely open. I don't know what the hours are, but I passed by just after 5:30 and there were a few people eating already. There is a little sitting/waiting area in front with some low benches. I only took a quick peek into the dining room--there's a nice size sushi bar plus tables, and the motif is all polished wood & clean lines. I've never been to BRS in Manhattan, so I can't say if the prices are the same. (It does seem like it will be the priciest Japanese restaurant in Brooklyn.) The menu has a long list of appetizers, some salads and hot entrees, a full page of nigiri sushi and another 1/2 page of rolls, including some vegetarian offerings. In addition, there was a menu insert of daily specials--I counted about 10 appetizers, 8-10 sushi fish (I only remember the bluefin tuna), and a few other entrees. They do take credit cards. I'm very glad it finally opened before I depart the 'hood, and I hope to pay it a visit in the next couple of weeks (along with Thomas Biesl).

I heard it opened yesterday. Will give it a look when I go to Bonnie's Grill later.

Gack, I forgot about pulp! It gives me the willies. Disgusting. I feel the same way. Reminds me of this line from The Odd Couple: "I don't like pits, pits, pits in my juice, juice, juice!"

In today's NY Daily News, restaurant critic Pascale Le Draoulec reviews 6 different burgers, including the Old Homestead Burger and the two db ones. Luger's was her favorite. $50 Burgers? Holy Cow!

I brought a friend of mine to DiFara's on Monday, and she positively swooned over the square and artichoke slices. I think it is now on the top of her "favorite restaurants of all time" list. BTW, the zeppoles are not too greasy but they come with a ton of sugar. You get 4 per standard order. Perhaps with less pizza in our stomachs we would have appreciated them more.

And when would you have had an opportunity to eat this?? As a kid, I refused to eat tongue, liver, beans, tomatoes, or eggplant. Pretty small list. After a while I stopped liking beets, and I won't eat any organ meats to this day. But there are things I eat now that simply weren't part of my childhood diet because Mom never cooked them, such as mussels, okra, tofu, etc.