Dr. Teeth

I use the same knife block Marlene does, and I keep a 10" chef, a wide 8", 6" wide, 10" bread, and a chef's cleaver. I bought it for about $20.00 on ebay and have no regrets.

You will soon be given a great deal more involved responses than the one I am about to give, by those far more informed. You should steel the knife every time before you use it. Easiest way is to hold the steel point down on a counter and then swipe the knife 3-4 times on each side. Angle should be about 22 degrees. This translates to about the thickness of a matchbook cover, so if you picture a matchbook between the stell and the knife, you will be a hitting it about right. After a few times, you'll be able to tell by the sound the knife makes when you are hitting the angle right. Using a stell only helps true the edge betwen sharpening, and you will still need to periodically sharpen the knives of take them to be sharpened. A lot of folks will explain to you how to use waterstones, diamond steels or those sharpening gismos but I fing it easiest to take the knives I use most to be sharpened every 9 months or so.

1) Potato Puree at Atelier. Maybe the single best thing I've ever eaten. 2) Other good mashed 3) Good french fries. EDIT: I'm changing my third. Hash Browns made with onions and bacon.

I hope this will not be taken as a softening of my previous views. I still hold that this is an issue around which the frying pan of liberty must be deglazed with the blood of patriots and tyrants. I think, however, that once you add rice, the whole thing pushes over into the new-age burrito/fusion burrito camp. And those are not as bad.

I have the feeling I should feel bad about this. But I don't. As long as the parents have been notified by some other means first, I don't have a problem with this. I don't see how the cheeze sandwich of shame is different from the sticker of shame. The schools don't have the money to foot the bill for unpaid meals. If they have gone as far as to employ collection agencies I don't see where they have other options. If you're too worried about the kid being traumatized have them brown bag it.

Surfactants lower the surface tension of water, so it probably runs off more easily and has greater penetration into semi-porus material, but I'm not sure how that would help you with fruit. They also have hydophobic and hydrophilic ends so they can form little pockets around bits of oily dirt that would otherwise not come off with a rinse. No idea how well they actually work, about the same as soap I would guess.

Russo's is amazing. They just added some new parking, maybe 20% more spaces.

And what's wrong with a panini? The crunch of the bread gives some texture contrast and the thing isn't loaded down with filler.

I personally feel that you are making a mistake, that roast beef and smoked mozzarella are the golden coins with which wraps are buying your soul. My objection to wraps is not their existence, per se. There are a large number of things - cats, greek food, Yankee fans- that I don't care for but that I don't see the need to ban or destroy. If we take such a course with wraps, however, history will condem our tolerance and mercy. The problem with wraps is their use to those who see food, not as a comfort or as a joy, but as a fuel for the proletariat - like, say, my program director for example. In the hands of such men, the superficial appeal of the wrap that they "don't stink up the office," and "you guys don't make such a mess with these," has already allowed the wrap usurp the place long held by worthies such as pizza, chinese food and the revered "italian trough."

They probably just didn't get a complete set of fingerprints from the first two cups. I wouldn't worry about it. Never heard of that, were you drinking decaf or something?

Let me say this - I look at any discussion like this as my chance to learn something, and I will try to get a copy of the JAMA artice mentioned in the Chronicle. I could quibble about a couple points but I'm not sure I need to . . . Ok, obesity is a distant second rather than a close second to smoking in terms of preventable death. How does this change the advice a doctor should be giving you? It doesn't make being obese healthy. You should not be made to feel like a bad person by your doctor for being overweight, and if that has happened it is unforgivable and you have every right to be angry. But a doctor not advising a patient who is obese to lose weight is like a doctor not advising a smoker to stop smoking. And there is data showing that a doctor indicating that they are worried about a patient increases the chance of their stopping a potentially dangerous habit.

Looks like the discussion will be on this thread, ah well. Well, Fat Guy, I normally find myself in agreement with you, so I'm interested in what studies and CDC lies you're refering to. I would agree with you that gastric bypass and laproscopic banding don't have very great average outcomes, but I think the health risk associated with obesity are fairly well established.

Another vote for Paul Kirk. Only book that teaches you how to cook barbecue rather than just being a collection of recipies.

Very sorry to hear about your friend. Diabetes is a rotten disease. I'm very interested in hearing about peoples feelings about the medical community and obese people/weight loss, but I wonder if it isn't hijacking the thread. Any chance we could move that discussion to another thread?

I'm sorry to make fun of such a serious issue. You are right. Compared to my other earnest comments on this subject my last post was flippant and juvenile.

I understand that you are earnest in what you are telling me. I worry that you are in too deep and that you have lost some ability to judge your situation honestly, that you are lying to yourself. Let me be scientific. It has been shown that some survival skills still present in animals have died in humans. For example, infant children have no fear of snakes, where a newborn chimpanzee reacts to it as a source of danger. I just watched a number of senior physicians, educated men of learning, eat a wrap lunch catered by Souper Salad. On the other hand, I am sure somewhere out there, in the vastness of the internet, there is a video of a band of baboons bypassing a platter of wraps in favor of eating an amuse bouche of hyena dung.

I don't think you need to be ashamed. That you may eat a wrap or two, every now and then, in the privacy of your own home, does not make you a bad person. Behind closed doors, consenting adults, none of my business. What I am saying, is the very things you find appealing, that may have initally drawn you to the wrap, have been twisted to evil purposes. The greater internal volume of the tortilla and the ability of the wrap to sit for prolonged periods of time without losing it's visual appeal, combined with the tortilla's ability to cloak a wrap's contents from a potential consumer that I spoke of in my previous post have been exploited by caterers and sandwich vendors to form something unholy. And as a concerned and caring person, I worry that you are now in over your head, and do not have a way out. The problem with a wrap it that the need to provide a greater volume of food to form a pleasing torpedo shape forces vendors to fill them with bland, inexpensive and inedible filler. Any flavorful items will be insulated from the tastebuds by layers of lettuce, sprouts, tomatos and such like fine china packed with styrofoam peanuts. In fact, I strongly suspect styrofoam peanuts were used in a Southwest Wrap I was forced to endure last week. I will speak later on the implication that wraps are an attempt to appease the glutinous and portly. Until then: Say no to wraps.

A wrap is not a taco. It is not a burrito. One can tell by reading your post that you have not been subjected to the horror that is a wrap sandwich. It's a tortilla-esque wrapper around inexpensive American sandwich components: lettuce, tomatos, usually some cold cuts. The usually somewhat benign power of the tortilla to visually conceal it's own contents is corrupted to pass off a sandwich loaded with 2nd rate produce. Handfulls of inexpensive filler such as iceberg lettuce and hothouse tomatos are used to allow the wrap vendor to achive a pleasing shape without increasing the cost of manufacture. They are vile. They are everywhere. The Fat Guy has come to lead us from the wilderness. You should not stand in his way.

Could not agree more, worst thing to happen to the sandwich in my lifetime. Not sure why every single informal catered lunch needs to have them.

Sorry to say, but they redid the handles on the Grand Prix line. Not nearly as comfortable IMO.

All the brands you listed are excellent. I think Porthos gave you the best advice, I would go the Williams -Sonoma and try every chef's knife between 8-10" and pick the one that feels most comfortable.

I personally would favor something simple for a birthday dinner so that cooking is not the focus of the evening. Salad of arugula with mustard vinagrette and parmesan cheese. Modified chicken marsala - Fry cullets, then make pan sauce of shallots, mushrooms, marsala with cream instead of stock. Sides: grilled polenta, spinach wilted with garlic. I think the idea of a fruit tart or a fruit dessert suggested by other posters is perfect, I don't know how to improve on it.

Meritage, in the Boston Harbour Hotel. Within walking distance of the pier area, and IMO, one of the best high end tables in Boston.

Hi, have a great time in 3rd year. I survived on the little pouches of tuna, combined with salt and pepper I had in little baggies and a lemon that I would puncture with a hypodermic needle and squeeze juice out of (needle stays in hole between uses, lemon whould keep for 7-10 days.) Could be eaten plain or over greens if the ones in the hospital salad bar were acceptable and I had time. Beef jerky is good too. Little ziplock bags of cereal. And I ate Power Bars that looked and tasted like putty. I would keep all of this in your locker. Food in the white coat will bother some attendings and house officers.

Well, they are serving a sandwich called the Atomic Meatloaf Meltdown at Chris Schlesinger's place. The menu boasts that it comes with Inner Beauty Hotsauce and it tastes pretty much how I remember Inner Beauty. You could always try calling them to see if they would sell you the sauce. Or just drop by for a sandwich if youre close to Boston. Good luck with the search.