PandoraLost

The strategy I employ with grinders (after years of experience at Starbucks, I know, groan), is to wipe the parts that are ready-to-hand frequently, and once a week or so, take the whole glorious mess apart, clean individual parts with a damp paper towel, then a dry paper towel, reassemble, and make sure it still functions. Alternately, with the large commercial grinders, a vacuum worked well for everyday cleaning. I wouldn't recommend rice, because it dulls blades and messes up the burrs. Oats might be better, but I'd be a bit skeptical about oat bits getting stuck. Your best bet is to take it apart and wipe it down. If you've got a LOT of oil buildup, a mild acid solution works well (such as vinegar and water).

I agree that ultimately the issue is the lack of physical activity, versus any inherent problem with the food itself. I grew up eating, for the most part, seasonally; we would go to the farmer's market and buy bushels of corn, peas, beans, etc, and spend days shelling, shucking, cleaning, boiling, and freezing. What didn't get frozen or otherwise preserved was eaten. I also remember that when I was in school, phys ed was mandatory. If it was cold outside, we still had to run; maybe if it was really cold, we'd be in the gym running, but we were still required to participate in some sort of activity. If it was raining outside, we had the option of playing basketball, doing pull-ups, jumping rope, or walking laps around the gym. I also agree that it's more of an issue of people's lack of interest in cooking. I was helping in the kitchen as soon as I could see over the stove/counter. As a result, I rely very little on convenience foods; why spend extra money I don't have on food I won't really like anyway? Especially when it actually works out cheaper to make my own meals, and I know what I like? But I have known quite a few people in college who don't know how to do more than heat something up in a microwave, because their parents never taught them any cooking skills. I was a wonder to several friends: given a camp stove, a few pots and pans, and a grocery run, I was fully capable of making a dinner much better than the dining hall would ever serve. It's a nationwide issue, childhood obesity. I think that if you look at the statistics of where the highest rates of obesity are, region-speaking, they are in areas where abundant eating is common practice. And even that has common-sense roots. In the south, food portions are large and calories are high because heavy labor was the norm until fairly recently. If you're sweating out half your fluid volume in a field all day, you need more salts and more calories. If you're working in a factory for ten-twelve hours, you need calories. It's adjusting those cultural norms of portion size that should be the emphasis, not the foods themselves.

I had a cousin growing up who for years wouldn't eat anything except hot dogs, chicken fingers, cool whip, and maybe one or two other things; I don't recall ever personally going through a "picky eater" phase, although I remember distinctly not wanting to eat sweet potatoes for some reason. I think it may have been that we had sweet potatoes frequently and I just didn't want them, or something like that. The adult manifestation of it, though, is interesting. I'm curious about the nutritional aspect of it, myself. Do they take supplements? Because that kind of extreme selectivity regarding food would exclude a LOT of vitamins and minerals (although the grilled cheese guy--they tend to fortify cheeses and breads with way more vitamins than you're supposed to get from wheat or milk...), and stuff like nutritional deficiencies would be really noticeable. (goiter, for example, or scurvy, or rickets, or pellagra). I agree that the negative comments are counterproductive; it really ought to be treated as an eating disorder (and presumably it is?). I wonder how many people with this "problem" actually seek help? I will have to research this.

It definitely is. I went there with my roommates a few weeks ago and the food was just as good as ever. Great sea food, excellent ribs, wonderful service. There are a bunch of really great restaurants in the area, actually; I really ought to compile a personal top-ten and post it. The Thirsty Turtle, however, is an all-time favorite.

I don't know if you consider South Florida a fair traveling distance, but I have a beautiful suggestion for you: Masa's Sagami, a Japanese hibachi/sushi restaurant with sake bar. It is one of my favorite hangouts, and for more than just the three-times-weekly karaoke nights. Masa's Sagami has two locations: Abacoa (Jupiter, FL) and Boca Raton. Since I live in Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens through the school year (and now semi-permanently), I favor the Jupiter/Abacoa location. The food is amazing: they have a great selection of sushi which I'm gradually working my way through, including a la carte selections. They also have great hibachi chefs. The seafood is always excellent (which you'd expect of a sushi restaurant), the service is great. My personal favorites include the Alaska Roll, the Abacoa Roll, and the Rockstar Roll. The prices are also fairly reasonable. The bar has a great atmosphere. All in all, just a great place to go, which awesome food.

I was so glad to find a thread about Annecy! It's been three years since I was last there, but I loved it so much both times I went. I got great pictures, I also got to eat some wonderful food; we were there during 'soldes' season, so I got good shopping done; I even found some of my gifts for the family in Annecy before I ever traveled to other areas. I've been working on going back for a while now; I've got some friends in the area who have been begging me to come back sometime. I'd love to hear some comments from other people who've been there recently, to kind of get a feel for any new developments from the last time I was there (July 2004).

One of my favorite places to eat, and to take people, is The Thirsty Turtle. I've taken my parents there; my mother loves the french onion soup, my dad loves the Oysters. The Thirsty Turtle has great seafood, and great bar-type food, too. I've gone there some nights with a crew of friends and just ordered appetizers--they have nightly wing specials, great seafood specials, and excellent sandwiches. The atmosphere is really great; it's maybe two miles from the beach, the waitstaff is wonderful and they seem to love working there. The prices are reasonable, and the bar is really good. All in all, a great place.

This reminds me a bit of the whole macrobiotic diet wierdness. What really kind of boggles my mind is the raw foodists; that's another thing though. Really, cane sugar is marginally better for you than high fructose corn syrup; it's pages ahead of artificial sweetners (Splenda for example--that product scares me). I guess the companies are trying to capitalize on the fact that a large population in America jumps at two things: junk food and organic food. Combine the two and you've got a goldmine, right? It's sort of like those "healthier" frozen meals. They're still packed full of sodium! It seems like companies are trying more and more to jump on the "healthier" band wagon, while preserving their costs. Ahhh, capitalism.

Asian markets and many tea vendors will sell a decent to good Matcha powder. the tea company Teavana offers an okay matcha, along with matcha-making utensils. I'm not sure that they use a best-by date, though the seals on their packaging are really excellent. About refrigerating tea: honestly, much like coffee, it doesn't make a huge difference for short-term storage. An Asian market would move through matcha pretty quick, so they're the best resource (they also have multiple brands and varieties!). I would only really recommend putting either in cold storage if the seal on the container wasn't as good. Kept in a dark, relatively cool place, tea and coffee keep perfectly well simply in airtight containers.

I generally use dutch-processed cocoa for my hot chocolate. For one serving I combine three tablespoons dutch process cocoa, two of sugar, a pinch of salt, and just enough water to make a slurry. I cook it for a few seconds and add a cup and a half of whole milk. Let it simmer, stirring it occasionally, and add vanilla at the end. I also like to add a little orange liqueur or some cherry brandy at the end. To make something giftable, I guess, combine cocoa and sugar to a 2-1 or a 2-1.5 ratio, with just enough salt to bring out the chocolate flavor, and a little vanilla bean. Or just use some vanilla sugar. Write instructions that specify to add hot milk to the mixture in proportion. It's plenty rich and tasty for me...

Hm. The quiz says I'm a supertaster, too. I have to admit I have never particularly liked brussels sprouts, but I've always liked bitter greens. I also like coffee and grapefruit. I like distinct flavors, I guess. I think I know that test you were talking about, Takadi. The one with the paper strip, and if you have a certain genetic marker, it tastes really horribly bitter, like getting soap in your mouth only worse? Interesting things. I've always liked a higher cocoa percentage in my chocolate; my brother always favored white chocolate, but I've enjoyed as much as 85% cocoa chocolate bars (meriting joking comments from my parents about eating baking chocolate). I have also noticed, however, that a lot of flavors that I would generally classify as bitter get termed salty by my peers. I have to wonder if this is a cultural thing--the same way some cultures don't have distinguishing categories for green and blue, but one color-name that classifies both?

I have to disagree with the notion that most college students have uneducated palates. I have to put the disclaimer though that I don't go to a stereotypical college; my entire college population has never been over 500 students. It's a very diverse group, with students coming from other states as well as other countries (parts of Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, France). I have a "more educated" palate than a lot of my friends, mostly because of the wonderful experiences I had with food growing up. I consumed both bland mass-produced fare (Hamburger Helper, Chef Boyardee, etc) as well as home-cooked meals that would get pretty pricey in the average restaurant. I started eating bitter greens (Kale, Mustard, Collards) at a young age and sampled raw broccoli and enjoyed it as early as age five. I was fortunate to have a mother who is interested in the range and diversity of food; I have an appreciation for Greek, French, German, and Asian cuisine as well as "down home" Southern fare. I think part of the problem is that most dining halls on college campuses only offer very homogenous foods. The dining hall at my college accepts recipes and offers ethnic themed meals: Greek one night, Caribbean another night, etc. I can remember, however, complaining to a friend that the Tzitziki sauce the dining hall offered up "wasn't real"--they didn't use yogurt, they didn't include dill, and the cucumbers weren't properly processed before making, so the end result was watery and a bit flavorless. But the kids on my campus love different teas (and drink them often without sugar!), a variety of vegetables, and some complex flavors that would surprise our compatriots in other colleges. Part of that, I think is the diverse nature of the campus. We are able to share food memories, and you'd be surprised at what you can cook with a microwave, a toaster oven, and a Foreman Grill as appliances.

Hello mom, this is your daughter finally posting on your forum. It sounds like you and Dad had a great time! I only wish I could've gone. You know how much I love seafood. Was there much in the way of fresh crab? You mentioned crab cakes... I'm glad Dad was able to get his hands on some fresh oysters. What was the quality like on them? I know he's really picky about size. Did you get a good look at the sushi? How'd it look? I'm sure it was excellent quality; how many varieties did they have? Glad you had a great time!