tommy

and no filler. it's quite impressive really.

more prone to "burning" is good if you like even char. and i think the brick isn't really squishing out the juice. it's really not that heavy. i think it's more to provide more surface area on the grill, which might lead to less cooking time and a better product. those are just my assuptions, though. edit: i'm now beyond typos and misspellings and i've moved right into putting strange words where they don't belated.

that could be. however, it's also an issue when your head is as fat as mine, as it eclipses just about all of the light from overheads.

damned subway.

i spatchcocked a bird tonite. i went right ahead and took out the breast bone as well (sorry jinny - left the skin on), and some other bone that i saw whilst poking around. garlic, EVOO, s/p, rosemary, lemon juice all over. in the oven at 400 for 50 minutes or so. and it was right on. and a lot easier to plate/eat. i like this approach. next time, big brick on top on the grill.

i make what is sometimes accepted as "authentic style" tacos. and that includes not much more than raw onion and cilantro with meat on a torilla. believe me, when i tell people they'll be having "tacos", and they get a gander at that spread, they don't know what to do with themselves. but they *always* like it.

oh. did you mean "update" as in "every 1.5 hours"?

i wonder what each is officially called. either way, i'm probably not returning to the one on 9th and perhaps i'll try the one on 26th, as i've never heard of it til today.

of course!

Geez -- does that really work?? I've been doing the basic side-side-breast up thing at about 400 degrees and it still takes an hour or so. Can the chicken really be done in half an hour with no turning? I, too, was a non-believer, until I tried it. dave, have you ever done this with a spatchcocked chicken? (was that the right word?)

It's now called Salon Mexico. It's not bad, but no great shakes. is it really? then they changed their name yet again. it was something after Los Dos Rancheros. i miss the days of going to LDR for "cheap tacos" and then hitting the bellevue across the street til all hours. a perfect night.

baked doritos. aside from the calories, these things are surprisingly not terribly bad for you.

zarela's has extremely strong margaritas and it's quite the after work scene. never a dull moment at zarela's, that's for sure. one of my favorite watering holes in the city. by the end of the night, everyone ends up talking to some stranger.

they're so wonderful. i sometimes make pasta sauce with onions. and then i add more onions. it's so oniony, that we usually say, as we're eating it with pasta, that you don't even need the pasta. just onions in sauce. mrs. tommy eats those little pickled white onions right out of the jar for a snack. another thing about onions is, when you mix them with some vinegar, they smell like BO.

that's good to know. hell, it might even be plaster back there, which would be even more of a mess. i think i'll leave the mystery white stuff up.

From the pictures you've posted, your backsplash looks like it is melamine board--same stuff that is used on a lot of kitchen cabinets. If tiling is too daunting--and it will all be torn out when your renovate--and if the color is what you don't like, you might consider just painting the backsplash--with a good primer and melamine paint. It would be a lot easier than painting the cabinets and a lot cheaper and faster than tiling. well it's definitely some sort of laminate as far as i can tell. i wish i knew what it was. blondie, thanks for the tile tips. doing 12x12 sheets is definitely an attractive idea.

Don't child labor laws exist to prevent this possibility?!?!?!? I see you consider college students children, but the law considers people over 18 to be adults. You knew that, didn't you? College students ARE children, for the most part. not when it comes to labor laws.

suzanne, i used to love los dos rancheros. but i've found they've gone downhill since they're remodeled (and possibly changed hands). have you been in the past year?

hey V, go to China 46 in joisey instead. trust me.

for high-end mexican, i go to Rosa Mexicano. *not* the one at Lincoln Center though. the original, on 1st ave and 58th or so, is much better.

that seems like just a molding issue to me. the bigger concern is the formica that's buckling, which FG has just addressed.

well, i'm thinking of not doing the cabinets at this point. instead, i'll focus on light and a backsplash (and possibly a floor, but that would probably be best left to a pro). it's not that i don't like formica, but i don't like this particular old crappy looking formica backsplash, and i'm looking for a relatively inexpensive and easy way to make it look better.

may i be excused for 3 minutes?

I’m not one to show my trophies, much less my warts. But if this thread might help me and others, I’ll gladly make an exception. And nothing makes me happier than cleaning up the kitchen well after dinner for pictures. The formica, or what I assume to be formica, runs along the walls over all of the counter. The counter meets the wall at one end, and you can see how they’ve put a piece of this stuff on the wall there as well. This shows the thickness of the stuff. on the other end, where the formica meets the stove area, it looks like this. Behind the stove is actually some horrible thin white plexiglass-type plastic stuff that does the trick, but it ain’t formica, which is good I suppose. you can see here, behind the sink, how the formica is bowing out a bit. This could be a trouble spot if I decide to leave the junk up. the window is also an issue, as it seems they added this molding around the window *after* they put up the formica stuff (and on top of the formica stuff as this pic should show if you assume the white "wall" is that formica stuff). So if I took it down, I’d have about ½ inch of space to fill in somehow.

steven, a backsplash is something i'm also considering. currently, there's what i assume to be formica running around the kitchen over the counters. it's on something that's about 1/2 inch thick, and i'm not even sure how it's attached to the plaster/sheetrock. i'm wondering if i can get away resurfacing the formica, or should i invest the time and effort to pull it all off and see what's under it. one issue might be the water that has been getting under the formica by the sink. that length is bowing out a bit, and might be problematic down the road. i'm very pleased the the halogen lights (from the other thread), and plan on installing more. i don't recommend this job for people who aren't comfortable with a drill and basic electricity. the directions for the in-line switch for the GE lights that i bought were totally back asswards, and required some electrical common sense to sort out. granted, not much, but one should assume that directions will be effed up, and yes, i had 9 left over screws. my floor sucks, but i think if i sort out the lighting and a backsplash, i'll be able to get through til the big remodel. so, any thoughts on backsplashes would rock.