Shel_B

There are other knives at Toots' place - she/we just want a good all around knife for chopping, dicing, mincing, etc. After thinking about it for a long time, and being intimately familiar with how we use knives at her place, a decent, easy-to-handle, light weight chef-type knife will do just fine, and will satisfy both of us.

Sure there is ... We stopped by a few weeks ago but didn't see anything that appealed to us. We go within a few hundred feet of the store at least once a week, and we'll stop in again.

I often find an eight inch knife too big for a lot of tasks and for my hands, and I'm somewhat of a big guy. I much prefer smaller. lighter knives. Yes, I cook at Casa Toots, but only a few days a week. She needs a knife that she'll be comfortable with - my needs are secondary. Should there be a need for more or better knives, I can always bring mine from home. I have plenty of various shapes, sizes, and brands. In fact, I have two 8-inch Victorinox knives, one of which I could leave at her house should I desire Someone mentioned that the knife I asked about can be found at Sur la Table, a store I've not yet checked since it's out of the way for us. But we are going to the area within a few weeks, and we'll take a look at their offerings. Thanks for your comments.

I should have mentioned that the paperback version is quite a bit cheaper, and it looks like it may be the original.

I have the original of this book, and it's terrific. The one noted below is a "revised edition." AMAZON LINK

Trader Joe's Organic Pasta from Italy (http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=972): I bought a package of this spaghetti this afternoon because, when looking at the pasta through the clear wrapper, I could see the roughness on the strands suggesting the spaghetti was made the "old fashioned" way, using bronze dies. The color is similar to many of the artisan Italian pastas I've tried over the years. The price, at $1.29 for a pound, is pretty darned good, too. The ingredient list is quite short: Organic Durum Wheat Semolina. I like that simplicity. Had I not committed to a cauliflower dish for dinner tonight, I'd be cooking this spaghetti and giving it a taste test. Has anyone tried this? Comments?

With Liuzhou's info as a pointer, I did some further research, and it seems that the assembly is done in Mexico while the blades are made in the USA. Thanks for helping to satisfy my curiosity.

I'm with dcarch. DH has a favorite knife which he keeps urging me to use...it's so much better than the one I use, he says. BUT I can't handle the handle. It's just too big for my hand and that's that. I like my own two knives. And I don't want to switch. You're right about letting her try some knives, but that's already been done at my place and the homes of a couple of friends, plus I'm comparing knives to those that she has and which she finds acceptable. In a way, this choice is an educated guess, but this knife is not available in any local stores I've visited. If it's not acceptable, I can return it or perhaps use it myself. What I really want to know is if this is a decent knife, perhaps comparable in quality to Victorinox blades.

I'm concerned that the 8" blade may be a bit much for her. I know a 6" blade will work fine. Couldn't find a 6" model except for a utility knife.

I'm not looking for a top quality knife for Toots - she needs something light and easy to handle, and Victorinox quality would be just fine. It's also has to satisfy me, who cooks at her place several times a week. Victorinox doesn't have just what I'm looking for, and this Wusthof (6-inch) seems like it may be a good choice. The price is certainly right ... Comments on quality, handling, similar alternatives, etc. welcome. Thanks! http://www.cutleryandmore.com/wusthof-gourmet/chefs-knife-p110908

I was at the Microplane site yesterday, looking for a grater, and noticed that the description of a couple of items said "Blade made in USA." That suggests, to me at least, that the rest of the parts, and possibly the assembly, are made elsewhere. Does anyone have any more info on the subject?

OK! Some good ideas here. Not roasting them until crunchy sounds right. And using blanched peanuts sounds like a perfect compromise for me. The oven method seems like it would be my preference. Thanks so much for jumping in.

OK, roasting your own peanuts makes sense, as does making many things from good, fresh ingredients. So, what's the best way to roast peanuts? Are there some types of peanuts that are a better choice for roasting and which are a good choice for peanut sauce? Roast in the shell or not? Add oil or salt, or not? How done should they be - lightly roasted, deeply roasted and crunchy, somewhere in between? Instructions I found on the 'net are all over the place.

Yes, that's a good recipe. There are several others that also use fresh, roasted peanuts. Bruce Cost made a killer peanut sauce using such an ingredient, although, in at least one of his recipes for peanut sauce, he deep fried the fresh peanuts.

Did you add, perhaps, a light coating of mayo? Couldn't tell from the pic.

Thanks for the pointer. I DL'd and filed the recipe.

I'm familiar with the Rasa Malaysia site, but not this recipe - Thanks! My security software tells me that Irene's site is a security risk so I'm not going there. The Thaifood.about.com recipe looks interesting. Might be worth a try, although it looks similar to one that I already have used - which isn't bad at all. Thanks for the pointers.

Thanks! Very similar to recipes I have for "Tan Tan (Tang Tang?) noodles and for NY Hot, Spicy Takeout Noodles.

I enjoy peanut sauce, and so does Toots, though not as much as I. There are a few recipes in my collection, but, over the years, I've made 'em all more than once, and it would be nice to expand my repertoire. I've cruised the 'net, and not found too many that were of interest - just one or two, really, and I've only come across one recipe here on eGullet which, sorry to say, didn't do much for me. So, does anyone have a favorite peanut sauce recipe? It can be Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, or whatever. It would be great to get some new ideas or recipes, especially with some interesting ingredients. Thanks so much!

Wednesday I received a few pounds of GREAT tomatoes, and for lunch today I whipped up a nice, quick, fresh tomato sauce and dumped some al dente spaghetti into it. My, oh my ... simple, quick (about 20 minutes) and delicious.

Well, since Toots and I don't live together, we often shop alone, but we also shop together at times. But we don't hold each other's hand ... we may have different assignments, such as she'll get dairy and I'll get produce. Or, there's a farmers market right by the Trader Joe's that we shop at, and often (but not always) one of us will hit TJ's and the other will shop the farmers market. Now, we frequently shop for "us," getting what we'll need for the three or four days a week that we're together. She's good at making lists - she keeps one by the fridge in her apartment and adds to it as things are needed. I'm not so good with lists (although getting better), and so when I shop I often just look for what's fresh or on sale or what looks interesting, and just make many purchases on the fly. So, we shop the same venues, but individually, except, strangely enough, at Costco. There we work as a team. Maybe it's because the store is so big, it's easier to stay together rather than search for one another towards the end of shopping. Neither of us really like shopping with the other since we have such different styles, and that's probably why we shop independently while in the same venue. I much prefer shopping by myself - I find it relaxing and enjoyable, and don't feel any pressure to hurry up. Toots ALWAYS asks me what I'm going to get when we're at the farmers market, and my answer is always pretty much the same, "I don't know - gotta see what looks good." I think that frustrates her.

Today I received the strainer I ordered: http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/browne-halco/s8198/p7109.aspx It looks pretty good, although not exactly like the picture, but it does have the same part number, for whatever that's worth. The one I got has double hooks on the front edge, which is what I originally wanted, and a slightly different shaped handle. The reinforced, double mesh design looks like it will provide good service, although time will tell. However, the price was certainly good, the shipping price fair ... I'll let you know if there are any problems.

We enjoy the markets all year. In the immediate area, we have markets every day except Monday, and each market has some unique vendors. It's wonderful!

The thought did not escape me ... the implementation may need some experimentation. I emailed my sister and asked if she still has our original Toas Tite.

I don't know what a "jaffle" is, and I'm not a "Dude!" even without the exclamation point. I recall the cheese getting pretty hot, but then, so does most, if not all, cheese that's grilled.