Shel_B

We've got a family potluck brunch coming up in a couple of weeks, and I was thinking of making a couple of frittatas. They needn't be the same. Here are the requirements: They will be made the day before; They have to travel about fifty miles; They can be reheated at the site, but it would be nice if we can skip the reheating; Meat is acceptable in one, the other will be, more or less, vegetarian; Cheese is acceptable in at least one version; Ideally be able to be served in a couple of pie dishes or 9 x 13 Pyrex dishs Any suggestions?

Nothing new - the son has not arrived, and now he's waffling on the date. My new 1.5 quart saucepan should arrive on Tuesday - maybe even tomorrow as it arrived in town early this morning. I'm anxious to see how the All-Clad D5 compares to other All-Clad that I have, and to compare it to the Calphalon tri-ply as well.

Thanks for your comments and sharing your experiences.

You and I are similar in that respect.

I don't understand. Is a convection oven the one with the fan? Mine is just a regular electric oven. In any case, how can a skillet block the airflow any more than a roasting pan? Or are you suggesting that a roasting pan may not be the best choice for certain items? Please help this poor ol' country boy understand thanks!

That's happened only once - Yikes! I now keep a towel draped over the oven door handle - can't open the oven door without grabbing the towel.

That's a good point. I do, however, know to what temp my skillets are safe, and would pay attention to that. The cast iron skillet has been used to more than 450-deg with no problems.

You suggest not using non-stick when using a skillet, yet the pans you referenced are non-stick. Why is it OK to use non-stick jelly roll pans but not a non-stick skillet. That said, a few years ago on eGullet I asked about such pans, and was referred to a couple of sites that had heavy duty pans - 16-gauge aluminum - NICE! and I grabbed a couple back then. I'm OK for pans right now, but I may get one for Toots who has a small-sized oven and no decent pans.

I have a few large skillets: stainless steel All-Clad, Non-stick Calphalon, Lodge cast iron, and a large, early All-Clad sauté pan, all of which are oven safe. I have recently moved to a small retirement apartment which has a small kitchen with minimum storage space. During the move, my roasting pan disappeared - pffft! It will be spendy, time consuming, and eat up a bunch of space to replace the roasting pan at this time. Two nights ago I wanted to roast some cauliflower and then add some tomatoes and continue the roasting process. I decided to do it in my non-stick Calphalon skillet, which was just the right size and which would afford easy cleanup. It worked very well. So, before I decide to forget about getting another roasting pan, what may be the downside to using a skillet? I rarely - can't remember when I last did - roast meat or fowl, so mostly I'll be roasting vegetables. Would any of the skillets mentioned above be a better choice for a roasting pan substitute? I was thinking that the sauté pan might be as it has straight sides that are somewhat deeper than the other two skillets and is lighter than the cast iron. Any problems using the broiler with any of these skillets? FWIW, I have a good quality sheet pan that works pretty well for vegetables, but the skillets, with their handles are easier to use and clean.

There are a number of companies whose products I don't buy or whose stores I avoid because I don't like something about them. I've not purchased any Nestle products in years, likewise, I don't shop at Walmart, buy Gillette or Clorox products, anything from any of the Koch brothers' companies, etc. I've only purchased Barilla once, and that was recently as a result of the recent pasta thread here. I'll certainly not buy another Barilla product. I agree with you in that we should express our views and preferences with our wallets.

I bought my first Victorinox from my butcher (Leonardo de Meatci, Butcher to the Gods - AKA Lenny's Quality Meats) in 1971. The shop, which had a staff of about six or seven butchers, used primarily Victorinox, and one of the guys there had a little side business selling and sharpening the knives. I still have that first one, and cherish it. In fact, it was the first "quality" knife I ever owned, and probably was the first knife I ever bought. A bunch of egotistical butchers and forty years can't be too wrong. Over the years I have added Wusthof, one or two Henckels, and a couple more Victorinox to the knife block. I am happy with all of them. For each task that I wanted a knife, I made a choice based, not on brand, but suitability to purpose and how easy or comfortable the knife was to handle.

I have been advocating the purchase of well-regarded California olive oil for quite a while, and for the last four years have ONLY bought California oils such as Bariani, McEvoy Ranch, California Olive Ranch, and a few others. I always check the production dates. I first read about fraudulent oil back in 2007 in a New Yorker article by Tom Mueller - http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller . Since then it seems like almost every year there's another article or news report on the subject. I only buy oil from companies I know, regardless of where they (are supposed to) originate. The more the subject is brought up and discussed, the better off we'll all be. We have had a couple of threads here on eGullet within the last year or so. Be careful out there!

We may. If you recall my original post, it was about the quality of the Wusthof and how it compared to the Victorinox. We will probably make a decision this weekend. The $14.00, 6-inch Victorinox (with the white handle) may help our decision-making process, although I'm somewhat partial to the Wusthof. We've (I've) no interest in the Santokus.

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.