feedmec00kies

Oh wait, look what I found: clicky All the way downtown - 9 Broadway (hence the name "New York Wine Exchange"). No idea what their selection is like otherwise, but a category search for "sake rice" (why "sake sake" and "sake rice"? no idea) brought up at least 50-something results.

My boyfriend has somewhat been getting into sake, and it seems that many places have overlap - no one location seems to carry everything. That being said, Astor Wines and Liquors has a pretty good selection. I searched their site, but didn't find the one you were looking for, unfortunately. I don't suppose you know who the distributor/importer is, do you?

To sound "smart".

Mmmm, I for one would drink really gingery ginger soda, but.. well.. I'm just one. And I started this thread. The grapefruit + ginger ice cream sounds delicious. Now I need to find some ginger ice cream next time I'm at the market.

Just remembered something the other day. Boxed mashed potato "mix". Ok, I understand it's a convenience thing, and I had a friend who would eat it because he admitted he really was just too damn lazy to make it with real potatoes. He also drank Boost to make up for his ridiculous diet. Although... even he had standards. He relayed a story of shock and horror from when he went home during some break and his parents said, "Hey, guess what we found at the supermarket... MASHED POTATOES IN A TUB!!"

I would suggest not only working up to the "good" stuff in the future, but actually explaining the custom before handing them each a piece of balsamic'ed parmesan. After all, you can't expect people to know how things are "supposed to be done" or how special/rare something really is if no one ever told them. And this is supposed to be a "gourmet" group, so presumably they're interested in learning something and not just eating...

Not quite a kitchen story, but an ex-boyfriend had a dog who would neatly steal 1 slice (yes, a slice) of pizza from a pie brought home if the box if left unattended on the table.. She apparently would even make sure the box was shut behind her!

I've found that all cans of smoked oysters are not created equally. I've eaten quite a few smoked oysters in my time (my mom would buy them when we were little as one of those little side-type things to eat with rice and add a little flavor/salt) and some are mealier than others. I also like them despite the smoke flavor - I usually don't like that stuff. That being said, I need to find a brand that's decent so I can make some of those tasty-sounding scrambled eggs!

Wow, that gmail idea is sounding better and better.. maybe I should make an account just for recipes? I've been following this topic because I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to do this myself. At the moment, I've been printing all my recipes to PDF (a.k.a. making them into adobe .pdf documents) and saving them, without really any folder organization. Ideally, I think I should probably make some sort of database in MS Access or something where I can cross-reference my recipes and see what file name goes with what. Alas, that would mean me sitting down and actually doing it...

From the Mountain Rose description (also found on this page for another company), the text makes me believe that it's just natural flavorings sourced from "certified organic" foods/substances/whatever. Probably doesn't need/have a separate FDA category because it's really just natural flavoring. Whatever. As long as none of these natural flavors come from apples. I remember Schlosser saying they tend to have arsenic. (Not that a small amount of arsenic will actually kill you... it doesn'd build up like lead..)

Ohh... Uhhh, I'll be right back. I have to, uh... put something in the closet. Way back there. Yeah.

Ahh, yes. Oops. Too many people (contemplating) slaughtering hens around here!

So you finally did it, eh? I remember your original post about slaughtering those chickens. (So, what became of that? I can't find a link somehow... did you post pictures of it?) As I said in that post, I think my mom has said something about making a soup out the ovaries, presumably including these eggs? I don't know for sure, unfortunately. You might want to ask in the China & Chinese Cuisine forum if this preparation sounds appealing. I wonder, did you save the chicken feet? Mmmm....

The problem with latkes is that what makes them good is being crispy - something that's hard to achieve if they're cooked the day before or even too early ahead of time. Is it plausible to cook them most of the way the day before and then finish them the day of? You could probably lay them out flat on baking sheets (no greasing provided they had enough oil on them from the first frying), stick them in a preheated oven, and flip them once or twice until brown.

I've used chef's knives by Farberware (BB&B) and a Heckels santoku (came with a paring knife or something at Target) bought for 20 or under and they're fine for beginners/instable living situations. Certainly better than the "common" knives in my house's kitchen at school (some people really buy some god-awful knife sets, let me tell you). Nothing amazing, but I found that they were decently sharp, and if you're good about honing the knife it'll stay sharp. I'd like to note that I probably wouldn't have bought knives multiple times except that once it was lost at the end of 2 of the years due to miscommunication (I thought my s/o was going to take it, since he was staying in the area during the summer) and a bad breakup (with the s/o). The 3rd I gave to my sister who hasn't really gotten into cooking too much yet, but was somewhat in need of a decent chef's knife.

You need a partner who'll say, "Why the hell did you/are you buy(ing) this?" Although there are no guarantees... he/she might fail you at the most inconvenient moments (a.k.a. "Mmmm, what's this?")

Excuse my bluntness here, but I feel like this "dumbing down" thing (which I think is more where the post was originally going) is a little harsh. I never feel like it's my place to decide what quality of food a person is "deserving" of. Plus, I don't think we're talking about feeding these "non-foodies" something like Korean hot-pot with tripe and goat intestines (sidenote: Mmm). The kinds of meats and cheeses that one entertains with are usually in the more "accessible" range, no? Isn't that more the food that the OP was referring to, anyway? Let me put it this way. My boyfriend, as the "beer geek" in his family, bought 5 or so bombers and 750s to bring for Thanksgiving at his mom's house. He bought what he saw at the store that would be good - ignoring the price. Everyone who tried the beer enjoyed it (almost everyone had a sip or two at least), even people who would probably have been happy enough without the Unibroue 10, Goulden Carolus, etc. Was the beer "wasted" on them because they couldn't quite put their finger on what was good about it, or because they would have drank a macrobrew? Neither of us think so.

Maybe I'm just lucky that the people I am friends with people can appreciate food. I've never felt it necessary to "save the good stuff" for myself. Then again, I would probably aim for around the same price point as they would be spending on me, unless they really didn't seem to be trying very hard. Then that would just be rude on their part. There are exceptions... but really just for things that are incredibly (like, "Honey, we now have no money for heat for the next month..") expensive and incredibly (like, "I just traded someone a 2004 Three Floyds Dark Lord for this 9 ounce nip of beer") rare. Food is more than just nourishment - there are all sorts of cultural meanings around what we eat and drink, and what we feed others with. Ditto on the teenager things said before. Now, for the essay: It really comes down to the kind of food environment that people grew up with. People who grew up being exposed to all kinds of foods will usually be more adventurous (and also have developed their palate). Those who grew up eating mostly prepared foods, foods with little seasoning, or without exposure to things like offal or even seeing a fish whole with its head at the dinner table will usually be less adventurous (of course, they might also be more interested in trying things once they find out how good food can be!) I don't think it's fair to fault people for how they grew up and learned to eat (unless they try and act like foodies but have no clue... then they're completely open to attack ). Sometimes it's just that their parents both worked and felt they had no time to cook things from scratch. And yes, sometimes they can't actually tell the difference. It's not like they're actually committing some atrocity.. it just might seem like it to those of us with more "discerning" tastes. It seems to me that the way people taste tends to be similar to sound. Some people just can't tell the difference between bad notes or bad flavors, but those are actually very few and far between. Studies have shown that "perfect pitch," long believed to be inherited in some way, is actually more prevalent in regions of the world where they speak tonal languages; the thought is that exposure from birth to these kinds of sounds -- languages with minute differences that must be distinguished in order to extract meaning -- causes those individuals to develop their "palate" for tones. In my experience, this is often how taste works as well. Exposure from a young age tends to be quite important. And after all, there are packaged/prepared foods that have their own "je ne sais quoi" that make them tasty or desirable because they evoke some sort of emotion or other kind of appreciation. It's not just about not being able to taste. I'll admit I like packaged instant ramen (yes, yes, as a seperate entity from the "real" stuff). Yeah. I said it. I like packaged instant ramen. It's comfort food for me. What are you going to do about that, huh?? HUH?? (edited for emphasis)

Interesting, BeJam. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that historical habits like this one tend to come back as a way to show off/establish class. Hmmm.

Yes. ...But then again, I don't have loads of money or the desire to conspiciously consume, either. And, I can't see how the quality (within reason) of the knife I'm using to cooked food could seriously impact my meal.

I'm jealous! Include little ol' me in the East Village too. ::sigh:: Counterspace? Maybe.... 3 square feet?

First off, let me reiterate that Sallie Mae really is a cruel bitch. She likes to make me cry. Secondly, congrats on your decision. I admire your boldness, and wish you the best. And to answer your question: Well, if I had to pick one place/region for food (ideally, I'd not want to limit myself of course), I think I'd go for Hong Kong or China. I guess I love that kind of food because it's what I have been exposed to most of my life. I finally came to that conclusion, recently, when I was eating some duck confit. As good as it was, I still felt it couldn't stand up to (for me) some nice roasted duck that I could get for significantly less from some window in Chinatown. Maybe it's more of a comfort food thing? I have no idea. All I know right now is that roast duck noodle soup sounds like a great idea. Too bad I don't know anywhere near me ATM to get it for lunch!

a little late in the game for pumpkin beers, but just had southern tier pumking. good stuff.

Thanks for the help everyone! I did the shells the morning of, before we took the train up to my boyfriend's mom's house (speaking of which, early afternoon on Thanksgiving at Grand Central is absolute hell!), blind baking them with little foil-wrapped packets of uncooked rice to help them keep their shape. I did end up using oil, and it worked fine; I flavored the oil a bit (the night before, so it was cool) with thyme. Everyone seemed to enjoy them very much, and it was nice and light; especially good when everyone's munching and waiting to stuff themselves to the brim with food!

Yeah, I kinda forgot about the layering part of filo dough for a bit, and then remembered it when I was reading the handy link weinoo posted. I think I'm going to use olive oil. Should I be using a different kind of oil? Also, this website I'm looking at mentions using clarified butter. Is this safe? Or should I not risk it?