feedmec00kies

I'll second (and third) kishke as your answer. I've never had either the real or vegetarian version, but I remember taking a Passover shopping trip with my junior year roommate where she bought the vegetarian version. And yeah, it came frozen, in a tube like cookie dough or that pre-made polenta.

I think it's already jumped the shark, and I thought it as soon as I saw the Times piece (this was before it was posted on eGullet and FatGuy made his excellent point). One of the other sites I frequent is Reddit (a social news/link website), and there's a "subreddit" devoted to bacon and its worshippers. When I first subscribed, it still felt like the submissions brought new ideas to the table or were at least novel. I never thought that much about making bacon chocolate chip cookies, for example. Now, it feels like very post is either: about Baconnaise; a "new" and ludicrous topic like "How much bacon is enough?" with 10 posts that are a variation on either "There's an upper limit? BLASPHEMY!" or "Until it kills me"; something with bacon piled on so high that the "chef" should have just made a pound of bacon and not wasted time on making the rest of the dish because it's all you would taste anyway; or another photograph of bacon photoshopped/scotch-taped-and-photographed onto small children/animals/nerd-bait. It's nothing really new (anymore) and yet people keep acting like they've done something completely amazing by wrapping yet another meat dish in more bacon, which isn't exactly a new practice. Wasn't bacon-wrapped food big already at one point, years ago??? ARGHHHH. It's a fad, and not just among "foodies" (as you mentioned, slkinsey), and when the Times featured the "bacon explosion" it was definitely at or past its peak. I rolled my eyes at it, as I have about almost every bacon thing I've seen lately. It's not that bacon sucks, or that it's been ruined by all this attention. It's just that maybe, hopefully, people will soon back to acting like bacon isn't some sort of godly amalgamation of cure and pork. I just want people to continue to cook and eat it without making such a big deal about it. However... maybe my opinion is such because I spend too much time on the internet.

According to my boyfriend, who has gone to Chicago, some other breweries to look for are (in order): Bells Founders Dark Horse Tyranena (may or may not be available in Chicago) Surly (may or may not be available in Chicago) Great Lakes Hoppin Frog BrentKulman's suggestion to look on BeerAdvocate is a good idea (Ratebeer's "places" section isn't as good as BA's but here's the Chicago one anyway). The boyfriend said he's also been to Binny's and recommends it. He hasn't really gone anywhere else in Chicago, so he can't recommend any other places

I haven't, but my boyfriend has. Like BrentKulman, he trades for most, but has bought a few things online. By the way, if you're looking to use eBay expand on the amount of beer you've had but don't trade, you really should trade instead. Most of the stuff on eBay is overpriced, especially for current special releases with a lot of hype. The majority the special releases you'll find are sold by of people who got extra bottles over the limit (usually by going on line again or asking/paying someone to stand in line for them) and selling them on eBay at a markup. What eBay is better for is to buy really special, rare/vintage stuff that you can't trade or buy elsewhere. The stuff my boyfriend has bought online has been mostly older vintages, like old De Dolle beers and Bass King's Ale (and some of their other commemorative beers). He seems pretty happy with what he's bought, and with the whole buying process, but he seems to shop around a lot and look for deals that seem worth it.

So far, a search on Google has yielded this article which mentions a product called Zevia. According to the FAQ:

Also, that thing can't possibly work right if the butter is anything but ice-cold. You let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes and it probably already starts to gum up.

You can find kvass if you go to Brooklyn and look in the right (read: Russian) stores. I'm not a huge fan, so I can't give you specifics at the moment. I might be able to get suggestions from someone for you. As for Pittsburgh, it was true. East End Brewing did a special brewing with Tom Baker from (what was) Heavyweight Brewing two times, in fall of 2006 and 2007. It's not available anymore, though, since it was draft only and they haven't brewed it since. You can read about it if you like, though: clicky. Hope that helps.

I think that's because salt/sodium is somewhat necessary to tasting glutamates/glutamic acid.

Actually, I'm fairly certain he received some of their chocolates for Christmas 2 winters ago. I think his mother bought some for him. He wasn't really all that impressed with what he tried, so I wanted to try a different chocolatier this time around. Also, I know he doesn't want bars, so the bacon chocolate is probably out of the question for him. Not for me, though.

I discovered Nestle Tango cookies at work yesterday. One of my coworkers brought some in, along with some other Ecuadorian confection. Cream-filled vanilla (?) cookies, covered in chocolate. Mmmmm. There's something I really, really like about the flavor that I can't quite place my finger on. Sadly, I've never seen them around me. Two of my coworkers said I'd be able to find them in Queens. I'll probably just hope that one of them picks up a bag for me, since I'm almost never there. Won't hurt to keep my access to them restricted.

Anyone have any thoughts to share now, in 2008? I'm thinking of buying a box of chocolates for my fiancé for the holidays; his parents used to buy him and his sister each a box of Leonidas chocolates for Christmas when they were young, and I know he's always interested in chocolate. I just was wondering how Kee's has been since the last post, or if there's anywhere else I should investigate.. I can't complain about the idea of having to go out and eat some myself. Related questions: Is there a preferred method of storage for the chocolates if I buy them a little in advance? What's the maximum amount of time I should buy them ahead of time (sorry if that question is totally sacreligious)?

I second that request, please! I'd really appreciate it as well.

Wow, there are some creative people out there. I gotta say that along with the meta turkey, I really like the matzoh ball turkey, just because I love matzoh balls. My fiancé's only reaction was "ewwwww," though. No love for the turkey molds.

Chinese tea eggs. Some recipes call for smoked tea, and others for black.

meredithla, That recipe was really good! I just made it yesterday, since my boyfriend is a bit of a nut when it comes to mustard and we have more jars than we know what to do with. He actually proposed that the recipe might be good with beer instead of the wine, particularly a tripel or a saison (I should mention that we pretty much never have wine around, so a suitable beer substitution would be great). Something drier and yeasty. Might have to try it next time...

Heh, I know that's a joke, but I got to say... I don't think someone who got flack for publicly commenting about the price of arugula at Whole Foods is too interested in someone who teaches people the finer points of deep-fried butter balls and the lady's brunch burger.

Wow . . . . have you been inside? ← No, I have an allergic reaction to most places like that. ← I don't know, I had thought about going myself, just to say I had. Maybe because it's ironic. I went to school in Rochester but never made it, but know at least one person who has (and bought a shirt!). Maybe when I visit this spring I'll convince some friends that it's a good idea.

Let me pipe up and add that suggestions for people who dislike celery (like me) are appreciated. I buy it because I need the texture in certain things (namely tuna salad) but I won't really eat it otherwise. Only so much ants-on-a-log (the celery with peanut butter, plus raisins) I can swallow.

Seconded on the chocolate museum. Unfortunately, I don't think we have any pictures from the museum itself. But they also had a thorough explanation of how pralines (using the filled chocolate definition common in Belgium) and chocolates in general are made, percentages of the contents which qualify it as milk, dark, bittersweet, etc. Also, there was a demonstration at the end. Unfortunately, it was in Flemish, but we could get the gist of it. We were together with a school group; the children gobbled their chocolates without thinking while the adults in their group savored them. Do brewery and cidery tours count as food museums? When we were on that same trip to Belgium, we toured Cantillon Brewery in Brussels. They brew lambic, so it's a different process, and their brewery is almost museum-like (their site touts their brewery as "Brussel's Museum for the Gueuze". They give some history for the style and the traditional process for production (which they still follow). I don't think I've actually been on a "traditional" brewery tour, though. We've also gone on some cidery tours near Montreal. I think my favorite was at Michel Jodoin, since it was quite thorough and they make some great ciders to boot. (edited to add some more links)

Are you focusing on liquor? I did a paper as an undergraduate on beer and discovered that prohibition had an effect on it as well, but I don't know if that's getting too broad for you.

I just bought the pan, and I'll try making some brownies tonight! Shellfishfiend (and purplewiz), the Bakers Edge people are making a lasagna pan! :-D They also mention in the FAQ that you can use the regular one, but the noodles might need to be shortened a bit. (edited to add a link and stuff)

On the website for my local cookware store, while checking to see if they had the Baker's Edge, I saw this: Slice Solutions Bakeware. I wonder how much it ends up browning between pieces... The metal divider doesn't look like it conducts too much heat, but who knows. Anyone care to comment?

I am a bread fiend, and have always been, so I could just fill up on bread if/when I let myself. But yes, the heels are most certainly mine, and I've never had to compete for them. I also like to buy smaller things like crusty rolls so that I have a better crust-to-soft-bits ratio. I bought one of those, then a second one and now I have four, two unused, for "just in case" they stop making them. I also use the perforated pans for some things to get a really nice crust on the bottom. Not just for pizza! ← So I see you like the pan, then, andiesenji? I saw that it was reviewed favorably by Cooks Illustrated a few issues ago, and it sounds amazing, but I didn't buy it because I lack the space for something that's so single function. Well, my 9x13 is a little weird for baked goods (it's a deep roasting/lasagna pan), so maybe I'll just get the edge pan for the few sweet things I make from time to time! (edited for spelling)

I second that session!

My question is how the Michelin Guide reviewers managed to get in.