pjs

Sebring is still strange. I think that's why I like it in small doses. BTW the best place for lunch there is the airport. I'm just trying to see if I can get the seeds to germinate, not necessarily to plant, so I placed them in-between sheets of moistened paper toweling and have been keeping them moist, but nothing is happening. I've have lots more seeds, so if you have a better method of germinating let me know. PJ

Lots of good advice has been given so far. Maple is the gold-standard for cutting boards. I'll just add that when doing your lay-up alternate the ring orientation as seen in the end grain. In other words, one piece with the rings facing down, next piece with the rings facing up, etc. Makes for a more stable board. Have fun and don't try to get it perfect. Perfection is always one project away. PJ

Off-Topic: Robyn, since you travel the length of the state, Jacksonville to Miami, you might want to check-out the sleepy agriculturally-sustained towns in central South Florida some time. I travel down US27 to Sebring often. One of my favorite Sebring memories is driving down a two-lane bisecting the orange groves very early in the morning in the spring. The scent of orange blossom was heavy, the bees were buzzing, and the fog was just starting to lift. It was like being on another planet. On Topic: My seeds are doing squat. PJ

I bought a couple of packets yesterday to bolster the personal stockpile. This batch smells incredible but is still lacking on the 9Volt (ma la) scale in the raw state. Upon seeing your post Michael, I picked out a dozen or so tiny, shiny black seeds and will try to germinate them. PJ

I live in a different part of the state than Kartherine Harris. Have never read about her lawsuits. As for citrus in the middle of the Florida peninsula (including Cocoa Beach and lots of the Orlando area) - its disappearance didn't have anything to do with canker. There was a series of 3 major freezes (I seem to recall it was in the 70's - maybe early 80's). A mature citrus tree can survive one freeze - it's crippled after 2 - and 3 strikes and you're out. After that - most of the central Florida citrus industry moved further south. A lot of citrus was planted in areas that had previously been used for crops like sugar. Robyn I agree. I misworded that last sentence, I meant due to canker. It was a rant against big agri-business. More on how these independents are being squeezed out can be found in this recent Daytona Beach News-Journal article. Also note how the Brazilians are shouldering their way in: Current thought is that the canker bacteria is spread by the severe wind-blown afternoon rainstorms that are common to south Florida. The rain washes the bacteria from an infected tree and carries it another. In fact they used this theory in devising their 1,900' radius of culling around an infected tree. Gary, I was thinking that the bacteria could lie dormant or geographically isolated in a native wild plant, waiting for the next hurricane. Trees infected with the strain from the 1986 outbreak--a different strain than the current 1995 outbreak--were found in the late 90's. BTW, there is no prickly ash west of the rockies. As to Szechuan Peppercorns causing citrus canker, from what I've read I'd first have to find some infected peppercorns. I'd have to grind them up, maybe make a paste out of them. Then I would need to find a citrus tree. This would be difficult if I didn't live in Florida, California or Texas. Finally I'd have to rub the paste or power into the plants leaves. I wonder if the bacteria is even viable in the dried state of the spice. PJ

Gary, I seem to remember that Zanthothoxylum is not a native plant on the west coast. I'll research further. PJ

Ah yes. Katherine Harris. Have all the god-awful lawsuits over inherited citrus money between her and her siblings been settled yet? What we're dealing with here is an ancient, no longer relevent regulation--dated nineteen-fifty, fuckin' nine--barring imports based on speculation. Jeez, I recently viewed an aerial survey of Cocoa Beach taken in the '60's. There were orange groves everywhere. I don't think their almost total absence today is due to a freakin' spice from Asia. PJ

Basic classification info for Szechuan Peppercorns is available here. I found a complete classification breakdown for Zanthoxylum Simulans (Szechuan Peppercorns) here. Family is Rutaceae, Sub-Family is Rutoideae. So, Szechuan Peppercorns have been subject to quarantine in the US for the past 45 years according to Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 319.19, which you can search for here. If interested, you can download the USDA's Department of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) manuals here. As Eddie mentioned, what's strange is why the USDA is now coming down hard after over forty years of basically looking the other way. I also noticed in my googling that many genus Zanthoxylum plants are native to the US, at least two can be found in Florida. PJ

I think this is the mother regulation (dated 1959). Szechuan Peppercorns are in the Rutaceae family (citrus). I'm not sure about their sub-family but I'd place a good bet they are included in one of those listed. You won't find a reference to actual Szechuan Peppercorns in all of this mumbo-jumbo, only their classification name. Frankly, after slogging through mind-numbing, misleading, ill-constructed government sites for an hour or so today I felt like someone has been whacking me in the temples with a ball-peen hammer. So I stopped when I found this document. Some other things to note: According to the manual for US port inspectors, ALL citrus seeds are subject to quarantine. I'll dig up the link if anyone would like it. Also, Szechuan Peppercorns are not actually peppercorns. They are the buds of a citrus plant. The import restrictions on pepper plants and parts are quite unrestrictive. This mislabeling could lead to easier entry in my opinion. I can provide a link on this info too. BTW my beloved central Florida asian grocer has restocked his prominent display of Szech Pep after having his inventory confiscated by the feds last year. Complete with a hand-lettered sign promoting the stale product. Wouldn't be the first time he's had to pay a big fine. I need another drink. PJ

glad to see someone did some research. Tommy, is this what you're looking for? PJ PS: NeroW, do you actually have a recording of the song you quoted lyrics from in your sig?

Aga, where are you location-wise? Did you serve the borscht hot or cold? Mit sour cream? Inquiring minds want to know. PJ

If they're such great drivers, why don't they ever turn right? They don't have to. They hire Trans-Am drivers for those races. Back OT: Nascar veteran Sterling Marlin once playfully disparaged the sportscar teams and drivers in town for the 24hr race preceding the Daytona 500 as, "those wine and cheese guys." I took it as a compliment. I guess Sterling is now a "Bud and Brownie" kind a guy. PJ

Cheese on top of the sauce. The most important characteristic of the oven is that it has to be HOT!! A really hot oven will produce what are know as "New York Blisters" in the crust. A ~20" pie is usually cut into eight slices. I max out at four of them. PJ

You forgot the complimentary bowl of cellophane wrapped crackers and ramekin of smoked fish spread! PJ

Hey Nick! Yeah, Norwood's is still on my short list. Problem is, it's 20+ miles away from where I'm currently located. I have a hard enough time convincing dinnermates that we don't really need to go to Red Lobster again for the umpteenth time, to push my luck and suggest a 30 min. drive to New Smyrna Beach and back. I'm thinking of going down solo for a wine tasting, though. One of the best burgers in Daytona can be found at The Brickyard, 747 W Int'l Speedway Blvd. I've been eating, and drinking there for 24 years. The bikers who are sometimes present there are friendly bikers. PJ

I could very well be wrong, but I think The Cellar was a long-established, well-regarded restaurant that had to relocate after being punted off their beachfront location--to make way for the latest condo tower with a Bubba Gumps. You might be onto something here. PJ

I just spoke to my mom and she told me she liked the chopped liver I made for her last weekend, but it needed more oil. I told her I didn't use oil, I used schmaltz. She then proceeded to tell me, from memory, how to make ersatz schmaltz--very popular in the Catskills she said. All I remember of the recipe is that it included some carrot for color. PJ

No argument from me on the essential wrongness of Cool Whip. But is whipped cream in a can really "shit"? I thought it was basically cream plus sugar plus gas to whip it. Not the same as cream whipped up fresh, but nothing objectionable either. Maybe not shit but not real whipped cream either. It's over-sweetened with corn syrup. Extra ingredients include: non-fat milk, vegetable mono and diglycerides, natural and artificial flavor. Also, as laurenmilan mentioned, the texture is all wrong. It's OK for what it is. It does cost less than Cool-Whip, but a pint of heavy whipping cream is still the least expensive and best tasting. PJ

Real whipped cream was the first product I was allowed to prepare on my own for public consumption. So simple, even a 14 year-old could make it--with a hand whisk. There is nothing better. The canned shit at least has some nitrous oxide content. The crap in the tub is noteworthy because it has no known useful purpose--like Sandra's show. PJ

fresco, it's like watching a train wreck. I watched Sandra assemble some small cake decoration and plop it down among the pre-made by staff ones. Her's was truly pathetic and stuck-out like a sore thumb. At least Martha has some chops. PJ

Ed Levine's piece is now up on the NYTimes site. Someone start a thread in Media. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/31/dining/3...ml?pagewanted=1 I'm busy sauteing a chicken. PJ

Growing up on the border of Nassau County and with most of my family living in Queens we always got our bagels from places in Little Neck, Douglaston or Hollis Hills. Union Turnpike was the Bagel capital of the world. Back in the day I remember these bagels being boiled, they were chewy, dense, and they were more well done then most bagels are today. As far as I am concerned they kicked the crap out of any bagels in NYC today, even the "good" ones. There was a great bagel shop on Union Turnpike at 260th St. The interior was unpartitioned so you could watch all the stages of prep and baking which was fascinating to this at the time snot-nosed urchin. All they sold until near the point they closed were bagels and bialys and they were never flavored. The bagels however were available topped with salt, garlic, poppy seeds or sesame seeds. They were there in 1960 when we moved to the area and closed down in the second half of the 70's. I can still remember the amazed look on my Italian-American schoolmate's face when I bought him a still warm one to try. PJ

I've been using the imported Cento peeled tomatoes exclusively for quite some time--$1.79/35oz can. When the Pomi boxes showed up on the supermarket shelf--$1.59/26 oz--I began stocking both. PJ PS: The current Cento can has a recipe for red sauce with tuna on the back--one of my favorite pasta sauces (I use Marcella's recipe though). Try finding a recipe as un-mainstream on a Progresso can--or the dish at the Olive Garden.

Nice piece Chad, I enjoyed it. Especially the idea of chamfering the spine of my big fat Whustof for a more comfortable hold. I should of thought of this fix long ago. Guess I'm oblivious to the obvious. Yup. Been there, done that. Most likely will do it again at some point in the future. Here's a caveat about reshaping exotic hardwood handles. The dust created by machining or sanding some of these woods can produce severe allergic respiratory symptoms--so be careful. Cocobolo has a particularly notorious reputation. PJ

And buy tickets for high-holy day services? Sammy's Roumanian. The NYTimes gives them three $'s and no stars which is why I didn't mention them by name. Which, upon reflection is wrong. Any place with a pitcher of Schmaltz on every table deserves recognition despite the prices. PJ