blue_dolphin

Agreed. I thought it was well done and watchable. The tone was light but not silly. He may have raised an eyebrow or wrinkled his nose on occasion but he wasn't playing a putz and did a nice job of using local food/dining as a window into some aspects of the culture. I'll watch again. It appears that the full Tokyo episode that aired on Monday is available to stream from the PBS site in case anyone wants to take a look: <http://video.pbs.org/video/2365538968/> Edited to add: just scroll down below the series preview window to access the full episode.

This sounds like it will be a fabulous cook's kitchen! I can't quite get my bearings in the photos. At some point, could you provide some orientation to the photos vs the "before" photos in the kitchen photos thread? A sketch of a before and after floor plan would be great but I don't want to make work for you. A photo from the same vantage point would do the trick as well. Thank you for taking us through this process.

I'm looking forward to hitting the road with Smithy, too - where ever we go, there is sure to be something good to eat!

Form Is Content may be on to something WRT to the website having trouble, though local access may play a role, too. I followed your link and was unable to get the content to stream. No error messages, just no go. I noticed (upper left above the video window) the site identified me with KOCE, which will air the first episode tonight. I clicked on "change station" and switched to KLCS (not airing this program at all) and the video played fine. I figured local access must be the ruling factor. Then I went back through your link, changed my station back to KOCE and was able to stream the second episode with no problem, so it would seem my initial conclusion may be incorrect. This is all on an iMac w/Safari. Haven't tried another browser to see if resetting the local station is important. Edited to add that I was able to view the 2 current episodes on my iPad via your link to the PBS website and via the KQED site so perhaps the initial trouble was just a glitch.

PBS is rolling out a 6 part food/travel series called "I'll have what Phil's having," with TV producer and restaurant investor Phil Rosenthal. In an LA Times blurb penned by food writer Russ Parsons, Rosenthal says, ""I'm not an adventurer, but I do like to travel and eat. I hope people will watch me and say, 'If that putz can go out and try something new, maybe I can too." Rosenthal goes into more detail about his idea for the show in this interview in the LA Weekly: "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CREATOR DISHES ON HIS NEW FOOD SHOW" The idea of a guy with that much food and travel experience playing a "putz" sounds like silly TV but after reading the LA Weekly interview, I'll give it a look. It starts tonight in my area.

Agreed on the downhill slide of the Girl Scout Thin Mints. Two possible factors: The scouts use two bakeries and the products are somewhat different. This LA Times piece has a graphic that compares the products and a map that shows who gets which cookies. That piece also includes a video of a taste test between the two versions and I really, really wanted to give the tasters a nice cold glass of milk! Second factor: Both bakeries recently changed their Thin Mints to be vegan. Maybe they should be served with a cold glass of almond milk now????? This comment may be more appropriate to the Girl Scout cookies thread, but I figured this discussion was current. Feel free to move it.

I have been looking for the key lime Oreos that caroled mentioned upthread but no luck so far. Ditto on the red velvet Oreos - I know they were out over the summer and I suspect they are long gone. As far as limited-time flavors, I spotted caramel apple, pumpkin spice (vanilla cookie with flavored filling), brownie batter and the Halloween variety with filling that's orange but not flavored differently. I think I tried these last year, but went for a bag of the caramel apple: There's a little caramel flavor in the brown icing, a little "artificial green apple/Jolly Rancher" flavor in the green icing. The cookie part seemed a bit stale. Two was enough. Have to figure out how to get rid of the rest of the bag now that I can't just leave them in the break room at work!

Cherry lime pops: Nothing terribly novel here. I used a cup and a half of tart cherry juice leftover from the Manhattan pops above, 2/3 cup fresh lime juice, 2 oz homemade limecello and a bit of simple syrup to sweeten. They are tart, sweet and refreshing. And a pretty pink!

My favorites have all been mentioned by others but I'll cast my vote for them, too: Biscoff/Trader Joe's SpeculoosTrader Joe's Triple Ginger SnapsWalker's Shortbread

After watching the first 2 episodes of season 4 of The Mind of a Chef, featuring Gabrielle Hamilton, I put her memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef on my ebook hold list at the library. I'm looking forward to reading it when it lands in my inbox.

Yes, the Ravenswood I got at my TJs is exactly the same bottle as yours. The Charles Shaw stuff is now up to $2.49 here. The Ravenswood is $8.99 at my local Total Wine and the same at BevMo (with a ClubBev card, otherwise $12.99). Edited to add that I had to look up the Charles Shaw price on the website. I do not partake of it myself. I have said this before here: I do not think there is anything "bad" about the Charles Shaw products. They fit the definition of wine. I have not found off tastes or flavors but I find them completely uninteresting. There is no charm, nothing that makes me want to buy another bottle or try it with another meal.

Interesting. I just bought a bottle of the Ravenswood and one of Cline (their regular zin, not the "Ancient Vines" label). Both were $7.99.

That's exactly where I was going with my peach and jalapeño jam, although since I live in So Cal, I had to serve a little pot of jam with some goat cheese instead!

I read a recent WSJ item: "In Belgium, Mayonnaise Makers Want a New Recipe" that I found interesting. Rather than create another mayo thread, I figured this would be a good fit since the article mentions the Hudson Foods "Just Mayo" product and that company's recent entanglements with US labeling regulations that started this thread as well as their legal issues with the Unilever/Hellman's people. That said, the article is more about mayo in Belgium. It is an entertaining read. The article refers to a 60-year old royal decree that declares, "Belgian mayonnaise must contain at least 80% fat and 7.5% egg yolk. European rivals are permitted to sell mayo with a mere 70% fat and 5% egg yolk" and some Belgian mayo manufacturers are apparently looking for some sort of exemption to produce a "basic mayonnaise" to compete with other European products. Some of the quotes: “Why would you put ketchup on your chips? It’s just wrong” “I can hardly think of anything I wouldn’t eat mayonnaise with…..Maybe pancakes.” “Stewed apples with sugar….I eat it with mayonnaise, and I am not the only one.” Back to the thread topic, the article says that Hampton Creek is optimistic about keeping their product name and would like to begin selling its product in a market like Belgium where "people eat a lot of mayonnaise" Not sure if they will be successful but I really want some fresh hot Belgian frites with mayo!

Wow! There are many eGullet posts where I wish I had smell-o-vision hooked up to my screen and this is certainly one of them!

Toast dope

Some Merlot popsicles with blackberries would be nice

Thanks for the Crepes, you are right that I could use some help to make room in the freezer! It's another hot weekend here and last night, I had visions of packing up a cooler and peddling popsicles at the beach. Of course, I'd probably eat half of them to stay cool myself! I don't think I'll take this show on the road, but anyone passing through Ventura County would be most welcome to 'pop' in for some popsicles!

Oh thank you, Shelby! I think I cooked it longer than necessary and could have added another jalapeño. And my attempts to mush up some larger peach chunks at the end introduced a lot of little bubbles but it's tasty. I learned a lot and will keep at it.

She is impressive, is she not? With respect to the "Mind of a Chef" series, in this Fortune piece, that briefly examined her refusals to build an empire, she said "she got to be influential in the writing and driving where it went. She added, “It was a perfect extension of who I was.” I like that!

I am not the accomplished preserver that many of you are. I've gotten a lot of inspiration from this thread but haven't put anything into practice. Making some preserves to serve with cheeses was on my list of things to do this summer. Peaches were 68 cents/lb last week and I had some red jalapeños from my CSA box so I finally got around to making some peach and red jalapeño jam. Served some to friends last night with goat cheese and crispy toasts. It was a hit. Hopefully I can refine my methods and try some more varieties.

That same LA Times article that featured the frozen orange slice negroni pops also had a recipe for Manhattan popsicles. The Manhattan is one of my favorite cocktails but not one I thought suited to popsicles. I always think of it as a "warming" drink and it doesn't feature any flavorful mixer that could be used to dilute it enough to freeze. The published version riffed off the cherry garnish and started off with a packet of cherry Kool-Aid ! Maybe I shouldn't diss it until I try it but I really didn't want to start with Kool-Aid so I picked up some tart cherry juice and gave it a try: There was a lot of sediment in the cherry juice so I filtered it first, added the components of a Manhattan and sliced up some Luxardo cherries to freeze in the pops. They are nice. They taste like a cocktail, for sure, but that much cherry does not equal Manhattan to my tastebuds. An interesting experiment but when I want a Manhattan, I'll serve it up, in a pretty glass!

On today's Good Food (one of my must-listen podcasts) host Evan Kleiman interviewed Mark Bittman about his recent decision to end his opinion column in the Times. He says that he will be writing but doesn't yet know what or where. I'm looking forward to hearing what he does going forward.

Amazing - what a stunning place to live and grow things. I was going to suggest that you take us through the season next year but I think you've gotten us caught up nicely here! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer.

Very interesting. Thanks for the link!