blue_dolphin

I forgot to mention the cost. With the Egullet 30% discount, the cost of each 4-pack was $34.96 (list = 49.95) Shipping for the 2 4-packs I ordered came to $15.00 and tax added $6.12 for a total of $91.05, which works out to a reasonable $11.38/stem

The order I placed last week for a box of reds and one of whites arrived today and I'm very pleased. The glasses are lovely to look at and the boxes are certainly gift-worthy and well designed to protect the glasses during shipping without a gross excess of paper or bubble wrap. No extensive taste testing here and I'm hardly the one to do that in any case but I went ahead and poured a few ounces of my current house red and white. In comparison to my usual wine glasses, the wine seems much more crisply focused in The One glasses. Sort of like putting eye glasses on, for those who need them or adjusting the focus of a lens. Very nice. I'll order more.

Me, too. Went to Macy's to look for them on Sunday. No luck. So I also ordered reds and whites to try with the discount - thank you very much!

Hopefully that was a temporary glitch. I took a quick look and was able to log in just fine with the 2 browsers that I use (Safari and Camino)

Corinna, I order RG beans myself pretty regularly. For some reason I decided paying $1/pound for shipping was OK so I try to order at least 8 pounds. Not a problem - usually it's more. My regulars: Ojo de Cabra (Goat's Eye) is one of my favorites, along with Good Mother Stallard. You should try one of them or both. They are great by themselves, in my favorite pasta with beans and greens or mashed up as a dip. You mentioned Black Midnights and you can't go wrong with them. I use them for black bean chili, black bean soup and they're great in a black bean and roasted corn salad. I usually get at several lbs of them when I order. I also second your pick for Cannellini beans. Sometimes I struggle with getting them fully cooked without falling apart but that just makes them great for dips. Yellow Indian Woman beans are another one that I like a lot because it works well on its own, in salads, or smashed up with garlic and olive oil into a warm bean spread. The Christmas Lima's are great in the recipe from the book with beets and quinoa and are worth the purchase for that alone. You didn't mention salads as a use and I usually shy away from the bigger beans but this recipe is a keeper. Tepary beans are something I like to keep on hand because they work in soups, salads and spreads. And they're so darned cute! The Vallarta beans are really versatile and hold their shape very well compared with some other light skinned beans. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, this was my experience. My free trial expired on July 31, while I was off on vacation with no computer access. I was pleased to read this part of the e-mail notice I received: This thread reminded me to go back and pay for a membership and all my books were still there.

One of my co-workers keeps a package of Oreos in his desk drawer. He eats 2 cookies each afternoon. I find such restraint unnatural.

I see frozen rabbit in grocery stores pretty often. Most comonly from the Pel-Freez company.

Ach! Too late on the cheating part. My bookshelf is right next to me with the year on the spine of "Judgement of Paris" so I won't answer.

Agreed. In my experience, acetone/nail polish remover will easily remove Sharpie ink from glass. It may also dissolve some plastics so rubbing alcohol may be a better first pass on plastic containers.

I looked in yesterday. Doors were open, presumably for air, and at least one (construction?) worker was lounging out front but the space doesn't look quite ready to launch to me.

I agree. It's summer when I start buying cases of this. Bought a case at Binny's last weekend for $5.99/bottle. With the case discount it's pretty much $5/bottle. Another fan of Vinho Verde in the summer. One of my friends refers to it as "daytime wine". I've been enjoying the $3.99 Vinho Verde they've been carrying at Trader Joe's.

What a great opening line! I can imagine so many ways to finish that story (I don't really belong in this thread. Just popped in to see what other people are eating while nibbling on my own dinner: the other half of the "Mediterranean Chicken Pita" that I bought for lunch from the cafeteria)

This is my experience as well though I now have an electric wall oven. I had some great older gas stoves in rental apts. Some of the newer low end stoves have lower power burners and I found them disappointing. I'll add that the idea of a gas dryer was most alarming to me at first, but gas has generally been less expensive than electricity in this area so you'll probably find it in rentals.

Not especially healthy, I'm sure but I'm partial to the cranberry shortbread cookies. I thought they were a seasonal holiday item but they're still available in my local stores. I HATE when that happens. Two of my recently dearly departeds are the Artichoke Lemon Pesto from the refrigerated case and the Mixed Grilled Vegetable Bruschetta that came in an hexagonal glass jar. I'm still hoarding a jar of the latter so I can try to replicate it.

Thanks for posting this! I tried the asparagus pesto yesterday after seeing it in Bittman's Minimalist column last week and it was great - the flavors said, "Spring!" to me like basil pesto says, "Summer!" I tasted it on some crusty bread while I was waiting for the pasta to cook and it was so tasty I almost skipped the pasta! Tonight, I'm going to try the spinach and chickpea dish from smittenkitchen that you posted earlier. I'm hosting a group for drinks after work and that and the leftover asparagus pesto should be nice to spread on toasted bread.

This is hardly a feat but... 10 dozen bite-sized quiches. I'm now aware that pre-formed pastry is available but I'm still not doing it again!

Faced with a Danish Kringle from Larsen's Bakery in Seattle, I can't stop myself. Probably a good thing I don't live there.

In one of the offices I worked in, we used the Sunbeam Hot Shot to heat water for coffee, tea and soup. They heat up to 16 oz of water in about 60-90 sec and tended to last about 5 years or so with fairly heavy use.

I just bought a 1960's home with a recently (2008) remodeled kitchen so none of the choices were mine. I have this Blanco 1 & 3/4 sink, with 8" and 10" deep basins and I really like the extra depth on one side. It also has a pull out faucet, something I'd always wanted, and it seems to be working fine. If you've always wanted granite countertops, then go ahead and get them. Home buyers do seem to expect them so they should add value to your home. This is the first time I've had granite. My last few kitchens have had tile and I'm so happy to be free of the dreaded grout. I have no complaints about the granite so far. Mine seems to be the color of crumbs and is very easy to take care of.

This is hardly haute cuisine (more like a Campbell's soup casserole) but there's a recipe in the Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook for Pasta with Marinated Artichoke Hearts that I adapt from time to time. It's handy when I'm asked to make dinner in an unfamiliar kitchen because it's easy to grab all the ingredients in any supermarket. Not sure how it would work with a BIG jar of artichokes because you start by draining the liquid into a skillet and then gently saute a pile of thinly sliced onions in the drained-off marinade, which provides most of the seasoning. I believe the recipe adds a bit of extra olive oil and butter; sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I usually add some sliced mushrooms, something green (like zucchini or asparagus), some red bell pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Meanwhile, cut up the artichokes and add them to the pan when the veggies are about cooked. Once all that's warmed through, remove the pan from the heat and stir in some sour cream and your cooked, drained pasta. Sprinkle with a bit of parmesan. Sometimes I add shrimp or scallops. Or bacon. I suspect leftover chicken would work, too.

I don't have a dedicated freezer, only the top part of the fridge. I am going to clean it out though because I'm moving. We'll see if there's anything interesting in there. You might try the recipe from last week's NYT article titled Duck Confit, and Hold the Fat that describes a method for confit without adding additional fat. I'd like to try it myself but I'm unlikely to find any duck legs in my freezer since I've never bought any! Though I must say braised duck legs with cherries and port sounds awfully good....

I have never even tried to make my own pie crust. I buy Pillsbury All-Ready Pie Crusts and fit them nicely into my glass pie pans so they look homemade. I re-cork partial bottles of wine, stash them in the fridge and consume them 3, 4, even 5 days later - well beyond the recommended 24 hours. And I think they taste OK. We're talking < $20/bottle wines, so maybe they weren't all that great to begin with

I don't think California's any different from anywhere else in the US with respect to home cooking. Some people do, others don't. On the produce front, once you get here, visit a half dozen or so of the local farmer's markets and draw your own conclusions. They've all got their different personalities. I recommend visiting the Santa Monica Wednesday market and the Hollywood Sunday market for starters. And for strawberries, this isn't the best time of year for them, but look for Harry's Berries at the farmer's markets.

My Kitchen Aid blender handles the frozen pumpkin, mango chunks and banana just fine. Either thawing partially or freezing in smaller pieces would help if the blender struggles. I put the spinach in raw, broccoli too. Pumpkin and beets get cooked. I use 1/2 cup pumpkin + 1/4 - 1/2 of a banana + about 50g frozen mango chunks + a sprinkle of cinnamon + a grating of nutmeg blended with nonfat milk, soy milk and/or OJ Edited to add that I sometimes throw in a few pieces of fresh carrot to give this smoothie a little more of an orange color With spinach, I use quite a bit. 100-150g fresh baby spinach + 1/4 of a banana + 50g frozen mango or pineapple chunks blended with OJ and maybe a few ice cubes. This smoothie is a brilliant green color and has a fresh "green" taste but the spinach flavor is not overpowering. Mature spinach would probably have a stronger flavor than the younger leaves bagged for salad that I usually buy.