haresfur

2 oz reposado tequila 1 oz Campari 1 tsp raspberry cordial juice of 1 Valencia orange (do you really want me to measure?) 3 dashes Regan's orange bitters Build in Collins glass. Add ice, then top with soda water. The Valencia oranges aren't particularly acidic so this might be a bit sweet for some. More refreshing than challenging. The raspberry sits in the background at first. I used duty free Jose Cuervo for prototyping and a better tequila would be worth trying. I'll make again as long as oranges are in season.

You might want to start with dishes that use meat in smaller amounts to accent the vegetables, like stir fries or stews. I think putting a wad of sausage in your stomach if you haven't eaten meat in a long time might be hard on the system. Chicken breast should be fairly easy to take. Aside from that - head for the smoked salmon.

If pink slime is a reasonable thing to eat, how come it isn't available in pure form? Has anyone managed to try it to see how it tastes? I come down on the side of it not being ground beef, rather an additive that should be labelled.

I see a whole line of freeze-dried cocktails in your future. Just add vodka...

Amen. In my post that got eaten , I made a reference to a diner that had been reviewed by that couple (whose names escape me) who review "Roadfood" in various spots in the US. This particular diner is on historic Route 66 a couple of towns over from me. The authors had raved about the chicken fried steak, so we decided to stop in for lunch when we were in the town and try it out. It was dreadful. On the other hand I had a great chile relleno at the Club Cafe on Route 66 in Santa Rosa NM. When you find the great local meals they make the trip. I agree as I mentioned above that independent isn't necessarily good. The point above about the difficulty getting good ingredients may be part of it. However, sometimes people without the right skills or temperament try to fill the culinary void.

You could save yourself half a day by buying a case!

When I first moved to eastern Washington State, the locals #1 wish was for an Olive Garden - complete with lobbying the parent company. I did find that amusing. Yes there was a local Italian Restaurant that I personally didn't think was that great. Unfortunately, I got pretty jaded about marginal representations of various types of food. Luckily it got better with time. In any case, the idea of reliable food that is different from home but not outside the comfort zone is attractive to a lot of people. And the choices for that are limited in a lot of towns. As far as the review goes, what's the point of detailing the nuances of one dish? Probably better to let people know what to expect when they walk in the door. And what's the point of comparing the Olive Garden to 'real' Italian if that isn't an option? That being said, it could have been a bit more useful by talking about the noise level, table sizes, speed of service (ok if you survive the wait, you will be able to live on salad and breadsticks until the main dishes arrive), and how long the waits are. Personally, I agree there are worse things than Olive Garden, and there is no reason to avoid writing about one of the biggest new restaurants in the area - at least for people who aren't willing to drive up to Winnipeg.

If cocchi is available here, it is very hard to find and most likely extremely expensive. Still, I'll keep my eyes out.

Corpse Reviver II at 1806 in Melbourne yesterday. They used Beefeater. It really is a nice drink but I rarely keep Lilet around. Perked me up enough to get through a rubber-chicken dinner held at the aquarium. Actually the dinner was ok but the penguins were more interesting than the speaker.

You aren't helping me resist the urge to buy a bottle of Averna!

Stuffed bannock?? Never had that. Just the basic fried dough. What do you stuff it with?

How about pumpkin pie? Aussies don't seem to do pumpkin as a sweet. I got good response to pineapple upside down cake.

The pricing here is really odd and not really related to US prices. I think it must have to do with the distributors. Russell's Reserve, my current favourite bourbon in the house is much more expensive than it should be as is Rittenhouse rye. If it isn't a Jim Beam or Wild Turkey product you are going to pay a lot. Personally, I think they should reduce the tax on high-end booze so that the young binge-drinkers will at least develop good taste.

Welcome to eGullet absinthefiend! Thanks for the review. Pacifique never made it to the dry side of the state when I was in Washington. How is the conversion to private sales going? I assume you mean water:absinthe ratio, not the other way around. Absinthe choices here are pretty limited. I think you can get Mansinthe and maybe some others that look a bit dodgy. But my bottle of Obsello should last about forever at the rate I make Sazeracs.

Love reviving old threads... I bought a bottle of the white and thought it was drinkable. Bought a bottle of the dark and thought it wasn't. Wouldn't go out of my way to drink either straight.

I was given some home made nocello and Zubrowka vodka by some Polish friends. Decided the white Russian treatment was in order. 1 nocello 1 Zubrowka splash heavy cream Cuts the sweetness but keeps the walnut richness. It wasn't bad before adding the cream either. There has to be a clever name in there somewhere but I'm not sure where.

Beauty!

Anyone have any information on brands available in Europe or Australia like Kenwood or others? Any thoughts on food processors that have blender attachments? My blender met a premature end because I plugged it into the 240 V outlet on the voltage regulator/transformer (I had taped over the 240 V outlets on the regulator but then it got swapped with a second one that wasn't idiot-proofed .) I saw there is also a 'Jamie Oliver' brand made by Tefal. I expect that I won't be a heavy user - pesto, pie crust, chopping nuts, some slicing when I'm in a hurry.

I think there is less demand for Grade B because an A is a better grade in most people's minds. Not a lot of choice here so I buy Costco Grade A medium amber. Dan, what a great memory. I have heard of them throwing some fresh syrup onto the snow to make instant candy. We always felt cheated where I grew up because it was too cold for sugar maple trees.

Well there probably is if the opened bottles are 70 years old

Lemon sorbet + Campari. (I don't eat that much ice cream so there is a good chance I still have some sorbet in the freezer.)

Counting on the International Date Line working for me. Tiki trouble is actually having an approximation of everything needed. But Tiki opportunity is finally getting off my tail and making some orgeat. Piece of cake, really. That is if you start with blanched South Australian almonds bought from the grower. I found that the immersion blender worked well for grinding the almonds in some of the water. And a cut up pillow case worked well for straining. Nice and milky, oily. How does it taste? Tastes nice, not strongly almond, but I have no real basis for comparison to what it should be. So last night I discovered that there wasn't a single piece of citrus in the house. But I acquired orange lemon and lime at the end of a long work day. With ebbing energy I decided on a Fog Cutter: 2 oz Cuban white rum 1 oz cheap French brandy 1/2 oz Plymouth gin 2 oz lemon juice - a bit much for my taste 1 oz fresh Valencia orange juice 1 oz plus some orgeat float cream Sherry After balancing the lemon it turned out quite nice. Oh, and we split it 2 ways. Bonus drink: Orgeat in a bourbon cocktail with Fee's orange bitters is a nice use of orgeat even though (or perhaps because) I used cheap bourbon.

Pretty much every Aussie gas barbie comes with a grillplate on one side.

Of course there are a number of classics that can be made with different base spirits. In some ways it is clearer than coming up with an fancy name for something that is basically a variation on a theme. But I agree with the original point that mucking with the whole ingredient list and then calling it a classic is confusing and annoying.

Wow. Drinks that clean up after themselves when you spill them. Wish I'd thought of that!