Chris Hennes

Yes, it can be frozen with basically zero degradation, just wrap it well.

So the upshot is that if Steven's water is inferior the second time around, it can't possibly have anything to do with dissolved oxygen, right? The only real possibility is if it has accumulated something from the pot itself, and using fresh water minimizes the effect?

How much dissolved oxygen does it take to affect the taste of coffee or tea?

Could you describe the difference between the foam made with and without sugar? Smaller bubbles in the one with sugar? More uniform bubble size?

We're actually having a (singular) guest for Thanksgiving this year, so I feel compelled to actually make a dessert (when it's just us I don't bother). I'm bored silly with pie: does anyone have a good pumpkin cake recipe they could share?

Hot and humid.

We'll be there, of course.

I don't care for the combination of yogurt and chocolate. And the combination of yogurt and aged cheese seems unpleasant.

No, THIS machine is really cool (and of similar practical value): THAT is a glorified paint shaker. And a small one at that!

Presumably if the damned things actually saved time they'd be installed at the local Applebee's.

I've used wine, juice and various beers all to good effect. I am pretty sure the liquid makes the cheese less thick when heated, so it is more creamy and gooey. I made "Cheez-wiz" for cheesesteaks last weekend using water: you can use anything whose flavor complements (or doesn't detract from) your cheese, but it's going to depend completely on what exact cheese you use. I don't think there's a good way to generalize, but it's easy to test: crack open a beer and slice up some cheese.

I'm headed up to St. Paul in a few weeks to visit family: since I can't count on them for recommendations, however, I turn to you. Is there anything new and noteworthy in the Twin Cities, any cuisine, any price point?

Or you can buy a splitter and do it in five seconds... I have the OXO model, it works well. ETA: Discussion on the OXO splitter here.

Is that a watermark at the bottom of the first photo? You can make out a "CH" starting in the yellow area, maybe...

Hell, I was going to guess an airport tram!

I don't think Taco Bell is imitating Mexican food at all: after all, I'm told the TBs in Mexico City specifically push the product as American food. They simply took the basic ideas of "taco" and "burrito" and then figured out how many different permutations of the same fifteen ingredients they can contort into the formula. I'm still waiting for the triple-decker hardshell-taco-in-a-softshell-taco-in-a-chalupa. Hell, go for the gold and and make the Turducken of fast foods and wrap THAT in a "gordita" shell! Pure awesome. Why is this not done yet, TB?

They shoulda used it as the shell for the volcano taco so it had fake cheese on the outside AND inside.

Via Twitter: (Thanks, Serious Eats)

There is pretty extensive discussion and testing of cuts of beef in "Making the Best Hamburger". I personally like to grind the beef for burgers, but chop it when serving raw.

Agreed, when it was on sale last week I picked up a case (of Dos Equis that is)... I can't drink Fin du Monde ALL the time, after all! The Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" series is one of the most successful beer ads of all time, they are having a hard time importing enough to satisfy demand right now.

Add to that a couple clever and highly-successful advertising campaigns for some non-craft beers (Dos Equis sales are skyrocketing and Corona is doing very well). So you have reasonably priced craft beers and better-advertised alternate lower-end beers both hammering away at the mega-brews.

For what it's worth, Wikipedia says: "The albacore, Thunnus alalunga, is a type of tuna in the family Scombridae." Here's what my can of "albacore tuna" says:

Based on the number of times I've set off the smoke alarms when sautéing over high heat, I'd say it's pretty clear that I'm exceeding the smoke point of something in that pan, anyway!

Minor point, but there are several recipes in Modernist Cuisine that have you deep fry at extremely high temperatures, so to say that those temps are too high for frying is not quite true (though of course it is rare).

That's a good point: what brands are you guys buying? This weekend I picked up some from a brand called "Wild Planet" to try, I had never heard of them.