Chris Hennes

... they probably just figured you had been stood up! I sometimes wind up at conferences where I don't know anyone, and that never stops me from eating out. I think I wind up ordering a way more expensive meal than I otherwise would have to assuage my sense of guilt at taking up the extra seat. Give me a seat at the bar any day...

I think the health inspector would drive me mad... tempering machine under the hood!?! What?!? Since the Superbowl is basically an all-day event I'm looking for a complicated project to do while it is on. I was thinking of doing the sleeping beauties: can these be done in one go, or do they need an overnight rest? Also, he calls for "pulverized dry milk": is this just dry milk powder? Do I need to "pulverize" it some more? I could take out some pent-up agression on it, maybe.

Unfortunately, this report does not break it down on a state-by-state basis, or a city-by-city, but only by a "geographic region" and population. So the Northeast has the highest percentage of meals eaten out per capita, and larger cities have more people eating out, but there is nothing NY specific in the report. Unfortunately, the fire alarm went off before I got to the photocopier, so I don't have any numbers for you... (the latest report is noncirculating - doh!).

Yeah, and just about everyone in town sells them. IMHO they ought to close the retail location (which is a primo location and could probably fetch the owner a pretty penny) and just make the Stickies. I would love to know the income breakdown between selling the stickies to everyone else in town and selling actual meals at their storefront. Another caveat is that I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so being the home of the stickies doesn't win them any points in my book .

Hmm, The Diner. I'm not sure I can say anything about the diner without dissolving into a fit of epithets. Suffice it to say, I do not like the Diner. I believe their service to be among the worst in State College, the food to be substandard even by greasy-spoon diner standards, and with the Corner Room just down the block to get your Stickies Fix I see no reason to ever darken their door again. I have only been there twice and this was my experience both times. Maybe I caught them on off days, as somebody must go there: they are still in business.

I thought the point was more along the lines of that there is inherent value in preserving nature, not just because it provides us with resources to use. The pollutants created by factory farming, the effect of mining the oceans of sea life, etc. is no good for our world and everybody else besides us who lives here. I agree: I apologize for being inarticulate in my previous post. What I was getting at was that I think it is important in this discussion to make clear what each of us considers the goal to be. If my goals is not the same as yours, we are guaranteed to disagree about how to achieve that goal! I believe the question at hand is, what is the goal? does decreasing meat consumption get humanity closer to that goal? If the goal is to increase the quality of life of all living beings on Earth in the long term, then I believe decreasing my meat consumption is an ineffective, or at best marginally effective, method for achieving that goal. Insisting that the animals I eat are well treated, and choosing to have fewer children of my own, is, in my opinion, a more effective way of improving global well-being.

This probably belongs in a separate thread, but why all the vitriol towards Dominoes? I know, in NY you have hundreds of mom-and-pop pizza shops that probably produce better pizza (and hundreds more that produce worse!), but here in East Nowhere, Dominoes thin crust is the best stuff in town. Granted, it's a college town and most pizza places cater to the drunk frat boy crowd, but I actually like Dominoes thin crust pizza, and I'm not sure how I would improve it.

and How is it that we can have discussions like this one without facing the real issue? What, exactly, is the goal we are striving to achieve? Are we trying to maximize the carrying capacity of the planet? Are we trying to maximize the global standard of living for those of use who already exist? Are we trying to maximize our personal standard of living? These are critical questions, because every time someone suggests that we should all make some sacrifice to "make things better" the question is, better for whom? And what level of sacrifice are we willing to make? A human being can subsist on a gruel diet of something like 500 calories per day. Why isn't this "solution" being discussed? How low do we have to take our standard of living in order to fit even more people on the planet? These are not easy questions, but avoiding the discussion doesn't help anyone. No one wants to talk about "population control" but the fact of the matter is, all species, humanity included, will expand to the point that their environment can no longer sustain them. The population will crash, and the cycle will start again. How can we prevent the "crash"? Just economizing will not do it: that only increases the population number before the crash.

Wait, what? I agree that this timer tech is unnecessary, and probably just a marketing extension of Dominoes' focus on timeliness: "You got thirty minutes! (You may get more)." But what is wrong with online ordering? It takes no more time than calling, may take less (no getting put on hold), and if it remembers your previous order and CC info you can just click the "Send me my pizza now!" button. To me, this is a great use of technology. And frankly, if Dominoes offered a service where I could text the word "pizza" and they would replicate my last order and ship it out, I'd use it. When I am ordering pizza it's because I'm hungry, I'm working late, and I don't want to think about it.

I've got a bunch of things I wanted to try, both using it as the sweetener in a butter ganache for the lemon logs and using it as the primary filling component, in the mints. I figured most people must buy it, but my pantry is already overflowing with confectionary ingredients---the last thing I need is yet another bucket of stuff! Plus, for me most of the pleasure of confectionary is the production: I give the vast majority of the chocolates away, since it turns out I don't have much of a sweet tooth. So making my own fondant is no big deal: just part of the fun!

Just pour it into a container as you did. Let it ripen overnight and see how it looks in the am. ← OK, so, several days later... it has solidified into a pretty firm mass. I can't make an impression in it pushing down (OK, maybe I'm just weak... ). Now what? I am used to thinking of fondant as a cake coating---is this just and entirely different beast, or do I need to scoop it out and kneed it, or did I actually manage to ruin an item with three ingredients?

MSP has changed quite a bit in the last decade (as has Midway - that place used to be a dump!). In particular there is a "north woods"-themed restaraunt that has wonderful Bloody Marys. I'm sure I ate something as well, but after a few drinks I didn't much care what it was .

The last time I was asked was at Suzanna Foo in Philly, just before dessert came out. On this particular occasion we actually were celebrating an upcoming anniversary to, which I copped to when asked. The dessert plates came out with "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate sauce at the rim. Kinda tacky, in my opinion. Good thing the rest of the meal was excellent. I think going out can be a special occasion, but I am resistant to the idea that anytime we go out it is one. Yes, for some people that is the case, but for others it is not. Is it really so common that the restaurants feel the need to ask? And really, the restaurant isn't asking you if this is a special treat, anyway: they are really asking "is is your birthday?" or some such. So they can write it on the bloody plates...

This seems to be a sort of obsession... I could FedEx you some... I'm not much of a sugar fiend, so they don't do anything for me. I am selling State College a little short on the lunch side of things: Herwigs Austrian Bistro is pretty tasty. A little pricey for an everyday lunch, no atmosphere to speak of, no liquor license, no credit cards, and they are one of those places with "attitude" (think Soup Nazi from Seinfeld), but in the end it's worth it if you like Austrian food. Everything is made from scratch in house, and it's great.

I read about it back when it was first announced, but this article is quite interesting, in particular: I hope they make enough changes: I'm not particularly interested in a "new" Gamble Mill with different interior decor and everything else the same. I think Kendeffy and company have done a great job of elevating dining in this area and hope they continue to do so: I think there is still a long way to go.

I have lived places that had them, and lived places that didn't, and I vastly preferred the places that had them. That being said, when I am looking at houses to purchase, I don't check to see if there is a disposal unit. They run a few hundred bucks: hardly a deal-breaker. Though of course I have every intention of ripping out whatever kitchen the previous owners put in anyway: drives realtors nuts! "Oh yes, I care very much about the kitchen - I just don't care what's in it right now."

I eat out at least once a week, but it's generally on a grad student budget in central Pennsylvania, i.e. I spend more time than I care to admit at the bar of the local Olive Garden (stop snickering! ). I would definitely never qualify any of those as a "special occasion" regardless of how much I was spending that night. On the other hand, I travel to Philadelphia six times per year and try to eat at someplace interesting, nice, perhaps a bit more "special." For me, those are special occasions, even if there is no actual event to go with them, beyond the meal. Nevertheless, I always answer "no" when the waitstaff asks. It especially amuses me to do this when I have ordered a bottle of champagne or the like---it seems to confuse them .

The owner's of Zola opened a new Italian place in Lemont (a "suburb" of State College) in April 2006 called Alto Italian. I've now eaten there a half dozen times, and feel reasonably confident in saying that together with Zola, Alto is just about the only place worth actively seeking out in the State College area. Maybe living here colors my view, as nostalgia hasn't set in, but I cannot actually recommend anyplace else: if you are expecting anything above pure mediocrity, you have to go to one of these two places. I'm not saying that they are worth the trip to State College (they aren't!) but they are head and shoulders above the "competition." Zola (reviewed by several others above) is a bit noisy at dinner, though I think the food is a bit better than Alto, and definitely more "interesting." If you could only go to one, my current personal recommendation in the State College area is Alto Italian---it is off the beaten path (by about a half mile, but that's all it takes around here!), quiet, reasonably well lit, and reasonably priced. Order wine: don't waste your time ordering mixed drinks (anyplace that says they can't make a Daiquiri because they are "out of mix" is automatically removed from cocktail consideration in my book). The wine list is pretty good for State College, with a wide price range and plenty of stuff in the "affordable by a grad student" category. The size of the appetizers varies widely, so ask the server before you order one for yourself. Some are a few bites, but I ordered the calamari last time and got a portion size more reminiscent of the Olive Garden. The salads are competent, sometimes even "quite good" in the summer when they can use fresh local ingredients. The pasta is usually just a touch past al dente, at least to my taste, and the sauces tend to the sweet side, but overall very tasty. Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely worth eating. I have had several very good meat and seafood dishes, including the Osso Buco and the Branzino, so if you aren't fixated on getting pasta at the local Ialian joint, I'd recommend that route. The desserts are nothing to write home about, but it's hard to screw up a cheese plate: uninspired, but tasty nevertheless. Again, I would never travel to State College for the food, but if you're coming and care to eat the best of what the area has to offer, the choices are clear. Alto Italian for those who like it quiet, Zola for those who prefer to dine in the downtown bar zone.

Actually, on a serious note, I was just wondering about that: are balloons designed to be inflated by mouth foodsafe by definition? Could you use them like this in a commercial operation, or would you have to source special "foodsafe rubber" balloons (no doubt at 10x the cost!).

The crystallization state of the chocolate is not related to its ability to remain in an emulsion with the cream, as far as I know. When we talk about "unstable crystals" we are not talking about the kind of large-scale instability you would see in a broken emulsion, but rather a slow degradation over time resulting in fat and/or sugar bloom. In my experience (very limited, I must admit!) the only difference between a ganache made with chocolate that is in temper versus chocolate that is not is the amount of time it takes to set. Ganache made with tempered chocolate can set up in 20-30 minutes, whereas when I have made it with untempered chocolate it remains soft for an extended period and must set overnight in order to be handled. I see no technical reason why there would be any other difference. Of course, I am not a chemist or materials scientist (I did OK in those courses, but that was a few years ago!).

I wonder if it is in response to customers calling to check on the status of their pizzas and tying up the ordering lines. Otherwise I agree - I can't think of a good reason to do this except as an advertising gimmick, and it doesn't seem terribly cost effective for that.

I can't tell you how confused I was when I read this: I was picturing a men's necktie made of silicone. Maybe you could use it like an oven mitt or towel for grabbing hot pans from the stove. Or at least, it wouldn't light on fire when you leaned over the stove. Fashionable and functional: I want one! Imagine my disappointment when I discovered what you really meant...

I hunted around town for appropriate pieces, but the Lowe's here only sells long pieces, and nothing in the size I wanted (1/4" x 1/4" cross section). Finally, I managed to find 12" sections at the local hobby shop: apparently they are used by model railroaders and the like. They are hollow aluminum rods, but as promised, putting them on a Silpat (OK, generic non-Silpat silicone mat...) prevented them from sliding around when I made Greweling's gingerbread squares. I think they were about $2.50 each: a little pricey, considering what you get, but overall well within what I was hoping to spend.

Any idea if the fittings are the same size as a residential sink, i.e. for a garbage disposal?

In the spirit of the other "Keeping tabs on..." threads here, this thread is for discussing new finds at Heritage Foods (www.heritagefoodsusa.com). They primarily sell meat products, in particular a large selection of breed-specific pork products. I have ordered from them on a number of occasions and been pleased with the meat (though not always thrilled at the price!). I have previously posted about the availability of some offal. In this week's newsletter they are offering something a bit different: pancetta and agrumi from Salumi, in Seattle. According to the newsletter, While this is not quite true (the Salumi website indicates the possibility of placing an order via e-mail), the price is comparable to buying direct. That is to say, the prices are a little steep! Also, you have to buy it as a packaged deal. Nevertheless, for those of us living a long, long way from Seattle, this may be the easiest way to try what some claim is the best artisinally-produced charcuterie in the US.