pastameshugana

Well, after a long stint in Bangalore, India, the family and I are making a move to New Mexico. We're going to end up in a little town near the Texas border called Hobbs, but are spending the next few weeks in Alamogordo (another small town near the Texas border that also happens to have an Air Force base). A couple favorites so far: Eddies Burritos on First street. A very simple setup, you choose the filling (about 15-20 options, ranging from Mexican to New Mexican choices) and they put it in a fresh tortilla for you. It came local recommended, and I concur. I had the green chili with beef and potatoes, which was finely done. Properly seasoned, with a nice bite and tasting very fresh. There's also a salsa bar with a handful of selections, including Pico, green and red hot sauce and a few others I can't remember. The salsa bar was kept nice and cold, encouraging as to the hygiene level. It was all wonderful, I'll be back tomorrow for another try. Hi-D-Ho Drive in was highly recommended for their burgers. It looks like the set of a B horror movie, but the green chili burger with everything was tremendous. Absolutely worth a stop if you're driving through. A bit pricey for fast food (8 bucks for a burger and a soda), but a worthy burger, for sure. Where are your favorite small town spots in 'Not Really New, Not Really Mexico'?

Well, we're here now - I'll keep updating. So far the highlight has been a meal in Footscray at Lazy Moe's. A nice big place, but one of those menu's that covers so many cuisines (Thai, Italian, Indian and continental? On the same menu?) that worries you about their ability to pull it off. However, I really enjoyed the roasted pork belly I had. Very soft, great flavor, and the 'rustic mash' it was served with was perfect comfort food. Today we're headed out to Queen vic market to try the selection - I'll try to get some pics this time. Cheers,

Piglit, thanks a million! I'll add your suggestions to the list. Turns out one of my 'India-side' friends will be visiting Melbourne at the same time, and he's already promised to take me to Lygon street. Thanks again,

Just a quick follow up: The second loaf of Challah made for some of the best eggs-on-toast I've ever had this morning...

So - my mother in law bought me 'Secrets of a Jewish Baker' for Christmas. The only problem is, I don't bake. Never have. I made a great cheesecake once, but I love the 'rock n roll' of cooking from the hip, and don't get too excited by the 'science' of baking. Anyhoo - I was reading in my down time, and picked up the book, and Mrs. Meshugana was out of the house for a few hours, so I decided to suprise her with a couple of loaves. They were delicious, the recipe was spot on, the taste incredible, and now my mini-meshuganas (all 3.5) are begging me to make a sugar-cinnamon loaf for their morning toast... Of course, being I go by 'pastameshugana', we had this wonderful little Shabbat loaf with a crackin' spaghetti with meat sauce.

Beautiful thread... In our house, Honey Bunches of Oats has become 'Funny Bunches of Goats' We get Frunch Fries with our Happy Meals My (then 2 year old) son made me spill my Sonic Route44 Cherry Limeade all over the car when he asked for his Tater Tots by saying: "Mom, I want my retards!" To this day, I can't figure out where that came from. One of our favorite breakfast joints back home was called (in our family) 'Nasty Crap' for some reason. It's sooo adorable when your 2,4 and 6 year olds start asking you in front of the in laws if they can have 'nasty crap' for breakfast! At least once a day (honestly) I try to convince one or more of the kids that we're about to eat squid lips. Whether it's on the pizza or in the soup, I say it daily. My 8 year old finally wisened up and told me "Squids don't have lips!" (dang education) Here in Bangalore, one of our friends lives in an area called 'Kammanahalli' - so when ordering calamari, my friend either orders Kammanahalli, Call-me-mary, Carla-Marlie, or whatever else pops into his head. For some reason, this same friend also makes it a point to order 'peeenie pasta' at the Italian place, when trying to get penne. One friends daughter called Chinese 'chonies' so now we eat 'chonies food' With this many kids running around there's surely more, but I can't remember them at the moment...

Hola, In January I'm taking Mrs. Meshugana and the three little helpers to Melbourne for a bit of a getaway/business trip. We've been before, and absolutely love the city and the people, and enjoyed some good food while we were there. Last time we spent our time in Footscray and Dandenong, and enjoyed (in Footscray) a place called Little Angel (cafe/etc) and some Thai restaurant that I believe also had 'Angel' in the name. We'll be mainly in Footscray and Thomastown, with at least one trip downtown to see the street musos, and we'll have to spend some time in Colburg at the Indian consulate (a long story). Also, we'll be pretty occupied in the evenings, so lunch is what we're after. We're looking for some memorable places to eat, unique, something special - but we're a family of 5 (almost 6) so none of that fancy nonsense. Besides, we've lived in India for a few years, we can handle the little dodgy places if the food is good! So far on my list (from perusing the other Melbourne threads) is only: The Bratwurst Shop @ Queen Vic Market Any ideas?

Like Nakji, Dominoes used to be one of our few 'american' alternatives here in Bangalore. We ordered about once a week (of course, with spicy chicken tikka instead of pepperoni) and they delivered in 30 minutes, which was miraculous for this city. Then Papa John's came to town, which is a couple degrees better, so we switched. For expats, it's more about eating something 'from home' than something really good. Although, I don't think I ever ate dominoes even once in nearly 30 years in the US - and that's not likely to change, regardless of what they do.

Congrats!

I just read this thread before going on a shopping date with Mrs. Meshugana, and just had to pick up a couple spoons when we saw them. I'm going the other way: I learned on silicone and plastic, now I'll learn the 'wood magic'.

Hey, just wanted to check in: I got my Apex kit and Chad Ward's book - woohoo! My Global has a frightening edge on it, now. I'm really surprised how good the system is, and using some guidance from Chad's (informative) book was a great help. Thanks to everyone!

My guess is that he's installing the wrong gauge wire, or overtightening during the install. For instance, the G & B strings may look practically identical, but if you try to tune the G to the pitch of the B it'll be very likely to break. When tightening the new string, be careful to not tune it too high.

My MIL just hand carried 1lb of extract grade, and 1/4 pound of Tahitian grade A that vanilla products gives free to us here in Bangalore. My entire house smells of vanilla. My wife wants to chop up one of the beans and hide the pieces in each room for air fresheners! Next week hopefully we can get to the market to get something to start the extract with. I'm also planning some vanilla sugar, and trying to find excuses to use these beans anywhere I can!

Mrs. Meshugana is always playing the 'cafe' game on facebook. My three little helpers will cheer her on and come tell me excitedly when mom unlocks the new dishes...

When we moved from the Southwest US to India, we discovered that plain dahi makes a great substitute for sour cream in soups, on tacos/burritos, and as a base for ranch dressing (with the little powder mixes). The upside is the health benefits of dahi over sour cream. Making the transition, we had our fair share of stomach bugs, and no tablet could ease the cramping (and related symptoms!) of a western belly in the east. Thankfully, it didn't take long to realize the benefits of dahi (as a mango lassi) or as a topping or dip could save us a world of hurt! It's been more than a year since anyone in the family has been ill, and for most of the westerners here (who don't believe us) are sick once a month or better. I've also started using it with cream in any creamy Italian sauces for a little tang, as a base for some marinades/bastes, and anything else we can plop it in!

Sauteed some onion, garlic, mushroom, coriander and dill in olive oil and white wine. Then whizzed it all up in the blender, returned to the pan with about 250ml heavy cream, a bit of Parmesan and Grana Padano. Mrs. Meshugana made some great little meatballs with garlic, sage and parsley, and we served it over some trivelle. Was surprisingly good for a "clean out the fridge" meal!

I already ordered mine: EdgePro Apex 4 sharpening kit (plus a bunch of stuff for my guitar). Living overseas you have to plan waay ahead. In January we'll be in Oz, so I'll pick up the rest of my 'gifts' (Mrs. Meshugana gives me a budget): New global knife, magnetic knife rack, knife blade covers, and instant thermometer pen. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"

It seems to me that you live an exceedingly difficult life, Fat Guy. Apparently, it's hard to come by decent ingredients to make your breakfast with, and find yourself using such incredibly substandard ingredients. As a good friend (with a caring heart), I'm willing to help you share your (ahem) burden. Please, don't subject yourself to this kind of torture. Just call. Really. I'm here to help. /End sarcasm

Chris, looks beautiful! I've been hankering to do this ever since I read 'The Unprejudiced Palate.' His recipe is quite a lot simpler than the ones I've seen here, has anyone tried it?

I think I can forsee rice in your future...

Well, I'm sure my wife will be bummed that I have to experiment on another batch... Thankfully there's no expensive ingredients, I'll try again with more beating. Also, I had the baking soda/vanilla/PB all in a dish and dumped it together, I think (possibly?) mixing in the PB/vanilla, then adding the baking soda and beating well. In the meantime, I need to go donate some candy to the neighbors... Thanks for all the help!

Okay, somehow my reply disappeared... After cooling for several hours, I'm noticing that they seem to be headed toward 'hard-candy' land, and bypassing the yummy flakiness we were shooting for. There are some distinct air holes from the baking soda reaction, but the confection as a whole is quite heavy and solid. Where did I go wrong? I was careful to take it off the heat right at 300 like the recipe said, I can't really (as a complete noob) think where else to look. I think my corn syrup may have been of dodgy quality, could that be it? The taste is fantastic, my wife (preggo w/number 4!) is in serious danger of eating it all before we ever get the chocolate on... Any ideas?

Lisa, I'm curious as a candy noob, is it better to not use corn syrup? If so, what additional precautions should be taken, and/or how would you adjust a recipe calling for corn syrup (ie, how much sugar should replace it?). I tried my hand at the method involving baking soda and vanilla - so far so good. I'm letting it cool now. I'll probably dip them in the morning. Here's a few pics! This is just as I added the peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Love that smell! This is cooling, just about to score it for later: I'll be back with the results!

In the states we never ate subway, but her in B'Lore we do quite a bit, only because it's 'american' - It's something from home, the stores are decorated like the states, and it's a nice change for the kids. Back home, however, my favorite chain sandwich is Schlotzky's Deli. It's been a few years, but all my memories are good.

My whole family (my wife and I and the three midgets) are coriander fans. Here in India (in Bangalore, anyway) we're blessed with big, beautiful and cheap bunches of it at the market. Standing in the vegetable section, smelling the coriander and onion is enough to make the whole family crave salsa. My middle son will tear off some leaves while we're walking through the store and just sniff them the whole way (and my 4 year old daughter does the same with the curry leaves).