John Rosevear

"Damage" in what way? I'd like to hear more substance than just flat declarations of what should "never be bought".

Taubes -- Gary Taubes -- is a science journalist who has written extensively on food and public health. For a quick nutshell of his thinking, just follow the link Dave the Cook provided.

If you align yourself with Taubes' (et al) worldview, the nutshell is that higher levels of satfat and monounsat and lower levels of polyunsat are what is desirable. Along those lines: Coconut oil is very good. Ghee and animal fats are very good. Olive oil is very good. Peanut oil is okay. Corn and canola, not so much. I think there is much to recommend Taubes, but your mileage and worldview may vary.

Duralex Duralex Duralex. The company that invented tempered glass makes wonderful bowls. Get one of the sets -- like this -- that all nest together. Gorgeous, durable, and easy to store. I wouldn't buy the cheap glass they put the "Pyrex" name on nowadays given such an excellent and affordable alternative. But I agree with CanadianBakin' that using glass for a double boiler is likely to be a frustrating choice.

1967, and I'm in complete agreement with you. My clubbing days (as well as my lead-guitar-playing days and a noticeable bit of my hearing) are all behind me for the most part, and these days I really dislike a noisy dining room.

...which opinion (and reputation) was meticulously shredded by Taubes' reply: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/taubes-response-to-bray-ob-reviews.pdf Edited to add: As far as I know, not a single substantive critique of Taubes has been advanced by a mainstream source. Really, read the book before you try to press this argument any further.

And sugar. Don't forget the sugar. (Even in places where it Totally Does Not Belong -- my supermarket deli is chock-full of "honey" flavored products nowadays. Have we been so infantilized that we need our turkey sweetened before we'll consent to eat it? Sigh.)

I submit that we do. I don't like "foodie" either but it's the descriptive word we have at the moment.

Endocrinologist and obesity expert Dr Robert Lustig says that the paleo diet will "cure" type 2 diabetes in "about a week". (The quote is from a 90-minute video presentation/scientific rant on the effects of sugar that's and worth taking the time to watch, if you can.) The link between metabolic syndrome/"diseases of civilization" and grains-and-sugars is becoming quite glaring.

My 10-year-old foodie recently took to the word and has been asking for "gourmet" this and that: "Dad, what kind of cheese is that?" "Grafton Village sharp cheddar." "Is that more gourmet than the Cabot?" "Uh... I dunno, taste it. You tell me. What does 'gourmet' mean to you?" I am hoping that my eyerolling will break him of the habit of usage... better now than later in life.

I haven't read The Paleo Diet. I have read a couple of other books along the same lines, and the claim isn't so much about "design" as it is that the human body hasn't yet evolved to properly handle relatively-recently introduced things like grains and sucrose and HFCS. Speaking as someone with a celiac diagnosis who is noticeably sensitive to dairy and soy, that seems extremely plausible, but YMMV.

Paleo isn't "no carbs", it's no grain and no sugar. Big, big difference. It's all about managing insulin, really.

Read Taubes. If you can refute the substance of his points, I'd love to know about it... I consider anyone who hasn't read that book to be completely uninformed as to the current state of nutritional science, and yes that includes cardiologists, professional nutritionists, etc. It is at least as essential a read for foodies as anything by Pollan (who blurbed it prominently, by the way).

I dunno, I think this gets filed under "fixing things that ain't broken."

Mark's Daily Apple is a useful resource for paleo-esque eating. He calls his approach "Primal" rather than "Paleo", and he has some important differences with the hardcore-paleo crowd in terms of approach, but his science is up to date and his book is pretty decent.

I strongly urge you to carefully read science journalist Gary Taubes' excellent book Good Calories, Bad Calories... long story short, the science behind nearly every word in your post is at best heavily disputed, and likely false. To the OP: After reading Taubes and a number of related sources, I went on a variation of paleo. I have lost 10 lb in 3 weeks and have immeasurably more energy. It does work.

Indeed. I ate a lot of Jiffy cornbread as a kid, and it took a lot of experimentation years later before I was able to make some from scratch that was as good, much less better. [edited for typo fix]

Ah, but 40 years ago (before the fire), Twin Oaks was still a big deal in certain crowds -- my grandfather, a retired East Providence cop, loved that dump and used to talk about it as if it were the epitome of fine dining. (My parents, on the other hand, chose to schlep to Boston when actual fine dining was required -- this was before the Providence renaissance, when "fine dining" downtown meant Pot au Feu... or something like Ming Garden et al.) I haven't been in there in many years but I'm almost curious to see how awful it is nowadays. Nordic Lodge, on the other hand, not so much.

"Serious Barbecue" by Adam Perry Lang is superb -- arguably the best of its kind -- but the recipes are complex... some have a marinade with a dozen ingredients, a spice rub, a glaze, and a sauce. For something that's very nearly as excellent but a little more accessible, try Jamie Purviance -- his "Weber's Way to Grill" and "Weber's Big Book of Grilling" are both well-regarded. I own and use all three.

Because Cosmos are already perfect? (badum-bump) I think it's because a proper Margarita doesn't taste like a "Margarita" to those whose experience of the drink is limited to the corn-syrup-fueled delights served at chain restaurants. So "improving" it by adding sweetness and familiarity -- here, Brown is adding OJ and fructose syrup, essentially, while making it sound all foofy-gourmet -- gives them something that seems like a real cocktail with real ingredients but tastes more like... something that isn't a Margarita.

In my house the hot dogs are Kayem, period. My 7 year old won't eat any other brand, and yes he can tell the difference. (He will, however, condescend to eat Kayem's natural casing variety once in a while. But not the all-beef ones.) Fortunately, they're better than the other brands available around here, so I don't mind.

I doubt it'll be splashproof, but I'm sure that, just as with the iPhone, splash-resistant cases will be readily available for it sooner rather than later. As for whether cookbooks will be available... if they're available via Amazon's Kindle, it's a safe bet they'll be available on this thing (only in bright sharp color!) too.

For those further west of Boston, I can enthusiastically recommend Julio's on Rt 9 in Westborough, where I bought Branca Menta and Luxardo Maraschino cherries yesterday, and who have most or all of the Haus Alpenz stuff, a great rum selection (tiki geeks, take note -- I believe they have every rum called for in Berry's books, as well as intriguing sippers like El Dorado 21), a long row of Marie Brizard products, all the Fee Bros bitters, a nice selection of ryes, etc., etc.

Joe, in that general price range, in a Mai Tai, I'd personally choose Appleton V/X over the Gosling's but I wouldn't argue with anyone who made the other choice. I routinely sub Gosling's for Myers's in all sorts of drinks with uniformly happy results. I think the last time I actually drank Bacardi 151 as a drink was on my 21st birthday... a bar in Ithaca made something called a "Prairie Fire", a shot of burning 151 floated on a tablespoon or so of Tabasco, that my roommate insisted I try. Sigh. (After that we moved on to gimlets, a much more sensible thing to be drinking. In retrospect it's arguable that my transition to adulthood occurred at that exact moment, on ordering the second round of drinks that night.)

I'm not generally a big tequila fan, but we have a few decent bottles in the house, and now I'm intrigued by the idea of pairing it with ginger... I'll try playing with it tonight.