BigMac

I haven't read every word of the lesson, but I did read most of it and then skimmed the rest, so I profusely apologize if this was mentioned: What about storage? I am very interested in buying more liquor for my home bar but I know that I would not be using the bottles very often. How long do they keep once opened?

My only question is why would you eat canned tuna in the first place? If there is anything that looks and smells like cat food for humans, that's it. Can't stand the stuff. (actually never tried it, the smell alone turns my stomach) But I would have to add my "it is congealed fat" vote.

And, just to show I also have too much time (and an unhealthy desire to correct those around me), since this episode was also just on: Bart actually says "But, Dad! My heart hurts!". Sheesh (self-directed).

I just saw it on TiVo. True, Joe was a cocky little s.o.b., but it did seem that he had some skill... his dishes were plated very nicely. Shinae was a little too timid, but that pastry chef and her 'snap' was the most annoying thing ever. My problem with the show was the concept... what exactly were the expecting? Here are two recent high school graduates going to play one night in the NBA after being trained by Michael Jordan for 4 days. Will anyone notice? Will they be able to compete with the seasoned vets? Oh, did we mention that they won some awards in their rec league at home?

Bought my living single career-minded brother a Foreman grill for christmas, works great for him. Other brother got a "Chopper" which has yet to be mentioned here... doesn't that salsa look great in that add? Does anyone remember the product that was around 5-8 years ago that was just some cutting-board sized thing that you placed your frozen food on that accelerated the defrosting process tremendously? That must have worked, seeing as so many people have them today. My worst food infomercial product experience: someone (who wisely left off the name tag) gave us a obviously opened and resealed curly fry maker as a wedding gift.

I was planning on making a pork tenderloin this weekend with that fennel and orange salad that was in the epicurious recipe flash - (link) would that be too much fennel?

I just read all nine pages and have to chime in: I made the mistake of saying that Rachael Ray was cute in my wife's presence. Uh oh. She does make some decent food for those of us short on time. She does tend to make a lot of "patty" foods - meatloaf patties, taco patties, cajun patties, etc. Her $40 a day show is the worst - a recent NY show featured food from every corner of the city... $80 (or a hell of a lot of time) just to travel from place to place. I love the Iron Chef, Sakai is the most talented chef in the world, IMHO. Are there any plans on an Iron Chef in the US? Who would you pick to be Iron Chefs? Would you have an IC U.S., French, and Italian (being probably the biggest food styles in this country) or would you go regional? I.C. Southern, etc.

My two year old is 35 pounds of bananas, 1 pound boy. As an ex-high school teacher, I can say that the public school food in California is, without a doubt, the worst standardized fare on the planet, even surpassing that of the airlines. All too often kids by-passed the cafeteria line (unless they were on free or reduced price lunch (another topic altogether)) and went straight to the snack cart for a bag of chips and a soda. Every day, 182 days a year.

If I am not having some sugary kids cereal (love the Lucky Charms), then it is Oatmeal, with brown sugar and raisins. I recently have found that the method for cooking the oats on the can (tube?) is garbage, again How to Cook Everything comes to the rescue.

As a parent of a toddler, I can confirm that drool (and other bodily liquids at one point or another) on ones face is a regular occurence that you quickly learn to lose squemishness over.

Please, please keep up with this journal after you start the externship. I don't know what I would do with out it! I attended a career night at the California School of Culinary Arts the other night, something I never would have thought of without your entries. It was much different than I pictured - I was expecting something like what you have described at L'Acadamie (i.e. a few kitchens, a classroom or two, some offices), but CSCA is a three story building with 18 full size restaurant kitchens and over 1300 students! Wow!

I like the look of this thread, but I am a(n?) Henkel's man. What is a good sharpener for them a la the one for the Global? Can it be used?

I have always wondered that same question... i.e. "who ate this first", but the first thing I think of is crabs and then wonder about artichokes. I mean, who went through all that work the first time? Congrats on the externship! As I was driving back from my Thanksgiving feast today, I was looking forward to reading this post and wondered, "Does Malawry plan on returning to a vegetarian lifestyle after school (or after externing or after she establishes herself as a food writer... i.e. ever)?" (Hey - Bakersfield is a very boring place!)

Another great post. I know this may seem a little nosy, but what does an externship typically pay?

My wife's birthday: prime rib-eye and baked potato. Ah, what a meal. Also, some Central Coast '94 Cab (Castoro Cellars, if anyone cares).

The first thing I thought of was pie crust. But then: cooking the absolutely perfect medium-rare steak. Coming in a close second: making anything made from a Chinese cookbook taste remotely Chinese. It always tastes "Americanized" to me. And, to Steve Klc: there is no such thing as a "bad" creme brulee. It falls into the same category as sex and pizza (i.e. even when it is bad, it is still pretty good).

Speak for yourself! Teeny? I get a HUGE vicarious thrill! How many of you spend spare moments of your day thinking "I wonder what Malawry is doing in school right now?" I do, that's for sure. Most often while I am changing a diaper.

Wouldn't chocolate chip cookies made exclusively with white sugar simply be sugar cookies with chocolate chips in them?

One of the tortilla chip brands (Tostitos) had a "Hint of Lime" flavor - it is actually quite good, but a little over salted, and their version of "hint" is actually better termed "wallop".

OED: Unfashionable, outmoded, or vulgar; unselfconsciously lacking style, socially inept; also, worthless, faulty, ‘dud’. Hmm, I would have guessed the opposite... i.e. "hip, cool, in style".

Things like lobsters, chicken, beef, and any other animal that we eat *benefits* (in a species-wide, genetic sense) from being eaten - it has an advantage over any competitors, in that we will keep it alive (thus modifying its evolution) if it is ever in danger. Think of the species, not the individual.

I must be way out of the 'hip lingo' loop, but "naff"?

Great post. I was wondering a couple (well, three) things: 1) When you work in a group, how is your grade determined, or are you even graded on how the food turns out? Let's say one member of your group makes a pie ( ) and it turns out all wrong. Does that reflect on you? Do you tell the tasters who made what? 2) Do you ever get to taste the other groups market baskets? 3) When planning a menu on market basket day do you get to use any reference (cookbooks and your notes) or is it all improvisation? Do you get any instruction in individual ingredients, such as "Pumpkin can be prepared as..."?

Thanks for the ideas! I think the things I am going to make are pomegranate syrup and sorbet. I was thinking of using a ziploc and rolling pin - that is what I will try.

I found out that the "underwater" method of getting the arils out works great - I did three poms in about ten minutes. ("underwater" method: in a pot of water, break apart poms that have been scored 6 or so times. Arils sink, pith floats, any juice just goes in the water, not on your white clothes). One method I read for getting the juice out is to simmer them for ten minutes (until soft) and then squish in a cheesecloth wearing rubber gloves. I have no cheesecloth handy, so can't try that right now. I used a garlic press for some arils, and got great, but time consuming results. Any other suggestions on how to press out the juice? Found some recipes here and here.