Mjx

There's the Tuscan peposo, which is one of those recipes that looks as though it shouldn't work: you cube the beef, mince some garlic, put in a pot with crushed or chopped tomato and a couple of teaspoons of ground pepper, add enough water to cover the meat and tomatoes, simmer a couple of hours, add a glass of wine, simmer another hour. Usually, making a stew with unbrowned meat smells like wet dog, but this always comes out delicious; this may be due to some reaction between the met and the acid of the tomatoes/wine, but I'm guessing. I often do brown the meat, since it adds another level of flavour.

Slightly off topic, but I can't help wondering whether the acidity of pomegranate juice is going to curdle the ice cream base.

Really enjoyed Frascati; it's been about two years, and I can still remember the duck, and the chocolate bread pudding. We knew nothing about the place (it was our first visit to SF), and stopped by one evening, just on chance. Ask to sit in the mezzanine, though, since it's much more peaceful, and you can concentrate on the food better. Bianco e Nero was very good for lunch, too.

Yes it is (although the usage I've heard most would involve 'pretentious', rather than 'elegant' in the definition )! And it's nice to see it used, it's so apposite!

If skipping the peeling really isn't an option, you could try a pair of those scrubby complexion gloves... I think I've even seen them marketed (in brown, rather than white or pastels, and with a significant markup) as 'potato scrubbing gloves'. They work quite nicely. I usually just get small carrots, and wash them well, no peeling or scrubbing necessary. Chestnuts: http://hedgewizardsdiary.blogspot.com/2006/10/peeling-chestnuts-easy-way-chestnuts.html Essentially, simmer in boiling water for a couple of minutes, a few at a time, then peel (wearing gloves to mitigate heat damage to your hands). The easiest way I've found is to roast the halved squash for about half an hour at 200C/400F, then work a broad, flat spoon between the peel and flesh: it will still be firm enough cube. Have you tried blanching and rubbing, the way you do with almonds?

Wait, wasn't that the trend last year? Or the 90s? I seem to recollect there being an outbreak of tea shops over New York City during the late 90s. Tea can be a great beverage, sometimes the only one that seems right for a given moment, and a I know heaps of people who favour tea, but I don't know any who consider it 'a way of life' or any sort of 'lifestyle' thing... that just sounds odd. 'Trend' seems odd too... a bit like describing socks as a trend/way of life.

I keep CI; I'm bad at parting with things, so I don't subscribe to any others. I'm thinking of simply ordering the bound CI books in future, however.

feedmec00kies, is there any chance you're intolerant of something? It can take several weeks to figure it out, but even when you do find out, you don't have to avoid the problem items altogether, it just gives you some control over your condition. Also, have you been tested for celiac disease (or any other food allergy)? a lot of people go on with celiac for years, I believe many are not diagnosed until their 50s.

Oh no! Those are lousy, I'm really sorry to hear that. I had just one, and that was plenty (the images were kind of cool, though, and I still wish I'd had the courage to ask the doctor for copies).

I have a self-induced hiatal hernia (essentially, a prolapse of 'that little doohickey that separates the stomach from the esophagus', or the 'lower esophageal sphincter'(LES)) because I indulged in the full spectrum of eating disorders while I was a teenager. Since my 20s, I've had acid reflux issues when I'm not careful. I know stress can aggravate this, but to a large extent, I can manage it by just dealing with the physical end of it: Drinking enough water, not eating more at a single go than will fit in my two cupped hands, and keeping my weight at a reasonable level (healthy hip:waist ratio) have helped a lot (I researched this extensively while I was still reading biomed., and my stomach began giving me all sorts of hell, so spent a lot of time at the AAM library at 105th Street). The 'weight at a reasonable level' thing really makes a difference, because if fat deposits in the abdomenal area get large enough, they do impinge on the area occupied by your stomach, more so when you fill it. If I've eaten more than the two-handsful I know I can safely accommodate, and the meal contains a significant amount of acid or booze (e.g. two or more glasses of wine), these things will make the reflux more painful (in general, because I trashed my LES, I can't drink anything stronger than 15% alcohol, or it feels like I've swilled Drano). Although I love both, I've cut wheat and and potatoes from my diet, and keep other starches to a minimum. I'm not allergic, but I don't seem to handle them very well (potatoes also make my joints swell, and wheat makes me sleepy and weak, and gives me a runny nose). If acid reflux does kick in, standing/walking, and taking occasional small sips of water(if/when it gets really painful) help; sitting puts more pressure on the stomach, and laying down seems to aggravate reflux. I usually take a stroll, and breathe deeply. I've never tried any medication for this, although at one point, when things got really bad, and I couldn't keep down food (which makes the whole thing worse) I was prescribed an anti-anxiety med. (which I was too scared to take; I was a afraid I'd turn into a junkie). I was prescribed Zantac for my duodenal ulcer when I was about 20, but I stopped taking it after a while, which is when the acid reflux business really bared its teeth (I think the ulcer med. probably masked the LES issue).

I dry it out completely, and save it in the freezer for the bread crumbs I need for the annual plum pudding.

I don't think I've ever tried any 30-minute recipes, at least not ones that were specifically designated as such. Some things I routinely improvise; new recipes I often follow to the letter, at least the first time. After that, I'll usually begin to tweak things, but I often do this sitting over the recipe and making a shopping list.

Same here. Except I let it go longer than I should, because of this. We also have really hard water, so even plain water spots practically look like soup stains. Soaking isn't much of an option (most of the dirt is grease), so I have to use the scraper, and then scrub over the entire surface; even a fingermark shows up on these things.

That moment in an experimental effort when I realize that it is succeeding beyond my wildest hopes, and am acutely aware of the entire process and set of reactions that made it work. Or, if it is not a success, the moment I realize that, but clearly understand the reason why, and, for some reason, am not even slightly upset, just interested in the knowledge I've acquired and is now spread out before me in my mind.

What Dakki said: it's listed here, along with the copyright lengths for most other countries.

I honestly haven't looked through the cookbooks on the PG site, although under the 'cooking' subject search, they have 30-some headings, and 100 or so items among them (some are very likely listed under two or more headings). Google books selects works that have some demand; PG has whatever contributors choose to offer, as a far as I can see (which is the reason they have titles such as the 1832 Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry Cakes, and Sweetmeats) I tend to look at PG daily, since I have a longstanding crime-fiction habit, and the stuff that appears on oter sites often appears on PG first. Have you tried Internet Archive? They have quite a large selection of texts, including things from PG and google books.

These images make truly envious, the wrought iron objects in particular. I'd have to put our Azeta slicer, Gagganeau oven and stovetop, and CJ lab scale on my favourites list.

I've already gone through Gutenberg's books and their selection does not look to be nearly as big as Googles. You're reading far too much into the statement. A "fragmented maket" is a common business term taught in every university in America and it happens to describe the e-books market exactly. It's not some statement about Google's need to control the world or anything. Edit: Let me be clear that I'm not saying Google isn't trying to take over the world. I'm only saying that this particular statement is nothing sinister. Actually, I'm familiar with a lot of this terminology; in fact, I took a couple of marketing courses at university, and have done a little work in this area. In this particular case, what it's describing is not actually so bad; if we were talking about medicine, I'd have a different take on the matter. But I only mentioned PG, because in your original post, you wrote 'Has anyone found any old public domain cookbooks or books on food in Google books? I've done a little searching but mostly end up with books using food as a metaphor.' I understood this to indicate that you hadn't found any public domain cookbooks; in light of your now noting that google has a larger selction than PG, I guess I misunderstood..?

I don't know about google books (I find google's describing the e-book market being in the hands of many, as opposed to being controlled by a single entity as 'fragmented' disturbing, so I avoid them), but Project Gutenberg has a selection of public domain cookbooks.

Black rice crackers and Yukon Gold crisps? I'm assuming you mean snack ideas, since other posters have listed some good, savoury 'real food' options... a plate with yellow bell-pepper slices and oil-cured black olives could be nice too.

Great larder! And, I'd say that a small cookbook selection just shows that you're selective

How conservative will the crowd be? Yesterday, I saw some absolutely beautiful black sesame paste in a Thai/chinese shop. You could do something like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madbaker/538289584/ Perhaps making the macaron portion yellow, and just the filling black sesame. Also, is the average Canadian feeling about liquorice (yes, the black stuff, liquorice is a flavour, not a consistency/texture! ) like that in the US? Because it could give you some great options (e.g. small yellow vehicles with liquorice wheels).

The problem may have been the aquavit you used; some are more strongly flavoured/have less cooperative flavourings, so to speak (e.g. Linie smells a bit like perfume, so it doesn't mix well with a lot of things; Aalborg is simpler and more flexible); I'd go with one that has a fairly simple bouquet, and one that, even in the bottle, seems to mesh perfectly with the salmon.

I'm afraid so.

At the risk of sounding cynical, if Whole Foods handles this right, they'll come out of it just fine. Their main premise is that Whole Foods is the place to buy food that's healthy and good for you. The fact that some of their stuff is organic is a qualifier, really; you can go into Whole Foods even now, and buy conventially raised produce, so clearly, someone is buying it. A lot of people shop at WS, because they think of it as the place to shop, it has a 'hip' factor, and their concerns about the environment and sustainability are nominal, at best. I'd say a good chunk of their client base will swallow any line they're fed, as long as it allows them to continue to feel that they're cool, informed, and caring.