mrsadm

So the feds are taking the right to require food labels away from the states. What happened to states' rights? Ok so the state can petition the FDA. More time and expense for the state. And who grants the feds the greater knowledge of real science over pseudo-science? Is there a respected science body somewhere pronounces who practices real science vs. pseudo science? Just my thoughts

"The House voted Wednesday to strip many warnings from food labels, potentially affecting alerts about arsenic in bottled water, lead in candy and allergy-causing sulfites, among others." article here I find this alarming.... but I'm definitely a food label studier when I shop. Anyone else have an opinion, pro or con?

I've tried a lot of them, still prefer the old brand Twinings. It's a fascinating article about succesful brand management, though. Very interesting. "embassies" indeed!

As a male who eats alone much of the time, I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer, but I've only encountered a problem once. I've heard that the starred restos at night resent not having a paying customer at each seat, but as I say, it's not been my experience save for La Maison de Charly, where when my wife Colette tried to simply have some salad and wine while I had the big menu and they refused to take the order. Benoit is a classy place with classy waiters; I can't imagine such a thing happening there. PS I also think it's over-priced unless you take the extremely limited "menu," as well as full of Americans, but those are other issues. Finally, if you do a search I'll think you'll find a lot of discussion of this on past threads. ← Thank you John, but I ALWAYS search the forums - egullet and elsewhere such as bonjourparis - before posting a question. I have read everything I was able to find. It's been my experience that the search engines are not perfect, nor am I perfect at finding all the right keywords. So threads that you may remember may not have been found in my searches. I do appreciate all the answers here, I feel a little more confident now!

I'll be in Paris for a week in April and I'm not too brave about venturing into restaurants by myself (except for breakfast alone in a hotel because there are many solo business travelers there and I don't feel so wierd). I am very intrigued to try this restaurant for the prix fixe lunch. First, is it too late to make a reservation? Will I be treated rudely by the wait staff because I'm a woman dining alone? From: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/where-to-go-next-paris Benoit Alain Ducasse, the superchef behind Michelin three-star restaurants in Paris, Manhattan and Monte Carlo, is buying up France's most authentic bistros. His latest acquisition is Benoit, <snip>. The $45 prix fixe at lunch is a stunning bargain. (edited to reduce quote length to conform to egullet rules)

Welcome to egullet, gaines! What in the word is "Medicine Eatstation"? (Maybe for another thread) I've added about 25 cookbooks since my earlier post in this thread.

Indeed, plus ziplock bags, Comet and pumice (but now I'm straying OT onto cleaning). ← I've been looking everywhere for the thread you mention and cannot find it - anyone have an idea where it is? Thanks much

My husband does this!!! When I first got married my kitchen was a lot like my mother's, with the 4 canisters (even the tea one, which I never drank). I had a wooden, "colonial style" (with an eagle on the top) spice rack that was to go near the stove, and all the bottles had to match in style. Anyone else have one of these? The funniest illogical thing that I notice myself still doing, is buying the same brands that my mother did, like Hellman's mayonaise. Not for any reason, just habit.

Funny! That reminds me of a TV episode with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin - she would wash the chicken and wash the board, and Jacques thought that was totally unnecessary because the chicken would be cooked and thus the bacteria would be gone. And speaking of "anti-bacterial" soaps.... soap is by nature anti-bacterial! Just marketing BS I think. I worked in a university lab for a while looking at all sorts of nasty creatures under the microscope and soap with hot water would kill all them little buggers...

Hello Sara, thanks for joining us! I was wondering if you could share what it was like working with Julia Child. What did you learn most from her? Was it more toward producing a cooking show, or more toward cooking and food itself? Thank you.

Quote from Steven Shaw: "One could be forgiven for assuming it can't go any farther. Yet a look at forthcoming titles for 2006 indicates that the game is hardly over. In February, the Institute for Prevention of Obesity is releasing The Zero-Minute Epicure: 250 No-Cook, No-Eat, No-Calorie Recipes that Taste Great! (Emphasis in original). " You can't be serious here, right? This must be sarcasm? I can see how something you don't eat has no calories for you. But how can it possibly taste great?

the eGullet channel indeed! I vote for that! I was amazed at the list posted earlier here of all the PBS cooking shows. I must live in PBS backwater land (WSKG, Binghamton NY). We get a few cooking shows - Lydia, America's test kitchen, Simply Ming, Mary Ann Esposito, Martin Yan, and my favorite hunk but I don't make any of his recipes, Nick Stellino. Again living in the sticks has its drawbacks! I have always liked Sara Moulton and have recorded her TV shows. I bet the parting from FoodTV was mutual - I am guessing she's not perky enough for them, ala Rachel Ray and the other boobie bimbo's on Food TV. Sara, good luck on PBS! I will of course record your shows there, too.

Oh my God are you serious about the Mexican chicken?????? How can anyone seriously be a star of a COOKING show by pouring cans of soup in a pot? Now I am not sorry I gave up watching this show. The last straw for me was when she took a lobster and put it in a stew with just about everything under the sun - beans, corn, tomatoes and many other ingredients - which I saw as ruining a perfectly good lobster by putting it into compost stew!

I posted a similar question recently: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...78544&hl=mrsadm Further research on egullet lead me to purchase a bamix immersion blender for pureeing soups. I will be trying it later this week and report back on the results.

I keep my silver flatware in tightly closed ziploc plastic bags. They don't tarnish that way.

I think many of the ideas here are pretty complex (bread baking? How many people actually want to make bread at home?). I'm thinking of my sister-in-law who does not cook at all. She finds cooking intimidating. I'd go for Rachel Ray type meals. Nutritious meals on the table. You could divide the classes by cooking technique (sauteeing, roasting, etc.) For longer preparations such as a stew, show how it is prepared and started; then have one that's already cooked 2 hours or so to show how it should come out. just my thoughts

I'm a member in both groups, Fred's cutlery and knife forums, lots of good information at both. For folks here who may be interested in greater discussion of japanese knives, here are the links: http://216.91.137.210/ubbthreads/postlist....0/Board/cutlery http://www.knifeforums.com/ubbthreads/post...=&Board=Kitchen

Oh yeah? Well, MY deba is 6mm thick at the handle, weighs 3/4 of a lb and was made by Watanabe in Japan. Here's a Picture (from Watanabe's site). Good idea to clarify the use of the boning knife. I repeatedly tell people to not use a Santoku or Gyuto around bones as you could easily chip it (the knife that is). Matter of fact, since the traditional Deba is for fish bones and not chicken bones, it chipped the first time I used it. I sent it back and he reground the bevel to be more obtuse making it stronger and I haven't had a problem since. I love it. ← Oh my goodness, "knife envy" strikes me again! (smile) Bob I'm sure your collection would beat mine any time ---- but I'm just getting started! mrsadm

Shalmanase - here's a second vote for the recipe, please!

I don't have a limited list of cookbooks that I use regularly. Guess I'm pretty eclectic. I like to browse many cookbooks during the week, narrow down to a type of recipe, then find that recipe in a few different books, then pick 1 (or an assemblage of a few), buy the ingredients on Saturday morning and cook that weekend. During the week I eat formerly frozen meals put into the freezer or takeout rotisserie chicken. I have long days at the office ...... I do like an old standby that I've had since I got married, and that is Fannie Farmer. All the basics are in there and thus I have managed to avoid "Joy of Cooking" which never appealed to me. I also like to try new things from the latest cooking mags...

I have this knife, a boning knife from Kasumi (western style): http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=1107 It is fantastic. ← mrsadm, that is a gorgeous knife. I was looking at one the other day, but my main fear is spending too much for a boning knife and having said knife break. I know it's just paranoia - and I can't quite remember but that one probably comes with a lifetime warranty. If someone were to give that to me as a gift, though... As it stands I am leaning towards purchasing the Victorinox which is about $25 CDN. Anyway, sorry for the mini-hijack, please carry on with the santoku debate! ← Perhaps I should clarify .... I use the Kasumi mainly to take meat off the bones ... I don't actually try to cut through any bones with it ... as you say I would not want to break the knife. I use a cheapo (about $23) Deba to cut through chicken and fish bones. That's a heavy, short knife designed mainly for cutting off fish heads Here is a picture of a Deba: http://www.acemart.com/merchant.mv?Screen=..._Code=MERM24106 Edited to add link to picture of Deba knife

It really ticks me off when knife vendors trash certain knives as "fake". I heard the same thing from a different vendor about the Damascus steel on a Kasumi knife being "fake". Good grief! There are two lines of Hattori knives, the HD and the KD. The HD is made by Ryusen and sent to Hattori for finishing. IT IS A WONDERFUL KNIFE! I have one and would HIGHLY recommend it. The KD costs closer to $1000. It looks like a work of art in steel but you won't cut anything better with it for that much money. As far as the wall magnets vs. a knife block - I always recommend to anyone who has the possibility of young kids in the kitchen to use the knife block. Or better yet get the plastic sleeves to protect the blades and store them in the drawer.

Wow, you don't make things easy on yourself, do you? :-) My first thought was TAKE OUT! But thinking further ... I think stovetop braising is your best bet ... it won't create any smoke, except perhaps for a small amount when you first brown the meat, but guests won't be there that early. Braises also make the kitchen smell really nice. Make several vegetable sides ahead of time and keep them warm wrapped in foil in the (non-working) oven. Have lots of bread and salad to go with the meal - and perhaps appetizers that also don't need the stove, such as olives, spreads, pate, etc. Good luck!

I would recommend Rick Bayless' "One Plate at a Time". The dishes are authentic Mexican but the recipes are easier than in his other cookbooks. If by "Southwestern" he means more Tex Mex than real Mexican, there is "The Tex Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos" which has all great reviews on Amazon. I would avoid Diana Kennedy's books for someone not that experienced in cooking and also not located in the Yucatan peninsula for finding ingredients.

Has anyone received a strange look from their local butcher if you ask for pork fat? I would like to make my own lard for Mexican dishes. The stuff in the box is hydrogenated. However, it seems like every time I ask the meat counter guy (at Wegman's) for something, they say no one buys that stuff and we don't carry it. They don't even carry pork shoulder for stews. Then I read an article somewhere recently where someone wanted to make their own lard and they had to order the fat from Flying Pigs' farm. That sounds a bit expensive to me! What are your sources?