JAZ

I guess I'm alone on this one. I like Meyer lemons in cocktails -- not as a replacement for Eureka lemons, but in different drinks. I think Meyers go really well with Lillet, for instance. I use them in my After School Special: 2 oz. gin (Beefeater or similar), 1 oz. Lillet, .25 to .5 oz Meyer lemon juice (depending on acid level), and a dash or two of Chartreuse. I also like them in a Margarita variation, with 2 oz. reposado tequila, .5 oz. orange curacao or Grand Marnier, and .5 oz. Meyer lemon juice.

While I'll agree about American's melting properties, I don't think it has enough flavor to stand up to the other ingredients. However, there are worse things. Honey on the outside??? Please to splain. ← Stay tuned for that story.

More than a year later, I'm still dreaming of a close-by butcher shop, but I have found some alternatives. For variety and reasonable prices, DeKalb Farmer's Market is reliable, if not terribly convenient. For great quality and special orders, I've discovered Sawicki's in Decatur (Lynn Sawicki used to head up the charcuterie dept. for Star Provisions, I think). I've also gotten to know the head of the meat dept. at my Publix, so he'll order stuff for me as well, or pack a single steak or chop for me. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the quality at Publix, which has been a pleasant surprise. And as I mentioned here, the CSA I order from also has meat available. It's been great, if a bit expensive. I see that Trader Joe's carries some meat as well. Anyone tried that? It would very convenient if it turned out to be good.

I've fallen into a pattern over the past couple of years of making a nightcap most nights. Even when I'm out for dinner, I'd almost always rather skip the after dinner drink or dessert there in favor of having one last drink when I'm home. I find that, for the most part, I like a different kind of drink as a nightcap. It's the time rye or scotch are most likely to make an appearance, and when I think about it, I guess that my nightcaps tend to be higher in alcohol, and also sweeter. There are some nightcap drinks that I also occasionally make earlier in the evening, but there's not a whole lot of crossover. My current rotation includes the Marconi Wireless, Rusty Nail, East India Cocktail and a variation of the Last Word. A new addition has been the Widow's Kiss. Anyone else in the nightcap habit? What do you make?

I haven't used it, but I imagine that if it's got a piece of stone in it as thick as the Hearthkit, then it will take just as long to heat up, and just as long to cool down. The difference, I guess, is that you could use that for bread and keep your regular oven free of the Hearthkit. I just keep my Hearthkit in the oven all the time. It does mean I can't reduce the heat quickly, but for me it makes up for that in the heat level I can achieve, and (especially in my old crappy oven) it gave me much more even heat.

Wherever you end up registering, make sure that there's a store near you that will handle returns with no hassles. Regardless of how carefully you register and how well managed the stores' registries are, you'll get lots of duplicates of stuff, or stuff you don't want. Trust me on this one. I used to be in charge of the registry at a Sur La Table store. Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma both have easy return procedures -- the other stores mentioned might too, but you do want to check. And check to see if you can return online or catalog purchases at a brick and mortar store. Not all stores allow that. If you register with Amazon, keep in mind that you'll be sending a lot of stuff back. Also keep in mind where your guests live, and how they will be ordering. Although a lot of people like to order online, there are also people who prefer to go into a store.

This topic has run its course, so we're closing it. Thanks for posting.

Does it have to go on the counter? If you have wall space, you can buy coated wire shelves of varying depths at the hardware store. That's what I used in my previous kitchens (I don't have the wall space in my current kitchen, or I'd still be using them). Here's my "spice rack" in my last kitchen: I used shelves about 2 inches deep, but I also had some deeper than that for other uses.

I've been ordering vegetables, eggs and meat from Moore Farms' CSA for a few months now. They're based in Alabama, but metro Atlanta seems to be their biggest market. They grow some of the products themselves, but also act as a coordinator for other farms, so their selection is more varied than most CSAs I've looked into before. The quality has been excellent, and the selection -- even during the winter -- has been good, too. In addition to the more usual CSA selection of fruits and vegetables, they offer a limited selection of meats from local (Southeast) farms. The lamb (from Johnson Family Farms) and pork (Berkshire, from Riverview Farms) has been fabulous. Another great thing (for me at least -- since I'm cooking for one or two at most) is that although they offer the standard CSA box of their own selection, you can also order exactly what you want. There's a small fee for that, but it's worth it to me. You don't have to order every week, either, which is also nice. I don't know how well known they are, so I thought it was worth mentioning here. If anyone is interested, check out their site at Moore Farms and Friends.com Anyone else a customer? Any other CSAs out there that are worth checking out?

Last night we did a blind taste test of the old formula and the new. The "old" bottle was purchased about 2.5 years ago, the "new" bottle about 6 months ago. Both were opened with 1/3 to 2/3 of the contents gone. (We also tasted Luxardo's Bitter, for comparison's sake.) The results? We noticed a very slight difference in the finish, but probably nothing that could be detected in a cocktail. The color of the new was slightly more orange, and that was the extent of the difference.

Back to the subject of "house brands," mine are pretty fixed: Gin: Beefeater, and Plymouth for drinks where a softer gin is better Tequila: I've settled on Milagro, although I occasionally splurge on El Tesoro reposado. Brandy: Landy VS White rum: Flor de Cana Dark rum: Bacardi 8, Inner Circle green (when I can find it) Rye: Rittenhouse Bonded or Wild Turkey Apple brandy: Laird's Applejack and Laird's bonded Scotch: I tend to buy whatever vatted malt is available and relatively inexpensive. Triple sec: Marie Brizard (sometimes I splurge on Cointreau) Maraschino: Luxardo Vermouth: Noilly Prat (dry) and Carpano Antica (sweet). Also Lillet Blanc. Various other liqueurs: Chartreuse, Campari, Drambuie, Benedictine, Herbsaint, MB Apry. That's not everything in my bar, but it's the stuff I use most often. I'll switch from my usual brands if something else good is on sale or I feel like splurging, but these tend to be the best values I can find. Are there "better" brands? Undoubtedly, but these work for me.

I finally bought a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse, so I tried a Widow's Kiss (recipe from Imbibe! -- how convenient to find a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse right after I came across that recipe). Laird's bonded, the Chartreuse and Benedictine, with a dash of Angostura. It's a very nice drink, but definitely (for me) an after-dinner type. It'll make it into my stable of favorite nightcaps, though.

There is something to be said for ordering them out, rather than making them. I'm sure the grease (or griddle residue) could be part of the reason, but also there's the beauty of all the effort (by someone else) going on behind closed doors. So your patty melt appears like magic. I haven't used yellow mustard on a patty melt in at least 30 years (leave it to an older sister to expose past sins). Not that I have anything against yellow mustard in the right setting, but it's pretty overpowering in a patty melt.

While I'm sure it's true that some people dislike some foods because they've never had them prepared well, it's not always the case. For instance, I've always hated blue cheese of any kind -- Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Danish blue -- if it's blue, it makes me gag (literally). I often hear, "Oh, but if you had it this way, you'd like it" and I can say, with absolute confidence, "No, I wouldn't." (Incidentally, the last time I inadvertently tried it was at Alinea, and I figure if they couldn't make it palatable, no one can.) So don't always assume that you can change someone's mind with a new preparation.

I agree that a small kitchen (to a certain point) isn't such a bad thing. When you're used to limited space, it can work quite well, depending on the set-up. Sometimes a larger space isn't set up well, so the extra space is just wasted. I had one kitchen that was very spacious (for a San Francisco flat), but had almost no cabinet space and very little counter space. Total waste of space. The one thing about a small kitchen, though, is that it can be impossible for two people to work in.

Interesting. Ruhlman mentions the temperature of perked coffee in his blog too. Hasn't he heard of drip machines that brew into a thermal carafe? My Capresso produces coffee that's over 160F when poured into a cup -- and that's a half pot, poured into a cold cup. (It's closer to 170 if I brew a full pot and pour into a warmed cup.) Second cup, 15 or 20 minutes later, is 158F. How hot does it need to be? As for "burning the coffee," again, I'd point to a thermal carafe. If there's no heat source, there's no burning.

My previous apartment kitchen wasn't the smallest one I've -- not by a long shot. But it was long and narrow: My current kitchen has more counter space, a full sized refrigerator, a dishwasher and a much better range, so I'm grateful for that. I still don't have enough storage, so I too keep extra equipment in the bedroom closet.

I've worked in cookware stores off and on for 10 years, and have seen and used just about every new type of coffee maker or "system" that's come along in that time. Lately, I've noticed that people seem to be buying percolators. Not a lot -- maybe 3 in the last 6 months. But that's three more than I've sold in the previous 9.5 years. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Michael Ruhlman was singing the praises of percolators on his blog as well. As far as I know, there haven't been any improvements in percolator technology in the past 20 years, have there? Both from personal experience and from everything I've read on the subject, it's clear that it's just not a good way to make coffee. So what's the deal? Is it nostalgia?

We just did these for a cooking class, so we did a few practice runs. We found that 2-3 minutes fat side down isn't enough time for the fat to render out (wild ducks will have much less fat, so 2-3 minutes might be fine for them). We left them for 5-6 minutes then turned them and cooked them flesh side down for a minute before putting them into the oven. Make sure your skillet isn't too hot -- medium heat should be fine.

I presented this eCGI course on menu planning several years ago. I'm not sure how much help it will be, but it might be a starting point for you.

Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology cites a railroad term as the source of the name: My Webster's Ninth lists both meanings but doesn't link the two.

Although my first "regular" cocktail, back in college, was the gin and tonic, and I used to drink more than my share of sweetened Gin Rickeys, I'm not a particular fan of highballs. But I am a ginger ale/beer fan, and recently I found a new (to me) Jamaican ginger brew at my neighborhood grocery store. So I bought a few bottles, and have been enjoying such drinks as the Presbyterian (rye, ginger ale and soda) and a variation on Dale DeGroff's Anejo highball (dark rum, lime, triple sec, ginger ale). But it made me realize that I don't really know much about highballs. What's the definition? I think of the classic highball as Scotch and soda, and I've always thought that basically they're spirit + carbonated mixer, or with a stretch, a little citrus or sweetener. Gary Regan includes all the spirit + juice drinks like the Screwdriver as well, but I've never thought of them as highballs. So what counts as a highball? Is there a strict definition? And whether or not there is, what other great highballs am I missing?

You'll get no argument from me that there are times when delivery is the only appealing option. What I find curious is that pizza became the delivery food of choice, when there are other foods that travel better. Chinese food, in my opinion, works much better as a delivery food. I used to order from an Indian place, and almost everything on that menu was great when delivered (no surprise, probably, that naan was the least appealing delivery menu item for me). Roasted chicken would be a good delivery option -- why doesn't anyone offer that? Why pizza?

We've been making a variation on the Last Word -- same ingredients, different proportions. The Closing Remark 2 oz. gin .25 oz green Chartreuse .25 Maraschino .5 oz. lime juice

This topic on Domino's pizza tracker got me thinking about delivery pizza in general. My opinion is that it's pretty much all bad. Not that the places that deliver are all bad, by any means. But whoever thought that pizza was a good food to make ahead of time and deliver? The crust is always soggy, no matter how crisp it started out. If it's hot when it goes in the box, then it steams and gets gooey. If it's not hot, well then, it's cold by the time it gets to you. Sure, if you're prepared and have the equipment, you can put a pizza stone in the oven when you order and then slap the pizza on it to crisp back up, but that kind of defeats the purpose of delivery. I think the only way delivery pizza could be really good is if there were roving vans with pizza ovens in them -- then, when you ordered, they could pop the pizza in the oven and start driving. It'd cook on the way and be handed to you straight out of the mobile oven. That would be worth ordering. I can think of a lot of food that stands up to delivery better than pizza -- most Asian food, for instance. Yet, we all order pizza, and we all put up with second-rate products, just because they're delivered. Why is that?