JAZ

I've used orange bitters in martinis occasionally, but not with either of those gins. I find that, used with a dry vermouth like Noilly Prat, the bitters adds a flavor similar to that of blond Lillet. It's not something I want all the time, but it makes a nice change from time to time.

Here are two suggestions: the Kuhn Rikon peeler with a carbon steel blade (click here) or the Messermeister serrated peeler (click here). The Kuhn Rikon model is really sharp, pretty strong, and very inexpensive. Chefs come in all the time to buy these. In fact, over Christmas, several chefs bought them for their staffs, as "stocking stuffers." The Messermeister, being serrated, can peel things that other peelers can't touch, such as raw tomatoes or peaches, or waxed vegetables like cucumbers and bell peppers. I have both. I use the Kuhn Rikon for most jobs, but love the Messermeister for the tricky ones.

Which Springbank? I splurged once on the 21 year old, and it was probably my single favorite single malt ever. But Highland Park's awfully good too. And I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Laphroaig -- when I first started drinking single malts, a wine and liquor shop near my apartment had it ridiculously underpriced, so I bought a bottle whenever I could afford it.

While it's true you can get off-flavors from ice, I'd think there are cheaper ways to avoid it.

Actually, this is very clever of Bacardi's marketing department. I think it's a little disingenuous as well, though, since one ounce of any distilled (80 proof) liquor contains that same 65 calories and no carbohydrates. Thus, other "smart" cocktails would include anything on the rocks or straight, anything with soda, anything with diet tonic, and martinis (with a small splash only of vermouth, and without olives, of course). But that's assuming that one drink contains one ounce of liquor, which rarely happens.

I'm going to try to get back into using my cookbooks more for actual recipes. Even if I don't follow them exactly, I want to benefit from all that knowledge. Last night I picked out a recipe for garlic soup from A New Way to Cook, and followed most of it. I was quite proud of myself. Also I want to get back into baking breads. And work on pizza.

I recommend Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider.

We carried the ice glass molds for a while, too. Sounded like a good idea, until we realized that a) the glasses were uncomfortably cold to hang onto, and b) putting your lips on the edge of an ice "glass" was not the smartest thing to do.

I have mixed feelings about it. I think the authors' (Peter Kaminsky and Gray Kunz) idea is a good one, but I don't think they deliver on their promise, for a couple of reasons. First, I like precision in language (the result of a philosophy degree) and they play fast and loose with the terms they use, confusing, for example, textures and flavors. Second, although the recipes sound good, they're very complicated, so it takes a great deal of time and effort to be able to follow along with their "experiments." On the other hand, at least it's a way to start thinking about the taste and textural components of food, which is valuable.

I just heat rice vinegar with a little sugar and add the sliced ginger. It seems to keep forever in the fridge. I use the ginger in most savory recipes that call for fresh ginger, which I don't always have. I also use the vinegar for salad dressings and marinades. Edit to add something I just remembered: In Gourmet (I think) a while back, there was a sort of "deconstructed" California Roll salad made with rice, crab, avocado and sliced pickled ginger. I didn't try it when I saw it, but maybe now that crab season is here, I'll do it.

Welcome, cinnamonshops! Whenever I've done any infusions with citrus fruit, I've only used the outside layer of the peel, not the fruit itself. I peel it off in strips, leaving the pith behind. So that's what I'd recommend for the buddha's hand as well.

So, did anyone have any surprising successes or failures with their christmas cookies? Due to a lack of time, I limited myself to two cookies and two candies, but at the last minute changed from my good and extremely easy browned butter crisps to a still-easy-but-much-more-time-consuming variation on sand tarts filled with caramel and almonds. They were the new hit, so now I guess I'll have to plan on making them every year. My peanut butter truffles were disappointing this year, though. I've used Jif's Extra Crunchy in the filling for years, but I think they may have changed the formulation or something, because this year the filling was much sweeter and softer than in past years. A pain to dip and not nearly as tasty as usual.

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, the store where I work started to carry edible shot glasses made from the jelly-like substance that makes up gummy bears and the like. These are from Sweden, and come in 4 flavors: blueberry, strawberry, lemon and gooseberry. For some reason, that last flavor just cracks me up.

I think this would be the way to go -- add the vodka to the tomatoes early in the cooking. I would use beef broth rather than chicken for the liquid, flavor with celery seed, chiles (or hot sauce), worchestershire, salt and pepper, and add some kind of acid (lemon juice or even orange juice would be my best guess). Puree, then serve with a horseradish creme fraiche swirled in.

I too would recommend folks attend Gary's "Cocktails in the Country" course. *** What you "are" taught, is a better understanding of "Quality" cocktails and bartending. Essentially, all the stuff that a "bartender school" -doesn't- teach you. Even if you are already a career bartender, I would recommend this course as a fun "refresher". And yes, it is fun. I haven't been, but I know Gary from a couple of old cocktail forums, and I can only imagine it would be a great experience. I think (fingers crossed) we'll have Gary and Mardee as Q&A guests sometime in the early spring. But -- back to the topic. . .

Not that I'm a professional bartender, as beans and some of the other posters are, but I've spent my fair share of time in high end retail (currently cookware) and I also have much experience with a variety of bars (no, not what you think -- my SO is in wine and spirits sales and has also bartended at a few places). My advice would be to develop relationships at small neighborhood bars and try to parlay that into a part time job. While beans's comments are dead-on for the high-volume, high-end type places where she works, I think the smaller, less demanding places might be more welcoming to a determined, ambitious and hard-working beginner.(god knows, some of the places I've been have total dolts behind the bar -- I don't care how "green" you are, you couldn't be less experienced than some of the "bartenders" I've seen). So, maybe it's a little place, maybe you get the crappy shifts to start with. If you can do the job, you'll get recognition on way or the other -- either the owner will see you have potential, or the customers will start to spout off about how great you are. My two cents' worth? Skip bartending school (unless you live in New York and want to experiencethis great course) but work on cultivating relationships at small, lower volume places to start.

Anchor in San Francisco (think Anchor Steam beer) has a couple of distilled spirits in addition to their beers, one of which is Old Potrero Rye. Very nice. I don't know how widely distributed it is, though.

My experience parallels yours. Contact lenses in, no tears. Contact lenses out, tears. Glasses, fewer tears, but tears nonetheless. Incidentally, I'd like to get to the bottom of this, because I've been telling my students that wearing contact lenses while chopping onions stops one from crying. If it's not universally true, I don't want to mislead them. I wear the disposable kind -- is that what everyone else wears? I can't remember what used to happen when I wore the old hard gas permeable ones.

Sounds like a great time. Watch out for the Anderson Valley Winter Solstice.

Every year, I get the mailing and I think I'll go, and then somehow I never do. But maybe this year I will.

What Suzanne said. As I mentioned, what I tell people is the truth -- I don't use recipes -- I wing it; many times I can't recreate what I've made from one time to the next. One of the hardest things for me when I started teaching was to keep track of ingredients and amounts and write them down so I could give them to my students. I'm still constantly finding myself deviating from what I've written, in front of my classes, and having to explain that a little more or less of this or that is not a big thing. As for giving out recipes, I don't have a problem with it, if I happen to have a recipe. It's just that usually I don't.

What I say in a case like this is (and for me it has the advantage of being true most of the time): "You know, when I cook, I don't really measure, and I hardly ever make this the same way twice, so I can't give you an exact recipe. But I can tell you the ingredients, with some general instructions. Will that help?" If they say yes, then I give them a brief outline of the recipe. Usually, though, their eyes glaze over and they say, "oh that's okay. Thanks anyway." As I said, this response is generally truthful for me, so I don't feel bad giving it. Edit: I swear I didn't copy Suzanne, but I guess great minds think alike.

Nice interview, Rachel. I've never watched the show, but you did a good job of making him interesting even to non-viewers like me.

I wasn't terribly impressed with Chez Spencer, but I know people who love it. The food was fine, but it was very expensive, considering the small size of the portions. The salad mentioned in the article, for example, contains about a quarter cup of frisee, a little diced bacon, and three small paper thin slices of (admittedly very good) smoked duck breast, plus an overdone poached egg, for (as I recall) about $15. I spent $40 plus tip for the salad, a small serving of okay bouillabaise, a glass of rose, and a marble sized scoop of sorbet (three of us split that). Then I went home and had a grilled cheese sandwich, which was the most satisfying thing I had that night.

I don't think your analogy holds at all, at least not for some types of bars (I'm thinking neighborhood bars with lots of regular patrons). A neighborhood bar is not like a deli, period. And I think it's clear that Tryska knew the bartender(s) fairly well, so it seems it was a regular hangout. In that case, at least at the bars I'm familiar with, it would be perfectly acceptable to make a comment like that. And I think most bartenders who work at such places would understand it for what it was -- bar shorthand for "God, I've had a horrid day; I need a drink and the stronger, the better." Maybe they'd pour heavy, maybe they wouldn't, but they wouldn't get offended. In my experience, this simply isn't true. Again, I think it's clear that Tryska did not wander into a brand new bar and ask an unknown bartender. Look at the original post, and you'll see the phrases "usual place," favorite bartender," etc. While a request like that isn't appropriate for an unknown place, I think it's a whole different story in one's "usual" place.