Andrew Fenton

Dude. Worst food product placement? Have you seen Mac and Me? Well, no, of course you haven't, or else you'd be crouched in a padded cell, hugging yourself and praying for the sweet release of death. But this ET knockoff is notorious for its frequent, heavy-handed product placements. (To give you an idea, the aliens in the movie must drink Coke and eat Skittles to live.) But it gives me the excuse to post a link to this video, of a scene featuring a dance-off in a McDonalds:

See, it's this kind of out-of-the-box thinking that made America great. Also fat. But mostly, great.

This is not difficult to find, searching "french fried" on Google Books and limiting the search to the 21st century: click. The first cookbook is "Northwoods Fish Cookery" (published 2000), which has a recipe for walleye crusted with 'French fried onions.'

Google Ngram viewer is probably useful here. For example, looking at uses of "French fried" between 1900-2008, there's a steep decline starting in the 1990s. And "deep fried" has a corresponding rise in usage. (N.B., this is a lazy man's approach, just eyeballin' it. But if it confirms the prejudices of this thread, it must be right!)

I think you'll find a perfect introduction in this wonderful eGCI course by Col Klink. As to equipment, if you have access to a grill (even a Weber kettle), charcoal (briquette- which I think are the same as heat beads- or lump), and chunks or chips of appropriate hardwood, you have everything you need. That said, it's easier to BBQ in a dedicated smoker, like a Big Green Egg. Here's a thread about smokers. Once you have everything set up, pop over to this thread for inspiration: Behold my Butt!

Or prune whip or lemon or pineapple fluff (all from the '50s) Hold on. Are you saying that people today wouldn't complain about- or at least make fun of- prune whip? Prune whip? Really? I know quite a few people, mostly men, mostly all transplanted southerners (with one Newfoundlander), who are very serious about prune whip. Their mama's and grandmama's made it and they really, really like it. Laugh, at your peril. I'll be careful... and pass the pineapple fluff!

Or prune whip or lemon or pineapple fluff (all from the '50s) Hold on. Are you saying that people today wouldn't complain about- or at least make fun of- prune whip? Prune whip? Really?

Chapter 11 means they likely will close some locations. But it's unlikely that those greasy airport pizzas will be replaced by anything wonderful... we are talking about airport food, after all!

Relevant to this topic: Apple's Smart Cover for the iPad 2 lets your iPad double as a fridge magnet: very useful in the kitchen!

I'm with Katie. I've had plenty of bad meals, but if they're cooked with friendship and love, what's to cry about? Laugh, sure; but you get a good story out of it. What meals make me cry? When I have my grandmother's applesauce cake, I do cry- or snuffle a little. Because it reminds me of her, and how I miss her.

We buy fish sticks for our toddler, who likes them a lot (mainly as a vehicle for ketchup, natch.) I find that most of them aren't worth grownup eating. But I recently tried TJ's "fish nuggets", which, despite the name, are actually small pieces of whole fish. They're really good! I

Trader Joe's sells frozen naan that's as good as almost any restaurant naan I've had. Definitely better than anything I could make at home...

A friend sent me this cookbook. I'm pretty psyched about it, but I don't know that I'll ever cook any of the recipes:

Hmmm:

Agreed on the confusion about the Time-Life books. I had a few of those back in college when I was learning to cook, and they taught me the basics of different cuisines. Sadly, I have no idea what happened to my copies. It's a great series. For me... is it cheating to say Culinary Artistry? There are a few recipes in it, but I mostly read it for inspiration.

I've thought a lot about this. Why would anyone in Philly buy subway dreck, when even Wawa makes a better product??? Two reasons: first, it's cheaper. $5 for a Subway foot-long sandwich is less than you'd pay at "real" hoagie shop- Sarcone's, Primo's or whatever. Wawa's prices are probably comparable to Subway (and I agree, is miles better), but there are a lot more Subways around than there are Wawas. Second, let's not kid ourselves: while there are a lot of terrific hoagie shops around, it's not like there's one on every corner. There are no really good hoagieries on South Street- you'd have to walk to the Italian Market. So you either go to the South St. Subway, or to one of the manky corner deli/Greek pizza places. And the neighborhoods are worse, more often than not. I might head out of my way to Chickie's... if I'm a foodie. And I don't have hungry kids wanting to be fed. And I have the time and transportation and disposable income. Etc. Third, I think that the perception that Subways in NYC or Philly are visited mainly by out-of-towners is wishful thinking.

Owensboro, KY is the center of mutton barbecue. I've been to the Moonlite BBQ there: it's very good.

Scotch Broth with barley, carrots etc. Kay Or mulligatawny soup. All good ideas! I once had a really wonderful Indonesian lamb soup and had ideas of trying to replicate it. But mulligatawny sounds even better!

This is an excellent idea. I tend to be pretty disciplined about regular freezer cleaning (it helps that I only have a small freezer), but there are some items that have been in there for entirely too long. Number one, lamb stock. Any suggestions?

They seem to have upped their game, then. The last two kid's meals I bought came with a pretty good book ("If You Give A Pig A Pancake") and a brain-teaser game. The company has clearly decided to focus on including prizes that have some intellectual value, as opposed to the latest Disney movie. I'll give them props for that, too.

Not only is the service friendly and helpful, at least two of the CFA's I've been to (in Cherry Hill, NJ and South Philadelphia) actually feature table service. They'll bring the food out to your table. And come around asking if you want a refill of your lemonade. It's crazy. I'm not actually that big a fan of the food at CFA- the sandwiches are OK, and I like the diet lemonade, but that's about it- but the service, combined with the play areas at a lot of the stores, make them a great option for when I'm out with the kids.

I prefer to look at the half-full glass (of bacteria.) Since there's nothing special about the 5-second limit, it means I might as well eat food that has been lying on the floor for five seconds... ten... thirty... ten minutes, even. Why, the floor is my buffet!

Sure! Barbecued lamb is very good. I've smoked it before (but only to slicing temperature, not pulling temperature.)

I've heard that same theory about smoke absorption, though with different times: four hours is what I remember. Thirty minutes seems way too short. Still, it would be worth a shot. In the past, I've smoked something for 30 min and finished in the oven; cooking it SV would keep the smoke flavor more intact.

Be sure to check out this earlier thread. I've smoked lots of things on my stovetop smoker (though less now that I've moved to a place where I can smoke outdoors.) In my experience, 1 hour 45 minutes is way too long to smoke anything in one. Since there's no place for the smoke to go, the food gets bitter from creosote buildup. That means the smoker works best for recipes that only need a light smoke- 30 minutes or so. Chicken wings are great (finish them in the oven or broiler). Fish is terrific, as is duck. But I'd never use it for brisket, ribs or a pork butt. I'm not sure about using it as a cold smoker- it'd be tough to get the smoke without the heat. But if you have the wood chips, it's not hard to get them smoldering inside a larger smoke chamber. Here's showing how.