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Andrew Fenton

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Posts posted by Andrew Fenton

  1. 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:

  2. 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!

  3. It's insubstantiality makes it an easy target. A transparent pile of fine bubbles evoking whatever seems precious. Of course, if it were, say, zabaglione, you probably wouldn't hear many complaints.

    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! :biggrin:

  4. It's insubstantiality makes it an easy target. A transparent pile of fine bubbles evoking whatever seems precious. Of course, if it were, say, zabaglione, you probably wouldn't hear many complaints.

    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?

  5. 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!

  6. 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.

  7. Other than Trader Joe's. No, I'm not on their payroll, although over the 30-plus years I've shopped there, I probably own a good piece of their operation. But as with most of their private-label products, their beer-battered white fish filets are very good, I think better than even VdeK. Again, the use of the term "filet" is a stretch, but they're good for what they are. And lacking a TJ's, or if TJ's isn't carrying the fish sticks at the moment, it's VdeK all the way.

    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

  8. Question (primarily for Holly, but if anyone else knows, please chime in!), does McD's use evaporated milk in its ice cream products?

    Hmmm:

    Milk, sugar, cream, nonfat milk solids, corn syrup solids, mono- and diglycerides, guar gum, dextrose, sodium citrate, artificial vanilla flavor, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, disodium phosphate, cellulose gum, vitamin A palmitate.
  9. 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.

  10. It is discouraging that Subway seems to do so well in the land of the hoagie.

    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.

  11. 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?

    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!

  12. 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?

  13. I do remember that when my kids were younger, they had a tendency to have really variable kids meal "toys." One time you might get a toy with real play value, and the next time you might get a real kid-pleaser like a book lecturing them on a character trait.

    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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.
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