Andrew Fenton

Non capisco. How is cabbage potent or not?

Andrew, this is absolutely brilliant! I hope you don't mind if I borrow the technique. 'Course not! I confess that I didn't come up with the idea myself; but I can't remember who I borrowed it from.

Tacqueria Moroleone is an awesome, cheap Mexican restaurant. The best molcajete I've ever had was eaten there. I'm told that there are other great Mexican places in and around Kennett Square, but I don't know the area. (If you make any discoveries, please report them!)

I've been hearing about that damn McCormick & Schmick's happy hour deal for years now and have never gotten my lazy self over there for some drinking. I blame my liver for trying to dissuade me; I need to tell it to just shut up and do what it's told.

There's a brief article about finger limes in the current issue of GQ magazine (not available online, alas): the caption is something like "The Best Fruit In the Universe". Anyway, they're available by mail order for $44 a pound: ouch. Also, they're beginning to be cultivated in the US. The first fruits should be available in 2006 or so...

Here's a passive-aggressive trick that's good fun. When I'm on, say, the train, trying to read, and the guy next to me starts talking REALLY LOUD on his cell, I just start reading out loud AT THE SAME VOLUME. Just keep going; don't even meet his eyes...

Holy cow. Is there another novelty ice cream that features animated characters? That have a band? And videos? Other than Otter Pops, that is? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... The Otter*Popstars

Do you mean Otter Pops? I vaguely remember these. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen these in a while. There are a few different brands, of which Otter Pops are the undisputed champion. Six zippy flavors: all are exemplary (especially Little Orphan Orange and the inexplicable Louie Blue Raspberry- why blue?) Except, that is, for the foul chemical burn of Pancho Punch. Summer 1990: I must have consumed my weight in Otter Pops.

Forgive the ignorance, but is that a good piece of art? I'm guessing it means a menu that describes animals pickled in formaldehyde. Which I agree would be pretty nasty.

I like Fudgy the Whale. And not just because I like the name so much, either. Alas, since Carvel isn't available in my area, I find myself an Ahab in search of the Great Brown Whale...

Works for me.

Not too much to add, except that I could eat those huevos every day and be a happy boy. Also that, as noticed I've in the past, service was reasonably quick. Well, except at the end, after our table had been cleared. I think that they forgot about us, and maybe thought we'd paid already: Herb had to flag down a server to give us our check. That may be because we were outside, and kind of out of sight. Anyway, the food service was as fast as I could ask for.

The cork thing reminds me of the superstition about adding the avocado pit to a bowl of guacamole in order to keep it from browning. (Which does work... for the guacamole directly underneath the pit, not the rest.)

I do the salt-over-the-shoulder thing too. Gotta hit that devil in the eye, I guess. As mentioned earlier, hoppin' John and greens on New Years; that's a good one. But it demonstrates just how porous the line is between superstition and tradition.

Jinmyo- The Beastie Boys were the first important white rap group. They've also had a longer career than just about anybody else in hip-hop. Also, they have some lyrics about food. a wee Beastie Bio (allmusic.com)

How does 11 AM sound?

Hey Herb- You still up for brunch on Sunday? Anybody else wanna come along? Tacos de lengua, huevos, maybe some menudo in all its tripey goodness? You know you can't resist...

Most of the Trader Joes I've been to have focused on frozen fish (meat, too). Which, unless you're shopping at a really good fish market, is a better bet anyway.

I had some great sweetbreads at Dante and Luigi's a while back. There was an earlier PA sweetbreads thread, kicked off (I think) by Herb. I can't remember if he succeeded in getting any around these parts; no doubt he'll chime in.

Isn't there a Portland strip club that also serves bento? Or is that just an urban legend?

Their Triple Ginger Cookies? Should be known as Trader Joe's Smack-in-a-Box. Those things are almost comically addictive. I can sit down and eat most of a (pretty large) package without thinking about it; if I could mainline them, I probably would.

That's a good question, and it occurs to me that I've never seen the sweet, sweet bread at market before. It must be available somewhere; I mean, you see it on menus sometimes. I'll ask around- will try the folks at Reading Terminal if I get the chance, and definitely the Meadow Run folks at market on Tuesday- and find a source or know the reason why not.

Neat article, Katie. Thanks for passing it on. As to Washington Square: I walked by this afternoon, and popped my head in to look at the menu. To be honest, I couldn't get excited about it. I don't really buy the overall theme: I'm not particularly convinced by "street food", especially when it's served off the street, and at fancy sit-down restaurant prices. The menu seems just like a list of random stuff; whether it tastes good or not, I don't know. I do know that the "small plates" concept, if it works, looks like a license to print money: I can see how it'd be very easy to rack up a big food bill there...

Oh yeah, that's good. Watermelon and feta, red onion, fresh mint, a little lime juice, black pepper: that's a great variation on the theme as well. Perfect for hot summer days.

Try salami, avocado, arugula and coarse mustard. The avocado fills a lot of the functions of cheese: it's smooth and creamy and complements the salami.