fresco

You are probably right about editors having a big say in subject matter. They do not, as a rule, dictate point of view (that's chiefly what writers are paid for). And it is her point of view that gets up my nose, and, it would seem, many others.

This is probably monstrously unfair, but I began to take against Ms. Hesser after a particularly vitriolic rant by my daughter about a Hesser piece in which she described how shamed she was by her grandmother, who insisted on ordering really uncool food while they were vacationing in Italy. Haven't seen much since to win me over.

I've never had the opportunity to taste burnt leather so I can't compare the two. Malawry's answers were indeed excellent but they don't answer YOUR reasons for your previous statement. But really, no need to answer. I am not a fan of faux meats myself but don't have a problem with it either. I don't find anything contradictory or offensive about them or anyone who eats them. If you do want an answer, I think some people who are vegetarians because they oppose raising and killing animals for food might find it offensive to be served up a vegetarian mockery of what they oppose. But I could be wrong.

Please explain why in your experience: faux meats are a bad idea (specifically which faux meats, brands, which have you tried?) "vegetarian food should be unabashedly vegetarian" (also what is unabashedly vegetarian?) vegetarians might be easily offended (have you had many personal experiences?) Wren, Please see Malawry's excellent answer, above. But in addition, I've tried Yves veggie hot dogs--a hugely popular brand in Canada--and thought they tasted like burnt leather. That may be a minority opinion, because as I say, they are hugely popular. Or they may appeal to people who think hot dogs should taste like burnt leather.

There seem to be quite a few veggie products out there meant to simulate meat-- burgers, hot dogs, and, ominously, the "tofurkey". My experience is, these are a bad idea and vegetarian food should be unabashedly vegetarian--meat eaters are not fooled and vegetarians might easily be offended. Can you think of any circumstances where it is appropriate to create fake meat dishes with vegetables?

Egad. And she can talk and write and everything. Oh. Wait. That's right. It's 2003 and I'm an old hag. I am also amazed at my own quick development as far as talking and writing goes. I *just* learned to wipe myself. When it comes to stamina, you can wipe the floor with most of us.

Don't know whether the wooster on burger trick is a Paul Newman original (it may well be) but it is a good one.

Never mind, of course, that an infinitely better cup of espresso can be had on most any Italian street corner for about a buck. True--although the real cost may be closer to, say, $5,001, after you add in the cost of getting to, and staying in, Italy. Fourbucks is a comparative bargain for most of us.

Bloviatrix provided a link earlier in this thread to a NYT story about Alice Waters teaming up with Yale, where her daughter is a student, in an experiment to see whether food for college kids could be locally sourced, nutritious, and tasty. Here's a link to the same story that doesn't require you to go through the NYT registration system to read it: http://www.iht.com/articles/106966.html

Nope. I haven't lifted a finger yet, either.

Doesn't it work pretty much this way already?

No one would ever accuse me of being a great cook. But I do it just about every day of the year. For a couple of decades, my weekday routine was rushing home at 7 or 7:30 and having dinner on the table in about 45 minutes. That's one of the big factors which has shaped the way I cook. The other is living in a city where just about every imaginable food or ingredient is readily available--I've often thought that if I had spent most of my life working out of the house in a small town, I might be a much better cook with a much narrower repertoire. What are the influences--cultural, environmental, peers, parents, mentors, training--that helped to make you the cook you are today?

You may well be right about Moosehead being available at a lot of places, but as I said before, I can't recall seeing anyone ordering it. We probably go to different bars.

AHA! I knew there was something out there that might help me out! Where do I get this cork? I've never seen it before. Does it come in big sheets or what? I'm clueless It usually comes in 12" x 12" tiles, with a variety of colors laminated on top: http://corkandfloor.com/

You are assuming they just run the Blue tap a little longer and bottle the excess as Bud or whatever, which is entirely possible--although doesn't the Bud recipe contain rice, which is unheard-of in "Canadian" beer?

My wife has a horror, bordering on phobia, that prevents me from bringing anything that moves into the house to eat while it is still moving. She's fine with live mussels or clams, but if I want to eat crab or lobster I wait till she's away and invite a couple of seafood loving friends over.

There must be something to the notion that if it's exotic, it's desirable. Moosehead is popular in places like Florida, but I can't actually recall seeing someone ordering one in Canada. And a Swedish friend says that when he returns to Sweden, he is under orders to bring as much Labatt Blue as he can carry. Blue is kind of Canada's Bud.

Just did an inventory of the jams, jellies, flavorings and condiments in the fridge--and this is AFTER a recent campaign to have a bunch of stuff, including mustards and peanut butters, removed and stored in cupboards: Two jars Hellman's mayo (one never opened) black bean sauce white truffle oil Something labelled "Irish style caramel sauce". ! capers anchovies "tangy dill" relish sweet mango chutney (bought) various fruit chutney (home made) jar of pesto sauce (bought) maple syrup three varieties of olives in brine fish sauce ketchup 2 bottles oyster flavored sauce chocolate syrup jar home made strawberry jam jar home made wild blueberry sauce jar cornichons This is in addition to one cupboard completely packed with variations on these things, and another cupboard with probably a dozen of them.

Starbucks' influence may actually be more potent in some places outside the US. I have heard it said that Starbucks' entry into the UK caused an immediate improvement in the coffee offered by competitors large and small. This may be an exaggeration, but the quality of coffee generally on offer even in London has been underwhelming. In Canada I do think a lot of places that specialize in coffee have to try harder now that Starbucks is everywhere to be found.

This isn't the definitive answer to your question, but a quick "ask jeeves" search turned up references to cans of different sizes, including commemorative cans. My suspicion is that can size is dictated more by retailers, who want something they move in volume, like beer, to be a standard size and shape for easy handling, than by statute.

There were a couple of generators running on our street the night of the blackout. They were noisy, and I heard more bitching about the generators than about the blackout. Apparently more expensive generators run quieter.

This one intrigues me, I admit. But I worry that if I buy one I'll suddenly get an itch to acquire a crossbow and light out for Montana.

When the lights went out in Toronto, we had a camping lantern with a reasonably fresh battery, a couple of AA batteries (enough to run a radio for eight or 10 hours), some candles, a couple of bags of pasta, a few cans of tomatoes, a small freezer full of odds and ends that would rapidly have been useless, given a prolonged outage, and no hoard of water. We were told constantly that the city's water reserves were good for just 24 hours if there wasn't power for the pumps. I know people of certain faiths (Mormons and Mennonites, to name two) are supposed to keep enough non-perishable food on hand to keep them going for several months. Somehow, I can't get myself worked up sufficiently to start stuffing cans and bags into every corner of the house--perhaps I'm hopelessly naive and trusting that things will go right. Are you prepared for the worst--or even a few days of shortages?

Starbucks may not be the best coffee in the world, but it is often the best coffee available. I'm a bit puzzled that their coffee is considered very overpriced. Compared with the worst beer available at a bar, it is still cheap. Compared with the best coffee available in a lot of other places, it's not expensive. If they'd quit insisting on employing a lot of stupid terms that makes their employees sound like Scientologists or something, I'd be perfectly happy with Starbucks.

Wild blueberries are in season in Ontario and widely available. Later this week I fly to Alberta, where saskatoon berries are available--a big improvement even on wild blueberries. The count so far on corn is about half a dozen mediocre to bad batches to one superlative feed. Unlike other stuff, you can't seem to buy better corn by paying more. Someone should fix this.