fresco

7-9 the new norm? You sure? This piece says average age for girls 12.5, down from 14 in 1990: http://web.ask.com/redir?bpg=http%3a%2f%2f...ormoncancer.cfm

Our cat is no damn good as a disposal unit--hardwired to cat food. But we debate endlessly about getting another bull mastiff. Our first two were insatiable, but posed, as you might expect, their own disposal problems...

Fascinating piece, alacarte, and beautifully written. Food rationing in North America doesn't seem to have left its mark on many people, the way it did in the UK. In fact, I can't recall my parents or any people of that generation even mentioning rationing. The one thing that does stick out in my mind was a very old magazine piece about German POWs in Canada in the Second World War, who were so well fed that they used bacon to stoke their fires.

Consumer choice is a great idea. Unfortunately, for reasons that I enumerated above, it is impossible to offer in many cases. The GM genie is out of the bottle.

One of the real problems with the whole GM food issue is that it is very difficult to provide honest consumer choice on a broad scale. For instance, in Canada, wheat exports are all handled by the Canadian Wheat Board, and all wheat, GM or not, is pooled. Add to that the problem that the stuff has been grown for years side by side with non-GM wheat, and it is hopelessly muddled, much like original sin. For Canada and many other countries to try to certify wheat as non-GM would be about as meaningful as providing a non-pissing area in a swimming pool.

We have a fridge of generous proportions, but it always seems to be crammed. Granted, some of it is unnecessary (certain people cannot be convinced that not all condiments need a cool environment) but it does seem to be chronic. Is this just a natural consequence of a life that revolves around food?

Thank you for giving us the benefit of your formidable expertise. I'd love to hear your prognosis for the outcome of what seems to be a vast oversupply of wine in the world, with wine now being produced and exported from what seem to to be the unlikeliest of places, and acreages in established wine producing countries being expanded every year. On the face of it, a world wine glut would seem to be a great situation for consumers, but so far, the only tangible result is a lot of bad wine being sold very cheaply. Do you see any good coming from so much new wine? Specifically, do you envision a situation where countries new to the export market will begin trimming production and concentrating instead on making unique wines that will appeal to discerning buyers around the world? Or will we be swamped by an ever-increasing variety of generic crowd pleasers?

As I said at the beginning, the coffee and the protectionism pieces are actually pretty good, but an odd fit for Gourmet. Those, and the fact that the're really reaching with some of their headlines, seem to indicate something is going on at the magazine--and I'd love to know what's driving it. Does their research indicate that they are still heavily weighted in very old readers? Have they just done a bunch of focus groups and gone away thinking that Gourmet is still not edgy enough? It all seems very unresolved.

Pyewacket: I agree that Gourmet was badly in need of an overhaul. It would be nice to see some evidence that someone was actually doing some editing--and supervising.

As you get further into some of the stories, it gets even more dissonant. Two more examples (after a five-minute skim): Headline on a quite upbeat story about Los Cabos: "Baja, Humbug." Huh? And the Sterns' burger piece (they go to Oregon in search of hazelnuts, but being the Sterns, find hamburger) contains all of these distracting and unnecessary references to winter. In the July issue?

Just picked up the latest issue of Gourmet, the magazine, as they call themselves. "of good living." Most of it is the standard fare--annual produce issue, the Sterns on burgers, etc. etc., But then there's an odd (good, but odd) piece about a renegade coffee grower in Jamaica whose son was murdered under extremely murky circumstances, and another piece that does some muckraking about US hypocrisy on free trade, citing protectionist steps taken when Florida tomato growers were threatened by Mexican imports. Again, a good piece, but an odd fit for Gourmet. To cap it off, this headline and deck: Whip it Good! These four mayonnaise recipes are part of our smear campaign Is it just me, or is Gourmet trying to give some its readers whiplash? "

"Clearly, the days of poor quality wines are numbered worldwide." Humbug.

When I agreed to investigate the contaminated food case, little did I know that I would be opening up a can of worms that would blow the lid off some real hot potatoes.

One man's swan thong: http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla...1016110&xld=180

"Zapp Co. of California makes a full line of condiments and sauces approved for the prison population" What makes a sauce or condiment suitable for felons?

He experienced a lot of Big Chirac attacks, which get expensive.

Don't know that particular thong, but hum a few bars and Matthew B will thing it.

Start fooling with thongs and cons, and you may well wind up with a case of something.

A TDG piece without the opinion would be about as appealing as a beer without the alcohol.

That's not what I hear.

"I've never had that experience." Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Is a "professional" woman someone who professes to be but isn't? That's a drag.

"So water is more than 40% more expensive than PBR." The real thing is always more expensive.

If anyone has a better method for large-scale pepper roasting (we do a couple of bushels every fall) than grilling, would sure love to hear about it.

It's not sick until you start wearing them in your tongue, nose or other parts.