fifi

Sorry, but that is just really funny. I love the way you combine the accommodation with the desire for murder! Your reference to the need for coffee and/or whiskey has given me an inspiration. How about leaving out a delectable bit of cake, soaked in whiskey. Get the little sucker drunk then haul his sorry ass out to the garden and let him go to nurse a well deserved hangover another day.

Well, I am back and catching up... I just remembered another thing that really works. Here in Houston we can get these green plastic bags called Evertfresh. They have a catalyst in the plastic that absorbs ethylene gas (the stuff that accelerates ripening, and rotting at the same time). You can put washed lettuce in there and it will keep for a couple of weeks. I also get these green discs at Bed, Bath & Beyond that have the same stuff. You put them in the veggie drawer in the fridge. Things keep a LOT longer. These things save me a lot of money.

That goldfish cracker jingle... "until you bite their heads off". Cute web site but I can't find the jingle.

Thanks Toliver. I checked and those are the exact ones I used. (I just usually buy Ziploc.)

oooo... potato gratin. Do a dauphinoise a la Steingarten.

Those things are great. They kept the nasty buggers under control in my pantry in my previous house.

But we have not answered the seminal question... Can you make decent duck lips with the competitor?

Toliver said I needed to start this thread so that we would have a place to share tips on things that really work. And... I always do what Toliver says. I have found this stuff called Dawn Power Dissolver. It really does get the browned on gunk off of pans, smoker grills and whatever is gunked up. You can even spray the offending culprit and put it directly into the dishwasher. I have also taken to using the really big, 2 gallon size, Ziploc bags for putting the dry rub on brisket or other meat to get it ready for the smoker. You can just dump the rub into the bag with the piece of meat, toss it around to get it evenly distributed, then massage it in from outside the bag. All of the rub sticks to the meat, not the bag, and you don't get your hands all yucky. If you are going to refrigerate it overnight, it is already in a bag to do so. Any other good tips out there?

I just phoned my sister and read her this thread. We are laughing our butts off. (No small accomplishment, given the size of our butts.)

I am getting a little doubtful about this whole endeavor. Are you guys telling me that chestnuts aren't worth the trouble? What is all of that stuff... "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" etc. etc. etc. Those of us here in the southland think of chestnuts as some delicacy enjoyed in the great northern climes and wonder what it is all about. Now that we have our hands on some, I am being told they aren't worth it. Hmmm... Johnny Mathis may have some 'splainin' to do.

Seesh... All of that is encouraging. We are not above doing the "pain-in-the-ass" thing for something memorable. Are you telling me that chestnuts aren't worth it? We are not a chestnut eating folk down here so I don't have an opinion of chestnuts. So... We do have to try it. Curiosity beckons. Can we freeze these things and put the whole thing off?

My sister and I are the proud recipients of a grocery bag full of chestnuts from a friend's tree in Cleveland. These are wonderful chestnuts supposedly from a legendary chestnut tree. Some of them are starting to mildew at the stem end and my sister is judiciously wiping them down with vinegar even as I type. My question is... Can we put them in the freezer in anticipation of doing something with them for Thanksgiving? Does freezing chestnuts change the texture? What do you do with chestnuts, anyway. Here in the Gulf Coast, they are not part of our cooking heritage. Help, please.

I am not sure that looking at McDs and BK positioning in Manhattan will give anyone a good idea about their demographics when considering the country as a whole. My personal experience (definitely not scientific) here in the Houston area and in suburban areas of other cities that I travel to is that there seems to be one of these things on every corner in suburbia. They seem to cluster in the middle to upper-middle class areas. If that is, indeed, true then that kind of blows the theory that the poorer folks are dumping money on the fast food joints. When I go into the "poorer" parts of town to visit an ethnic grocery or whatever, I don't see the FF joints. There was an article a few months ago about how the poorer parts of town are underserved by the major grocery chains, etc. Well, that is not entirely true. Fiesta grocery chain figured out a long time ago that there was a market in these "poorer" parts of town and went there. Fiesta is well known for great produce and a "creative" butcher department. (You can buy a pig's head there.) A major developer here also figured out that the census figures on income in some of these areas is not exactly correct since a lot of the economy is "underground" (read... cash, not reported) and is making a killing putting some really great shopping venues in unexpected places. My point is, I would be wary of jumping to any conclusions about the "poorer" parts of our society depending upon the FF supply until that can be confirmed by real data.

Cool fish site. Thanks, vengroff.

I am not sure that "white" balsamic vinegar isn't an oxymoron. What makes balsamic balsamic is the long aging that concentrates the flavor in wooden casks so that the color cannot be "white". Why does this sound like a marketing trick to me? I have seen it but haven't tried it so I can't comment any more intelligently than that.

I think you nailed it FG. That was my whole point. Priorities are out of whack.

I don't think it is the "state of the nation" as much as it is the state of the family and the priorities within the family. I know too many families that never eat together because "soccer mom" is chasing all of the kids "organized activities" and these things seem to take precedence over family time around the table with food lovingly prepared and shared. And I am talking about folks who can afford the best. Sad.

Yeah... you gotta.

Red wine and a not-too-sweet ginger ale with an orange slice makes a really nice drink on a hot day. Wine and Coke? ACK!

Welcome... Oh brave one. Actually, I agree with you. It is just too bad that Bayless has been known to be out on the idealistic fringe (my opinion) with his involvement in Chef's Cooperative and this move seems to fly in the face of that. While I might agree with his "You have to start somewhere." approach (imminently practical), given his known position before this, the move damages his credability. I think that is the crux of the argument here, as best I can tell.

This veal ragout from Epicuious is a family favorite. It is really an interesting dish. We like it better made with pork, though.

That is about the most pretentious thing I have heard of coming out ot the islands. (Lanai is one of the few I have not been to.) I can't even imagine the jacket thing in the whole state, much less Lanai. Sheesh. THAT would have gotten a letter to the owners.

OK... I finally got Paula's book and am reading the recipe. Does anyone know where to get a ham hock that isn't smoked?

I clicked on the Amazon icon to order Madhur Jaffrey's book (to go along with the Russ Parsons order) and they don't seem to have it. Has it been published in the US yet?

We had a similar zoo here in Houston. See Ken Hoffman's column on the experience. (It is about midway down the column.)