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I got curious about the Wagyu beef and what part Texas A&M may have played in that so I went a-googling. I haven't found the A&M answer yet but I did find this interesting article from the 2001 Austin Chronicle. Any Aggies out there know anything about A&M's role in developing Wagyu beef? My next quest will be one of those burgers. The more I thnk about it the closer that gets to my Must-Eat-Before-I-Die list.

I was just about to ask that. Didn't "they" change the rules sometime or another that would classify some atheletes as "obese?"

I am kinda with you, Taboni. But when I had my house, we had curbside recycling and I had a little compost pile. Then, I used a "garbage bowl." I can't wait to have a compost heap again. Oh . . . not for any tree hugging tendencies. I just like to have the compost for the garden and the various things that sprout from it are fun to watch. When I was a kid, my dad got a bunch of papaya "trees" out of the compost heap and, thanks to a mild winter, we had bunches of papayas the next year. Then there was that "mystery squash" that was so tasty. What I am trying to figure out is a "municipal compost" that can use meat scraps. YUK!

Sweet pickle relish in potato salad was an abomination according to mother. She always diced up dill or other non-sweet pickles, usually of some recipe that dad made. The closest she got to using anything sweet was this "bread and butter" pickle that dad made. Think sweet-sour. I actually hated those pickles but they were good in the potato salad. . . with eggs.

Well . . . This range I have now in this apartment is not self cleaning. My long cherished housekeeper and clean oven fanatic is off having a knee replaced. I use my oven a lot and the drips and drabs are starting to accumulate. She is going to go into apoplexy when she sees this thing. I would give up a body part for a self cleaning oven.

I am wondering the same thing, GG. But, what the heck. I am well practiced in avoiding process servers . . . um . . . I mean . . . Oh, forget it.

Oh my. I had forgotten about the Tupperware lettuce holder with the spikey thing. My mother had one though I don't know where she would have gotten it. From my junior high school years on she was a professional woman and the thought of her at a Tupperware party does not coincide with reality. However, I am sure the thing lurks in the warehouse full of "stuff" that we are still dealing with. I think the spikey thing is meant to keep the head up above any water that may collect in the bottom so the lettuce didn't get yucky. It seems to have worked very well, actually. I did the long forgotten smashing of the stem and cutting into quarters. Into a zip baggie into the fridge and I am ready to indulge at whim. Hmmm . . . Shopping note . . . Must get more bacon.

I was told by my dealer that GE is making them themselves now, not DCS. I don't know if that is true. The range from earlier this year is a much different design than before when I know they were made by DCS. The new ones are a definite step up design wise.

Duh! Niko Niko has a web site. Here is the description from the menu. Sounds promising, if the patty is right.

Yippee! My favorite local joint made the list. I first started eating at Tookie's in Seabrook about '77 or '78, I think. Way back then they were serving these "exotic" burgers that no one had ever heard of. The Squealer is just like Robb describes. But, I have been stuck on that Bean Burger for decades now. Did he mention that they put Fritos® on it, inside the bun? Truly inspired. I also now have a list of places to try. I am always after that elusive griddle cooked, fresh ground and hand formed patty, beaten into submission with a heavy spatula on a screeching hot grill. When I walk into a burger place, my nose can always tell me if that is what they are doing. I like mine fairly thin with lots of crunchy browny bits. That, after the well toasted bun, is the genesis of a great burger for me. The condiments can vary from there. I didn't see it mentioned and I may be wrong but wasn't Texas A&M the place where they worked on domestically raised Wagyu beef? If so, how fitting that the makings of Wagyu burgers started in Texas as well. Trying one of those is now very high on my list. Hey . . . They have healthy fat! Lone Star . . . The last time I had the Barnaby's bacon bleu cheese burger (not the one on Fairview) the patty was over cooked and dry. I will try it again at my favorite location on Fairview. Could you describe the "Athena Burger" at Niko Niko? My imagination is running away with me about a Greek burger.

I don't have a clue yet as to cost where you are but GE Monogram (my choice for service reasons) has a 30". Even better, since I have been procrastinating on building my house, GE has since redesigned their range, all for the better. All of the burners are dual ring, 17,000 BTU (with natural gas, 15,000LP), all burners turndown to 140F simmer and are sealed to boot. With the 36" you can add an 18,000 BTU grill or griddle. The oven is self cleaning and has an 8 pass dual broiling element. The oven is also convection. All in all, now the range of my dreams. I was making some compromises with the earlier model and those have all gone away.

Ok, johnny . . . fess up. You scanned a postcard for that first picture, didn't you now. Ah . . . Another blog in the frigid north. That is really refreshing from down here where the temps are still in the mid to high 90s and humidity hovering in the 70% range. I have everything crossed that can be crossed that you can get those underwater pictures. I am going to put in an order for a scallop snapping along. Blog on.

It has been long enough since I smoked turkey parts that I haven't a clue on how long per pound. I go by internal temperature using a remote probe thermometer. I am not usually noticing time. I just drink beer and wait for the beep. As to holding it for service . . . Well, first I have to think about that term service. When I am smoking meat with a lot of folks around I don't think we actually have a service. Folks are wandering around, munching on munchies and snitching from side dishes. They eat some of the meat when it comes off. I often have to fend them off with a large and scimitar looking knife to allow the meat sufficient rest time before slicing. I don't think I have ever held a BBQ where there was a point in time where "Dinnah is served" was ever announced. But, I suppose you could do what the competitive teams do. When they pull meat from the smoker, they wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler, in this case more properly called a "keep-warmer." It will keep nicely warm for quite a while that way. (Where is that picture of the biggest cooler Igloo makes full to the top with foil wrapped perfectly smoked pork butts?)

What an odd article. I suppose that goes to show that the perception of this new medium still has some growing to do. I don't see the internet discussion sites as any different than the guy in the market check out line. There is probably as much or more individual consumer opinion reported word of mouth as on any site. I have my own internal definitions. To me, a reviewer is a professional. Me, I am just reporting on my experience. That doesn't mean I always have any more respect for the professional reviewer than I do one of my non-professional foodie friends. Sometimes less. For instance, I read the "bad boy" reviewers for entertainment, not advice. Actually, for myself and most of my friends, the reviews provide information but rarely will they determine my buying decision. I will make up my own mind. Oh . . . One exception . . . If a reviewer comments that the place is "lively" meaning loud, I am not going there. Credibility and sincerity is pretty easy to pick up on whether in idle conversation, on a web site, or even in the professional writing. That gets back to what Sam said.

The classic salad that my family always made had eggs. The yolks were mashed up with the mayo, mustard. The whites were diced by cross slicing in the egg slicer. My mother brought this version to an art form. The potatoes had to be the white smooth skinned variety so the cubes held together. They were peeled, diced and boiled in well salted water. She would sit the colander over the still hot boiling pot to drain and dry. Then, the pickle juice or cider vinegar that would have normally been used in the dressing was sprinkled over the potato cubes for them to absorb it. Add the usual onion, celery and finely chopped pickle (not sweet). Then sometimes she would add chopped pimento or parsley, sometimes not. Her real stroke of genius was the addition of celery seed to the dressing. That doesn't mean that we don't digress way far afield of the classic. We do with abandon. A version with capers and smoked salmon flakes was particularly popular. The dressing for that one added sour cream and no mustard. No eggs in that one. Then there was mother's recipe for "German" potato salad dressed with bacon drippings, crumbled bacon and served hot. She used red skinned potatoes unpeeled for that. No eggs in that one either. So, what to do. I am going to say that my vote would be eggs - yes, since if we just say "potato salad" without a clarifying description we are talking about the classic.

Well, Topwater is on Galveston Bay. I just remembered that I covered a lot about the Houston area in my foodblog, Foraging the Texas Gulf Coast. Discussion about the area begins I think at about post #14. There are some links to some aerial shots that will help get you oriented. To see the Gulf of Mexico, you have to go to Galveston. I am not up to date on the dining scene along the seawall but I am sure some here are. It is not unusual for you to be surprised about what Houston looks like. A lot of folks think all of Texas looks like far west Texas. It doesn't. The southeast part is really more like the deep south. Then there are the high plains, the hill country . . . Like the ads say . . . "Texas. It's a whole 'nother country." If you are on your way to Port Arthur, eat before you leave. I may have missed something but I made a few drives there on business last year and it is pretty bleak. There is not much of anything, and I mean anything, between here and there. Again, maybe someone else here can enlighten. Just to give you an idea what the water conditions are like, The Gulf water temperature is 90+F and the Bay temperature is 93+F this afternoon. Uh . . . Don't eat any oysters. I almost forgot . . . If you went to Goode & Co. BBQ on Kirby, the Goode Co Taqueria is on the corner of Westpark and Kirby just across from there. A good Tex-Mex breakfast there is one of my favorite things to do.

My mother was pretty much a "scratch" cook but the Thousand Island was Kraft. I don't really hate it that much, I just don't like it that much. I will explore the recipes. I submitted a question regarding the history to Ochef.com to see what they come up with. Searching their site, it appears that this question hasn't come up so perhaps I will get a reply. If I do, I will post it. (BTW. . . that is a cool info site.)

First let me say that if I ever had to choose food over family . . . Well . . . It wouldn't even come up. I am lucky in one way. These days the family is very small. Locally, just my sister and nephew and me. But we do have a fair sized "extended" family of friends. Almost all are good cooks and enjoy cooking so we normally have an extended cooking orgy at the most convenient place at the time. But . . . I wouldn't throw out the idea of having dinner out if you have the right setting. Last year, for a variety of reasons, none of them bad, it was just going to be the three of us. We did end up adding an "orphan" friend. We just didn't feel up to the usual celebration. Luckily, my nephew is a member of the Houston Yacht Club and they do a really smashing buffet every Thanksgiving. What the heck. We have always been creative with Thanksgiving. While there are a few family must-haves we can run pretty far afield of the traditional. We just thought of this as another one of our experimental departures. Luckily, the weather was spectacular. We enjoyed the meal. Then walked around looking at the boats and chatting with other members. We went back for dessert and it was such a pretty day, we went down the bay to a friend's place and went out on his pier. We sat out there talking, solving the problems of the world, until the air got chilly after a spectacular sunset. It was a lovely day all around. We enjoyed our experimental day immensely. Would I do the same every time? No. But it worked last year.

That is the way Vis ships as well. They also keep their stocks frozen though you can get it in a refrigerator case in the store. It works fine. I put it in my freezer just as I receive it. I don't think the extra freezer bag would add anything. What I don't know about the home food savers is if the film you buy is the same low permeability plastic that is used in the commercial models. I am not saying it isn't, I just don't know. I don't have one and I haven't researched it. I know there are some threads about them here but I don't recall if the discussion got that technical. If I find something I will post a link.

I have the original DeLonghi with convection, without the rotisserie. I use it just about everyday. I live alone so small quantities of just about anything are the general rule. In my opinion, microwaving left over meat is an abomination. It just tastes funny to me. I freeze portions of leftover roast and such in foil packets. I throw it into the little oven on convection and all is well in 15 - 20 minutes at about 325. It has done a great job on holiday pies when we ran out of oven space. I have also used it to dehydrate herbs and tangerine peel and it works terrifically. During my foraging food blog I had collected some horsemint. That is a pretty elusive herb to dehydrate, quick to lose its flavor. It came out great. One revelation about the convection feature . . . It reheats fried food like nothing else. You know all of those french fries you can't eat? Get a doggy bag. When you want a munchy, put them in the convection oven and reheat. And, if you plan ahead to forget about them, you will have wonderfully crunchy potato sticks. Heh heh . . . I have the same stands that MHarney has (but without the nifty deeper drawer, mine has a pull out shelf) that I got at Target for a bit less than $30 apiece. I am using them for overflow storage and a computer printer while I am in this apartment but I have recommended the same thing to a few folks for the ovens. All great minds.

Welcome to Houston. I agree with all of the recommendations. One of my other favorites for Greek is Mykonos. That is also nearby. Barnaby's is sort of an old all time favorite. If you do a search in the Texas forum for specific restaurants you will probably get some good discussion. We try to keep the titles formatted to make the searches a bit more precise. Topwater Grill got mentioned a few times. I did a report on Topwater Grill earlier this year. If you feel the need to get out of the crush of the city, this is the place. It is about a 45 minute drive from the Med Center if you avoid rush hours. It can get crowded and noisy on weekends so I would suggest a mid-week foray. They did a major revision of the menu a couple of months or so ago and I am working on an update of the report but it is all still good. You have the right warrior on your side. Best of luck.

Thank you so much for the explanation of that pot. I have never seen such a thing. Who knew that Le Creuset got into the art deco business. That is just about the coolest pot I have ever seen. You probably have a real collectors item there. Thanks also for the smoked fish tour. I was not aware that smoked fish was such a big deal there. On the freezing question . . . I have friends in Bellingham WA and when I go there I have to go by Vis Seafoods and load up. They package the fish in the cryovac things and in that, it freezes very well. I found a hunk of smoked halibut that had gotten lost in the back of the freezer when I moved. It had been there about a year. It was fine. Keep in mind that I kept my freezer well below zero. I wouldn't expect a refrigerator freezer to match up. However, I would be wary of freezing it packaged any other way. Regular plastic wraps and containers are too permeable and you will get some freezer burn pretty quickly. You are also likely to get smoked fish flavored ice cream. (Voice of experience.) I don't know much about the Food Savers but if the plastic is very low permeability as I suspect it is then that should work ok. I just don't know. I have only frozen it in the cryovac it came in, unopened of course.

Ok. Ok. So I will have to make my own and judge from that. Anybody got a favorite recipe? Was Thousand Island dressing the original dressing on the wedge?

Yep . . . andie wins. Here is one that an old dotty aunt used to totally believe in. If a toad hopped into the kitchen, you had to throw out all of the butter in the fridge. Now, why that should make any difference to the butter I haven't a clue. Not to mention why a toad would hop into a kitchen. I never found out if she ever had that happen or what the origin of the belief was. My Grandma used to say she was as nutty as a pet coon. On the scalded milk, something does happen to the taste. I learned to drink coffee in the New Orleans area when I went to college. My MIL always scalded the milk and it does taste different. Another oddity of the area. If you go to Cafe Du Monde you will notice that they pour the coffee and the scalded milk into the mugs simultaneously. They swear it makes a difference. I dunno. Maybe it does.

Thanks for the tour. The area kind of looks like I imagined it would. What is it about cabins that are so much more fun than a regular hotel? Is it because it is like having your very own doll house? My sister and I stayed in a cabin on the Blanco river in the Hill Country a couple of months ago when we went up there to pick lavender at the lavender farms. I had to take many pictures of "our cabin." The smoked fish is making me very hungry.