Pan

I definitely think that's the exception - a very unusual exception, in my experience. Some crooks exist in any situation. Sorry you had to deal with those two customers from Hell.

You aren't just talking to yourself, Andrea. I don't make anything for Shabbos but I do read this thread. I suspect I'm not alone.

My first thought was annato, but I think that's more of a pure red, not a somewhat purplish tint.

I thought I hated beets until I had fresh ones. Canned beets suck; never use them again and see what you think of fresh beets.

There were?

You're absolutely right. I just checked this website. I guess the reason it's available only with a prescription is perhaps the degree of prevalence of side effects? Who knows. Anyway, carry on.

Yeah, maybe they'll be growing maple trees on the Great Slave Lake...But seriously, this global warming could be really serious.

I've used Astelin before, but note that it's a steroid. Steroids can be really useful but shouldn't be used lightly.

Yeah, nuts, ain't it? But seriously, while it's very possible to get really cheap restaurant food in New York, things generally are more expensive here than in most of the rest of the country. They have to pay higher rents, so we have to pay higher prices for food and so forth. And I'm OK with that as long as I know what I'm paying. The worst "hidden extra" I ever experienced was being charged an exhorbitant price for 33 cl of mineral water at a Hungarian restaurant on Vigado Ter. I hadn't checked the price for water but it never cost much anywhere else, and their food menu prices seemed reasonable. They showed me the price from the menu when I objected, and they didn't speak English and I didn't speak enough Hungarian to argue effectively, plus I did see the entry on the menu, so I paid up. And no, it wasn't some deluxe water, it was their only water and no better than any other mineral water I got during my stay, which I think was 2 weeks long (in 1994). The thing about tourist-ripoff places is that when they serve good food like this one did, I would have returned if they had treated me honestly. The same thing is true of the Romanian restaurant near the Eiffel Tower which served me a good meal and then tried to charge me for wine I had never drunk nor ordered and were unapologetic about the "error." Fortunately, my French is a hell of a lot better than my Hungarian.

That sounds like a good Pennsylvania Deutsch name. Thanks for the info.

You may or may not be able to buy loose tokens at the New York Transit Museum Store. Their catalog shows various fancy-schmancy ways to buy tokens, like in a $75.00 lucite set, pendants, coasters, etc. You could always ask, but considering how much of a killing they're making on these tzatzkes, I doubt they'd sell an old token at a reasonable price. I have some tokens that I could rustle up for a suitable fee, however.

Yeah, I see that evaporated milk is boiled. I wonder why that method works for my father. I'm gathering that, considering that (I think) he doesn't tolerate unboiled milk well, it could be a placebo effect? I suppose that's possible; stranger things have happened.

Those Chioggia beets are beautiful!

What about pesticides?

Where are you located? Somewhere in the U.S.? Note that free refills on anything except hot water for tea are pretty damn unusual in New York City.

In which case, we could split up into more than one group.

Then you're good to go! One idea off the top of my head is that you might be interested in looking at Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Cookbook, which has recipes that feature various different spices (some of which you don't have yet but could get with another trip to a shop with a good selection of Indian spices). And of course, we have at least one published spice expert among us.

Tell us more about white beets; I don't think I've never seen them.

Jen, I don't think there's any reason we should feel guilty about "taking over the establishment," if they arrange that with us. It's their call, and if they agree to that, shouldn't we assume it was a business decision on their part?

How would guava samosas be? Just a brainstorm. Dominicanos make sweets with guava paste and also have cheese with guava paste, in case that gives you any ideas. Another thought: Guava kulfi?

My father is lactase deficient and has always simply boiled normal (skim) milk to have in his coffee in the morning. As I understand it, when you boil milk, the lactose breaks down into its constituent simple sugars, glucose and galactose. So, unless I've misunderstood something basic, if you're cooking the milk through, you shouldn't need to use Lactaid. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Where are you from originally? ← Could it be --------Liuzhou? ← Nah, that's too easy. I'll Google Liuzhou.

Speaking of which, what's the Jewish element in this, a dash of Manischewitz?

I'm sure there were plenty of Irishmen involved, but I remember from the PBS documentary that many of the people who dug the tunnels under rivers were black. Also, my grandfather was one of the men who built the subway system, and since his last name was Cohen and not Cohan, I don't think he was Irish.

Thanks for the link, Jason. I enjoyed the article.