Pan

Can't be really old.

What's not to recommend? If you have the setup to do that, more power to you.

A friend of mine gave me some Pocky G Special Cacao, and it was great! High-quality dark chocolate!

Congratulations seconded!

You just taught me a new word, Vickie! Merriam-Webster definition of "hygroscopic" Definition 1. is most relevant:

Just remember, there's no accounting for taste.

I just walked past Solas a few minutes ago on the way home. I'm glad to be inside now! They were forecasting a low of -2 tonight with a wind chill of -20 to -30 and warning that being outside tonight could be life-threatening. You're going out tonight? Is it comparably cold in DC tonight?

It's a Cotes du Rhone.

I'm just checking back in this thread. Do we in fact have 5 people? Me, Suzanne, Marlene, Dumpling - is that it?

What did you like about Crossing Delancey? It's one of the few movies I remember because I hated it so much. I was waiting for the pickle-maker's son to make a speech at the end to the awful Amy Irving character saying: "You think just because I'm a pickle-maker's son, I don't have dignity? You think I don't have feelings? You think you can just abuse me in every which way and get away with it? Well, you thought wrong. You know what your problem is? You don't have a heart. It's like when you were created, God forgot to put one in your body. My father and me, we're not like those pretentious intellectual schmucks you like to fuck. You see, we have pride in working with our hands, we care about family, we have pride, and above all, we have hearts. You don't. But you know what else you don't have? You don't have a chance in Hell to find a soulmate who will be at your side when you're old and your pretty face is gone. So enjoy your empty affairs while you still can and get the fuck out of here!"

Perfect with the coconut cream pie. That's a joke, right? But seriously, Suzanne, am I doing something wrong? I wondered about that, too. I don't know what the wine is like. I thought it might go with savory pies, though. Will there be many of those? If worst comes to worst, the wine could just be a gift for you to use some other time.

Good policy, chezlamere. Unfortunately, they used the wrong serum for flu shots this year, and the flu strain that they didn't make shots for was the worst I've ever had. Stay well, everyone!

Thanks for the links on spray drying, guys! Fascinating! Does reconstituted spray-dried orange juice taste about as similar to something like Tropicana not-from-concentrate orange juice as from-concentrate orange juice does?

That's way too loaded, Pan. It's so contextual. If you just mean "to me", then sure, fine, okay. Note the "for me" in the beginning of the post. I take it as a given that in matters of taste, words like "good" and "better" are always subjective. Don't you? Further from ExtraMSG: First, I think it's hazardous and highly questionable to ascribe anything that's a difference between "American" food and some other cuisine to "natural inclinations." Secondly, the U.S. is a huge country encompassing many different styles of cooking. Fact is, I did not grow up on lots of really bland food and nothing else, and if I had until the age of 10, my two years in a Malay village where people described food as "spicy" or "tasteless" would have disabused me of it. Which is precisely why I usually don't like it. To give one example, Vong in New York tastes like watered-down Thai food to me, and I'd rather have tastier, spicier food that costs a fraction of the cost on any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Others differ, which is why fusion has a niche. And that's a good thing for them.

Thanks. Can you please clarify your remarks about heat in Indian food? Are you saying that no Indian food you've ever had has had any palpable trace of hot pepper? I doubt it. What did you mean, then?

What do you mean by "schwag"?

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but what does "spray-dried" mean?

Sorry about my confusion re: Cellar in the Sky. And for everyone's reference, courtesy of www.superpages.com: Terrace In the Sky 400 W 119th St, New York, NY 10027 (212) 666-9490 (212) 666-3471 (fax) I remember it being beautiful, rather expensive, and reasonably good, but that's a really old memory (probably 16-17 years ago!!!!)

Also, please pardon me if this has already been addressed, but in an environment with no gravity, is it hard for the astronauts to prevent liquids from getting out of those bags and splashing a surface on any side of the spacecraft?

I'll be bringing a bottle of French red wine that a salesperson at Astor Wines loves so much it took some prompting to get her to divulge the information and I wouldn't buy it until I was sure there would be enough left for her to buy for herself. Soba, that really sucks! I wish you a speedy recovery!

Michael Laderman.

You could either post things here or PM Bond Girl.

I've never heard of the place. Where was it?

For me the real test is, is the modified cuisine as good as or better than good versions thereof in its home country. If the answer is no, I object. And the answer is usually no, which is also why I take a dim view of what is usually called "fusion" in the U.S. but recognize that certain types of fusions like Thai Chinese and Malaysian Chinese food are spectacular. And naturally, adding hot pepper to Thai food a few centuries ago wasn't a bad thing.

Yes, at Amma. I'm looking forward to meeting you.