Arey

I was given a SEB minichop in the 80s and I still use it. In view of my limited counter space, its one of the few gadgets I can keep right out in plain view.

It doesn't look like there is for bottled products such as sauces, or dried or canned products. There is a law which requires retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling for fresh beef, pork, and lamb. The program exempts processed meats. he United States Congress passed an expansion of the COOL requirements on 29 September 2008, to include more food items such as fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables. I imagin that if a state attempted to require such labeling it might be declared unconstitutional for interfering with interstate commerce. but that would be long after big business brought all its pressure to bear on any state that dared to interfere with its bottom line. "Distributed by" or "packed by " with a USA company name doesn't mean much.My bottle of capers were a product of Spain, my LKK Oyater Sauce is a product of the USA my bottle of LKK Char Siu sauce is a product of China, and my bottle of Hoisin Sauce is "distributed" by a Florida company, but I doubt it's a Florida product or even a USA product. The frozen Chinese pork buns I once bought were a product of the Bronx in New York City and tasted like breakfast sausage so I opened one up took out the ball of meat and other ingredients and decided that if you flattened the ball you'd have a breakfast sausage patty. Since I prefer link sausage I never bought the buns again.

I actually use my bread machine , but only for the dough cycle, and I use my George Foreman grill, to make grilled vegetables for grilled vegetables, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar salads. However, shortly after losing 80 lbs, my brother and his wife gave me a manually operated pasta maker. Sometime later when my brother was advising me at how poor I was at selecting appropriate gifts for him, I brought up the pasta maker and his response was "That's not my fault, I didn't even know what we were giving you". Two years my nephew gave me a gift food basket, with a vodka infuser (but no vodka which didn't matter sinceI don't drink vodka), a bottle of artisanal marmalade from Connecticut (typical USA marmalade, much too sweet), a big bottle of cheap evoo which I used for cooking, a box of fancy crackers (but no cheese) and a bag of German wild garlic egg noodles which I really liked. However, he and his wife only gave me the gift basket because the gift certificate they were going to give me got held up in the mail, so I got that later. It was definitely an "it's the thought that counts" moment even if I wouldn't use half the stuff. One year my neice gave everybody home made bottles of infused olive oil. The bottles of oil had red peppers, herbs, citrus rinds and garlic cloves, spices and other things. Everybody who got one had been in my neices home, so I doubt very much if any of them even got opened. Mine didn't even make it into the house, and I washed my hands very well after handling it.

In the back of my hall closet is a half empty bottle of Lairds Applejack that's probably 15 or 16 years old. When I had a bad cold I would have Lairds Applajack and ginger ale as part of my cold cure. Since I retired, my colds have never been as bad as they were when I was working so the bottle sits there half empty. I'm saving it because some day I may have another bad cold. I do replace the six pack of Canada Dry ginger ale every few years. I also have a short light cupboard I keep a couple of heavy cans of canned tomatoes in at the bottom to keep it from tipping over. I don't know how old those cans are but I did have to replace one last Winter. It was bulging at both ends and the bottom was leaking. GlorifiedRice is right. Floods, wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, teenage vandals having a wreck a house party, SuperStorms, hurricanes, you should enjoy sometning while it's good, at least you'll have the memory. But, I'm still going to save that bottle of applejack for when I get a bad cold.

I avoid most food products made in China (anything made in Hong Kong is fine, and even better if it is a Lee Kum Kee product) but this is partly due to ignorance. There are food products made in the U.S. that I wouldn't touch and certainly not eat, (for instance Supermarket ground beef), because I know about the product or company, or it's been recommended by someone whose opinion I respect. But most of what I hear about Chinese food productsin So. Jersey are the bad things. I'm never going to see an article in the local newspaper doing a taste test of imported vegetable dumplings from China or the top ten Chinese pickles everybody should have in their pantry, There's an Asian Supermarket nearby, and if someone like Huiray was available to go with me while I shopped, I'd probably be able to fill a shopping cart. But, even then I wouldn't buy fish there because there's a local seafood store where I've gone there for so many years they'll even tell me what not to buy,and I wouldn't buy meat there because I go to my local butcher, and I don't even buy his ground beef.

My point exactly. Of course, why hasn't was the shop owner given his sales persons a basic lesson in cheese. A brie is not called a double cream or a triple cream or a fromager d'affinoise, it's called Brie. If they con't actually carry Brie in that shop, why hasn't he taught his employees when customers ask for a Brie, to say "No, but we have something you might like equally well. Would you like a taste?" That's what good sales people used to do, if they didn't have what you wanted, they'd suggest something they did have that you might like just as much. Not sell you something else, and tell you it's what you asked for. OT I suppose I was spoiled in my younger days at the original downtown Wanamakers and their blue haired salesladies who made you want to buy something they suggested even if it wasn't what you had gone to to the store to purchase.

And, if some one from England asked for a muffin in a U.S. coffee shop, they'd probably be told they have bran, cranberry, blue berry, pumpkin, etc. When people ask for a kleenex, they probably don't mean a specific Kleenex as manufactured by Kinberly-Clark, although the Kleenex people wish they would. So maybe we should ask for a Thomas Or a Thomas Muffin. You've got me wondering, If you wanted a U.S. type muffin in England (assuming they have them) what would you ask for? It's definitely not a scone. As for London Broil, that's another issue in this country where standardization would help. A London Broil is not a cut of beef it is a recipe, it is a recipe for flank steak. If you ask my butcher for flank steak, he'll say he doesn't have any. If you ask for a London Broil, he'll cut you one off a the round.

English Muffins. The same way I call Italian Bread Italian Bread, although I prefer Atlantic City Italian Bread as baked by a fourth generation Italian baker who's ancestor came to the U.S. early in the 20th century, built brick ovens and opened a bakery, and his grandson or great grandson is still selling bread baked in the same ovens, using only four ingredients, water, flour, salt and yeast. It's a long narrow light colored crusty bread, with great texture, nicely chewy and when dipped into a bowl of clams in white wine sauce can soak up lots of the sauce while retaining its body. Philadelphia does have several types of Italian bread and the various bakeries all have their partisans. When making a hoagie a lot of the crumb has to be scooped out to fit in the meats and cheese and lettuce and tomato and all. After transferring to the New Haven office of the agency I worked for I got a very rude awakening when I bought my first loaf of what they called Italian Bread there. It was wrapped in plastic (it should have been in a long thin paper bag, brown or the colors of the Italian flag), and was a long flattish flabby loaf with a soft dark brown wrinkly crust and when dipped into white clam sauce dissolved. This from a city that claimed to be the American birthplace of pizza, only they called it apizza. But getting back to my original point, Brie is Brie, fromager d'Affinoise is fromager d'Affinoise, Italian Fontina comes from Italy not Wisconsin and a Philly Cheese Steak, is not what America's Test Kitchen made on their show a week or two ago.

Although I don't care for the way the EU demands everybody , even on other continents stop using names improperly, I think they may have a point. Yesterday I went to the local cheese shop to buy some Brie. I was offered double cream and triple cream bries. Bries with walnuts, or cherries, or herbs. I told the person behind the counter that I just wanted a plain Brie, no additions. So I bought what she said was a basic Brie although it wasn't. It was fromager d'Affinoise, which I like so I bought it. At the Italian market I go to to buy cheese, they sell "Italian Fontina" which is from Wisconsin. I use it in my Mac and Cheese, and it's a nice cheese, but it's not Italian, and fromager d'Affinoise is not Brie, and when I ask for Stilton I want Stilton, not Stilton with walnuts, or chutney, or peaches. I also want it to come from England. Another sore point is Italian bread. Italian Bread comes from the Philadelphia-Atlantic City area. Anything else is a poor substitute, and I feel sorry for the people who will never know what Italian Bread should be.

There ought to be a sub category of this thread titled "the Worse Kitchen Equipment and Books Commercials". I'd like to nominate the commercial for Dump Cakes Dump Dinners and the Green pan" all available for $10.00. For one dump dinner therecipe calls for putting some ground beef (unbrowned) into the pan, throwing in some pasta, pouring a bottle of tomato sauce over it , sprinkling on some cheese, and baking it for a dinner your family will love. These dump(ster) recipes make Sandra Lee look good. I think the purchasers of these books should be working wives who come home and have to cook dinner for a husband who's already half-way through his first six-pack and sullen teenagers who don't lift a finger to help. After all, who could blame them for buying these books and subjecting their family to the recipes in them?

I think that competitive eating is ridiculous , and the pictures of the faces of the competitors are downright disgusting. Of course this may go back to the 1940s annual fourth of July celebration in front of the volunteer fire company's firehouse and the blueberry pie eating contests. No hands were allowed and the object was to see how much of the blueberry filling and pie crust the competitors could get smeared all over their clothing and faces. In my list of stomach turning events involving food, competitive eating is right up there with talking with your mouth full and eating with your mouth open. End of rant.

Try buying beef in an where I live. My butcher is very obliging, if he doesn't have what you want he'll tell you that something he does have is the very same thing just a different name. Also the minute anyone walks into the shop and mentions the Phillies or the Eagles you have totally lost his attention and could order a mastodon cutlet or a rack of wart hog, and he won't notice. For example, America's Test Kitchen did a Swiss Steak recipe starting with a blade roast. which they cut down into blade steaks. Well, he doesn't even carry them, so he me what he assured me was the equivalent. I don't recall what it was but it sufficed. The next time I was at a farm market in Williamstown, they had what they had labeled as flat iron steaks but were actually blade steaks, so I bought them. The last time I was there they didn't have blade steaks or mislabeled flat iron steaks. The butcher convinced me to try a flank steak so I bought two nice sized ones. One I broiled as I usually do with flank steaks when I can get them, and turned the other into Swiss steaks. Flank steak makes an edible Swiss Steak. However on the way home from the farmers market I stopped at my favorite Italian grocery store, and they had two blade steaks. They were labeled "Petit steaks". But there were only the two little ones, and they were "reduced for quick sale" so I didn't buy them. My local butcher knows what a flank steak is, but rarely carries them since they don't sell well. But, he will always cut you a London Broil, and assure you it's about the same cut. To get his undivided attention say "Whaddaya think 'bout them _(Phillies or Eagles depending on the time of year)____________"

I once went to a restaurant, more of a cafe, and ordered the special which was two eggs , toast, hash browns, and juice, but told the server to hold the juice since I didn't want any. When I went to pay the bill I noticed that it wasn't the price of the special,but the regular. When I questioned this the cashier, who was also the server, said that the special included juice, and I didn't have any juice, so I didn't qualify for the price of the special. So, I asked her for a glass of prune juice, drank it, and she corrected the bill so it showed the price of the special. "Are you happy now?" she asked sarcastically. "I will be in a couple of hours," I politely replied. To get poached eggs in a place like that, you'd have to order eggs benedict, but hold the hollandaise, hold the ham, and hold the muffins, and it would probably be twice the price of the eggs benedict.

It takes 6 minutes and a small pan of boiling water to cook a soft boiled egg. They can be peeled almost immediately after boiling under cold water, and then plopped on a piece of whole wheat toast to make one of my usual breakfasts. Also I've found that almost any place that offers eggs benedict will serve a couple of poached eggs on toast or an English muffin, but I've never ordered a plain boiled egg when breakfasting out. After the only diner intown burned down. annother restaurant started offering what they called a "genuine diner breakfast", and it was. Fried eggs dripping grease, and pallid oil slicked hash browns, were among the offerings. Which is why I don't eat breakfast at diners, While evacuated due to SuperStorm Sandy the motel I stayed at had a free breakfast buffet. It was a thing of horror, and I had to drive ten miles inland to find a place that hadn't lost their power, and was open for breakfast.

Cash tips are taxable and the employees should be reporting them to you so you can include them. Back in 1978 when the first casino opened in Atlantic City. The IRS decided to start vigoursly enforcing the law about cash tip reporting for the brand new casino's employees. If the employee or employer couldn't come up with a figure for the cash tips, the IRS is allowed to estimate the tips and base the taxes due on their estimate. You'd be amazed at the figures the IRS came up with. Even back in '78 the IRS seems to have assumed everybody tipped at least 20%. I know this because I worked for an agency that was closely related to the IRS and had frequent occasions to swap information regarding earnings back and forth with them. You might want to go to the IRS website and get copies of their publications regarding tips, and employer/employee reporting responsibilities. I know I haven't provided you with a solution for your obnoxious customer/unhappy server problem, but I have at least provided a distraction for you. Actually if you were in NJ rather than NM I'd suspect we had the same Accountant.

I subscribe to Cooks Illustrated, but actually cook very few of the recipes they offer. I think they overdo the Best (fill in the blank) recipes a bit. By the time they get done with the original recipe, it has strayed pretty far from the original recipe. They're like the early 20th century harpsichord manufacturer who kept on improving the harpsichord to the point that it was said of him "If he keeps on at this rate he's going to invent the piano". I also have trouble swallowing the down home folksiness of someone who's income probably exceeds the total income of all those simple downhome folks he writes about. Well, I have to git about my chores now. Slop the hogs, plow the lower 40, and wash the Maserati

St. Lawrence's day is August 10th.

Many years ago it was customary to eat peas with a knife. Preferably a butter knife. Other knives could be used but it you cut yourself it was considered bad manners. In one episode of the Blondie Radio show, the Bumsteads had gone to have dinner with a wealthy eccentric elderly lady. To the sides of the dinner plates were clamped small silver cubes with a cup like indentation in them. When the Bumsteads asked what the purpose of the little devices were, their hostess explained that since peas have a tendency to roll around the plate the little cup like indentations would catch the peas making it easier to get them onto one's fork. Edited to add that I am not old enough to remember when people ate peas with a knife, but am old enough to remember the Blondie radio show.

As Robert Heinlein put it so well many years ago "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." I have that on my Monday coffee mug. If your taking food to a group that you know likes fatty foods, why waste your time on something elaborate or healthy, a container of sour cream, a giant bag of chips, and a packet of french onion soup powder, and you're set. Just to keep a clear conscence you could throw in a plate of raw vegetables and yoghurt dill dip. My sister-in-law is a very good cook, but in poor health. My neice is a good cook when directly under my sister-in-law's directions. Neither of them felt like cooking last Christmas, so Christmas dinner was chilli, a salad, a few snack type things and for people who don't eat chilli ( such as me) a reheated rotisserie chicken. The drive to their town is a 4 1/2 hour round trip. Fortunately the WaWa in my home town is open 24/7 even on holidays because I was still hungry by the time I got home.

I blanch broccoli rabe for about 1 1/2 minutes, and then have it with rhombi and hot Italian sausage. I save some of the blanching water to add to the pot with the rabe and sausage when I add the pasta. I always out some peccorino romano on top. A chef on a cooking shjow I used to watch gave a brief lecture on bitter greens on one show. Her point was that bitter greens are supposed to be bitter, and if you're going to cook them to the point where the bitterness is lost, then you should eat something else in the first place. I also like stuffed bitter melon. There used to be a Filipino Market where the owner went to NYC once a week and brought all sorts of things back to the So. Jersey wilderness including stuffed bitter melon. I haven't had stuffed bitter melon since the owner retired. I tried making it for myself once, but it was a lot of work, and not as good as what I used to buy at the market.

I had a KA lame but never had any luck with it. I use a single edged safety razor blade once , and put it back in the razor blade holder on the discard size. One important lesson I learned one day while getting ready to slash a loaf of bread while listening to the TV in another room. When picking up even a single edge razor bread look at the blade while picking it up. Otherwise, your thumb may bleed all over everything and you'll have one more mess to clean up. To say nothing of a sore thumb.

Is there such a thing a virgin olive oil. There are supposedly 3 grades, extra virgin, virgin, and plain olive. I used to buy a brand of plain old olive oil because on the label it was described as 'Lamp Grade olive oil". I've tried to find virgin olive oil but without success to use for cooking.According to CI there's no point using extra-virgin for cooking so I would like to try using virgin olive oil. For last Christmas I was given a quart bottle of olive oil which is labeled "Extra Virgin Olive Oil" and is $13.00 for a quart on Amazon. I'm using it for cooking, but I suspect I could use it in my lamps, if I had any oil lamps.

One problem nowadays is that a lot of food is processed in a manner unlike the old ways that actually preserved food. A good example of this is Sauerkraut, much of which was r slowly fermented and keeps for ever. Now it's produced using chemicals that mimic the fermenting. I learned about sauerkraut when I called the manufacturer of my favorite, and was told it would only keep a couple of weeks in the fridge once opened. I also had an unopened bag of the same brand sauerkraut which I had kept beyond its best by date, and it turned brown. If it was a supermarket brand , of bacon I wouldn't hesitate to toss it,

When I say pan fry I'm referring to shallow frying as opposed to deep fat frying. I don't do either, but only because I have problems digesting it. I love fried foods, fried chicken, fried seafood combos, fried oysters, fried eggplant, fried donuts. I really miss fried oysters, and fried chicken. I'm certainly looking forward to trying some of the suggestions offered here. And the next time, I will look hard at the chops before buying them. Returning them isn't practical since the market I bought them at is over 40 miles from here. The smoked ham hock I bought there was big and very meaty, and the short ribs were cut the way I asked and were delicious. So two out of three purchases being what I wanted isn't bad. Locally , this time of year, one out of ten is the best you can hope for, which is why I have to drive over forty miles to buy pork chops, and other pork products, and short ribs. This time of year you can't even find a flank steak down here. When summer comes and the rich people return to their multi-million dollar mansions, the local stores wil stock better goods and we year round residents can stop subsisting on roots and berries.

I recently bought four bone in pork chops at a place that usually sells beautiful big thick pork chops. So I told the girl at the counter that I wanted four pork chops and wandered off to do some more shopping. When I got home and was wrapping the chops for freezing, I realized that they were so thin I never would have bought them. They're not even a half-inch thick. I cooked one with sauerkraut, and it was edible, but not enjoyable. I'll be more attentive the next time, but in the meantime what do I do with the remaining three chops. I don't pan fry so a quick pan frying of them is out. Also just throwing them out is out. How can I cook them so my jaw muscles don't start to ache after eating one. I've been considering cutting them off the bone, flattening them out with the bottom of a heavy skillet, and doing a quick saute.