TrishCT

Rail Paul, Did you enjoy Life x3?

Perhaps I am in the minority...I like the idea of the FN and enjoy some of their shows very much... Just want them to keep raising the bar...not lowering it....

Wilfred, If you decide to visit Candlewood Lake...there is a restaurant on the lake on the Brookfield side called Down The Hatch... You can also get there by boat from the lake.... nice seafood and lake setting...

Reminds me of a story... A woman talking to her friend says, "If I die first, I swear my husband will marry the first woman who walks in here with a pan of cornbread!" The friend says, "Does he like butter on it..?"

Its been a couple weeks since my first trip to Luger's.... and I don't even want to order steak out anymore, because I don't want to eat inferior meat... rut roh...

Hiya Z28, I live in the Danbury region now.... Union Carbide is gone.... El Torito is gone.... (but there is a Chili's lol).... Danbury is a four letter word---and that word is CITY.... it is urban even though the Hospital is the only tall building, but it has a cool mall (if you like malls, which i don't, but que sera).... You don't go to Danbury for the trees even though there are a lot of them.... However, the Danbury region on a whole is BEAUTIFUL.... Candlewood Lake, the largest lake in CT, is bounded by 5 towns.... Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman, New Milford and Brookfield... Squantz Pond State Park in New Fairfield --- a great spot to bring a picnic and eat at sunset (during the week its empty, but avoid Sundays its overcrowded)... Sherman is extremely countryish and has a cool general store, and The American Pie Restaurant, which of course has good lunches and great pies.... I don't want to keep defending the area.... but calling it a dump just ain't right.... C'mon back for a visit sometime ! Another fun thing... At the Blue Colony Diner, right off Exit 10, I-84 in Newtown, they have a 10 inch apple turnover for $1.50. Grab one on the way to Vernon.

TV always has had the power to entertain and enlighten the masses... I for one am glad that FN brought us Mario. There's hope yet.... One more programming suggestion from yours truly... How about showing movies with food themes or food prominently displayed, i.e. foreign flicks like Babette's Feast, Eat Drink Man Woman, Like Water For Chocolate, etc.... Willy Wonka... Tom Jones... Blazing Saddles.... Soylent Green ... just for some spice...

awww...Spencer....

I live in the vicinity (but not the city) of Danbury, CT which I believe once carried the dubious distinction of being the #1 City in America, so not sure that it's a dump per se.... The Danbury region, including other towns in western Connecticut, have some great restaurants and fun dining options.... Goulash House, Ondine's (french), & JK's Texas Weiners (umm...weiners) are 3 good spots in Danbury, all quite different; The Sycamore in Bethel (Car Hop Diner), is a hoot, Philip's Diner in Woodbury (off I-84), has the BEST doughnuts (and I don't use that superlative hastily), Mona Lisa's (italian) and Sunderban (indian) in Newtown are quite good, for lunch (no dinner) there is Good Taste- a half mile off Exit 10-I84 in Newtown, they have VERY fresh and well prepared lunches and desserts, In New Fairfield, Portofino's has luscious Chicken Val and Sprinkles has excellent homemade ice cream. Those are a few faves that come quickly to mind.

Sportswear eh...? I can imagine him in speedos.... covered in cocoa butter....

OK...now I know who some of you guys think are the hotties.... I think Jacques Torres is incredibly sexy.....and the fact he specializes in chocolate...how much can a woman take...

Spencer, Re: Weather Dating Game... Actually the weather channel is getting a spin off channel...I think all about tornadoes... I'm not kidding... Re: Who would judge the next American Chef Idol...? Hmm... Paula Abdul... Rachel Ray Randy Jackson... Steven Shaw Simon Cowell... Mr. A. Bourdain

Oi... Ok... How about this.... Since imitation and copying are the only lingo spoken... -Copy A & E Biography and do segments on great chefs -Copy American Idol and seek out great original and exciting recipes from unknown chef wannabes or amateur cooks -Copy your own success stories and find good chefs with talent a/k/a Mario, Alton, Jacques, etc... -Bring back 2 Hot Tamales...

I applaud the Food Network for wanting to bring in new things. I just wish they would be creative, original and give us something to chew on. Forego the Bachelor ripoffs and focus on quality and interesting cooking/food concepts. I am a fan of Iron Chef-- talk about high concepts. It was originally panned by the critics when it was first served up.... but viewers savored it... Television can be so enjoyable and entertaining.... but garbage is garbage no matter how it's plated.

Jin & Spencer, It's nice to be here!

Oh gosh, I may have been watching the food network for too long... I remember the first version of How To Boil Water, and indeed it was Emeril's debut.... it was lame.... and the comic and the cook(ie) version was lame as well.... I think the reason is that their food was too basic... I eschew Emeril today not for his show biz persona, but because he puts his damn essence in everything, it all tastes the same... but I digress... To me, the charm (and the greatness) of a Julia Child and a Mario Batali is that they take complicated cuisine, and make it desirable and doable. In the 1960's my mom's idea of a french dish was opening a can of french style green beans. Canned meats, frozen veggies, dried spices, blech and yech but that's how it was here in America's real kitchens. Julia Child, hardly a sex symbol, (I wonder what her original Q rating was from her earliest shows) comes along and shows the average American housewife that she too could make delicious, exciting food worth serving and enjoying with others. I actually got my mom to throw out a half used box of Potato Buds when I made Julia's lyonnaise potatoes... Food (and wine) actually became an exciting topic worthy of discussion... good bye Space Food Sticks, bonjour mousseline au chocolat. Mario has done the same with italian cuisine. For years italian food in America was pizza and veal parmigiana.... now its beef cheek ravioli and cheese from animals we didn't even know gave milk... and Italian food is exciting and fascinating again... and we can now find the fresh ingredients to do justice to the cuisine.... Alas, from the description of the new shows.... I see the dumming down of America again.... Reality TV is "in" and by golly The Food Network is looking for their Bachelor.... Well... so be it.... Time will tell... The minor ones just cause a little gas bubble... The great ones leave you hungry for more...

Steven, a/k/a FG: I particularly enjoyed reading about your excursion into Montreal. A friend up there told me I had to try Schwartz's for smoked meat, and once I did, I swooned. After the initial visit, I didn't mind waiting in line, didn't mind communal tables... ANYTHING for the smoked meat... My questions for you today, therefore, are about smoked meat. 1. What the heck is it? It tastes kinda like pastrami...a tiny hint of corned beef.... 2. Why doesn't some bright entrepreneur(se) open a smoked meat Schwartz's like deli in NYC... it would make a fortune... 3. In the article you say pastrami is better.... which pastrami? Not Connecticut pastrami, I can assure you of that ... 4. Hmmm...can you buy smoked meat around here....? By the way, I was last in Montreal about 4 years ago, and had a charming dinner at Gibby's in the Youville Stables...Did you ever dine there? Thanks! Trish

As stated by soemone earlier, pectin is naturally present in all fruits, some have more pectin than others. I have made blackberry jam (from my own backyard berries) both with and without added pectin (sure gel powder is the pectin I usually use, and I always check to see that the pectin is fresh, never old). I have also made red raspberry jam without pectin. Both ways come out fine, not too thin or runny but there is a big difference in ingredients and preparation. For the jams with pectin you need to follow the recipes exactly as printed on the pectin box. Whatever amount of fruit to sugar it says to use you need to be exact or it may not gel, and trust me it's more sugar than you wish you had to use. For the jam without added pectin, you can get away with less sugar than with the pectin, but you have to cook the jam longer so that it thickens to the proper consistency. This takes more cooking time and means constant stirring to make sure the jam doesn't burn. And yes, you can overcook it in which case it comes out too hard, kinda like blackberry candy. Cooking without pectin works fine for blackberry/raspberry jam, but I never tried it for clear jelly, and am not sure how it would work for that. From what I can tell, the jam without pectin has more fruit flavor than with the pectin. But both are very good, and since I did wreck a batch once by overcooking, I generally use the pectin to ensure good results. -Trish

--Luger's saves a ton of money by only accepting cash and their in house charge. It really adds up.

Thank you all for your nice comments. Sometimes things do indeed become urban legends. I like to keep an open mouth errr... mind on things and judge for myself .

At Becco in NYC they have a tasting dessert menu for just $4.50 per person, a veritable bargain for a plateful of desserts. And their panna cotta was smooth and ephemeral.

Tommy. You should have seen my face when our server just handed us the menus...I was in a kind of bemused shock, having read so much about it...

Also, Thank you to Steven a/k/a Fat-Guy, for his comprehensive review of steak cuts. It was invaluable!

I followed your thread about Peter Luger's and whether it was in decline. I went there with a group for the first time this past Saturday, and this is my review: Service-We sat upstairs which is great for a party- more private. Our server, Damien, was courteous & had a nice sense of humor. He offered us menus & had no problem when one of our party ordered steak done medium. We weren't rushed. App's-We had Lamb Chops & Bacon Strips. Chops were juicy & flavorful. I cut the bacon into pieces and passed them around, they had a nice smoky flavor but you could almost feel those arteries hardening. Onion rolls were good and the beer on tap was nice & cold. Main Course-We ordered 3 porterhouses for 2, each cooked differently, & a cheeseburger. The burger & fries were cold, probably done first and sat waiting. The teen who ordered it didn't mind, ate the burger, and skipped the fries. 2 of the 3 steaks were excellent! Sizzling hot, nicely charred on the outside and juicy. A delicious, almost orgasmic delight for me. Loved it! Unfortunately, one steak (ordered rare) arrived gray and cold. Damien noticed it wasn't sizzling and volunteered to take it back and put it under the broiler for a few seconds. It returned hotter, but for some reason wasn't on par flavorwise with the other two. It was a perfectly decent steak, just clearly inferior to the others. Sides-German Potatoes went well with the steak but nothing to shout yippy kai ay about. Creamed Spinach was Smmmmoooooooth! Desserts-Hot Fudge Sundae (more chocolatey than fudgy) & Choc. Mousse Pie (menu says it's cake, it isn't) were good. Key Lime Pie was fresh, rich and had great tart lime flavor. Apple Strudel was hot, crispy and melted in your mouth. Caveat--About the schlag. It tasted & reacted like 'cool whip.' It didn't taste like real whipped cream and it didn't melt on hot strudel. Although not everything was perfect, and some things could be better, the truth is we had an incredibly good and FUN time here! I have never had a steak that matched Luger's porterhouse. I think New Yorkers are lucky to have this in their backyard.