Bill Klapp

You may be right about that. I almost never ate breakfast before my retirement, unless for dinner. Now it is not only the most important meal of the day (as we were always urged growing up), but with seven dogs waiting for handouts, it is the most important social event of the day, too. It consists of but coffee (moka), orange juice in season, yogurt and toast buttered with doux or demi-sel butter from Normandy or Brittany, and if doux, sometimes with a slice or two of world-beating prosciutto on the toast. (For a change of pace, I might eat a couple of the cookies that I buy for the dogs, or, this time of year, a slice of panettone or pandolce in lieu of toast.) However, the quality of all of the ingredients is absolutely transcendent, and really not available (or readily available, anyway) outside of this country. Every country and every people have their own breakfast rituals, and frankly, mine is not even particularly Italian, but it is particularly exquisite. And the hot, buttered toast, so good that I rarely use any jams or preserves, is the centerpiece...

And that would be my second choice! Found in south Jersey, too. It is the legendary style of bread that makes hoagies and cheesesteaks what they are, but in its own right, the bread has a lot of pure, yeasty flavor and aroma without the teeth-breaking, gum-raking consistency of more "serious" breads. After years of searching, I found the identical (more or less) bread in a local bakery here, traveling under the name "monaca" (which means "nun"...go figure). Crisp crust, light, airy but doughy and yeasty interior, with an aroma that will fill a large car. I am told that it differs from the rather dismal "pane commune" here only in that it is given extra time to rise. I am not sure why it never occurred to anybody to make all white "Italian" bread in that style, but the answer appears to be that some Italians in this neck of the woods like to wipe up sauces with bread that is stale before you get it home!

A dark and murky inquiry, that, weinoo. First of all, to keep peace in the family, I could concede that, yes, indeed, an English muffin is a muffin, at least in UK parlance. It does not resemble at all the poppyseed or blueberry style of muffin, which, I suppose, would have to be called an "American muffin" in the UK, and in the U.S., I assume that it is called "English" to distinguish it from the homegrown variety (which is really a type of cake rather than a muffin or a bread at all in most incarnations, but that is another story for another time!). However, something that is made from yeast-leavened flour that is not sweet, and even many things that ARE sweet, should all properly fall within the definition of "bread". A Cinnabon, for all of those gooey carbohydrates, is still bread at heart, and if a Cinnabon is bread, surely an English muffin is, too. It is permissible to give breads all manner of non-bread names, but that does not mitigate their breadiness. But I digress, since the most recent posts discuss "English muffin bread", which is absolutely a bread made in the style of an English muffin, and, I suspect, also an American creation, although I cannot confirm that.

Pane di Altamura from Puglia, which you must be able to find in NYC somewhere. Uses semolina in the mix to create something that stays moist and fresh for days. Much lighter than the typical artisanal sourdough loaf one finds these days, which gets really tiresome to eat after a while. Altamura has a slight spongy quality, which makes it a bit like English muffin bread, but with a lot more flavor (and fewer nooks and crannies). Also makes terrific sandwiches...

The answer depends in part upon how valuable your cargo is, and how often you will transport it over time. The above posts do a good job of setting forth the options for one or two bottles in checked luggage. If you have as many as 6 or 12 bottles, standard wine shippers (cardboard boxes with styrofoam inserts with 6 or 12 holes for wine bottles (this is what United has in mind)) are your best bet. Even if your bottles are too small or too large (within reason), or even a shape other than round, you can generally cut the styro a bit or bubble-wrap smaller bottles to make them secure in the holes. The styro also offers temperature protection for a limited time. For added security and convenience, there is a product called the Wine Check, which is, in essence, a nylon box on wheels and with a telescoping handle whose innards are a standard styro wine shipper. If you are dealing with seriously valuable stuff, for several hundred dollars, there are a variety of shapes and sizes of something called the Wine Cruzer (a line of Pelican Cases), which is a carrier made of some sort virtually indestructible lightweight carbon-fiber material with a form-fitting, high-density foam interior with neck rings that quite literally keeps bottles from moving within the case. Expensive, but as good as it gets. These, too, have wheels and telescoping handles, typical of carry-on luggage, and are engineered to meet airline size and weight restrictions when fully loaded. I suspect that both of these products have imitators as well, but have not researched it. Not sure what the cargo is exactly here, but if I were carrying, say, bottles of three-figure single malts, I might be tempted to make the investment. $10 bottles of EVOOO? Not so much. The styro carrier will do it. Of course, both of the options above count as separate checked bags...

I am always amused at the notion that it makes any sense at all to load up ice cream with extra fat. Heated fat (steak, bacon, etc.) carries enormous flavor. Cold fat is the enemy of flavor. You can mask the salt in an over-salted dish by adding cream. If you want the flavor of cream or butter, no problem. However, the flavor-masking problem is why gelato is, in most of its incarnations, ice milk. The dairy base is only a carrier for the vibrant, superior flavors of chocolate, vanilla, fruits at the peak of freshness and nuts...

The hero of the long-running TV series about counter-terrorism, "24", known for his ability to extract information from villains by using extreme measures. Since you did not divulge the name of this mysterious artisanal butter, I am calling him right now! After all, Shel, this is but a chunk of animal fat we are talking about here, not tickets to a Springsteen concert...

No, not this time. Just curious about which brand of butter you're talking about. Is there a reason you're keeping it a secret? Don't make us call in Jack Bauer to get the name of this butter...

Mitch, a small point: I understand that some people get spooked by expiration dates, and may even get a little queasy when they take a bar out of the freezer and see that the butter is 6 months out of date. I do not pretend to understand the chemistry, but freezing butter seems to be as close to suspended animation as a food product can get. And butter is one of those products for which most everybody can detect off-aromas, off-flavors and rancidity...

If it is a good, high-fat butter, one year in the freezer, NOT the refrigerator. If it is a wax-paper wrapper, I would ditch it and re-wrap the butter in foil. If it comes wrapped in foil, just pop it in the freezer as-is, no plastic bags, etc. There should be absolutely no loss in quality. I learned this from a friend who imports the finest butters from Brittany and Normandy, and the producers recommend freezing and guarantee (verbally, anyway) a year past the printed expiration date. Very different from Land O' Lakes in wax paper, which does suffer off-flavors when frozen in its original packaging. Final point: this applies to 250- and 500-gram bars or larger bulk butter, rather than quarters...

Time is not an issue for me. I am retired and am in a position to do what I like, what gives me pleasure. I get pleasure from making certain things myself - almond milk is another example of something I enjoy making. And, if time were an issue, it should be pointed out that it takes me less time to make the milk myself than it does to go to the store and buy it. As noted above, I will eventually get around to using frozen and fresh coconut meat, which may offer a fresher taste than dried. And since most of my uses for coconut milk are for using the milk straight rather than in curries and other cooked dishes, a fresher more lively taste than canned would be welcome. And, for what it's worth, I found the coconut milk I made from dried coconut to be fresher tasting than the canned milk I had on hand. YMMV, and probably will. In addition, I think it's fun and educational to try and make a more satisfactory product. Then sounds like you should graduate to the hard stuff...fresh coconut meat! Especially if you are mainlining the milk rather than using it as a carrier for more intense flavors...

Two thoughts...I have made the milk the same way that you have, out of necessity, and found the results to be good, but not the quality of the top Thai canned brands. Let's face it...liquid made from reconstituting dried coconut is hardly fresh coconut milk. I am with you if you have dietary or philosophical concerns about preservatives. However, but for that, I am with those who do not find making coconut milk to be a good use of time. The truth is that, in many if not most recipes that call for coconut milk, especially Thai, you probably could not tell the difference between even fresh and canned coconut milk. For a great Thai curry, I would use canned coconut milk and spend my time and effort making fresh curry paste, which would make a profound difference over packaged. (I realize that nothing was said here about cooking Thai, but coconut milk and cream are found in many Thai dishes.)

OK, so I see a theme of "urban sous viders" developing here! With the two pieces of equipment described in weinoo's post and a vessel for the water, perhaps one can do things that limited kitchen space might otherwise prohibit. By the way, I think that Dave's device is a terrific idea, and am probably inclined to buy one myself. I am thinking that sous vide finish work is not its only, nor necessarily its highest and best, use. Of course, I live out in the sticks and tend to cook with a stick over an open fire most of the time...

This seems like a worthwhile product, whether or not one is a sous vider, and I am not trying to pick a fight, but just curious: if you want seared meat, why not just sear the meat, rather than investing hundreds or thousands of dollars in equipment and then, on top of it, having to make compromises and work-arounds and buy ever more equipment? Have not salamander broilers served us well for decades? In addition, one has to look at the failure rate and perpetual problems with home sous vide equipment. This seems more like a Popular Science or Popular Mechanics project out of the 1950s, like building your own computer or airplane, rather than a true culinary sea change. Sous vide cannot possibly be the best option for everything that we cook, and it really smells of something that will be viewed as a fad of its time a decade or two from now...

Urban WFs are not a good yardstick. All supermarket prices are jacked up in big cities, due to the rents, and WF is a relative Johnny-come-lately that may be serving up some loss leaders in urban markets to gain market share. (Yes, if true, that would work to the short-term benefit of its shoppers, but it would also skew The Weinoo WF Analysis.) I do not seriously believe that WF is price-competitive in suburban markets, whatever its other virtues. It attracts BMW-driving vegans in the 'burbs. I have seen it with my own two eyes...

Mitch, did a rich uncle give you some WF stock for your birthday? Look, there are obviously pros and cons to every supermarket on earth. I do not think that you are any closer to proving that WF is the thinking person's Costco. Some things are priced reasonably, some are shameless ripoffs. The same is true of Walmart as well. WF seems neither hero nor villain if you add up the comments here. Even here in Italia, living among God's favorite people (different from His or Her chosen people!), a single supermercato does not get the job done for me. My butcher has the TWO best prosciutti that I have ever eaten, remarkable hamburgers (for Italy), outstanding housemade sausage and salami and great veal for milanese and other veal dishes, but cannot make the legendary veal tartare dish, carne cruda, worth a damn. I drive 8 kilometers to a gastronomia for my carne cruda, mortadella and fresh parboiled spinach balls. I then split the rest of my food shopping over the outdoor markets in 4 nearby towns, three supermarkets and three bakeries. I am probably burning more money in $8/gallon diesel fuel chasing my food than some people are spending on the food itself! But am I not describing life's most glorious pain-in-the-butt chore?

Shel, where do you stand on napkin rings? If you use them, do you only use them only on a clean napkin, or do you store the used napkin with the ring on for the second and possibly subsequent uses?

That's one way to look at it but once you've driven to those 4 different supermarkets as well as your butcher, I would imagine that the opportunity cost + gasoline gets pretty close to the register receipt at WF.Bogus argument. It is just as easy to assume that one will hit the other 4 in turn, over time, while driving past them for some other purpose, eh? The "while I am here, I should pick up some XYZ" phenomenon? I do not think that WF has enough markets, nor enough stores per market in the markets it is in, to avail itself of the "we are more expensive, but more convenient one-stop shopping" sales pitch. Also, I know of very few people who would consider using WF for all of their shopping needs, and frankly, those that I know who do have more money than good sense. It is foolish, for instance, to pay WF prices for many staple packaged foods, and surely for non-food items that can be stocked up on at WalMarts, Costcos and the like. My last head-to-head experience was WF versus a comparable NC-based chain called Fresh Market. (Lamentably, WF also absorbed the long-time local Earth-Shoey, and clearly superior, places in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, in keeping with its corporate strategy.) I often found organic produce items at FM at HALF the WF price, based upon full retail in both cases. My sense is that the WF business model is driven by the uniquely American paranoia that their food supply is poisoning them, and, historically at least, WF has charged whatever the market will bear, with far fewer meaningful sales than any other chain that I know. In many cases, it is charging what is surely an insane premium over the wholesale cost of organic foods just because there are people who will pay it, and then WF gets bad press lately for diddling the definition of "organic" to suit its corporate purposes. (Frankly, I find it absurd that someone in their 50s or 60s suddenly decides to eat only organic produce after a lifetime of surviving whatever A & P, Kroger, Safeway, seasonal produce stands and their grandparents' gardens were serving up, but I defend their right to do it!) Clean, large stores, beautiful displays, good service, yes, but one pays top dollar for the privilege. Better food is available elsewhere for less money in many markets. I wonder if the locavore trend will ultimately gain enough steam to drive the WFs of the world out of business. It has certainly kept the WFs of the world at bay here in Italy...

I am always shocked to read that there are still people using something other than 4 different degrees of coarseness of Himalayan pink salt. Old habits die hard, I suppose! And Shel, whatever you decide on the shaker, make sure that you put some grains of rice in with the salt to keep it from caking. Very 1950s, I know, but it was good enough for my grandmother, and thus, by Jove, good enough for you!

I felt sure that was true. Just offering the purchased cheese warning as an aside...

I do not make cheese, so nothing to add on that, but I will say that vacuum-sealing some purchased cheeses can utterly destroy the flavor and texture. It depends upon the cheese, I suspect (Parmigiano and other hard cheeses survive well enough), but I recently had two scamorze rendered inedible via vacuum-sealing...

Big napkin tucked in the collar, too? Pretty sure that was in one of the "Godfather"trilogy...

Very true. And what of the Filet-O-Fish, for heaven's sake? Should McDonald's be compelled to toy with perfection because of some Italian culinary custom? I think not. Of course, there is no Filet-O-Fish in Italian McDonald's restaurants, so that neatly ducks the issue...

It really depends on the sandwich. A Cuban sandwich tastes better when cut on a diagonal than it does if simply cut in two or, God forbid, not cut at all. You can apply the same principle to any baguette-based sandwich. With exceptions, of course. Stuffed pita sandwiches are problematic. Because the pita is round, you may think that you are cutting on a diagonal, but in fact, you are always just cutting it in two. Either that, or if you cut toward one side or the other, rather than through the center, you make a dog's breakfast of the thing and must throw it out. Or feed it to the dog, of course. It being a dog's breakfast. Of course, if you are sharing a stuffed pita sandwich and, with malice aforethought, you deliberately cut unequal "halves" so as to make off with a little extra for yourself, well, that is just human nature now, isn't it? I note in passing that, for the purposes of this thread, any discussion cutting the crusts off of sandwich bread should properly be viewed as thread drift, and given the history and importance of that tradition, from British high tea to American bridge clubs in the 1950s and beyond, crust-cutting really deserves its own thread...

BUT...here is the thing: even with the typical (but not universal) Italian practice of using less sauce with less liquid and more solid and planting a small mound of it atop the pasta, the shorter strands will STILL make those neat little bundles of pasta and sauce. And much of the time, the sauce is more intensely flavored, so what the Italian bundle may lack in bulk vis a vis the Jaymesian bundle evens out by bringing it with the flavor...