formerly grueldelux

Following the advice of either Consumer Reports or Cooks Illustarated (can't recall which), I bought the Osterizer 12 speed Blender and I've been pounding it pretty hard for a year and it's showing no signs of letting up. Wouldn't suit a pro kitchen but for someone doing basic stuff at home, it's great and only $25. Vitamix is 10 times too much tool for most cooks, even serious ones. And speaking of Asian markets, I've picked up a ton of trivet/hot pad thingies over the years for nothing, I mean like 50 Cent. I like the ones made of wooden beads and the woven wickery ones, both usually in cheery colors. also Tramontina paring knives at the local hardware store for $2.50. And Martha Stewart step-style wire spice racks at Kmart. Under 3 bucks, if I recall. Lastly, I think the basic Krups coffee grinder is all you need, but I know many disagree. With practice and the right amount of gentle shaking you can get a perfectly even grind, and the small amount of heat it produces has no effect on the final coffee, in my opinion.

While we're at it, why not stuff mini larb balls into dumplings or pot stickers?

And here's some for a wish list: tapenade putanesca anchovie gremolata lemon garlic curry vindaloo tandoori harissa zaatar rouille aioli sichuan jerk And how about smoked salmon? Or sour cream and onion and smoked salmon? What about clam chowder (clam, dairy, hint of bacon)? Or bouillabaise (fish, saffron, garlic, anise etc.)? What about gravy? For that matter, what about poutine (cheese and gravy)? Now that's so brilliant it must already exist. What say ye, Quebecois friends?

This isn't the most exotic but it's my all time fave and not mentioned yet (I think) - Dill Pickle Chips. They're fairly common in Ontario and I know Old Dutch makes them as well. Haven't really seem them in the States, though Dill (rather than Dill Pickle) makes the odd appearance. Too classy if you ask me. The moment I first figured out for myself that dill pickle chips were simply salt and vinegar chips with dill remains my finest hour. I just wish they'd make Kosher Dill Pickle. Salt and Vinegar with dill and garlic. That would be tasty.

I have probably a half dozen in various shapes and sizes and use them for most of my cooking. I was lucky enough to inherit a few 50 year old beauties, and they seem like they could go another 50 years no problem. The ones I've purchased myself have been from the de Buyer Acier line (http://debuyer.com/). I haven't spent much time comparing them to competitors but I wouldn't hesitate to heartily endorse them. They're made of very thick steel and they're a very good deal, a steal! The crepe pans are really uselful as sizzle pans when you want to pop a serving or two under the broiler. Also, the blini pans are great to have around. They're great for toasting a small amount of whole spices and they make the cheeriest fried eggs in the world, delightfully unnatural in their roundness.

Sorry, by pasta I mean "many commercial pastas." I gathered seven different packages from my cupboards. They ranged from 99 cent Ronzoni to $7/pound gourmet stuff. None have salt.

These questions have probably been raised and answered a thousand times, but I remain in the dark. Why isn't there salt in pasta? It clearly benefits from it, as we acknowledge with the generous fistfuls we put in our boiling water. Why isn't the salt directly in the dough? Does salt have a negative impact on the texture or chew? Is it suspected of being too granular? (If so, surely it could be dissolved in water first, at least in flour/water pasta and probably in flour/egg pasta too.) Is it simply customary? If so, would the history be something like this: pasta was a peasant food and salt was precious so excluded, to be added later according to a cook's means? But salt is now cheap. Is it left out just because of tradition? And what is believed to happen with the salt in the salty water we boil our noodles in? Does the dry noodle absorb the salinity somehow as it cooks? Or is the real purpose of salt in the water simply the creation of salty water? And if it's a clinging flavored water we want, why is the flavor or the clinging water almost always salt? Why not garlicky clinging water? Why don't we throw pepperoncini, a bouquet garni, or cheese rinds into our pots?

I think what I meant in my original post is that a person is acting like a philistine if they're still trumpeting the value of flat leaf over curly leaf. I called myself a philistine for not having swithched back to curly leaf yet. A sort of joke. I recognize now that this meaning is far from clear. I love parsley, both kinds. It's probably my favorite herb. I'm in the Barely a Difference camp as far as taste goes. Plus I really love the look of curly parsely. It's so cheery. And it's a pleasure to chop.

I use flat leaf parsley. I know, I'm a philistine.

AFAIK, olein is any fat that is liquid at room temperature but becomes solid at around 0 centigrade. Shortening, in my understanding, is vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated so they are solid at room temperature. My local Whole Foods sells a shortening from Spectrum Naturals that is non-hydrogenated. It's intriguing, healthwise, but it also confuses me deeply. Many recipes that call for Crisco do so precisely because the fat is hydrogenated and supposedly provides a desired effect (see Cook's Illustrated pie dough recipe, e.g. They say that Crisco is hydrogenated in order to incorporate air - giving lift to baked goods - and to raise the melting point.) So you have shortening, but it's not hydrogenated shortening, what do you have? Would it perform the same? Just answered part of my question (see link below). Turns out it's whipped palm oil. Sounds bad, but it's not palm kernal oil which is the real nasty one. They claim it has less saturated fat than butter and performs the same as Crisco. Can anyone verify? http://www.spectrumnaturals.com/organicshortening.html

"There are three kinds of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can't." You guys are killing me! Can I hear more about the pickle pizza? I'm reserving judgement until I hear the whole story.

One word: pickle pizza.