whosrbud

Saying that Green's has the best hot dogs in Charlotte is just about as complimentary as saying that the best Chinese food you ever ate was on a Sunday in Rome. Inexplicably, Green's wins the "Best Hotdog" award each year. Since it's the ONLY hot dog restaurant most Charlotteans have ever frequented...it's also the WORST hot dog restaurant in Charlotte. Try to imagine stale white hot dog buns from the A&P, skinless pink Kroger's 'Best' hot dogs, and slathered with chili made fresh yearly from the Kitchens of 7-11. >Of course, those would be for cooking at home.< Indeed. Untill recently, home WAS the best place to enjoy a wellcrafted dog what with the availability of Sabrett's, Nathan's, Hebrew National, and Boar's Head. No Maple Leaf but we're getting there. I'm happy to learn that we will no longer have to accept Eckerd's lunch counter standards and call it art. I'm also delighted to hear about Matt's Chicago Dog (as well as Eddie's Place) and look forward to a visit soon. Kathleen, do you happen to have the address of Eddie's? Glad you agree about Taqueria Unica KP. Pretty decent (and reasonable) Mexican grub for this burgh. While on that same subject Kathy, were you aware that there's an actual taqueria in the back of the SAV-MOR grocery store on Central? I was stocking up on Jarritos...got turned around...took two steps...and I was suddenly standing in the Tortas line!!!

yes indeed. those are exactly what i was referring to and a humble bow to petite tete de chou for providing the link. i had no idea they were so expensive but i should have figured on the japanese craftsmanship factor to see some real artistry on something so seemingly inelegant.

those of you fortunate enough to have dined in japan will be familiar with the japanese custom of displaying amazingly life-like plastic reproductions of the dishes being served within. all i can find on the subject is that it's quite a thriving business and can only be found in the Kappabashi area of the city. does anyone know the history of this practice...and/or are these miniature scultptures available for purchase? thanks -michael

jinmyo, "Egg roll wrappers are cheap." not that i would ever doubt the veracity of any of your superb contributions but i'm having suprising difficulty in locating good old egg roll wrappers in any of the seven oriental food stores in this area. they have oodles of spring roll wrappers in various sizes... and small 2"round wrappers to make shu mei. when i inquire about egg roll wrappers, the proprietor invariably points to the spring roll wrappers which i know are not the same thickness nor are they made from the same ingredients. are the 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" wrappers difficult to make? and/or is there something to ask for specifically? there is simply no reason i can think of that we have to limit ourselves to the horrible excuses which pass as egg rolls these days. your expertise would be most welcome- many thanks, michael

hate to be a contrarian here, but i think the stuff sucks in spades. it was bad enough that we just had to have 'blue' and 'yellow' in addition to the conventional 'clear' but at least they seem to work. my wife bought a roll of 'press and press and press and maybe possibly seal' and i struggled valiantly-but in vain to get the bowl sealed. second try was no better. re-read instructions. how hard can this be? third attempt. not even close. what IS this shit? is this the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on resealers? i gave up and went back to 'blue' as i recall and it worked just fine. upon questioning, (as in 'whatever possessed you to buy this instead of the conventional stuff?) she said "oh i love it." un-hunhhh. "so what's the secret?" "well, you have to have a perfectly flat surface and it must be completely dry and it must have enough of a lip for the plastic to take hold." "that might explain why this plastic bowl with a pouring spout is...un-sealable" "oh yeah, it won't work on that." "well then what's the point? if it doesn't cling to plastic and it won't work on a thin rim, it's pretty useless." sadly there are no winners. the box of the stuff just sits there and trys its best to lure me into trying it again...just so it can laugh and laugh at not doing the only thing it's supposed to do. has no one else had even the least problem getting this stuff to cling? -b.g. gloot

from Dave the Cook: "Most people I know don't have enough cream gravy in their lives" amen to that brother dave!! for the health conscious, read no further but cream gravy has to be one of the best-tasting-worst-thing-for-you's that's ever been slathered over a freshly baked biscuit. it's definitely in keeping with the au courrant "deep fried fat ball with a side of mayo" mentality which exists in this crimson-necked area of the south. one thing though; my memory of andouille sausages renders a reddish-tinged oil (not as red as chorizo but more than neese's) and that would seem to make for some pretty psychodelic "white" cream gravy...sort of a fluorescent peach color. how much flour to how much andouille oil for the roux? and then, warmed heavy cream? got a fresh batch of fluffy, flaky, biscuits coming out any minute now--just crying, pleading, moaning for a fat pat of unsalted and a coverlet of cream. -b.g. gloot

wonderful reading and writings about Fink's. who could read these posts and NOT want to head for NJ? moreover, why doesn't every decent size city have just such a place? the cubano sounds...(in the good way) painfully delicious. a small question if i may for non-NJ-ians, just what is the breakfast meat "Taylor Ham" listed on Fink's menu? presumably it's a sugar-cured ham as opposed to the salt-cured country ham we have in the south, but since he features it by name, is it a local NJ delicacy? also, is there any reason you can't get barbeque with your eggs and cheese grits?

i suspect that the Crab Rangoon-which is always present in southern chinese buffet tables-is a little like egg creams. as any good new yorker knows, there is no egg or cream in an egg cream. likewise crab rangoons. there is no crab (although there should be equal parts of crab and cream- cheese) and the closest these things ever got to Rangoon was when the cook sat the wok down on a World Atlas. there are numerous recipes available in the net... http://www.ochef.com/338.htm http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blrecipe387.htm --any many, many similar renditions. all of them sound like they'd be quite tasty, but since it's illegal to use surimi and advertize it as crab, they just put a little sticker on the pan and label it 'Rangoons'. also, what are the odds that people who live in extremely hot climes are going to have or use a refrigerator-necessary ingredient like cream cheese? it may be an american invention, but still, it would at least moderately interesting to know the story behind this ubiquitous buffet bauble-

steven and ellen; happy belated wishes on your anniversary. aside from the embarassment of residing in a locale which couldn't offer you any better fare than fuddruckers after 8:30, i am a little curious about something i've observed in this thread. as a relative newbie, i have been attempting to learn about the inner machinations of egullet.com (how to do all the not obvious things) and have been pretty successful to this point. there is one small matter which i don't understand. two days ago, your barbeque quest with varmint had a nice collection of photgraphs which accom- panied your narrative. chortling at the thoght of you and varmint closing 5 barbeque joints single-handedly, i sent a brief note and included a mildly amusing image of a new barbeque eating chair (trough) named in your honor. today i note that all of your pictures are gone as is mine. in general, is this a common practice to help reduce storage space on the server(s) or was this done due to the unsuitability of the image? this comes at the end of a week which started with one of the coordinators removing two of my responses in the forums area. not to sound overly paranoid, it would be helpful to understand where and why the pictures have vanished so that i may avoid problems in future postings. guessing it will be nice to be homeward bound- thanks for all of the time spent, energy consumed, and love given to the forum. we are not worty. -michael

little tiny pigs, of course! and on the back...under the date and place?...it's the varmint six! these are low-resolution images so it's difficult to make out some of the small details. i still need to figure out what that cockamamy font is on the eGullet.com...maybe this weekend. thanks for the input--and now, at last, it's off to bed.

at long last--love. yes, in only 37 hours...with the gentle criticisms of 42 friends... seven pots of starbuck's italian roast, six soujourns into the "when did we have this pho?" container...five feedings of four friendly felines, four fabulous failures at getting egullet.com accept the new .png format...three six-packs of san pellegrino (with gas, of course), two pints of haagen-daz coffee, and one F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S client (mssr. varmint) you too can learn how to design t-shirts. the newest design may seem like a radical departure but it really isn't. to get the pig's head to look more like a...well...pig's head, i enlisted the help of a little buddy... we can always go back to the napsterhead if need be but i think this is starting to look mighty tasty. after everything's approved rachel, i'll do the hi-res versions for you. good journey varmint. sleeping 'till monday. -michael

herr doktor professor varmint, thanks for the 'atta-boy' and the keen observations. i do have a better pig's head outline in the works which will lead no one into thinking it's maybe a gecko's head or a [R.I.P.] napster logo. pursuant to dave's suggestion, i'll make the whole logo about 10% smaller and make the type a little more readable. i made a little punchlist of the other small things to be fixed. after incorporating these most recent suggestions, i think we will be verrrry close to the edge of wetness. i'm waiting for a third wind. for reasons i can't imagine, i've been on this for the last 36 hours without sleep. that's no big deal for you (happy 40th again!) spring chickens but i am old, Father William. i really want you to see this before you leave for the greatest city on earth to ingest heavenly comestibles so i'll do my best to have it done no later than noon tomorrow. coming up next?...popcorn with bearnaise sauce. mmmmmmm -michael

sorry rachel, about the simplified pig's head looking like a cat. a new, 'porkier' version is being worked on at this very moment. i used to keep a pig's head in my sock drawer as a drawing reference but i got a little boared with it and sowered on the whole idea. yes katherine, i suspect you're right about 'mange' instead of 'mangez'. easy to change. glad we caught this before the french pig pickin' police caught up to us. r...i GUESS we could take off the 'PORKAPALOOZA" and the quote--which i liked despite your feelings towards the author. we need something in there...i'm working on it. i'm not certain but i don't think varmint would be all that comfortable having his address and phone number being advertised all over the planet. it was not in his original punchlist of what he wanted. "comma and space in date"...check and check and thank you jason for your stamp of executive approval. graphic ovens are cooling at the moment. next version should be out late this evening. once again, thanks to all-

did i say an hour? i forgot that one hour estimates in computer graphics = three hours of work. sorry for the delay. i managed to incorporate almost all of the suggestions and even found a couple of compromises. i do need to know about the color of the shirts as everything will look different on black as opposed to gray. assuming you're wearing your ermine critique robes...we're ready for the second round. don't know why these are showing up only half-size. oh well. the english is at the top of the black circle and the reason for the French..."Why not Japanese or German?" is that .. 1. it's the birthplace of modern gastronomy as we know and practice 2. find out who Catherine de Medici was and what she did...and 3. the thought of using French for a pig pickin' was pretty amusing to me...and moreover, i don't speak Japanese or German..-sorry- if you'd like to translate it for us, perhaps we could put it on some cool sun visors varmint is thinking about ordering. btw--there's now a great quote from one of the true luminaries at egullet.com on the back. plumb near forgot...the PORKSTOCKPALOOZA incorporates several suggestions and is particularly appropriate since we make veal stock, beef stock, chicken stock, fish stock, and vegetable stock...but we don't make pork stock! thanks, all. -michael

thanks for your excellent suggestions. there's a fresh pair of images coming out shortly. the egullet.com text remains an area of great mystery, dave. it's NOT the same font as i see on the china plate...and looks rather like some funky font not found in nature. jason...is there an OFFICIAL font for the logo? and if not you, who would know?....dave? i just cobbled together the egullet text from a tee-tiny picture of a plate available in the eG store. i would 'luurve' it to be a black shirt as all of the colors would really pop, but if it's a choice of gray or white, everything will read better on the gray. new designs available by...oh...3:08 -michael postscript--i dumped the latin...and regretably the french. thank you for the support for the french. i'll see if there's a way to get it back in there. everything's in english at the moment.