browniebaker

You know what's also disgusting? When someone puts a spoonful of food into his or her mouth and pulls the spoon back out with half the food still on it, the food having a sheen of saliva on it and maybe even showing marks from scraping past lips and/or teeth. Ugh. I've seen some people eat every spoonful this way, some of them pausing between spoonfuls to examine the food they just pulled back out of their mouths.

Leftovers? If there's any, I just zap it in the microwave and eat it out of hand.

That's just what I would have said, only better said!

In the D.C. area where I live, there are some not-so-good names: Il Mee City Lite Buffet Ray's the Steaks: I can't decide whether I like this name or not.

I don't see ordering "a glass of Chardonnay" as much different from knowing that I want a green salad and saying "I'll have a green salad" instead of reading off the usually too-detailed description on the menu. From the lady's order I would not have inferred that she was unknowledgeable about wine, too lazy to read the wine list, or careless about what she imbibes. I guess your answer would be that I "had to be there"?

Put me in the surimi-lover's camp. Surimi, mayonnaise, diced celery, and a little sugar -- delicious. To me, surimi is not trying to imitate any seafood; it's sui generis, and I enjoy it as it is.

And how do you make cheese straws? And you gotta try the cheesecake thing. It's incredibly addictive Marlene, your savory cheesecake sounds dangerous for me -- must try this! These cheese straws are a Southern classic. Can't have a gathering without these. Very more-ish. Simple to make and simply good. Here's the recipe: Cheese Straws

Cheese Straws These crisp and zesty cheese straws are a Southern classic. Use Parmesan, blue, or other robust cheeses for a nice variation. 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour Position oven-rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub together all ingredients until smooth dough forms. Roll into 4”-long, 1/4”-diameter straws, or roll into 1”-diameter log and slice into 1/4”-thick coins. Arrange 1/2” apart on two cookie sheets lined with parchment or non-stick silicone baking mats. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or just until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheets to room temperature. Store in airthight container to keep crisp. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Easy, Cheese ( RG1020 )

Cheese Straws These crisp and zesty cheese straws are a Southern classic. Use Parmesan, blue, or other robust cheeses for a nice variation. 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour Position oven-rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub together all ingredients until smooth dough forms. Roll into 4”-long, 1/4”-diameter straws, or roll into 1”-diameter log and slice into 1/4”-thick coins. Arrange 1/2” apart on two cookie sheets lined with parchment or non-stick silicone baking mats. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or just until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheets to room temperature. Store in airthight container to keep crisp. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Easy, Cheese ( RG1020 )

My favorites are crisp, zesty cheese straws. Delicious, not too filling, and neat to eat. Anything with cheese, actually.

I nominate Hostess Snoballs. My 7-year-old wouldn't finish it, so you know it's BAD. Particularly bad are the Halloween versions, called Globalls, which are coated in neon-orange shredded coconut.

Hope I'm not being too hair-splitting, but I have to correct you there. Nutella is an Italian product developed by the Ferrero company. The original cream was developed in 1946, based on the Giandujotti chocolates typical of Turin but exchanging coconut for cocoa butter. It was marketed worldwide as Nutella from a German associate company. AHA!! This answers another question I have had for awhile: if it is Nutella in those unbelivably delicious Fererro Rocher chocolates I knew it I knew I knew it!!!! I think am going to have to go downstairs right this minute to buy some and celebrate the revelation. Thank you!!! If you love the Fererro-Rocher chocolates, try this: Take a waffle cone, slather Nutella on the inside of the cone, and eat. Tastes a lot like the Fererro-Rochers. Nutella, mia bellaaaaaaaaaah. I am going to do the waffle cone thing... but I might even take it a step further and put something over the nutella that's in the cone... I have many ideas... piping chocolate mousse so it looks like a soft-serve ice-cream cone, but will be a chocolate-mousse cone with a Nutella surprise! Wow. That's inspired. What a great dessert for a dinner party. Must do this!

Fudge. Nearly always gets grainy on me. Have made it successfully only once, and that was 25 years ago. Now I make microwave fudge using sweetened condensed milk and don't care that it's cheating. Rolled cookies. Large batches of cookie dough to roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Near the end, I get so sick of the fiddly rolling and cutting that I shape the dough into balls and press them flat with the bottom of a glass. Uno's pizza crust: copycat recipe. Still trying to crack the code. Have tried all the on-line copycats, none of which are quite right. Contemplating getting a job at the original Uno's in Chicago.

Processed Swiss cheese in a plastic wrapper. Ate only one slice, more than enough for a lifetime of memories. Bitter. Congealed gall. Ptoooey. How did this end up in our house? Well, Mom was great at inadvertently buying the wrong item by not reading the package before tossing the item in the grocery cart.

flaky triangles of samosa corndogs battered bananas and apples, to be dipped immediately in caramelized sugar and sprinkled with sesame seeds and, of course, fried chicken!

Thank you, Monica. I'm thinking of choosing one of these restaurants for my Mother's Day brunch, when I am queen for the day.

Monica, I enjoyed the reviews and appreciate having now a better idea of what dishes to try at these restaurants. My only question is, why in the reviews do you often advise your reader to "forget [a certain dish or drink]" and have [another dish or drink] instead. Does the advice to "forget" mean to "avoid"? If you are implying that a certain dish or drink is not good, I hope that you would simply say so. Here, I am left wondering whether there is something negative about the dish or drink that you say one should "forget" about, or whether it is simply that the other dish or drink you recommend is so superior as to be preferred. It may be that you are working under the constraints of the Washingtonian's editorial style for restaurant reviews, which has generally seemed a bit soft, in my view. I can understand the whys and wherefores of soft reviews, although soft reviews are less useful to me than the more frank and outspoken.

remove a plastic container from the oven before preheating the oven, but leave in the lid to the container.

I did an item-by-item comparison of prices at Penzeys and Spice House, using just the list of items I need to buy this month. Not comprehensive, of course, but, as you will see, enough to give a good idea of which store, if any, is less expensive. One pound of each of the following is priced as follows: ancho chili pepper, ground: Penzeys $8.90, Spice House $9.90 basil, California sweet: Penzeys $19.58, Spice House $16.99 bell pepper, green, flakes: Penzeys $21.90, Spcie House $19.99 black Telicherry pepper, ground: Penzeys $9.90, Spice House $9.99 caraway seeds: Penzeys $5.90, Spice House $5.99 garlic powder: Penzeys $8.90, Spice House $7.99 onion powder: Penzeys $6.90, Spice House $5.99 celery flakes: Penzeys $11.99, Spice House $10.49 My conclusions? With a few exceptions, IT'S A WASH. Penzeys' prices for merchandise may be higher than Spice House's for many items, but two factors may off-set the price-differences: (1) Spice House's shipping rates are higher than Penzeys, with shipping fees maxing out at $12.95 at Penzeys and a whopping $29.95 at Spice House; and (2) it may be that Penzeys carries higher grades of certain spices, which are not available at Spice House. For example, the Vietnamese cassia cinnamon at Spice House is listed as "Vietnamese 'Saigon' cassia" and priced at $15.99. The Vietnamese cassia cinnamon at Penzeys is described as "extra-fancy Vietnamese Cassia" of "very high 6% grade," of which one is advised to use 2/3 the amount called for in a recipe, and priced at $21.90. Based on the different product descriptions and the very different prices, I think the two cinnamons are different grades. (Can anyone please tell me different? I welcome further information on this issue.) Therefore, unless I am mail-ordering the big-ticket 16-oz double-strength Madagascar "Bourbon Islands" vanilla extract (Penzeys $65.99; Spice House $52.95) which I would mail-order from Spice House, I would not choose one store over the other based on price alone. The grades of spices and the quality of customer service are factors I would consider. Of course, if Penzeys set up shop in D.C., my not having to pay for shipping would make my decision easy.

Especially in the hot summer months, or even other times of the year when I want to save time (because my old oven takes a long time to preheat), I microwave-cook the following: muffins and other quick breads in Pyrex bowls, with an optional browning under the broiler for aesthetics bacon lasagna and other casseroles in square Pyrex baking dish stuffed green peppers meatloaf, with a final browning under the broiler "baked" potatoes and sweet potatoes all sorts of vegetables: broccoli, cauiliflower, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, eggplant, spinach, green beans, etc., in a shallow amount of water to steam-cook fries from potatoes cut in sticks and tossed in olive oil, parmesan cheese, and salt hot fudge pudding cake chocolate pudding bread pudding rice pudding

Hope I'm not being too hair-splitting, but I have to correct you there. Nutella is an Italian product developed by the Ferrero company. The original cream was developed in 1946, based on the Giandujotti chocolates typical of Turin but exchanging coconut for cocoa butter. It was marketed worldwide as Nutella from a German associate company. AHA!! This answers another question I have had for awhile: if it is Nutella in those unbelivably delicious Fererro Rocher chocolates I knew it I knew I knew it!!!! I think am going to have to go downstairs right this minute to buy some and celebrate the revelation. Thank you!!! If you love the Fererro-Rocher chocolates, try this: Take a waffle cone, slather Nutella on the inside of the cone, and eat. Tastes a lot like the Fererro-Rochers. Nutella, mia bellaaaaaaaaaah.

OK, my postcard-vote for D.C. goes out today. Comfort Me, if, as you say, the products at Penzey's and The Spice House are exactly the same, then I am left speechless by the price-comparison I just did for the big-ticket 16-oz double-strength Madagascar "Bourbon Islands" vanilla extract: $65.99 at penzey's, but just $52.95 at The Spice House. Apparently the same bottle and label. Hmmmm. I've got to do an item-by-item comparison! See you in a few days.

Have you shopped at Penzey's, too? Would like to hear a comparative analysis from someone who has shopped at both, as I have shopped only at Penzey's so far but would be open to trying The Spice House. Living in Chevy Chase (in Maryland) I am not sure whether a postcard from me would count toward D.C. Does one have to have a D.C. address for the postcard to be a vote for D.C.?

Glutinous rice is often labeled as "sweet rice". It is a short grain rice while "sushi rice" or Japanese rice is medium grain like Arborio. You will find glutinous rice only in Asian markets. Funnily enough, at my local Pathmark I managed to procure a small bag (under 5 lbs) of Nishiki sushi grade rice. Perhaps it depends on your area, but it was promising to know that the buyers at the supermarket know about short grained sticky rice. Please note that the rice used to make sushi is not the same as sticky/sweet/glutinous rice. The latter has a much more chewy, gluey texture and is the type of rice used in Chinese dishes such as rice steamed in lotus leaves, eight-treasure rice pudding, and bamboo-wrapped rice parcels (tsung-tse). This rice, ground into a flour, is used in sweets such as deep-fried sesame balls and mochi. The problem is nomenclature. Sushi rice is seen as "sticky" compared to medium-grain or long-grain rice, but there is an entirely different variety of rice that is called "sticky" (or "glutinous" or "sweet") for lack of a better name, which is distinctively sticky and chewy in texture.

The narrow end of a rack of pork ribs, where the meat is nicely fatty and tender.