bloviatrix

Fifi, it must be the time of year because my husband who has never eaten a corndog in his life started talking about them the other day. He swears they're calling to him. As for me, last year out of nowhere I got a craving for a calzone. I tried to ignore the siren call, but after a month I finally gave in. I went to the pizza shop and ordered one, only it didn't taste that good. After about half, the craving had gone away and I felt sick to my stomach.

I saw figs today at the greenmarket in Teaneck, NJ. It never occurred to me that our climate was appropriate for figs, I thought they needed something warmer.

as far as i know. Thanks, the brain isn't working well tonight. don't worry. this comes from 18 years of staring at computer screens and having discussions with people who may or may not exist. you don't want that. trust me. So are you a person? A dog? Or just a figment of my imagination?

I'm shocked to find out that Brother Jimmy's is actually a place to get decent food. I always assumed it was just another place for over-grown frat guys to get wasted.

as far as i know. Thanks, the brain isn't working well tonight.

On the condiment side, I always require a supply of soy sauce, capers, and chipotles in adobo. I also keep walnut oil in the fridge.

Garbage disposals only became legal within the last 5 years. And even then, if I understand the law correctly, only certain buildings are eligible. I assume new construction has them, but the pre-war buildings definitely don't. AFAIK it's not strictly true that old buildings can't have them by law... It's just that the plumbing in many of these buildings simply can't handle garbage disposals, so many co-op boards have decided to disallow them. I believe that the prohibition against garbage disposals was originally intended to reduce the amount of organic waste in the NYC sewage system, although someone may have better information than I. Please educate me. What does AFAIK mean? It seems there is a City Councilman who is trying to introduce into law a bill requiring all restaurants and greengrocers to install commercial garbage disposals as a way to keep the rat population down. The argument against the proposal is that the city's sewers can't handle the liquified goop.

AHA! I knew there was something out there that might help me out! Where do I get this cork? I've never seen it before. Does it come in big sheets or what? I'm clueless We just recently installed cork flooring and really like it. It's a little squishy, so it's comfortable to stand on, and so far it seems to be pretty durable. We got it from AmCork (recommended), but there are a million places that sell it. Google "cork flooring". This is the exact one we picked out. It looks great. They came in 12"x12" tiles, but there are a few other sizes you can find. I never saw them offered in sheets, though. Overall, installation wasn't bad. It was a pretty healthy weekend project. Prepping the subfloor was a different animal altogether. 3 layers of old flooring and, oh, about 10 billion inch long staples deep into maple. Never again. I've been toying with the idea of cork flooring for my kitchen. What happens if you get grease on the floor? Is it easy to remove?

All of my cookbooks and other food related books (Fisher, Trillin, Freeling, etc) are in the living room for easy access. The books on wine are relagated to the 2nd bedroom. I probably have 10 books that I always use. The rest get pulled out if I'm looking for an inspiration, or someone has been talking about it in a thread (i.e. The New Way to Cook). When you have many books, do you find that you forget about a book for awhile and then, "rediscover" it?

I didn't find the dough difficult to work with even though the jam was warm. I have all my fillings ready and waiting, and then take the dough out - and work quickly. Let me suggest you do a raspberry-chocolate rugalach. Spread out some raspberry jam and then top with finally chopped chocolate (if there are small chunks mixed in, that's ok). When I make this combination, they get eaten first. Can I suggest you do a variety of hamentaschen as well? My signature hamentasch is a gingerbread dough with apricot filling. I've also done a chocolate dough with raspberry jam (although I still haven't found a chocolate dough that's easy to work with.)

You're only half-Jewish, right? I'm 100% Jewish, though I have one non-Jewish grandfather. But the yeast version is the one favored in Israel, as well as the one made by Green's and sold at Zabar's. I have a fundamental problem with Green's rugelach, and any of the yeast based rugelach for that matter - they're pareve. This means they don't have any milk product in them, and as far I'm concerned, the best rugelach are dairy.

How much jam did you use? I spread a thin coat of melted jam on mine (I find that melting the jam makes it easier to work with). And yes, I work with cold ingredients cut into cubes instead of at room temp. The combination of cold ingredients and minimal mixing should help ensure the flakiness. I've tried the Maida Heatter recipe, CathyL mentions, out of the cookie book and the problem with the recipe is the lack of sugar in the dough. To me, it tastes "off." That's actually why I like the Nathan variation.

Did you roll the dough into a circle and cut wedges? or did you roll it into a loaf and slice? I've made this recipe using the mixer and went with the wedges. When I watched the TV-companion series to the book they did the recipe with the mixer so I figured it wouldn't be a problem. Just keep mixing to a minimum. With wedges, keep in mind since you roll from the widest point to the narrow-most, there will be some filling that will fall off/ooze out in the process. I think this is why most bakery rugelach are done loaf style. Maybe do half the dough in wedges and the other half in a loaf and determine which you prefer. Additionally, after making the dough I let it chill overnight. And like others, I cut the dough in half and leave part in the fridge.

If restocking the fridge from scratch, the first things I would buy are milk, eggs, butter, orange juice and dijon mustard. Maybe some yogurt. Then I would buy the rest on an "as needed" basis.

For the same reason that they buy books at Barnes and Nobles.

We have a lot of candles and matches. I even have wicks (left over from chanuka when we use olive oil in the menorah). No flashlights or battery powered radio. I thought we had tuna fish, but it turned out my husband finished it all, but we have canned beans and 20 boxes of cereal. So, this week I will be buying a couple of flashlights and a transistor radio, plus extra batteries. Maybe some extra water as well. I also need to find our back-up phone. It's somewhere in our apartment. For those of you familiar with the guys who sell batteries for $1 on the NYC subway, my husband was telling me that people on the subway car he was stuck in were wondering why none of them were around when they were really needed.

On those rare occasions when I'm alone, I tend to eat a bowl of cereal with milk.

It's interesting you bring up this topic. There was an interesting piece in the Times on saturday about Yale starting a new initiative in their dining halls with the help of Alice Waters. Yale - food

Strawberry or Lemon yogurt with sour cream and onion potato chips. My husband once caught me eating this and was throughly disgusted. Personally, I like the contrast of the creamy and crunchy, the salty and sweet/sour and the cold vs. room temperature (provided you did the chips in the yogurt).

Before they sold kosher food at Yankee Stadium, I used to bring in my own food all the time. I still remember stocking up on deli sandwiches before heading up to the stadium for a double header. Once, on a 90 + degree day, I brought in with me a gallon container of frozen water so I would have cool drinks through out the day - no one said a thing and I kept myself happily hydrated. On occasion, I will still bring a bag of peanuts.

If I counted correctly, there are currently 8 Starbucks on B'way between 86th street and 114th (that's less than a mile and a half). Damn, now we'll be down to 7. Whatever are we to do?

According to the latest post on Uzay Tumer's site, Ripert has been back to Rocco's, this time with Alain Ducasse! Could it be that the food is more acceptable than we are led to believe. I can't imagine these two guys need the publicity or waste their time eating garbage food. Perhaps Ripert is trying to warn Ducasse about going into business whith Chodorow?

There are a couple of places on Kings Highway near E.4th (and close to the subway) in Brooklyn that are really good resources for Middle Eastern supplies. All sorts of of grains, legumes, and spices. In NJ, I like the International Food Warehouse right of Rt. 17 in Lodi. I bought large bags of bulgur for less than $2 each. In the past I spent close to $4 for a smaller quantity. They also carry basmati rice in 12 pound sizes . Plus, really good fruit juices from Israel for $1.50.

I'm trying to understand the editing of the show. One two prior episodes they've shown Ripert eating at the restaurant. On this, the third time, they show him with Bourdain. Just how many times has Ripert eaten at this place? And if it's only once, why show the footage every week. I'm so confused!!

I'm getting tipsy just reading about all that alcohol consumption. Oh to be young again and with a high tolerance.