bloviatrix

Elyse's thread on her search for sheet pans led me thinking.... We all know about Broadway Panhandler, Bridge Kitchenware, JB Prince etc, but wouldn't it be a good idea to set up a resource thread of places to shop for kitchenware? This could be useful for those of us who live here or E-Gulleters coming to NY for a visit. So, open up your rolodexes and share.

We have aquaintances who invite us over for shabbat meals every couple months. I cringe whenever we get the invite, as the menu never changes and it's awful. First, they start with gefillte fish that is absolutely tasteless. I have to smother it with horseradish to get it down. Then the salad is a little lettuce, shredded carrots, tomatoes, scallions and canned mushrooms. The mushrooms ruin what would otherwise be a perfectly good salad. The main course is always chicken heavily coated with something undescribable. My husband thinks it's a spice-rub. It's somewhat greasy and has a burnt taste. As an accompaniment, there's derma (which is literally stuffed intestine, but in this case it has been pulled out of its casing - its spices, fat, and flour) mixed with overcooked tasteless pasta. Dessert was fresh fruit and soy ice cream. I stuck with the fruit, but according my husband the "ice cream" had a protective layer of frost . The last time we ate there, I couldn't wait to get home and eat some real food. My husband only recently realized that the side was derma and he's disgusted. You should see the look of revulsion on his face, and he's not a picky eater. I need to invite this couple back to my house, but I'm afraid it will only encourage them to extend future invites.

My husband has begged my not to experiment on our guests. So we settled on a compromise - our dull friends get boring food, the adventurous ones get the experiments. I find the meals which are experimental to be a lot more fun. Plus, a lot more wine gets drunk.

Raisins. We have a lot of wonderful fresh fruit in the fridge, and this I what I was craving. How sad is that?

He doesn't keep homemade stock at home? Even I have that in my freezer.

Do you have a local bookstore that specializes in cookbooks? If so, they might carry it. In NY, you can pick up single issues at Kitchen Arts & Letters. I think they also carry back issues. They take phone orders, so I'm sure you can order a copy from them -- 212/876-5550.

I finally made borscht 10 days ago. Wow, it was so good. What was I thinking all these years?

Fettuccini with a sauce made of diced eggplant, onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes and fresh mozzerella. Mint infused iced tea

In season I eat so many tomatoes , that by the time they're on their way out, I'm sick of them. Other foods include cherries, corn, grapefruit (I actually eat 1 per day in the late fall and winter), smoked whitefish, fresh crusty bread schmeared with Plugra (I could probably eat Plugra plain), rare hangar steak, and finally ice cream (growing up, I ate ice cream every day as my post-school snack).

My first Manhattan roommate was an absolute slob. We each bought our own food and cooked for ourselves, but we had to share a refridgerator. N. would buy apple juice, open it and then leave the open bottle for such a long time that mold would form on top. She also cooked some food and left on the bottom shelf for about 6 months. Then, she wanted to know why I never washed out the pot. She was a nightmare. I could tell horror stories for hours.

Another vote for Malgieri's How to Bake. His writing is very clear and easy to follow. Not intimidating. It's one of my go-to books and I have yet to be disappointed.

"Wanna lick? Psyche." There are two types of Mr Softee trucks, those that sit in one place all day, and the other drives around the neighborhood. We have a Mr. Softee truck that drives by every night at about 7:00 pm playing his music. For me, one of the first signs of spring is hearing that tinny melody. My weakness is for the King Cone sold out of the Good Humor carts. You can find these carts in front of the museums and in the parks. Although the quality of the ice cream is pretty lousy, I get such pleasure eating them. It may be the chocolate lined cone that I find so appealing, but I'm not sure.

First, I want you to know how much I loved The Soul of a Chef - I couldn't put it down. Furthermore, I frequently found myself reading passages out loud to share your writing with my husband. I see you're working on a charcuterie book with Brian Polcyn. Did he ever take the CMC exam again, and if so, did he pass? I was rooting for him to succeed throughout your section on him in The Soul of a Chef and wondered whether he felt driven to take the exam again.

I realize that taste is subjective, but I tried to make this experiment as objective as possible. I should mention upfront, that before today I had always preferred H&H. I have eaten Columbia's bagels in the past but had never tried Lenny's. Here are my findings: H&H weight: 4.2 oz/115 gr dimensions: 3.5 x 4.25 x 2.5 color: blond age at time of purchase: approximately 30 minutes price: .95 Columbia weight: 4.45 oz/124 gr dimensions: 4 x 4.5 x 2 color: toasted golden age at time of purchase: approximately 30 minutes price: .60 Lenny's weight: 4.8 oz/135 gr dimensions: 4 x 4.5 x 1.75 color: pale blond age at time of purchase: made this morning price: .60 In regard to the age of the bagels, I got to H&H at 1:10, took the subway uptown and got the Columbia bagel at 1:20, and walked down to Lenny's where I got that bagel at 1:35 (after standing on line for 5 minutes). At each place I asked how old the bagels were. I conducted the taste portion of the test blind. My husband handed me pieces of each bagel. Here are my tasing notes: Bagel 1: Crust gave a toasty taste. Bagel was nicely chewy. No finish. Bagel 2: Nice, yeasty smell but no discernable flavor. Nicely chewy. Bagel 3: Very gummy. Initially picked up a peppery flavor, but quite sweet on the finish. This had the most overall flavor, but it wasn't particularly good. (note: my husband said he picked up a cornmeal flavor) My overall preference for the bagels was 1, 2, and then 3 as a distant runner-up. I think number 1 would be best for eating on its own, but number 2 would most likely be the ideal bagel as a delivery system for cream cheese and lox. In order, here are my preferences: 1) Columbia 2) H & H 3) Lenny's My husband who also tasted each (but not blind) also ranked them in the same order.

No, he wasn't. And is it just me, or . . . is he really not *that* cute? I keep thinking that Rocco and Jimmy Fallon (of SNL) are separated at birth.

There were a couple of things that bothered me 1) Rocco couldn't get the pronunciation of Linda Staci's (pro- Stacey) name down. He kept calling her Stah-si, which is the name of the East German secret police. Hmm... 2) Why go out and buy a copy of the paper? There's something called the internet. He could have gone on-line and printed out a copy of the review. 3) That call was so scripted. They just happened to have camera's in Caroline's apartment? 4) That plug for Amex at the beginning when Rocco say's "we'll apply for a line of credit." Ugghh. Now I know why there was no commercial break until minute 20. But, that said, this was first the episode I watched in full and I was riveted

Since I have nothing planned for tomorrow, I'll think I'll do a bagel taste test (ok, so I need to get a life). I'll pick up plain bagels from Columbia bagels (is that the name of the one on 110th and B'way?- I know Zabars gets theirs there), Lenny's and H&H. Then I'll try all three and report back. They need to be equally fresh for it to be a fair comparison. There is nothing like a bagel fresh from the oven. Does Lenny's make their bagels on site? I know for sure the other 2 do. Although I would ideally like to walk from H&H to Columbia, for the sake of freshness, I will take the subway from 79th to 110th. I'm going to walk down the 12 blocks to Lenny's. I've enlisted my husband to help me do a blind tasting. Once I take measurements - size and weight, he'll label each and I'll taste. I was thinking of doing this in the afternoon (my turn to move the car), if anyone's interested in this journey, pm me.

Linda Stasi is not a resturant critic. I think she's the Post TV critic, formerly a gossip reporter. Edit: Here's what Stasi wrote. You're right about who she is. Apparently they invited her with the hope that she would add to the buzz of the show.

Since I have nothing planned for tomorrow, I'll think I'll do a bagel taste test (ok, so I need to get a life). I'll pick up plain bagels from Columbia bagels (is that the name of the one on 110th and B'way?- I know Zabars gets theirs there), Lenny's and H&H. Then I'll try all three and report back.

The worst smell that ever came out of my kitchen was my experimental white bean soup. I started with merguez sausages and rendered off their fat to sautee the onion and garlic in. Well, according to my husband the smell was like rotting flesh (how he knows what rotting flesh smells like, I don't know). And the smell never improved. Not even once the soup was done. If smelled so awful that I refused to eat it. My husband, who will eat just about anything, ate it and said the taste was much better then smell. I don't love the smell of lamb and fatty fish can leave a nasty lingering odor (we went through a period where my husband would inevitably make fish the day we had the cleaning lady. I would come home expecting that wonderful chemically-lemon scent and be greeted by the salmon smell). But other than the soup, almost everything else that comes out of the kitchen smells good. Quite frequently we'll get envious comments from our neighbors.

Another trick for getting rid of the fish smell is to place several tablespoons of ground cinnamon on a tray in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I've been making a lot of herb infused iced tea. Most of the time I use spearmint, but I have also tried lemon verbena. Anyway, I decided to infuse a combination of spearmint and lemon verbena, and the combination resulted in a strange outcome. The initial taste is of mint then followed by the lemon verbena. But the finish is reminiscent of anise. Is anyone familiar with this? It's oddly refreshing, but definitely not what I expected.

No, Toliver, it was not too long! Thanks so much for this. I fixed on this tiny detail from your post, because I, of course, had to be excused too (to hit the suds, then homework.) My young adult daughter had to do the same. But I've noticed that, (er ahem, old lady clearing throat) no one I know has children who ask this. Thank you for bringing back a memory of my childhood. Asking to be excused was a requirement in my parents house as well. I had supressed this until now.

Pan, I don't know if you're on the UWS much, but Gitlitz recently put in a "revived" appearance. The drug store that was in the same location closed, and as part of the renovations, they removed the signs. There, stained on the brickwork was the name Gitlitz, reminding West Siders of the deli that once stood on the corner. Alas, as the renovations continued, the Gitlitz name was once again covered up. This time by a bank sign.

Doesn't Thomas Keller serve a dessert that's infused with tobacco? I think both Ruhlman and Bourdain have mentioned it.