Toliver

Yes, Andie, I agree with Sylvia...I hope all goes well with you. And those Orange Creamsicle cookies sound delicious!

I just tried their Potato Chips with South African style seasonings. They're an odd duck, so to speak. Upon first bite, they taste like any BBQ chip with that little bit of sweetness. Then you taste a smokiness and other "umami"-ish flavors (the batch I had tasted a little too salty). But the spiel on the bag mentions South African BBQ rubs for meat. I thought that was quite accurate. They taste like a meat marinade. The crushed chips could make for a nice breading/coating on fish or meat. Overall, they're an interesting chip.

My thoughts? The pendulum swings... Now if only Chipotle would put in drive-thru's...

The Tiffani-Dale duel was good. They were competitive and it was good-natured. The guest judges for the final dinner were metal rockers, including Rob Zombie, who is a vegan. So all of the dishes had to be vegan (don't even get me started on that subject). When it came to eating Tiffani's dessert, Rob said he wouldn't even try it because he doesn't like to eat "soft desserts". WTF?

It reminds me of a grapefruit "spoon", except where the edge on your tool is beveled, a grapefruit "spoon" usually has more of a serrated edge. Thanks for posting a picture of it!

I am so happy to put the CJ Jacobson vs. Stefan Richter duel behind me. Stefan just spewed hatred with every word. It didn't even seem like good-natured ribbing...it was just so dismissive of CJ. The David Burke vs Takashi Yagihashi duel was fascinating. Andrew Zimmern was the guest judge and determined that the final duel would involve three unusual ingredients, one of which was armadillo. Uhm...do you think anyone on the show had heard about the relationship between armadillos and leprosy in humans? I'm taking that as a "No". I was happy when that duel was finished. Just because Andrew eats that crap on his show doesn't mean I want to see it on this show.

Anna, thanks for taking one for the team...and posting about it. At least now I know if I stumble across one selling for a ridiculously low price, I shouldn't pass it up.

Or you could make your own. The recipe for home-made Sundried Tomato Catsup is included in the eGCI lesson on "Basic Condiments". Click here and scroll to the bottom of the post for the recipe.

This is incorrect. Bones are fibrous and porous. Most people think bones act as a heat sink when the opposite is true. Bones dissipate the heat. This is one reason why you shouldn't put a meat thermometer near a bone as it will likely give an incorrect reading.

Those wild cherry tomatoes don't sound like cherry tomatoes. If they're the size of raisins then they're more likely to be currant tomatoes. Here's a picture of one from my Mom's garden a couple years back: They're great for little rugrats and grandkids to pull from the plants and eat...they're a pain to harvest otherwise since they're so plentiful but scatter-shot on the plant. We didn't get clusters...just a bunch of individual tiny tomatoes growing everywhere. edited for spelking

On impulse, I bought their Tangerine Juice (in the refrigerated section). I was glad to see that the juice was pasteurized. It's a refreshing mixer with my usual Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

I floved the Antonia vs. her cousin Mike duel. Such a dichotomy of Italian food! Where Mike would put a new spin on a classic Italian dish, Antonia stood tried and true to classic Italian. I also liked that their verbal jabs to each other were good-natured and not so much "macho posturing" (like the next episode is likely to have). Did anyone else see the episode? edited for clarification

What about adding some sort of liquid so you get, at least, a start for a sauce? Like adding some beef stock or veggie stock? After roasting, you could add a slurry to the juice and make a gravy. Or do you think that would change the outcome of the recipe?

Quickles! Awesome name, Shelby.

I agree with your observations. I once bought some lemon cukes at my local farmer's market. They're mostly seeds. If you think "Oh, I'll just de-seed them", think again. You'd be left with very little cucumber flesh in the end. Live and learn.

I picture artichokes in a pasta salad, not a green salad. Regarding the onions, I prefer to use scallions (aka green onions/spring onions) in a chopped/green salad. Once in a while I'll use a purple/red onion sliced thinly. Sliced thin red/purple onion also goes well with sliced cucumbers, pickled together. As for tomatoes...I have acquiesced to my inner sloth and only use grape tomatoes now. No peeling and slicing and/or dicing. If I have access to heirloom tomatoes, they get made into their own salad...no greens needed.

Tater Tot-ettes?

This reminds me of a previous eGullet discussion "Cooking a Frozen Roast Without Thawing". Turns out that roasting a frozen roast works out just as well as cooking a frozen steak. eGullet was ahead of the curve on this one. Suck it, ATK!

My local Costco uses paper rings to help their employees make the BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches that they sell at their pizza/hot dogs stand. The customer takes the ring off when they go to eat the sandwich.

But you're still cooking in the (outdoor) heat. I guess as long as you're not heating up your house, then it must be okay. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment complex where none of the apartments have a backyard/back patio/back balcony. A few of the apartments have have some metal railings on their front porches so they can chain & lock a BBQ grill to it. But the apartment I live in only has a cement step...no railing. So no outdoor cooking for me.

I cringed when she used a metal fork and then a metal spatula to stir the food in her non-stick skillet.

I use my microwave frequently, but more often in the summertime. When the weekly daytime temperature outside hovers around 100°F day after day, my stove and my oven are never turned on. If it can't get heated up or cooked in the microwave, then I must be eating out.

Carl's/Hardee's has a new promotion burger out...The Texas BBQ Burger. It's a bottom layer of smoked beef brisket, then a thick-burger patty, with jalapeño straws all on their fresh-baked buns. It's one of their more expensive burgers. You can print out a nice coupon from their web site: Carl's Jr I was surprised to find that I liked it. Upon first bite, it had a nice charbroiled flavor. The brisket had a nice smokiness to it (which the cynic in me thinks was due to liquid smoke). The jalapeño straws made a negligible contribution to the burger. I detected no spicy heat from them at all and so I figured they were there for the crunchy texture. The bbq sauce they used wasn't overly sweet and there wasn't a lot of it so it wasn't dripping or messy. Overall, a pretty good burger that I would order again.

I agree with the suggestion of freezing them. Cook up a nice filling or sauce and freeze it. My mom does this with peaches. Then in the middle of winter she'll use it to make a nice peach cobbler. Regarding raspberries, you could also make a linzer tort or linzer cookies. Thanks for posting the pics of your pie. It looks delicious.

Make a trifle with the sugarless bread. Or a bread pudding. Get back in the saddle and make the quiche crust. Then when it's cocktail time, imbibe freely. You deserve it.