Toliver

Thanks. I think posting a pic of the (usually) new flavor might help others to spot the bags of chips in their local stores.

Lawry's The Prime Rib has a few locations, including the one in Las Vegas (it's an art deco treasure and the food is very good). I can taste the celery salt in the Seasoned Salt, which is one of the reasons why I like it. And it must have some sort of MSG in it because it's always so umami-yummy.

If you like hot & spicy, these chips have a good slow-building burn. Taste-wise, they were meh, blah, etc. I keep wondering why they don't start with something proven to taste good (like their Nacho cheese flavor) and then just make it hot & spicy, too.

Doritos Fiery Fusion This is a scan of a bag I consumed. The subtitle on the front of the bag says "Sizzlin' Cayenne & Cheese". The back of the bag says "The slow-burning fire of new Doritos fiery Fusion chips is about to be unleashed on your unsuspecting mouth. Things might start smooth with the creamy flavor of cheese, but in no time your tongue will ignite with hot cayenne, jalapeño and spices." These chips are a mixed bag, so to speak. Yes, these chips do have a slow-burning kick to them. It builds over time. However, that being said, their flavor leaves a lot to be desired. They just taste generic. It'd be a different story if they tasted as good as the Nacho cheese flavor. But they don't. These chips are all heat and very little flavor. Disappointing to say the least.

There are even more possibilities when you use the different kinds of Ritz crackers that they make these days. Cinnamon & Sugar (sold in my area) or the Honey Butter...plus riffing on savory puddings, too, with their savory flavors. I was at a BBQ recently where the host had made an ice cream sandwich recipe from the FoodTV magazine that had Ritz crackers, vanilla ice cream and a schmear of caramel sauce. The salty-sweet combo was quite good.

You did the right thing. With 9 days to go she still wanted to do a tasting? Really? The huge lack of response on her end would have put me off right away. She should have brought up the budget upon first discussion so you would have known whether it was even feasible. Let it go knowing you have your sanity and no stress over what would have been a nightmare.

One small thing I dislike about the Bacon-type avocados (beside their lack of flavor) is that they sometimes have little fibers/strings in the meat where the Haas doesn't. The strings put me off. Call me odd but there it is.

Regarding mince, dice and chop, you can find some answers in the eGCI "Basic Knife Skills" class (click).

There are two new dessert flavors in the Wrigley's Extra Sugarless Gum Dessert Delights: Apple Pie and Orange Cream Pop (pictured on the wrapper is an orange 50-50 bar....vanilla ice cream encased in an orange popsicle exterior). The Apple Pie flavor is amazingly good. You can taste the tartness of the apple along with the pie spices. It's a winner. The Orange Cream Pop is good but other Dessert flavors are better. The problem with this flavor is that the orange flavor is there, right up front. It has a hint of bitterness that you would get with the orange rind which provides a nice balance to sweetness of the gum. But there's no vanilla ice cream flavor that I can detect. It is a good orange flavored gum but that's about it. Of the two, the Apple Pie flavor is far batter.

If I recall correctly, there's a chemical in the tomato tied to its flavor. Once refrigerated, this chemical "shuts off" and it won't ever taste as good as a tomato held at room temperature. I believe it's also tied to the ripening process since a tomato that has yet to turn red won't if it's refrigerated. (Any SSB's out there with the real info on this?) I'm sure you've heard folk tales of people who have wrapped their tomatoes in newspaper and stored them in a flat box under their beds. Anytwhere but in the refrigerator.

Have you tried Heinz's "Simply Heinz" Ketchup? It's a recipe that is made with sugar...no HFCS. The nutrition label says the measurement of sugar is the same (4 gr.) but you may find a taste difference. I'd also suggest trying generic or store brand ketchup. My local Von's brand of ketchup is quite different than the name brand ketchups...you can really taste the spices in the ketchup. It's a refreshing change.

My brother is a very good cook but he does this. Why? Because he's usually cooking in my Mom's non-stick pans and not his, so he's just being an uncaring asshat. They're not his pans...so why should he care? Yes, we've had "discussions" about this attitude of his.

Today is Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven to celebrate the chain's birthday. They are giving away 7.11 ounce Slurpees today only at stores within the U.S. and Canada. Brain freeze away!

I was in the Santee Costco (near San Diego) a week ago and they had their seafood "road show" going on. They were selling whole Copper River wild salmon for $5.99 a pound.

If I were Jamawn Woods, I'd be royally pissed. You would think they would have given at least one of the restaurants a full year to make it. Pulling the plug after only a few months is ridiculous. Did the investors really think the restaurant could succeed by just riding the wave of publicity from the television show? If the food and/or the price point is bad, no amount of publicity will save the restaurant. They really should have given it more time.

I went to the Del Mar Fair recently, too! Though I must say the bloom is off the deep fried rose for my family. Been there, fried that. I think watching a television reporter deep fry a shoe last year kind of put me off the trend. I heard the deep fried Klondike bar was supposed to be good but messy to eat. But since it's the Fair, messy is about the norm. I'll match your mushrooms with the usual garlic-battered artichoke hearts or falafel burger from Roxy's booth.

I posted about my new fav's here: Extra Sugarless Chewing Gum The Topic The Extra Key Lime Pie and the Extra Strawberry Shortcake are just great. They do lose their flavor rather quickly but, oh, what a flavor. I'm not a fan of the Mint Chocolate Chip.

Something new for your gadgets...customizable drawer inserts. They're made of silicone and can be cut to fit your drawers. The dividers can be placed where you want/need them. Here's the link to a web site featuring the product: DrawerDecor There's a video on the above linked page that shows you how it can be used. edtied for clarification

It's too bad more places don't have a sampler with one or two bites of their desserts. Applebee's has Dessert Shooters which are desserts served in a large shot glass. It's just a couple spoonfuls and is often enough to satisfy without taking you past the "thin mint stage"*. *see Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life"

The downsizing continues... There are now three less cookies in a regular full-sized package of Oreos.

Holy crap! That was fast. Does anyone know what kind of promotions (TV Spots, radio, print, etc) they did for the restaurant? It sounds like they didn't do much...kind of hard to build success on just word-of-mouth.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis This is a picture of a bag I consumed and scanned. These are a new item. They taste exactly the same as regular Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The big difference is that these are unwrapped and they are quite small. You can see "actual size" on the front of the packaging. The bad thing is that they are unwrapped. Why is this bad? Two reasons: 1) They are more likely to to melt in your hands if they linger there too long (who are we kidding? They won't be in our hands that long on the way to our mouths ) and 2)because they are unwrapped, there is no delay in satisfaction. You don't have to unwrap anything. There's no pause between bites. It's eating one after the other until you start to realize "Hey these are kind of salty" and "Hey, the bag's empty...How'd that happen?" Thumbs up on these.

I agree with this french fries comment along with the comment in another post about the rotating of the plate to achieve this. I'd love to take the top bun off the burger to better see what's under there but I'm inquisitive that way. The lighting is quite good, too. If your goal is to show what you're eating, the tight shot is more appropriate. If you are also commenting on the restaurant itself, then perhaps the mid-range shot would be better to show off the table decor/setting.

I find this quite odd. I live in the San Joaquin Valley, as well, and this year is the first year in quite a while that the state hasn't declared a drought. In fact, the Sierras have a record snowpack this year and now the fear is of the flooding of low lying areas. The state has to release water from the dams to prevent them from overflowing due to the large snowpack melting as the weather gets warmer. It's expected to be in the mid-90's in a week or so in the southern valley so the melt will be starting soon if not already. And the farmers can't water their fields? I think a big portion of the food price increases can be linked to the increase in the cost of fuel. Remember the last time fuel was expensive and everyone stopped buying trucks and SUV's and started buying hybrid vehicles? Food prices went up along with the price of fuel back then. Also, this year there has been the weather-related loss of crops. A lot of produce has been quite expensive (tomatoes, greens, onions, etc) lately due to poor weather impacting crops. Locally some fast food restaurants even stopped using tomatoes unless you specially requested them due to their expense. Fortunately, it should be temporary as the weather normalizes or crops from other countries come in.

I agree with the meatloaf sandwich though I don't toast the bread on mine. Squishy white bread, please. Slather with mayo (or Miracle Whip...whatev's) mixed with horseradish. Add a nice slab/slice of meatloaf. That's it. I'm good.