Toliver

It's been a while since I've been through the local Ranch Market here but ours was/is skewed much more to the hispanic/latin market. I guess it's a reflection of its local customer base. Thanks for taking the time to post all of the pictures. I am thoroughly enjoying your blog!

Remember to check your local ethnic (Mexican/Asian/etc) markets, too. They will often have meat on sale at a much better price than the chain grocery stores.

This is a slide show of some well known companies who add cellulose (wood pulp) to their products: Who's putting wood in your food? Companies such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and General Mills routinely add wood pulp to their products. It's a way for them to add bulk, mouth feel and fiber to a product without spending a lot of money. The more cellulose used in a product the less the amount of other ingredients (which cost more) need to be added. I'd love to hear from some SSB's (Smug Scientific Bastards) who can either defend this practice or refute the overall "no harm, no foul" defense of it. Wood in our food. A good thing or a bad thing?

KCET in Los Angeles (formerly a PBS station, now just an independent) currently airs Susana Trilling's "Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico" about three times a week (it rotates with another cooking show). It's extremely authentic down to cooking with iguana. She usually starts each show with a look at the dishes/meals/ingredients in Oaxaca and then she recreates them in her kitchen. I thought her show on the seven moles of Oaxaca was quite interesting. She often uses authentic kitchen tools/pans (comal, molcajete, etc), as well.

When I first moved here to Bakersfield I found it was a little disconcerting when I would walk into a store or restaurant and they would recognize me. I'm originally from San Diego where you can go into store or restaurant 10 times and never see the same staff. But I'm used to the recognition here now. I'm a regular customer at a mom & pop burger joint called "Carla's" down the street from where I live. It doesn't even have an interior dining space. They have picnic tables out front if you want to eat there but since it's either 110°f in the summer or 45°f in the winter I usually get my order to go. I first started going there because they served crinkle cut french fries which was I thought was unusual for a burger joint. They also served a teriyaki burger (marinated beef on a roll) that I always used to order but stopped when the beef just got too tough and salty for me. When I first switched over to their French Burger, the owner asked the order taker "Are you sure it was him?" Now when I phone in my order, I just have to say my name and they say "See you in 10!" As for perks, I did get a free pineapple milkshake once as one of the staff had made one too many for someone else's order. I accepted the perk even though I am lactose intolerant.

Alice Waters...is that you? How about Spaghetti Carbonarra? Pasta, bacon, eggs, and cheese (parm or romano). Simple and delicious.

I was going to suggest this. I have a friend who remodeled her kitchen and bought special panels for the doors of the fridge and freezer that matched the rest of her kitchen cabinets. The drawback was, according to her, was the $#@%! expense (her words ). Still, it's a great idea.

A McDonald's fry that has fallen to the floorboard of my car and rolled under the seat and has been sitting there for a year is still better than In-n-Out french fries.

Perhaps you're over-pouring the milk? Why not under-pour and you'll still have crispy cereal in the bowl as well as "wet" cereal. Just a thought...

You also have to note that the "healthy" sandwiches are the 6-inch versions, not the footlongs. Not all of the dressings are salty or high in fat. It is possible to leave the store with a relatively healthy meal. But then these days you can do the same at most fast food restaurants provided you make the right menu choices.

There was a previous discussion (I can't recall the specifics) about the use of pre-peeled garlic. Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen has mentioned that they use the pre-peeled in their recipes to save prep time in the kitchen. They said the flavor in cooked recipes isn't much different than garlic you peel yourself. You can take their opinion or leave it, of course. They did say that they don't recommend the use of the pre-chopped stuff. It's your kitchen...do what you want and can live with.

That's the way my mom makes them. Stewed-for-hours until they're limp and lose their vibrant green color. They swim with bits of bacon until, when done, the bacon and the beans are one in flavor. And don't forget the salt.

Chinese: Kung Pao Chicken - Does it have a kick to it? Or is it wimpy? What does the wok hei taste like? Does the accompanying fried rice have peas and carrots in it (which means they're cutting corners in the kitchen)? Mexican (sit down) - Do they even have mole on the menu? Do they make their own tortillas? How do they make something simple like their rice & beans? If they blow that, can you depend on them to make anything else decently? Mexican (take out) - What? You're using ground beef in your tacos? Hell to the No!

Two sandwiches from places that no longer exist: In San Diego there was a bar called Foggy's Notion on Sports Arena Boulevard. They served this wonderful chicken-bacon sandwich that I can only vaguely recall after so many years. I'm pretty sure the chicken breast had been BBQ grilled (it had char marks) and the bacon was Canadian bacon with the slice of bacon being as large as the bun. The sandwich had the most wonderful smokey flavor. I'm sure there was cheese (there was always cheese). I cannot recall anything else about the sandwich except that it was the only thing I would order on every trip to that bar. The other sandwich I fondly recall was called The Gallo. It was made at a deli counter inside a liquor store on Midway Drive (ironically near Foggy's Notion in San Diego). I believe the liquor store has been gone for many years. The sandwich was amazing. It was best if you ordered it on a long onion roll. They would line one side of the roll with slices of swiss and cheddar cheese. They would then put this in a steamer "thingie" and pump it a few times until the cheese melted completely. Then they'd slather it with mayo and fresh made guacamole. They'd heap the other side of the roll with slices of turkey and the usual condiments (shredded lettuce, tomato and thinly sliced red onion). Perhaps it was the bread, or the cheese or the guacamole (or all of that combined) that made the sandwich so tasty and memorable. Gone but not forgotten.

If you like the food, don't leave. Speak up. If the food isn't worth the bother, or if the guy/owner gives you lip, leave. I was at a Subway sandwich shop and the woman making my order put the plastic gloves on and then the phone rang. She answered it with her gloved hands and after the call she was about to start making my sandwich when I asked her to put on new gloves since she had just handled the phone. She looked sheepish (like she should have known better and got caught) and did put on new plastic gloves.

There didn't seem to be a "Burritos - The Topic" discussion, so I am posting here, though I think I might know the answer. I made homemade burritos last night. I had extra large "burrito-sized" flour tortillas purchased from the grocery store. When I placed the hot filling on the room-temperature tortilla and began folding it, the tortilla split and cracked open. Why did the tortilla split? My uneducated guess is that perhaps I should have heated the tortilla first before topping it with the hot filling and attempting to fold it. The tortilla is thin, of course, and that may have contributed to the splitting but I think the difference in temperatures of the filling versus the tortilla may be the culprit. Anyone?

I think this was once mentioned in another discussion but you could wrap the skin around a cannelloni tube and deep fry it. Once fried and drained remove the mold/tube and pipe them full of your favorite mashed potato recipe. Serve immediately to retain crispness.

I think Sara Moulton said something to this effect when she explained why she and FoodTV were parting ways. She saw the writing on the wall and it just wasn't for her. I agree. Quite sad.

That's interesting about the caloric content. Who knew? How does the sodium content compare? I'd guess it's higher than, say, sliced roast beef.

I enjoy their Belgian Dark Chocolate pudding. It's not an actual Trader Joe's product but they carry it in their dairy section. I made a "Death by Chocolate" trifle for a Superbowl party using the pudding and it was a huge success. People were fighting over the leftovers.

Martha Stewart has also suggested that when baking a chocolate cake, instead of using flour to coat the greased pans, use cocoa instead. Thanks for posting the recipe. It looks delicious!

Sure there is...delegate the job to someone else.

I have one. It was a gift I received for my birthday. The blender I had before (for 25 years) finally died and my SIL gave me the Ninja. I believe she purchased it at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It threw me for a loop at first because I was used to making smoothies in my previous blender and the Ninja is quite a bit larger than most home blenders. I think I've finally figured out the right proportions for my smoothies. I use some frozen fruit in my smoothies and the Ninja obliterates the stuff quickly and efficiently without much strain on the motor. And that's just using the 2nd speed (of three speeds). It's supposed to make crushed ice quickly, too. The tower blades are quite sharp. It is basically a spindle that mounts the motor-driven knob at the bottom of the pitcher. When you place the lid on, the top of the spindle is held securely in place by a notch in the lid. While the blender is on, one of the corners of the lid can be lifted open so you can add stuff, though the opening isn't really that big. I imagine it's aimed more at the addition of liquids than the addition of fruit pieces, etc. It cleans up easily though the spindle requires special handling due to the sharpness of the blades. I think the Ninja is going to be overkill for me since it's likely I will only use it to make smoothies.

You might find some good recipes in here: "Yellow and white cakes - search for the perfect" I think any cake you make and don't buy already made is considered "old-fashioned" these days.

"Taco Bell Sued: Where's the Beef?" Perhaps the tacos are filled with Soylent Green.