Toliver

Milky Way Dark Chocolate Mint Overall, a good candy bar. It's actually two small bars (this candy bar is noticeably skinnier than a regular Milky Way candy bar). The outer wrapping is the regular Milky Way silver foil but with a green tinge on the bottom half. I wish the dark chocolate coating had been thicker to make this candy bar really stand out. At first bite, I didn't think the mint was very strong (compared to the strong mint presence in a York Peppermint Patty). But it got stronger with each bite. After a while it did remind me of the flavor of a York Peppermint Patty. But where a York PP is dense and almost crisp, the Milky Way Dark Chocolate Mint candy bar is soft and fluffy, which was a little odd in the beginning because my head kept thinking "York Peppermint Patty" in flavor but not in chewing sensation. If a York Peppermint Patty isn't available, this candy bar will do for that mint kick. The label also says it's 150 calories for both bars that make up the candy bar. I also saw these next to the 6-packs of Buzz Cola at my local 7-Eleven: Limited Edition Razzberry M&M's (it's their spelling, not mine). I can't stand the flavor combination of chocolate and raspberry so I won't bother reviewing the candy here to be fair. I am posting this so others will know it's currently available as a limited edition candy. As you can see by the scan, the candy itself is pudgier than a regular M&M. If anyone likes that flavor combination and tries the candy, feel free to post a review.

The Boll Weevil in Santee closed some time ago and is now a BBQ joint. There is one (or at least there used to be) in the Souplantation strip mall on Fletcher Parkway. I'll have to ask my family to check it out if they're in the neighborhood to see if it's still there. I Googled the restaurant and it says there are still some locations though I'm not sure if that information is current. According to listings on Sandiegobizmart.com they had up to 10 locations. It's the end of an era. They were like Fuddruckers before Fuddruckers existed. When your burgers came, you were given your own condiment tray so you could dress the burger the way you liked it. I think the Longhorn in the Von's shopping center on Mission Gorge (by Kaiser) has a condiment tray, too. I read in Wikipedia that the first location on Midway (the one we always went to when we were kids) was next door to the Cotton Patch which is how the owner came up with the name "The Boll Weevil".

On the PBS series "America's Test Kitchen", they just did a grilled pizza. As you can read by the episode synopsis in the link provided, they changed the dough recipe for better grilling. They also discussed the coal situation. I have the cookbook at home and could post more tomorrow if you're interested in what they had to say (anyone else who has this season's cookbook, feel free to chime in).

Thanks for posting a link to their website. It's one of the first 18-page menus I've ever seen! I can't imagine them being able to offer such a variety out of a diner. And now I'm jonesing for Greek food.

When cooking hamburger in a cast iron skillet, I've used my pastry cutter to chop the hamburger up into fine bits. Of course, you wouldn't want to do this in a non-stick skillet.

I had a question about the Green Goddess recipe, too. Is it one tarragon leaf, or is the measurement missing? Also, are the measurements missing for the white vinegar, anchovy paste & white pepper, too? Thanks! edited to delete quotes that weren't quoting properly.

Please post your recipes, people! They sound great.

It's too hot to cook. I made chicken and black bean burritos yesterday. I used my microwave to heat the beans (mashed about more than 1/2 of them for that refried bean texture) and mixed in some diced green chiles from a can. I also added some cumin and ancho chile powder that I had on hand for seasoning. I tossed in some chopped scallions, diced tomatoes and lots of shredded chicken (from a store-bought rotisserie chicken). If I had had some cheese that would have gone in as well. All wrapped up in a whole wheat toritlla. It was satisfying with no stove or oven to add to the heat of the day.

If you call "hopes & dreams" paying the rent and buying groceries, then the answer is yes, we can saddle him with those responsibilities.

Jaymes, thanks for posting the recipe. It sounds great! Has anyone tried Ina Garten's (aka The Barefoot Contessa) "Sun-dried Tomato Dip"? While it looks nice, it was surprisingly lackluster in flavor, IMHO. Does anyone have any suggestions for what could make the dip more flavorful?

Congratulations on your web site. It's a wonderful and flavorful cuisine and I look forward to exploring your site. I'm hoping it's not too late for you to edit your post to make your website name an actual hot link to direct readers to your site. Also, you're in very good company. eGullet member and author Paula Wolfert has also been a strong advocate of the mediterranean cuisine. Her website is http://www.paula-wolfert.com/ Again, thanks for posting the info!

Owen, Thanks for the link to Sarah's web site. I think she has a harder job than the butter sculpturers. Butter can be softened and molded so you can reshape any mistakes. But cheese is a different story. And there's just something so poetic about:

She, along with Rachel Ray, probably have pretty high Q Score. The target audience is women of that same age group so they have hosts who are similar to those who watch the show. They've also been using their newest medical expert Dr. Nancy Snyderman in a similar manner, introducing segments that may not have anything to do with medicine or health. They're expanding the Today show to 4 hours in some cities (it depends on whether the local affiliate wants to show the 4th hour or not) and need hosts for the extra hour. It looks like Giada may be one of them.

Sorry this is such a late reply but I just read this information today. I subscribe to the McCormick's (as in spices) email newsletter and they had tips on pickling summer veggies in this month's newsletter. One of their tips was to make sure you don't use iodized salt when pickling veggies as this can cause the pickling liquid to turn cloudy. Do you think this could have been the cause of your cloudy pickling liquid?

It's the same with my family. Every holiday my mom has to heat up some rolls. No one really eats them except for my mom and my niece who eats them because she's a picky eater and rolls are one of the things she will eat. We'll have the warm loaf of garlic bread with italian meals and also with steaks. I don't carry on the tradition with my meals. I don't need the starch.

I spoke with my mom this weekend and she mentioned the very same thing. She and some fellow churchgoers stopped for lunch after services and were practically blue from the cold by the time they finished eating at a local chain restaurant. My guess is some places try to get it extra cold inside to get a headstart on the heat of the day or the heat of the bodies rising from a full restaurant. Buffet restaurants keep the A/C cranked to move people out quickly. Regular restaurants are just hurting themselves by keeping it too cold. If you're bothered by the cold air, speak up. The staff, who are warm from bustling around, may not realize how cold it is.

I am sure others will chime in, but from what I understand about Szechuan peppercorns is that their tongue-numbing effect makes them unlike "normal" peppercorns...meaning there's not really a good substitute for them. This will be too late for your tofu, but szechuan peppercorns can now be ordered online at websites like Penzeys: Szechuan Peppercorns from Penzey The government has recently lifted their ban on the peppercorns making them once again available in the US.

The loss (the squandering, is a more appropriate word) of what was perceived as great potential, as someone else has posted. After the demise of his reality show, Rocco was on QVC hawking his cookbooks and his own line of kitchenware along with hawking his mama's meatballs (yes, you could order the actual infamous meatballs from his series "The Restaurant"). He even dragged her onto QVC to help shill. Poor Mama. I just love the line "hawking his mama's meatballs"...as if they went down the wrong pipe. If you search the QVC website, all that remains of Rocco is a colandar and a chef's pan. Googling him finds he has his own shillsite, in case you really want his cookware or 3 pounds of his mama's meatballs: http://www.roccodispirito.com/

The "Why do they seat someone right next to us in an empty restaurant" has been brought up in another discussion (that I can't seem to locate at the moment). My theory was they seat patrons next to you in an empty restaurant because it's likely there's only one waitperson on shift and it makes more sense to seat patrons in their assigned section than to seat them elsewhere in the restaurant. As it's been suggested, a quiet discussion with the management out of earshot of the other couple should work. If it doesn't, there's a multitude of other restaurants that will happily accept your business and your money.

Yes, and some nice add-ons as a finish are a touch of balsamic vinegar, or a hint of lemon zest with black pepper, or toasted buttered breadcrumbs. ← I didn't have as much success with roasted broccoli. Where cauliflower transforms into a loftier state of golden goodness, broccoli seems to keep its broccoli essence. I completely agree with all that has been said about the infamous Roasted Cauliflower recipe and discussion. It totally changed at how I look at veggies and has added a whole new depth to cooking for me. Roast carrots and cumin are pretty good, too (with the usual olive oil and salt & pepper). Roasted beets still taste like roasted dirt to me but I'm still enjoying most of the roast veggie experiments.

re: Canned tamales Of course they don't taste anything like the real McCoy, but I loved them as a kid. Gebhardt brand, I believe, is one company that makes them. They come individually wrapped in some sort of paper along with a little bit of sauce. And no, you don't have to heat Velveeta up in order to eat it. Again, as a kid, I had many a Velveeta & Miracle Whip on white bread sandwiches. We'd have to make our own lunches for school and I remember using one of those adjustable wire-cutter cheese slicers on the brick of Velveeta and was amazed at how smoothly it would slice through it. There's no such gliding with real cheese! Thanks MarketStEl for mentioning the Velveeta keepers! I think we had a Tupperware version. You always left the cheese brick wrapped in its foil wrapping inside the keeper and peeled the foil back only as necessary. I haven't checked the ingredient label but I do recall the "cheese" as having a sweet note to it. I'm almost positive sugar or HCFS has to be an ingredient.

I have the creep, as well. I've seriously considered gathering up all of the powders, rubs and seasonings and dumping them into a catch-all jar to use as my own BAM!-type seasoning on anything and everything. That'd be one way to use it all up.

FatTony, While I haven't had the specific fish taco you're after, have you thought about asking for the recipe next time you're in the restaurant? Some restaurants will provide a recipe to their customers. The "taco marinade" in the menu description sounds odd. You'd think they would have thought up a more evocative term than "taco marinade". What about buying a package of taco seasoning and creating a marinade out of it to use as a starting point? Here's an epicurious.com recipe for Mexican Slaw. I think the ingredients that lend it a "Mexican flavor" would be the cilantro, cumin and lime juice. Again, you can play with the ingredients. Who knows? You could come up with something better. As for true fish tacos: Rubios - the chain that was built by the Fish Taco The fish taco originated as a street vendor food down in Mexico. Cabbage (hence the slaw in the taco you're trying to replicate) doesn't wilt as easily as lettuce which is why it's found as an ingredient in true fish tacos. As for the original sauce in a true fish taco, it's probably nothing more then some Mexican crema thinned down. It's a simple food with simple ingredients.

No foil. Can you say steam jacket? Pierce the potatoes with forks/knives to vent steam as Hahabogus pointed out. My mom always uses Crisco/shortening for crisping potato skins. I suppose what kind of fat it is wouldn't matter as long as it isn't butter due to its water content. It always takes about an hour for oven-baked potatoes. And bake a couple extra for home fries the next morning.

Velveeta was the go-to "cheese" (yes, it deserves those quotation marks) for my mother whenever she'd make cheese sauce for steamed veggies. Sometimes it was the only way we kids would eat our veggies ("You want some cauliflower with your cheese sauce?" ).