Toliver

In Chinese cooking, that's Got Let (sp?) chicken, but it's usually also breaded.

I am sure others will weigh in with suggestions... You may find better options nearer the Convention Center than you will near your hotel. The Gaslamp District, across the street and closer to the west end of the Convention Center, has oodles of restaurants and bars, ranging from fine dining to casual. That being said, Google Maps has some options for you. Go to the Maps section on Google.com and enter "restaurant near 7th & Ash, San Diego, CA" and click on "Search Maps". On the left side of the screen there will be a list of dining options near that location with tabs on the map showing the actual locations. Don't see anything good on the first page? Click on the "Next" button at the bottom of the list for page after page of options in that area. Sure, some won't be that close or some may not be the best choice (e.g., Jack-in-the-Box) but at least you will know what's in your area. You can also narrow your search by replacing "restaurant" with the specific cuisine you're interested in and see if you get any hits.

We ran into this issue when deep frying our Thanksgiving turkey. I believe the magic temperature is 375°F. Anything lower and the oil soaks right in.

Limited Edition Xxtra Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos On first bite I thought they were nothing to write on eGullet about. But what happens is that whatever provides the heat on the Xxtra Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos builds up overtime. By the time you reach the end of the bag, there's a good amount of spicy heat in your mouth. I wouldn't say they're twice as hot as the regular Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos but they definitely have more of a kick than the regular Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos. If you like the heat, these are the spicy salty snack for you.

I saw a recent episode of "America's Test Kitchen" where they cooked a "beer butt" chicken. They spiced things up a little by adding 2 crushed bay leaves to the beer and they also put a dry rub on the chicken, working it under the skin, as well. There's a lot of potential with this method...between the spices you can put in the liquid (it doesn't always have to be beer, either) and the spices in the dry rub. Let us know if you experiment further. Thanks for posting your pics!

To borrow the old ad slogan, "Let your fingers do the walking". "A guide to nursery hopping in Orange County" This is an Orange County Register article listing different nurseries in your area, with phone numbers. Save some gas and give them a call. Good luck on your search!

When I visit my family in another city, my best friend and I usually meet up for breakfast. Where we meet for breakfast has become the issue. My friend is always looking for something new. He doesn't seem to be content to go back to a place he's dined at before. I, on the other hand, believe that we vote with our wallets, that by (repeatedly) patronizing a local (not a chain) restaurant I'm saying "I like what you're doing. I'm going to give you my money so you can, hopefully, continue to stay open and prosper". We've seem to have settled into an unspoken truce over this issue by alternating where we eat...I choose one time and he chooses the next time. I asked him why he always wanted to try something new and he replied "Don't you want to find some new places to eat? How do you know you're not missing out on the next great place?" To which I replied, "I've found great places to eat and would like to return there to give them my business." If I had more money or time, this wouldn't be an issue. But since it is, I prefer the known over the unknown. We won't even get into the fact that most of the places he wants to try don't even offer chicken fried steak and eggs which is fodder for different discussion. How about you? Do you keep trying to find the next great place? Or do you prefer to stick with what you know will be a good dining experience?

With the new movie "The Simpsons" coming out shortly, some 7-Eleven stores have been converted to "Kwik-E-Marts". I stopped in to a local 7-Eleven for a Slurpee (the machine was now re-dubbed "Squishees") and saw they had a Blue Whoo-hoo Vanilla flavor Slurpee/Squishee on tap in honor of the movie. You can read more about the movie tie-in with 7-Eleven here: "Gulp! Simpsons 7-11's new overlords" As mentioned in the article, only select stores have seen a total make-over for the movie. Others will just offer movie tie-ins like the new Slurpee flavor.

That's great to hear that another generation likes tomatoes, too. Don't let on that they're eating fruit or that may spoil the deal. May your tuberrose grow fast and bloom long! I was surprised they bloom so late in the year. My brother practically hovers like a doting mother hen over his plants. If I'm lucky, my local Costco will have some cut tuberrose in their fresh flowers section.

The fruit from the Whopper tomato plant my mom planted is wonderful. The tomatoes are meaty (hardly any "goop" inside) and full of flavor. While they aren't "Whoppers" in regards to their size, they are in flavor. Homegrown tomatoes rock. My brother is a mail carrier and saw that one of his customers was growing rather large tomatoes in his garden. My brother asked the customer what his secret was to get such large tomatoes. The man replied "What are tomatoes mostly made up of?" "Water" my brother replied. That was the guy's secret...to water them every day instead of every other day like my brother had been doing. My brother changed his watering pattern and since then, he says his tomatoes are quite a bit larger than they had been. Go figure.

A new recap! And a new movie clue (in bold). Please don't assign numbers to your new movie foods...if a movie is solved before it gets put into a recap, it's not given a number since it's out of play. Also, we're getting some repeat movies. Try not to use "Pretty Woman", "The Godfather", "Cool Hand Luke", "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", "Fargo", "Moonstruck", "Repo Man", "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Fried Green Tomatoes", "American Grafitti" and "Dirty Dancing" as they've all been used twice. CONGRATULATIONS TO: -petite tête de chou for correctly guessing that #189 (Creme de la Creme ala Edgar) is the film "The Aristocats". She also solved the new movie clue "A dandelion!" as the animated feature "Ice Age". ************ racheld has revealed that the movie that has been taunting us for so long, #154 (REVISED CLUE: A floor picnic of roast chicken, rudely interrupted by monetary concerns and time constraints. CLUE: Every meal in the movie was disrupted by SOMETHING, but no other by money. CLUE: The hero speaks to an older woman, and her comeback was quite memorable. CLUE: The lady came to the hero's place of work in order to watch him. No food was visible at the moment, though the aura of ham was present. ), is the film "Somewhere in Time". racheld writes: On June 27, 1912, Richard Collier checked in at the hotel, met Elise McKenna, and became a part of a veritable Mobius strip of timeline. A lovely older woman walked up to the young playwright backstage at rehearsal, tenderly tucked a gold pocketwatch into his hand, and whispered, "Come back to me." Richard traveled Time to be with her, and at their first evening together, he was thrown out of the dining room by her pompous, jealous manager. At their last meal, a happy, just-in-love candlelight picnic of roast chicken, eaten on the floor of the hotel room amidst their disheveled bedclothes, a penny from the future catapulted him back to his own time. And today [June 27th, 2007] would be the 95th anniversary of their meeting. A bit of arcanity useful only in Trivial Pursuit or to sappy-hearted bloops like me. ************ WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION: -petite tête de chou has guessed that #174 (Raw corn, bananas, scenery CLUE: The actor won't eat the banana, but does chew the scenery) could be "WarGames". -sadie_siamesecat has guessed that #173 (Jack Nicholson film: features a lot of barbequeing [as I recall]) is the film "Term of Endearment". #174 is not "1492 - Conquest of Paradise" #184 is not "Lost in Translation" ************ STILL UNSOLVED AND TAUNTING US: 158. "I love their eggrolls" " Eat your eggs" and four perfect T-bone steaks 173. Jack Nicholson film: features a lot of barbequeing (as I recall) 174. Raw corn, bananas, scenery CLUE: The actor won't eat the banana, but does chew the scenery. 177. I hid behind the car. I didn't want to get any ketchup on my dress. CLUE: I've been carrying around this ketchup bottle for weeks!... WEEKS!!! 184. sushi, including 'masago' and 'amachi' CLUE: in a separate scene, Noodles eaten from a paper carton (on a park bench) CLUE: in another scene, Snapper - discussed but not seen. 188. Poem improvised by prospective husband-material at family dinner that begins with a pile of thick strands of pasta sauced with wild fennel: "Snails to eat And woman sweet-- An incredible treat!" Or something to that effect. CLUE: a) Another incentive to make the gaped-toothed dinner guest a member of the family: the prospect of lasagna and sardines. b) Takes place on an island, c) in black and white. 190. It is actually a sequel... Waitress: What'll you have, honey? Girl: I'll have a cheeseburger with everything on it, french fries and oh, a side salad. Waitress: (turns to our hero) How about you? Hero: I'll decide when I come back (heads into the restroom). A fight soon breaks out in this diner. **** NOTE: If you post a movie, please check back to see if the guesses on your movie are correct or not so we can keep the "Still in Play" list accurate. Also, consider posting more clues if your movie remains unsolved. ****

The movie has a soundtrack available, but it also has a "music inspired by the film" album. A album of songs about food...what more could an eGulleteer want? "Ratatouille: What's Cooking?"

My mom's dining table is circular without the leaves. As a circular table, it seats 6. It also has two leaves which, when added, elongates it into an oval that can seat 10. The most frustrating part about the table for my mom is trying to find oval tablecloths that have a decent fit. With most, there's very little to almost no overhang on the edges.

Yes! Thanks for the reminder.

Okay, I just can't think of it and it's driving me crazy...but what is the term for when you use a fork to prick pie crust before baking it so it won't get air pockets in it when baked?

I think the problem with Burger King breakfast menu items is that the egg in their sandwiches aren't fresh fried eggs, at least, they don't look like it. Their sandwiches contain neatly folded "omlette" slices. They could be powdered eggs for all we know. It's a little too streamlined for me, which makes me appreciate the eggs in McDonald's and Jack-in-the-Box's breakfast sandwiches. One BK breakfast sandwich that is relatively new is the Hamlette (the link takes you to the sandwich but you have to sit through some brief animation first). It's a ham slice (too bad it's not a slice of the real McCoy) with their ubiquitous folded omlette on a sesame seed bun with honey butter. The emphasis is mine. I didn't know it had honey butter in it when I bought the breakfast sandwich so I was surprised ("What the eff?" ) at the little taste of sweetness in the sandwich. I wouldn't say it has the sweetness of a McDonald's McGriddle sandwich but it does have a sweet note to it. I think they're trying to find that balance between the salty ham and the sweet butter. Has anyone else tried the BK Hamlette?

I had thin, flat cookies, too. I believe my thin cookies were more the result of misjudging the proper thickness to cut the slices. I was cutting them too thin. I think the thick slices help keep the cookies from being too thin after baking.

Yes! My brother once dated a woman from Mexico who told us the same thing. Forget the milk. Sugar works. I think it works by leeching out the burning oils in your mouth.

I agree. During the summer months, it's so hot that bread spoils quickly. So I have to keep bread in the refrigerator and after that, it's really only good for toast.

I'm with Anne and the others who posted celery as the main victim. I've been trying, the last couple times I've bought celery, to cut it up right when I get home. I put the stalks in a long flat Tupperware and cover it with cold water. I replace the water about every two days. I find I use it all up when I do this.

Not to get too technical here, but isn't that just an egg sandwich? I mean, it doesn't really matter how the egg is prepared, it's still sounds like you're making just an egg sandwich with a condiment. I would assume that in using the term "egg salad" (emphasis on "salad"), there would be more ingredients involved other than just egg and mayo. I make mine more along the lines of a tuna salad, except swapping out the one protein (tuna) for another (egg).

And all is right with the world once again. edited to add: have you thought about "befriending" the Frito-Lay truck driver? Perhaps slip them a bribe to keep your Munchos-wheels greased?

Does it also have more caffeine than the regular Diet Pepsi?

Thanks for the recommendation of Casa de Madera. You bring up intersting points about "authenticity" which is also currently being discussed in Fat Guy's discussion "Turning the Tables on Asian Restaurants".

I know it's not anywhere near the park but you could have zipped up 5 and over 10 to Monterrey Park. Tons of good eats there. I would have recommended Fat Burger's over Tommy's but like the country song says, "Life's a dance...you learn as you go."