Toliver

I wasn't able to find an existing discussion on this show, which was surprising. If there is one, moderators please merge this post. I noticed at the end of Saturday's episode that if you ordered this season's companion-to-the-PBS-series cookbook, you would receive all 26 epsiodes of this season's shows on DVD for free. Link to the America's Test Kitchen web page Plus, they'll also include a copy of their "2007 Buying Guide for Supermarket Ingredients". The DVD's don't even ship until June 15th, 2007 and I don't know how long this offer will last. But I thought this was a good deal if you're a fan of the show.

Has anyone else been turned off by this season's episodes? They changed the way they light/shoot the episodes so now they seem to have a duller/colder look to them. The food rarely looks appetizing anymore.

People, people. If I'd been drinking milk it woulda come out my nose... (A paraphrased recap) Sookie made muffin tops as a bribe for Lorelai and Lorelai asked what she would do with all the leftover muffin bottoms. Sookie said she could make a Muffin Bottom Pie. To which Lorelai said "That's sounds dirty." And I missed the opening...were they trying to ditch Monte Cristos after leaving Richard and Emily's?

Where's Daniel? This sounds like something he'd stumble across on one of his road trips.

Pam, You mentioned they were similar tasting. Did one version taste better than the other? What were the differences, if any?

Do tongue-in-cheek replies really count? -Andy Roddick dated Mandy Moore who once dated actor Wilmer Valderrama whose family once lived in Venezuela where they eat chicharonnes. But your answer was funnier.

What about a Bay leaf tree? Will they grow in San Diego? Don't know how many times you'd use them but I keep seeing them as an ingredient on practically every cooking show these days (every week on "America's Test Kitchen"!). Just a thought!

I buy the variety pack of Saran Quick Covers. They're washable and come in different sizes.

I saw a bit of a real estate infommercial this weekend that had clips of some sort of a Bath & Kitchen Appliance Convention included. A rep from Sub-Zero was showing off one of their built-ins that included professional pans inside, with the selling point of taking it out of the fridge and putting it right into the oven. Wow...I just Googled it and found they gave this model its own website! Behold! The Sub-Zero Pro 48! Funny how they call the pans "bins" on the website. So there's obviously a market for professional pans in the residential kitchen. Is it a growing trend?

Apparently not a fan of Marcel.

I'm a big fan of Glad's Press 'n' Seal for covering pans, pots and leftovers. The only thing I don't do is wrap food in it directly. I made the mistake of wrapping some cheese in it and it nearly took the use of a blowtorch to unwrap the sucker again.

I don't know if points are really needed. The fun is in the game itself. Here's a new puzzle (to replace the two I answered): Andy Roddick and chicharrones

Get yourself a nice little grant writer and pitch the show to PBS/KCET.

Roy Clark and nan I would love to see the solution to this but this is what I came up with: -Roy Clark appeared in the 1982 television special "the EPCOT Center Opening Celebration" -The United Kingdom is one of the nations represented in Epcot Center's World Showcase. -Britain once ruled India -Nan is a flatbread that is served with meals in areas of India

The manipulation of the numbers goes farther than that! Some packages announce e.g. "zero trans fats per serving" yet trans fats are listed in the ingredients. If the number is under a certain amount per (often tiny) serving, they are allowed to claim zero. ← Which is exactly why servings sizes are as crazy as they are. And also why something like a fast food hamburger seems so extreme calorie and fat-wise in comparison. If fast food companies were allowed to slap similar small (and ridiculous) serving sizes on their product, no one would bat an eyelash at them. Companies make the servings size small on purpose so they can tout "zero trans fat per serving" or "one calorie per serving". Read the labels. Be wise to their shenannigans.

Here's the article on MSN: "Bad buzz: Chinese bloggers bash Starbucks" Starbucks bashing isn't new. But that it's happening in China is new.

eGullet member SethG started a similar topic. Though he did want to try and cook things he'd never cooked before because he had the time to do so, there were some posts pertaining dishes that could be frozen. "Home for a couple months, How should I get my cooking fix?" I am sure there have been other similar topics and, hopefully, someone will provides links to help you out.

Edith Wharton and fried rice -Author Edith Wharton was good friends with Teddy Roosevelt -Teddy Roosevelt spearheaded the building of the Panama Canal -Today, the Panama Canal shipping ports are operated by (from Wikipedia) "the Chinese firm Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based shipping concern whose owner Li Ka Shing is the wealthiest man in Asia". -Many Chinese restaurants serve fried rice. I'll come up with a replacement puzzle shortly.

Some Bisquick uses (thanks Mom!): -Dumplings to go with her pork roast and sauerkraut. As a kid I would slather them with butter; as an adult, I enjoy how they soak up the pork roast & sauerkraut juice. -Used for topping fruit cobblers. It puffs up a little so you get something with substance (lightly sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon) to eat with the fruit cobbler. -Banana Nut Bread -Thumbprint biscuits - Biscuits with a thumbprint depression in the top that you filled with jam and then baked. Great with soups and stews.

eminem and winkles -From Wikipedia: -Royce acquired the nickname "Royce" during high school after wearing a Turkish link chain with an R pendant resembling the Rolls Royce symbol. -Rolls Royce is a British automobile. -Winkles is short for periwinkles, a mollusk eaten in England.

More likely that the cookoff will somehow involve Spam (product tie-in).

Muhammed Ali and courgettes This is wild supposition on my part... -Muhammed Ali fought George Foreman in the hyped "Rumble in the Jungle" which took place in Kinshasa, Zaire. -Zaire is formerly a Belgian colony -There is a large French-speaking community in Belgium -Courgettes is the French word for zucchini There has to be a simpler connection. I thought about the phrase "floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee" that is associated with Muhammed Ali. Both insects could pollinate courgettes but that's stretching it a bit... Interesting tidbit: zucchini are technically not vegetables. They're classified as fruit.

I had the unfortunate experience once of being the customer waiting for that table. I attend a yearly convention in Las Vegas. One year we decided to eat at Emeril's in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. We were a group of 8 with 8pm reservations. We arrived early and let the hostess know we were all present. Time went by and nothing was said to us about the delay by the hostess. At 8:15pm we asked if our table was ready. We were told they would check on it and were eventually told "Oh, they're finishing up." Then by 8:30pm, when we still weren't seated we were finally told that the previous party at the table didn't seem to be leaving. They kept ordering more wine and booze even though the meal was finished. The hostess and manager said they were trying to find a table for us. It ended up that we weren't seated until well after 9pm and then it wasn't at our original reserved table (since the squatters were still there). We were seated in the smoking section which is ironic since most of our group were nonsmokers from California where you can't smoke anywhere inside a restaurant or bar. We had a terrible time eating our meal in all that cigarette smoke and I was ticked off anyways because apparently the squatters at our original table seemed to be of more importance to Emeril's staff than our party. We've not been back since and spread the word about our experience.

I tried to google He Cai Dai Mao and came up empty. It kept giving me Chairman Mao's articles. ← Through Googling I found a blog page where one of the public responses mentioned He Cai Dai Mao as a sort of mu shu dish with an omlette on top, which sounds sort of redundant, doesn't it? Needless to say I bailed on that puzzle, too! edited to add that the Pablo Naruda puzzle was answered. To whoever originally posted it, was it correct?

I heard a radio report this morning that strawberries have also been impacted, as well as fresh flowers, though not to the extent of the avocado & citrus crops. Strawberries are a big Santa Maria crop and flowers are grown in the north county of San Diego, from Carlsbad southward. edited to add that the freezing nights here in the San Joaquin Valley seem to be on the way out. Weather forecasters predict night temps above freezing for the rest of the week. But the damage has been done...