Toliver

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...

I tried Archer Farms (a Target brand) Spinach & Artichoke Tortilla Chips and I give them a thumbs up. I haven't been too keen on most of their chip products but these really do seem to have a light artichoke flavor to them. I tried finding them on the web so I could post an image link but came up empty. The tortilla chips are a little thicker than normal (Doritos-style) tortilla chips. They have a light dusting of a green powder. Maybe this is supposed to represent the spinach, I don't know. I can't really taste spinach in the chips but the artichoke flavor comes through. Plus, it's a light enough flavor that the chip won't overpower any dip or salsa accompianments. Find them if you can...

I've seen a few news articles (note I didn't say studies) that suggested that the increase in estrogen and phytoestrogens in our environment (e.g. phytoestrogens are often used in laundry detergent) has led to the decrease in male sperm counts in the Western world. If anything, too much estrogen will make you female, not gay. Ask any male transexual taking hormone therapy. If eating too much soy would have such an extreme effect on Vegans, don't you think someone would have noticed it by now? I say go ahead with the Vegan experiment. You will be a wiser person for it even if you return to your pork-lovin' ways.

Thanks...it good know there are answers to these puzzles!

Ted Danson and Romullan ale There are three different answers that I've come up with - -Actor Ted Danson was the host of the television documentary "Star Trek: 30 Years & Beyond" -Romulan ale is a blue ale produced by the Romulan people, enemies of the Federation in the different "Star Trek" TV franchises. Or -Ted Danson starred in a TV show called "Becker" that also co-starred Terry Farrell who played Jadzia Dax on the sci-fi TV series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". -Romulan ale is a blue ale produced by the Romulan people, enemies of the Federation in the different "Star Trek" TV franchises. Or -Ted Danson was in a relationship with Whoopi Goldberg who played Guinan on the sci-fi TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". -Romulan ale is a blue ale produced by the Romulan people, enemies of the Federation in the different "Star Trek" TV franchises.

George Washington and Würstelstände -George Washington was good friends with Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, who helped America achieve victory during the American revolution. -At the beginning of World War I, a group of American pilots formed a volunteer American air unit to fight for France. They named the group Lafayette Escadrille after LaFayette. From Wikipedia: -Germany objected to the name of the squadron, claiming it insinuated that America was allied with France which violated America's neutrality at the beginning of the war. -A Würstelstände is basically a glorified German hot dog stand, kicked up a notch, so to speak. It can also be as large as a small restaurant offering up to 30 different kind of sausages. Whew!

Theodore Roosevelt and hummus As a teenager, Teddy Roosevelt and his family visited the Middle East from 1872 to 1873. Hummus is a chickpea and tahini dip that has been a Middle Eastern favorite for centuries.

Paul Whiteman and Ramen Noodles -Paul Whiteman and his band first became popular in San Francisco before moving to New York. -San Francisco has a large Chinese community. -Ramen Noodles originated in China though it's now considered a Japanese dish.

Toulouse Lautrec and Peanut Butter - I don't like my solution (it's not clean and easy) but here's what I came up with: -In John Houston's "Moulin Rouge", Toulouse Lautrec was played by José Ferrer. -José Ferrer performed in the 1982 television variety show called "Night of 100 Stars" which, according to www.imdb.com, was an "All-star variety special celebrating the centennial of the Actors' Fund of America". Mary Martin was another performer who appeared in the program. -Mary Martin is well known for her portrayal of "Peter Pan" on Broadway. -Peter Pan is a famous brand of peanut butter. I would love to see the original answer! And since I already suggested the John Dillinger & a glass of milk puzzle, I won't include another puzzle here.

Grilled corn on the cob and popcorn.

Regarding Marilyn Manson and strawberry shortcake... -On Marilyn Manson's EP "Smells like Children", they did a cover of the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams". -The cartoon character Strawberry Shortcake starred in a recently released movie entitled "The Sweet Dreams Movie". As for the solution of John Dillinger and a glass of milk (that I posted last week)... -John Dillinger was shot coming out of a Chicago movie theater. -The movie he had seen was “Manhattan Melodrama”. -“Manhattan Melodrama”, besides starring Clark Gable, also featured William Powell and Myrna Loy. -William Powell and Myrna Loy starred as Nick & Nora Charles in a series of “Thin Man” films. -In the films, Nick & Nora had a dog named Asta. -The dog that played Asta also played the dog in “Bringing Up Baby” starring Cary Grant & Katherine Hepburn. -Cary Grant starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Suspicion”. In a key scene in the film, Cary Grant’s character brings his screen-wife a glass of milk that may or may not be poisoned. It’s an infamous scene since the glass of milk seems to positively glow as he brings it up the staircase to his wife. Click here for a visual reminder of the infamous glass of milk.

Wouldn't it be easier to introduce white noise to the baby? Seems a better solution than being the silent cook for the next 10 years.

Katie, Thanks for posting the links. Does the Habanero Seasoning taste like habaneros, or does the seasoning provide just heat? The reason I ask is that I don't like the flavor of habaneros but enjoy the heat.

Blair's Death Rain Cajun Potato Chips Wow. These chips provide some heat. I'm a chilehead and can tolerate most spicy foods and I have to say these chips pack quite a wallop. Just like the reviewer noted (see link above): The chips are not overly thick as some boutique (as opposed to major name brands) chips can be. Combined with the heat, they're a great spicy snack.

annecros, nice connection, though different from what I came up with. Should I spill the beans? (or milk, in this case) Or is someone else attempting to answer this? Hint: the connections are film-related

Previous discussions on meat grinders: "Meat Grinders, Do you own one" "Electric Meat Grinder, Recommendations and Discussion" "Hand Crank Meat Grinder, What to look for?"

It's a little more involved...

How about: John Dillinger and a glass of milk

Isn't that the name of the new Jeffrey Chodorow restaurant?

This is the punchline to a joke I once read: "Good thing because I couldn't have eaten 8!" ← I've seen it attributed to Yogi Berra though that could be an urban myth.

My guess is they had a focus group member that gave them feedback, something along the lines of "Rachel Ray should hit the bricks" and the network tin (they're not good enough to be called "brass" ) misunderstood this to mean their chefs should have traveling cooking shows.

I used to work with a woman from Bolivia. She commented to me once that she didn't understand how Americans could consider a sandwich a meal. She said "In my country, a sandwich is just a snack...something you eat between meals." It was an interesting perspective to compare against my own, having grown up eating grilled cheese sandwiches and Campbell's soup for lunch. I'd also like to suggest that the answer to the question of "What is American Cuisine?" is also dependent upon time & culture (as others have pointed out). Ask the same question 50 (or 100) years ago and the answer would have been quite different to those that have been bandied about in this current discussion. And it will be different 50 years from now. A lot of our cuisine is immigrant cuisine. I think one of the reason hamburgers, hot dogs and sandwiches come to mind so quickly is that they are easily transported and can be easily eaten with one hand and eaten in the car and/or on the run. We are a drive-thru nation thanks to our automobiles and the general lack of well thought out public transportation (major cities being the exception). McDonald's owes the automobile industry some thanks for part of its success.

Odds are someone in the medical office saved the tin. You could always try to find out who kept it and contact them to ask what brand name is printed on it.