Toliver

I think the crock pot method was mentioned in a past Dulce de Leche thread but don't quote me on that. "eGullet search page with past discussions on Dulce de Leche"

And here I thought the bar couldn't be raised any higher. edited for clarity

That was the case here, too, for awhile. But now it's all gone and there's no trace of Ming in the aisles anymore.

This reminded me of how a good friend makes his garlic roasted mashed potatoes. The oven is usually going with some sort of roast or chicken so he'll toss in a ramekin of butter with the garlic cloves and roast them until done. Once the garlic is roasted, the butter and the garlic are both used in the potatoes. Sorry to go off-topic! There's also the simple crostini method. Grill or broil the bread until crisp. Rub the now-crusty bread with a cut garlic clove and then drizzle the bread with olive oil. Add some salt and pepper, if you want. You can also top this with a concasse of tomatoes and some basil for bruschetta.

There's a local italian restaurant that gilds the lily... They bake their garlic bread and then unwrap it, top it with slices of mozzarella cheese and broil it until the cheese is melted and gooey. Decadent. edited for spellling

Thanks for the info and link. I will have to keep an eye out for Newtons and Pippins. So far the only green apples I've encountered have been the Granny Smiths. I'm hoping the local Farmers' Market may bring some apple surprises with the arrival of the autumn/winter months.

When we were kids, my mom used to use green Pippin apples for all of her apple pies. They were extremely tart but the sugar-spice mixture added to the apples for the pie provided a nice balance. As a little masochist, I used to bring them in my school lunch bag and, man, were they ever tart. Alas, Pippins can't be found anymore. The sweeter (but still a little tart) Granny Smiths have replaced Pippins in the grocery stores.

I have a question about the recipe you linked to. It says to slit the cucumbers within one inch of the end but not to cut them in half. How far should the knife go into the cucumber when doing the cutting? Is the cut to allow the pickling juice to better enter the cucumber?

I was in Target this weekend and saw that Jones Soda has three new flavors out for Halloween 2006. They are "Lemon Drop Dead", "Creepy Cranberry" and "Monster Mojito". I'm sorry to say I didn't buy them (couldn't get near the soda aisle...why does light rain make everyone go shopping? ). Has anyone tried them, yet? edited to add that I couldn't even find them listed on the Jones Soda web site! I found a review, of sorts, on this site....scroll down towards the bottom for pictures of the new flavors: Review of the 2006 Halloween flavors

It's not an immediate process, but takes time. I bought a cookbook through an online auction that reeked of cigarette smoke. After doing research online, I combined some of the methods I found. I took a small plastic garbage bag (the thick durable plastic not the thin recyclable kind), poured in a large amount of kitty litter and also a bunch (8 to 10 pages) of crumpled up newspapers. I put the book on top of the newspapers and tied the bag shut. Once a month I'd check the book to smell it and see if it was any better. This book was a large for-the-coffee table-type book and took about 9 months (I dumped the old kitty litter and put in some new after 4 months) for the smell to go away. At least now I don't get a contact high from just touching the cookbook.

Why a dehydrator? Most dehydrators act like a convection oven. They usually have a small fan that will circulate the hot air within the closed system of the dehydrator. You get a more evenly dried jerky. With a regular oven there may be hot & cool spots which may mean some pieces won't be dried as well as other pieces. Clean up isn't much fun with a regular oven (my mom would line the bottom of her oven with foil for easier cleaning). Some dehydrator racks (depends on the make and model) can be put into the dishwasher or can be easily cleaned in the kitchen sink. We never used nitrates either. Just a sort of soy/teriyaki marinade. When I had my dehydrator, I'd put a batch in before I went to bed and when I got up in the morning, I'd have beef jerky waiting for me. And the house smelled great.

He has one...old habits are hard to break : "hzrt8w's wok and burner shopping project"

When I had all four of mine taken out, every meal went into the blender. Yes, it drove me nuts because I wanted something, anything with chewable texture which I couldn't have, of course. Lasagne in a blender. May I never have to experience that again.

Not at the chinese restaurants I've been in. I can't vouch for how authnetic these restaurants are but Orange Chicken has always been a "safe" mild entrée along the lines of the ubiquitous Sweet & Sour dishes.

When I was a kid there was a pudding product that was portable instant pudding. I remember putting it in my school lunchbox. There was a plastic container with a lid that you put milk in, added the pudding powder, capped it and then shook it for a minute or so until it was pudding. A sort of instant-instant pudding, no mixer needed. Anyone else remember this product? I recall the butterscotch pudding was that gold color that was so peculiar to the late 60's and early 70's kitchen appliances. It was like eating Harvest Gold spackle.

I thought it was just me and my inferior taste buds. ← Perhaps it's just the way my favorite chinese restaurant makes it, but I've always thought the sauce for General Tso's Chicken had a definite "kick" to it. It's spicy and not at all comparable to the mild sauces in Sesame and Orange Chicken.

I also use the pastry cutter to mince up egg yolks for deviled eggs. I use the potato masher to mash up peeled bananas when making banana bread.

"Starbucks Raises Prices of Coffee Drinks" No big deal? Or will this impact your coffee buying habits?

I like spreading the tuberose gospel when I can. My brother, who has six pots of tuberose growing, has done the calculating and figures his will burst into full bloom just about the time he and my sister-in-law will be out of town on vacation towards the end of next month. His mother-in-law, who will be minding the garden while they're gone, has thanked him in advance for the flowers that will grace her dining room table and fill her house with that amazing tropical scent while they're away. The deal they made is if anything blooms or ripens while he's away, the MIL gets first crack at it. The great thing about tuberose is that over the years they will send more tubers out (I believe they sort of stay clumped together) and, if it stays healthy, you can end up with quite a nice crop of blooms per plant. Enjoy!

A lot of the issues being brought up here were touched upon in another discussion in the eGullet Coffe & Tea forum: "Starbucks: Good or Evil?, A divided coffee nation speaks." As said in this related discussion, if Starbucks has done one thing it's raised the bar as to what is considered drinkable coffee by the average consumer. It's also had the effect of increasing the coffee competition (or absorbing it, as in the case of Seattle's Best). If an independent coffee house goes out of business these days, it's more likely due to having been poorly run as opposed to having been driven out of business by Starbucks.

The oil in nuts kept at room temperature can go rancid especially during warm weather. Keeping the nuts in the freezer is one of the better storage solutions.

Those bastards at Marie Callendar's have stopped making the Boston Cream Pie. It seems they didn't get enough requests for it. So, no more cakey-pie at Marie's.

Affix it to a pedestal and call it "Immersion Subversion" and sell it on eBay as Food Art. Should fetch a pretty penny. Thanks for posting the link!

If that isn't foodie art, I don't know what is. Just beautiful... How was the gazpacho?

Here is a previous discussion about searching for the best gingercake: "best of gingercakes, me want me want" And here's some interesting ginger-related dessert recipes (including gingerbread): "Ginger goodies, treats for ginger fanatics"