Toliver

I've had the Sonic hot dogs a couple times and have come away disappointed each time. Perhaps it's only my local Sonic that does this but it always seems to me that the buns are tough and chewy like they just microwaved the whole kit and kaboodle. There's nothing worse than a microwaved kit let alone a microwaved kaboodle. That being said, I much prefer Daniel's travel blogs. How the guy can put away that much food and then want to go and do it all over again has consistently impressed the hell outta me.

My mom's copy, a wedding present circa the mid-50's, was falling to pieces. She learned to cook with it and, eventually, it got so worn it was held together with lots of rubber bands and a few little prayers. I ended up buying the same edition from an online auction and gave it to her as a Christmas present about two years ago. I also bought myself the same edition in another online auction. They change the recipes with each new edition and I wanted the recipes that were part of my childhood. It has a lot of helpful info for the new cook, from cuts of meat to the cooking times of vegetables to measurements and subsitutions.

Regarding the washing of hands, the host of the "Family Circle" on FoodTV has her pet dog in the kitchen with her. One episode, she entered the kitchen, pet her dog and then proceded to cook, cut up veggies, etc, all without washing her hands on camera. Totally skeeved me out... At least she could have pretended to wash her hands like Rachel does.

Something new to my area: Ben & Jerry's "The Cone" - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor. They also had Cherry Garcia cones. Unfortunately, I can't recommend them. They're supposed to come with "fudge chips" on top of the cones. Out of the three in the box, only one had fudge chips resembling the picture on the box cover. The second cone had absolutely no fudge chips on top and the third had just a sparse sprinkling. Which is too bad because the fudge chips were quite good having almost a dark chocolate flavor. The vanilla ice cream was good, the waffle cone was good even though I found it to be more chewy than crsipy. But the "swirl" of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough was pretty bad. Instead of clumps of cookie dough like you get in most Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, it was just a soft dry texture with no chew to it at all. It did have the usual chocolate chip cookie dough flavor but the mouth feel was quite lacking.

I am curious as to how you know your wok is hot enough to start cooking. I use the water drop test...if the water drop beads up and dances around the wok, I take it as a sign the wok is ready. Or if I am frying something and don't have my thermometer handy, I use the wooden spoon/chop stick test and watch for bubbles.

From another report on the sale: So they bought the bottle, the label and the beer. As for Latrobe:

"Anheuser-Busch to buy Rolling Rock brands for $82 million from InBev" I'm surprised they were bought for so little...you'd think they would have held out for more money. So is this sale a good thing? Or the loss of something special?

Pardon me for pulling out and standing on the eGullet soapbox but in the past week there have been three local cases of pets eating and being poisoned by snail bait. One dog died from it. I found this on the web - From the Sonoma Animal Care Center website. Also, while you may use pet-friendly garden products, be aware that your neighbors may not. Conversely, if you don't own a pet but your neighbors do, you may want to use pet-friendly snail bait. If this is a concern for you, read the snail bait containers to see if they are pet-friendly. Or consult your local garden nursery for safe alternatives.

Exactly. ← We'll have to agree to disagree. Cook a dish in a new stainless steel wok. Then cook the same dish in a well-seasoned wok. I say there will be a notable difference in taste between the two. I believe that difference is wok hey.

Will stainless steel develop wok hei? I would think a stainless steel pan would need to be cleaned thoroughly with each use so you wouldn't be able to build up any flavor. If you don't care about that, then I think a stainless steel wok would be great even with the flat bottom.

Was the skin split and pulled back when you noticed the drop in internal butt temp? Or was this after the fact? I wonder if it was splitting and you didn't notice it and this led to the temp drop. Curious. I wonder if Col Klink is still around and can comment on this phenomenon... And how was the final butt? (psst...it's sunny here and is expected to be 99° by Wednesday)

There was a food blog by an eGullet member, jwagnerdsm, who was trying to "eat Iowa" for a year: "Food Blog: jwagnerdsm, Eating Iowa" As Janet (JAZ) pointed out, it's not as easy as you think. FYI...unfortunately, the link in his signature, which had more information about Iowa and food items grown in Iowa, is dead.

How about individual servings French Onion soup? Or mini soufflés.

Thank you for the offer. I asked her but she said she is going to just stick to tomatoes this year. A little boring but what can you do? She is set in her ways. She mentioned earlier this year about planting herbs but I guess she's forgotten about that. So no fresh basil with the tomatoes. Ooh, unless I sneak some into a pot when she's not looking. Hmm, now there's a thought...

A previous discussion: "Childhood clues that you'd become a foodie..., What did you do?"

Welcome, Michelle! Your point about the producers keeping the grating Tiffani to help "stir up" things (no pun intended) makes complete sense. This also came up in the eGullet discussion about the PBS series "Texas Ranch House". The producers edited the episodes with an obvious slant towards showing conflict between the ranch members. It's as if they think the drama that arises out of the Man vs. Nature conflict wouldn't be enough to keep viewers interested. "Iron Chef (Japan)" keeps the viewers' interest and there's no crying or name calling involved. But I guess if "Top Chef" left out all that crap, then they'd lose the non-foodies in the audience.

Thanks for posting this. Some of them sound like they might be close to what the deli served.

How is the rice wine sold? Do you buy an entire jug? Or do you provide an empty bottle and just buy that amount or do they provide the bottle? Thanks for posting thses great photos. edited to ask: Regarding the fish (swimming!) in the hot chile broth, is the heat of the chilis imparted to the fish and is it mild or intense?

Grape Nehi soda in a bottle with sausage pizza. Word.

Anyone have a recipe for hot chicken salad? There was a local grocery store (long since out of business) that had a deli in it and they served this tasty hot "chicken salad". For the life of me I can't even remember the ingredients other than chicken, water chestnuts and some cheese but not a lot of it. I'm pretty sure it had some sort of white sauce, too. Anyone? Beuller?

The bee's have made a resurgence around here, too. Apparently the Chinese Mites that decimated the bees of the California wild these last few years have either been overcome or have gone elsewhere. There were four recent reports of bees taking up residence in residences around here. Not a good thing for humans but a good sign regarding the comeback of the bees. As for the sunshine, it sounds like you have the typical May Gray for San Diego. Are you near the coast? My mom lives in Santee (inland San Diego) and usually gets sun by about 10 or 11am. My brother lives on Mission Bay and sometimes doesn't see the sun for a month in May or June (June Gloom). At least if it's May Gray, then you should have more summertime sunshine after it's over. Better to get it out of the way earlier than later.

Exactly. Ice cream trucks/vans are not the problem. Poor eating habits are the problem. Removing one "junk food" source from the kid's area won't do much if they will just turn to the nearest convenience store or worse, their own pantry cupboards at home to satisfy their junk food habit.

New to eGullet? "Pork Cake, your two favorite words in one dish"

Hash Browns: Usually shredded raw potatoes (see Latkes or potato pancakes) Home Fries: Leftover potatoes, pre-baked or pre-boiled, then diced and fried. Called "home fries" by restaurants because they look like something you'd make at home. Usually the dice is very imperfect, too, lending it a "made at home" appearance. I've had hash browns made from shredded pre-cooked potatoes and they just aren't that great. Plus you have to add a lot more fat during cooking since you basically have a pan full of dry shredded sponges. You really shouldn't be able to flip home fries using the old pan flip technique. Part of the charm of home fries is the crust that develops as the home fries cook and get stuck to the pan. Use a spatula to turn the potatoes and scrape up all the crispy crusty bits. Home fries cooked in a cast iron skillet...ain't nothin' like it.

Er, what are/is HFCS? ← High Fructose Corn Syrup which can be found in almost every prepared food on a grocery shelf.