Toliver

Dudes! Try ordering your In-n-Out's fries "well done". It makes a little difference. However, I agree with your assesment of their fries overall. I'd describe them as "they blow".

7Up has been reformulated and is now being touted as 100% Natural. 7Up website. Warning! The site is all Flash so dial up web surfers may want to avoid this web site. The new list of ingredients: They cheated a little since "natural flavors" means more than one flavor ingredient so it's not completely accurate to say it's just 5 ingredients. Has anyone tasted the new 7Up and is it any better than the previous versions?

Where's your new wok?!

Having read the online chats, I think this "House" series was quite different than previous PBS "House" series. The participants didn't seem to fill their 1867 roles properly and seemed all too often as too 21st Century. Also, a lot of the conflict seemed to be character-driven as opposed to nature-driven or it arose due to incomplete training. The "well, our family doesn't eat a lot of vegetables" and the cowboys not liking the vegetables either sounds completely out of character. I imagine back in 1867 on such a ranch you ate what was put before you and you held your tongue if you didn't like it because otherwise, you'd either go hungry or shoot the cook. I don't recall if it was mentioned on the show that they ate a lot of goat (as Nacho mentioned in the online chat) and thought it was interesting they did mention that baby goat was a delicacy back then. Overall I enjoyed watching the series, but it did seem personality-conflict heavy thanks to the editing. I also got tired of watching the participants do something only to have the narrator (Randy Quaid) pipe in to say "In 1867 this would never had happened..." or "They're doing this wrong" which says to me they didn't receive the proper training before the series started. Can I get an "amen" on this?

Daniel, Write down their names and if any of them ever want to "do chinese" again, take them to a freakin' chinese buffet. They don't deserve the true chinese restaurant experience.

Score! Julia Child's "Volume One: Mastering the Art of French Cooking" hardback with dust jacket for 50¢ at a local church yard sale. edited for clarity

I discovered a local grocery store carried the ITS-IT ice cream sandwiches. I confess I just can't get past the use of oatmeal cookies. As for the chocolate coating, I think it's too...insubstantial would be a good word. Eskimo Pies have a much better chocolate coating (but no cookie) and the to-die-for Dove bars have raised the bar (no pun intended) as far as chocolate coatings are concerned...a coating so well done that you end up not giving a flying fig that there's no cookie involved (to be doubly negative). I guess I'm too used to the Nestle's TollHouse Cookie Ice Cream sandwiches (a horrible picture). I also grew up with Chipwiches which are far better than the Nestle's version since the Chipwiches are rolled in chocolate chips along their sides. Oh well, at least now I can say I've tried the ITS-IT.

Early Girl tomatoes might give you fruit by August, especially if they have a head start. This website says they reach maturity within 57-63 days. As long as you're using pots, plant an herb garden. You won't regret it. edited to add: Here is the gardening calendar for Oregon provided by the Oregon State University Extension. You can probably email someone there if you need more information. Here is what they recommended for May plantings in the Portland area:

Dude! I totally agree...if you're going to bother to make a BLAT (with Summer advancing rapidly, why not add some nice tomato) make sure it's a nice thick cut maple bacon in there. And toast that bread...use something that gets nice and crusty when toasted. As you eat this BLAT sandwich the textures alone will put a smile on your face that will last all day. The avocado puts it extravagantly over the top. Word.

According to the CDC a potato can provide up to 70% of the daily requirement for Vitamin C. But the longer the potato is stored, the less Vitamin C it contains. Onions do have Vitamin C but comparatively less. Bell Peppers, of all things, contain quite a bit of Vitamin C. A half cup of red bell pepper can contain up to 236% of the daily requirement for Vitamin C. Green bell peppers provide 112% in comparison. I'm not sure what they were growing in the garden that they had. I did see them cutting lettuce/greens for a meal. As for hunting, that's an interesting sidebar. I wonder if the cowboys, working as paid ranch hands as opposed to independent workers, were allowed to hunt on the rancher's property. Located out in the far boondocks, though, I wonder how much game there is on the ranch property. The ranch owners in the show do have pigs which were probably a food source, as opposed to the goats (milk) and cattle (future income) that they had. The narration also mentioned soap being made from the animal fat which I would assume would be from the pigs. It's unfortunate that the PBS web site doesn't have a tour of the garden or at least a list of what was grown.

I just viewed my taping of the second episode where Nacho, the Cowboys' cook, was fired (which, IMHO, shouldn't have happened since he was fired because his camera confessional was overheard by the ranch owner and the guy didn't like what he heard. So Nacho was fired more for his attitude than for his poor performance). The Cooke family went through his stores and wares and found quite a number of spoiled and disgusting things so it seems likely that Nacho wasn't keeping things clean and the stomach ailment that all the cowboys got must have been food-related. I question how realistic was it that the ranch owner would allow one of his hired hands to stop cowboy'ing and take over cooking chores for the cowboys. Doesn't make much sense since they ended up becoming short handed when another cowboy (Ian) had to leave. Regarding my question about scurvy, kiliki was quite correct since they consumed potatoes and onions which would have provided the needed vitamin C. Some other interesting highlights...their food supplies were allowed to dwindle. It was a little scary to see that the cowboys didn't get enough to eat to make up for the huge amount of calories they were burning. You would have thought they would have consumed a lot more protein back in those days. And the sheer joy over something as simple as apples on the supply wagon was a nice touch, as well.

Natasha, thanks for posting about these. I'm not a big fan of white chocolate but I'll have to keep an eye out for them. Arrrrr, matey! The skull combined with the "M" on some of the candy is inventive.

Imagine two and a half months, working 7 days a week (with one day off for the 4th of July celebration), and your cook keeps feeding you dried beef and beans. I wonder if they'll have their own version of the campfire scene in "Blazing Saddles".

I saw Mario's NASCAR cookbook at Costco. Interesting to see it's a glossy paperback. I guess NASCAR fans don't like hardback cookbooks. But that does make it easier to wipe off any beer that might find its way onto the cover.

Here's the profile of the cowboys' cook, "Nacho" PBS' "Texas Ranch House" is an interesting program, especially from the food angle. Set in 1867, there's certainly not much variety to the cowboys' menus. The ranch owner's wife does the cooking/oversees the cooking for the family but the cowboys have their own bunkhouse cook, Nacho. In the second hour of last night's program, most of the cowboys were bed-ridden with stomach problems which may or may not have come from the food they consumed. Can someone confirm this? I saw in the previews that the unsanitary conditions that Nacho cooked under might become an issue. So how did bunkhouse cooks clean up everything? And what about scurvy? There wasn't much fruit in the wild lands of Texas (a neighbor did bring a watermelon to the 4th of July celebration). Anyone else watching? Any food historians on the board?

Can someone post a review (with pictures, hopefully) of the new, remodeled Jimmy Wong's Golden Dragon in Hillcrest? I spoke with my brother yesterday and he said the name's the same, as is the famous neon sign, but the restaurant has been completely overhauled. He said it had a second name, too...something like Asian Adventure (he wasn't too sure of the new name). He said they knocked down the front of the restaurant and replaced it without an outdoor dining area. In describing the new design he called it modern looking with a lot of glass. They also serve more Asian cuisines other than just chinese food. He ordered the "hogwings" which were a sort of spicy rib/pork cutlet thing (he didn't give me a very good description of the dish) but said it was quite good, if a bit pricey, at $18. He also ordered the crispy duck with garlic sauce and was disappointed to see, when the dish arrived, that the sauce had generic peas and uniformly cut carrots (like out of a bag of frozen veggies...not a good sign). However, when he tasted the duck with the garlic sauce, he was bowled over. He said it was one of the best duck dishes he'd ever had. I am eager to see the changes at Jimmy Wong's. Anyone in the mood for some chinese?

Regarding anchovy essence, if there is a Cost Plus World Market near you, they sometimes carry anchovy paste in squeeze tubes. Cost Plus World Market Store Locator for Oregon.

There's nothing simple about making pie since two things can go wrong...the crust and the filling. As for cake, it's so easy and so portable, too...cupcakes! Nobel should award the inventor of the cupcake. And they taste exactly like a large piece of cake. Oh sure, you could fling your tartlets at me and call them "pies" but I'll still add the quotation marks to them. And what kid would want to be seen fishing a tarlet out of their lunch box? Pulling out a cupcake makes them the envy of the cafeteria. And how many kids will clamor for tartlets? None. Cupcakes, yes. Little portable cups of frosting covered joy. And you can add sprinkles and jimmies to a cupcake. Ask the nearest kid how cool is that... As for portable deep fried fruit pies, well, they're no substitute for real pies, now are they? Sure, they're portable, but there's no way you're going to tell me that a deep fried cherry pie is a good subsitute for a nice baked-in-the-oven cherry pie. They're the Yugos of pies. Okay in their own right, but paling quite a bit when compared to the real McCoy...or the McMercedes known as real pie. Cake has it all over pie. Word.

Does anyone know if the Scotts really paid for this reception or if it was given to them by Bravo in exchange for the reception being used for the TV show? I think it's highly unlikely they would have forked over $3,000 for a reality cooking show stunt.

Many years ago, my mom was in the hospital for about a week. The doctors told her she had to stop smoking while she stayed there. When she was released, she didn't pick it up again and has remained smoke-free for over 30 years. So this could be a very good beginning for you... Not that I'm advocating for everyone to get pregnant so they'll stop smoking.

Channeling here... [jinmyo] Cake? Pie? Gah. Neither. Steak. Rare.[/jinmyo] Marlene, I think Texas Brownies qualify as cake. Very cake-like and topped with chocolate frosting with walnuts in it. {Martha]Cake. It's a good thing.[/Martha]

This could be useful if you're using only one arm in the kitchen: Mixing Bowls (3-pc.) by Stixx Suctionware The base of the device suctions to the counter and it looks like the mixing bowls lock into the base. The description isn't clear how the bowl locks into the base but it may by suction, too.

Some baked cheesecakes don't have a bottom crust.

I adore tuberrose! My brother grows it for my sister-in-law. It fills the house with a scent of the tropics. I'll buy a bouquet of it at Costco when ever they have it in stock. Here's a website about common tomato-growing problems. It mentions black spots in the first entry which may be from a virus and how to treat it (as opposed to "blossom end rot" black spots, which are a different problem discussed further down the page). There's also a link at the end of the paragraph for a university's web site about the problem. It's treatable, so good luck! There's a link at the bottom of the web page for another web page about tomato leaf problems.

Food Network is launching an INDY 500 sweepstakes and show tie-ins: "Food Network Challenge at the Indy 500". First Mario Batali and NASCAR, now this. Such an odd convergence. They gotta be vying for that male 18-34 demo.