Toliver

I have the OXO garlic press and while I like how it utterly demolishes the garlic, they need to refine their design (OXO, are you listening?). They should put a gasket around the press/weighted part so the smooshed garlic doesn't come out the back (wrong) end and ideally gets forced out the front end by the gasket.

My question would be is there higher ground in the neighborhood where her restaurant could be moved? I'd hate to think of all this work being done while the building remains the danger zone should, God forbid, another storm bring about another flood. Thanks for posting the link to the pics.

Here is a gratin from Epicurious.com: "BROCCOLI GRATIN WITH MUSTARD-CHEESE STRUDEL"

One of the FoodTV shows Aaron regularly appeared on was "Melting Pot" which featured a series of chefs each with their own specialties (usually non-western). So every Tuesday (let's say) you could tune in to watch Aaron (and usually another chef) cook their Latin cuisine. I really enjoyed that show. Of course, this was back when FoodTV actually had cooking shows on....

If it's a large enough tub you could always ask your local food bank if they would like it. Or give it to someone who has no idea what real rice tastes like.

I attend a yearly convention in Las Vegas and learned to bring two sets of clothes...one set for the convention and one set for when we're in the casinos which will end up smelling like I've rolled around in an ash tray. As for the Cold Turkey Bloggers, I wish all of you success.

"Moonstruck" It didn't have a lot of food in it but key scenes revolved around food. ROSE: "Old Man, if you give another piece of my food to those dogs, I'm gonna kick you till you're dead!"

Isn't it the fats that cause cookies to spread out? Is there an SSB who can help out here? If so, I'd try using less of the fat.

I am bumping this back up because I made meatloaf yesterday (sorry, no pictures) but had a slight problem with it (more about that down below). As for density, I think it's your balance of ingredients that determines denseness. I posted about this on another discussion but I once was in the mood for meatloaf and thought I would eschew putting any "filler" such as bread crumbs in the mixture. I made sure I bought the best ground beef (with very little fat) and the finest ingredients but no filler. The meatloaf turned out like a lead brick. The bread crumbs, which I always thought was just a "filler" or budget-stretcher (to make the meatloaf serve more people), actually help soften the texture of the meatloaf. Also, the expensive ground beef I had bought had very little fat in it and that made the meatloaf dry and crumbly. Like with hamburgers, sometimes the beef needs the fat found in cheaper ground beef to help give the burger better texture and binding. My mom never used bread crumbs in her meatloaf recipe. Instead, she would take about four slices of stale bread and soak them in milk. After they softened, she would gently sqeeze out the milk and then shred the softened bread into the meatloaf mixture. That being said, yesterday my meatloaf turned out pretty good with a bit of an exception. Before baking it I lined the top of the loaf with slices of raw bacon and then added ketchup on top of that as a sort of "glaze" (hey, it's a faimly recipe and it works for us ). As kids, we would fight for the bacon as a delicious "bonus". Anyway, my meatloaf ended up with a sort of crust on the bottom which I've never encountered before and was curious if anyone had an opinion as to the cause of the crust. I had lined a 13x9 non-stick dark pan (sort of like the ECKO brand pans that are dark grey) with foil (I know that's overkill, but it really helped in the cleanup) and shaped the mixture into a loaf shape down the center of the pan (it didn't fill the pan at all). The oven temp was 350°f and it was on a middle rack in the (electric) oven. Does anyone have a guess as to what caused the crust? After reviewing my methods, I think the dark pan may have been the culprit. I don't know how likely it would be be for the oven calibration could be off after 20 years of use, but who knows? An oven thermometer could settle that question. edited for clarity

This was the exact reason why I had no desire to make her recipes. In order to make dish A, you need to make sauce B and Sofrito C first, etc. When I cook I just want to get to the point. But that's just me, I guess. Plus, she seems to add green olives to every dish. I like green olives...but in everything?

I've had the West Bend 5-Quart Slow Cooker for years and their pot can do the same thing. It can be used on the stove or be put in the fridge or freezer. The base is basically a non-stick griddle and can be used as such (though I've never used it as a griddle). Being oblong, it's great for long or odd-shaped pieces of meat.

From the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council's web page for Q & A: It was harder to find pertinent numbers on hamburgers but I found this info: which is from this article "Cheap burgers in paradise - History of the hamburger", where this article puts the number a little higher at 40 billion annually. edited to neaten things up a bit.

You can also pick up some valuable tips in these previous eGullet baking-related discussions: "Baking With Julia, Recipes" "Baking with The Bread Baker's Apprentice book, my first attempt, long way to go..." eGullet member SethG did a lot of bread baking in this discussion: "Home for a couple months, How should I get my cooking fix?" And SethG also posted this: " 'Turning' the dough, Useful for home bakers?" And jackal10 has done four or five foodblogs (you can find them in the General Cooking forum) which have a lot of bread baking in them and did this demo, as well: "Demo: Baguette a l'ancienne, Experimental sourdough baguette" I am sure there are many other eGullet bread baking discussions with helpful tips which, hopefully, others will post. Good luck with your baking and make sure you post your results.

Hey, Judy, if you're serious about this, I'll speak to my sister, who's a freelance copy editor and does a lot of cookbooks. (She used to be a cubicle gourmet, but now works from the comfort of home!) ← Hey, maybe we can get Sara Moulton to contribute to the chapter titled "The Well-Stocked Cubicle Pantry". I'm so lacking in that department. At work I have salt & pepper and a bottle of Chipotle Tabasco sauce which goes great on most grilled chicken fast food sandwiches. To get back on topic, I am fortunate that most of my family members are "foodies" (I hate that word), as well. My mom is usually the most reluctant participant followed by my niece who is an adult now but eats like a child (no veggies for her ). We used to go out to eat for our birthday dinners but now we prefer to stay in and cook our own dinners. For my niece's last birthday dinner, my brother concocted a twist on Chicken Cordon Bleu by adding sautéed chile peppers in the middle of the roll-up with some pepper flakes added to the outisde breading/coating. Talk about kicking it up a notch! I just get funny looks from my friends when I try to describe our great dinners. Oh well, it's their loss.

Alton Brown sells something similar on his new and improved web site. I have the Pampered Chef version and it works great. Darcie, I couldn't really see your stove in your kitchen picture. Is it gas or electric or something else?

I Googled "doppio Concentrato" and found that the concentration can vary depending upon the maker and the product. This web site states that theirs is a double concentrate. If what you have is a similar product, then halving the amount would be correct. edited to add: I'm thinking that it should say something on the label about the concentration. You could always type the label info into a Babelfish translator on the internet to see what it says.

I say go for it. The one big drawback with second refrigerators is (this doesn't apply in your case) that they're usually older models that used to be in the kitchen but were relegated to the garage when new refrigerators were purchased. The older models tend to consume electricity at a much higher rate than the new "energy-saver" models. My mom had a freezer for many years that she kept in her garage. When it died she had to buy a new one and the difference in her monthly utility bill was quite noticeable.

"To Grandmother's House We Go..." I had read of a successful series of cooking classes on the local level somewhere back east which featured a new grandmother every week. The object of the class was to have these women reintroduce those comfort foods made from scratch that people in the "Nuke It" generation just didn't bother to take the time to make anymore. Dishes made with real butter, cream, eggs, etc. Think of it as a class where the torch was passed from one generation to the next. The students would learn how to make, say, Matzo Ball soup from scratch and would listen to stories from the grandmother's life. There was a moderator who would keep the class on track but would also ask the grandmother questions about the dish, what it was like to shop for produce back then, why you had to make your own bread, and so on. Just like what you did with Aunt Fanny and a lot of your other guests (Mama Dip comes to mind). I think it would make a great show and would also serve to help keep recipes from our past alive. Come back in a couple years when eGullet has more money and perhaps they'll help produce the show. I am a huge fan of your work and look forward to your new PBS show.

Welcome to eGullet, Kouign Aman! Make sure you also check out the "California" forum for any San Diego discussions like mizducky's "San Diego Cheep Eatz mini-reviews...".

My mom volunteers at the Mission Trails Regional Park center. She doesn't like to go for walks around the Trails due to the sporadic presence of rattlers. She threatens to climb Cowles Mountain every once in a while but she prefers a walk around the Lake Murray pedestrian path (as kalypso suggested) due to its gentle hills and flat runs. Lake Murray is actually part of the Mission Trails Park, though it's quite a distance from the rest of it. In your new area: There's a small mexican "fast food" joint (in the vein of Roberto's) on the corner north of the Souplantation strip mall (if I recall correctly) on Mission Gorge that serves a good carne asada burrito. I can't remember if they have any of the more daring (cabeza, etc) cuisine that you prefer. And the San Diego Brewing Company, at the other end of the strip mall that Troy's is in, has oodles of micro-brewery beers on tap. The food is typical deep fried-this and burger-that. Thanks for all your hard work...this is a great blog!

I just tried Kellogg's new Cran-Vanilla Crunch. (Beware...the site seems to be Flash-heavy so load time may be long for those using dial-up internet connection). This cereal tastes almost exactly like Captain Crunch Crunch Berries! It has 2 grams of fiber per serving which is 2 grams more than Crunch Berries (I believe). Where the raisins in Raisin Bran Crunch are like eating little pebbles, the "cranberry" bits in Cran-Vanilla Crunch are almost Gummi-bear-like in comparison (sticking to my teeth). Ignore the cranberries you see in the animation on the Kellogg's web site. What's in the cereal looks almost nothing like what you see on the web site. They're more like cranberry "shreds", which makes me think they made some giant cranberry fruit roll-up and then simply shredded bits of it into the cereal. Still, I liked the flavor.

Thanks for the visit to Hodad's! It brought a tear to my eye and hunger pangs to my stomach. The onion rings at Hodad's are awesome, as well. You've captured the essence of OB in your visit. Frank Zappa would have been at home there. It's also no surprise that OB is home to the only dog-friendly beach (called Dog Beach, of course) on the San Diego coastline where dogs are allowed to roam leash-free. Just watch where you step in the sand. edited to clarify.

I've posted about this before...but back when I was in college there was a woman from a wealthy Iranian family in one of my classes. After class, we were eating lunch and she saw someone eating a banana and commented that she had never eaten a banana with her hands before she came to America. She said in her home in Iran bananas were always served on a plate and were eaten using a knife and fork. Her parents said it was beneath their status/class to eat any kind of food with their hands.

Perhaps he's referring to those Ramen noodles in a styrofoam cup where you just add hot water and a flavor packet and you've got instant asian noodle soup.

Okay, jgm, I know that I am buying this one and am so grateful to you for "snapping" it up to find the link! Alligator indeed! It looks, at first glance, to be a variation on an egg slicer ... ← The Alligator reminds me of the classic Veg-o-matic. Guess everything old is new again... You can see a step-by-step dicing instruction using a chef's knife (with photos) in the eGCI class on "Basic Knife Skills".