Toliver

Sequim, Go with picaman's suggestion about using a broom until you get an official rack (if you ever get one). It'll save using up your counterspace while drying your pasta. I am sure picaman can give you more details on the "how" but I would imagine the broom could be propped across the tops of two chairs. Drape the pasta on the broomstick. You could lay wax paper or clean towels across the broomstick first before draping the pasta for drying.

Here is a link for Googled recipes that Fat Guy posted in another crock pot discussion: Click here. edited to make a was an is

Australia - Ostrich! If you can't find that, then I understand Meat Pie(scroll down for recipes) is typical Aussie fare.

My broom is very insulted. Pasta rack indeed My apologies to your broom. I felt bad about posting that after suddenly remembering my grandmother drying her homemade egg noodles laying flat on sheets of wax paper placed on top of the kitchen table. [MUMBLES] something about Neccesity...Invention. [/MUMBLE]

You need a Pasta Drying Rack.

Ah, Presto. My mom received a Presto pressure cooker when she married my dad back in '55. Last year she decided she needed a new gasket. She called Presto and they had the gasket that she needed, still in stock, after all these years. Now that's customer service. Good luck on your eBayin', balmagowry!

Toliver, would you get better soon so you can think of something other than more work for the eCGI? Just kidding. Marlene, Thanks for the well-wishes. Saw a doc and he took good care of me. I can look at food again! I realize the eGCI is very busy. This kind of info should be a part of it....perhaps way down the road when schedules ease up. A series of classes on different spices and their normal uses and unusual uses would be invaluble to anyone who is serious about expanding their culinary knowledge. Maybe eGullet could persuade Penzey's to sponsor the series...just a thought.

Ah, my search was for popcorn "Maya Maize", hence the different results. Another discontinued product I miss: Sunshine's Lemon Cooler Cookies There's a knock-off recipe in one of the "Top Secret Recipes" books, but buying them was soooo much easier.

The chicken sounds great! Is the "rub" for the brisket just as simple or do you add something else in addition to the paprika? And do you cook it in the oven or on the grill? Can I also suggest that this gets turned into an eGCI course? I am envisioning a continual work in progress where spices and herbs are explored and examined one by one. I had no idea paprika could be used in such a fashion. I've only used it to sprinkle on deviled eggs or on top of potato salad. And who knew there were that many different paprikas? Think about what else I'm missing out on. Tumeric? What the heck is that? Tarragon? It's in my cupboard (but has never been opened ). I think the eGCI would be a perfect format for explaining the usual and unusual ways spices & herbs can be used.

Google is just amazing. Here is a link I found on Google (the very last site listed!) that leads to a document from what looks like a grocery store/supplier that lists Maya Maize as one of its products: Clickety They list a phone number so you can call to see if the product is still available. If it is, order a case of the stuff! Maya Maize Popcorn Spice was made by a company called Nile Spice. I say "was" because according to this web site the company was bought up by Quaker Oats after a fierce bidding war with Campbell's Soup. I tried Trader Joe's Crab Bisque (which is Carb Bisque if you're not watching what you're typing ) and was very disappointed. Not even a splash of dry sherry could save it. Blech! Something about the spices just turned me off. I miss Snyder's of Hanover's Steak and Onion Potato Chips. They used to be listed on their web site but they are gone now. The chips were as salty as heck but, man, they were good! edited to add: balmagowry, re: the Google search...like minds, etc! Anyone ever hear of FroogleGoogle? It's in beta testing now. It searches specifically for products as opposed to sites (but it didn't find Maya Maize )

It's your blog and you can stray if you want to, stray if you want to, stray if you want to... I am looking forward to hearing about some of your meals out. Sam and your reviews have been great so far.

Yep. I usually avoid breakfast or I'd be famished by 10am. I know the effect. I call it "priming the pump". On Saturdays, I usually don't get around to eating breakfast and it doesn't bother me a bit to go without eating. But during the week when I eat breakfast before heading off to work, I find I am watching the clock waiting for lunchtime! Maybe it's a carb thing since I usually eat cereal for breakfast.

Regarding the cheeseburger, what about a grand Gruyere? You know, something with a good bite to it. We already know the confit segues into a nice French Onion Soup, which is decadently topped with a slab of Gruyere (if made properly). I think a Gruyere would make a nice topping for a confited burger. I would also recommend placing the Gruyere on top of the burger so the contact with the (I assume) still-warm burger will induce maximum melt-atude since Gryuere has a higher melting point than cheddar. Pile everything else on top. Or, if the burger isn't that warm, place everything on top of the burger with the Gruyere on the tippy top (sans bun top) and broil it until the cheese melts. It will envelope everything on its way down to marry with the burger acting like "The Glue of the Gods", holding everything in place until that first bite where the juice of the confit & burger runs down your chin.

Well, that's a nice blanket statement but it has nothing to do with reality. I live in the "50 different frozen pizzas = choice" neighborhood as I'm sure many other eGulleteers do. I may not have as many choices as you do but I do have choices. Let's talk orange juice. They now sell "less acid" orange juice which is great for my mom who has acid reflux and doesn't need the extra acid. If I want "pulp free" o.j., they make it now. That is multiple choice. Sure, in the grand scheme of things we're just fooling ourselves. It's all really just one kind of orange juice packaged in different ways. Kind of like cable TV. Am I really missing out because the o.j. squeezed by virgins under the new moon isn't being sold at my local supermarket? Nah. Because ignorance is bliss. Perhaps if you had said "A good choice is...", then I would have had no quibble with your statement.

Okay, I'm reporting back on the Wendy's Spinach Salad with mixed results. How about that...I took another one for the team! The price on the menu was $3.99. Technically speaking, it's not really a spinach salad. There is only a LAYER of spinach leaves on top of a bed of chopped Romaine lettuce. There is quite a bit more Romaine than there is spinach so I am already questioning the name of this salad. I'd hazard a guess that the ratio of Spinach to Romaine is 1:4 or even 1:5. I could see grounds for a "False Advertising" claim right there. The Sweet & Sour Bacon dressing that comes with the salad is more than a little on the sweet side (surprise...high fructose corn syrup is the first ingredient on the ingredient list). But it does have cider vinegar and bacon listed, as well. They use grape tomatoes in the salad instead of slices or chunks, which I think is a plus. There is chopped egg in the salad which is unusual for a fast food salad. I consider this a plus (even though it has preservatives ). As for the bacon, it isn't little bits of crumbled bacon but seems to be something along the lines of Hormel's Real Bacon Bits, meaning it's more like bacon sand. It's bacon and it's in little tiny firm bits. I mention "firm" because if you get too much in one bite it's kind of gritty...and chewy, like eating chewy sand. Did I use enough "paint on that picture"? Oh, and it comes with a small bag of croutons, which are more like an afterthought. They do add a crunchy harmony with the bacon sand. Texturally, it's an interesting salad. The crunchy croutons, the soft egg , the firm chicken, the crisp Romaine, the naturally "chewy" spinach, the pert & plump tomatoes, the sandy bacon ...all make for a nice blend of textures. Does it taste like a spinach salad you'd get in a restaurant? Of course not (thanks to all that Romaine and the fast-food dressing). But it does have a bacony-flavor that will do when you have a hankering. Would I order it again? Yeah, sure I would, grudgingly so because I certainly wish they'd put more spinach in it. As a side note, I think it's interesting that this salad gets a lot of its flavor just from the salad ingredients, as opposed to Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad that gets most of its "oriental" flavor from the dressing. I hope that makes sense. Reporting from the Front Lines... Toliver

I'm a big fan of Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad. It's about $5. The mixed greens are nice (not just iceburg) and the mandarin oranges are refreshing. If I want to watch my calories/fat grams, I'll get the Non-Fat Italian dressing and eliminate the sliced almonds (or save them for a cubicle snack later on). I am eager to try Wendy's new Spinach Chicken Salad.

You are dead-on correct. I checked the ingredient list on my can of Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup and high fructose corn syrup is right there.

From the digest I did of the 2004 March issue of Bon Appetit- And Black & White Russians to drink.

Blovie acidentally (or so he claims) bought 2% a couple a weeks ago instead of the usual skim. It was sooo good and rich. It almost brought tears to my eyes. And I don't even particularly like milk. I usually buy skim milk (today's skim milk is nothing like the "blue water" of yesteryear) but if I can't find one with an expiration date that's far enough away to make it worth buying, I'll buy 1% or even 2% if their expiration dates are better. The last time I bought whole milk, I thought it tasted like I was drinking whipping cream, it was so thick and, well, creamy compared to skim.

fifi & Marlene, Ignoring the bacon itself, when you made the confit with the bacon how did the onions themselves taste? I am curious if you could have cooked the onions with the bacon and then removed the bacon and set it aside to be used for some other use. Did the onions have better flavor thanks to the bacon, or did the bacon take the onions down the wrong path, so to speak?

Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup There is a local deli that makes a Cream of Tomato Basil soup that is to die for. Talk about ultimate comfort soup. Someone I worked with wheedled the recipe out of the woman who runs the deli. She starts with Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup but uses half & half (or was it cream?) instead of regular milk. She then adds some chopped basil, a dash of lemon pepper and lets it simmer until the basil flavor (which isn't too strong) permeates the soup. The mouth-feel of this soup is so sensuous it should only be sold to consenting adults. Wow. Like fifi, the grilled cheese (Velveeta) & Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup combination is a comfort food for me from my youth. Definitely a winter food, too. And Lyle, sometimes I also get a hankering for crumbled saltines in my Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup. I'll probably explode from the salt intake someday but until then, it's some good stuff, Maynard. edited to add: fifi, I've made the same crock pot beef dish and I openly admit that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I know it's kind of Sandra Lee-ish but it does taste good. Everyone sing (to the tune of "I'm Sandra Dee" from "Grease"): Look at me, I'm Sandra Lee, Lousy with my recipes, Why make fresh bread when I can buy it instead, I won't, I'm Sandra Lee!

Can you post your onion soup results in the "Onion Confit" thread (if you haven't done so already)? I think it's important to keep all this kind of info together in one place. Thanks for the great pics! edited for spellling

Marlene, Promise us you will revive this thread to let us know what happened for your anniversary. Inquiring minds want to know....

I stumbled across this BBQ: Grill Dome They remind me of the kamado style of BBQ's. They run about $550 or so. I am not famliar with this product so I can't recommend it. But there it is.

A brilliant idea! They already make a pouring shield as an add-on. Why not put a pour spout on the bowl and make the spout part a little wider to accept ingredients being poured into the bowl as well as out of the bowl? They could kill two pastry birds with one stone, so to speak. That's a million dollar idea, Marlene. Does eGullet get a cut?