Toliver

Yes! I swear by them, too! Produce lasts quite a bit longer with the green disc in the crisper drawer. Thanks for reminding me about them, fifi!

Having done a Google search, apparently, there are a lot of people who use carrot greens when mixing food for their horses. Who knew? One website says they can be added to salads or stir-frys or they can be dried and used like an herb (e.g. Parsley). Another website says you can add them to soup stock. Some other sites advised separating the greens from the carrots when storing them so the greens don't leech any moisture out of the carrots. I did find two recipes using carrot greens: Ris de Veau à L'Huile de Truffe (Crispy Veal Sweetbreads With Truffle Oil from Le Rêve, San Antonio) - the greens are used as part of a bouquet garni Zweibrücker Linsensuppe (Two Bridges Lentil Soup) Other than that, you're right, there's not much out there. You are a trendsetter!

This doesn't make sense, unless you've made it clear from the get-go that everyone is supposed to share food. It's nice that you like to share but I happen to like spicy food, as well. If I am dining out with a group, they can order whatever they want and share whatever they want, but I'm still ordering the spicy food because I like it that way. If you can't eat it and are disappointed that you can't share it, don't take it out on me. I will happily share my spicy food with anyone at the table who likes spicy food, but do you really want me to order the oatmeal just because you can't eat my spicy machaca? Think again.

At least Rick bites it in this one.

Thanks for all the info. There is an Anchor-Hocking outlet near where my family lives so I may wait to see what's available there before I buy anything online. It also looks like getting multiples of the different sizes would be best, too. Another question I have is regarding an Angel Food cake pan. This is similar to a pan that my mom has always had. It also comes as a 7" pan. So now I'd like to know what is the "normal" size called for when making Angel Food cakes? 10" or 7"? Also, there are many non-stick Angel Food pans available but I would think that would be the last thing you'd want with Angel Food so as it bakes it uses the sides to gain height. Am I right in thinking that non-stick is not advisable when baking an Angel Food cake? Or does it just not matter? Thanks for all your opinions!

I had some sweet potatoes once where the person who cooked them used cinnamon red hot candies instead of marshmallows. I usually find most recipes for sweet potatoes far too sweet to eat (I'm more of a savory person) but these tasted wonderful. Who knew? And she wouldn't share the recipe...the beeyatch!

I have a friend who can't make a decision to save her life. She doesn't know what to order even if she's been at the restaurant numerous times (so she's familiar with what they have). We always let her go last when the waitstaff takes the order for the table and then when it's finally her turn, it's like pulling teeth: (she asks to herself outloud) "Should I have the garlic toast or the muffin?"...(again, asking herself outloud) "Am I in the mood for the chicken this time or should I try the salmon?" Meanwhile, the waiter/waitress, who has 10 other tables to deal with, has to patiently wait for the hemming and hawing from this woman to conclude before they can put the order in. It happens every time. Yeesh.

I don't mind the calculators. I'd rather find out exactly what I have to pay rather than to pay for my share plus some more because someone was an idiot (or cheap) and didn't leave enough for their share of the tax and/or tip. I don't see it as being cheap, necessarily. I like to put a positive spin on it and think it's only someone being anal retentitve.

I'm assuming you mean Pyrex glass pie pans?

Thanks to my ongoing culinary education via eGullet, I am in the market to buy round cake layer pans and pie tins. I tried looking in my local stores (Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc) but all they had were non-stick pans and dark-colored ones at that, which I'd rather not get. I've found an online source for the pans but now I need to know what size to buy. What is the "normal" size of pie pan? Is it 8" or 9"? I have the same question for the round cake pans. Should they be 8" or 9"? And often a recipe (especially older recipes) won't specify a size of pan for a pie or for the cake layers. What's the best guess in a case like that? Also, are aluminum pans better to use than stainless steel pans? I nearly has a stroke when I stumbled on a web site selling All Clad pie pans for $80!

Wow, instructions taped to the to-go container would be very helpful and sounds like something above and beyond the call of duty. On the other hand, it would be a classy touch that would be memorable and might contribute to good will. Good will, in turn, could translate into return visits. That's one of the problems with "to go" desserts...you never know if they're going to be eaten right away in the car or in an hour when the customer gets home which is when reheating instructions would come in handy. And if your restaurant can afford seperate take-out containers for your sauces, whipped creams, etc., then go for it. It makes sense.

Oooh, Krispy Kreme! Did you heat it up first? They taste so much better when they're hot.

It looks like your agressive selling strategy worked like a charm. The bribes of truffles and berry sauce for the staff were ingenious and obviously worked, too. Also, remember that many of the diners probably had coffee or possible even brandy with their desserts which means more dollars in the till, too, thanks to your desserts. And don't worry about the idiot woman who whined about her "pathetic" dessert at the end of the night. You turned it into a "plus" which will go far in terms of good will, good karma and, possibly, good word of mouth to her friends. This is just a thought, but would it possible, in regards to the bread pudding to go, to put the creme fraiche in its own container? Then it won't "melt" on the hot bread pudding and look "pathetic" for future idiots. Again, congratulations!

Brian: I would love it! Two reviews came out today: Louisville Courier-Journal, 3.5 stars, and Robin Garr's Louisville Hot Bytes, 4 stars, 90 out of a possible 100. Since both these reviews were published today, we were slammed, with 201 covers. I sold 89 desserts, or 45% dessert penetration. What's the norm in fine dining? Naturally, i'll shoot for higher, but i was curious what a normal average is. Marsha, I don't know the actual stats but I've thought the actual percentage was much lower. If I had to guess I'd say 25 to 33%. I am sure someone on the board will post the correct ratio/statistics. I think a number like 45% is fantastic! That means that almost 1 out of 2 people in the restaurant are ordering your desserts. That rocks! And that means successful desserts, thanks to your hard work. P.S. Both reviews liked your desserts. Again, that rocks! edited to add P.S. and punctuation

Oh, please. Plain yellow mustard, such as French's, is a key ingredient in both the potato salad and the deviled eggs I grew up eating. To use anything but plain yellow mustard would change the character and charm of the recipe. Both recipes are delicious as they are without the benefit of "better" mustards.

does anyone know what the "essence" is? It's in a lot of his recipes on the FoodNetwork site: Click here and scroll down for the recipe for Essence

Exactly. I have a family friend who always says, "When you go out to eat, why get a burger? You can get a burger at home that'll probably taste better. Try something else." So when I can't decide, I cross burgers off the list first and go for the "can't make easily at home" item.

No fudge. Pork loin roast with a sauce of porcini, shallots, rosemary and evapo milk. Well, when carolers would come calling at Christmastime, my mom would give them all cookies, fudge & hot chocolate. I suppose giving out pork loin would be the Atkins-thing to do.

Last year, my mom finally had to replace the gasket on her Presto pressure cooker. It was a wedding present for her from back in 1955. I wonder how the new cookers (especially the ones with different settings) compare to the oldies-gut-goodies where there is just one setting (cook)?

You can also do an ingredient search on Allrecipes.com. Click on "search by ingredient" and then type in "evaporated milk". I got about 200 hits (a lot of desserts) in the search results.

Wow, that sounds great. Thanks for posting it. I discovered that the Swiss Steak recipe from my mom that I was going to post wasn't a recipe at all but a "throw this together with that" kind of recipe. This is a similar recipe (with actual measurements) that I found doing a web search. The only difference is that my mom never added celery to her recipe. Then when it was done, she would thicken the sauce into a gravy with a slurry. It was great on mashed potatoes. I did discover that while there are 5 or so groups on Yahoo for pressure cookers, only one of them seemed to have a consistent number of posts: Click Here for the group (you have to be a member to receive the posts).

The local Albertson's here have recycling bins inside their stores for plastic grocery bags. You just drop your massive collection of bags into the bin and then it's their problem, not yours.

For lunch, a French Burger from Carla's Drive-in, a local drive-thru burger joint. No indoor seating, just picnic tables outside. The French Burger is two small grilled hamburger patties side by side on a french roll (hence the name) topped with the usual lettuce, onion and tomato along with cheddar cheese and bacon. The "sauce" for a French Burger is usually 1000 Island salad dressing but I think Carla's just uses mayo on theirs. It came with a large side of fries which were not the pitiful, flat-sided, thin fries that all the fast food joints foist upon the public but, instead, were crinkle cut fries, comparatively thick, hot and lightly dressed with seasoned salt. And the drink with this combination was a large vanilla Pepsi. Note this was not the Vanilla Pepsi by Pepsi, but a soda fountain Pepsi with vanilla syrup added in (20 cents extra, which I gladly paid). Sometimes a Mom & Pop place hits the spot in a way the fast food joints never will.

I just received a free sample of it in the mail. I haven't had the chance to read the instructions yet. Should I assume that after "erasing" that you still need to wipe down/rinse the area that got "erased"? Um, I dunno. I didn't. They're kind of weird. They keep compressing until there's nothing left and you throw it away and get a new one. They seemed to absorb whatever I "erased" with them so I didn't bother with rinsing. Wow...guess I will have to put it to work and see this for myself. Thanks for the info. I just bought one, too! It rocks. It was getting to be a pain to do the knife-smashing-olive trick which leaves you with olive pieces and not whole olives.

I just received a free sample of it in the mail. I haven't had the chance to read the instructions yet. Should I assume that after "erasing" that you still need to wipe down/rinse the area that got "erased"?