Toliver

I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head. My oldest brother (my family's "black sheep gourmet") seems to have no fear in the kitchen. He sallies forth and throws together the oddest ingredients and comes up with masterpieces. He never seems to have an expectation of anything other than success. It's an amazing talent, indeed.

Cubicle food: Trader Joe's Spicy Onion Cashews, something new. They do have a slight "kick" but then I'm a chilehead so it's a little mild to me. It lists Lemon Grass & Kaffir Lime seasoning & lime powder among the ingredients. Did I mention you can taste the lime? The tastebud jury is still out on these nuts.

It'd have to be on HBO or Showtime because it just wouldn't be the same if she couldn't cuss.

I have even more questions: Is the difference between models that noticeable? I've gone to the Tilia website where they have 8 models listed. If you go with the higher end models, do you get more suck for your buck? Are the bells & whistles of the higher end models worth the extra money or are they superfluous? What feature or "extra" do you find indispensable and would you recommend getting it above anything else? What feature did you NOT get and now you wish you had? How often do you have to order more bags? Is there a size of bag that you find yourself using more than any other size? Is the extra money you shell out for the "not-included" stuff (different sized canisters, etc) worth it? As a single guy, I am thinking this would be a good thing to have, especially after a trip to my local Costco. It's now just a matter of determining which model to buy.

Pepin. Then do a "Julie/Julia"-type food blog here on eGullet. We'll sell t-shirts to commemorate the undertaking.

Another thing that REALLY bugs me about her "30 Minute Meals" program: She goes to get the ingredients (with the fake labels) out of either the refrigerator or the cupboard and she piles it all into her arms and says "Let's see if I can make it back to the counter without dropping anything." HELLO?? It's a TV show fer crikey-sake...have your production assistants put it all on the counter for you, that'll save you gobs of time and maybe make it "27 Minute Meals" for once. Yeesh!

Evidence that this is actually the case? Here's an excerpt of a U.S. Government Report on this subject. The gist of it: chlorinated hydrocarbons, products of detergent and surfactant manufacture, some products released from plastics and exposure to estrogenic chemicals may cause the decrease in male fertility. Also, note that I said in the following sentence, that this causality is still being debated. I also stumbled across a medical study that showed wearing polyester also decreases male fertility, which explains a lot about the '70's.

You could always smoke some pork butts, pull them and call it "Shredded Ram".

A friend who works in video production said a friend of his (you know how that goes...a friend of a friend of a friend...) worked on Martin Yan's PBS show. He said Martin Yan speaks perfect English and puts on the "broken English" act for his TV show and public appearances. If true, he's at the top of my "Nay" list.

Here's one suggestion. The user review on Amazon liked it (could have sworn there were more reviews...must have been on another site that sold it). And they recommend moving it so the varmints don't get used to its location. I think Amazon's price is the best I've seen for it.

As well as increased levels of herbicides, pesticides and estrogen which reduce the overall sperm count in men living in First World countries. Though this is still being debated, the very things that have helped increase the food supply and have bettered our standards of living may also be making us sterile. 1) The larger the family, the more hands you have working in the proverbial fields to put bread on the table. 2) Given the high death rate among children in Third World countries, having larger families increases the odds of some of them living to adulthood...survival of the fittest...those who survive propogate the bloodline, increase the number of the family and (see #1) increase the number of hands in the field. 3) Religion/The Church has a large influence in many Third World countries and usually the number one rule is "go forth and propogate"...more family members mean more "lambs of God" (and, cynically) more pews filled in the church. The Church has far less influence over the population in First World countries than they do in Third World countries so the "Go forth..." holds less sway in more developed countries.

Open a booth at the Farmer's Market.

Just a tomato salad - red tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, purple onion, green pepper, red radishes (all from the farmer's market) & mediterranean olives - everything chopped, sliced & diced using my eGCI knife skills (thanks Marsha! ) with a chiffonade of basil, evoo & basalmic vinager, salt (not so much since the olives were salty) & fresh ground pepper and crushed garlic. Might be my last tomato salad of the summer.

Bourdain ... ? Now that I would watch. Even if it was on pay-per-view. Doesn't that just conjure a picture?

His "Ultimate Beef Stew" is incredibly good....though I would add more veggies. And his "Death Defying Shrimp with Tasso Ham and Crab", while not an "ultimate" recipe, is a real crowd pleaser whenever I've made it. I would never kick him out of my kitchen or off my TV. The "here's how the corn gets from the field to your table" films they used to show in my grade school fascinated me so I don't mind the "Unwrapped" shows. I always enjoy seeing how my Zagnut was made. Unmentioned FAVE since it doesn't involve a celebrity chef and I couldn't care less about the host, Tori Ritchie, but I love the premise: "Ultimate Kitchens" on Food Network Showing me things I will never ever have in my kitchen but I still love watching every minute of it. There was an episode showing a kitchen with a built-in wok surrounded by a water moat (to flush away anything that fell out of the wok while stir frying) just made me want to cry happy tears. Who thinks of these things?

'Tis a sad day indeed Today I saw the first signs of Autumn at the Farmer's Market: Raisins. -sigh- This means the days of tantalizing tomatoes and picture-perfect peaches, which have been so omnipresent, are numbered and they will soon be fading away. Next we'll see the arrival of pecans, walnuts and almonds. Then potatoes, squash, carrots, apples and pomegranates. And Summer will be but a memory.... Bought at the Farmer's Market: green beans baby bok choy lemon cucumbers thai basil organic peaches organic tomatoes organic pluots huge organic shallots organic garlic and two pieces of spiced linzer tort made by the german woman who sells fresh-baked goods.

My niece is a huge fan of macaroni and cheese so I've been trying to find a recipe that she likes. Her favorite, so far, has been Patti LaBelle's Over the Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese. It's a heart attack in a casserole dish. It's made with five different cheeses, including Velveeta, as well as half & half. I recommend doubling the recipe but not the macaroni...just use 1.5 times the required amount of macaroni which will make it saucier. FoodNetwork has some mac & cheese recipes in their archives. I liked their Smoked salmon, mac & cheese, though it wasn't "saucey" enough for me (and my niece didn't like it at all). Chad, have you tried the fry-it-the-next-day method yet? Let us know how that turns out.

My fav's have been discussed already so on to the "Nay" vote: -The "Test Kitchen" guy...far too snobby (what is it with bow tie wearing snobs?) & he nevers cooks. -Jane Butel really, really shouldn't be on TV - looks like she's always pissed at someone. -Rick Bayless - I'm sure he knows his stuff but he sounds like Peter Lorre teaching spanish. -Bobby Flay and Jacqui Malouf...though I understand he's ditched poor Jacqui...who is now forced to watch their past relationship over & over again on the FN. She's found her hell and it's the FoodNetwork. And finally: -I could never stand it when Jeff Smith's "assistant" (we won't go there ) Craig appeared on "The Frugal Gourmet". Pomposity-in-training. I actually threw stuff at the TV screen when he was on.

doe she hate christmas and other holidays too? It was just the year-end holidays for her. In part because the birthday/Christmas thing was coloring her world but it could also have been the generic "Holiday Blues". Something else happened to change things around for her. She got married and she and her husband adopted twins. Using that as an excuse (the bother of transporting the babies, etc), she asked her family if it would be okay to hold the family holiday get-togethers at her house (which also was larger than her parents house). Maybe it was a control issue...I don't know, but she just blossomed once the dinners were at her house and she was in charge. The twins are 7 now and it's become their family tradition that they continue to have the holiday get-togethers at her house. And her year-end holiday blues are gone.

I'm Christmas Eve, dude. It sucks. I have a good friend from high school who was born on Dec. 29th. She hated her birthday being so close to Christmas because everyone just lumped the two occasions together. Her birthday never was the big deal it was supposed to be. When she graduated college she informed her all of her family that she had decided to move her birthday. She now celebrates her birthday on June 29th and is thrilled with finally having a "real" birthday. Plus, the weather is far better in June, of course, so she usually has an outdoor party. When Life hands you lemons, grab some salt and tequila and have fun.

Their uniforms are a hoot and a half. Here is the company website. They also sell deep fried Cheese on a Stick. fifi - I would think Blondie and the others may be right...blame eGullet. There is a current thread involving polenta (on the Cooking board?) which could make the logical leap to the cornmeal batter on corn dogs. Chalk it up to the sublime subliminal. Edited: Added third quote and post

So is a barbecue in my backyard and I get better cocktails there. I am still mystified by this new trend.

You could try frying up some bacon to please the Food Gods, but it may not work. They have a notoriously wicked sense of humor and irony.

You want me to pay how much for a steak and then you want me to cook it myself? This seems to be a new disturbing trend...steak houses where you grill your own steaks. Here's one example. Here's another example. And yet another. The original idea with these grill-it-yourself steak houses in San Diego came about thanks to the new baseball park being built in downtown (opening in Spring of '04). There isn't going to be a huge parking lot prime for tailgating as with the current stadium and the downtown parking garages aren't quite appropriate for the next-to-the-car dining experience. So someone got the bright idea of creating a grill-your-own steakhouse so you could still get that do-it-yourself-tailgating-but-also-pay-us-for-the-privilege-to-eat-here dining adventure. Now the trend seems to be growing beyond the Gaslamp district. What's next? Really have it your way and don a Burger King uniform to make your own burger (but pay us for the privilege)? I know there are some Korean restaurants with the grill built into the table (or the hot pot is brought to your table) and you cook your own food...but this just seems so wrong. Oh, and you'd better watch out....there have already been reports of steaks being stolen when the cook/patron makes the mistake of leaving their meat unattended while it cooks. How do you call that one in to the police?

While we do have stand alones here, the Starbucks inside our local Barnes & Nobles are not allowed to be called "Starbucks". There has to be some sort of legal reason why they can't call themselves "Starbucks" which is really stupid because everything from the paper cups to the bags of coffee they're shilling have the Starbucks name plastered all over them. But I tried using my Starbucks giftcard at one of these inside joints and they refused to take it since they weren't "officially" a Starbucks. Go figure.