Toliver

You can also use left over beer in marinades for either chicken or beef. Waste not, want not. If you don't have beer on hand, you can sub wine in the marinades instead. Beautiful English muffins, too!

Cellulose is back in the news...this time in regards to being added as filler in canned grated "Parmesan Cheese". The U.S. allows a small percentage of cellulose to be used as filler but some companies were adding about 8% or higher in their containers of grated "Parmesan cheese". Some companies were ditching the Parmesan Cheese completely (see the quote above). Not that I buy the canned stuff...but I know people who do and I will make them aware of this issue.

I couldn't find this item on Amazon this morning. But I did find their Pink Pig-lidded Pulled Pork Slow Cooker and the Bacon Waffle Stick Maker. All very Ron Popeil-ish!

If you are serious in asking this, then yes, I have had McD's McGriddles. They're okay. The "buns" are slightly sweet (supposed to be sort of like a sweetened-with-syrup pancake-type bread). So you get a sweet with the salty meat thing happening. Are you saying you don't have McGriddles where you live?

A new breakfast item is being tested at some Ohio McDonald's: The Chicken McGriddle. The (repetitive) article (click) Has anyone in Ohio tried this new sandwich?

For the Foodie in your life: "The Edible Spoon Maker"

I concur with this assessment. I used to enjoy them, then came a time when I couldn't find them in the freezer section and asked an employee where they were. He said the recipe was being "retooled" by the company and when they reappeared in stock in the store, they just weren't the same as they had been before...not the same flavor. I switched to the TJ Chicken Chile Verde burritos and enjoy them.

Reporting back to say I found out that the Pastrami Melt I mentioned in an earlier post is indeed only $6 this month thanks to the February $6 promotion. Such a deal! The employee who made my Pastrami Melt sandwich last night tried to upsell me to make it a deluxe (1/2 times more meat). They were successful. I ended up bringing half of my sandwich to work today for lunch. Thank goodness it's a Leap Year and there's an extra day this month to take advantage of this February $6 promotion.

I found the Cinnamon Bun Oreos at a local grocery store. It has the vanilla/golden cookie instead of the chocolate. I believe it's only the cookie that has the cinnamon flavor. It didn't really taste like a Cinnamon bun/roll...more like a sweet cinnamon breakfast cereal-type flavor. There's another new flavor: "Filled Cupcake Oreos Might Be Better Than Actual Hostess Cupcakes" They were supposed to be launched this past Monday. Has anyone seen them?

It's odd but my local Subway restaurants have had $6 footlongs for quite sometime. Their recent commercial touts the $6 price for February, hoping we'll forget their entire $5 Footlong alliterative jingle and that their sandwiches used to be cheaper. I didn't see it on their web page menu, but if you can get their Pastrami Melt (ask if it's part of the $6 campaign), it's a huge bargain at $6. It's regularly their most expensive sandwich (over $9+ for the footlong). Add the cheese of your choice and get it toasted. I add avocado (I used to add their spicy guacamole but they stopped carrying it), some onions and mustard. Them's good eats. They also have started a "deluxe" feature. It's not double meat but a half serving of more meat for 50 cents per 6-inch sandwich. So a regular ("classic") tuna sandwich would be two scoops of tuna salad per 6-inch sandwich. Four scoops per 6-inch sandwich would be double meat and "deluxe" would be 3 scoops per 6-inch sandwich. edited to clarify

IKEA is revamping their food areas and the food they sell: "The meaning of Ikea's restaurant and meatball makeover" New seating areas & menu make-overs...they're trying to make IKEA a food destination, as well as a furniture store. Is IKEA the next Swedish Starbucks, subbing meatballs for coffee?

McD's has had another big "fail" right out of the gate: "McDonald's new kale salad is worse for you than a double Big Mac" Really, McD's? It's now the customer's responsibility to turn your fail into something healthy, when it should have been created (I'm looking at you, McD's) to be healthy in the first place? Really?

I should know better than to read this discussion at lunchtime! Instead of a "Like This" button, we need a "Holy crap! Your dinner looks amazing and I am now drooling on my keyboard" button.

File this under "Oops!" or "DOH!": "McDonald’s customers upset over mozzarella sticks that lack a key ingredient" McD's attributes the missing cheese as to having been baked out during cooking. The pictures accompanying the article are amusing. I can only imagine a fast food exec crying "Eureka! That's it...we'll deep fry air!".

On the topic of Food Recalls, Trader Joe's has recalled their Trader Joe's Raw Cashew Pieces. The recall doesn't extend to California but there's quite of list of states impacted by the recall. As an FYI...this article (click) has a phone number for Trader Joe's if anyone has questions about the recall.

I saw the news on how all-day breakfast seems to have turned the McD's sinking ship around. Jack-in-the-Box has been serving all-day breakfasts for years. McD's does it and it's suddenly newsworthy. Go figure. I think the bastards at McD's killed my morning breakfast order (combo with two Sausage Egg McMuffins). I didn't see it on the menu the last time I drove thru for breakfast and that irked the crap outta me.

If you're looking for something that will last and work well, ATK/CI always seemed to like the Wilton Ultra Gold pans (click). They are pricey but are supposed to be worth it. They do scratch if metal utensils are used in them.

"New flavor of Oreos hits the stores" Has anyone tried them yet?

Related article on the recent price increase for cauliflower: "There's A Major Cauliflower Shortage..." Plus, it doesn't help that cauliflower is the hot new food trend.

If you have a spare ten grand and lots of kitchen space, you too can afford the GE Monogram Pizza Oven.

Article: "This restaurant killed tipping...and now it's bringing it back" Chalk up one experiment gone wrong. Moral of the story is: No-tipping-restaurants work only if every nearby restaurant embraces the same no-tipping policy.

This. I ate lunch with a friend at a Fuddrucker's and she made a large salad from the burger fixin's. I thought it was odd back then and still think it odd to this day. And I've never taken her back to Fuddrucker's.

I found this out Friday night at a McD's on my way out of town (slowest drive through in America ). Duplicates are fine with the McPick2 for $2. The fried mozzarella sticks are a joke. Don't bother with them. The box packaging they're served in probably cost more than the cheese sticks did (and likely tastes better ). The McDouble is like a souped-up cheeseburger and I consider it the best value of the McPick2 items. The McChicken sandwiches on the McPick2 menu are spicy McChicken sandwiches at my McD locations. But I consider those cheap chicken sandwiches a joke as they need some serious doctoring up on them before they're palatable.

What's Next for McDonald's? Next. This is not an Abbot and Costello routine but it is the name of McDonald's latest attempt to stay relevant in today's world of fast food: "Big Mac with a side of quinoa? Inside the world's first McDonald's Next" I think they're still going to have an issue regarding value/cost with their customers.

Congratulations to you Steve and to JJGoode for such a nice article! For me, it recalls the days when chefs and authors used to do Q & A sessions here on eGullet, letting us get to know them as people. not just as famous names. It's also nice to know her legacy continues through her books and now, with your Marcella beans. Well done.