jsolomon

I guess I'm one of the minority. I eat pretty much anything any time of year, without any thought. Sweating doesn't bother me a whole lot. But, I do try to eat more seasonally in the spring, summer, and fall, when there are things like asparagus, morels, strawberries, peaches, cherries, and tomatoes at their only points of edibility. But, I have found that the more water I drink, the more tolerable heat is.

Y'know, there's nothing wrong with that. Imagine how much more life would suck if we had to crush our own salt!

Brad, you always have such great advice. I love the idea of taking both bottles. The problem with those two items is that they are served in myriad ways, and seldom on their own, unlike beef or tomatoes. So, take both, be happy, and have a great evening!

You grate ginger? I just cut it into little coins across the grain and smash it with the flat of my knife blade. Honestly, I've never heard of toppit frozen herbs. Are they a regional thing?

As a former pork producer, I can certainly say that my experience is that the breed makes much less difference than the quality of life of the pig. To wit, if lowly bred pig gets a varied, omnivorous diet, room to roam, and a generally piggish life, you will have spectacular pork. If a highly bred pig gets confined, fed corn and soybean meal, and an imprisoned life, you will get generally bland pork.

Jeebus, remember that there is a difference between food-borne illness, and food poisoning. Poisons are generally quicker acting than illnesses. Good luck!

Don't worry, Fress. While in Waikiki, I ate my poi with pickles.

Cows isn't the problem. Corn and soybeans is. Our production of calories from them is a huge funnel in and of itself.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a frickle (fried dill pickle). Cheddar cheese on apple pie is heavenly, and black pepper goes with all manner of things, including cottage cheese. But, believe you me, if it weren't for the Pagans, modern Christianity would be much more boring...

Interesting note, FG. Personally, I look at it as barbaric that people suggest we do things we didn't evolve to do. Which is to say, we are nearly obligate omnivores. We ought to be proud of that.

Oh my, food was one of the major traumas of the trip for her. Neophobia runs rampant in my wife, and I am a neophile. You should have seen the discussion to get her to try poi.

On Waikiki beach just this past Tuesday, my wife wanted to eat breakfast at Denny's. Dear God, the horror.

"Field" is a very, very broad term. I believe the term you are looking for is "pasture" From Wiktionary and clarified by dictionary.reference.com So, untilled, "fallow" land, used for the growing of unsown plants which are then eaten by grazing animals.

Bavila, thank you. The wedding and the reception were a tremendous success! And, the gazpacho idea is spectacular. I would love to be at a wedding or reception where a good, seasonal gazpacho was served. Corn chowder is also a wonderful plan, especially if you know a good caterer who will make it when the corn is at its peak and then freeze it to hold for your wedding. Here is my general experience: soups/stews at receptions generally seem to taste the best of all the meals I have had at receptions. They always seem to hold better, and are just enough unique (in Nebraska, anyway) that everyone is that much more appreciative. Good luck, and congratulations!

Michelob's been doing this for a while. I drink the hell out of their beer at the local ball games, so it would be hypocritical for me to say "no". Now, if aesthetics are the order of the night, then I prefer a crimp-top bottle. But, beer is good in its myriad forms.

There was after the initial BSE scare, but then this past January, a shipment of veal contained a bone in it, and Japan began another embargo on American Beef. Talks about importing Kobe and authentic wagyu beef from Japan then stopped also. Whatever secretary Mike Johanns is (don't give me the answer, I don't like him) is working on restarting exports of American beef to Japan. The talks are working rather better than planned. Source, tokyo.embassy.gov Edit to add link to source information.

I'm catering my wedding reception--This Saturday! It's a similar size, and similar affair. I'm serving roast pork loin and jambalaya. The vegetarians and other "special diets" are having a mushroom stroganoff--yes, that's changed from the smoked salmon sandwiches. Hopefully I can start cooking tomorrow.

Nebraska ranchers are just tired of losing money. So we're counterfeiting 20 dollar bills instead of producing beef anymore. At least if we do that, we get cable, and 3 hot meals a day, and a roof over our heads. That's more than we can say for ranching.

chardan, you are mistaking symmetry for beauty. All hand-made foods have small asymmetries in them that are points for TLC to show through. That is a truly beautiful pie. Do you FedEx them?

It should be noted that ortolan, consumed by Francois Mitterand before he died, was illegal, even then. Ortolan consumption continues to be illegal in France, to my knowledge. Don't talk to me about cruelty of consumption and eating until you've seen someone deep in the throes of what bacteria do to them. Mother Nature is not gentle.

Asking me to cheer is like asking my old German Shepherd to watch a pan of brownies. You would be amazed what that dog would lick away. I could have sworn I had that pan far enough back.

It's very generous to call a lobster's central ganglion a brain. Arthropods nervous systems, as a general rule, are much more democratic than vertebrates so destroying the central ganglion renders them immobile, not dead, if I recall correctly. It is fair to say that a plunge into a sufficient amount of boiling water destroys their nervous tissue really quickly, which does kill them. But, remember, Mother Nature ain't nice. We generally kill our food because it is much easier to chew when it's not trying to defend itself. We have really anthropomorphosed our food supply into an amazingly heady construct of compassion, etc. When are we going to have stunners for clams? I see a new market.

There are one too many w's in the url. Try this one.

You are most certainly welcome. By-the-by, if you ever happen to be in Omaha, Nebraska, look up the Bohemian Cafe. They serve some really quite wonderful hasenpfeffer with some of the most lovely , light dumplings you can imagine.

Heh, growing up on a farm and being in 4-H, I had much the opposite rearing. We did eat many of our pets.