I just learned how to truss a chicken. I admit that I have never trussed a chicken until about 5 minutes ago, and I had to look it up on the internet. Trussing seems like a skill that all home cooks should know and sadly, I was lacking that skill. But now? NOW I can truss. I might practice on the dogs.

I decided to make Thomas Keller's roasted chicken after Adam Roberts' glowing review, but I subbed sweet potatoes and parsnips for rutabagas and leeks. My local grocery gets a F+ for not having rutabagas and leeks.
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2010/01/thomas_kellers.html#more

Here's the video I used to learn how to truss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXbYuPxC0es

What have you learned lately?

I just read a review on Entertainment Weekly and it isn't pretty. I didn't watch the whole episode so I won't add my two cents until I totally understand what they're doing. They all seemed pretty clueless and I think I'd be afraid to taste their foods. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.

Here's the review I read:
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2010/01/04/worst-cooks-in-america/

The MIL has requested an 8qt stockpot for Christmas. She has one of those flat cooktops- not induction...I can't think of the name. Radiant top? Anyhow, she can't use just any pot, it has to be perfectly flat so it will rest on the cooktop correctly. Can anyone recommend a brand that will work? Needs to be durable and easy to clean. No non-stick, please. Stainless/hard anodized would be best.

TIA

I found this on msn.com today while searching for a movie to be released in May (the new Star Trek one, if anyone's interested..yeah, I'm a geek)

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-synopsis/food-inc/

Info was gleaned from Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and SE favorite Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma).

I'm hoping it is informative, factual and eye-opening. It may be the catalyst this country needs. If anyone has any more info/insights on this film please share!

I like natural peanut butter but prefer the salted variety. I mistakenly bought a jar of unsalted (bleh) and just can't bring myself to eat it. I might be able to choke it down with jelly or honey but I don't know if I can make it through the whole jar before it goes bad.

Can I use it in cookies or other baked goods just like regular peanut butter? I'm assuming it is an even swap but just want to make sure they are interchangeable without a loss of quality in the final product. I would welcome killer pb recipes to help me use this stuff up. Thanks!

We had a carry-in this week to say farewell to a co-worker. There are 10 of us and I think there was enough food to feed 2 or 3 times that number of people!

Everything was great, from the chicken wings and homemade summer sausage to the meatloaf and authentic flautas. We had a wide range of foods and everyone was stuffed to the gills.

So what's the consensus? Do you dread choking down your cubicle mate's "famous jello salad" or can your co-workers lay out a mean spread like mine?

Where would you do all of your grocery shopping? Whole Foods? Trader Joes? A local store that you would love to support but just can't afford?

I would probably frequent my local health food stores more often since I don't have a WF or TJ anywhere near me. But I guess if money were no object I could afford to drive an hour to shop at Fresh Market! Wishful thinking....

Hello Serious Eaters. I wasn't sure where to post this but figured since I'd been "baking" this little one for the past 9 months perhaps the Cooking and Baking section would be most appropriate.

Little Hayden joined us 2 weeks earlier than expected last Saturday, August 30 at 8:46 pm. He was a mere 5lbs 6oz and almost 19 inches long. Much to our suprise and delight he has beautiful blonde hair- both of us were bald as bowling balls when we were born so we figured our offspring would be bald as well.

We're all doing fabulous. Hayden, or "Niblet" as his father has started calling him, is snoozing peacefully right now and eats like a champ...but did we expect anything else from the child of a Serious Eater? I think not.

The "how do you say yolk" thread inspired me to post something I've been thinking about for about a week. Did you or any of your offspring, siblings, etc. have weird pronunciations for foods? Here are my favorites and their origins:

Husband's niece called ice cream "arse cream" and abbreviated dessert to "zert". We use both terms frequently. I believe this same niece also said "marshoos" instead of marshmallows.

My niece said "college cheese" instead of cottage cheese.

I called water "wally-wally" when I was a tot. I have no idea why.

A friend's daughter called oatmeal "opey-no"

Those are the ones that I remember right now. What are your favorites, and do you still use them even if the person who coined the term is 25 years old and doesn't think it is funny that you remember something they said 20 years ago?

I found this blurb while thumbing through a trade mag today at work:
"Just Born Candies will offer 3-count Peeps Sugar Free Pumpkins and Ghosts for Halloween 2008." (Candy Industry July 2008 Issue)

There is a picture of 3 cute little ghosties all snuggled together in their package.

Peeps. Without sugar. Sugar. Free. Peeps. I'm having trouble grasping the concept. The picture isn't very big so I can't verify my theory, but I'm assuming they don't have their traditional sugary coating and are made with a sugar substitute. Bleh. This definitely falls into the category of "Yeah it can be done, but should it be done?" A little of the real thing HAS to be better than a lot of its faux counterpart.

For the record, I can't stand Peeps. I just wanted to share this with my fellow Serious Eaters and see what you thought.

My inlaws have several hundred acres of farmland. On said farmland one can find black raspberries. Lots of them. And if one treats one's husband right, said husband will pick said raspberries even though he can't stand them and bring them home for one to fashion into a pie.

OR

I have 4 cups of FREE black raspberries sitting in my fridge. :P They will become pie tonight. Ain't life grand?

Ok, they weren't entirely free since the husband scraped the hell out of his arms getting them for me and I have to make a cobbler as payment. But it sure beats paying $5 for a 1/2 pint at the store.

Anyone else have a fabulous produce windfall this summer?

Am I the only person who thinks they didn't deserve the first one? Last night I saw an ad for their new "on the road" show. I won't be watching. Anyone else care to join me? Maybe I'll DVR Anne Burrell's show since I'm working at 9:30am, then I can watch it instead of the Neelys....

What's the best way to prepare ham shanks? I snagged some locally grown green beans and red potatoes and want to add some rich hammy flavor but I'm not sure how to prepare the shanks. Can I boil them with the vegetables? Should I cook them separately and shred the meat? Suggestions would be appreciated!

Last night we gathered with a group of friends to bid farewell to my husband's best friend. I wasn't particularly hungry so I ordered a bowl of sirloin vegetable soup. We'd been to this bar several times and the food has always been good so I had no reservations. I was very much disappointed to see that my bowl of "vegetable soup" consisted mainly of diced tomatoes with about 2 kernals of corn, a couple slivered green beans and some chunks of potato and carrot. I DON'T LIKE TOMATOES so I was deflated from the start. The broth was flavorful. The sirloin was tender and not chewy or gristly. But where were the vegetables!?!? I ate what I could before it was down to basically nothing but tomatoes. To top it all off, we had a crabby server so I didn't think I'd get too much sympathy if I had asked for another serving.

If you were faced with something like this would you have asked for another bowl/plate of whatever you ordered? I didn't, but I'm wondering if I would have been out of line if I had. It wasn't just that I don't like tomatoes , but the fact that I ordered VEGETABLE soup, not "diced tomato soup and whatever scraps of vegetables we can find". Tell me if I'm being petty. I can take it!

I have two and both of them originated from the same animal: goat. I tried goat cheese at a trade show a few years ago and couldn't wait for a sample of something - anything - that would get that horrid taste out of my mouth. Fast forward to this past weekend. I went to my local dollar store hoping they'd have some caramel ice cream topping for my son's birthday cheesecake. They didn't, but they had Mexican caramel sauce made with goat milk. Long story short, I tasted a tiny bit and wanted to die. I rinsed my mouth out with hot water and brushed my teeth as soon as I was sure I wasn't going to vomit. Then I made the 10 minute drive to the nearest grocery (which I REALLY should have done in the first place) and bought what I needed.

So what your worst taste scenarios? Are you willing to try it again to see if your tastes have changed? I've sworn off anything goat-related!

My husband hates round steak. HATES IT. I wanted to get a frozen, cubed round steak used up so I decided to make it last night. His biggest gripe is that round steak is tough so I was bound and determined to change his mind. And I did.

Long story short, he loved it. "Remember this recipe!" He declared. I laughed at him. It was lightly floured, pan fried, then baked for about 30 minutes. No recipe needed. Served with mashed potatoes, peas and a respectable gravy (I SUCK at gravy, but this was actually edible.), it made for a great meal.

Have you converted anyone from "Yuck! I won't eat that!" to "Could you make that again?" Did you switch it up in a major way or just prepare it in a manner that made it more palatable?

What gets your digestive juices flowing the wrong way? I have several, tho in a few months I'm sure plain tap water will be reflux-inducing as junior starts pushing my internal organs sideways and upwards. Sigh...my thighs and my esophagus will never be the same....

Here are my offenders::
Legumes (I REALLY don't know why, but beans give me the burn bad)
Some tomato sauces
Some spicy foods
Cheap coffee
Cinnamon on occasion

Is there anything you love but avoid because of the after effects, or do you self-medicate before or after so you can continue to enjoy your favorites? I'm curious to see how many of us plow through that plate of nachos topped with jalapenos and habenaro salsa with a devil-may-care attitude only to curse ourselves at bedtime!

I'm bored with just mozzarella. What else can I combine with the standard mozz to make a knock out pizza? I'll be shopping at a CRAPPY little Kroger store in my hometown so I don't know what kind of variety will be available, but let me know your faves and hopefully I can track them down.

I can't get too wild and crazy because the husband LOVES pizza and prefers it unadulterated. I'm game for anything except for pungent varieties (i.e. bleu cheese) and I need it to be either pastuerized or a cheese that can be heated/melted to lessen my risk of ingesting bacteria and other nasties. Being pregnant is SO much fun....

And because said husband is such a pizza purist, the other toppings will include the usual sausage, pepperoni and possibly some vegetable matter if I'm ambitious. No pineapple or other exotic items on our pie. :(

What are your go-to freezer or shelf stable meals when life catches you off guard?

I didn't want leftovers for lunch today so I stopped at the store on my way to work and bought a Lean Cuisine meal- here's the description for the "Salmon Mediterranean": wild salmon with zucchini, peppers and whole grain pasta in a garlic tomato sauce. I'm sure none of you will be surprised to know that is wasn't very good.

I brown-bag it 95% of the time so I only buy pre-packaged meals out of desperation, but I'd sure like to avoid a catastrophe like this again. Suggestions would be most appreciated!

I'm totally piggy-backing off the post of dsd1000. By the time I thought of posting about Salad Master the All Clad query was already up!

Does anyone currently use Salad Master cookware, or have you in the past? What are your thoughts? My co-worker SWEARS by it. I think he'd give up an appendage before he'd ever surrender his set. I'm curious to know what more serious cooks (he's single and doesn't cook a whole lot- he's had the set for 20+ years) think of it. Is it worth the investment?

A co-worker swears by Omaha Steaks but I can't bring myself to try them. I just flipped through a food catalog from Pfaelzer Bros. and have a Chesapeake Bay catalog to look at next. I've never order food from catalogs (except for cookies that I sent as a gift one year) so I'm curious if any Serious Eaters do so on a regular basis. If so, what do you buy? What was your worst experience? Let's exclude specialty ingredients- spices, flours, chocolate, etc. this time- that can be a topic for another post!

I'm expecting my second child in September and started experiencing serious nausea last week.- yippee! Anything sweet or seasoned makes me want to hurl. I can't even bring myself to eat chocolate! My appetite is nearly non-existent (totally, completely unlike me!) so finding something to eat has been difficult.

So what foods did you, or your significant other, run from while pregnant? What could you or your sig. o. eat without trouble?

So what have you screwed up so far this year? I have made 4 batches of fudge that will probably go in the trash, a batch of sugar cookies that are edible but won't be given away, and Danish kringle which turned out ok except most of the almond filling oozed out during the baking process. I'm giving one of the kringles to a friend, the other will probably be gone by the time I get home.

Anyone else having a tough time in the kitchen this year? Please tell me I'm not alone. The only treat I've made and deemed gift-worthy was pretzel bark, and that barely counts as 'baking'!

I'm on the verge of giving out Hickory Farms baskets instead of attempting anything else so please share your disasters with me so I feel better. And maybe, just maybe, I'll try to make those damn buttermilk cookies for my husband.

I purchased two containers of Fage over the weekend and I just ate one of them. I am hooked! If there is a 12-step program for yogurt addiction I'll have to sign up soon.

My first taste was 2% with strawberries- divine! The strawberries taste like strawberries! The schnozberries taste like....wait a minute....I'm getting off topic.

Anyhoo- after consuming nearly the entire container I read the side and found out I was eating it incorrectly. I stirred it despite the gentle warning against stirring. Can anyone offer some insite as to why we're not supposed to stir it? Especially when the delightful strawberries cleverly stored in the little "side car" are just begging to mingle with the creamy goodness next door?

Finally, thanks to all who listed Fage as one of their favorite eats. I may have to take a 2nd job to pay for my 'habit'!

I FINALLY got to visit a Trader Joe's store this past Wednesday. I couldn't buy anything cold because I was on a business trip and HAD NO COOLER. Damn the luck.

Here's what I bought. I had to control myself:
Two flavors of scones: cinnamon chip and harvest cranberry
Two strawberry fruit leathers
One jar of capers
One small Toblerone bar- for my son

Do you remember your first trip to TJ's? Do you remember what you bought? Share your memories- I'd love to hear your experiences!