Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

thanks for the suggestions.

I tried baking small oatmeal balls for about 20 minutes - they never dried out fully on the inside. So I think I'll flatten them cookie style - and that should do it, I hope.

If I were to buy tofu, 1) what are the elements I would be looking for - freshness and what else, and 2) what are its best uses?

I only know about tofu from tiny bits of tofu in miso soup (I think).

Wouldn't mind eating it cold. Sounds pretty good, actually.

But I think it depends on what's on there - w/ sausage or pepperoni, no. Just about anything else would be OK.

Dear Shecooks:
About Whole Foods - that's the supermarket deli I mentioned. And that's where they use the rags...but maybe not at your WF deli.....

Dear Jlweber:
That's an encouraging thought about the disinfectant, though I sure hope it's not bleach!

Dear Lorenzo:
I'm thinking that substituting the rag frequently would not be enough, though it's at least a beginning. Also, I'm thinking that rag on the kitchen counter isn't the same as a rag to clean the slicer which touches the meat that will go into my stomach.

I am wondering about "smelling" herbs, which Avaryne mentions. How do you get the maximum benefit from inhalation. I find I can barely smell them; that also applies to essential oils like lemon, grapefuit, lavender. But maybe that's just me - or maybe there's a right way and a wrong way, or maybe the right kind to buy.

Also, if you are buying herbs and/or essential fruit and veg. oils, where is the best place (read "reliable") to buy them.

I have never eaten tripe. But my mother used to insist on calf's brains. Unbelievable yukkiness!

I agree with the above. Plus, I wonder whether if it comes from the meat department, one could ask to have the package opened. Maybe that's not realistic, but I get somewhat antsy when I can't see what I'm buying, esp. if it's not from a recognizable source. Well, anyway, it may be worth asking.

I just have one kind of cheese - and it's zero fat. It's most unfortunate b/c I adore cheese. But I am wary of the cholesterol, etc. And if I had several kinds I would just devour them. I miss cheese a lot. I am surprised, though, by how many different kinds the people who have commented have on hand. I can have a virtual cheese feast just reading about it.

So is there a difference between parasites in fish and parasites in pork? I mean in pork, you cook it longer and then it isn't dangerous any more. Same for fish??

@Martini Me - are you joking or serious?

Well, I don't know about the DHC explanation about food-grade olive oil not being good enough for skin care. (But I'll look at their site, as you suggest.) And what is it that they do to the olive oil?

Food-grade olive oil is good enough for the inside of my body, which I would guess is more delicate than my outer skin. Secondly, I have to say that the food-grade olive oil appears to eliminate wrinkles on my face, at least for the day that I am using it - the wrinkles and pouches under my eyes when I wake up go away. I use extra virgin, cold press, organic, etc. off the grocery shelf at an organic supermarket (happens to be Whole Foods brand) and it seems to work well. Now, it is true that last year the store was promoting tiny samples of an Australian olive oil that was extremely fine, but again for cooking. I don't know whether that's better or not for the skin and I wonder how it got to be so thin.

By the way, on the subject of olive oil soap, Kiss My Face has olive oil in several flavors - but they also have a pure olive oil soap.

Also by the way, I have received so many compliments about my hair. It can only be the lustrous sheen from the olive oil (which I leave in and brush).

I love that you "hate" serious eats! LOL

It helps my diet. I "eat" the virtual stuff, lots of it - especially Talk. Keeps me out of the kitchen, so nothing can boil over.