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Granola is so easy to make! I really like this recipe from Ellie Krieger:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/nutty-granola-recipe/index.html

It has NO oil in it, and uses maple syrup instead of sugars. It's less sweet than most granolas, but I find it delicious.

Re: Calphalon non-stick - the Calphalon you buy at Wal-Mart and Target is their low end line. If that's what you have, don't compare it to the stuff they sell at places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond. As for non-stick, I've been VERY happy with my 8" Emerilware skillet. It's made by All-Clad, but in China as opposed to US like their own name items are made. If you can't afford the All-Clad pan here, the base Emerilware products are a good buy!

Kenji - perhaps you can answer some questions I have about enameled cast iron dutch ovens. (1) Straub cocottes have a dark interior - does this cause no-knead bread to bake/brown quicker? (2) The Lodge dutch oven in your article (which is $50 when ordered from Amazon, not $72+) vs the L Series - besides the obvious aestethics and $50, what are the differences? More layers of enamel? I tried posting the question on Lodge's FB page, but they told me that one is enameled and one is not...uh...

And to someone who mentioned Batali's enameled dutch ovens, they are still available from Crate and Barrel.

As a side note: we'll ignore the fact that NYers think that a good cupcake can be found at places like Magnolia Bakery. (Sorry, Serious Eats staff, but you can make a cupcake just as good from the pound cake doctor-it-up recipe on the side of a box of Duncan Hines. Try the LCD cake from Warren Brown's Cake Love in cupcake form sometime.)

I'm another one who learned from their mom!

I wonder if she'll make this for Jewish guests in the Governor's mansion.

@seriousb Well, what do you want to know? First off, I suppose people are curious about how you get to participate. King Arthur Flour is one of my Facebook likes, and I saw their post in their news feed saying that CC was looking for volunteers to participate in the filming in VT, and it gave a contact email. I emailed the lady back and forth until she was able to fit me in the later slot. (They had 2 groups for the audience - one at 8 AM, which was way too early for me, since it was an hour and a half away!)

The audience groups are about 30 people. The seating area is chairs from the church across the street. If you have issues with "personal space", this is not something for you to participate in - we were packed in like sardines. The drive up there from the Albany, NY area was beautiful, since the leaves were changing and it was sunny and unseasonably warm (70's) the day of filming. This was not so great in the CC house, where there was no a/c. The house sometimes seems like it's by itself (not near other houses) when you watch the show, but it's in a small hamlet. They actually moved the house back from the road when they did the renovations, but it's still only about 10-20' from the edge.

Each group films 4 segments. This seemed odd, since they do 12 episodes, but you'll notice that not all episodes have a tasting segment - some have two equipment segments, some have long cooking segments. We were first given a tray with 3 different kinds of 4 different foods. Each food's choices were labeled 1, 2, or 3. We were given score sheets to pick which was liked best. They collected the sheets and tallied them up so that Jack could tell Chris if the studio audience was with him or not. The person we interacted with most was Jack Bishop. He's very personable, and answered all the questions we had about the show. He also talked about how the taste tests are done in the test kitchen - Jack goes with his gut instinct about which one he likes best, and there is a "Chris rule"...no one is allowed to make noises trying to influence which one others should vote for.

We were instructed to clap, and to laugh at Jack and Chris as it came naturally. An interesting thing we noticed during the filming - the people in the back kitchen who look like they're working on preparing other food are actually just pouring salt into measuring spoons and bowls and wrapping sheet pans in saran wrap - it's all for show! When they were done with all the retakes (Chris is human - he screws up just like the rest of us), having us clap for a while to get the sound recorded, etc., the producers thanked the crew for the season - we were the last segments to be filmed. The crew/staff all work in Boston/Cambridge, but come up to VT for 2 weeks a year to film. We were able to take pictures behind the counter that they do all of the cooking and taste tests on, and one of the cameramen helped people get good shots by directing them where to stand and how to adjust their cameras. (He was awesome!) Chris also came back out, with his bow tie undone, and took pictures with people.

It's not a bad drive from western MA or eastern NY, as well as anywhere in VT. But people were there from Arizona, as well as one lady who was there from Wales!

What about the packet kind? I grew up on them (using the drippings instead of water) and can't find a gravy recipe that tastes anything like that. If I make homemade gravy for my family, there will be mutiny!

This type of garbage can is nothing new. I've had a "Rack Sack" for years. Unfortunately, shortly after I bought mine, Rack Sack was disappointed that they did not have any repeat business, so they re-engineered to only fit the bags that they themselves sell, not the grocery store bags. (Other people saw my garbage can and wanted one, but I found out about the re-engineering instead of finding the garbage cans.) It's a great concept - I'm glad that Simple Human has a version out.

Who cares if it's hideous. It's under your cabinet. Unlike one of the standard Rubbermaid cans that are out in the open - which are so beautiful. If you've got $100 to spend on a pretty garbage cans, there are companies that will gladly take your money.

@jennlevy - Freihoffer's is originally from Troy, NY, so, yeah, you can get them in Albany. It's owned by a national company now, though. Might be the same company that owns Entemann's.

Where the heck are you buying your Ghirardelli chocolate chips? Those are expensive! They're under $3 a bag here - and you can find them at Super Wally World for less, if you're willing to shop there. I don't care for milk chocolate, so my favorite chips for everything are Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet.

Oh, the poor people who can't get Sabretts! :(

I don't think you'll ever be able to convince Sabretts lovers that there's another good hot dog out there. Even the ones, like me, who put them in New England style hot dog buns (oh, the blasphemy!). ;)

The frosting is like the "half moons" of upstate NY, rather than the b&w's of NYC. So, authenticity depends on what part of NY you're from! Since I grew up in upstate, the frosting looks perfect!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_white_cookie

Re: Andrew Cuomo and Sandra Lee
Based on Andrew Carmellini's intro to Urban Italian, I'm surprised that the Cuomo family would accept Sandra's half-assed cooking!