Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Funny you should mention cheese - that is just about the only reason a vegetarian friend of mine is not vegan!

@thehollers -amazon.ca has them - that is where I ordered mine from.

This is slightly dangerous. The problem is that you are heating up the metal very fast so the bottom of the glass will heat up quickly while the top of the glass remains relatively cool. The glass at the bottom expands (due to the increased temperature) while the top of the glass is staying at the same volume. This can cause cracking because glass is so brittle.

Of course you would also have a very uneven heat source - the heat transfer between your metal object and your glass dish would not be nice and uniform.

1) What is your preferred method for cooking bacon strips? Pan? Oven? On Optimus Prime's engine block? Does the thickness of the strip change your cooking method?

2) What is the best way to get a really smooth Indian curry if you start with whole spices in the pan? I have tried straining it but sometimes I feel like the majority of the curry's body gets left behind in the strained portion. Blending works - but there can still be some grittiness left over from say, whole cumin and coriander that I started with.

3) Do you have any suggested dishes for a Chinese themed dinner party for 6-8 people where my wife and I would love to be enjoying the party and not spending all the time in the kitchen. Do you have any favorite Chinese cookbooks I could order to help? Any suggestions for Chinese themed cocktails or beverages? We are looking for fairly authentic Chinese recipes and have no problem tracking down hard to get ingredients but need to cater to some...North American palates. Sorry for the long question - suggestions on good books would be more than sufficient to help us out!

Also thanks for all the awesome recipes! I have cooked the majority of the food lab recipes and loved every one. Also the kung pao chicken - that stuff is delicious. Seriously.

That is awesome! Although there are some things in the books that I would not want to eat (thinking about the stewed goat in book 4...)

And I thought this was leading up to you using the bottle of it that you had in your fridge to stir your soup and cool it down!

Croissants
Lasagna
Empanadas (with homemade dough)

Oh man - I want that recipe for sweet pickled bean sprouts!

Overall our cold pantry staples look very similar although I have fewer bean pastes (only carry 3 or 4). Homemade teriyaki and at least 1 homemade bbq sauce is also a must.

Sounds delicious - my only concern would be paring the artichoke with white wine (which would go perfectly with the rest of your menu). It can be done but it is difficult!

You hit all the basics but you won't catch me without a bottle each of pisco and Cachaça - nothing beats a pisco sour or caipirinha when it is hot outside!

Haha way back I used to get a McChicken with cheese and ketchup. Sooo good. Sometimes trade out the ketchup for one of the nugget sauces.

@Adam - when I worked as a server (in addition to normally writing things down) I associated someones order with their face so I could place it in front of them instead of having to ask "who ordered the ____". I would be most likely to realize I had brought the wrong dish when I saw them!

Also in this situation the staff should certainly remove the drink. In many restaurants that drink would probably find a way to some cook/server going off shift...

Genuine food has to be edible. This means that decorative wooden apples and cream-o-wheat are out of the running. Pretty much anything else works though...