Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Cakes and dogs--never a good combination. How many of us have left the celebratory creation just a tad too close to the edge of the counter, only to come home from the big meal out, mouths set for sugar, to discover that fido has once again proven his real reason for being, i.e., to grab all the available food whenever you're not looking?

If you haven't tried Old Raj, you should, although it is pricey. In the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the highest scoring inexpensive gin ($18) among the widely available gins appears to be, of all things, Beefeater. It scored better than such highly regarded gins as Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick's, and Tanqueray. I'm delighted to see the powerful resurgence of this noble spirit.

I love music and I love food. When there is music playing I listen to it. Why else would it be there? So I just don't understand why anyone would want to interfere with the enjoyment of either food or music by playing loud music when people are trying to have an enjoyable meal. Part of the pleasure of a communal meal is in the communion. That becomes very tough when the music masks the conversation. For me, however, I don't want music to play even when I'm by myself. Maybe I want to read or maybe I just want to enjoy my meal. Either way, the music becomes an unwelcome intruder. I'd love to see restaurants cut back on the volume or even, dare I hope, turn it off.

The book LadyMarmalade is referring to is called "Candy Freak" and it is a treasure. Very funny and full of great information. It was my introduction to several candies, most notably, the Valomilk, which may be the greatest combination of chocolate and marshmallow ever to be sold in a candy store. A couple of years ago, having read Almond's almost orgasmic account of his first encounter with the Valomilk, I was looking forward to a business trip to KC where I felt certain I could find this treasure. I was delighted to discover that the welcome table at the conference I was attending was giving away Valomilks and Cherry Mashes. I took two VMs and asked the woman at the table where I could get more. She told me the name of the supermarket where she had gotten them but when I got there they were out. I panicked, then got smart and called information for the phone number of the Russell Sifer Candy Company. When I explained my plight to the man who answered the phone there, he told me that all Cracker Barrel Country Stores carry Valomilks. He even told me where at Cracker Barrel I would find them. He was so helpful, and so persuasive in his description of the deliciousness that awaited me, that I had to ask who he was. He told me: Russell Sifer, proud owner of the company. Go find yourself a Valomilk.

I would take strong issue with the notion that a microwave oven is useless except for reheating leftovers and popping popcorn. Barbara Kafka, a highly respected and honored chef has written at least two cookbooks I'm aware of on the subject of cooking in the microwave. Take a look at her books or her website for numerous examples. To my mind, you gain the greatest advantage in a microwave when you do vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, corn in the husk, perhaps most notably artichokes.

Somewhat off-topic, but I get annoyed at the frequent restaurant server mispronunciations of such things as the three syllable word vinaigrette, which almost always comes out as the four syllable "vinegarette," penne paste, which is usually rendered "puh-NAY," and the ubiquitous "broo-shedda" for bruschetta (it's "broo-SKET-ta" please). BTW, @AliceBlue, "le" in French is always pronounced like the "le" in "teller," and "Creuset" is tough to render in English, but the first syllable comes close to having the same vowel sound as "foot" and the second syllable starts with a "z" sound. Sort of "luh croo ZEY." Hope that doesn't make it any worse.

I know this was a US survey, but I recently had my first Japadog in Vancouver. This modest hot dog stand downtown serves a variety of dogs with unique, Japanese toppings including Japanese mayo, nori, teriyaki sauce, fried onions, soy sauce, green onions, daikon, miso sauce, and Kaiware (daikon seeds). Yum!