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I've tried almond milk now and again (I'm unpleasantly lactose intolerant, and spent a lot of time looking for milk substitutes, until I realized that I never liked milk all that much, anyway), and it works well in pretty much anything you'd use cow milk, UNLESS the behaviour of one of the dairy components is important to the dish (e.g. some custards and sauces), in which case, you may sometimes run into consistency issues.

As I said, I'm not a milk person, and my inclination to eat dairy hit bottom after I read a study that concluded that pasteurization renders the traces of pus in milk (evidently from mild but chronic mastitis caused by certain milking machines) harmless to consumers. Anyway, I can understand the many reasons for alternative 'milks', which is probably the best way of thinking of them; things you like for themselves, rather than as 'better' alternatives for something else (sort of like butter and olive oil; not interchangeable, but both--in my opinion--lovely; something I'm the mood for one, sometimes the other).

I use suet. It isn't easy to get here, because all prepared suet is exported from Denmark, primarily (I think) to the UK. So, I have to go down to the slaughter-house and get the blob of kidney fat, take it home, and render it myself.

Although not the most fun thing to do, it is very low tech: you just toss the blob of fat into a large pot, and liquify it over very low heat (this prevents browning of the membranes that are all through the kidney-fat blob, and which would contribute a flavour to the finished product). You can chill the blob first, and cut it up into smaller pieces, to hurry the process, but do not turn up the heat, unless you want a definite 'suety' flavour to be present. This takes quite a while.
Once the fat is liquified, just strain it through a clean cloth; I use an old white t-shirt that I'm going to toss, anyway (you probably will not be able to resuse the cloth, unless you're willing to take extreme measures, since the fat does not come out easily).

Then, pour it into the recepticle(s) of your choice (you might want to divide it up in convenient small portions), and refrigerate or freeze it.

You will then have at your disposal a very white, flavour- and odourless fat.

(Before anyone starts screaming about how unhealthy this is, I am not recommending it as a health food, nor is this something that I use in every dish I make; I make a couple of pies a year, a Christmas pudding, the occasional chicken pot pie. None of those in my immediate circle have any problem with their heart, circulatory system, or blood pressure, and when you consider the amount of suet actually present in a single portion of any of these things, the impact is minimal, at most).

I'm adding my vote for 'The Best Recipe'.

I've cooked for a long time, and am comfortable with most cookbooks, but really appreciate this book's clarity, conciseness, and focus on readily available ingredients; I've never had a failure, using one of its recipes. Best, from my point of view, is that they explain the science behind what takes place (which you can read as little or as much of as you like; you don't need to understand the science to make the recipes work), and when you understand that, you are well on your way to being able to make even badly-written recipes (e.g. recipes for delicious-looking things you find online, with partial/iffy looking instructions) work, and creating recipes of your own.

I feel shy about taking pictures of food (I don't know why, but I feel like some sort of freak, the only person on the planet to do this, which is obviously nonsense), and only do so occasionally, but as long as other patrons are being strictly omitted from the images, and a flash isn't used, I don't think this is a problem. True, food is meant to be eaten, but sometimes it is also so impressive visually, I want to show a few friends, and I'll take a shot. I usually only move myself or the dish I'm shooting in order to ensure that other diners aren't in the shot. As long taking a picture or two is a brief, low-key incident, it seems fine.

It seems strange that any restaurant would ban even the taking of photos of the diners at one's own table, as this has been a longstanding tradition, and I can remember seeing this done even when I was a small child (in excellent restaurants), by people celebrating some special event; the waiter was often included in the shot. And let's not forget all those photos of dinners at all classes of restaurants that go back as far as the existence of the SLR camera, at least

On the other hand, use of the terms 'food porn' and 'foodie' should be punishable by law ;)

Thanks everybody, and sorry about not replying sooner.
I'm going with reconstituting powdered whole milk with a reduced amount of water (I just happen to have a big bag of the stuff in the freezer). I'm also planning on browning a bit of the powdered milk, before mixing it with water, since information on evaporated milk (including McGee's OFAC) mentions that some caramelization takes place, and contributes to the product's flavour.

Aaaaargh!!!! Why is this here..? I have no problem with strip clubs (although one sounds unbelievably tacky), but posted advertising is so annoying!

I like it, in fact, it's one of the few sodas that I do like (Manhattan coffee soda and chinotto are the only other two I can think of). And I'm proud of the fact that I made at least one convert to it. I think the very slight bitterness is gives a bit of complexity and interest, which most sodas lack. Then again, I adore liquorice... yep, even the salty sort.

On the other hand, I have trouble coping with pastrami; too... pink, too heavy for me.

I haven't noticed this at any of the places in NYC where I normally eat, but I restrict my meals out when I go back, these days.

Is it legal to add a service charge to a bill, if it isn't listed somewhere on the menu? To me that sounds like a hidden cost, and the simplest way to address that would be to report anyone doing this. If it looks shady, it probably is.

I'm in Europe most, and some countries routinely tack on a service charge, but the amount is stated clearly on the menu, so you don't get any last-minute surprises. Frankly, I always prefer to eat out in countries where the waiters ARE paid a living wage, and one doesn't tip, regardless of whether or not there is a service charge involved.

mince, I do agree that detailing various digestive details is redolent of sham candour/would-be 'earthiness' (and I can definitely relate to frustration of seeing threads derailed by irrelevant commentary), but I doubt it's worth complaining of this; mentioning it merely raises some members' hackles, causing them to blast into self-righteous mode. . . and nobody wins a flame war (it just makes a lot of work for the admin.s).
And to be fair, although what you describe does ring a bell (and it's the sort of thing that you find you've read before you manage to skip over it), this isn't that conspicuous of a problem.

Since a couple of shops have already been mentioned, I'll add Dom's Fine Foods, down on the west side of Lafayette Street, block below Spring. I could always find all sorts of Italian odds and ends that I never seemed to see anywhere else.

Adam, I don't know if it's just my computer, but clicking on that link gives a 404 message.

My first reaction was identical to carriebwc's (seriously, total it up, next time you shop there), my second one, "THAT's interesting... next time I'm shopping at Whole Foods I'm going to be watching the other shoppers veeeeery sharply...".

And I bet many of you will be, too, which will hardly make shoplifters' efforts any easier.

I honestly don't think posting this was a poor choice, it was good one. Besides, if we're going to be purely objective about things, this IS interesting (and I have difficulty believing that some of the indignant respondents don't watch some of the programmes on TV that present all sorts of real-life unpleasantness, including things far more horrific than this), and, even if this does prompt a few others to attempt to shoplift (which to me sounds a bit questionable; most people are not so malleable that a single post can prompt them to be thieves, without any previous thoughts of it), there are also going to be a lot more of us out there... watching.

JerzeeTomato's recipe is about as stripped-down as you're going to get, and looks like a good one (given the cream and cacao butter already present in truffle ingredients, the addition of butter seems like overkill).

The recipe I use is very similar, but a bit simpler with regard to technique (rather than melting the chocolate, then adding the cream, the chocolate is melted by simply pouring the hot cream over it), and attracted me with its short ingredient list (pretty much the same as that given in JerzeeTomato's recipe), the authority of the original source--Robert Linxe--the simplicity and lack of fuss of the technique, and the fact that the blogger who posted this had clearly tried it, and found it to be successful.
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(Found at: http://www.sugoodsweets.com/blog/2008/02/simpletruffles/)
Simplest Chocolate Truffles
Adapted from Robert Linxe of La Maison du Chocolat

Makes about 60 truffles (do not double recipe); these truffles are very soft, so store them in a cool area.

8 ounces [227 g.] chocolate (preferably 60% cacao)
2/3 cup heavy cream
Cocoa powder for dusting (about 1/2 cup)

Finely chop the chocolate.

Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy saucepan. Make sure your pan is small, so you’ll lose the least amount of cream to evaporation, and heavy, which will keep the cream from scorching. Linxe boils his cream three times – he believes that makes the ganache last longer.

Pour the cream over the chocolate, mashing any big pieces with a rubber spatula.

Then stir with a whisk in concentric circles (don’t beat or you’ll incorporate air), starting in the center and working your way to the edge, until the ganache is smooth. Pour into an 8″ x 8″ pan lined with wax or parchment paper.

Let stand at room temperature until thick enough to hold a shape, about 1 hour.

Turn out the ganache on a cocoa-dusted cutting board. With a sharp knife, slice the ganache into half-inch cubes. Dust your palms with cocoa powder and roll the ganache balls. Toss the truffles with more cocoa powder. Shake truffles in a sieve to eliminate excess cocoa. Store in a well-sealed container.
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I've tried this recipe with 1/2 cup of cream instead of 2/3, and this makes for firmer truffles, and a few less.

The only problems I've experienced with any truffle recipes (including this one) have involved 'breaking', which occurred only if I grated, rather than chopped the chocolate, or when I tried to make certain that the chocolate melted fully, by nesting the bowl holding the chopped chocolate in another holding hot water. Both seemed like good ideas, and neither was.

If you can find a cool, shaded spot to store your truffles, that seems to work better than refrigerating them (when they're cold, their flavour seems muted, and waiting half an hour or so for them to warm to room temperature isn't always convenient), unless you're keeping them for more than a couple of weeks.