Recent Comments

From Talk

Out of the Express Line if you have more than 10 items, please!

I hate self-checkout too, and was happy to see here http://www.ivillage.com/grocery-store-self-service-checkouts/3-a-407873 that maybe they're going away.
For express lanes - I'm not going to count what's in someone else's cart (although I may judge if I stand there long enough), but seriously - just use a little common sense.

From Talk

Last meal of 2011?

It's going to be souffle night here - cheese souffle for dinner with various salads, chocolate souffle for dessert. Oh, and some of those Trader Joe's pigs in a blanket with drinks before, if I don't forget them!
Happy New Year!

From Talk

What kitchen gifts are you making for others?

Several chocolate pound cakes (nice recipe in Cook's Country), and some crack candy that didn't firm up but was still a hit at the senior center Christmas fete. I think I didn't cook the brown sugar/butter long enough? Anyway, sticky but good.
Christmas cookies to be baked by back-from-college girl.

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Recent Posts

From Talk

pea shoots - what to do with them?

From Talk

good ground beef

From Talk

Pasta machine?

From Talk

Pricey cloves

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Recent Favorites

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Recent Polls

From Serious Eats: New York

pourgirl answered "Can't stand panettone." to Do You Like Panettone?

From Serious Eats: New York

pourgirl answered "Get a sitter. " to Kids at Fancy Restaurants: Yay or Nay?

From Serious Eats

pourgirl answered "Big Night" to What's Your Favorite Food Movie?

Recent Quizzes

From Serious Eats

pourgirl got 77% correct on How Much Do You Know About Chocolate?

See more polls and quizzes by pourgirl »

Recent Comments

From Talk

Out of the Express Line if you have more than 10 items, please!

I hate self-checkout too, and was happy to see here http://www.ivillage.com/grocery-store-self-service-checkouts/3-a-407873 that maybe they're going away.
For express lanes - I'm not going to count what's in someone else's cart (although I may judge if I stand there long enough), but seriously - just use a little common sense.

From Talk

Last meal of 2011?

It's going to be souffle night here - cheese souffle for dinner with various salads, chocolate souffle for dessert. Oh, and some of those Trader Joe's pigs in a blanket with drinks before, if I don't forget them!
Happy New Year!

From Talk

What kitchen gifts are you making for others?

Several chocolate pound cakes (nice recipe in Cook's Country), and some crack candy that didn't firm up but was still a hit at the senior center Christmas fete. I think I didn't cook the brown sugar/butter long enough? Anyway, sticky but good.
Christmas cookies to be baked by back-from-college girl.

From Serious Eats

Got a Question for The Food Lab? Kenji Will Answer Everything

Stromboli cheese leak:
I love to make stromboli and calzone from pizza dough and assorted fillings, always including cheese. I bake them for 20 - 30 minutes at 400 degrees for a nice brown exterior. But usually some cheese erupts through the steam vents or the (not-so-well) sealed ends and bakes into a greasy slab. Should I try a lower oven temp (less browned dough) or a higher, quicker bake? Or something else?
Many thanks for your ideas.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Canal House Cooking Volume No. 6'

The KaDeWe foodhall in Berlin in the early 80's, before the fall of the wall. I visited there from Romania, and the bounty and extravagence of the food displays was overwhelming.

From Sweets

Bake the Book: 'Flour,' by Joanne Chang

Line your brownie pan with a buttered foil "sling" so that you can neatly remove the brownies and cut them on a board. Saves my pans from knife marks!

From Recipes

Chocolate-Almond Upside-Down Cake

Sounds amazing! But is it a 9" or a 10" cake pan?

From Serious Eats

Seriously Asian: Cellophane Noodles

Same question as @Les ah - I've softened cellophane noodles sometimes and they come out like smooshed jellyfish. Are there cooking/firmness differences among the various types of cellophane noodles? Recommended uses for noodles from different materials? More info, please!

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Chicken Lettuce Cups

Sounds yummy, but I'm already thinking I'll substitute those wonton salad toppers for the fried wonton skins.

From Talk

HOW EUROPEANS STAY THIN (the #1 question I get asked)

Ciao bella,
I appreciate what you're saying, but I'm not sure this is the right forum for you.

From Talk

Cookbook authors who you wish had a show

Clothilde Dusoulier from Chocolate and Zucchini. Charming, a bridge between France and the US, and great recipes.
And +1 Deborah Madison.

From Talk

June Bon Appetit Cover: Daring or Dreadful?

@HeelsGirl +1.
Vogue has been fawning over Gwyneth for years, and now Bon Appetit too?
I tore the cover off, though in fact it didn't take me too much longer to go through the whole magazine and toss it in recycling.

From Talk

Put your shopping carts back where they belong, Please!

@Amandarama, I'm with you. There are plenty of things that bite my ass about shopping, but the occasional uncorraled cart isn't among them. And @seriousb is right - for goodness sake don't leave your kid in the car, or even your purse in the car (there was a guy working local parking lots stealing handbags) for the sake of wheeling a cart back. Usually there's an employee out rounding them up - that's what they're paid for.

From Talk

pea shoots - what to do with them?

Thank you all. I had some in a salad last night, and will try the sandwich/ stirfry/omelet ideas this week (I have a lot of pea shoots!)
I looked online before asking here, and the UK pea shoot farmers have a really cute website:
http://www.peashoots.com/
But while I have no particular reason to mistrust British pea shoot farmers, still it helps to hear from people who've actually prepared the things at home. Great ideas all!

From Talk

Is Food Service A Young Person's Game?

I'd say yes, restaurant service is a young person's game. Good ideas about other foodie jobs, though.
You might also want to read the chapter "So you wanna be a chef" from Anthony Bourdain's 'Medium Raw', and 'Selling Ben Cheever,' by (not surprisingly) Ben Cheever. He has a chapter covering his stint at Cosi Sandwich Bar, where his nickname "Slow G" is short for "Slow Grandpa." Both books should be available from the library, and in their own ways both are good reality checks (and very funny.)

From Drinks

Cheap Buzz: Applebee's Infamous Margaritas

@ Sov, did anyone say that a snit of beer was a big deal? It struck me as funny, but maybe I'm just an idiot.
Your comment, on the other hand, is the kind of gratuitous snitty dig that puts people off these forums altogether.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'One Big Table'

How about Thanksgiving turkey? Actually the whole Thanksgiving meal has endless local/cultural variations, but roasted turkey often reflects the cook's traditions, even if its just a small tweak of the seasoning.

From Talk

Names of restaurants in your city that make you cringe

Stinky's Grill - just not appealing.
Thai-rrific seems dopey to me, although the food is good.

From Talk

Best bake sale recipes?

@engmcmuffin is right. Make it pretty, especially the big ticket items like whole cakes or pies! And if you're out in the sun, have an umbrella or cooler to protect the chocolate items. Otherwise they melt and steam, and start looking a bit sad.

From Recipes

French in a Flash: Salmon en Croûte with Rosemary and Asparagus

This looks just lovely, but I hate aspargus. What could I sub instead?

From Talk

Best bake sale recipes?

This toffee recipe with saltines is super-easy, and looks nice at a bake sale. And don't forget fudge, the easy kind with sweetened condensed milk. Cupcakes are a quick sell too, especially pretty ones sold individually.

Also, from previous bake sale experience - don't go overboard on the zucchini bread. There's a limit to the demand for that one.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Saltine-Toffee-Cookies/Detail.aspx

From Talk

Change of heart for tv food stars?

Agree with previous posters - I used to enjoy Ina Garten, but she seems tired and over-makeupped. And her producers must have told her to harp on her Barefoot Contessa days, but its been a long time since then - time to move on.

Painful to admit, I'm pretty much over Alton too. He looks scarey-skinny and seems more frantic than entertaining/informative lately.

And even more painful, I kind of like Guy Fieri. Not enough to watch him regularly, but this recent NYTimes story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/nyregion/16dinect.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=fieri&st=cse

highlighted the great effect his shows have on the Mom and Pop eateries that he visits. NIce.

From Talk

good ground beef

@kalajo - Wow. I guess I need to find a local butcher. Thanks, that's an eye-opening account.

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Recent Posts

From Talk

pea shoots - what to do with them?

From Talk

good ground beef

From Talk

Pasta machine?

From Talk

Pricey cloves

From Talk

Homemade Kahlua

From Talk

$29.95 for America's Test Kitchen website?

From Talk

Cafe Tacuba chicken enchiladas?

From Talk

Good eats from Costco?

From Talk

Couscous Salad

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Recent Favorites

pourgirl hasn't favorited a post yet.

Polls

From Serious Eats: New York

pourgirl answered "Can't stand panettone." to Do You Like Panettone?

From Serious Eats: New York

pourgirl answered "Get a sitter. " to Kids at Fancy Restaurants: Yay or Nay?

From Serious Eats

pourgirl answered "Big Night" to What's Your Favorite Food Movie?

See more polls by pourgirl »

Quizzes

From Serious Eats

pourgirl got 77% correct on How Much Do You Know About Chocolate?

See more quizzes by pourgirl »

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