2chez mike's Profile
Commercial Blue Cheese Dressing
I've tried all the store bought bleu chesse dressings and don't like any of them. When I was younger and my palette less experienced, and less of a chef, I 'd always get Marie's.
Several years ago I had a coupon for LItehouse. It ended up costing like 25 cents, so I gave it a try. I found it too sweet. I don't know why the commercial brands have to add sugar to everything.
These days I just make my own bleu cheese dressing. Sour cream, a little mayo, lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper. Or just crumbled blue cheese in a vinagrette. So simple.
On a wedge of cold, compact iceberg lettuce and a few ripe tomato wedges.....Oh Boy!!!
Pork Chops with Cherry Peppers
That's a good simple recipe for "Pork Chops Murphy". I'm making them tonight. However, the potatoes should be par-cooked first, not added raw.
I didn't have any cherry peppers, so I improvised. I took a green pepper, boiled it whole till just soft. Then I sliced it and marinated the slices in vinegar and hot red pepper flakes and sliced garlic at room temp for a couple of hours.
Pork Chops Murphy was a popular dish in Italian restaurants in New Jersey when I used to live there.
Ice cream container size question
"The companies are using much thinner cardboard in the middle, plus the cardboard is bigger around, causing a double whammy of pressure and no more round centers on your roll holder."
LOL! I've noticed that, too. A misshapen cardboard center defeats the whole purpose of having the toilet paper on a roll: ease of use.
New Jersey's best burgers: Where Are They Now?
I also remember when What's Your Beef was just a typical, neighborhood lunch counter/coffee shop(don't recall the name) before it opened as What's Your Beef, with the library/antique knick knacks decor, in the mid to late 1960's. The salad bar and ordering your meat by the oz. were very novel concepts, for the area, at the time.
New Jersey's best burgers: Where Are They Now?
Oops! Got them confused for a moment. Glad BB's is still there. Thanks.
New Jersey's best burgers: Where Are They Now?
Sad. Barnacle Bill's was originally at the end of a small dock on the property in the mid 1960's. It was just a shack with with maybe a 4-6 stool bar and three or four small tables. I think it was only open during the warm months. The tiny kitchen served a limited menu of burgers, dogs, local steamers and soft shell crab, and fried fish. My used to take me there when I was a kid. The property that the new building is on now was the boat yard where the boats were kept for the winter and scraped and painted.
New Jersey's best burgers: Where Are They Now?
Are you saying it went downhill or went out of business?
New Jersey's best burgers: Where Are They Now?
Yes. Barnacle Bill's, What's Your Beef and Hook Line And Sinker are all within a couple of blocks of each other.
I happen to love the cheddar cheese sauce, which is available at all the places I mentioned in my thread topic.
Ice cream container size question
coll-
Yikes! Mayo too? I just ran to the fridge and checked. How long have we been being short changed on the "quart" of mayo?
Ice cream container size question
It's a sneaky way of raising the price by gradually giving you less and less. Yet the price gradually creeps upward at the same time. I'm talking about standards that have been in place as far back as I can remember since being a kid in the 1960's, and probobly way before that, as well.
Where does it all end? Theoretically, like the poster above mentioned, somewhere in the future, some will be paying a million dollars for a molecule of ice cream if the trend continues.. :)
Ice cream container size question
For the longest time I'd just buy pints of Hagen Dazs or Ben And Jerry's. About a year ago I started buying 1/2 gallons, er, ah, 1.5 quarts of Dreyer's, Breyer's or supermarket house brand to stretch my grocery budget.
Thanks for the link. But it the date was 2008, not 2006.
I also noticed the chain supermarket where I usually shop, Ralph's, recently repackaged it's house brand "Private Selection" ice cream and doubled the price.
Ice cream container size question
When did the standard half-gallon container of ice cream that you buy in the supermarket shrink to 1.5 quarts? I just noticed this a couple of months ago when I brought home some ice cream and the container seemed a little small. I went back to the supermarket and checked out the other brands. All 1.5 quarts. How long has this been going on?
I've noticed this shrinking trend of standard supermaket sizes in other food and drink products, as well. Off the top of my head:
-canned tuna. Previously 6 oz. can, now 5 oz
-frozen vegetables in a bag. Previously 1 lb., now 12 oz.
-dried pasta. Previously 1 lb., now many are appearing in 12 oz. boxes
Best Cheap Beer
There are several varieties of Baltika always available at the Jon's Market chain in Los Angeles. Plus some other little known eastern european brands. Anywhere between $1 and $2 a bottle(1/2 litre) depending which ones they have on sale.
"Dinner With The Band"
Sam Mason. Thanks for mentioning his name. Although I've seen several episodes of DWTB, his name hadn't stuck with me yet.
"Dinner With The Band"
Any fans of this show? It's running on IFC now. The host is a very talented and creative chef. On each show he prepares a dinner and a cocktail for whatever band he has as a guest. It starts off with the band assisting in preparation of the dinner. In the middle of the show the band goes upstairs to play a song or two while he cooks and prepares cocktails. Then the band comes back down to enjoy dinner and a drink. It's a fun way to learn some new recipes and check out the music of young, up and coming bands you may never have heard of.
Best Cheap Beer
That's all I, and everyone else, called it way back when. "I'll have a Pabst".
Best Cheap Beer
Cool story.Yeah. I kind of remember seeing that giant PBR bottle when my parents and me would drive up north on the GS Parkway to visit relatives for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the 1960's.
If I remember correctly, as late as the early 1980's, Budweiser had a giant "Flying A" neon sign, occlouded by steam, that you could see to the west when dirving up the NU Turnpike towards NYC.
Grew up in NJ and been living in SoCal since 1989.
Best Cheap Beer
Interesting. It was a very common beer in the saloons and taverns in NJ when I came of drinking age in the early 1970's.Like 30 cents a glass and 40 cents a bottle back then. :)
Best Cheap Beer
Trader Joe's "Red Oval" lager from Wisconsin, $2.99 a six, is now called "Name Tag". Same logo and printing on the can, just the new name inside the red oval logo. Anyone know why this is?
Best Cheap Beer
Yes. Miller High Life is $2 a quart and the big cans of Bud(24 oz.) the same. Best quart deal going around here are quarts of Caguama from El Salvador at $2 a quart. A much better beer IMO.
Spaghetti and Meatballs?
If the restaurant itself answered "no" on two separate occasions, who would be in a better position of trust to confirm your belief?
Best Cheap Beer
Yeah. I rememmber that. These days, though, they start around 5 or 6.
Best Cheap Beer
If they have it at your TJ's, try the "Red Oval Classic", also $2.99 and from Wisconsin. It's even drier than the Simpler Times Lager.
