Cilantro is delicious.

Matchbox is a good call. The Penn Quarter area is fun.

Personally, I think good German food is kind of oxymoronic but we (including German fiance) prefer Old Europe to Cafe Berlin for the food. CB has better ambiance.

Check out Central.

I agree that the dim sum is not great but I love the roasted ducks and pork.

You were wrong to complain. There are many variations of dishes. Had this been a variant that you really loved, how would you have liked it if the restaurant had charged you double, since they introduced you to a new version that was more delicious than what you knew to be Dan Dan noodles?

This post is useless without pics ;-)

But honestly, I used to be very self conscious. I wouldn't even eat fast food alone. Now, for the most part, I don't care but I will frequently bring a book because, frankly, I'm boring.

USDA regulates meat, not FDA. FDA does regulate fish.

jerry,

with regard to the salmon/tuna parasite issue, you have it background. for all intents and purposes, tuna does not have parasites. parasites and raw salmon are a concern. freezing adequately kills parasites in either fish.

Picky eaters suck.

I take it that this is anecdotal and you have no real evidence to substantiate this claim?

Ortolan

Exactly. So many of the CHers take themselves too seriously what with all the "guilt" over liking processed foods and slavish devotion to that which is "authentic."

Pasty, bland nuggets.

Define gourmet.

Expensive?

Hard to get?

Hard to prepare?

What people tell you is gourmet?

Mrs. Butterworth's has a great bottle.

no

Water.

When people dumb it down with Kool Aid, Crystal Light, etc. It makes my freakin' sick.

What about some good ole, simple Bling H2o or kona nigari?

scantily clad waitresses ;-)

I generally agree with the "stay at home on VD" sentiment. However, I note that, almost always, the proponents of "stay at home" fail to account for the labor involved with buying ingredients, cooking them (which many of us enjoy), and cleaning up.

Limburger cheese on oatmeal cookies, with bacon bits. YUM!

Interesting info here. Thanks for the tip.

1. Agree with upthread comments about the proper way to give change (coins first, then bills).
2. I have more peeves with the drive through customers than the McD's employees. If you have a complex order or you're extremely picky, GO INSIDE. If you are paying separate "checks", GO INSIDE. If you have a large order, GO INSIDE
3. The fucking change machines at McDonalds have shitty programming. I notice that, except for pennies, they tend not to give change properly. For example, if your change is 35 cents, the machine should be programmed to spit out one quarter and one dime. Instead, I get three dimes and a nickel. Or maybe two dimes and three nickel. What the fuck?

And, being a frequent McD's customer, this is not an aberration based on the machine being out of quarters at that moment or it just being the one machine. It is consistent across time and location. McDonalds...please fix this.

Tabasco
El Yucatero

Bittman's tomato jam is the bomb.

I haven't been to New England in about 10 years but you guys are very out of it if tapas are new to you.

They have been popular in major metro areas for at least 10 years now.

I like em...they usually have big flavors and, being small portions, you can have a great variety.

Agree with ghg. I hate preachy chowhounders but running water for 10 minutes to cool eggs is a waste of water.

Pouring off the hot water, running a couple of changes of cold water, then throwing some ice cubes in uses less water. One could argue that the ice took energy to make but I don't use that much ice anyway.

I also crack the cooling eggs against the pan or counter--supposed to help with the sulfur.

I don't know how much the Costco container weighs but I estimate that it contains about 2 1/2 times what you get at Giant or another grocery store. IIRC, the Costo clamshell costs about $4.99 or $5.99. The winter Camparis are a little bit lower quality than the summer ones but they are still a very respectable tomato for eating raw.

I'll probably get skewered for writing this on Chowhound, but, even in the summer, I like Camparis. I've had heirloom tomatoes, tomatoes from Farmers Markets, expensive Balducci tomatoes etc. during the summer and I find them to be extremely variable...sometimes sublime, sometimes pretty shitty...watery, sometimes strange tasting. Camparis are consistent. Good to very good, rarely great but never shitty or weird tasting.

I like Thomas Keller's recipe for gaz.

No.

Campari/Costco