ferret's Profile
Why do no national burger chains have veggie burgers?
The salad appeals more to dieters than a veggie burger would so they're not really aiming for the same market.
Restaurants in Evanston
Libertad is a favorite of ours and takes reservations on OpenTable. They aren't terribly hard to get, but you need 3-4 days notice. If you are dining solo and comfortable with bar seating, you can probably walk in Tuesday-Thursday without a problem.
Windy City Tapas
I'll second Gitana (again based on experience with the Northfield location).
Jam with what crackers?
I prefer a more neutral canvas, like water crackers. Sweet crackers with sweet toppings tend to be a little cloying.
SKOKIE EASY and GOOD EATS (the fatter the better)
EJ's is an old-school steakhouse with a good selection (at steakhouse prices, so it's not cheap):
http://www.ejsplaceskokie.com/
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
Must differ by region because our stores sell only the cherry tomato.
ISO Freezable recipes to thaw, not reheat
Crustables are one of my guilty pleasures - the frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I often eat them right out of the freezer. You can easily make your own (the trick is to "butter" both slices of bread with a coating of peanut butter so the jelly doesn't get the bread soggy). Here's a web tip:
http://amandascookin.com/2010/02/how-to-freeze-use-peanut-butter-jelly.html
Why do no national burger chains have veggie burgers?
And there's still "natural beef flavor" added to McDonald's french fries, which they no longer claim are "vegetarian."
Kosher Mexican Cheese?
Homemade refried beans are extremely easy to make, just put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and add a can of beans (drained, with the liquid reserved), pinto or black beans work best. Then mash the beans (either roughly with a fork or with a potato masher) while you're cooking and add some liquid if it gets too thick. 10-15 minutes on the stove should do it. You can also saute chopped onions in the oil before adding the beans.
Why do no national burger chains have veggie burgers?
McDonald's has tested it in the US so if it's not showing up in stores it's because there's no market for it. Like the controversy with their fries having a beef fat coating I don't think real vegetarians would trust that it's prepared separately from animal products and for those who are less stringent, it's just not that large a market.
Need non-fussy fish or Italian recs near James Hotel for 2-hour window on Saturday night
They're on OpenTable. I didn't follow through to a confirmation but it was giving me options.
Kosher Mexican Cheese?
Soy chorizo always works well in these recipes. Great spicing.
Need non-fussy fish or Italian recs near James Hotel for 2-hour window on Saturday night
They take reservations.
Foods you dislike buying—but sometimes need to
The frozen herbs in cube trays work well (you can certainly make your own, but these are the essence of convenience).
http://www.mydorot.com/
They're a couple bucks at Trader Joe's or you can get a multi-pack at Costco with parsley, cilanro, garlic and basil.
isi Cream Siphon: Size, Charge Pressure and a Sprinkle of Physics
isi's website recommends using 1 charger per .5l:
http://www.isinorthamerica.com/consumer/products/chargers/en/
Obviously, if that doesn't give you a good result you can use more, but on a .5l canister, 1 would be plenty.
Skirt steak
Mushroom broil is surprisingly good. This is the odd place that tries too hard (menu is all over the place) but succeeds more often than it fails.
Chicago transit to the Publican
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=publican,+chicago&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=np&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=CmS8T_rPNbDLsQLFvpg7&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=3&ved=0CHMQ_AUoAg
Nutella from Italy
Let me expand on that, "American" Nutella is actually made in Canada, meaning the stuff commonly found on grocer's shelves. Yes, you can find Italian-made Nutella here, but it's imported by the reseller, they don't distribute it in the US.
Nutella from Italy
The ingredients from the Italy website and the US. I don't know what the laws in Italy dictate about specifying sourcing of vegetable oil, but otherwise the same.
Nutella Italy - Ingredients List:
Ingredienti Zucchero, olio vegetale, nocciole (13%), cacao magro, latte scremato in polvere (5%), siero di latte in polvere, emulsionante: lecitina (soia), aromi.
Nutella Canada - Ingredients List:
ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (milk), lecithin as emulsifier (soy), vanillin: an artificial flavor.
Nutella from Italy
I believe it's made in Canada. While the recipes differ internationally, it's in proportions only (less/more sweet to local tastes).
From the Nutella USA website FAQ:
"Where is Nutella® made?
Nutella® that is sold in the U.S. market is made by our manufacturing plant in Canada. Other Ferrero plants that produce Nutella® are located worldwide."
http://www.nutellausa.com/faqs.htm
Why is the Olive Garden so reviled?
Not especially cheap. Yes, soup and breadsticks is cheap, but venture into the pasta dishes and you're in the mid-teens before you know it, which is well in range of reasonable "real" Italian restaurants.
And this is not about food snobbery. I will eat at chain restaurants on occasion, but the whole marketing mindset of Olive Garden should make any consumer who cares about getting fair value for their money think twice before eating here.
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
Odd container. The ones at Costco are the standard sauce jars that everyone uses.
Roasting -vs- Grilling thermometer
If they're otherwise identical in function (e.g. you're not comparing an instant-read to a leave-in probe) then there's no reason for a difference in pricing.
Need non-fussy fish or Italian recs near James Hotel for 2-hour window on Saturday night
Quartino is always a good choice as is the similar Bar Toma (recently opened by the chef from Spiaggia - very casual Italian), less than a 10-minute walk from your hotel. Reserve now.
MANGHAL RESTAURANT CLOSED
Bummer-ish. They were truly excellent when they opened but on my last 2-3 visits it seemed like they weren't making an effort. They were out of items and the food was just okay. I don't know which came first, it falling off my radar or the restaurant declining, but it wasn't nearly as good as when it first opened (I felt the same way about Taboun's California/Devon location).
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
Costco sells the cherry tomato sauce, not marinara (which is what the linked article tested). FWIW, the Amazon ratings are better for cherry tomato than marinara. I believe it was somewhere around $7 for 2-24 ounce jars.
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
There's no "absolute" rule with any store but if you're somewhat informed you can get good deals. Not everyone has time to shop several stores a week to look for the world's greatest deals but I can still smell a good value when I see one. Here's an example, Costco has Tide Pods for $20 (90-pack). The regular price elsewhere is $18 for 66. Even Amazon can't do better ($20 for 77). Is it an earth-shatteringly good deal? Maybe not, but I'm confident that it's a fair value compared to other places. There are many, many other examples.
The supermarket business has extremely tight margins so there's not an enormous amount of headroom for mark-up. Costco makes little to no profit on items (2/3 of their profit comes from memberships) so you always save something, but maybe not as much as when the manufacturer throws in an incentive.
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
The Batali pasta sauce is actually very good. Whether or not he would use it in his restaurant is arguable, but I'm pretty sure that's not the point.
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
The "larger quantities" aren't all that large generally. Sure, you can still get 50lb bags of rice, but more often than not you're just buying multi-packs of retail size cans/jars. The frozen foods are 2-3 times the size of retail stores but are also largley individually-wrapped.
Our kids are mostly out of the house but we still entertain. A few large barbecues in the summer and a few parties the rest of the year. We get a lot of supplies for those parties at Costco.
