From the OP: You are all a fountain of knowledge and the info is much appreciated. I had never heard of the rare roast beef and Graber olives techniques. I don't recall seeing Graber olives (I'm in the SF Bay Area) but have seen the Castelvetrano at Whole Foods, so I'm going to try those. And regarding priming of the glass with the next wine, I've seen that done at a couple of wineries but never knew that was the reason. Great idea!

Thanks, everyone!

We're hosting a wine tasting party this weekend ("guess the varietal" theme). There will be 15 of us and we'll taste about 7 or 8 wines (mostly reds but maybe 1-2 whites). What's the best way to cleanse our palates between wines? From my web searches, it seems that plain water and plain bread or crackers are traditional. But for me, those don't completely clean out the taste of the previous wine (especially bread). Are there other cleansers you've tried? What about cucumber water, or sparkling water, or celery, or .....?

Thanks in advance for your opinion!

Thanks for all of your comments! I have to admit I didn't look at the ingredients on the Demi-Glace because when I've had no stock in the house, I've used Savory Choice's broth concentrates. The first ingredient is the stock itself, which made me feel a lot better in spite of the other ingredients. I "assumed" that the Demi-Glace would be the same. :-( Since it's not, I will use water.

I appreciate Melanie's comment that I usually try to source good ingredients. I do, most of the time. But I have to admit that yeast extract / MSG isn't as big a concern for me as other things. Perhaps because I grew up with MSG and my body doesn't react to it as is the case for other people.

Finally, the recipe calls for 9 cups of liquid because after the braising, the short ribs are removed and the remaining liquid is cooked down to make a sauce. In case anyone is interested, here's the recipe - it was published in one of The Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks but came from a chef friend of hers. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/in...

Thanks again! Happy Easter!

I'm going to make short ribs this weekend. The recipe calls for 6 cups of beef stock (in addition to a bottle of wine, of course!). I don't have any beef stock, and in fact, I've read that the canned stuff is pretty bad. But I do have a packet of Savory Choice Beef Demi Glace. Can I dilute the Demi Glace with water and use that instead of the broth? If so, what proportions should I use? (The packet contains 1/2 cup of Demi Glace.)

I know that Demi Glace isn't the same thing as Stock that's been cooked down and reduced, so that's why I'm unsure if this substitution will work. Thanks!

At Redwood City GO this evening:

- Ste. Chapelle Dry Riesling, $2.99. They also had "Riesling" for the same price.
- Ste. Chapelle Sparkling Wine, $3.99. It's tart, almost lemony. I thought it was worth a try, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.
- Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken Broth, $0.99.
- Swanson 100% Natural Beef Broth, and Vegetable Broth, $0.99 each.
- DeCecco Tri Color Farfalle, $0.99.
- Mangos, from Peru, 2 for $1.00. They were all green, and not big.

I bought the Snake River corned beef round, Kobe-style, at the Costco in Redwood City about 5 days before St. Patrick's Day this year.

Redwood City GO last night had the following good buys:

Prima Prosciutto di Parma, 3 oz. for $1.99, expiration date of 3/26/13.
Toblerone Fruit & Nut bars, $0.99.
Sausal 2009 Family Zinfandel, $7.99.
Pacific Tom Yum Starter Broth, $1.29
GoLean Crunch Cereal, $2.49

Update: I ended up doing a moist oven roasting method. 300 degrees for 3 hours with enough water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan, which was then covered with foil. I mixed the spice packet contents with Dijon mustard and spread it on the beef. During the last hour, I added carrots, cabbage and potatoes.

The beef was very good. Moist and tender, yet firm. There was very little fat (which I understand is a hallmark of a round).

In my original question, I had forgotten to say that the beef was a "Kobe-style" beef. I have no idea if that made a difference. The juices were tasty.

All in all, I was very happy with how it came out. If it had been a regular work day, I would have used the slow cooker method. But since St. Patrick's Day fell on a weekend this year, I wanted to try the oven method.

I purchased a Snake River Farms corned beef round at Costco last night. I was planning on trying an oven roasting method (total of 2 hours at 350). But when doing some web searches for how to cook round, I learned that round is a leaner meat than brisket. Most people suggested using a slow moist method (e.g., slow cooker).

Do you think the oven roasting method works well for round? Would it dry the meat out too much? Perhaps I should cook it for a shorter amount of time, or longer at a lower temperature?

Also, the recipe I want to try (which doesn't indicate whether to use brisket or round) suggests bringing the meat to a boil and then draining, to remove the salt. Would this dry out the round?

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

Ikea sells food storage bags in different sizes and one of the sizes is longer/taller than a normal gallon-size bag. It's perfect for, for example, a box of water crackers which won't fit in a gallon -size bag.

That seems like a great deal! I like the one from Costco, but it's on a roll so you have to tear it off and it never fits perfectly. I've purchased the flat liners from King Arthur Flour but they're a lot more expensive.

This recipe: http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/200....

When I was in Australia a couple of months ago, the Anzac biscuits ranged from rock hard to kind-of-hard to fall-apart, and were sometimes thick. This recipe was perfect for me - thin, crisp, and chewy. I cooked them for the shorter period of time. Yummy!

ANZAC biscuits! Recipes use only 1 or 2 TB of golden syrup, but these cookies are so good that I'm going to be making them often (I first made them a couple of weeks ago).

I have this one, too, and love it. It doesn't leak at all, works really well, and can be put in the dishwasher. It's really a clever design. It's so good that I've bought them as gifts for family members.

Agreed. That meatloaf is yummy. I eat it on its own, without adding any sauce.

BIG YEA for Mini Peppermint Waffle Cookies! Waffle-like cookies about the size of a quarter, with a dab of chocolate and then candy cane-like flakes on top of that. Yum! So good. And because they're so small, I don't feel so bad having a bunch of them!

Good to know! Thank you!

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone. We ended up going to the Palo Alto Farmer's Market. We picked up 15 pounds of organic San Marzano's from a farm based in Pescadero (I think; I forgot to write down the name). They were $3 a pound, but he gave them to me for $2 a pound (probably because we were there 1/2 hour before closing and we took all he had). We also bought 10 pounds of Romas from another vendor who has fields down towards San Juan Bautista. We did lots of roasting today and are very happy. The roasted San Marzanos turned out sweeter than the non-San Marzano Romas.

Thanks, Melanie. We were going to go to Mariquita's U-Pick on Saturday, but I saw on their site today that San Marzanos are not available. Thus, the change in plans. :-(. Yes, we may end up waiting a couple of weeks, too. Or maybe if we can find a sufficient amount, we'll roast a bunch of tomatoes for freezing.

I would like to can some tomatoes this coming Sunday. Last year, we canned beefsteaks but they turned out watery. This year, I'd like to try San Marzanos or maybe another meaty Roma-type tomato. Anyone seen large quantities of these kinds at the farmers' markets or elsewhere on the Peninsula, hopefully at fairly low prices? Thanks!

I thought I'd give an update as to where I bought the chicken wings. I had read about Mission Meat Market elsewhere on the Board. Since we were in the area, we stopped by. I was pleasantly surprised to see the wide selection of meats and poultry offered there. All the chickens (whole and parts) were Fulton Valley brand, and I recalled reading an article about this brand being used for fried chicken recipes (due to their small size). Sure enough, the chicken wings were smallish. But I didn't mind. I purchased a 5 pound bag of the middle joint and wing tip for $7.00. The wing tips went into a freezer bag for future stock-making, and we marinated and grilled up the Buffalo wings. Yummy. Our stomachs were very happy. :-)

Thanks for the recommendation and the link to the similar question, Melanie!

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone!

Can you microwave at full strength or would half-power be better? FYI, I use the plastic replacement lids they sell for the Ball jars and those work really well for freezer and fridge storage.

I've been struggling with this issue, too. My default solution are the Glad disposable plastic containers - the square and rectangular ones stack up well. I have also used round deli style containers that I purchased from Container Store (they are non-BPA). However, in an effort to move away from plastic, I've started to use Ball canning jars (the straight-sided ones, which you can freeze; the sloped shoulder jars are not freezer-safe). The downside with the jars is that I'm afraid to microwave them. The website doesn't say they are microwavable, so I haven't tried.

I would love to find another solution for glass containers that stack well and are microwavable for those times where I've forgotten to defrost the stock ahead of time.

I love making Buffalo wings at home. But I've had a harder time finding raw chicken wings lately. They're hit and miss at the standard grocery stores like Safeway, Lucky's or Nob Hill. The Asian markets, such as Marina or 99 Ranch, often have them, but they sometimes don't look good -- off-color or bloody or cut poorly. I saw them once at Trader Joe's, but never again. Whole Foods sometimes has the natural / organic kind, but they're pricey.

Do you know of a place on the Peninsula or in San Francisco that always has chicken wings in stock, that look to be good quality, and may even be natural or organic?

Thank you! I need my Buffalo wing fix this weekend!

Whole Foods carries a number of low or no-sulfite wines. My M-I-L always buys them there (I've seen them in several locations).

This isn't a box wine but a bag wine, but Clif Family Winery (makers of the Clif bar) offers The Climber Pouch - Chardonnay as well as Cabernet Sauvignon. I've had the Chardonnay and it's pretty decent. It's unoaked and is fruity and is a good wine to drink outdoors.

They told us last summer that it would be sold at Whole Foods, but I haven't seen it there yet. We bought ours at Beltramo's in Menlo Park as well as at the tasting room.

I had the fried chicken at Creola in San Carlos a few months ago. It was "pretty good". Not the best ever, but it had good flavor and a nice crust. They don't always have it on the menu, so call first. It's the only good non-fast food (i.e., Popeye's) fried chicken that I've had on the Peninsula since Lil Biscuit House went out of business.

I've also heard that Town in San Carlos has good fried chicken at Sunday brunch. But I haven't tried it myself. (The waitress told me you have to get there early because they often run out.)

evansp60 - what do you mean that it could be more of a ham than a bacon? What is the difference? And why can't the temp exceed 150/155 to be bacon?

I'm learning a lot for the next batch. :-)