Lord_Nightblade

I always figured they chose Rhode Island to be unique and get away from the usual New York/Los Angeles standins.

Me too.

Pfft, garlic press? Screw that. If you're going to crush garlic all you need is something heavy and flat, like a piece of marble (which you can probably get pretty cheap, if not free, from a place that makes marble counters or tile).

Teflon has it's uses, but I agree that it's overused for too many cooking applications.

First, you can't do anything that requires high temperatures. Why? Because when a teflon pan is hot enough, it starts releasing toxic gasses. These gasses have been known to kill birds, and while they may not be deadly to humans they're still enough to make people sick. So you don't want to do any high-temperature cooking, like stir frying, in anything teflon.

Second, you have to take really really good care of them to preserve the teflon coating. Teflon's the slickest substance known to man. They have to go through a lot of crap to even get it on the pan in the first place. If you use the wrong utensil (such as anything metal) on any teflon cookware or wash it with something that's too abrasive, that coating is coming off. And even if you are careful and treat your teflon pans as gently as possible, that coating is still going to gradually wear off and you'll still have to replace it later.

Third, you can't deglaze anything in a non-stick pan. For deglazing, you need things to deglaze and you only get things to deglaze when stuff sticks to the bottom of a pan.

Does all this mean you shouldn't cook with teflon? No. It just means you shouldn't cook everything with teflon. Just like you shouldn't cook everything in cast iron or steel, etc. etc.

Wrapping the bottle in something opaque (such as aluminum foil) can help keep olive oil fresher longer, as light will degrade the oil. Or you can keep it in a dark place.

Battlestargatetrek Galactica The Next Generation Atlantis!

I remember Alton Brown doing a good guide to what sauces work best with which pastas in an episode of Good Eats, but I couldn't find it. I did find this guide, which looks like it has good information. The kind of sauce you want to use depends more on the shape of the pasta than what it's made of, so fettuccine is going to work better with different sauces than fusilli regardless of whether they're made of whole wheat or semolina.

Whole grain noodles are healthier. I don't like them, because they take longer to cook and they have a flavor I don't care for (kinda cardboardy, IMO). But if you like them, go for it.

As for salt, it's generally a good idea to add some to the pasta while it's boiling. It's pretty much the only time the pasta will actually absorb the salt and get flavoring from it (not to prevent sticking). And remember, when you're cooking it's all about flavor.

And let's not forget the mall that has everything.

I see your Ronin and raise you a Bullitt.

Yes, one could use Mu, but I've never seen it used in that context outside of a mathematical or scientific context, and MMOs aren't generally considered in that manner by the gaming community.

Also, I'm pretty sure the second M in MMORPG (which is often shortened to MMO) stands for Multiplayer, not multiple. A Massively Multiple Online Role Playing Game makes no sense, how can one have multiple onlines?

One could make a distinction between a Massive and Micro multi-player experience and still use the same general abbreviation. It would be difficult to convey verbally, but in writing I'd refer to the former as an MMO and the latter as an mMO.

Especially if you have hard water. All the minerals and stuff will start concentrating as the water is boiled out, leaving a coating that will affect not only the taste of the water, but also the vessel's ability to boil. The irregularities from the coating will cause hot and cold spots on the bottom of the kettle/pan/pot, resulting in longer boiling times (if the build up is particularly bad).

All depends on how you use the microwave. If you don't want meat to come out rubbery or completely dry, you have to use a lower setting and cook it longer, just like cooking meat on the stove or in an oven. Just because you can roast a turkey at 500 degrees in the oven doesn't mean you should. At that temperature, the outside is going to be completely dry long before the heat can penetrate to the center of the bird. Similarly, just because you can microwave a piece of chicken at full 1200 watt blast doesn't mean you should.

As for eggs and bacon tasting bad, I wouldn't cook eggs in a microwave (reheat, maybe, but never cook). That's just asking for them to be overdone. Bacon can be great from the microwave (I like mine crispy, which some may consider overdone), so if yours tastes funny then, I dunno, clean it or something. Or if you're cooking the eggs and bacon at the same time, don't do that.


As for tea, I like drinking a white tea with mango and peach from Lipton (yes the people who make Brisk, now hush) during the winter. Also if I have a sore throat. It's nice and soothing, with a good peachy flavor.

Untrue. Though a microwave lacks the kind of precision control one gets with a (good) stove, oven, or grill (to say nothing of the versatility), it is still capable of heating raw foods to a safe, internal temperature. While I would not cook a steak or a salmon fillet in a microwave, I do have the option.

Shame, really, since electric kettles can boil water much faster than the stove top (heat source concentrated at the bottom of the water vs. heat source surrounding the water). Although I'm sure if Alton Brown had his way, there'd be an electric kettle in every kitchen.

China.


I like white teas, their flavor tends to be more delicate and subtle than black teas. Hard to find at my local tea shop, though. They only carry one, rather expensive, variety (silver needle) that I haven't tried.

Likewise, I'm the only person in the United States with my name, and only one other person in the world has the same first and last names (and he's more likely to come up in a Google search).

I'd be more concerned with the possibility that someone could find your address and show up to do you physical harm in real life (or start harassing you over the phone) than identity theft.

If it works, that's great. The jackholes will retreat to some other dark corner of the internet, but the WoW forums might actually become a civil place (or at least somewhat pleasant).

If it fails, though...well, it's going to be one spectacular train wreck, plane crash, sinking ship, towering inferno of a failure.