sarasvati's Profile

You're confusing expiration date and sell by date. Sell by date (which is clearly shown in the photo at the top of this post but which you have mistaken for an expiration date) is the date for optimal freshness; after that, the product will probably start going downhill but it won't be unsafe for at least a week, if not longer. Most products are labeled as such these days to make clear the fact that the product isn't bad/unsafe after that date, but it's not going to be 100% quality.

As for milk, I pour a bit into a glass and then sniff and taste. The rim of the spout of the carton always smells a little funky because of the dried on milk there, so it's not a good gauge of freshness. I've had milk in my fridge for a week past the sell by date and it's perfect, and I've also had milk go bad a few days before. You just have to go with your gut on this. The worst that happens is that you have sour milk, but I have yet to hear of a case of anyone getting sick from milk consumed past its sell by date. It's the bagged greens you need to watch out for.

@Nora Rocket - NYC milk has an earlier sell by date because of the fact that the cold chain is broken multiple times when distributing to small stores and therefore deteriorates the product. When milk gets delivered to Target or Stop n Shop, it's taken off a cold truck and put directly into the store's cold storage, but when it gets delivered to bodegas, it goes to a mid-level distributor, and then to individual retailers, so you have the milk out of cold storage for more time, thereby increasing the potential for growth of organisms/product deterioration and hence the earlier sell by date.

I like to roast cubes of turnips (often along with squash) and add them to a chickpea stew/tagine - roasting brings out the sweetness.

Another great use is shredded and added to hash browns - they add a nice savory, earthy note.

Also, make sure to buy small turnips, I've found the big ones to be more bitter and not as tender.

The proper way to make egg white cocktails is to shake all ingredients (except any soda added at the end) without ice for 10 seconds, then add ice and shake another 10 seconds. If the egg white is too cold it won't froth up properly, hence the first shake, then the 2nd shake to chill and slightly dilute.

Spaghetti-O's, but I recently discovered Trader Joe's Joe O's which taste the same but better since there's no high fructose corn syrup in them. My other dirty secret: Taco Bell bean chalupas.

Agar is very stable so it won't melt in the heat the way gelatin would.

Sounds like previous commenters don't know too much about vegetarian cooking...

How about a Southeast Asian inspired meal - much of it is vegetarian and free of gluten (lots of rice instead of wheat) and lactose (minimal, if any, dairy).

Here are a few suggestions for a Thai-inspired menu that will stand up to being made ahead and either reheated or served at room temperature and are definitely worthy of a special occasion.

- Summer rolls with a tamarind-lemongrass dipping sauce (store in the fridge and let come to room temp before serving)
- Thai red or green curry with tofu and vegetables served with jasmine rice (store in the fridge and reheat)
- Long bean (or green bean) salad with fried tofu (store in the fridge and let come to room temp before serving) - this recipe is an excellent starting point, just add in blanched green beans and reduce the amount of tofu
- Chocolate-chili green curry cake - it requires advance prep, but can be kept at room temp safely for a day.

Mrs Meyer's Lavender soy candle works like a charm. As does vinegar, which is a hell of a lot cheaper.

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams have a couple of similar chairs. I have a sofa from there and it is insanely comfortable.

This one is the closest: http://www.mgbwhome.com/claire_chair.asp

http://www.mgbwhome.com/lauralee_chr.asp

Cute, but looks like a nightmare to eat without destroying it.

I've heard that Mae Ploy curry pastes are excellent, but they are not vegetarian (they contain shrimp paste).

The next best thing are the curry pastes by Mae Sri. They come in small cans (about the size of a cat food can) and are excellent - no need to add anything beyond coconut milk and vegetables and protein and maybe a little salt - and and it always comes out better than the curries at my local Thai restaurants.