JJJ111's Profile

I just got a clay hot pot from my mom, but it's really small (really only big enough to feed one person). I've found this cookbook to be really helpful (if only my pot were bigger!) http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Hot-Pots-Comforting-One-Pot/dp/158008981X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264129221&sr=8-1

We Taiwanese call these fo shou gua, or Buddha's hand squash. My mom makes an AMAZING dish with the squash cut into chunks peeled and cooked until soft with chunks of codfish. My mom has verbally explained the recipe so many times, but I keep forgetting.

Until I saw one on sale at Whole Foods under the name chayote, I had no idea non-East-Asians ate these! Months later I saw them at a small South Asian market, where they were much cheaper. Now i have to call my mom again...

Does anyone know what to do with an empty fire extinguisher that doesn't involve landfills?

pineapples!

I saw one of these nests at Brown University during my college reunion and wondered what on earth it was-- it was fascinating walking inside it at night-- and now the mystery has been solved!

If I grow mint in a container, can I grow anything else with it?

Anyway, I also wanted to add that if your sponsored posts were written, as I suggest, by the advertisers themselves, I'd still read them. I imagine the content would be similar-- I'd rather hear it straight from the advertiser, rather than wonder if your other posts are genuine posts or paid product placement posts.

All of you who say "I like ads better because I just skip over them" are making it harder for AT to justify selling ad space.

I'm fine with advertising-- it takes money to run a website.

However, I respectfully disagree with the notion that "if you're going to promote something it's actually better to do it yourself, as long as it's clear that it's an ad." If the posts on this site were purely "tips on moving" or "house tours" without ever mentioning products or services by name, that would be one thing. I see no conflict there. However, many posts on AT promote products-- herein lies the problem. If some of these product promoting posts are done "selflessly"-- ie for the sake of your readership only, and others are done because you're paid to do hawk some wares, you completely lose all credibility.

If you want to do things analogously to Prairie Home Companion, what you would do is have the advertisers write the content, and you post it verbatim-- using the font/style/layout of your normal post, with a "sponsored" label to signify "we didn't write this-- this content came straight from the horse's mouth." That way, there's no conflict of interest; manufacturers still get top billing, and we'll still believe you suggest a lamp, a moving company, or a shower-head.

If you're dead set on the "we're going to write it ourselves" business, I'd at the VERY LEAST want to see a note next to every non-sponsored product "we did not receive compensation from this manufacturer." (Just as restaurant reviews, like WTTW's "Check Please," specify that their reviewers/critics dined in the restaurants anonymously.) I think this is the only you can write your own sponsored posts, still talk about products in non-sponsored posts, and not look like you're hiding something.

I want onE!

I have a much cheaper Salton yogurt maker (1 quart capacity), and I make it with whole milk and/or 2% half and half (my friends think I'm gross). I leave it in about 8 hours, at which point I set aside a little bit (otherwise I always forget not to finish off the whole thing), then strain 2 layers of cheesecloth for 2 hours.

Wow, I had no idea freezing didn't kill the cultures!