Paladin's Profile

If you really want to be amused, take a Geiger counter into a kitchen with granite countertops. It's not harmful, but it's funny to see people's reactions.

I have granite counters in my kitchen and I like them. They're easy to clean.

My relatively recent (less than 5 years old) fridge doesn't have exposed condenser coils. I went through the trouble of pulling it out to vacuum as you suggest, and I was most disappointed. Thinking they might have been on the bottom I checked there too, but no. I suspect this may be true for many modern refrigerators. Next time I'm at a home improvement store I think I'll look to see if I just got lucky or if they've just come up with more efficient designs.

@jess13... "I swear to God I'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says "Shenanigans."

Fortunately, that is not the name of a scotch.

Balsamic strawberry. The sweet/savory pairing is amazing.

Is 365 Organic an exclusive WF brand? I swear I've seen it at Safeway as well...

@Bruce... The only thing I can assume is that Bob's Red Mill is using a different type of corn. If you use hominy, like most grits, soaking them in lye to release the nutritive value usually also bleaches them somewhat. When I see yellow "grits" I just assume it's really polenta.

Speaking as someone who has a blue and white PowerMac G3 running as a fileserver I'll have to dispute your claim that Apple's stuff wears out fast. And that's not my only old Mac.

'Tis the season for emptying the pantry. I've been finding things I didn't buy and have no idea how they got there. I suspect friends who cooked for me when I was ill. Including the aforementioned creamed corn that everyone seems to hate so much. I used it to make cornbread. And it turned out surprisingly well.

The flip side of emptying the pantry is the joy in restocking it. That's an equally satisfying and fun task for me.

I start with cold water and bring to a boil, and let it boil for 7 minutes. Then an immediate bath in ice water. Odd thing is, I could swear I read about that method here the last time you did a "how to" on how to boil eggs...

Cooking on a garden rake? Never, ever do this. Do you have any idea what's in the paint on those things? Heavy metal oxides at the very least. It's a garden tool and as such has no requirement to be non-toxic. Don't use it for cooking.