joydreamz's Profile

The best thing about having a pug in the kitchen is that he will immediately "clean up" anything you drop on the floor.

I have thought ALOT about this.
I make sauce with veggies in a wide large pan.
Turn off the heat.
Transfer the pasta into the sauce (not the other way around) and Toss
Then add parmesan, fresh parsley, etc.
Final Toss and you are done. Use tongs to transfer into individual portions.

I love smitten kitchen's roasted pears in vanilla bean. It is exceptional.

I feel like the counter blender and immersion blender are not OR items. I LOVE my Oster beehive blender. But pouring hot liquids into it is a scary hot mess (literally and figuratively).

I immediately wondered the same thing RAE1 said. But if you're someone that's concerned about that you probably by BPA free cans to start with.

I've been a nondrinker my whole life (for religious purposes). I've never found it to be a big deal. I have literally played drinking games, but just didn't drink. I think once people realize that you're not uptight about other people drinking they don't care. I suggest 1. taking something lovely and non alcoholic to a party to share and 2. if out asking the bartender to make you something tasty and nonalcoholic.

The most annoying thing to me is the assumption some people make that because you don't drink you would want to be everyone's designated driver. Um no, I don't go out just to drive drunk people home.

As someone that grew up eating indian food, I find the Whip In rather mediocre. I was extremely let down when I went after hearing so much praise. I just don't get it.

It's interesting that people outside of Texas love Austin and while I like Austin I love Houston. Austin is actually pretty homogenized and segregated. It reminds me a lot of Portland in that respect, so the comparison is not off the mark, just not in a positive way to me. Not to be an Austin hater, because it really is lovely, but I'd rather have Hillal-croft than Whip In any day.

I say EMBRACE IT. Maybe get some native american art and a southwestern looking outdoor rug, put some dream catchers hanging around.

Honestly, I have no idea. That kitchen is amazingly ugly, best wishes on whatever you can do!

I thought you were not supposed to wash produce until you were ready to use it? Is this right (real question). I use glass bowl + cloth napkin/dishcloth, but I still buy ziploc bags and use them. I haven't used/bought paper towels or plastic wraps in years, but ziploc bags are a major weakness - I wish I could quit you!

Discussions of Tex-mex can start a war. Mexican food and Tex-mex are two distinctly different cuisines, saying you hate all Tex-mex because it messes up authentic mexican cuisine seems extremely shortsighted, like you'll only ever eat one type of food without regional variation. I also think the insinuation that tex-mex is "cowboy" or white people food as opposed to "mexican" is not borne out in Texas. I think Tex-mex is a cuisine developed by a cultural marriage of different heritages. A melting pot of queso if you will.

Queso is a food from the gods. I think the Homesick Texan blog addresses queso wonderfully. Reading the comments here makes my head explode. The idea of putting chicken stock in queso is insane to me. INSANE.