I'm also that way.  Because goodness knows I wouldn't want to take any shortcuts.  I mean, someone somewhere must be keeping score, right?

@LJo1:disqus I buy whole, dried chiles in bulk from Penzey's, and do make at least some effort to de-seed them before grinding.  I make huge batches of chili powder at a time, though, so it's a massive pain in the ass; normally the process starts out with me very carefully removing every seed, but by the end I'm just…

@LJo1:disqus I buy whole, dried chiles in bulk from Penzey's, and do make at least some effort to de-seed them before grinding.  I make huge batches of chili powder at a time, though, so it's a massive pain in the ass; normally the process starts out with me very carefully removing every seed, but by the end I'm just…

I'd heard a lot of horror stories about pickles getting mushy during canning, but so far mine have turned out well.  This being my first big pickling summer, though, perhaps it was just beginner's luck?  I made shitloads of the bread-and-butter pickles from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and then the sweet…

I'd heard a lot of horror stories about pickles getting mushy during canning, but so far mine have turned out well.  This being my first big pickling summer, though, perhaps it was just beginner's luck?  I made shitloads of the bread-and-butter pickles from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and then the sweet…

It's pickle nirvana at Casa n Dick these days, as we're starting to crack into some of the jars in our apocalypse collection.  I made a chicken and rice soup on Monday that was simmered with a big heap of Turkish pickled cabbage, and it was insane.  My sister, who hates cabbage, was hoping I'd get lazy and order pizza…

It's pickle nirvana at Casa n Dick these days, as we're starting to crack into some of the jars in our apocalypse collection.  I made a chicken and rice soup on Monday that was simmered with a big heap of Turkish pickled cabbage, and it was insane.  My sister, who hates cabbage, was hoping I'd get lazy and order pizza…

That's the best way to treat healthy grains — as a vessel for bacon.  I do a similar treatment to accompany my pork and bacon kebabs (because when you're making kebabs with pork and bacon, heaven forbid your starchy side not have bacon in it also), mixing in bacon and feta with the quinoa.  Hey, quinoa's a miracle…

That's the best way to treat healthy grains — as a vessel for bacon.  I do a similar treatment to accompany my pork and bacon kebabs (because when you're making kebabs with pork and bacon, heaven forbid your starchy side not have bacon in it also), mixing in bacon and feta with the quinoa.  Hey, quinoa's a miracle…

I make a chili powder with a blend of arbol, chipotle, guajillo, and cascabel chiles, along with garlic, Mexican oregano, paprika and cumin.  Then I'll toss in coriander, cocoa powder, and beer along with it when making a pot of chili.  I like this addition of jam, though…

I make a chili powder with a blend of arbol, chipotle, guajillo, and cascabel chiles, along with garlic, Mexican oregano, paprika and cumin.  Then I'll toss in coriander, cocoa powder, and beer along with it when making a pot of chili.  I like this addition of jam, though…

@avclub-1b1f9a3e639ecc53f335314fc9d8403b:disqus That always drives me nuts.  I remember when I was a kid I would read my mother's old Nancy Drew books whenever I was home sick from school, and whenever Nancy went to a restaurant I'd want to live vicariously through her menu choices.  But she never got the chicken…

@avclub-1b1f9a3e639ecc53f335314fc9d8403b:disqus That always drives me nuts.  I remember when I was a kid I would read my mother's old Nancy Drew books whenever I was home sick from school, and whenever Nancy went to a restaurant I'd want to live vicariously through her menu choices.  But she never got the chicken…

Sex Mob Does Bond!!!  I love that album!  I have a very hard time discussing Bond themes now because I've spent the last 10 years with Sex Mob's versions of "Nobody Does It Better" and "You Only Live Twice" as my standards.

Sex Mob Does Bond!!!  I love that album!  I have a very hard time discussing Bond themes now because I've spent the last 10 years with Sex Mob's versions of "Nobody Does It Better" and "You Only Live Twice" as my standards.

Gorky Park, Polar Star, and Red Square stand among my all-time favorite reads.  Sure, they're pretty much smarter-than-the-average-bear airport novels, but man, 15 years later I still remember vividly the worlds they took me to.  (The later books in the series have a pretty steep drop-off in quality, sadly.  They're…

Gorky Park, Polar Star, and Red Square stand among my all-time favorite reads.  Sure, they're pretty much smarter-than-the-average-bear airport novels, but man, 15 years later I still remember vividly the worlds they took me to.  (The later books in the series have a pretty steep drop-off in quality, sadly.  They're…

I couldn't agree more about how this was the only time we'd seen anything truly impressive from Fabio.  I loved that his collection was such a well-realized, singular vision — and he was the first designer in a long time on PR to send such an impressively conceptualized collection down the runway — but he'd been…

I couldn't agree more about how this was the only time we'd seen anything truly impressive from Fabio.  I loved that his collection was such a well-realized, singular vision — and he was the first designer in a long time on PR to send such an impressively conceptualized collection down the runway — but he'd been…

Dmitry's styling was literally incomprehensible.  When he and the stylist were discussing how the models' hair should be done, and the stylist was all, "We put [product X] in, and then the silver leaf for an ombre effect," and then the camera panned down to show the end result… I kept waiting for the next step.  It…