On the brighter side of things, my fear of clowns did help me avoid McDonalds.

To confirm this, a similar study was conducted with 49 MBA students at a wine and cheese reception. Again, those given wine labeled from California rated the wine as 85% higher and the cheese as 50% higher.

“Small cues such as origin or a wine or whether the label or name catches your eye often trick even serious Foodies,” said co-author Dr. Collin Payne. “He (Wansink) has even conducted demonstrations of this at at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and Apicious Culinery Institute in Florence.”

MAJeff, you have pho? IN YOUR PANTRY? I’m coming over for dinnah!

Sure do. I’m down to my last jar, and not making any more until I’m in the new apartment…when i do, I’ll invite ya over.

I can the broth, and freeze individual containers of raw beef, herbs, onions and scallions. When I want some, all I have to do is get the noodles ready, empty the frozen container on them, and open/heat a jar of broth and pour it over. Add some chili sauce and lime juice and I’m a happy girl.

When fall arrives, my cubbards are full of tons of soups and stuff. I’m down to about 6 jars of everything right now.

MAJeff, you have pho? IN YOUR PANTRY? I’m coming over for dinnah!

Couldn’t you just taste each one, instead of taking the entire shot? Or wait a little bit, or drink something else to clear your palate, like with most taste tests?

Not that I’m putting thought into this, or anything.

That’s what I was trying to get at earlier. Not that the recipe ideas aren’t great - I think that part of the problem is that lack of experience with cooking makes it harder for a lot of people to see where corners can be cut. However, like a lot of things, the problem is the system, not just bad parents who are too lazy/stupid/busy to cook - or even bad companies who don’t care who they hurt in their quest for profit

It’s not as if McDonald’s targets the areas they do because they have to fill a quota for Satan, or becuase the people who live there are too stupid to know any better, they target them because it’s profitable to do so and it’s profitable to do so because most people who live in such areas have limited options.

“1. Vodka does have taste. You have to get a bunch of them lined up that are manufactured from different stocks (wheat, potatoes, kasha, honey) but you can indeed taste the difference.”

I imagine several different vodkas lined up for a “taste test”. I take the first one, goes doesn’t quickly, kind of smooth and then it happens. Suddenly my mouth feels as if it were taken hostage by a fire breathing dragon. So then I take the second one, to compare to the first. I can taste nothing though, because my mouth is still numb from the first one. So I take the third, thinking this one will be different. Again I taste nothing as I still have no feeling in my mouth. By the fourth one, I can barely stand, much less taste it. Conclusion, vodka taste taste can’t be proven.

Missed your comment earlier. Um, I just winged it, to tell you the truth, because the recipe is pretty much fly by the seat of your pants stuff. You make what tastes good to you, and yes, fifty-fifty lentil and rice is fine. Drop in all the vegetables you please. You have to cook the stuff until it is a bit thick and then, once you’ve mixed it all together, let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. It gets thicker that way. Also, be careful turning the lentil burgers because they do break apart even with an egg mixed in. As for how you mix it in, I did it with my fingers. I would grab a pile of lentil/rice mix, put it in a bowl, and mix the egg in with my fingers.

I can offer no more refinements that that. When it seems done to you, it is.