Due to some people's recent reactions to a common practice of mine, I must ask this question:

Of those of you who eat butter and have it in your homes, do you keep a bar outside the fridge at room temperature?

I voted no, but my parents (and pre-marital me) left a bar out. I figured that was a good a place as any to make a concession.

-Zeke

I've had this argument many times with friends etc.

LEAVE THE DAMN BUTTER OUT! I can't stand trying to spread hard butter on toast or anything else. We keep it in one of those tupperware butter dishes. Saweeet.

do you know why some butter is wrapped in paper, and some in foil?

I have cats, it stays in the fridge.

That's exactly my philosophy. What good is butter on toast if you rip your toast apart?

The reason I started this is because my roommates always put my butter dish in the fridge. My parents have left a bar out for 30 years, and they're fine. We didn't even realize that it says "keep refrigerated" on the packaging

My parents have left a bar out for 30 years, and they're fine

That's some heavy duty preservatives. :-)

Ah, the joys of misplaced modifiers.

My parents have left a bar out for 30 years, and they're fine

That's some heavy duty preservatives. :-)

And some slow butter consumption, whch might explain why they're still ``fine''.

*Sigh*

My wife's father's mother has butter she keeps out. I just can't get used to leaving dairy products out. I'm weird.

Same here, I hate ripped toast!

"Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?"
"Umm, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at Thirty-One Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious."

at room temperature

I guess it might depend a bit on local climate, as well. You can get away with stuff in Lancashire in November which you can't in New Orleans in July. (And, of course, vice versa.)

FWIW I gave up on butter for spreading -- I use one of those nasty fake butter things made from petrochemicals and herring. But I still keep butter around for sauces, pastry, and, when no-one's watching, frying.

Peter

If you have, or know someone who has, “Dairy Product Non-refrigeration” phobia (DPN), there is help. CAREFUL micro-waving of the cold butter will soften the butter and save the life of countless pieces of toast.

Remember, the toast you save could be your own.

petrochemicals and herring

This is my solution as well. I use "I Can't Believe It's Not 10W30" for my butter-spreading needs.

Yup... ripped toast sucks.. so butter out!

Well, since I come from a place where they make and export LOTS of butters of different types all over the world. I probably can comment here.

I must say that I think putting the butter in the Fridge is the only way to go.

The fridges all made here have a special "butter conditioner" little box inside the fridge (up near the top where there is less cold air) where you can put your bar of butter in the (supplied) plastic tray with clear plastic cover and it keeps it warmer than the rest of the fridge (some sort of little heater thingy in there), so that it spreads better on your toast etc.

That yuckky "yellow" rind/oxidised bit you get on the outside of the butter is probably for sure, more harmful than the "fresh" butter further inside the bar, so leaving out your butter is a non-starter as it gets this nice rancid rind.
.
Still if you live in a cold enough place then "leaving it out' might be the best way forward.

IMHO - the fridge is probably the best place for butter.

They also make here a special butter (called "spreadable butter") that has extra water mixed into it once the butter is made so that it can be spread straight from the fridge on your bread and toast.

The extra water content changes the flavour none but helps make it very easy to spread and is really the *only* option if your fridge has no butter conditioner.
[it makes it about have about the same spreadability factor as that horrid stuff called margarine - but with none of that "chemical" aftertaste :-) ].

The Spreadable Butter product was developed for the UK/Europe where fridges with butter conditioner don't exist.

Don't know if the product is available in the US - given the surfeit of Dairy products already sold in the US, I doubt it, or it would be very hard to find.

"I Can't Believe It's Not 10W30"

We use "Udderly Budderly" here, same difference I guess

We keep it in one of those tupperware butter dishes.

You need one of these:

http://www.design-conscious.co.uk/mall/designconscious/products/product-774047.stm

(we have a purple and orange one)

do you know why some butter is wrapped in paper, and some in foil?

here in the US, unsalted butter is typically wrapped in foil, while (the more common) salted variety is wrapped in waxed paper. the salt in butter acts as a preservative, protecting against spoilage from light, among other things. unsalted butter, which is used more in baking, is wrapped in foil to minimize light exposure and prolong its life.

--dan.

My mom uses a spray butter substitute for her toast. **ACK** Zero calories, tastes like butter (so she says, it's not coming CLOSE to MY lips!) , and you don't have to worry about spreading it.

The Spreadable Butter product was developed for the UK/Europe where fridges with butter conditioner don't exist.

Don't know if the product is available in the US - given the surfeit of Dairy products already sold in the US, I doubt it, or it would be very hard to find.

i've never seen it blended with water here, but they market "whipped butter" (infused with air) for the same purpose. i've tried it, and it tastes fine, but i don't find that it spreads any easier than regular butter at refrigerator temperatures.

--dan.

In looking around for this, I've found Anchor Spreadable Butter, but it claims to be softened with canola oil, not water. The other spreadable butters I've found seem to be the same. However, I did find the ButterBell, which should reduce rinding, at any rate.

I got one of these as a gag present one year, and I'll be damned if the contraption isn't one of the best thing since sliced...er, anyway, it works well if you keep it in the fridge, giving you a nice thin strip that is easily melted and spreadable, and works well if you keep it out, sealing the butter from the outside air and keeping it good much longer. I realize the "cheese" factor involved, and yes, it is the one you "saw on tv", but I do certainly recommend it.

edit...amazing how forgetting two letters can change the entire meaning of a sentence.

I got one of these as a gag present one year, and I'll be damned if the contraption is one of the best thing since sliced...er, anyway, it works well if you keep it in the fridge, giving you a nice thin strip that is easily melted and spreadable, and works well if you keep it out, sealing the butter from the outside air and keeping it good much longer. I realize the "cheese" factor involved, and yes, it is the one you "saw on tv", but I do certainly recommend it.

You know it's a classic American product when it says "It does the measuring for you." in the blurb...

you rang?

I prefer to keep myself out.

> I prefer to keep myself out.

ROTFL. I guess that means you are easily spreadable and not hard at all.

I guess that means you are ... not hard at all.

You know, they have drugs for that these days.

Ingenious - water down that expensive butter with cheap... water... and let the marketing droids go to town. It's a beancounter's wet dream.

That yuckky "yellow" rind/oxidised bit you get on the outside of the butter is probably for sure, more harmful than the "fresh" butter further inside the bar, so leaving out your butter is a non-starter as it gets this nice rancid rind.

Eww! Mine never gets to that state! At most, the butter stays out for a week. Do some of you not use AC? My house is always 66-71 degrees. That seems to be fine for butter (no, not you, Butter ).

But if you put thin pieces of butter on the toast when it is still hot from being fresh out of the toaster then the butter melts quite easily. No fake butter in my house and no butter left out either where dust, cat hairs and cat tongues can find it.

My wife's paternal grandmother? My in-law paternal grandmother? My paternal-grandmother-in-law?

Now this might be where you wrong about the tucky stuff being bad as modern thinking says that the reason we have so many allergies is because our houses are so clean and our immune system ends up going a bit wierd

I'm very fussy about butter and I leave it out of the fridge. Even though I can (with great discipline and patience) spread cold butter, it takes too long and I like to use loads of the stuff, so it's just not going to work.

I get a salted Normandy butter (Lanquetot - if you like salted butter and can find it, try it and you'll never touch cheap butter again) that comes in a pottery pot with a plastic lid that seals over the top. It stays in the cupboard and gets replaced once a week with a new pot whether I need to or not.

In reply to:

---

the reason we have so many allergies is because our houses are so clean and our immune system ends up going a bit wierd

---

Thats very true.... statistics show that children sent to daycare centers (germ factorys) and not kept in the home all day are less likely to have asthma and other crap due to a stronger immune system. Did anyone see the "Ripleys Believe it or Not" episode where the guy cured his cancer by eating rancid rotting meats? Germs are our friends...

I prefer to keep myself out

What do you do about the rind?

Hmm I always hated dealing with the cold butter on toast problem as a child. My mom started to whip butter she bought from the store, and this solved that problem at the expense of her effort.

Butter that you squeezed out of a plastic bottle... that went a little too far for me.

I don't use butter at all now except for cooking. Usually, I prefer cream cheese, maybe with some Aromat, on a toasted bagel. Mmmmm.

no butter left out either where dust, cat hairs and cat tongues can find it

Ew again! That's why I keep my butter in a butter tray, it has a lid to keep the cats away!

In reply to:

---

In looking around for this, I've found Anchor Spreadable Butter, but it claims to be softened with canola oil, not water. The other spreadable butters I've found seem to be the same

---

Thats the "export" product you're seeing there on the Anchor.co.nz webpage.
They use Canola as they its trendy/fashionable to put "canola oil" in stuff as Canola is Monounsatured (like Olive Oil) but doesn't have that strong Olive Oil flavour) that would ruin the butter taste. Plus Canola help extend the shelf life of the product I think - not sure on this point. But given that most butter sold under the Anchor brand is shipped via containers (so-called "cooltainers" as opposed to refridgerated ones - aka "reefers"). I think that one of the problems with water based spreadable butter is that the water does slowly seperate/evaporate, turning it back into good old hard butter - thats why they may use Canola as well.

When they started making this spreadable butter it was only water they used (and not much mind) to mix in with the butter via a special process that cost more to make so they charged more for it.

Then they got the idea of using a process that homogenised and did stuff to the fat molecules in the butter and this made is spreadable. The exporter claimed that this was no longer butter and therefore not subject to the European quota sytem on butter imports, but the European butter makers claimed that this was not the case and the spreadable butter was therefore in fact "butter".
I can't recall the outcome of that court case, but I think the European farmers won.

And now it looks like they use Canola oil instead.

The spreadable butter we get locally is usually "fresher" and therefore has a different method of making it - I'm sure and it has water in it, the next time I'm in the local supermarket I'll read the label on the spreadable butters and see...

This BBS amazes me. I would expect expertise on how to solder SMT resistors or what music to go buy, but butter??? I love it. We've got dozens of resident butter experts.

Is there ANY topic that we don't have at least one expet (or self-annointed expert) on???

Is there ANY topic that we don't have at least one expet (or self-annointed expert) on???
Converting asf to a real format on Linux

That's why I keep my butter in a butter tray, it has a lid to keep the cats away!

Butter is far better than Parkay, but they don't sell it at Comp USA.

Sorry, I think i'm just really tired... :P

"How about I just go eat some hay? I can make things out of clay, and lay by the bay. I just may! Whaddya you say?"

yay?

Nay.

Hey!

What?

That doesn't rhyme.

I used to live in Texas...butter cannot be left out in Texas.

Then I lived in Finland...butter can live outside the fridge in Finland indefinately, arguably the whole counrty is similar to a fridge itself.

Now I live in Denver...I have seen it both ways here. I prefer the room temp butter. mmmmmmmmmm butter!!!

Yup you can tell its gettin late in here... So what about syrup? Leave it out or refrigerate? How bout soy sauce?

Now, I know I love my luke warm crusty mayonaise, thats good eatin..

Now, I know I love my luke warm crusty mayonaise, thats good eatin.

<Fast food employee on The Simpsons>
"Hey, we're out of secret sauce! Put this mayonnaise out in the sun."
</Fast food employee on The Simpsons>

> Is there ANY topic that we don't have at least one expet (or self-annointed expert) on???

Not sure I'd get medical advice here.

I leave out both syrup and soy sauce. I used to think soy hadta be in the fridge, but my girlfriend is asian and her family has always had their soy on the table....

I think i'd take medical advice from Jim...

on a whim...

As in, "He's Dead, Jim." ?

aaaand a journeyman was him!!!!

As in Hogan.... I remember his riveting post about the guys heart exploding post heart surgery and rocketing stuff across the room and onto the wall during his intern days? I think?

Ah Ha!! Found IT!!

Living in Scotland, I guess room temp is probably okay to leave butter out (usually have the thermostat set to 18C)
I wouldn't do it, though, because you can't cut soft butter, only spread it.
My preference is to have good salted butter nice and cold in the fridge. When making toast, I usually hold the knife over the toaster to heat it up then cut off slices of butter maybe just under 1mm thick and place them on the toast immediately it comes out of the toaster. The butter then melts straight into the toast with no spreading required.

Of course, you need to get a good quality, salted butter because otherwise it tastes terrible.

Edit - of course, Scotland is famed for the high proportion of heart attacks in the population. Hey ho!

For toast we tend to cut off a chunk and put it in the microwave for 5-10s which makes it pretty spreadable. Not too long mind.. unless you like liquid butter!

For bread I prefer Utterly Butterly but you can't beat real butter on a toast, a baked spud or runner beans.

Gareth

When making toast, I usually hold the knife over the toaster to heat it up then cut off slices of butter maybe just under 1mm thick

You sound like the EC specification for making a cup of tea - believe me, it exists -something like"slices .972mm thick" would sit easier in the statute book.

Tell me, and I am with the leave the butter out clan, can anybody not tell that "I can't believe it's not butter" is margarine - I can tell straight off, when Mrs.Boxer uses it and reckon that I could pass any blind test?

new boiled potatoes and butter yum

I grew up with butter out, but now we use the fake stuff for toast and I think it works great. My wife even cooks with it, so we hardly have butter around.

However, we visited my wife's grandmother over Thanksgiving and she keeps the butter out. What I didn't realize, however, is that every time the "mound" of butter she keeps out gets low, she piles more on. That means the bottom butter is, well. . . old. I was grateful that she had just put more on before we ate because at least what I was getting was fresh. It was at that point my wife informed me that her grandmother "shapes" the butter with her bare hands and doesn't wash them first. . . and she did this after cooking with raw chicken. At least I didn't get sick, but I'll be very careful what I eat next time we go.

Yeah, that's also kinda gross.

I try to clean the butter dish as much as possible between sticks. Each time I just take a paper towel and wipe the rest off. Then every 3 sticks or so I stick it in the dishwasher.

Again, it hasn't killed me yet

EC specification for making a cup of tea

ISO 3103
BS-6008

My girlfriend bought this really far out butter dish at the King Arthur Flour store in Vermont.
Its a ceramic cup that you fill with butter and then invert into a larger ceramic cup filled with water.
The water seals the butter and keeps it from getting nasty while not in use. And when you take the butter out of the water its not all wet 'cause its, well, butter.
At first I thought this was gross, but it works quite well, and you always have room temp. butter.
You just need to change the water every couple of days.
Apparently it's French.

Here you go:
http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/htmlos.cgi/14140.5.754905739317257303

Zachary

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry...

I don't suppose there's one for teaching your Grandma to suck eggs?

Boy, kinda like that ButterBell I linked above, huh?

So, on a similar topic, what's the verdict on Ketchup? In the fridge or on the counter?

So, on a similar topic, what's the verdict on Ketchup? In the fridge or on the counter?

How about nowhere?

Cupboard. I hate cold ketchup. (Besides, is the vinegar going to go bad?) But I hate Hunt's more.

um.. yeah...

ahem....

Please forgive me, I just got back to New England from 2 months of sailing in the tropics (CA to HI) and I think the numbing cold here has slowed the ol' synapses.

Wont happen again...

Today...



Z~

In the cupboard.
Next to the Franks Hot Sauce.
Although they both will change color and flavor if left unrefrigerated for long periods.
i.e. more than 6 months. Dont ask...
I just buy a size that know I'll use up in a couple of months.

Z~

Hey, I can't believe this thread stayed on topic for about 60 posts. I think that's a new record.

Anyway, here I go:

Ketchup (Ketchup, Catsup, Ketchup, Catsup...) - in or out, doesn't matter
Maple Syrup - you're supposed to refridgerate it after opening. syrup can go bad
Mayo - uh...fridge
Milk - I like a nice, curdled milk, so...radiator.

I can't think of anything else...

Hmmm I'm a cold ketchup guy. Not sure why, I just like the contrast of cold ketchup on a hot burger.

Ketchup (Ketchup, Catsup, Ketchup, Catsup...)

Obligatory Simpsons reference of the day...



"These tomatoes are going to be Heinz Ketchup. And these tomatoes are going to be Hunt's Catsup!"

I remember his riveting post

Riveting...(blush).

Waaal, I'm pretty cautious about drawing on my increasingly rusty body of medical/nursing know-how, but if you ever need to be catherized in a jiffy, or if you need your endotracheal tube suctioned, feel free to get in touch.

Some things are like a bicycle. You never forget

(edit: Oh, crap, I need to say something about butter, or *I'll* be blamed for taking this weirdest of all threads off-topic! ....Ummmm......ummmm...... butter, mayonnaise, and such are actually pretty low risk as food poisoning vehicles, but you still want to keep that butter covered if you subscribe to the warm butter school...)

ketchup... out, if you disagree just remember that diners don't refrigerate the bottles.
Maple syrup.... I agree, the fridge... but if you buy the nifty short bottle once you can microwave to taste.
Milk... a separate fridge kept barely above freezing, not for safety, just because it tastes better that way.
soy sauce.... soy sauce will out live us all, and probably our children no matter what the climate... it is the culinary equivalent of the Dead Sea.
Honey... I've heard that they actually found unspoiled honey in pyramids, so its probably safe in the cupboard.

EC specification for making a cup of tea
ISO 3103
BS-6008


Since that BS-6008 search has expired here is a news article from when they got the 1999 Ig Nobel prize for literature.

Might have to slip into the Uni library to have a look next time I'm in town, or get my dad to print if off at work.

Gareth

I'm mostly with the Reverend on this:

Milk, very cold (mmm)
Soy sauce, just like worcester sauce, out (vinegar and salt as natural preservatives)
Honey, out (sugar as a natural preservative)
Ketchup, out (unnatural preservatives)

Maple syrup, on the other hand, I'm quite happy to keep on a completely different continent. It might be useful for seasoning one's cricket bat, but I'm not putting on my breakfast.

Peter

In reply to:

---

Maple syrup, on the other hand, I'm quite happy to keep on a completely different continent. It might be useful for seasoning one's cricket bat, but I'm not putting on my breakfast.

---

ROFL

I should be amazed, but strangely am not, that BUTTER should spark this many replies.
But here goes,
Milk - nice and cold
Soy - out
Honey - out
Ketchup - in for some reason

Finally,
Butter is OUT during winter and IN during summer. If it gets left out in summer we have a pool on the countertop, its funny - until somebody gets hurt.

I can find no logic in this...but doesn't it seem natural for ketchup in a glass container to be out of the fridge? And yet I have an odd instinct to put ketchup in a plastic bottle in the fridge.

I'd say that personal ketchup should be in the fridge, as I don't go through it fast, and it's liable to sit there for who knows how long. Diners go through it by the gallon, and leaving it out only means it'll be open and exposed for a few hours before it's gone.

Strangely enough, it seems all the restaurnts in california have changed to plastic ketchup bottles in the last six months. I think it's some health regulation, but I havn't investigated...

Matthew

PS: Butter in, because there are only two people in my appartment and we don't go through it fast enough. But more than two people, leave it out so it's spreadable.

Maple syrup, on the other hand, I'm quite happy to keep on a completely different continent.

One wonders if this might have to do with the fact that it has travel to you from another continent. (Maple is one of those species that doesn't exist in Europe, right?)

it seems all the restaurnts in california have changed to plastic ketchup bottles in the last six months

Same here in North Carolina, although it's been longer than 6 months. Are they also the opaque plastic bottles in CA, too? So that no one can see when they're getting empty, which means that they always are? That really pisses me off. (And I doubt that it's a health thing. I imagine that Heinz just started offering restaurant plastic packs less expensively than glass.)

> Maple Syrup - you're supposed to refridgerate it after opening. syrup can go bad

Hmm, I never have, and haven't had a problem. Cold Syrup is A) Cold, which sucks because I like a lot of it on my pancakes, which cool down fast enough as it is, and B) viscous as all hell, which makes it tough to get out.

As for the rest:
Ketchup - in (I too like the contrast of hot burgers and cold ketchup)
Butter - out, but not forever, even in my butter butler. I'll give it a week or two out before I start to get nervous about replacing it.

And Mayo and milk of course in and honey of course out, I doubt there is much disagreement with those.

Does anybody else put their bread in the fridge? I started doing it several years ago because it really does help with its lifespan, but I don't know anybody else who does.

I put my bread in the fridge. And sometimes the freezer if it's something I don't eat too often (hamburger/hot dog buns, dinner rolls, et. al.)

It may depend on the syrup. We usually get grade A amber from Vermont or Maine or some Canadian province. That's a little more runny. I also kind of like cool syrup, much like the cold ketchup/hot burger thing.

Actually, I was making a different Simpsons ref Remember when Mr Burns is in the grocery store by himself? That's the one I was talking about

Well, the entire time this thread has been going, the vote has been about 1:2 in favor of keeping butter in the fridge. I still like my nasty, warm, spreading butter, thank you

And I agree, I never thought this thread would fill up so fast. We're near 100 posts in under a day!

Okay, a majority of my family lives in WAY upstate New York right near Vermont, and they're in love with the "runny" Vermont maple syrup. I think the stuff tastes like dogshit. Ugh. You might as well take some toilet water, pour some sugar in it, and pour it on your pancakes. This is one instance where the artificial equivalent (probably made from a different mixture of petrochemicals and herring than the fake butter) is a lot better than the "real thing."

I went so far one time as to refuse to eat breakfast before taking a trip to the store to get the synthetic maple syrup.

That's funny about the other Simpsons reference. Didn't think of that one.

I'm glad you think so. It leaves more of the real stuff for those of us with taste.

-Zeke

This is one instance where the artificial equivalent (probably made from a different mixture of petrochemicals and herring than the fake butter) is a lot better than the "real thing."

the "fake" maple syrups are mostly corn syrup and artificial flavoring. blech.

--dan.

I like any kind of real syrup. However, I am a fan of thicker syrup. The grade A is pretty runny, but I still find it tastey. I've been told that most Vermonters eat the grade C stuff, because it's thicker.

I'm in favor of removing anything that doesn't *need* to live in the fridge if there's not enough room for the beer.

I'm in favor of removing anything that doesn't *need* to live in the fridge if there's not enough room for the beer.

I'll drink to that!

MOM! Jim said "catheter" again! Make him stop!!!!

Hehe, if you got so much beer that you need to kick everything out of the fridge, you need to consider getting a keg cooler. I had a friend who had one of these, and they pretty much kick butt.

This isn't the one he had, but it is very similiar.

It may depend on the syrup. We usually get grade A amber from Vermont or Maine or some Canadian province. That's a little more runny.

Grade B is the only way to go. A little harder to find but well worth it. Nice and thick and dark, and a lot more flavor.

Also for a change try Maple Syrup on eggs. Scrambled, over easy, whatever. Will never topple Ketchup or hot sauce as king egg condiment, but good once in awhile.

Z~
Born and rasied in N.Y.C. but a New Englander at heart.
Ayuh...

P.S.
Also maple water is pretty tasty if you can find that too.

I was never big on the whole ketchup and eggs thing, or anything else on my eggs for that matter. My eggs... over medium then once on the plate, smashed to bits via my fork with the runny yolk mixed in. I get strange looks sometimes for eating my eggs that way. Anyone else do that or am I just a freak?

So, on a similar topic, what's the verdict on Ketchup? In the fridge or on the counter?

I doubt that it matters very much. I have a bottle of ketchup in my desk drawer (I'm looking at it now) that is just about used up, still a cup or so left in it, and still perfectly palatable (or at least as palatable as ketchup might be) and while I can't find any actual dates on the bottle (there are lot numbers and maybe even a serial number (?!) on it), I know for certain it has been in that drawer for at least four years.

tanstaafl.

freak.

I thought that was the case.... I made one of my ex's puke eating my eggs that way, I always just attributed that to the fact that she was a goth with some serious mental issues. But now I know it really was my eggs.

Anyone else do that or am I just a freak?

When I eat eggs: over easy and I cut it all up and use toast as a shovel to get the egg to my mouth. Bacon is a must.

I know that keeping ketchup out of the fridge doesn't have any real implications for possible spoilage - but it still irks me for some reason, only at home. When eating out, it doesn't bother me at all.

Beer must be cold, though. It gets its own shelf in the fridge, in addition to a small beer fridge we have.

Having family in New England as a positive influence, authentic "real" maple syrup is the way to go. Nice and runny, and use the pancake as a sponge to sop it up. And of course - the butter... I like to cut the cold butter into thin slices, or scrape my knife along the top of the butter stick, then put the butter between the hot pancakes. Pancakes hold heat better than toast, and melts easier.

try this for a wisconsin treat: slice a hunk of sharp cheddar cheese, and dip that in your syrup (along with your bacon!). yum!

--dan.

I'm glad I'm not the only one.... and yes bacon thrown in the mix is da business. Of course hashbrowns are always welcome.

How could I forget about hash browns! Mmm, good with ketchup too. Does anyone think I'm weird for dipping potato chips in ketchup? Okay I used to do that as a kid but not anymore...

Being born and raised in Kentucky (no redneck jokes please) whada bout grits? I love em with a little salt and yes... warm room temperature butter

Nope.... I don't personally do it but I can't eat french fries without ranch dressing, but thats off the topic of breakfast foods.

If we are having eggs, bacon and hash browns, can I also have sausage, fried bread, baked beans and black pudding please

In reply to:

---

Beer must be cold, though.

---

This right here says it all: http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail39.html

Oh, and to keep it somewhat on topic.
Butter - IN

Went to college in Vermont (Bennington) and that was where I was introduced to Cheddar Cheese on apple pie.
Complete horrification soon led to curiosity which then led to no more pie and a nap.
s'good!

Z~

Black pudding rocks! I'd never had it til a recent trip to Ireland, those Irish people love their black pudding. Had it every morning at all the bed and breakfasts.
BTW.... Look I'm addicted! What an exciting day... My status changed!!

funnily enough, we have a dedicated beer fridge out in the garage.
None of that food rubish in that puppy!
. . . . .
but wait!
Isn't beer counted as food?

Whenever anyone at work starts getting at me about english cooking, I am comforted by the fact I can always mention grits to shut them up.
I have to say that beer is much more a food than grits will ever be.

So you've been to the Dressed to Get Laid party then eh?

Came down once from Hanover for that.

Wow.

I'm sure there was butter there somewhere.

-Zeke

Liquid bread.

Good for growing boys (and girls).

-Zeke

it seems all the restaurnts in california have changed to plastic ketchup bottles in the last six months


Same here in North Carolina, although it's been longer than 6 months. Are they also the opaque plastic bottles in CA, too? So that no one can see when they're getting empty, which means that they always are? That really pisses me off. (And I doubt that it's a health thing. I imagine that Heinz just started offering restaurant plastic packs less expensively than glass.)

Time to chime in with my restaurant knowledge...

Many places are starting to use the plastic bottles for three reasons:

1. Marketing and appeal. A nice "full" bottle looks much better than an old used glass bottle with nasty "someone just put their used knife in there to get some ketchup out" stuff running down the sides.
2. Ease of use. Shake. Squeeze. Thats about it. No more waiting for 3 hours for yummy red "food".
3. Safety. The tops don't come off these things. Thus preventing restaurants from "marrying" the ketchups together, when one gets low and the other is just about full.

Yeah its nasty I know, but quite a common practice. Image, if you will, what happens to that little bit of ketchup (left out in room temp all the time too) that keeps getting "married" from one bottle to the next and never used. For weeks.

It's called fermenting. Then some sorry sack comes along and gets a burger. He's so hungry and all the burger needs is a bit of ketchup to make it perfect. He slowly unscrews the top...

BOOM!!! (ok, more like a loud pop, but you get the picture) ketchup everywhere. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion. Not a very pleasant thing.

mmmm...smelly death ketchup....

Be glad he didn't say "Suprapubic catheter, hold the anaesthetic, this is an emergency"...

Be very, very glad. I still have nightmares.

pca

Butter: IN
Beer: IN
Soy: OUT
Right leg: IN
shake it all about

If we left butter out here, we could just pour it onto toast; not very satisfying.
All this food talk made me hungry and I made pancakes, with MAPLE syrup (IN).

So you've been to the Dressed to Get Laid party then eh?

Oh man...
Every year I was there.
Had to.

I dont remember butter ever being featured, but one year there was a... crisco incident.
The images are forever burned into my brain. (this is a good thing... a very, very, very good thing)
mmmmm..........


Z~

Butter - in
Soy - out
Honey - out
Catsup - in
Mustard - in
Maple Sryup - in
Fake Sryup - out
Beer - in
Milk - in
Mayo - in

Did I miss any?

"Today, Patrick is broadcasting from WTMI radio. Way too much information, all the time!"

One wonders if this might have to do with the fact that it has travel to you from another continent. (Maple is one of those species that doesn't exist in Europe, right?)

Several maples are native to Europe, but the species preferred for maple syrup harvesting isn't one of them. However, I think this is a minor impediment to a greater uptake of maple syrup in this country, compared to the major impediment that it tastes absolutely foul.

I've only ever encountered maple syrup in the US, I don't think it's at all widely sold over here. We were talking in the pub once about why Indian cuisine is so prevalent in the UK, whereas the cuisines of other ex-colonies, say Canada, are much rarer. I reckoned this was because we took one bite of Canadian cuisine, discovered it was covered in maple syrup, and spat it right out again...

What was the most disturbing scene in Twin Peaks? The forwards-backwards speaking little dream man? Leland's last scene in the police cell? For me it was Agent Cooper saying "Nothing beats the taste sensation when maple syrup collides with ham"... *shudder* ... I still have nightmares...

Peter

If we are having eggs, bacon and hash browns, can I also have sausage, fried bread, baked beans and black pudding please

Now you're talking! And how about some lightly fried mushrooms too? And tea... lots of tea... ho yes.

Peter

broadcasting from WTMI radio

LOL

Peter

vicious syrup... where are you buying this stuff... oh wait, viscous .... man I need coffee.

Several maples are native to Europe...

"Episode 12B. How to recognise different types of trees from quite a long way away. "

"No. 1. The Larch. The Larch."

"And now... No. 1. The Larch."

"And now... No. 1. The Larch."

"And now... No. 3. The Larch."

"And now... The Horse Chestnut."

Bagels in the freezer, cos then they are easy to pop in the toaster.
Ketchup - in the bin, along with Mayo (except my wife has some in the fridge)
Maple Syrup - in a tin in a cool cupboard
Honey - on the windowsill (well, it was a handy space, and it looks so good with the sun shining through it) It never goes bad.
All sauces - in a cupboard.
Milk - as cold as possible before freezing ensues (although I do like milk straight from the cow. Well, into a cup rather than...you know)
Beer and alcopops - in fridge
White wine - in fridge
Bombay Sapphire gin and Smirnoff vodka - in freezer

And I may be a freak too:

Eggs - ideally raw, liquidised into drinking chocolate, but these days that isn't such a safe option, so I guess sunny-side-up for me.
Lemoncurd or Marmite - spread on thick slices of mature cheddar cheese (or alternatively wrap the cheese in honey roast ham and cover with maple syrup.
BK or McD french fries with chocolate mousse
Real chips with Edinburgh chippy sauce.

wrap the cheese in honey roast ham and cover with maple syrup

Homer's Space-Age Out-of-This-World Moon Waffles

Ingredients:

• One bag caramel cubes
• Waffle mix
• One bottle Liquid Smoke
• One stick butter

Directions:

• Empty bag of caramels onto waffle iron.
• Add generous portion of waffle batter.
• Add one bottle of Liquid Smoke.
• Cook until burnt.
• Wrap waffle around a stick of butter.
• Serve on a toothpick.

Mmm...fattening!

Then there was that concoction Cartman made on the Fat Camp episode...

Lets see... 2 frosted pop tarts, a stick of butter and powdered chocolate I think. He toasted the pop tarts, powdered the stick of butter with the chocolate, then put the butter between the toasted pop tarts and it all squished out (must have kept it out of fridge for it to be soft... or maybe the hot pop tarts softened it...)

Then he goes out to watch TV to be confronted by everyone about him being fat...

Several maples are native to Europe, but the species preferred for maple syrup harvesting isn't one of them. However, I think this is a minor impediment to a greater uptake of maple syrup in this country, compared to the major impediment that it tastes absolutely foul

Now, molasses is foul. My dad used to put it on various breakfast-related items.

Holy crap, that is fantastic. And I can feel my arteries hardening just reading that. Fantastic

My mom used to freeze milk and bread. I hated frozen and thawed milk so I never drank much as a kid. The frozen then refridgerated bread was weird, so I never (well once in the last ten years) put the bread in the fridge... Oh and I hate white bread, too pasty-like....

I'm the exact opposite. I might as well have milk coming from the faucets in my house. That stuff gets consumed at a rate af about a half gallon a day.