That is a cool trick! I will adopt is as my own.

In other news, I have been to Sephora

I made it to Sephora last night despite the sudden attack of rain. As usual, I spent too much money.

Seriously, try the ulu. The amount of control is amazing.

It's so exotic-sounding, as well. And looks like some sort of Nepalese weapon.

It's a pretty damn cool knife, is all I'm sayin'.

One thing the DH does is cut the top off of frozen veggie bags, and then uses the plastic strip he cut off to tie shut the reclosed bag.

That is effin' brilliant.

I still really want this recipe Sean. Please?

Oh yes! We're out the door on an errand, but I will post here and/or email the recipe later today.

I'm off to eat something garlicky for lunch.

Confession: I don't really like garlic that much in most things. I LOVE onions, though.

There is, however, a place in Somerville called EVOO (opened way before Rachael Ray ruined that acronym for everyone)

Which is on the same block as DALI which knows a thing or two about big garlic flavors. Insert Homer Simpson drool noise here.

The shears - Cutco- come apart and are dishwasher safe.

The Cutco shears are awesome. We have a set of Cutco knives, but I really need to send them in to be resharpened. They are like two decades old.

Jess, I definitely use dried herbs but they aren't nearly as vivid as fresh ones, and that's the same way I feel about garlic vs. garlic powder. Even in stews, fresh garlic makes a big difference, particularly in the scent.

Fresh herbs (although I don't really mean garlic, here) have a more delicate flavor that I do like in some recipes. It depends on how bold and hearty the recipe itself, is. The subtleties are going to get lost in a lot of stuff I cook, which leans to the hearty side. Also, when I making ordinary red sauce, for an ordinary suppor, it's usually not going to happen, because I'm generally helping three people with homework, while I'm cooking and trying not to kill them.

If you don't smash the garlic with a knife, how do you peel it? The rolling-between-your-hands technique is painful, and those garlic-peely devices always get lost in my house.

That's all I smash it for, to peel it, and even then, I give it more of a good press (with a knife, my hand, the tea kettle, whatever), slice off the ends, and the peel falls right off. I just use the press itself, if I want my garlic in the condition it would be in, if I did all that smashing people talked about, upstream.

I just started sauce. Olive oil, a (finely) chopped onion, a (finely) chopped green pepper, three garlic cloves (sliced really thin), two cans of tomatoes (big -- 28 oz each, maybe?), red pepper, black pepper, salt, oregano, a leeeeeeetle bit of parsley and basil, six thin slices of pepperoni, leftover roast chicken, and another onion (whole, which will be removed when the sauce is done).

In a half an hour or so, I'll throw in a couple of handfuls of Romano cheese, and maybe a few more slices of pepperoni. Much later on, once I'm ready to start the pasta, I'll throw in some red wine. I don't usually put either chicken or pepperoni in my sauce. My uncle would do either or both though, and I'm missing him a lot today, for some reason. I should have waited to throw in the chicken. Oh well.

I have very few opinions on food preparation. I'd be an excellent dinner guest! Just tell me what kind of beverage to bring.

We should have a Chicagoistas Quest for Garlic Naan sometime soon.

I'm free this weekend and the following weekend. After that I'm booked until mid-March.

I need to buy a new mattress/boxspring set.

Likewise. I guess I should go visit IKEA next week.