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© St. Petersburg Times, published August 7, 2002
A weekly serving of food news and views
food and drink for the long, hot summer
Americans are obsessed with liquid refreshments and ways to keep them cold. We put cans in foam coozies, we keep mugs in the freezer and we say "Fill it to the brim with ice, please." Forget super-sizing fries; it's extra ice we really need.
Nothing cools a drink faster than ice cubes. Just the sound of tiny cubes tinkling against a glass, especially when it's holding a gin and tonic, is enough to drop the feels-like temperature a few degrees.
Ice cube trays have come a long way since the first movable stainless steel model was patented in the 1930s. Remember running warm water over metal trays to loosen the handle that wiggled the ice cubes from the form? Today's plastic versions are easy to pop with a twist of the wrists.
Many of us no longer have to crack trays since ice-makers became standard on many refrigerators.
But ice cubes don't have to always be made of water. Fresh orange, lemon or lime juice can be frozen in trays and popped into cold drinks to add flavor and cool. One or two key lime ice cubes mixed with plain water cubes add zing to colas and teas.
Say it with us now, "Ice is nice."
www.barbecue-store.com
Welcome to the definitive online barbecue store, where you'll find things you didn't know you needed. Like butt rub. Pig powder. Seasoning injectors. Steak hooks. Holy smoke. Beer can chicken. If you like novelties, here you go. Try a pair of smoke-free cooking glasses to protect your peepers from the billowing smoke. Or a barbecue light, a clamp-on halogen designed for outdoor cooking when the moonlight doesn't quite suffice. No recipes, though. Bummer.
"Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water."
-- comedian W.C. Fields
When rushed to make potato salad, you can either splurge by using small new potatoes, fingerlings, or use large potatoes cut in half before cooking.
Never dice potatoes prior to boiling; the small pieces will cook quickly but will also become waterlogged and mushy.
You can, however, cook cut potatoes quickly in a microwave: Put a small amount of water in the bottom of a bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Zap on high in 3-minute increments.
If you love ice cream, you can have ice-cream-parlor treats at home with Black & Decker's Arctic Twister Ice Cream Mixer. The mixer lets you take store-bought ice cream or frozen yogurt, add candy, fruit or nuts and make a soft-serve ice-cream treat. The price of indulgence: between $65 and $75. The machine is available at mass merchant and discount stores such as Kmart, Wal-Mart and Target plus Linens 'n Things and Bed Bath and Beyond. For more information, visit www.blackanddecker.com.
Cantaloupes don't ripen much once they are off the vine, so it's important to choose a good one at the store. A ripe melon will be yellow or tan -- not green -- and have a sweet, perfumed aroma near its stem end. Shake the melon to check for loose seeds (indicating it is too ripe), and press the end opposite the stem end. It should yield considerably.
If you do have to select from a batch of under-ripe melons, choose one heavy for its size. Once home, leave it at room temperature until it softens and becomes fragrant. The risk: Some will go from unripe to rotten without an edible interval.
Since the 1977 publication of Roadfood, authors Jane and Michael Stern could safely be called the gurus of hungry road-trippers. Now there's a new book to replace it: the revised Roadfood (Broadway, $17.49), with updated entries of -- to quote the subtitle -- "the Coast to Coast Guide to 500 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners and Much More."
Folks who travel by armchair can vicariously visit places such as the A&M Peanut Shoppe in Mobile, Ala., and Blanche & Bill's Pancake House in Bridgewater Corners, Vt. Look for Roadfood in bookstores.
Tossing fresh herbs onto a charcoal fire during the last stages of cooking adds a flavor to grilled foods, particularly fish and chicken. Rosemary and thyme are favorites, but if you don't have any fresh herbs around, dry bay leaves can also be fuel for flavor. Fresh herbs work best when the grill is covered.
- Compiled by Janet K. Keeler, from staff and wire reports