Most any kind of processed food has loads of sodium in it, especially the instant-type meals you're talking about. Sodium acts as not only a flavor enhancer but also a preservative. So to make food that has had all the natural flavor processed out of it palatable and extend shelf life, it needs ridiculous amounts of salt. This is where Americans get most the massive excess of sodium in their diets that you hear about.

Now food that is more-or-less home cooked is going to have a far lower sodium content because it's only going to have the salt that you add to it. Using your example of spaghetti: the noodles will have a pretty low sodium content and the jar of sauce you buy will be higher, depending of what type , but probably not in the range of an instant meal (unless you get a jarred alfredo, that shit is crazy salty). The jarred sauce is obviously processed but much less so than a Lean Cuisine. If you were to make your own sauce from canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, ect., you'd not only have a far superior tasting meal, but also a much healthier one. I'm not going to go on a rant about how great learning to cook is - you get the point.

On sodium and health: If you're a basically healthy person eating large amounts of sodium isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world for you. Your kidneys do a fine job of regulating sodium and fluid content in your body and you should be able to deal with salty meals just fine. OTOH if you have issues with your health, namely high blood pressure, kidney problems, excess weight, etc., you'd be much better off without the high sodium food. I'd also recommend a lower salt intake so your palate isn't blown out by salt. If you're eating high sodium foods all the time, "real" food isn't going to taste salty enough for you. Once your palate is adjusted away from the processed stuff, you'll find that it really does taste like shit and you'll wonder how you choked it down!

There is lots and lots of stuff out there to consult to answer your questions.
Most packaged or canned foods will also have a manufacturer's toll-free phone answer line to field any questions you have about their products. When in doubt on a packaged food, call and ask.

"Best if consumed by" or "best before" dates are often ways that manufactures are stating that for best taste and consumer satisfaction the food should be eaten before that date, not that it is not safe to eat after that date. Expiration dates are something with which you should pay more careful attention.

Eggs present a great growth medium for all sorts of things so proper storage and using within printed expiration dates is pretty important. To test your eggs for freshness here are a couple of recommendations:
http://busycooks.about.com/od/quicktips/qt/testingeggs.htm
http://southernfood.about.com/cs/eggrecipes/ht/fresh_eggs_ht.htm
There are lots of others.

As far as mold on hard cheese goes, I have usually just shaved off the edge and kept eating, but why not read from an expert good enough to be posted on the Mayo Clinic site:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/AN01024
There are some pretty simple guidelines.

When in doubt on a fresh food that presents a contamination, bacterial growth or other safety risk - it is ALWAYS better to toss it than to be SORRY that you ate it!

I have a grain mill that I inherited from my grandma which I LOVE - but then again I bake all my own bread and live in a wheat producing area. It's pretty incredible to get local wheat, mill it yourself, and bake delicious, wholesome bread from the resulting flour.

Baking bread is easier than many people think; I would suggest that you try baking a loaf or two of homemade bread. Also, if you ever make pancakes, waffles or quick breads (like banana bread) freshly ground whole wheat flour is fantastic for anything that calls for flour. Who knows, this grain mill could turn you into a baker!

You can also grind flax seeds in a grain mill; they're extremely nutritious and high in Omega-3's but need to be ground for you to get the benefits. Try keeping a jar of flax meal in the fridge and eat it sprinkled over cereal, in yogurt or in a smoothie. I also put flax in all my baked goods: they add a subtle, delicious nutty element to chocolate chip cookies and magically turn them into a healthy food!

I agree with Laura Annapurna is great. According to my google search it is also the cheapest during lunch. The next contender is very closer however and appears to be cheaper during dinner. However, The Everest Kitchen is in Shoreline so I'm not even sure it counts. On the bright side Annapurna has a printable coupon on the website, good until the end of October.

Can you be more specific in what you are looking for? The other big Asian markets around town are Ranch 99 (more Chinese focused than Uwajimaya) and H-Mart (more Korean focused than Uwajimaya). There is a Ranch 99 on Aurora in Lynwood and a H-Mart near Alderwood Mall. Central Market in Shoreline has a well stocked Asian section. You might also want to try the supermarket at the Great Wall Mall in Renton.

I am with Sphinx 100% on this one! Bread and crust never fare well in the fridge. The moisture is pulled out of the flour and changes the texture.

I also NEVER put bread/dough/flour items in the microwave as it modifies the texture in an undesirable way.

Re-heat in the oven is your best option...or eat within two days left on the counter...I'm not afraid of a little bacterial growth, it's not meat after all!

But Kristin's answer is my favorite!

Do your whole beans smell like good coffee before you grind them, or do they smell like nothing themselves? If you can't smell anything, then even though they are from a new package, they are old and ergo tasteless. Starbucks roasts in just 4 places in the country, so who knows how long your beans sat on the shelf before you bought them? Also, the unidirectional valve on your vacuum pack may have malfunctioned, letting oxygen into the beans and aging them more quickly.

It's also possible that your grinder is generating so much heat as the beans are being ground that the beans are burned in the process. Do your grounds come out feeling hot? and do they smell like coffee then?

Basically, I'd try getting some nice, freshly roasted coffee that smells good in bean form. Then, start going from step to step in the process of making a cup of coffee and see/smell where that odor disappears. If the grounds smell strong before you brew, but the coffee is tasteless, modify your grind. If they lose aroma after being ground, check your grinder or borrow a friend's to see if that fixes it.

One last thing: if your beans smell fine after being ground but you're still getting weak, tasteless coffee, it's quite possible that you're not adding enough coffee grounds to your press. The amount of coffee/press used should be measured by weight (ideally) or volume, not "this is what my grinder cranked out in 15 seconds" as that amount can vary widely for numerous reasons. Add more grounds and try that--if it's too strong, add hot water to dilute. Don't just increase brew time, or you'll get bitter brown water.

Something like your frozen entree (meal) is designed to heat and cook effectively and thoroughly over a specified time when placed in an environment at an identified temperature. Ovens will vary as to the amount of time they require to preheat to that temperature and with size of the space, the distance to the heating element may vary. These variables make it hard for the manufacturer to define how long to prescribe heating from a cold oven state. There is the possibility that you can develop hotspots on the container when heating from cold as the elements typically come on full blast until the desired temperature range is approached (and thereafter they just cycle to maintain the temperature setting). If you are cooking one that is in a non-metallic container (paper or plastic) the hotspot effect could create a fire hazard or release of compounds from the container into the food that you do not want.

Here we are again with how conditions can always be modified and best procedures determined with some experimentation. Expect some good and maybe some not as great results until you figure it out for your particular equipment and what product you are using. You can certainly come up with some alternative ways of heating these frozen meals.

I know my results with frozen pizzas (in the past) and even in dealing with U-bake pizzas like those available from take-out chains have caused me to modify cooking procedures to get better results than the regular instructions.

The effect of the coefficient of thermal expansion for liquids and specifically gasoline appears from internet research to be less than 1.5% over a temperature range (rise) of 27° F. I suspect the difference in temperature between the liquid in underground storage and ambient air temperature is not that great and so the effect would be less than that.

Keeping your tank filled to its natural shut off point by the pump mechanism (so you are not overfilling it) will give you some savings if the price per gallon is increasing each time you go to add gasoline.

You would do far more for yourself and realize more savings in gasoline if you made sure your engine was properly tuned up, oil changed at appropriate intervals, air filters were clean, and that you maintained correct air pressure in your tires (this is a actually a big one).

The ultimate savings would come from reducing your use of your vehicle, combining trip purposes to conserve fuel use, and sharing costs by carpooling with others.

One method to preserve them for cooking would be to simply freeze them. Wash and pat them dry and put them in a zip lock baggie, then put them in your freezer. Be sure to use them up in a reasonably short time for best flavor. You can chop or shred them before freezing if that is the form you will use to add them to a soup, or dish you are cooking.

For having fresh basil on hand I have a suggestion for you. Buy one or two basil plants at a local nursery or store with a plant department to grow on a window sill, garden window or deck. Nothing is as good as picking your own fresh basil leaves to put in what your are fixing for that meal.

The Webtender has a section called "In My Bar" that allows you to designate what you have on hand and then generates a list of possible drinks and their recipes.

Drink Studio narrows your range of possible cocktails when you insert your ingredients in a list.

Cocktail Builder does something similar listing how many ingredients are missing for named drinks and when you click on the name the full list shows up.

That's three possibilities to try out. 

Sounds like you're missing the sugar. I make a German-style mulled wine, called Glühwein, and it uses a bit of sugar to balance out the tartness. The recipe I use is: two bottles of cheap-but-decent wine (around 5.99 or so range); slice one orange, one lemon, mash them in the pot a bit to get some juice out; stick of cinnamon; a few cloves; perhaps also some allspice, and about half a cup of confectioner's sugar. Quite delish. (Optional: add a shot of amaretto or rum for an extra kick - "Glühwein mit schuss".)

We will be actively seeking a new location in Queen Anne or Belltown. We were blindsided by our landlord who walked away from the property and is letting it go in foreclosure. So please be patient and I will do my best to get that queso flowing again.

Hey, I am a bit of a lazy cook myself and buy the prepared pancake mix, but then I doctor it up a bit.

I buy the big 10 pound bag of Krusteaz Buttermilk complete mix at a big box club store. What is interesting to note is that they have changed the proportions of mix to liquid recently (it is now 2/3 cup water to 1 cup mix, lowered from 3/4 cup liquid) which would apparently not help your situation with the batter being too thick.

First I would suggest you fluff up the mix in a bowl before measuring out your one cup. The mix may be getting a bit too compacted and dense to work well with the measured amount of water you are using. Second point is to use as much water as you need to make the batter pour appropriately. Adding more water will not harm anything. Also, be sure to do the final mix up of your batter (wet and dry ingredients) when your pan and everything is heated and prepared to cook in. Then get pancaking!

I actually only use a half measure of the mix itself and substitute a variable mix of three from the choices of medium grind cornmeal, sorghum flour, garbanzo and fava bean flour, teff flour, whole wheat pastry flour to make up the other half. For liquid I usually use a half and half mixture of orange juice and water (sometimes other fruit juices, some need to be diluted so it isn't too thick). The end product is a much more interesting tasty pancake. Teff flour makes the batter a nice milk chocolate color and produces a hearty flavor (if teff is used alone, don't go half and half as it makes too stiff a batter). The orange juice gives it a nice tang.

Pork Spare ribs come from the belly. Pork Back ribs (or AKA baby back ribs) come from the rib portion of the loin as in like where your ribeye would come from if we were talking beef.

Pork babybacks are more tender because they come from the loin (same place as the pork chops come from). They also have smaller bones and lighter weight. Generally 2-1/2 lbs & under for baby backs.

Pork spareribs are usually more affordable than pork back ribs and are meatier. They are also larger w/a larger bone. Full slab of spareribs will be 4-6 lbs. A "St Louis" (also aka "Kansas City") cut rib is just spareribs with the brisket bone cut off. This type of sparerib cut makes them visually look similar to a baby back rib but more meaty & larger boned. Sometimes you will see this brisket rib portion also sold at retail. It is usually then called "rib tips". Since slow cooking is the way to go with ribs, they are all plenty tender & fall of the bone.

Most common beef ribs are back ribs (rib portion of the loin) and short ribs (plate/chuck). Taste good. Cost more.

Depends on what part of the country you are in on what is on the menu at a bbq joint and ask for ribs. Commonly both pork spare ribs & baby backs will be on the menu. If you are ordering on a menu that says "ribs" either a "half rack" or a "whole rack", this is usually pork baby back ribs. If you are ordering on a menu that says "St Louis" then you are ordering spare ribs. Really just depends on the place.

If you are in Texas, you'll likely find beef ribs pretty common on the menu.

At this time, there are no active CSF in the area. There have been a few attempts to start one, but were not successful. I know that other areas in the US have successful CSFs, but unfortunately none around the Puget Sound region. Shopping at your local farmers markets are your best choice, with the Ballard, University District, and West Seattle markets operating year round.

Rinse them well (even soak them a bit) to get rid of the salt and use them as a decorative mulch on top of the soil of your household plants. If they ever look tired or ugly you can scoop them off easily and recycle them with your yard waste (if you have that option), or put them in your own compost pile (washed, of course).

Also if you have the option, buy them plain (unsalted). Pistachios have a wonderful flavor that can be overwhelmed by the amount of salt some processors apply to them. I now buy them plain (yeah, of course, because of my parrots eating them also) and the taste is great!

Always brown the meat when using a crock-pot. The pot never gets quite hot enough to cook the meat right. By the time it reaches a safe temp the meat will have been sitting at dangerous temps for a long time.

My recommendations:

- A couple of giant pots of stew, soup, chili, or curry, portioned into small plastic containers
- Bean or meat burritos, without the cheese (you can put cheese on top when you heat them up), wrapped individually
- Shepherd's pie
- Bags of frozen vegetables and fruit
- Meat or tempeh cut into cubes before freezing, for easy stir-fry
- Bagels, sliced before freezing so they can be warmed up in a toaster

My wife and I just discovered "La Bete" on Capitol Hill. Delicious food and very romantic atmosphere. http://labeteseattle.com/

If they allow it and it's not illegal, and you're willing to pay corkage fees, then you should be okay--
http://www.tiphero.com/tips_2529_can-you-bring-your-own-wine-to-restaurants.html

Allowage is a huge part of it -- For example- Key Arena, despite serving beer, doesn't allow outside beer, so you'd be subject to the old 'right to refuse service to anyone' clause

I think it's rcw66-24 that covers this, but its been a while since I had my food card and bartenders license

You body should tell you by increased thirst if you are truly dehydrated, but if you get too far behind it takes some effort to catch up. If you are really down with available fluids you will note your urine appearing much darker as your body attempts to get rid of the wastes without losing too much water. Make the effort to drink a glass of water before such meals and another later one afterwards.

The other issue is the possibility you are reacting to something else in those meals like MSG. This also adds to the sodium count of the food but you might be reacting specifically to the MSG in an almost allergic reaction fashion (which can bend you mood for sure).

BTW, Pinch the skin on the back of your hand and then watch it return to flat orientation. It can be an indication of under hydration if the skin keeps a fold or returns slowly to appropriate flatness.

I spent the extra money on a kitchenaid toaster and have never regretted it. The slots are wide enough for thicker slices, and there is a good range of timing on it. It has a little light that comes on when you turn it on, and a single penetrating beep when done. If it is not on at the wall the turn on switch let's you know rather than having the sad experience of waiting waiting waiting but no toast.... There is an easily removable crumb tray for cleaning.

The best thing about it though, is that it does not work by a pop up spring, but rather a lever that raises the toast when done. This is brilliant, you can adjust the height of the bread in the slot, and when it is done, you can leave it in there where it stays warmer, rather than it popping up and cooling while you find the butter.

And it is a nice red retro looking beast. Love it.

Shell eggs are rife with salmonella. Not washing your hands could cross contaminate the other food with salmonella from the shell. So yeah you should wash your hands. And when you crack the egg the egg could pick up the salmonella so that's partly why eating raw eggs (as in ice cream or mousse or caesar dressing) can be dicey. I know the rationale (I've heard it a million times) - people have been eating ice cream forever and no one's gotten sick yet. It's a lame argument. People get sick all the time- they just don't think it was the ice cream. BTW organic does help a bit- the chickens are healthier- but not enough to discount the possibility of contamination. After all, think about where an egg comes from (sorry). And the argument of home versus commercial kitchen is also not logical- your home just as friendly to pathogens as a commercial kitchen. So my advice is to follow the processes you learned in the restaurant.

PCC Cooks has sushi-making classes pretty regularly. E.g., http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/pcccooks/classes/detail.php?id=1505

The WSLCB is actually pretty helpful. You can search, and it will tell which stores have what you're looking for. Sun Liquors claim to have a distillery, but I don't see any products listed there. Other WA distilleries are, though, like Dry Fly and Fremont Mischief. Search on this page:

http://www.liq.wa.gov/LCBhomenet/StoreInformation/BrandSearch.aspx

Distilleries are also allowed to sell out of their distillery premises. You might try calling Sun's distillery number and asking them. Apparently they make a gin.

I haven't been to Blue C, but I have been to similar joints in Bellevue, Bellingham and Tokyo. I tip 10% at conveyor belt sushi places. I tip 20% everywhere else, but my theory is that the belt is doing half the work. I feel 10% is enough to cover the sushi chef getting his/her cut, and still compensate the server for bringing me my tea and miso soup. If that makes me a cheapskate, so be it, but I just don't feel compelled to tip the full 20% when a mechanical device is delivering my food.

For what it's worth, there used to be a joint down by the Kingdome called the Iron Horse that used toy trains to deliver your burgers and fries to your tables. If it was still there, and I wish it was, I'd probably tip 10%. The train doesn't need my money, and neither does the belt.

The best place, hands down, to buy local oysters is the Taylor Shellfish Farms new retail store on Capitol Hill! It's located at 1521 Melrose Ave. in the Melrose Market building between Pike & Pine. There's a large variety of oysters, plus manila clams, Mediterranean mussels, geoduck, live scallops, Dungeness crab, and Maine lobster. Hot oyster stew and geoduck chowder as well! There is no other store like this in Seattle. Stop by and have some oysters and a glass of wine, then choose your fresh shellfish to prepare at home. Nothing better!

Taqueria El Sabor, 15221 Aurora (just south of Sears and Central Market) is really good. Maybe not so vegetarian (though their refried beans are heavenly, but maybe have lard in them). Actually, a good rule of thumb is ANY Mexican restaurant located in a former Taco Bell is going to be pretty good.

Amazing Korean up around there, too -- try Old Village across the street, or Hoo Soon Yi waaay up at 238th SW in Edmonds.

Best pho in town is at Than Brothers, between 77th and 78th. You might see me there.

If you like your groceries crunchy-granola style, PCC is where it's at. Little-known secret: five of the six most gorgeous checkers in the entire city work there, not that I'm a pervert or anything, but jeez.

Also right around there are some very useful holes to drink in -- Ueber for German beer, St. Andrew's for Scotch, and Kangaroo & Kiwi for mad-as-hatters Aussies and New Zillanders. Skip the Fosters and have a Cooper's Sparkling Ale. You'll thank me. All between 73rd and 76th. I've never been in Duck Island, alas.

The Jack in the Box at 85th can usually supply all your crack cocaine and meth needs; if no one is around, dash across Aurora through traffic to the Arco station. Shari's is also good if you want to lose faith in humanity; I once watched a waitress there attempt to sweep a little tub of cream that had fallen to the floor into one of those dustpans with a long handle FOR TEN SOLID MINUTES.

Aurora is my favorite street in Seattle.

Coors was a non-union brewery and therefore many states would not allow it. Remember that way back in the olden days unions were actually strong in America. For a long time Coors was not available east of the Mississippi. Hence the need to go to Texas to get it in the Movie Smokey and the Bandit. Other state also would not allow Coors because of the union thing. Washington is an example. I believe that it wasn't until the late 70s or early 80s that Coors was available here.

The "two state" rule? I've never heard of it. Augustus Busch shipped Budweiser all over the country more than 100 years ago, so that "two state" thing might be hooey. I don't know.