> > > The pork ribs were cooked in... erm... hoisin sauce, dark soya, 5-spices powder (cloves, fennel, cassia bark, aniseed), fermented tofu in red bean paste, star anise crushed by mortar and pestle, and honey and crushed garlic.
> >
> > Now, if it had been me, the sauce would have consisted of out-of-the-bottle barbecue sauce. Period. If I was feeling ambitious, I might have thrown a little cheez whiz in. :-)
> >
>
> Wolf, can Jacqueline and I come visit you sometime? ;-) Seriously, my sweetie *loves* learning about new and interesting ways to cook. She's the antithesis of Sam and Leen in that regard. And even I, whose only pre-marital proficiency in cooking consisted of microwaving day-old pizza, have acquired a measure of enjoyment in cooking (which of course surpasses my measure of *skill* in it, but c'est la me) since entering into wedded bliss.

David Issy-Bear, I say this from the bottom of my heart. Nothing would make me happier than to have Jacqueline and you come visit us in my shoebox in Pointe-Claire. We could even do a reprise of your fave dishes from Iron Chef, and prepare an aroma pleasing to the Lord. That would *RULE* absolutely. Yay!


> Thank you, Wolfie, for choosing such an auspicious episode to introduce Sam and Leen to Iron Chef! Jacqueline and I love Iron Chef Chen Kenichi (his gopher cheeks are so cute!) and were immensely pleased that he delivered a world-class comeuppance to the restaurant that had deigned to find him "worthy" of a battle with their chef in Kitchen Stadium.

I'm fascinated by the ultra-competitive posturing that some Challengers bring to Kitchen Stadium. It seems so... so un-Japanese, in fact. Restaurant Hei Chin Rou (or whatever it's called) had the gall to pronounce, "We have been watching Iron Chef Chen Kenichi for five years and seen his skill grow such that he is now a *serious competitor* to Hei Chin Rou. We are here today to challenge him and take him down." Then I love the commentator's remark to this: "Geez -- I'm not sure that's a compliment, or a put-down!"

Another thing is that the translation (by the English commentators) of Japanese into colloquial English is handled superbly in Iron Chef. I know how difficult it is to convey cultural differences across language barriers. I wonder just how they *do* it?


> > At any rate, lying on the floor rules. I do it much more than any other member of my family. In fact, I even have a penchant for lying on *stairs* and have figured out how to do that in a few different ways and be quite comfortable, assuming the stairs are carpeted.
> >
>
> I lie on our floor all the time, and I frequently do it at friends' houses, too, if we're all just sitting around the living room or some such thing. (I realize that that makes it sound as if we have a lot of friends down here that we visit all the time. We *wish*.) I've lain on stairs, too, and can second Sam's assertions about the rulingness of same. These are important public issues, you know, and every voice counts. :-)
>
> Iss "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses" achar

Oh-kay. I've just had a short nap on my stairs, before Pixel went and woke me up. Sam can testify to how soft and cushy the carpet pile on my stairs is, so it's definitely a feasible act. At least, my cat thinks so. :-)

Wolf "If you want to save the world, you might have to push a few old ladies down the stairs" spirit