If you’re looking for elegant chopsticks, Yunhong Chopsticks Shop has several sets that will add elegance to your table. Located in New York’s Chinatown, you can also order from their website HAPPYCHOPSTICKS.COM.

Each chopstick set has its own theme and gift box. I have a set of silver ware from my mother worth thousands of dollars, but for a very affordable price you can elegantly dine with these chopsticks. Their chopsticks are repeatedly sanded, polished and layered with lacquer and the ones I like have hand hammered silver.

The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea

The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, one of the most famous folklores in China, represents the male, the female, the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the noble and the humble Chinese.  I would like these if they had matching table stands.

Chairman Mao’s Poem Chopsticks

These Chopsticks are made in mahogany. Engraved in silver at the top is a poem written by Chairman Mao after he swam across the Yangtze River in 1956.  I would like these if they had matching table stands.

Elegant Chopsticks

Elegant Chopsticks have matching table stands.

Gold Lions Mahogany Chopsticks

Solid silver Lion plated with 24 Karat gold and matching table stands.

Gold Panda Mahogany Chopsticks

Solid silver Panda figure plated with 24 Karat gold on top with silver inlay “Harmony” on the body and matching table stands.

It’s difficult to find a good Jewish bakery that still has corn rye bread.  If you have never had corn rye bread or don’t know what it is, it’s very similar to rye bread but is heavier, denser and more moist than regular rye bread. Corn rye bread is so much better than rye bread, that it is almost like comparing white bread to cake.

Corn Rye bread

I know that there are recipes on the Internet, but I don’t think it’s possible to make real corn rye bread because I’ve been told that the bakeries which have the starter yeast and bacteria, have had it for several generations and keep it closely guarded.  If it was easy to get, many more bakeries would have corn rye bread and it’s hard to find a bakery that has it.

If you order corn rye bread by mail, I would order it un-sliced because it will stay fresher longer.  If you order more than one, you can freeze the others.  Even with just one bread, you can cut it in half and freeze half.  Corn rye bread freezes very well.  The best way to defrost it is in the refrigerator.  Once defrosted, take it out of the refrigerator.

You can order corn rye bread where I get it.
(please note that to ensure freshness, they will only ship by FedEx overnight)

Wheatley Bake Shop
1506 Old Northern Blvd
Roslyn, NY 11576
516-621-7575

The best bagels are made by Stuff ‘n’ Bagels. Of course, their bagels are handmade. As a matter of fact, Benny is the one who makes the bagels by hand. There are a couple of bagel stores in New York City that make bagels just as good, but not better.

The bagels at Stuff ‘n’ Bagels are a little larger and thicker, than other handmade bagels, with a really doughy texture inside and just the right crust/skin. I’m not sure how I could describe how a bagel tastes, but their bagels have the taste I look for in a bagel. On the north shore of Long Island, the bagels have no taste.

Making bagels by hand is one of the secrets. Another secret is only available in New York and the south shore of Long Island. Stuff ‘n’ Bagels is in Oceanside on the south shore of Long Island, which has an important secret ingredient to make great quality bagel dough or pizza dough… The right water. Just 30 minutes away on the north shore of Long Island, the water is different enough to make me drive to the South Shore for my pizza and bagels.

If you want the best bagels, call Stuff ‘n’ Bagels and they will ship bagels out of state to you by overnight delivery. Storage Tip: If you want to toast them, slice the bagels in half and store in a Ziploc baggy and freeze. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator. One bagel will just make it into one baggy.

Stuff ‘n’ Bagels doesn’t have a website, but you can call them to order the best bagels.

3570 Long Beach Rd
Oceanside, NY 11572
(516) 536-6278

Best coffeemaker: BUNN

I only started drinking coffee a few years ago when a friend of mine started working at Starbucks and gave me several bags of coffee beans. Since then, I’ve become addicted to coffee. I bought a burr grinder which is the only kind of grinder you should use if you want to grind your own coffee beans. I also bought a BRAUN coffee maker which was very inexpensive and great for making a single cup of coffee because it uses a funnel shaped coffee filter. The only problem is that sometimes the coffee is really good and sometimes a little bitter.

Lately, I’ve gotten too lazy to grind my coffee and I buy Chock full o’Nuts ground coffee.  I’ve been wondering how to get consistently good coffee, so I spent the day researching coffee makers on the Internet. Only the BUNN coffee maker has nothing but great reviews everywhere. I’ve seen BUNN coffee machines in restaurants and diners all my life but I never realized they made a home coffee machine.

After trying a BUNN home coffee maker, there was an immediate and noticeable difference.  The coffee is definitely milder and was not bitter.  I’ve been using it for three weeks now and I have not had a cup of coffee yet that was even slightly bitter.  Every pot of coffee is consistently mild, not bitter and really good.

Also interesting is that with less bitterness, I found that I am able to use approximately 25% less sugar, which means 25% fewer calories.  Since I don’t use sugar substitutes, I’m very happy to be able to cut down a little on my sugar intake.

After reading about BUNN, I found that there is a distinct difference between the way a BUNN makes coffee and other coffee makers.

First, BUNN uses a stainless steel water tank which is pre-filled with water and maintained at a consistent 200°F. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America coffee should be brewed with water at 200°F. Other coffeemakers heat the water directly with the heating element at temperatures ranging from 186°F to boiling.

BUNN is able to achieve a consistent water temperature of 200°F by using the stainless steel water storage tank which pre-heats the water and maintains it at the correct temperature. The tank essentially works the same way as the hot water heater in your house. When you make coffee, you add water which enters the tank at the bottom pushing the hot water up and through the spray nozzle onto the coffee grinds.

Apparently, in addition to the correct temperature, a quick brew time is also important to eliminate bitterness.  BUNN home coffee makers will brew an entire pot of coffee in only three minutes, approximately half of the time of other coffeemakers.

BUNN’s unique spray head is designed to create just the right amount of turbulence to mix the coffee grind with water.

BUNN coffee makers seem to be well built because there are many reviews on the Internet from people who say they are tired of replacing $50 coffee makers which break frequently while their BUNN has lasted without problems. It’s made in the US, so your money helps support our economy.

There are 5 home coffeemakers and a couple of commercial coffeemakers which are suitable for home use. All of the home coffee makers work exactly the same way and produce the same quality coffee.  The only difference is the styling and whether you want a glass decanter or stainless steel decanter.  I prefer the glass decanter.  Although the stainless steel decanter is designed to keep your coffee hot longer, I like my coffee hot and prefer to heat it in the microwave.

The 5 BUNN home coffeemakers and their differences are as follows:

• GRX is sold at stores like Wal-Mart, has an all plastic housing and a glass to counter with a hot plate.
• NHBX is a more modern design and little more compact in size front to rear and its a little shorter than the others. It also has a swivel lid on top versus a lift up lid to fill it.
• BX is the original design with a square, more commercial look and a glass decanter with a hot plate.
• BTX is the original design with a square, more commercial look and a stainless steel unbreakable double wall vacuum insulated carafe which keeps coffee hot without overheating, no hot plate and is dishwasher safe.
• My Café is a coffee pod machine.

There are at least three BUNN commercial coffee makers which are suitable for home use:

BUNN A10A

BUNN CWTF15-1

BUNN CWTF-1 Automatic Coffee Maker with hot water faucet

Levain Bakery cookies are baked to order on the premises and are available in four varieties:

• Chocolate chip walnut
• Dark chocolate chocolate chip
• Oatmeal raisin and
• Dark chocolate peanut butter chip.

Each cookie weighs 6 ounces and are made from the finest ingredients with no additives or preservatives.  They do just as well with the presentation and packaging that goes into each gift box, using French cellophane bags, sheer blue ribbon, tissue paper and sturdy one-piece clay-coated white bakery boxes.

My only complaint is that I want chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  If you’re longing for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies also, please let them know!

Everyone loves my ice coffee, so I thought I would let everyone know my simple iced coffee secret.  All I do is brew a large pot of coffee and let it cool down to room temperature.  Then I put it in a pitcher in the refrigerator.  If you use sugar, it’s better to add the sugar when the coffee is still hot.   You will need to stir a lot to get the sugar to completely dissolve in cold coffee. Do not put a hot coffee pot directly into the refrigerator because the glass may crack.

I like to let the coffee cool down before putting in the refrigerator because a glass pot of hot coffee could crack in the refrigerator.  I won’t put hot food or liquids in plastic containers because BPA and other  chemicals in plastic can be released 55 times more rapidly when exposed to hot water.

Adding ice to cold coffee prevents the ice from melting too much and watering down your coffee.  I drink a lot of ice coffee several times a day, so to cut down on caffeine I use more water when brewing.   When making hot coffee, I use 1 scoop of coffee to 1 cup of water, but when making ice coffee, I use 3 scoops of coffee to 5 cups of water and it still comes out great.

Of course, you don’t have to water it down when you make your coffee, but after you use this method, you’ll drink the whole pot.  If you don’t mind the extra caffeine after drinking a whole pot of ice coffee, just make your coffee normal strength.  Just let it cool down and then put it in your refrigerator. You may also want to make ice cubes with coffee, so when they melt in your ice coffee, it won’t be watered down further.

Want to make great iced coffee outrageous?  Just add a little vanilla ice cream.  You can also throw some chopped ice, vanilla ice cream and cold coffee in the blender.

If you’re looking for the best coffee maker, I just wrote a review of the home BUNN coffee maker.  I love the BUNN coffee maker for hot coffee because it makes mild coffee that’s never bitter.  It also makes great iced coffee, but some people may prefer stronger coffee when making iced coffee.  Read my BUNN coffee maker review.

After trying the best ice coffee, please leave your comments to let me know what you think or if you have any other suggestions.

Forget Burger King’s $200 hamburger. Again, Costco has the best hamburger meat. Just make sure you buy fresh hamburger meat in their butcher department and not the frozen hamburger meat. Every time Costco makes fresh hamburger meat (ground in the store), they test the fat content to make sure that there is consistently no more than 8% fat.

Fresh hamburger meat is also safer than frozen hamburger patties made in large packing plants (E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection, by Michael Moss, NY Times, October 3, 2009).  The New York Times article states that Costco is one of the few big producers that tests trimmings for E. coli before grinding.

You can make your own hamburgers or for the same price, you can buy them already made. They put the hamburger meat in plastic sleeves and cut it with a knife so it isn’t compacted by a machine which makes the hamburgers less juicy. Making it this way, it tastes the same as if you made it yourself.

The best way to make hamburgers is on the BBQ and the correct way to make hamburgers on the BBQ is:

1. Put the hamburger on the grill and leave it there (don’t play with it!!! and don’t press on it with a spatula!!!);
2. Do not turn over the hamburger until you see blood at the top;
3. Cook for a shorter period of time on the second side, until desired.

BBQ in my kitchen

I like to make fried onions with my hamburgers. To make Phil’s famous hamburgers with fried onions, chop Vidalia onions or sweet onions and fry in a pan with a small amount of butter or oil. After the onions start to brown or even burn just slightly, add a small amount of water and stir until the onions are evenly browned. Let the water boil out and your onions are done.

For hamburger buns, I use potato buns, Thomas’s English muffins or corn rye bread. Corn rye is like rye bread, but is much heavier and has a slightly sharper taste. To me, corn rye is like cake. It can be very difficult to find corn rye bread, which is only available at a very few local bakeries.

Absolutely the best chocolate is from www.teuscher.com and the best truffles are teuscher’s Champagne Chocolate Truffles.  They’re not inexpensive, but worth every penny or dollar!

The best place to buy teuscher chocolate is Sweet Dreams Teuscher Fine Chocolate (509)548-5144.  Call them today and they will ship them out to you by overnight mail.

Please note.  Never refrigerate fine chocolate, but Teuscher champagne truffles should not be kept in a warm area.

I’m picky about pizza.  I live on the North Shore of Long Island and I drive to the South Shore to buy my pizza because you can’t get good pizza on the North Shore (probably because the water).

As you might suspect, I’m not a huge fan of frozen pizza, however, I recently discovered a frozen pizza that’s quite good.  Of course, it doesn’t compare to handmade pizza on Long Island’s South Shore, but it’s good and is the best frozen pizza I’ve tried.

The best frozen pizza is Sabatasso’s Pizzeria Deep Dish Singles Variety Pack Pizza available at my favorite store, Costco.

While at my favorite store today, Costco, I stopped to try a sample of fudge. I like fudge, but it’s not my favorite. It’s too sweet and usually tastes like eating a block of sugar. Today, I tasted the best fudge I’ve ever had, Fudgie Wudgie fudge. I met the owners of Fudgie Wudgie fudge, Keith and Ty, who were nice enough to keep feeding me their fudge. I probably ate a pound of samples.

It wasn’t just the best fudge I’ve had, this is fudge that I really love. It’s fudge, so it’s sweet, but it wasn’t too sweet. This fudge is really creamy and really, really good. My favorite is Belgian Chocolate Walnut Fudge and Maple Walnut Fudge. They have quite a few varieties of fudge and while looking on their website just now, I found Praline Penuche Fudge, which I am sure is simply outrageous.

If you like fudge, you have to try this. If you’re like me and thought that fudge is not quite your thing, you’ll change your mind when you try this fudge. The company has a cute name and logo Fudgie Wudgie and their fudge comes in a pretty box. This makes a fabulous gift item. It doesn’t say on the website how much it weighs, but I believe it’s 1 pound.

It may be a little difficult to find the fudge on the www.FudgieWudgie.com website, but you can click on Store and then on Fudge or just click here:
http://www.fudgiewudgie.com/products.php?c=4.

Order some today for gifts and for yourself too! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Other great fudge I’ve come across:

Roly’s English Fudge – handmade fudge at Kennebunkport, Maine