Tinypliny's Journal

02/17/2010 22:10 #51034

Pastele Paper Vs. Parchment Paper
Category: grocery

I went hunting for Parchment paper today (and by hunting, I mean wandering about aimlessly through the aisles at Pricerite till I see something vaguely interesting that I can pore over). I didn't exactly find Parchment paper but I found a roll of something called Pastele paper.

Someone had put a produce sticker on the roll of paper so that it was priced by the pound, had an expiration date and had directions for refrigeration. I thought it was curious, and was carrying it around to ask someone what it was.

However, in a moment of absent-mindedness at the checkout queue, I forgot about how weird it was and bought it before I remembered I didn't know what it was. Does anyone know what it is, though? Can it serve as a Parchment paper substitute? Or is it just wax paper in disguise? Should I return it?

Chowhound has a thread on Pasteles

- apparently they are a Puerto Rican specialty comfort food. But it doesn't tell me if the paper is inflammable in the oven.

Anyone have a clue about the combustion physics of Pastele paper?

tinypliny - 07/20/10 21:40
Hmmm...the thing is I don't go to weggers any more. I sat down and did some expense accounting. You won't believe this but over the course of the last year, not going to weggers has saved me $1000. The prices at weggers have to be such huge mark-ups for such substantial savings!

paul - 07/20/10 10:11
Parchment paper is available at wegmans both in the normal variety by baking goods and in the higher quality, non-bleached variety in the nature's market place.

tinypliny - 07/20/10 02:23
So, the pastele paper is a poor cousin of the parchment paper. Not recommended for baking. It may not burn but it doesn't prevent sticking and get's all sort of stuck on residue in the end. :/

tinypliny - 02/25/10 22:45
Good tip about the Silpat (e:jenks). Thanks! :)

jenks - 02/19/10 23:28
does it look like paper? the expiration date etc almost makes it seem like it's... i dunno... thin pastry or something?

I can't help about the pasteles.

but I do know parchment paper can sometimes be hard to find... but any kitchen store should have it, and decent grocery stores USUALLY do.

But another option- buy a Sil-Pat. I don't know how much they cost, since mine was a gift, but the thing rocks. And it's reusable (and thus (I'd hope) more environmentally friendly than parchment). And if it works for those lace cookies, I think it would work for ANYthing.

tinypliny - 02/18/10 07:48
But I want to use the thing for making speculoos. Do you think it will stay flame-free in the oven?

I read more about pasteles and they sound like a fridge-full of veggies, a shelf full of spices and lentils and a freezer full of meat mixed together in a complicated way and steamed in plantain leaves!

uncutsaniflush - 02/17/10 22:51
If memory serves (from my misspent youth in NYC), pasteles are wrapped in plantain leaves or/and less authentically parchment paper. Without seeing what you bought I would suspect you got parchment paper (hopefully) that would be good for making pasteles.

02/17/2010 20:44 #51033

Mr. Deadlier to the rescue.
Category: office

I was having a particularly dead-wall time at work today with the Roswell network dragging its amoeboid appendages, my reference-manager hanging like a choking seaweed, frequent and unexpected power outages that managed to erase my drafts several times in the morning and none of my literature searches going too well.

The straw that broke the frustrated camel's back could well have been the Inter-Library loan request form that refused to submit.

BUT, like all crazily structured bewildering films with indescribably happy endings, an (e:strip) peep came to the rescue and ironed a long-standing 8-month annoyance out.

It is time for an especially loud round of applause for (e:mrdeadlier) :-)

mrdeadlier - 02/18/10 11:17
I told you, our team is in the "dreams come true" business here at the Roz. :)

Glad to make someone's life a little easier -- even if it was *my* app that was supplying the original lack of ease to begin with, lol.

tinypliny - 02/18/10 07:59
Ah! So it was you that sent this strange email.

"(Change Request) send cc argument to sb_email as an array, not a variable"

Not one but TWO (e:strip) peeps made life easier for me. :)
:::link:::

paul - 02/17/10 22:30
I pushed the change into production, do I get some applause ;)

02/17/2010 19:30 #51031

Thank you, Pricerite.
Category: grocery

I know some folks view Pricerite as an evil walmartish-variant grocery but I am writing this journal to thank the store for setting up shop in downtown Buffalo and being there for me heavy rain or yucky snow. The employees at the store beat even Wegmans at being super-nice and courteous.

My fridge was completely empty and depressed-looking half an hour back and now I have extremely fresh, large and juicy tomatoes.

For 89c a pound without the pain of waiting for a bus in the cold, without owning a car and without planning the trip for an hour. This is what a perfect daily grocery-shopping experience should feel like. Thank you!

PS: They have more Latin American produce and stuff than any other major grocery. I do wish they had more Chinese greens though. I guess they must have done some intense market research and decided that west and east Buffalo would be their most prominent clientele.

02/17/2010 16:59 #51028

Update on the Going Bald Experiment
Category: simple pliny

I checked and I am mildly shocked to see that I seem to have raised $475 for cancer research simply by promising to go bald in 2 weeks.

I am experiencing a warm fuzzy feeling despite the treachery of deviant Lake Erie which seems to have unfrozen again.

PS: Apparently, they won't shave my head to the bone and will leave a smattering of hair. I am going to request that they really shave it all off. I have got my department paying for my most expensive hair-cut ever so it better be technically perfect.

tinypliny - 02/17/10 18:51
(e:lib), no amount is small because I think every little things comes with an unspecified amount of love and spirit. :-)

AN ATV on Erie?! Those blokes must have been completely sloshed.

libertad - 02/17/10 18:29
Wait now it is unfrozen? I heard about those losers who took their ATVs out on the ice and fell through. I would seriously be afraid to walk on it let alone take a heavy machine out on it.

I can pledge a little bit of money, do you accept small amounts?

02/15/2010 19:02 #51021

Erie freezes over: No more snow?
Category: buffalo

Lake Erie has frozen over.

Hopefully, there will be a lot less (or no more) snow for the rest of the month. *Rubs hands* Hee Hee.

Source:

vincent - 02/16/10 09:36
Yes! This is great news.

The flip side is that we won't get real spring/summer weather until sometime in June...

james - 02/16/10 09:05
Lake effect snow requires warmer water: :::link:::

So I hope you are right Ms.Pliny

mrmike - 02/15/10 22:48
Lake Effect Blizzard -- Sounds like a treat at Dairy Queen

uncutsaniflush - 02/15/10 22:45
I think the idea that there can't be "Lake Effect" snow without open water. In other parts of the world, blizzards manage to happen without open water. But they aren't Lake Effect Blizzards.