I recently stopped at the Lodge Cast Iron outlet near Chattanooga. I really should have taken photos of their nice new store, which has been open for about two years ago. I picked up this cast iron bread loaf and quickly put it to the test with a loaf of anadama bread. After I baked the bread, I realized that my traditional loaf pan has been glass. These two materials have opposite properties: glass is an insulator while cast iron is a thermal conductor (not a great one, but at least better than glass). After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that cast iron probably delivers more even heat. At some point, I may run a side-by-side test. In the mean time, that's darn good bread.
Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course)
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