Rachel Perlow

If I can't figure out what I want, I'll ask Jason what he thinks I would like. He usually does a good job. I can almost always tell what Jason is going to order for himself when looking at a menu, even if I don't know what I want for myself.

No shortening. Bacon grease. Skillet Cornbread with Bacon. Sorry, it has flour, but it's still real good.

That reminds me, butternut squash soup is my other Thanksgiving go to soup. Basically, you just simmer peeled, seeded and diced squash and one peeled and diced potato in good chicken broth/stock and puree. A dash of nutmeg, a pinch of salt and it's perfect (splash of cream is optional).

About the only soup I don't like is lentil. I just don't like the grainy texture. However, one of my favorite soups is split pea. I grew up with vegetarian split pea, since, although not kosher, my mom didn't use the ham bone. Now I can accept it hammy, as long as it's good ham. I hate it when you order it in a diner or something and it's got slices of deli ham in it. Really! I'd rather it be vegetarian and have good croutons on top. Thursday night seems to be mandatory split pea soup night at all diners in NJ. (Note: for those who are not pork inclined a smoked turkey leg adds a nice flavor to split pea soup almost as well.) Last Thanksgiving I made a minestrone soup as a starter. After hors'doeuvres including various gyoza, I thought a lighter soup would be just the ticket. Usually after Thanksgiving a make Turkey soup from the carcass and leftover meat. Hmm, there's a quart of the Creamless Mushroom Soup I made at least 6 months ago in the freezer. I also have some heels of Italian bread getting stale -- prime crouton material. I think I know what's for dinner tonight.

Elyse, I got to try the sweet potato pie at Finks the other day (I got the last piece). Really, really good. Fink thought it was pumpkin though, and had been selling it as such.

Mamster and Hey Jude are related by blood -- I don't think that's a secret.

So that's what that taste is.

I like chinese sausage diced up in our homemade fried rice. The fish sauce is for when we make pad thai. No shallots, plain yellow onions. And scallions. And cilantro.

Yeah, but he's not really a member of the Burger Club, just a guest tagging along. I like Paul, he should be able to come. Hmm, how's about if he sits at his own table off to the side?

Yeah he does that (referring to Cecil bringing extras). Usually we just order one item for sesame bun stuffing. Sometimes Jason just has to have this dish and that dish and saying "that's too much food" or "they are both for stuffing in sesame buns" is no matter to him.

There are three dishes (that we know of) that are commonly ordered with sesame buns: Ruby Pork, House Special Saute, and Sizzling Lamb with Scallions. We usually only order one per visit.

The house special saute consists primarily of small cubes of pork, tofu and hot peppers. It's not on the regular menu, but is frequently written on the board. But even if it's nowhere to be seen, you can still order it.

I like the upside down labeled Kiwi. And the Mint flavored.

The game was a disappointment last night, but our food was good. We had an assortment of Zweigle's sausages with spicy mustard, sauerkraut and homemade chili (from the freezer, dated 12/09/02 -- YUM the top of the chili was lined with plastic wrap under the lid, so no freezer burn). The quarter pound white hots were served on baguette, having found regular hot dog buns to insubstantial for these large dogs. We also opened one of the assortment packs which consisted of 5 smaller dogs (about the same size as Ball Park brand franks (thick but short)): red and white hots with and without skin and one Italian sausage. There is a slight difference in the flavor and texture of the red hots IMO. I wonder if it's just psychological, we'll have to do a blind tasting with the other pack. In any case, at this point I prefer the reds with skin. Their Italian sausage is very good, but I can get better versions locally so I wouldn't bother mail ordering them unless you can't. Later on we had some peanuts (Peanuts! Get your Hot Peanuts here!) in the shell, roasted in the oven for a few minutes to duplicate that authentic ball park experience. Edit: I see Jason is up and posting!

Did you mean Sandra Dee or Sara Lee? Rachel, don't tell me you missed this hot thread? Oh! Duh.

I think soups are a great idea. You may want to read through the eGullet Culinary Institute's lessons on Stock and Consomme for the basics. Freeze the stocks, broths, consommes, and any finished soups, in 1 or 2 portion containers, that way they don't have to defrost a whole quart of something when only two cups are going to be consumed. When I made the big batch of chicken stock, I ended up with about 8 quarts (before reducing to a gel for storage). You could make 8 different kinds of soup and freeze them all in 1 or 2 cup containers. Be sure to find out their dietary restrictions ahead of time, most likely would be low-sodium and of course it is easy to leave out salt, but be sure to use low sodium soup additions as well. For noodle-soups, don't include the cooked noodles in the soup. Instead tape a baggie containing the appropriate amount of fresh (but uncooked) noodles to the soup container. Label everything very clearly and using large print, including reheating instructions.

They had tiny bits of crumbled bacon in them. The texture was the crispy slightly greasy feel of an all butter chocolate chip cookie, but the taste had a salty edge to it. Actually, I wonder if he just added the bacon fat or if he substituted some of the butter. I think it should sub, but don't think he did. Also, I wonder if making them with half shortening would affect the texture. Now, I like lightly salty sweet chocolate chip cookies. The giveaway cookies at the Whippany Diner in NJ have that, yum, and these get that from the bacon. Also, there was a hint of the bacon's smoke coming through.

I don't "get" Ciao Bella in Cresskill. So many people have recommended the place to us, but it's taken us a couple years to get in there (whenever we went the wait was so long, so we'd go to Samdam instead). So we finally get in and the food is so average. The pizza was nice, but not great. The pasta dishes were a little watery. Eh.

The guy wouldn't sell him, nevermind that it would cost $1200 if he would. Anyway, he's supposed to call me when he finds another log that wants to be carved into that shape.

While my family tends to root for the Mets (being Brooklyn based Jews), Jason is no fly by night Yankee fan. His grandfather (out of the Bronx) took him to lots of Yankee games when he was a kid.

Ahem, that's Fink's Funky Chicken & Ribs, in River Edge, NJ.

What attachment do you use to reseal the mason jars? "You use the jar sealer to close them."

Diet Pepsi, Fat Free Cheese, Low Cal Jello, Atkins bars... You are beautiful and rather thin (109 lbs + a little holiday weight), why all the talk about dieting and low cal products? You don't need a diet in the least, the holiday pounds will probably just naturally come off as you go back to regular eating habits. Fat free cheese is not cheese. Water is way cheaper than soda. I can forgive the Atkins bars as meals on the go, but aren't they rather expensive? Some homemade trail mix would be cheaper, more nutritious, and just as filling. Did you mean Sandra Dee or Sara Lee? The recipe says canned, I use frozen (french cut). I've tried making the much better for you and better tasting version (everything from scratch), no one liked it as well.

Hmph! Obviously, I thought you were referring to the second HIYW visit, and thought that they added it to your non-customized items. Hey, can you HIYW with foods other than sandwiches? Can I get my coke with just a little ice, how about a half-lemonade-half-unsweetened iced tea, I like my fries sprinkled with pepper (I suppose preground is inevitable)...

Hmm. Either date. Kim, the Talbots store you are referring to is on the upper level by the glass elevator adjacent to the funky mod-art water feature (not the big glass globe water feature). This is two stores south of Saks Fifth Avenue. Best to enter on the second level from the parking garage through Saks (turn left as you exit Saks into the mall), or on the first level by the mall entrance near Bloomingdales (right next to Papa Razzi), turn right into the mall and go up the elevator.