WoodleyGrrl

Great Blog. I was wondering if you could answer a question about life after gastric bypass. It seems from the food that you eat and cook that you do not eat low fat or even count calories. Do you simply eat smaller portions and not care about things like fat, or is this a particularly high calorie/high fat week because of the blog?

My family back home in Toledo, Ohio always has "Swamp-Romp" in the back yeard once a year. What makes it "swampy" is the cajun food that is made by my dad who has a fascination with all things cajun, most especially music and language. What makes it "romp-y" is the pool, hot tub, and the keg of Burning River Pale Ale made by the Great Lakes Brewing Company.

As a cancer survivor myself I can attest to the lack of appetite issue. I had radiation treatment in the mantel field (right below my ears to the top of my stomach) and by the end of my treatment I was unable to swallow most things. But god damn a frosty from Wendy's was the best thing that I had ever tasted back then. One thing that I found was that there were may foods that I considered "favorites" that I would eat during treatment that only to find that now I cannot bear to eat them because the thought of it makes me feel sick. I guess because I never felt good after I ate them when having treatment. Anyway, hope you feel better and best of luck. Cancer sucks.

Too bad that they won a cheap eats award...they have been out of fries the past few nights

I adore Bon A and Cooking Light. I cook out of both. But I have to say that Gourmet has been really good for cakes.

Target employees that work in the store are not union. However there are places where their warehouse workers are in a union. I would start at this website http://www.coastalalliance.com/area_wage_d...s_insurance.pdf for a quick and dirty about the disparity in benefits, but I will look around to get a more precise answer to your question.

I would argue that the workers at Costco at least earn a living wage. They recieve health care benefits and when they retire, they can count on a retirement benefit that will help them take care of themselves and their family when they get older. In addition, when Costco builds in a new community they have project labor agreements that make sure that workers are being paid a decent wage and have health benefits, unlike many construction jobs for other big box employers.

Tonic in Mount Pleasant is a great place with a cool atmosphere that has pretty cheap food. I love the wings and they have a wonderful grilled portabella with pesto that I order a lot. They get pretty crowded on the weekends and when there is a game on the flat screen tv's, but it is worth checking out. My man and I went to Radius a couple of nights ago. This is also in Mt. P and took over the old Red Bean space. It is italian and they have a wood fired pizza among other things. You can get out of there spending 20 clams a person I am sure.

One of the best posts I have ever read in YEARS of reading message boards..... Perhaps a script writer for Deadwood? ← Not a script writer for Deadwood, but I am a Teamster. That kind of explains it...I think.

Go on and hate me bitches: I have a reservation tonight. I am dreaming of the cream sauce all over my filet. Damn, that sounded dirty.

If you are going to my hometown of Toledo, you have to stop at Tony Packo's and have some Hungarian hot dogs and chicken paprikas. You will not be disappointed. Don't miss the hot pickels and peppers! Edited to add: If you like Lebanese food we have some of the best in the country. Make sure that you stop at the Beruit as well. There are some great bars near the new Mud Hen's stadium. My favorite is the Bronze Boar which is a kind of martini and wine bar. Also near downtown is my favorite bar in Toledo which is Mickey Finn's, a great old Irish bar with live music on the weekends. Our downtown has gone through a recent revitilization with a section of more high end restuarants added on the Maumee River. It is called the docks. There you will find Navy Bistro (high end French inspired sea food), Real Seafood Company (chain), an Italian place, a cajun place, and a Mexican place (sorry can't remember the names). These places are worth going to because of the view. you can sit right on the water and watch the great lakes freighters go by with a back drop of downtown.

This may be one of the most pretentious things that I have heard all day. So I guess that Jaleo has no soul? Whatever

Man you are missing out, then. Those are my absolute favorite. It is the sweet/salty thing. I will never ever eat hotdogs that are sold from the rolling cart outside my office on The Hill. Lysteria anyone?

ok, I will play: conch. As in conch chowder and fritters. it is pronounced Konk, right?

Thanks for the info. Actually, I am going there for an anniversary so I want to bring a bottle of champagne that has some sentimental value. So as good as the bottles on the list at Ray's are, I wanna bring my own.

I have a reservation at Rays in a couple of weeks and I was wondering about corkage fee. Is there one?

The Waldorf-Astoria does tea. I was there for a conference and I saw the sign advertising it. I really wanted to try it, but I had to catch a train.

They only carry these in Marshall Fields and Dayton Hudson stores. If you drive to Toledo you can get them.

I admit that Florida usually isn't as cold as Ohio - but the last few times I've been - it's been kind of cold. Of course - I usually plan my trips around winter shelling at the solstice (which involves going out on the mud flats at about 5 am with a flashlight). Come to think of it - that's about now - and we're going to be a bit chilly here in Florida early this week. Robyn ← As long as it warms up by next Monday...Here in D.C. it is about 20 degrees right now, so anything would be an improvement. Back to the food: We are going to be there for the week, so we will be going off the island a bit as well. Are there any can't miss places in Naples or Ft. Myers?

The best combo that there is with mince pie is Haagen-Dazs rum rasin ice cream. Perfect.

Clearly the best combo is really hot Wendy's fries into a Frosty. Sorry did not see the one above...great minds think alike

We're frequent visitors. I'll note that the best time to visit in general IMO is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Rates are low - the weather is good - the bugs aren't awful - the shelling is excellent (particularly during the winter solstice) - and the half of Ohio that visits between Christmas and April hasn't arrived yet . Robyn ← I admit, we are part of the problem: We are from Toledo.

But the Lazy Flamingo is a great bar! I still have my t-shirt from there somewhere... ← Not to mention one of the best grouper sandwiches EVER. I can't wait to go back there. Some of my best memories came from that island. All you floridians: it is your civic duty to visit Sanibel and Captiva sometime soon.

I asked last year around this time, and there were no responses, so I am going to try again: Anyone familiar with the Sanibel Island/Captiva Island area retaurant scene? My family, my boyfriend, and I are vacationing there over the holidays and I was wondering if there was restaurants that I should not miss? We go there every year around this time and we tend to hit the same places (bubble room, mucky duck, lazy flamingo...) Anyone know where else we should go? And how does the place look afer hurricane Charley et al?

I go to be served a good meal where the waitstaff actually wants to, you know, WAIT ON ME. Not to have to fight to get a glass of wine or to have someone take my order in the first place. Again, I love this site so so much, but I am always amazed by the defense of places that have crappy customer service by the restaurant insiders on this board. Would you all tolerate this type of service at the places that you work at? Edit to add: I guess the problem is just me: I just "don't know how to talk to people".