Angela Alaimo

Before you leave the Keys you have to make sure to get yourself some conch fritters--not that they're always that good, but they squeak!

My absolute favorite part of the entire season was in the Japan show--the Osaka baseball fans--and I've got no idea why. The joie of it all, I reckon.

Pie! Pie! Pie! P-lease can I-have som E-more Pie!

We've renovated our kitchen (along with the rest of the house) on the Ten Year Plan , and all we have left in the kitchen is countertops to replace the plywood. Yay! But our inability to decide what kind of countertop is the reason we don't have one yet--all I know so far is what I don't want--no stone, with it's hard, echo-y, parking garage sounding-ness, no butcherblocks, definitely no tile. Mooshmouse--You said you have glass countertops--I've been looking it to that and it sounds like it could be a contender--how do you like it and how is it on the wallet? Deborah--Our kitchen is ~11'x13.5' and we have a 48" Viking in there--works just fine! I've even got a wheeled cart that is a sort-of island/penninsula packed in there, too. It's a bit too much, but it's handy, so we work around it. And move it when absolutely necessary. The old kitchen was a horror show--it had ONE drawer and some kind of peel and stick bas relief stone on the wall--that was obviously great for catching all manner of grease, splashes, fuzz, cat hair, spider webs.....It was a happy day when that mess went into the dumpster! /Oh yes, to answer the question, my kitchen makes me happy.

I'm getting a dual-fuel. We have a propane tank (no gas line to this part of our town), and I don't like gas ovens, anyway. It's personal. I've said before that there will be a major party when the kitchen opens for business! You're all invited ... ← If we could only decide what kind of countertops to get, our kitchen would be finished. Oh, my stove is only 48" but gee, had to have a little room for those troublesome counters--perhaps more appliances is really the answer?

So, by extrapolation, I can expect to find Mario's Official Nascar Linguica Crostini with Red Onion Marmaladed, Osso Buco with Toasted Pine Nut Gremolata and Gogonzola with Spiced Walnuts and Port Wine Syrup instead of brats, buffalo wings and string cheese available at Talledega this year? SB (mmmm mmm mmm mm mmmm) ← Great idea! Wow, if they had some of those treats at Talladega, even the Bud would seem as if it had flavor. I'm almost curious enough to get the book, just to see what his version of racing/tailgating food is, but not yet that curious.

Kudos to Mario et al, but when it come to stock car racing I'll stick with the masses. SB (some combinations just weren't meant to be) ← I would have agreed with you, but I recently discovered that Budweiser is the Official Beer of NASCAR, as in, that's all you get, Pal.

He said in a recent interview that he likes Emeril, has respect for him as a cook, but absolutely HATES the Emeril show. So now that he's cleared that up, we'll just have to wait and see about the other two.

It appears that Mario has put in the hard work and effort and won't offer anything back that is either shoddy or half-hearted. The man has a college degree which tells me something about him in the first place and much training/education in the field of cuisine. I honestly believe that he is "the real thing" ... ← Someone has tagged his latest book Motorin' Mario! "jumping the shark"! Oh no, I hope not. ← Oh my. I was hoping the NASCAR tailgating book was a joke. ← Hey, I like NASCAR. I like it a lot. But I have to say I would expect I'd like tailgating more if I could do it with Mario's kind of gang, rather than with my fellow unwashed masses.

It appears that Mario has put in the hard work and effort and won't offer anything back that is either shoddy or half-hearted. The man has a college degree which tells me something about him in the first place and much training/education in the field of cuisine. I honestly believe that he is "the real thing" ... ← Someone has tagged his latest book Motorin' Mario! "jumping the shark"! Oh no, I hope not.

I'll buy that explanation. However, that having been said, last night's show failed to hold my attention. SB (maybe just not a Miami sort of person?) ← Nope, that's not it. In my previous life I was a Miami sort of person, and I found last night's episode not very interesting, too. Wasn't even disappointed when I fell asleep during part of it. Fishing down there is great, though.

Banana Fritters to go with your daquiris! I've heard more than once that you can indeed freeze bananas, as long as you're going to do something mushy with them later, like bread, ice cream, muffins, etc.

Until last year I thought I didn't like grilled cheese sandwiches, because when I was about 5 I had lunch at the babysitter's and was served a Velveeta grilled "cheese" sandwich. I still have a memory of how I froze at how horrible it was--and the G.C. Trauma didn't end until I made a grilled cheese the way I thought it should be made. Pretty good stuff if you use real cheese!

Hmm. When dining out I aspire to be grateful. When eating out I try to only eat things I can't/don't make at home, and hopefully they are prepared so well that happiness and gratitude are the end results, aside from being really full. At home I aspire to have fun, try new things, and please those whom I'm cooking for. Just a hangin' out around the fridge and stove, I reckon. I have a 48" Viking, but it's filthy (well-loved), still haven't decided what kind of countertops I want so we use plywood, the floor (sans-plywood) is coming next Tuesday. ! don't shop for things like clothes unless I've outgrown them ( ) or they've gone to shreds. Sounds like the Ragamuffin type. <g> I know exactly the "type" of person you refer to, Jamie, as we have identified where they go out to eat and avoid that place or two...which isn't all that difficult as the food reads like more of the same old crap, like what you mentioned somewhere else here...Ubiquitous! I reckon we should call it that instead of old crap. Well, I've thought some more and that seems to be about it--I aspire to be grateful, thankful even, and to get better and cook for people and make them happy. And take whatever comes along and go wherever possible.

What's it made of? ← I think it contains either corn syrup or corn startch. Or both. ← I want to know how they make fat free Cool Whip--isn't it made from vegetable oil of some kind? Is there anyone near a frozen food case who could just sneak a peek at the ingredient list? (I saw this item on the Sandy Ho Show, and have been stumped ever since)

PS: I would suggest to all that the rise in Childhood Obesity is directly linked to no one does the "go outside and play" any longer. Call it it's too scarey outside or too much gaming technology inside, but I have kids and they never played outside the way I did, even at my encouragement. Kids just don't "go outside and play" the way we used to. And that is to their sorrow.

JohnL, The Japanese and girdle-grabbing caught my attention, because I had a Japanese roommate (boarding school) when I was a Senior in high school and she got really fat (sorry, but she did) the year she was in this country. Simply, she liked the food offered more than she could exercise off. I, OTOH, will forever be indebted to her for my love of Hello Kitty stuff.

Here's a newsflash--this story suggests people are fat because they like to eat and don't like to exercise! Shock and awe! Fat 'N Happy!

It's possible these VIPs you were surrounded by were, in the vernacular of Las Vegas, "high rollers", which, in the vernacular of the rest of us, means "lose a lot of money in the casinos". I once worked with a lady who loved to go to Vegas because she was considered a HR and was comped things...IOW, they left their money at the tables/slot machines, and so were rewarded for making the casino richer. Not that this offers you any comfort, Curlz...just want you to realise what you seem to have been up against. Guess you've gotta be a loser to be a winner in Vegas, baby! PS: There is still no excuse for poor service at that level of dining, and they should be called on it.

Shoot. I know someone who's like that every day, and she doesn't even smoke.

You must be right--I just made it for supper a few days ago! PS: Kickass souffle(s) you had there--you even made it look like fun.

Hey kids, someone else understands and is trying another tack re Sara and the demise of the Food Network.... Bring Back Sara Moulton Obviously Sara is going on to better things, but hey, if you feel like complaining, why not take it to the person who's to blame?

Salt. It is next to impossible for me to use Morton's table salt. I will even bring my own salt to places, if necessary. And another vote here for Parmesan cheese--the real stuff. (PS: The one exception I can think of is french fries).

I forgot about the hockey puck--still in there, even though no one has played hockey for years.

:::stroking my grey beard:::: Back in '74, when the big terrrrnadoes hit Ohio, they were preceded by a hailstorm. We put on batting helmets and ran around outside catching hailballs in a laundry basket, not noticing that all the cars looked like they'd been hit with a ballpeen(sp?) hammer. I had one of those hailstones for years and years. And it shrunk, dang it! But it was very cool. ← You mean the tornado Super Outbreak, April 1974? I was in Indiana for that--we didn't have time for hailstones--we were stuck in school! A couple of summers ago a beautiful and rather large bird crashed into the dining room window, instantly breaking his own neck. It was so beautiful and none of us could identify what kind of bird it was I put it in a box and stuck him in the downstairs freezer. We promptly forgot all about him until the oldest comes home from college, goes down to the freezer to look for meat to feed his friends, opens the box, and finds the bird. Hilarity ensued. A