purplewiz

That chicken fried steak smothered in gravy is a thing of pure beauty. Fantastic. Marcia.

When I have gone to the Cheesecake Factory, it was not in hopes of "melded cuisine". The two times I have eaten there it was because it was convenient and had a menu extensive enough to meet all dietary requirements of the group involved. As others have said, their menu struck me as follow the trend and make it palatable to the vast majority of non-adventurous diners. And give them plenty of it. I can't remember anything on the menu that would have been a new dish or taste sensation for me. If I recall correctly, the food was quite pleasant but not exceptional (and having had bad food before, I can be happy with that!). I can't imagine people go to The Cheesecake Factory looking for authenticity. They go looking for food that tastes good to them, and the chain seems to be doing a bang up job providing it. Me, I go for the Godiva Cheesecake . Marcia.

This is something I have had drilled into me over and over: most people are going to take whatever you serve them at face value, and if you don't tell them that it wasn't how you meant it to be, they'll never guess. I thought it looked like a very nice Asian noodle salad! Marcia.

Ooh, Pearl River Bridge Dark. Excellent choice in soy sauce - love that stuff. And the finaly dinner looks downright yummy, too! Marcia.

The first thing I thought of was oodles of wilted lettuce salad with hot bacon dressing. Of course, if all you have is the bacon fat, it would be without the crumbled bacon, but it would still be good. (And I'm sure that bacon fat would make pre-packaged bacon bits taste a whole lot better.) Marcia.

Congratulations! I'll be sure to watch when it's on - I don't think you'll be out in this neck of the woods, but if you are, I'll be happy to share anything I know! Marcia.

I don't go anywhere without packets of Splenda. I never know when I might need them. There is also always at least one bottle of water in the car. It's DRY out here. When we have guests along, I make sure there are extras - you never know when you will need them. For any trip longer than a couple of hours, at least one protein bar for each of us, preferably the Zone bars. For plane trips: nuts of various sorts, more protein bars, and beef jerky are the staples. I've been known to take along bags of vegetables and cheese sticks, especially if they were going to go bad by the time we got home. For car trips: the sky's the limit, as we have a powered cooler. It's almost as good as having a fridge along. I love being able to stop at grocery stores along the way and stock up on things like yogurt and blueberries for breakfast. Marcia.

Hilarious. Thanks for the great laugh. "Walk of shame..." Too damn funny. ← The only thing worse is the quick pop into the microwave to finish it off and no one will ever know..... Marcia.

I'm another one for fried foods. I hate to fry at home - not because it's difficult, but because the smell of hot oil permeates the house for days. I hate that smell. I rarely even pan fry lightly breaded pounded thin chicken breasts because of the smell afterwards. French onion soup. I've made it before, it's not hard, but I like the fancy melted cheese over a crouton presentation, and having done that, it's more trouble than it's worth. We have a place about 5 minutes away where I can get a crock for $3.95, and that's a lot easier. Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese dishes. I admire those who cook them at home, but they often require either ingredients that are nearly impossible to find around here unless you're ordering a whole case (like Asian hot peppers), or ingredients of which you need 1/4 tsp but you can only buy in the 1 quart size, the rest of which will go bad before it can be used, or higher temperatures than my electric stove can produce, or deep frying (see above). It's more cost effective just to order them when we're eating out. Marcia.

Beef stew, heavy curries, thick rich soups with sausage and kale. All the things I crave on freezing days. Gratins. Anything which requires me to turn on the oven. I like spicy food in the summer, but it's a lighter spicy, like a curry rub on grilled chicken. Or I'll put my chili spices in slaw, rather than a nice thick pot of chili. But I want my two cups of hot coffee first thing in the morning all the year 'round. Marcia.

Another one I noticed while dining out today: if you have a dropped ceiling with acoustic ceiling tiles, replace the broken/stained/icky ones. Even if they are in the hallway to the kitchen. If I can see them from the dining room, they should be in good repair. Marcia. who wasn't trying to look for such things.

Another vote for the bathrooms. If they aren't clean and well stocked, I wonder about lots of things - like how the staff washes their hands if there isn't any soap. Do the tables wobble? There's simply no excuse for this, and I've seen it at both high and low end restaurants. Is there adequate lighting? Atmosphere is one thing, needing a flashlight to read the menu is another. My husband carries a little one at all times and we've had to use it at a couple of places. Are the fork tines bent? Is the spoon handle bent? There's no excuses for that. Bent silverware feels bad to use. Does the staff keep up with the normal spills over the course of a night of service? Stuff falls on the floor, it happens, I don't expect the floor to be pristine, but if I'm crunching things under my feet, I notice immediately, and not in a good way. Does the server manage the amount of ice in my water glass? There are some servers who, when presented with a water glass that's full to the brim with ice, still tries to add more. Um, you know there's a reason I'm draining all the water out of my glass in one sip. Conversely, if I'm served ice water in a warm glass (hey, I know sometimes they're being used as soon as they're washed), has that been taken into account and extra ice added? Am I kept informed if there are any problems? This is such a big one for me. I know crap happens, the kitchen gets slammed, things get delayed. I know it's often out of the server's hands. And let's face it, I'm probably not happy about it. But keeping me in the dark makes me even madder and it's one of the big things that will keep me from going back. Marcia.

Thank you....I needed that laugh ! The poor chickens.... Marcia. who still thinks the dyed/painted chickens probably looked better than some of the chicken dishes she's created over the years

This thread is to blame for tonight's dinner ! It's a salad composed around the curried chicken salad that I mentioned upthread and have been craving ever since thinking about it! Marcia.

Financial necessity. I learned the basics growing up and in Home Ec, but in my mother's kitchen you either did things her way or she nagged and picked on you until you did. This made it somewhat less than fun, and I gave up (except for learning how to make very good chocolate chip cookies). In college, I struck a deal with my parents that if I could live in the more expensive place, they would only pay for meals during the week, and I'd feed myself on the weekends. I learned quickly that cooking was a LOT cheaper than going out all the time. Once I was out on my own, a typically in debt somewhat beyond my eyebrows ex-college student, I figured out that the only way I was going to eat regularly is if I cooked it myself. And if I had to eat my own cooking, it was going to be good. I decided that this was not rocket science and I could learn to cook adequately - and darned if I didn't end up enjoying it. I definitely wasn't born to cooking, but it ended up finding me anyway . Marcia.

Another curried variation: mayo, hot curry powder, a small amount of currants rehydrated in very little water (water tossed in, too), celery, onions, almonds, and whatever leftover chicken meat is around. What makes this salad so odd for me is that I generally despise fruits in my meat salads, and I generally despise dried fruits. Yet a few currants make a huge difference in flavor without making it too sweet. Another favorite is cubed/shredded chicken, chopped celery, and chopped almonds, with a dressing of tamari and balsamic vinegar. That's it. This needs to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours so the chicken absorbs the dressing. It's a loose salad, so it's best as part of a salad plate or served in a pita, but it's also much more than the sum of its parts. Marcia.

Actually, I did, once . I had a meatloaf mixture come out WAY too wet, so I added more bread crumbs, and then it was WAY too bready to hold together so I added another egg, which made it wet again....so I gave up and just baked the goo off in an 8x8 pan, and served it in squares. It was dubbed "meat cake", and no, I've never made it again! It was pretty good with salsa on top, though. Marcia.

While I don't fill them out every time they're offered, I use them for both compliments and criticism. Given your steadily declining experiences at this restaurant, I would definitely drop off the card. They need to know that their changes have not gone unnoticed and are not appreciated. A bad day is no excuse - lousy is lousy. One chain outlet which we used to eat at quite regularly is one of a few test sites for the chain, so they often try out new dishes there. Often, when I ordered one of these, I'd get a special comment card, asking for an opinion. I always filled out all the lines - I guess most people gave an "it was good" or "wouldn't order it again" comment, while I reviewed the dish, what did and didn't work for me. I like to think I was at least partly responsible for making sure the general dining public was not subjected to one particularly awful entree. I've also used them to good effect at the grocery store when it was apparent that corporate was doing something unusually boneheaded and the local workers were frustrated and couldn't do anything about it. A handwritten card card from a customer carries a lot more weight than staff grumbling. And yes, I tell them how I really feel - politely and factually, of course. I know from folks who work in customer service that the use of profanity and hyperbole immediately lowers one's credibility. Marcia.

Close to the deep fried avocado recipe above is an item a local Japanese restaurant makes, which they call a Monkey Brain: half an avocado, filled with their spicy tuna mixture (also found in their spicy tuna roll), battered with their tempura batter, and deep fried. Very nice indeed. In the first Frugal Gourmet cookbook is a chicken and avocado mousse. I've tried it and liked it a great deal. Another vote for a chilled cream of avocado soup. Great for summer. One of my favorites is egg salad with avocado. Either a scoop of egg salad over mashed or sliced avocado, or mixed in. It's a different beast - has a new, very silky mouthfeel. Sometimes I serve it on a rice cake just for the contrast of textures. Doesn't hurt to serve with a slice of tomato, either. Marcia.

Graters work wonderfully on limes for zesting. They also work equally as wonderfully on thumb knuckles. That makes three major owies for the week. Tomorrow night we're going out for dinner. Marcia.

One more for the side of cake: Strawberry Shortcake. Marcia.

I watched them hack into the pig, I turned to my husband, pointed at the screen and said "I want that." He looked and said "Good, when are we going?" Are there any questions about why I love the man? Marcia.

I've had a soft pretzel rolling party. The dough for the pretzels is rather stiff, and I found that doing one batch by myself was way too much of an upper body workout! So the next time I was in the mood to make them, I invited some people over, made several batches, and we played board games and snacked while the dough was rising, then took a break and all rolled out long ropes and had fun tying the knots. When we were done, we all had a few to eat, and some to take home. Marcia.

Simple, simple, simple. Omelets and tossed salad on the side. Tuna salad sandwiches and coleslaw (shredded cabbage from a bag). Chicken soup. Chili where almost everything comes from cans (tomatoes, beans). Stuff that doesn't have to be in the same zip code as perfect to taste good. It's a matter of reminding myself in a very tangible form that I've just had a string of bad luck, it's not that I can't cook, it's just that crap happens, and sometimes it happens all at once. And yes, restaurants and take out are useful tools in one's arsenal . Marcia.

Most of my breakfasts are nothing to write about, much less photograph, but this morning's looked nice enough to share: Pancakes with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and a little syrup, scrambled eggs with cheddar and chives, and bacon. Coffee not pictured because it was with me behind the camera. Priorities, you know. Marcia.