lesfen

In our freaky little cult of friends, we all have children under the age of 4. If there's a dinner party at someone's home, you assume that the kids will be there. That's just how it is. "Hey, it's (someone's) birthday... meet at the (insert family name here) at 5." We all make due. But if we're going out on the town... call a babysitter. If I know the kids are going to be there, I make adjustments. You'd be surprised at the die-hards tho'... kids go to bed at 9 (everyone makes sure that the place is ready for a munchkin slumber party), the real party starts at 9:30. FYI... I'm braving my fear of entertaining by hosting my rehearsal dinner. There will be a few children involved, including my own, but I will reap more comfort by locking the dog in the basement. In the battle of annoyance... 18-month-old child vs. 4-year-old boxer... the dog gets locked in the basement every time.

This is sad... I'm getting married in 2 weeks. 2 words... rehearsal dinner. Maybe 12 people. I know that mom-in-law can't afford dinner for 12+, so I volunteered to have a little get-together at my place after the rehearsal. The family is doing the "you're the bride! you have too much on you plate for this!!" No no... this is the perfect oppotunity to establish myself as the premier show-off cook in the family(ies). Heh heh. It's too easy!!! Burgers and macaroni salad? Nope. Burgers and pasta salad. Nope. ANY SUGGESTIONS?! Be gentle, my budget isn't without it's limits (I do have a wedding to pay for) and time constraints are in place.

We had a potluck here yesterday, but it was a bridal shower for yours truly so I couldn't participate. It's neat to watch it from the outside. It was like one of those church social cookbooks exploded in our lunchroom. LOL! Sloppy Joe's, deviled eggs, seven layer salad, etc. The hits of the party were a pepperoni roll that someone's son made, which was really awesome, and a crock pot filled with sauerkraut and Polish sausage. The lady said that she went to one of the neighboring Amish towns and picked it up. It was fantastic. Not too smokey, with just a little heat. I think that stuff was gone before everyone even got to the lunchroom. One of my co-workers, who is actually a fantastic baker, kept going on all week about how she was bringing the best dish and that we were all going to be blown away... it was that Pilsbury veggie pizza thing. You know the one... cresent roll dough spread out on a pan, slathered with cream cheese, and sprinkled with broccoli and other assorted veggies. God, my throat's tightening up just thinking about it. If this is what I'm up against, it's ON! The next one will be in July and I'm coming in loaded for bear.

I don't care how good your stuff is, I'm still gonna hit that dip!!!

I feel inadequate. One jug of white vinegar (used all over the house), one jug of cider vinegar (for some reason I favor the cider vinegar), one bottle of red wine vinegar (and a cheap one, at that). I can't justify putting up the money for a bottle of anything that I won't use. I find that my vinegar use goes way up in the summer as sesonal gardens come into season here.

I have seen this anatomically corect pasta here from a store that sells Italian products. There's a big bin of it right there in line with the rest of the pastas along one wall. I was considering serving it without comment to colleagues of my husband, which we receive by obligation from time to time, pretending I don't realize the shape, chatting about how great the pasta is from this Italian shop, to see if they can keep a straight face. ← PLEASE tell us how that turns out!! Hidden camera shots would be appreciated.

Um... my bachelorette party was last weekend... and I have a big bowl of "anatomically correct" pasta salad in there.

CHAOS!!! This has been my excuse for the past two years and man do I feel like an asshole about it! I need to get over myself and just have them over for a BBQ or something. Damn.

Mmmmm... SACRILICIOUS.

Poop Soup. LOL. My mom's veg beef soup that she made with shredded cabbage. No one's ever managed to come close to it.

Not really fast food... but I gotta give mad props to IHOP for their Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity breakfast. It's got everything I want, yet I always feel like an asshole when I order it. I don't know if that's clever of the IHOP folks, or just mean.

Rally's currently has 389 restaurants, mostly in the Midwest. ← Cool. Since I moved from Ohio to Illinois, all of the Rally's/Checker's that DID exist near where I lived all folded up and moved out of town. ← All the Rally's in this town closed up, too. Bummer. I liked their battered fries. The nearest one was converted into a Starbuck's and they really take advantage of that double drive-thru! ← Good lord. I'm in Akron, OH and I could throw a rock and hit a Rally's in any direction. I will admit that I do like their fries but they must be using some kind of uber-onions on their food because they reek and so will you!

My grandmother used to do the same thing. She was a true carnivore, God bless her. As kids, we used to go nuts. "Aaaahhh!! Gramma!! EWWWWW!!! (exaggerated gags)" Every Thanksgiving my siblings and I have a good laugh at those memories.

Homer: Mmmm. Forbidden donut. YES!!! Uttered at LEAST once a day by myself, or the man of the house.

I tend to roast simply as well... lemons in the cavity, juice all over, butter, and tons of S&P. 450 for the first 20 minutes, and then turn it down to roast. I love me some roasted chicken! BUT, if I'm feelin' freaky, I break out my Two Hot Tamale's cook book and make their Red Roasted Chicken and serve it with yellow rice. YUM!!!

Oh wow. That brings back some memories. My grandmother used to make it for all of the family reunions, and that was at least 25 years ago. Delicious and completely decadant. I may have to give it a shot!

Wow... I really like cottage cheese in my lasagna. I guess I suck. I'm inclined to say that my least favorite sub would be Miracle Whip for mayo, but the 'Whip freaks around here are telling me that Miracle Whip is NOT a mayo sub... All I know is, that stuff tastes like ass with sugar and I don't want it on my sandwich or my chicken/tuna salad!

I never go into gas stations (pay at the pump baby!), but all of the local Target's seem to have a snack counter that beckons me to order a cherry slushy thing, with it's tongue slicing straw/spoon. Those first few sips are pure bliss, and then the magic is gone. I love the Dairy Queen Mr. Misty slushy thing. You get to enjoy all of it, no matter how fast you drink it... no pile of flavorless ice/ice-air left in the bottom of the cup. If I'm feeling a little sassy, I'll order the Mr. Misty Freeze... Mr. Misty blended with vanilla soft serve. Yuuuummmm! Hm... 10:23pm... I wonder if the Q is still open...

However, I see no, excuse the expression, Pope's nose ←

I'm with Deborah on this one... I'm very organized when it comes to baking, but anything else is only organized if you consider having everything out on the counter (not chopped or prepped, just out.) as being organized. Unfortunately for him, the man of the house usually has to step out to the market to pick up something that I've forgotten. (Love you Sweetie!!!)

Why would you decide you don't like it without even trying it? There ain't nothin' wrong with the back! ← I don't know! Something about it just creeped me out. I'll eat a frogs leg without hesitation, but something about that deep fried chicken back just threw me for a loop.

Akron... well, Barberton... Ohio. Lunch. The folks at my office were nice enough to buy us lunch today and I am always appreciative of a free lunch. I went to the cafeteria to pick up my goods and was greeted with a white box of deep fried goodness. Barberton Fried Chicken dinners. Chicken, fresh cut fries, vinegar slaw, 2 slices of white bread, and hot rice. Now, I don't know how many of you are familiar with "Barberton Fried Chicken" (I'm guessing not many), but it's crumb coated and fried in lard. Ooooo. It's a pretty big deal 'round these parts. I'm a crispy skin girl myself, so the soft coating on this chicken doesn't do much for me, but the meat inside is glorious. (Tasty as it is, I would gladly get all 4th grade and trade my chicken for someone's hot rice, but that's another post...) I'm getting off of my own topic... While digging into my boxed heart attack, I came accross an oddly shaped piece of chicken. Long and almost phallic. I was disturbed. I had to venture out of my cubicle to ask a native Barbertonian exactly what I was looking at. Did someone at Hopocan Gardens deep fry something naughty? My townie co-workers rolled their eyes. "That's the back." Huh? Wha? The back? Of the chicken? What's it doing in my lunch? "That's the best part." Ok. I'll take your word for it, because I'm not eating it. Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm a big fan of the chicken and all of it's parts. I love all of their bits and pieces, I love gizzards and necks... to snack on while I'm waiting for Thanksgiving dinner, or chopped up into little pieces and added into just about anything else. To me the back has always been relegated to the stock pot. I was actually shocked to see one in my deep fried lunch, which brings me to my question for the masses... I'm not a fried chicken junky. I'm not going to get into my Intrepid and tour the country in the name of research. Do other regions use the backs as part of a chicken dinner? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

My office is infested with these bastards! Oh, and they don't stop with bagels... oh no... donuts, cookies, sandwiches, bananas (??? EW!!), etc... If it can be halved, they will leave it sitting on the counter. Consider me the clean-up crew. Their loss is my gain, and it's THEIR fault that my ass is two axe handles wide!!

Sauerkraut Balls. Is N.E. Ohio, an island? Feels like it sometimes...

Guy I worked with in Cali used to get some kind of carry-out that, if memory serves, consisted of rice, lemon, some kind of green herb, and ants. I tried it because the other girl in our cubicle community was having some kind of annoying screeching fit over it. It was actually pretty good, but I don't think the ants were of any benefit to the dish.