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Cheap: canned beans, frozen vegetables, milk, sour cream (maybe, usually the cheapest brand that doesn't contain gelatin), chips, butter, cheese for melting, onions Mid-range: canned tomatoes, eggs, pasta, rice, meat, frozen fish, buns or sliced bread Expensive: bread, cheese for eating out of hand, fresh fish (which I usually go to a specialty store for)

I have seen that several places over the years. ← I've been to a lot of places that had that policy, but I'm not sure I remember a sign up. ← There's a restaurant here in the university district that has it printed on all of their menus, as well as a number of other things they won't be doing for you. I understand the reasoning, but that doesn't make it any less off-putting. Of course, that restaurant is a nightmare in general -- the sort of upscale casual place that exists so college students have somewhere to take parents with middlebrow tastes.

I have two that I've never used: Vegetarian Times Complete Vegetarian Cookbook -- If I'd been more familiar with the magazine when I bought the book, it I probably wouldn't have bought it. It's the kind of vegetarian cookbook which just takes a bunch of meat recipes and uses a lot of subsitutions. The All-American Cookie Book -- I just seem to prefer the recipes I have from other places. Many of the cookies are gigantic, and I prefer them smaller.

The discussion on Roadfood.com is that it's on the verge of closing. ← Yes, it's going to be turned into a Walgreen's.

When I was in college at Carnegie Mellon, the food trucks seemed to be mostly indian food. Makes some sense, there's a significant Indian population in Pittsburgh, especially around the universities and hospitals. The two that stand out are Sree's at CMU, with vegan south Indian food; and Kashmiri at the University of Pittsburgh, probably the best street food in the city. The local newsweekly had an article about campus street food 1-2 years ago, but it's not available on their website anymore.

So, is this really a Pittsburgh specialty, or just something that everybody serves at family reunions and graduation parties, and sort-of affectionately tolerates? I grew up in western NY, and one side of my family (who never had any link to Pittsburgh as far as I know...) served something like this at almost every casual get-together, but it's not something you would ever see in a restaurant, or would consider an indigenous food. Regardless, what does one want to be sure to eat while in Pittsburgh? Something you really can only get there? ← Chip-chop ham is actually a sort of Pittsburgh specialty. I haven't had it since I was -- probably 10 years old. It's the sort of thing one would make for children, not something you'd serve at a party or to adults. At least in my experience. Something you can get only in Pittsburgh? Like most of the US, most Pittsburgh specialties are really from other places. There's always the Primanti Bros. sandwich, but it's really only good if you're completely drunk. Perogis -- but only certain places. I guess there's a tradition of good Eastern European food in terms of home cooking or church fairs, but not restaurants.

Actually, I just traded this recipe with one of my ESL students. You could possibly make these with butter, but you'd hardly taste it and the cookies wouldn't be so soft and thick. Mine always come out looking a bit like macaroons, my grandmother's were usually smooth. Orange Drop Cookies 1c veg. shortening 1 1/2 c sugar 1/3 c orange juice 4c flour 1/2 t salt 1 t baking soda 1 t baking powder 2 eggs 1c sour cream or sour milk 2c powdered sugar 1 t orange rind Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Add orange juice, flour, salt, baking soda & powder and sour cream. Mix and drop on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool. Mix powdered sugar and orange rind with water or orange juice to make glaze If anyone has ever heard of other cookies like this, let me know. I'm sure these came from somewhere, but I have no idea where.

I'm short on money for gifts this year, so I'm doing a lot of baking for Xmas gifts. A fancy tart for my mother and fudge for my sister and father. That actually means I'll probably not have time to do much in the way of Christmas cookies. The last time I did so was two years ago (last year I had the flu, so no cookies from me). Most of my Christmas cookie recipies are from my grandmother. 2002's list included: Iced Sour Cream Orange Drops -- I've never seen another cookie like these, but I'm sure she got them from somewhere sometime in the 50's. Peanut Butter Honey Cookies -- Not from my grandmother, a very whole foods-y recipe (not in the grocery store sense). But for such a crunchy origin, they're quite good. Ladylocks -- I've got the homemade puff-pastry spiral part down, but the filling I wasn't happy with. My grandmother's notes on the subject are incomprehensible, unfortunately. I've had a hard time finding a substitute that doesn't include marshmellow cream. Spritz - just the plain sugar kind. Since then I've inherited my grandmother's pizzelle maker. I don't think I'll have time to use it this year. If I do have time for some cookies, I'll make macaroons (for my grandfather) and the orange drops.

There's a vague area where a word stops being a foreign word and starts being an English word. I would say biscotti, like sushi, is an English word. We've borrowed the plural as a singular, but it should follow English grammar now. There's no excuse for the Primi's and Secondi's, though. Those aren't accepted English words, and even if they were, it's still wrong. I think you don't need to be ridiculous about it -- hummus does not need to be listed as chickpea dip with tahini -- but in general, you should put the menu in a language your clientele can read. Especially if you don't speak the language of the cuisine you're aping.

I also have a pet peeve about overly familiar waitstaff. Warm and polite is good, but I don't need to feel like the server is my friend. I really don't need the server to try to insinuate him or herself into my table's conversation, which is rare but not rare enough. Closely related, I dislike waiters who try to flirt with diners. I don't know whether to think he's trying to improve his tip or just acting like a creep. You'd think they'd have some understanding of how unsettling that is. I especially dislike being touched by waiters, unless I actually know them outside the context of the restaurant. This may have something to do with having been punched in the back by one of those creepily flirtatious waiters a few years ago. (The owner was very nice about it, but I can't say I ever felt like eating there again.) I dislike being treated like I've never been to a restaurant before. I realize waitstaff at a lot of chains are forced to treat their customers that way, but I have this problem other places, too. I know I look young, but I don't like waiters treating me like this is the first time I've been in a decent restaurant in my life because they don't notice my grey hairs. Customers deserve to be treated decently regardless of the waiter's prejudices.

My grandmothers grew up in Pittsburgh, but they were the children of immigrants (parents from Belfast on my dad's side, northern Italy on my mom's). My Italian grandmother can't cook at all -- I never ate Thanksgiving dinner with her growing up, but I suspect any pies would be either pumpkin pie from a can and frozen pastry or bought from the store. My dad's mother was the best baker I've ever met, but pie wasn't her specialty. She'd do a good pumpkin pie and a lot of fantastic cookies. Growing up, my mother would usually make a pumpkin pie. (Like her mother, she can't cook. Thanksgiving was close to the only day she cooked all year.) When I made the pies -- mostly in college, haven't had Thanksgiving with my parents in a while for one reason or another -- it was usually pumpkin and whatever else people liked. One year it was pumpkin and lemon merengue, because I was dating someone who really liked lemon merengue pie.

I love the smell of cumin when it's cooking. Especially in some sort of curry when it gets mingled with the smell of other things. This may sound a little wierd, but I like the smell of good, fresh sushi. I can't quite describe what it is, though. I also like the smell of freshly prepared hummus. The worst food smell for me was the canned corned beef hash my roommate would prepare every Saturday morning in our unventilated kitchen my sophomore year of college. That stuff was nasty, and it would linger in the apartment all day. I always found something out of the house to do Saturdays.

I was a vegetarian for about 10 years -- from when I learned to cook at 13 until I traveled to Japan for a while a few years ago. It started off as result of learning that I hated to cook meat, and ended because I couldn't go back to living without fish after travelling in a country where fish is such a huge part of the diet. I cooked for myself much of the time in high school, and got exposed to a lot of different kinds of foods that my parents never would have made. (They are unadventurous eaters, and not very good cooks). I knew a lot of other vegetarians who were pretty adventurous eaters, but a few who were quite picky. One of the nice things about not being a vegetarian is not having to deal with the rude people who feel the need to pronounce judgement on what you eat and don't eat. I'm talking not only companions but also complete strangers who feel it is their right to lecture you on what you order in a restaurant. People who don't eat any vegetable that isn't fried but feel qualified to tell you your diet isn't healthy. I still eat vegetarian meals most of the time, but now it's a combination of not really liking the taste of meat and distrust/distaste for modern industrial animal farming. I have reservations too about fishing and fisheries, but I have a hard time passing up sushi or mussels.

It has been the fad for a while now, and I'm sure in a little while will go the way of trucker hats, horn-rimmed glasses, and thrift-store salvaged gas station shirts with someone else's name on them. But for now I wouldn't be caught dead with a PBR in my hands -- once something has become the symbol of suburban-raised proto-yuppies who don't know if their ironic borrowings of working-class culture support the working class or make fun of it, I avoid it. I do enough things that get me labeled a hipster already. I'd rather have a Yuengling. Besides, since I rarely drink for the sole purpose of getting drunk any more, I'd like something that tastes a lot better than PBR.

Missy, Most of the restaurants near the Carnegie Museum are ordinary and overpriced, but you might try Il Valletto, about two blocks away. If you want Italian, though, Girasole is probably the best bet, at least of restaurants I've eaten at, and not too far away from the museums. I haven't eaten at Franco's or Abruzzi, so I don't know how they compare. I've heard that Davio's is good, but I haven't been there, either. Some other restaurants I like (and I'm a little too poor to go to really nice restaurants lately, so this list is heavier on the hole in the wall ethnic cuisine near where I live): Bangkok Balcony -- not really authentic thai, but much better than Thai Place Tram's -- nice little Vietnamese restaurant in Lawrenceville/Bloomfield Udipi -- All the way out in Monroeville, but the food is quite good. Korea Garden -- you may not want to take an 8 year old there, as the food is rather spicy, but it's the best Korean restaurant in town. It doesn't serve Korean barbeque, however -- Young Bin Kwan is a better choice for that. Prince of India is a good place to get a cheap dinner, and better than most of the Indian restaurants in the East End. India Garden has it's charm, but I doubt your family wants the college dining hall with Indian music videos blasting at 12:30 am experience. Umi -- If you want to splurge -- this is a pretty good place to do it. I haven't been there in a couple of years, but they had good sushi, excellent tofu, and modern Japanese cuisine. It's not what you might get in New York, but it's pretty good. The Kashmiri truck near the museums is nice, too, if you want cart food. Which you probably don't. I'm underwhelmed by most of the options on Carson St. Taco Loco is a nice place to go after you've been drinking all night, much preferable to Primanti Bros.