[Trader Joe's Products (2002–2011)]

I think the inexpensive part depends on what other stores are near you. I'm out in the far suburbs of Chicago, and there aren't many great food markets around here that are inexpensive. We do have lots of megamarts with expensive prices for gourmet items. When I lived in Michigan, there were lots of ethnic markets and mom and pop stores that had great produce and meat inexpensively, so I was less dependent on TJs.

I go to TJs for:

Dried fruit (I make my own granola)

Roasted Nuts

Pasta

Frozen meals for DH's lunch

Frozen Pizzas

Frozen Lamb

Frozen Shrimp

Green Beans (they are the best!)

Frozen artichoke hearts

Cheese

Butter

Chocolate covered espresso beans

Coffee

Whatever they're sampling...usually

Shave shaving cream (its for men or women and its the best I've ever used...not bad for under $3 a tube...it lasts forever too.)

[People Talking to You While you Cook]

I still have to tudor my husband on some of the finer points of cooking. He is great at prepping, so I let him do most of that. He does have a nasty habit of trying to kiss me on the neck while I'm cutting or working over flame. He then gets all sulky when I get upset. I'm just trying to keep all my digits intact...which is hard when I'm ALONE in the kitchen. I also had a stroke last fall (I'm 26), and my balance is off just a hair so I really have to concentrate a little more. I try to be patient with him, but there are times when I'm really concentrating and he's driving me up the wall. It doesn't help that we moved from a huge kitchen to one that's the size of a postage stamp...with the worst gas range I've ever seen. Our next kitchen will be large enough for two cooks to work together without falling all over each other. After reading this thread, the barstools will be located far, far away.

[Hot Dogs]

I'm going to add my $.02 and further ruin my reputation on Egullet. I'm from NC...we eat slaw dogs. Its a Southern thing. Ketchup, Mustard, Chili, Cole Slaw and Onions. At most places you just say "all the way". As a kid, we normally ate red hot dogs, Jesse James brand is the one we used the most. So red hot dogs are not just a Maine thing. My tastes have matured and evolved. I now like natural casing dogs like Boars Head and Hebrew National: whatever I can find locally. I've had Chicago dogs and they're ok. It does seem to be a bit of overkill. I also like to just char a dog on the grill and eat it plain with no bun.

[Sparkling or still water? What happened to tap?]

I remember when I was in Europe in '97 that it was considered cheap to ask for tap water. (at least in France) Evian or Perrier seemed to be what we were given most often...depending if we wanted still or sparkling. In the States, at most places you still get a glass of tap water. I wish more sit down restaurants in my local area had bottled water because the tap water here is horrible. I have noticed that most fast food places are selling bottled water and get huffy if you ask for a cup of water with your order. Again, I get tired of all the chlorine in water. I'd rather have bottled.

[Overkill of recipes]

I hate googling recipes. The majority of recipes posted out there are trash because most people have no idea how to cook. (I'm talking about these no name sites where anyone can post a recipe.) The internet recipes I get are off Epicurious, Food Network, Egullet, and two bulletin boards where people that love to cook share their tried and true recipes. Most of my recipes come from cookbooks. I love looking through cookbooks. One of my favorite activities is going to Barnes and Noble to sip coffee and flip through more cookbooks. I can whip up meals without a recipe. I like cookbooks that give me lots of pictures and new ideas for entrees, salads, soups, desserts. I will also admit that I like well know chefs too...like Nigella, Barefoot Contessa, The Two Fat Ladys... I love reading about other peoples approaches to food and their comfort foods. I like to browse B&N before I buy so I know that the book contains recipes that I will use. I also like cookbooks from other cultures. I can't say that I know anything about Dutch cuisine. A Dutch cookbook would be very intriguing. You should have a website, Pierke. I love reading about interesting new foods. I'm now on the hunt for Maldon salt and caldoons. Give me some things from Holland that I must try! When I go to Europe, I'll be stopping in Amsterdam to see the Van Gogh collection.

[Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)]

Add four more from me. My mom brought me threee of her old cookbooks since she never cooks. Nothing really special...Martha Stewarts Ordouvres, an old Betty Crocker, Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook and a Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook. (that was a present to me from my aunt when I was first learning to cook as a teen.)

I did check out 3 cookbooks from the library: Patricia Well's Provence Cookbook, Baking with Julia, and Culinaria France.

["Mid-Calorie" Sodas: C2, Pepsi Edge, etc.]

I was looking forward to trying C2. I had heard that the only artificial sweetener it contained was Splenda. That's the only artificial sweetener I can consume without horrible bladder cramps. (I have a bladder disease called Interstiticial Cystitis). I can actually drink a real coke every once in a while without any bladder trauma, but the tiny bit of aspartame that my Alavert allergy medicine contains is enough to set me off. I'll be waiting for the Pepsi Edge. I think Pepsi is really too sweet anyway, so I'm curious about how sweet Edge will be. Most diet drinks out there are off limits for me, and I've been longing for a great occaisional drink with less sugar and no nasty aritificial sweeteners. Splenda is ok and doesn't affect me, so I do sub it when I'm making my own sweetened drinks. I don't like really sweet things anyway. I may just start making my own soft drinks, too.

[Brownies – The Topic]

These are the best brownies I've made so far. http://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/w10_brownies.html

They're thick and fudgy with a nice crisp top. I make them without chocolate chips...I'm a purist. I also love the crispy corners, but there are no bad brownies (except cream cheese ones). Thanks for the other recipes...I love trying out new brownie recipes.

[Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)]

I am waiting to have surgery next week...laparascopy for endometriosis and possible oofarectomy. So...what am I doing since I can't be up and around?? Looking through all my cookbooks!!! I know them pretty well, and I always dissect the new ones before I put them on my bookshelf. I always have at least 3 or 4 by the sofa in the living room. People who think that you buy a cookbook to just use the recipe as a list of ingredients have no imagination. I'm really enjoying my latest find...Barefoot Contessa's Family Style. Its already been counted thought...I ordered it and knew it was on the way.

[Ethnic Pop]

I love Schwepp's Limonade that I fell in love with in Great Britain. British Airways even had it on the plane. I've looked for it here, but I haven't found it. I love sparkling lemonades, but none are as good as this one. I didn't even find this in Canada. Maybe it was discontinued... Orangina is easy to find here, but its not a favorite of mine, although I did drink it a lot in France.

[Q&A: Cooking With Disabilities]

I have a disease called Interstitial Cystitis. When I was first struggling with it 3 years ago, I was very limited with what I could do around the house without pain. My husband loves to cook, so between the two of us we managed to stay fed. I would cook when I felt like cooking, and just store the food in the fridge for dinner.

I now feel better thanks to an implant that controls my symptoms. My husband still likes to help with dinner preparations. I would leave cutting to him...things just happened to me.

I really appreciated the part about nausea. I've had medicines that give me nausea, and its hard to eat...or even think about food. Sometimes I would think about a comfort food that I could stand and eat that. Right now, its broccoli rice casserole. Not high brow, but its tempting me at least.

Snowangel, I love your suggestions for your friend. I loved getting great food items, but it was often a struggle for me to take advantage of a gift. My MIL brought me fresh peaches from SC when I lived in Michigan. She helped me peel and freeze them. I've had produce go bad because I've gotten sick before I could cook it. You're a good friend.

I want to thank all of you for this wonderful series. I still love to cook when I can, its an outlet.

[BBQ within 2 hours of the Outer Banks]

If you happen to go South down past Ocracoke to Beaufort and Atlantic Beach, you're in luck. Roland's BBQ is a little hole in the wall in Beafort. Its on HWY 70 at the intersection where 70 turns right when you're going west on 70 towards Morehead City. Its a small place and only us locals know about it. Some people love McCall's in Morehead, but I've never figured out why. Everything is greasy. As for seafood, Sanitary is famous in Morehead City, but it changed ownership about 10 years ago and its not as good...its also really crowded with tourists all the time. I prefer The Net House in Beafort. Its on Turner Street across from the Historical Society. Also my DH and I absolutely love The Beaufort Grocery Company on Queen St. Its owned by a couple from Michigan and they serve really cool gourmet sandwiches, etc. It was one of the first upscale places around Beafort/MHC/Atlantic Beach. We were hurting for quite a while.

I just wanted to give you a feel for what was further South. PM if you need more info. I lived there for almost 20 years. There is a lot to do, but it is more touristy.

[Eastern NC Barbecue Trek]

My Dad now lives in Scotland Neck...I've heard they're some pretty good barbeque places there. I usually ate barbeque that a friend of my dad's made. I've had Wilbur's in Goldboro...very good. Its hard to find good collards. Kings BBQ has decent collards. I don't think their barbeque is that special. I also love getting good barbeque chicken. That's a hard thing to find. I miss Squire's in Garner. I've never come across a corn stick...I think that's a good thing, though. I do have an old recipe for a Scotland Neck Pig Roast. Its very interesting.

I'll have to try the places you mentioned, Varmint. I'll bet my dad will table his heart healthy diet for a day.

[The "Tongue Thing"]

YUCK. I hate seeing people's tongues sticking out of their mouths at restaurants...or mouths open...or teeth scraping on forks. What people do with tongues, spoons and ice cream in the privacy of their own homes is their own business...

and one other thing...why do guys think that women like it when they rake their tongue over their teeth or lips?? I don't know you...why do you think I want to see your tongue?

[Arts & Crafts]

He was wondering why they were so crispy... I told him they weren't for eating. I had dried an orange that wasn't in its prime, anyway. They were very pretty. I did dry blueberries for granola later...he asked me if they were for eating or for potpourri.

[What weird things]

My half-sister would eat a miracle whip, peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

My DH would eat peanut butter or margerine on his pizza. The cafeteria pizza was pretty nasty, but I'm not sure pb or margerine was the answer.

I was a pretty normal child. I remember putting a smushed frog in my mouth because my mom was watching me from the window...I thought it would be funny for her to think I was eating it. She still doesn't believe that I wasn't trying to eat it. It was flat and dried out...not at all appealing.

I got my stomach pumped out for smelling flea dip...mom thought I drank it. I was really small though, so I couldn't tell her what had really happened.

[TDG: Duck Carcass Stolen; Perp Walks]

I thought this story was very well written and different. I just can't believe anyone would walk off with someone's carcass during dessert! I think he knew he was doing something evil because he snuck around and did it when no one was looking. Then he came up with that stupid excuse of leftovers belong to everyone. SIGH. I have gotten many turkey carcasses at church dinners. No one else would make stock, and I knew how to carve turkeys...so that was my reward. Sometimes it was nice to be the only culinista around.

[Pit-roasting a Pig]

You know that whole line of which bathtub do you want me to use will just backfire on you... You know us Carolina girls... While you're brining your pig in the tub, I'll have your SUV at Lowe's picking out my new jacuzzi.

I'm from Raleigh and its been a long time since I've been at a good pig pickin. They don't really know what that is in Chicago.

["Tastes Good" does not equal "Is Good"]

There are plenty of things we all eat that aren't healthy but taste really good. I don't want to live a life completely void of any "forbidden" foods. How awful would that be? I liked Bergerka's cravings of quarter pounders and Nachos Bell Grande. It tastes great at the time, you feel kinda yucky afterwards, but you get it out of your system and move on. I can't imagine egg strata made with miracle whip. It sounds like it tasted good... I would be upset if I was paying for a B&B that was upscale and organic yet they were using miracle whip. Otherwise, diners beware.

I have a sister-in-law that makes fudge with velveta cheese. She thinks people can't tell. They may not know that its cheese...they just can't figure out why it tastes weird.

[Sending food back...]

I don't send food back just because I don't like the way it tastes. I do send food back because its cooked improperly, is old, etc. Good waitstaff can usually tell if your steak is on the well side and you ordered medium rare. I've had servers wait until I cut my steak and approve of it before they left the table. That makes me want to give them an even bigger tip. If the food contained a sauce or ingredient that was not on the menu...like a huge dollop of tomato sauce, I'd be upset. I'm not supposed to eat tomato sauce and to do so causes a great deal of discomfort for me. I would definitely send my meal back if it contained something I couldn't eat. If I knew about it ahead of time, I could prevent it.

Oh, and I believe in the fair treatment of all waitstaff...surly or otherwise.

[The Worst Cook In Your Family]

My mom is the worst cook. She hates to cook, so I had to learn at an early age. I guess that's what made me a good cook and gave me an interest in things culinary. Awful things would include overly salted mashed potatoes, dried out potroast, rancid chicken strips (she didn't eat much either and wouldn't listen to us that the chicken was bad), overly salted deviled eggs, and tuna casserole. She's not too bad at company recipes, just everyday cooking. She doesn't follow recipes and doesn't know how to improvise. She tried to make broccoli soup the other day, but wouldn't follow a recipe or put any condensed soup in it to thicken it. As you can imagine, it wasn't worth eating. She wouldn't make any sort of sauce to thicken it. We eat out a lot when I visit. Holiday meals are courtesy of Honeybaked ham.

[Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)]

I have 47 cookbooks. I do have a long wishlist of new ones I want to collect...I don't have any Julia Child. I know, I know, its embarrassing...but I'm still young and haven't built up my collection yet. I'm also trying to get my MIL to quit thinking that giving me cookbooks is NOT a sign that she thinks I'm not a good cook. (I don't know where she gets this stuff. ) That kitchen advertisement with all the bookshelves is actually my idea of the perfect kitchen.

[Knowing your fruits and veggies]

...and I felt annoyed because no one ever knew what collards or okra was...but CABBAGE!

At SuperTarget, I was charged the large lemon price for 4 small lemons that were 4/$1. We told the clerk who told us to go to guest services. If the lemons were any smaller, they would have been yellow kumquats. ...if you're not sure, ASK!

[The Food Safety and Home Kitchen Hygiene/Sanitation Topic]

I have bleach solution, tons of towels, 3 chefs knives, and wooden cutting boards. I was surprised to hear that plastic cutting boards were not sanitary after hearing for so long that they were. I have a friend who's son's high school science project was cutting boards and germs. The plastic boards grew a nice colony of salmonella while the wooden boards didn't. That made a believer out of me. If I do cut meat on my boos block, it gets a thorough clensing and bleach spritzing. Those disposable cutting sheets make quick work of a chicken breast or two.

I have gotten food poisoning and it was not worth repeating. The Lobster Bisque at The Whitney's in Detroit is...although it better be hot next time...

[TDG: HOCAS-NOCAS]

Ingrid, I loved your article. You're right, good and bad restaurants come in all price ranges. Now I have a new vocabulary for my experiences...which hopefully will be mostly HOCAS.