patti

"Fuel" is the kiss of death at my house. It's my husband's term for food that simply fuels the body and nothing else.

My mother once sat down at the table and waited expectantly for our reactions to the meal. We responded with all of the usual, "mmm, good" murmurs, to which she complained in disappointment that she'd hoped to see our faces light up. Being the family of smartasses that we were, we all raised our eyebrows, widened our eyes and our mouths and tried to look as lit up as possible. This became our standard wordless response to any good thing she cooked after that. If my father cooked something, he ALWAYS asked, "Isn't that the best (fill in the blank) you ever ate? And of course, we answered in the affirmative.

(My first time to check out the soft drink forum.) The diet drinks I keep on hand at all times: 1. Diet Dr. Pepper in 16 oz. bottles, placed in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes so that it's frozen just to the slush stage (preferably). 2. Diet Barqs 3. Minute Maid Light Lemonade

Hehe, buttered-rum or egg-nog flavored Jello shots, holiday spirit, and relaxing, how perfect ;). ← You'll know it's a success when your Mom and Dad are doing body shots on the dining room table. Take lots of pics!

My mom was a good cook and her holiday meals were wonderful. She also loved my cooking and not only didn't mind when I brought dishes to meals she hosted, she also welcomed it when I became the family hostess for a number of years. I miss her so much! Rachel, take them by surprise and show up with something with a nice 'wow' factor. How could anyone resist a delicious dish, made with love?

I was wondering that, myself, and checked it out here: Sabbath Mode explanation

Percyn, I don't know which looks more fabulous, the steak or the crab! It all looks absolutely divine.

I've never made them, but there's a current discussion about them in the Southern Food Culture forum, here: Dumplins EDIT: Oops, never mind, I see that you've posted to that thread.

Add two more for me: The Cuisines of Asia: Nine Great Oriental Cuisines by Technique by Jennifer Brennan The Liberal Table, which is a cookbook of recipes collected by Midland County Texas Democrats (not a large group, according to the friend who sent it to me), their families, and friends.

My preference is dijon mustard spread on the hot dog bun, add the dog, top with chili, grated cheese, chopped onions, run under the broiler. Yum. Aren't onions a vegetable?

- first, the fries must be heavy on the black pepper (salted, too, of course) - ketchup - tartar sauce - garlic aioli - dip one by one - never tried malt vinegar, will add it to my list of eGullet recs of things to try

Both Lik-a-Maid and Lik-em-Aid get hits on Google, but further investigation shows that I'm not right, either. It's Lik-m-Aid!

Doc, while I don't doubt that it's more fun to Lik-a-Maid, I think the product was Lik-em-Aid!

"This above all: To thine own bacon be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any bacon."

Has she noticed the dog bumping her elbow when she's eating?

Let me know when you'll be in the area. I haven't been to this place in a long time, but I called today (Alexander's Cabs) and asked if the Sweet Shop was still in business (didn't find it in the Yellow Pages) and if pralines were still being made. He said it is (specifically, "Yeah, Mama still makes 'em"), but you pretty much have to call ahead so the pralines can be made to order. It's in a really dumpy place, so I hope that doesn't scare you off. Either PM me when your plans or solidified or post something here.

I am the same way. I am in shock when my husband mismatches the slices. You have to make a sandwich out of consecutive slices, with the bread facing in the same direction as they were in the loaf. Isn't that obvious? When I was a kid, I went through phases of hating mashed potatoes and hating rice. When I worked my way back to eating them again, it was only if every grain of rice was covered in gravy, and every bit of potato drowned in the stuff. I'm sure I was a pleasure to have at the dinner table.

Sounds like cornbread dressing jambalaya. Please let us know how it goes.

I'll admit that when I've had an envie for stuffing and it's nowhere near holiday time, I've used Stove Top. Tasty and it satisfies me until it's time for the real thing. Also, when I make cornbread dressing, I sometimes add a bag of Pepperidge Farm to my homemade dressing concoction. I could go for some good cornbread dressing right about now.

I agree wholeheartedly with Wayne, that using the heads does indeed make the stock better. Exponentially tastier. Edit: After reading Jinmyo's post I realized that I don't even use shells to make my stock, only heads. Is that weird?

Sounds like it's going to be a great week and I'm really looking forward to it. Congratulations on your first year of marriage!

Hehe, a perfect example of the difference between living with something and visiting it. I was thinking it would be a BAD time to drive the back roads, because the sugar cane tractors can you slow you down something awful. They are picturesque, I grant you that. Last year I took a ton of pictures parked across the street from the Jeanerette sugar mill. Irodguy, do you like really good pralines? If you do, I'll call a place in New Iberia tomorrow to see if they're still in business. It's an unlikely place to find the best pralines ever, but they are soooo good. It's a Cab Business/Sweet Shop. How's that for a good combination?

Thank you, Susan and Russ. I really like your style.

Thank you, how sweet of you to say. Is your name a clever play on the old song title, Johnny B. Goode? ← Damn, I knew that was going to start happening. I got married a month and a half ago, and my maiden name was Baldwin, hence, Molly B. Goodwin. Didn't realize it till my new business cards came in. ← Sorry, Molly, I thought it was cute! I won't refer to it again.

I was the speech therapist for the school on Avery Island for a year, and worked in that school district for 21, but ironically, I've never toured the Tabasco plant! Still, I always enjoyed the other worldliness of the drive to the school, as if I'd stepped back in time. I have visited the Tabasco store and liked it, but you can get most of the stuff you find there, elsewhere, even online at http://www.pepperfest.com, or specifically, http://countrystore.tabasco.com/index.cfm. The trip is definitely worthwhile in the spring when the gardens are in bloom and open for viewing.