[Bottled Salad Dressing]

We usually make our own (fresh garlic, sea salt, capers, olives, sherry vinegar, olive oil), but we have:

- Maple Grove Farms Raspberry Vinaigrette (for grilled avocado cheese sandwiches)

- Kraft Catalina (for my sister-in-law who insists on drenching her salad in it despite the fact that I've already tossed the salad with homemade dressing)

- Whole Foods Organic Miso

- Whole Foods Organic Bleu Cheese (unopened, my husband bought it for an "emergency" - I'm still trying to figure out what kind of emergency we might encounter that will require bottled bleu cheese dressing)

- Garlic Expressions (brought over by my mother-in-law a few months ago)

[Match made in heaven?]

really ripe strawberries and balsamic

ohhhh, I just love that combination. It makes my eyes roll up into my head.

The strangest, most wonderful, weird combination I've had lately was at the IACP conference in April at the avocado booth:

A chunk of avocado rolled in crushed corn nuts and draped in a thin veil of white cotton candy. It was OUTRAGEOUSLY good.

[Gas Station Food]

Hmmm.... let's see. I love corn nuts and Snapple iced tea (the original lemon kind). I have a much harder time eating junk food these days though - now that I know better!

We often drive from Toledo to the Berkshires or to Long Island, and there are way way way too many McDonald's. However, on I-90 when going to the Berkshires, if you go in the summer, one of the McD's has a Hebrew National cart out front. Love that!

[*Celebrity* "Chefs"---Who's Your Favorite?]

As a child I had a strange fascination with Florence Henderson's Country Kitchen on the Nashville Network. She'd cook with a country music star and then they get together and sing a song after the meal was prepared.

I think it was the foreign-ness (is that a word?) of it all - as a Jewish kid on Long Island, I wasn't exposed to much country cookin' or country singing.

I still love her for that.

[Burger Toppings and Fixin's: The Topic]

My first post to eGullet!!

I'm so thrilled to be reading about these fabulous burgers. The agency I work at part time is having it's Fourth of July BBQ today, and I am dreading the fare. They are serving brats (I'm from NY, and just haven't gotten used to these) and "burgers." The "burgers" came in a box, frozen, and are called Value Burgers. They contain a lot of ingredients that aren't meat, and that should never be served with meat. I plan on eating the Tomato, Corn and Avocado salad that I brought in, and maybe some fruit. And I'll be thinking enviously of the great burgers you all are describing!!

My perfect burger - medium rare with bleu cheese, guacamole and bacon on an onion roll.