munchymom

Steel cut oats with maple syrup, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and ground flax seed.

Chicago-style deep dish pizza with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and black olives

Yellow curry with tofu and mixed vegetables, brown rice, and cucumbers in vinegar:

Home fries with poached egg: Obligatory broken yolk: The yolk came out a tad firmer than I might have liked, but I loathe runny whites so am willing to risk a slightly firm yolk.

Sorry, no photos. I took the leftover beans and simmered them with a few gobs of ketchup, mustard, barbeque sauce, and the beer in which I'd simmered the brats. After all that mucking around I had something that tasted almost as good as what comes out of a can of Bush's. Those beans got eaten. Sigh.

Inspired by this thread and the first chilly day of the season, I made baked beans last night. A pound of dry navy beans, pressure cooked until almost tender, then in the oven with some leftover ham, a half cup of maple syrup, a bit of mustard, some salt and pepper, baked at 300 for 3 hours. I thought they were delicious - homey and hearty and honest - my husband on the other hand went immediately in search of the ketchup. Needless to say we have a few leftovers. I'll doctor them up a bit and serve as a side dish with some bratwurst.

Totally. I have a secret love for those church-supper casseroles that involve canned cream of mushroom soup and cornflakes on the top. I'd never make one (in this house nobody but me would eat it) so potlucks are my only source.

You know how sometimes Sauvignon Blanc is described as having a note of "cat pee"? I had one once that was full-on litterbox. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. I threw up in the sink and promptly poured the rest of the bottle out.

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Peanut butter, banana, honey, and bacon. Grilled in butter of course.

I'm not a big mayo consumer, but when I use mayo, it's Duke's. I don't find it too sweet at all. (This does not apply to the "lite" version, which contains sugar and is way too sweet. Bad mistake buying that one.)

So excited to see this blog! How the heck do you get through six dozen eggs before they go bad?

I love eggplant in so many ways - fried, roasted, Parmigiana, baba ganoush, etc. But when I cook it at home I cook it the way my Turkish mother-in-law does - peel, cut into 1-inch slices, top with tomato, onion and a boatload of olive oil, and bake on low heat for 2 or 3 hours, then serve at room temperature.

I never have been asked to leave a store while browsing - ever - and while I agree that a merchant is within his rights to ask this... well, I wouldn't go back. I'm wondering whether there's some kind of deep cultural divide on this issue, because I can't imagine a small retailer doing that around here. I agree with Lupinus that open to the public means just that. You're there - the store is open - what does it cost to let someone look around?

Re: ice cream maker: It's a Cuisinart. I think it was $30 or so. You have to keep the cylinder in the freezer (or freeze overnight before you use it) - it's that thing next to the vodka in the freezer picture on the first page.

Hmmmm... we'll see.

I have a Sodastream and I love it. I don't think I'm saving any money over buying seltzer at the store, but not having to lug the bottles around is nice. I like to squeeze a bit of lemon or lime in. I do have some of the soda syrups, and also that Mio stuff works well for flavoring.

Final meal of the blog: Thin-crust pizza with prosciutto, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, mushrooms, and olives. A relaxed lunch on the patio of a restaurant called Brixx. Thanks to all who followed the blog. I had a great time doing it.

I don't disagree. I just think that being nice and courteous to potential customers - even if they don't buy anything that day - isn't a bad idea.

It's not so much that it's an obligation. It's that if you choose to run a business that is open to the public, you have to realize that people are annoying, and be able to roll with it. One of the most annoying things about customer service is that you have to be nice to people even when they're not putting money in your hand right that second. If I had a competing business, I'd let people use the bathroom no questions asked. What comes around goes around.

It sounds to me like you should consider a line of work that doesn't involve contact with the public. Human beings can be so annoying, with their selfishness and lack of consideration. But the rage you've worked yourself up into over this real estate guy, you're like Basil Fawlty. You know how you could have avoided the whole annoying conversation about the fair trade coffee and all that? You could have just let him use your bathroom. He sure as heck isn't going to come back now.

Yes, what gfweb and mjx said re: hush puppies. Deep-fried cornbread nuggets. And "hard" in the context of cider means "alcoholic". "Cider" without that description in the US is unfiltered apple juice.

Good morning! Today is my last day of blogging, and I want to thank everyone who's followed along. This has been so much fun. Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and rye toast.

I don't drink any caffeine - I do like the taste of coffee so I sometimes have decaf. My usual morning (and throughout the day) drink is plain seltzer - something about the bite of the carbonation wakes me up and settles my stomach. I vary between being a snacker and a 3 meals per day person - if the meals are substantial enough I don't feel like snacking. I do like to munch on something salty with alcoholic drinks in the evening. Either rice crackers or nuts, depending on how crazy I'm going with the calories. Oh yes, another thing I usually do that I took a welcome respite from this week - count calories. I am a person of somewhat substantial size, and so usually I'm trying to "watch" what I eat, even on vacation. I decided to take a break from all that this week, but after tomorrow, it's going to be back to the grind. I really do enjoy food that isn't quite as hyper-indulgent as I've been eating this week, so it's not terrible deprivation or anything. But just taking the freedom to not think about it... I've enjoyed it so much.

Andie, that's so cool that you know what the symbols mean! I wonder if the person who designed the plate knew, or if they just picked some at random. Maybe the message is "Help, I'm being held captive in a Mikasa factory!"