djbeers

That is also a fairly old photo of Emeril on the pasta can. He sure doesn't look like that these days. Omnimedia no doubt using whatever images were sold to them.

Holly, the Cleveland episode is on tomorrow (Monday), also after midnight.

Get a burger at Fat Mo's. Well worth the wait.

Alabama has some goofy liquor laws. My county is dry, but the county seat went wet two years ago. Up until a couple months ago the only place allowed to sell liquor was the state ABC store. We now have a private liquor store - in the same building as the state store. All private liquor stores must buy their stock from the state, so the private stores have to charge more. This private store opens earlier than the ABC store, so he gets the hard core business from 9am to noon. After noon, all he sells is beer. Years ago in Indianapolis, I went to a grocery store to get some beer. The check-out girl was not 21, so I had to scan the beer and put it in the cart. She was not allowed to even touch it. Also in Indiana, supermarkets cannot sell cold beer and a person can only buy two cases at a time. Stocking up for a party? You need to buy two cases, leave, and then come back to get more. Either that or bring a bunch of friends with you to the store so each can buy two cases. It was also strange that the supermarket could sell liquor, but only at the pharmacy. The liquor store was actually in the pharmacy and you had to pay for it there. Something about liquor being "medicine" from the old days, I guess.

Jacque Pepin and Tyler Florence for me.

My favorite cereal isn't made anymore - Post Fortified Oat Flakes. I loved it. Now days I guess my fave is Quaker Oat Squares mixed 80/20 with Captain Crunch.

Hmmm, the Ensign isn't wearing dolphins. Is he qualified submarines yet? <g> This thread is taking me back in time. I was a nuke ELT on targets (targets are surface ships for those non-Navy types out there). The old Texas (CGN-39) and then the Nimitz (CVN-68). While I always thought the food was very good, the baked goods were excellent. I'd put a fresh baked loaf of Navy bread or some sweet rolls up against any civilian challenger. I always appreciated the effort the cooks put out for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. It was always top knotch and truly from soup to nuts. Most of us had to be wheeled away from the mess deck. A good thing about a carrier is that we pretty much always had fresh supplies of food. Not too hard when you are the airport! We'd load up on that good Italian ice cream in Naples - and we knew we were getting close to U.S. waters when they'd bring up all the remaining ice cream and tell us to eat it - all of it - because otherwise it would be thrown over the side. Fair winds and following seas, Chief!

A couple years ago I had a sentimental urge to buy some Chock Full O'Nuts. Is was just as I remembered it from the 1960's while growing up in upstate NY.......just a so-so coffee. And since my mother always bought Chase and Sanborn, I know so-so coffee when I drink it!

I am watching 30-Minute Meals (I know.....but I have the sound turned off) and note that Rache is showing off her <ahem> cleavage in some low cut black top. Perhaps we will soon see her in a bikini doing a 30 minute Hawaiian luau, with special pineapple upside down cake by Sandra Lee. I'm sure she is a nice kid but the over-promotion is really silly.

I was highly impressed when she let us in our her "trick" to heating up hot dogs. Yes, "amazing" was the superlative used when we learned that hot dogs can be heated up in a pot of hot water in mere minutes! I must try this at home sometime. Jeez.

Here is a rural Alabama entry. No photo for this one, but a local convenience store had the following on the signboard by the road - "Deli open/Sausage Egg Biscuits Special/Fish Guts." Yes, they sold fish bait too. I still wouldn't want to eat anything from their "deli".

My first time was when I was in the Navy and my ship stopped at Majorca for a few days of liberty. I found this nice little bar that was run by a charming English woman. I noticed some of the locals ordering Campari and decided I was sophisticated and worldly too. I asked for "a Campari", and the owner asked "do you mean Campari and soda?" Without skipping a beat, I said "of course" and I was surprised by how refreshing the drink was. As I was drinking, the owner said something like 'you'd be surprised at how many Americans order Campari but don't know what it is or how to order it properly'. I sat there giving knowing nods and otherwise bluffing my way through the conversation. I think she was on to me though, and just messing with me. <g> But that first taste sold me on Campari and I have always had a bottle in my liquor cabinet.

Fried chicken used to be a common breakfast item for country folks in the deep south. Some only ate it at breakfast and as they moved out into the rest of the country were shocked to see it on lunch and dinner menus. I recall eating breakfast at an Australian military base in 1976. They served beef, gravy, peas, and mashed potatoes. Someone please tell me this isn't normal for Australia. When in the Philippines I loved to get a bag full of hot pandesal at a local bakery.....and a jar of cheese whiz (don't laugh, at least not too loud). They all sold jars of cheese whiz. It was a great combination!

Carrol's (I think it only had one L) was a great place. I grew up near Hudson, NY, and it was a major event when Carrol's opened their store in town. At the time, I think the nearest McDonald's was in Albany. Carrol's were all converted to Burger King's in the 1970's. The Club Burger was a good sandwich. They had good milkshakes too. I remember the panicked look of the Carrol's workers when our high school team bus would pull in after a game.

Wow! These food aversion admissions are incredible. And to think I used to consider myself a picky eater. I want to thank everyone for lifting this burden from my shoulders! I don't do organ meats, other than sweetbreads which I love. No kidneys. No liver. No brains. <g>