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>

I love ketchup and also ate ketchup sandwiches as a kid.....when you think about it, it isn't much different than eating salsa and chips. I like ketchup on scrambled eggs, burgers, cheesesteaks, Italian sausage sandwiches, and western omelet sandwiches. However, I prefer my french fries to be clean with only salt on them. I don't use ketchup on anything else. And I don't eat ketchup sandwiches anymore. I prefer Hunt's to Heinz, but also like Del Monte. I generally buy whatever I have a coupon for.

Cheese of any sort. My mother and father were quite fond of cheese and they would bring home all sorts of it from a great deli we had in town. Most of this was, as I called it at the time, "stinky cheese". I would even scrape the totally unoffensive mozzarella from my pizza. I eventually accepted mozzarella in my teens, but the great realization occurred when I was in the Navy. Lots of port calls in Europe led me to try local cheeses in order to look worldly in front of the locals and my shipmates. Much of this was alcohol induced, but I soon discovered what I had been missing for all those years.

Bob Syke's serves up some good ribs. I have cleaned a few bones there.

Big Bob Gibson's Barbecue in Decatur, AL. They have won many times at Memphis In May, but have gotten a little commerical in the past few years with marketing of their famous white sauce and their red sauce. Greenbrier Bar-B-Que , which is between Decatur and Huntsville off of I-565, is also locally reknowned for good food. This is not to be confused with the Greenbrier Restaurant, which is nearby and used to be the Greenbrier Bar-B-Que until the Greenbrier Bar-B-Que moved to a new building. The old building was taken over by the Evans family, who opened the Greenbrier Restaurant - which is the same in theme and decor as their other restaurant, the Catfish Inn. The Catfish Inn is about 7 miles west of Athens, AL, on Highway 72. The Catfish Inn is pretty good. It has been there for ages. A former sheriff runs it ("Buddy" - wouldn't you just know a southern sheriff would be called Buddy?). They also have barbecue in addition to the fried catfish. Their barbecued chicken is my favorite, although the pork barbecue is decent too. I am not a big catfish fan. I like their hushpuppies. Around north Alabama you will find several Whitt's Barbecue stands. These are drive-ups with no indoor seating. Maybe a picnic table. Lawler's Barbecue in Athens is good too, although they just opened another store at the I-65 interchange in Athens which may affect quality. A place that always has a line of cars at the window is Thomas Pit Barbecue in Madison, AL. The smoke rolls across Highway 72 and smells wonderful. The meats are very good. One place I do not recommend is Smokey's BBQ in Madison. This is a few hundred feet from Thomas Pit. Smokey's meat doesn't taste or smell like it has seen any smoke! I think I need to go get some barbecue....

I try to tip in cash, but on those occasions when the bill gets up there and my wallet cash won't handle a good tip, I go with putting the tip on the credit card. However, I try to make up for it by increasing the tip amount on the credit card. Probably another 5% or so extra, on average.

In Montgomery, The Sahara is a good choice. I haven't been there in a while but they had a well trained and experienced service staff and excellent food. You won't hear, "Hi I'm Jeff and I'll be your server tonight".

The pork doneness issue, for many mid to older aged people, is a product of our childhood and being raised to think pork needs to be done to excess. Personally, I do not care for the "new" leaner pork. It just doesn't taste as good as the pork of 30 years ago. I much prefer the pork of old, with the fat and flavor. All that said, tonight I will be having some not-too-thick center cut pork chops (about 3/4 inch), simply seasoned and fried up in one of my trusty old cast iron skillets. So I have to be very careful not to overcook them, which can happen quite quickly. This to be served with some well cooked pinto beans, white corn bread (baked in another cast iron skillet), and scalloped potatoes. A fresh Del Monte Gold pineapple will be sliced up for dessert. All that and a pitcher of iced tea, and you have a good southern meal. I am not sure where all this undercooking stuff started. I sometimes think much of it was born out of laziness on the part of some kitchens, playing on the ignorance of many Americans when it comes to food, and our collective will to follow trends whether we like them or not. It used to be that the restaurant kitchens cooked food that satisfied the patrons tastes. More and more, we see patrons eating food in order to satisfy the chefs tastes. I'm convinced people will continue to patronize a celebrity chef's restaurants just to say they ate there, regardless of the food they are served and whether they truly like the food. There needs to be a happy balance here, and I fear it isn't happening. Sorry, but I like my green beans and asparagus to be tender. The level of green color they retain is not important to me. Not biting into something that feels like a twig is important to me. Well, I didn't mean to launch into a rant....but I guess I did. <g>

The Barbecue House in Auburn is good. It is on South College St, if I recall correctly. And as for Greenville, The Smokehouse is good. It is off of I-65. A person in the General Food Topics has been raving about the slaw at The Smokehouse. I can attest to that. Bear in mind that many Alabama barbecue places do not serve beer even if the town is wet. In fact, many of the best places are in dry towns or counties. And now for my dinner tonight, which is some barbecue from Lawler's in Athens. Good stuff, especially when served on a hamburger bun with some hot sauce, dill pickle, and slaw heaped on top. You may know this, but in Alabama when someone says they want some "barbecue" they are talking about slow smoked pulled pork butt. So when you go to a barbecue stand, just say "I want a pound of barbecue" or "gimme two barbecue sandwiches". They'll know what you mean. Dave in Alabama

I am a Zapp's nut too. The cajun crawtater and jalapeno flavors go great with beer and a football game. Growing up in upstate NY we always had Wise chips. I liked Wise because they were generally cooked to a darker color and therefore had a richer flavor. Now, living in the south I can get Zapp's all the time, which is a good thing. I don't care much for the Golden Flake chips that are so popular down here in Alabama - the texture is too soft in a Pringles sort of way. I like the kettle crunch of Zapp's. And they go good with dips too. No breakage, and no ridges required!

Allow me to chime in and endorse the Cuisinart toaster oven. It is a superb piece of equipment. I use it daily - as a toaster, an oven, and as a convection oven. But I must also say that I agree with those who have warned about getting the white one. Don't do it. Get the black one. The white model discolors very quickly around the door and will start looking ugly very soon after you buy it. But it cooks beautifully.