potsticker

I'm in the middle of planning some kind of large vortex ventilation system that runs from the door of my apartment to the back porch. Otherwise, my smoke alarm goes crazy. It went off at least 4 times a couple weeks ago while I was roasting ribs in the oven. IN THE OVEN. Sigh. I can only imagine what my neighbors will think when they see this giant industrial grade fan strapped in my doorway.

The Baggins family is more than welcome to hit the South. Shrimp and grits, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken - do you need any more convincing? And I promise to keep them away from the aquarium.

I think my appliances (like everything else in this apartment complex) just look nice from the outside but are really pretty junky. The "vent hood" just sucks air from above to stove and pushes it out the vent above the microwave. The fridge light doesn't always turn on when you open the door. The freezer temperature doesn't change when you turn the knob, so it's constantly too cold. I don't even want to think about how much my oven is off temperature-wise. I am, however, in love with my Cuisinart Griddler and KitchenAid food processor. Pots and pans are all stashed behind the double doors under the counter to the right of the oven. Sheet pans and baking stuff are in that drawer (the fake broiler) under the oven. There are also some stored on that black metal rack by the pantry - the same racks that stop my fridge door from opening all the way.

While cleaning my kitchen today, I decided that I was incredibly jealous at looking at all these other people's nice redone kitchens, and my dinky apartment kitchen looks so unfulfilling. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Let's unite in our envy of other people's kitchen glory! Display proudly your pictures of your relatively limited culinary space. Our humble gastronomical workshops are just as important! I'll start: Please don't judge me by my jarred pasta sauce. It's only coincidence that's what you can see out of my pantry.

Bleh, thanks for ruining buffets for me.

I too, was amazed at how delicious the sausage biscuits at McD's are. As one who is very particular about the taste/texture/dryness of my biscuits, I was astounded that McD's did such a good job. I've never really tried them until after reading all the raves and hoopla about them on this thread, but I sucked it up and got one instead of the usual sausage McMuffin one morning. I'm a McD's $1 sausage biscuit convert.

Not I. I only eat creamy peanut butter (maybe I'll try crunchy again just to make sure), and I heavily prefer my OJ to be very very pulpy.

At least they don't track the pizza from Domino's to your door via GPS. ← The inner geek in me loves that idea. "Alright, he's down the street! Pizza ETA in 48 seconds." If only Domino's wasn't so disgusting...sigh.

In a parallel universe from Megan, it's the same for me with pizza. But only gourmet takeout pizza. Cheap delivery pizza and homemade awesome pizza, it's got to be hot. Cheap delivery pizza turns to plastic when it gets cold, and homemade awesome pizza isn't worth saving to the next day, it's either fresh or never. I love cold pizza. One of my greatest joys in ordering pizza is that I'm going to eat it standing in front of the open fridge door tomorrow, savoring the cheesy-meaty-tomatoey amalgamation on a cold doughy canvas. I'll get a large for myself just so I can eat for a week. Okay fine, 2 days. I think the right kind of crust plays a very large part. Some junkier pizza crusts turn powdery after they go cold. Blech. Then again, if that was the case, I wouldn't even have eaten it hot. I'm weird.

We do this here in the States! What a way to spend a Saturday.

Ooh yeah, that stuff is a staple in my arsenal. I keep the TJ's orange blossom one around too. I'm going to Trader Joe's right now.

Does anyone use a lot of store or generic brands for things? There are some things that I really can't tell too much of a difference between generic and name brands and there are some that are a world of difference. Discuss.

I always did it with tortillas. Tried it with some old sourdough last night - like a charm. Awesome.

This may seem more of a want than a need, but I use it so often that it's almost become a necessity. One thing I bought when I first got my apartment is the Cuisinart griddler. Think George Foreman grill meets panini maker. Basically, as long as it's not liquidy, you can cook it on this thing. It opens up flat as a griddle also, but I've never really used it that way. The plates are removable non-stick and dishwasher safe. I should really be a spokesperson for Cuisinart. Anyways, I can just toss a chunk of protein in the thing and work on some vegetables on the stove, and by the time I'm done, the meat's done too. Combine them on a plate and you've got dinner in under 15 mins. Awesome for 1-2 people.

Comfortable t-shirt. And a bandanna around the head, for heat-induced sweat absorption. I have a friend that wears tights when she cooks because she says it keeps her legs warm and doesn't hinder movement. Makes sense, I guess.

This takes me back to my younger days when we would go raid all-you-can-eat pancake places. Ah, good times. *drool*

Of course. Corn and potatoes are vegetables, right?

Not being a native-english speaker myself, I'm sort of wondering HOW exactly does one pronounce EVOO? As a single word, or as four separate letters? (and I agree, why would you WANT to pronounce it in the first place...) ← Rachel Ray pronounces it E-V-O-O, which save about one sylable . ← I've always wondered what would happen if she had to use olive oil that wasn't extra virgin. VOO? OO? Anyways, sorry for taking this topic so off topic. Back to stupid chef tricks!

Dang, I just now checked back in at this thread and I couldn't make it through without having to get a snack. Great ideas, everyone! I've forgotten about mac and cheese - that's definitely going on the menu. And some kind of beans - TheSwede, that black bean dish sounds ridiculously good. Feel free to keep 'em coming! It's the first time I'm having people over at my own place, so I'd like it to be memorable. Oh, and by the way, pork ribs.

They're good? I've seen them, and they just seem so...vacuum sealed and dinky.

I'm drawing a blank. So I just realized that I had somehow wound up invited 10 of my friends over for ribs on Saturday, and I have no idea what to serve with it. I also have no idea how much meat to get. What's serving size for ribs anyways? BBQ ribs and....green beans? I'm trying to avoid cold foods because it's already supposed to be hecka cold this weekend. So, culinary geniuses out there, help would be much appreciated.

Trader Joes - creamy/salted. I eat it straight from the jar.

cottage cheese. i've had half of a bite in my entire lifetime, and that's half a bite too much.

Endorsements. (Or else lots of poor schlubs being paid minimum wage to scrub furiously in the back.) ← Yeah, I always get a kick out of watching the credits to see what kind of use-one-time cookware they used. I'm such a nerd.

I'd like to know too. I want a GOOD rack of lamb without having to break out the Benjis.