Paris M

I love to check out what folks are buying. The farmer's market is a great place to do it because I get some good ideas for what to do with 8 pounds of really ripe tomatoes or a HUGE zucchini. I have no problem striking up a conversation with someone who is buying something that I find interesting, but would not have much of an idea on how to prepare it. I am usually met with someone who loves to talk food as much as me. Heh, I guess I am of the worthy poor, as I cook just about everything from scratch but use my government hand-out student refund money to do so. However, not a lot of time to cook as a full-time student, but I enjoy being a part of the cooking cult that a PP referred to.

Rebecca thank you for the recipe! I plan to use that recipe for Mother's Day dessert. Linda I've read several posts by folks at another BB who've used that recipe, and several of them have left the pecans out. I also plan to omit them.

Dorothy Day, Nancy Ward, Langston Hughes and Caesar Chavez make my list.

I am a big fan of the omelette. Add whatever you have on hand and do a quick saute of raw ingredients in the pan if need be.

I love thick-cut rolled oats with cream, brown sugar and a dollop of butter. Granola with Greek yogurt is also a favorite. For cold cereal, I like Kashi's Heart To Heart with whole milk and half a banana.

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? It changed in relation to how much money was available for food. My early childhood is filled with homemade, from-scratch simple foods like chili, greens and hamhocks, fry bread, corn bread, chocolate pudding and bananas in milk for breakfast. As I got older and my mother married and began to work outside of the home more, we ate more convenience foods and take-out. Was meal time important? Very important until I was about 16 or so. We ate exactly at 6:30 every night at the table as a family. Was cooking important? Not so much. It was more about family time around the table eating and making sure there was food to eat. As my family became more affluent we ate more take-out. And I was never really allowed to cook in my mother's kitchen, she's very territorial. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? Naw, but no television and no telephone calls. Who cooked in the family? My mother in the immediate family and my grandmother if she was over or we ate at her house. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? See above. My first restaurant meal was take-out Pizza Hut at a kid's birthday party in first grade, I was six. My family never ate out during my childhood, my mother still considers it a necessary evil to balance her schedule. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? Nope. When did you get that first sip of wine? Catholic mass with a friend in sixth or seventh grade. Was there a pre-meal prayer? Occassionally, usually only if grandmother was around. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? Chili every Friday night with chili and eggs on Saturday morning. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? I replicate quite a bit from my early childhood. My favorite food is still trad Southern fare with an Indigenous twist. I love cooking from scratch even if it's really simple foods and I eschew eating out unless the food is exceptional and the experience is something that cannot be duplicated at home. Where I differ is that I spend a large percentage of my monthly budget on food - organic produce and imported cheeses... and wine.

As a side I like it steamed and dipped in The Ojai Cook's lemonaise. For an appetizer, I like it roasted and then wrapped in prosciutto.

From scratch for me. I grew up on mixes and thought that making a cake from scratch was "too hard." Then my college roommate whipped up a sheet cake in the same time that it would take me to use a mix so I asked me to teach me and I've been doing it from scratch ever since. Plus, most mixes use partially-hydrogenated _______, something I work very hard to avoid; give me butter or give me death!

I try to always tip with cash but I am not always flush with greenbacks. I figure better a good tip from a CC than a lousy one with cash.

It's been back at the Columbus Trader Joe's for about 6 weeks now. Yay!

Worst sub ever? Cool Whip mascarading as real whipped cream. Er, make that fat-free Cool Whip. Second worst is definitely evaporated fat-free milk as a sub for heavy cream in recipes. I sometimes think WW recipe swaps are the worst things that ever happened to American food.

My sympathies passing your way. I ate my way through every Ben & Jerry's flavor after my last break-up... I then bought a maker second-hand and began making my own. Ice cream is a food group, yes? Salmon and white wine sounds lovely. Grab a few candles and your nice china too.

One of two options for the super-fast supper - omelette with whatever is on hand or a slice of whole grain bread smeared with butter or a soft blue cheese with a side of fruit and coffee.

I second Marisol's. I also found good, cheap eats at the Royal Cafe in the Quarter.

The basic vanilla is not too bad, and I used to eat a lot of it. However, I now have access to Jeni's so my HD days are few and far between.