avocado

I wanted something autumnal, so I scrounged around and invented this: Caramelized onions and mushrooms, simmered in chicken stock with thyme and marjoram. Sour cream stirred in at the end. Served on a baked sweet potato and topped with more sour cream and some chives. It was tasty!

Do you go through phases where certain flavors really appeal to you and you find yourself planning dishes around them? I often find myself so enamored with certain ingredients that sometimes, throughout my day, I get phantom whiffs of them... Does this happen to anyone else? Right now, my obsessions are (not necessarily to be combined) 1. Whole cumin seeds 2. Sour cream 3. Dark brown sugar What flavors keep showing up in your cooking this week?

You gotta be kidding...you can't put real cheese on chili cheese tots. That cheese sauce looks delicious! And today, the first really chilly, blustery day of the year, I may be making a stop for chili...thanks for the tip, Daniel.

I agree on Eno Vino. Really good, inventive, fresh food. Monty's Blue Plate Diner: Not worth the rude service. After being called to the counter to be seated, we were abandoned and ignored for two minutes, and then told "sit over there" with a vague hand-wave. On another visit, the manager actually rolled his eyes at my friend when she asked how much longer our table was going to be. We had been waiting for an hour- it was not an unreasonable question. Casbah is good- the m'hamra (roasted red pepper and walnut spread, with pita), was amaazing. Food's a bit overpriced and our server was horrible but the manager was quite apologetic for the bad service and even went so far as to learn the names of everyone in our party! I'll definitely go back. Bluephie's has good brunch and they are very accomodating to special requests. Natt Spil: Middle Eastern Snack Plate. Just do it. You won't regret it. Just don't tell anyone about it- it's a very well-kept secret. Dying to try Roman Candle.

Whole wheat apple-cinnamon pancakes. Which happens to be the same thing I had for dinner two nights ago. What can I say, sometimes cravings don't go away with just one serving.

My dad had a fondness for White Castle hamburgers when I was growing up. I loved them too and called them "little girl hamburgers" because they were the perfect size me me, a little girl. That's how we still refer to them.

Does Joni Mitchell count? "Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses Oh, won’t you stay We’ll put on the day And we’ll talk in present tenses..." I just love all the bright, sunny color imagery in this song- always have.

I'm definitely taking advantage of the last of the really good produce before the Wisconsin winter. Tonight I'm making Green Tomato Soup from the Epicurious database. Not "cool" per se, but it should be fresh and light and delicious. Plan on topping it with grilled shrimp- I think it will go nicely with the bacon and tomato flavors.

Casual dinner party for eight tonight. On the menu: Classic lasagna with ground beef and tomato/bechamel sauce- Giada DeLaurentiis' recipe. Haven't tried this one before. Baked rigatoni with sour cream, ricotta, spinach, and herbs. Simple salad with walnuts and bleu cheese vinaigrette and crusty bread. For dessert, vanilla sponge cake with dark chocolate caramel icing and vanilla ice cream. Probably won't take pictures- my fellow 20-something friends seem to think that's a little weird.

I had a whole mess of roasted asparagus alongside scrambled eggs with garlic, hot pepper and kasseri cheese. A bit odd, I know. And the asparagus wasn't even left over- I roasted it expressly for breakfast consumption.

Farmer's market dinner: Heirloom tomato gazpacho with spicy curry grilled shrimp Grilled pears with brown sugar rum glaze, with strained yogurt and raspberries All the produce was local and organic. Delicious.

Friday night bachelorette supper: A whole pound of parmesan roasted asparagus. An entire gorgeous Bullheart tomato, sliced with sea salt. A ripe mango with fresh local yogurt. I'm going to miss summer.

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions! The party's tonight, and I'm going to make the Buffalo Chicken Dip as well as- talk about lowbrow- bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, the ones in the ketchup/sugar sauce. I'm toying with the idea of homemade salsa too but may just pick up a jar. I do these parties alot, so all of your ideas are going on file!

That buffalo chicken dip sounds PERFECT for this crowd. I like the hummus idea too- I was thinking about variations, like maybe a white bean dip instead? Anyone else have any ideas? Keep 'em coming!

I'm hosting a very casual (think one step up from a kegger) party this weekend for about 40 people. I wouldn't dream of having people in without offering them food, so what can I serve? Here are the criteria: It can't be too fancy. All my friends are recent college grads from the Midwest and their palates are fairly unrefined. Plus, I don't want to look like I tried desperately hard. It can't be too expensive to make. I'm already providing beer and liquor for 40! It has to be able to sit at room temperature or in a crock-pot. People will be in and out and I don't want anyone to "miss" the hot food. Don't rule out sweet things- I'd like to mix in a little of that too. To get you thinking along the right lines- I often make something like spinach dip in a bread bowl for this crowd and people go nuts for it. They think it's fancy-schmancy. But I'm tired of making it, and plus, it's kind of hackneyed. I do have some culinary integrity here. I know you all love a challenge, so have at it! Thanks in advance...

Smart Chicken Sausage: Also delicious. Doesn't dry out when grilled, unlike other chicken sausages- even the casing stays tender.

Matcha is green tea powder.

A good idea in theory, but I hate fruit chunks in my ice cream. That's probably why I didn't even think of it. Should have mentioned that, sorry.

I have a shortcut recipe for cookie and cream ice cream (courtesy of Paula Deen) that involves beating condensed milk and egg yolks, adding whipped heavy cream and crumbled cookies, and freezing without an ice cream maker. It's really quite tasy. I'm hosting an Asian-themed dinner and I'm wondering if I could use the same method for green tea ice cream, adding matcha powder for flavoring. My only concern is that somehow the cookie chunks uphold the texture of the ice cream and it would be too rich and fatty if it was smooth, no chunks. On that note, what do you think I could add for chunks? Ginger cookies? Throw some ideas at me.

I had Alinka-style garlic tofu, served with spinach sauteed with red onions and brown sugar and butter glazed baby carrots. Alinka, it was delish! More of your recipes in RecipeGullet, please!

I bought Smart Chicken boneless, skinless breasts a couple of weeks ago. I don't cook much chicken for myself because I'm notorious for overcooking it. True to form, I overcooked it, but...IT WAS STILL GOOD. I'm never buying Purdue again.

Yes! I do believe it was the blintz souffle I had. Now, how about a recipe?

Could you spare a recipe? Sounds tasty!

A few years ago, I was served an egg casserole with a custard-like texture. It was slightly sweet, probably contained cream cheese, and used at least a dozen eggs for a 9x13"-pan-sized recipe. It was smooth, no chunks, and I can't remember whether there was a crust-like component. It was served with a strawberry sauce. Has anyone ever had anything like this? I tried googling it but I don't even know what it would be called.

I've been lurking for sometime, but "chocolate renal failure pie" made me laugh so hard I had to say thank you. I'd been having a pretty dull day and now I feel better.