vestadunning

Would maki be too upscale or "weird" to them? I grew up in the midwest and while most people would be disturbed by "them raw fish things," making regular california rolls or using the prepackaged unagi and making eel/cucumber rolls (it's cooked, it's fish, and you don't have to tell them what kind of fish -- my standard reply for this is "it's a teriyaki fish" and my midwestern family doesn't know the difference) might not be outside their range of what's "normal." Doing a roll with smoked salmon and cream cheese is also fun. Smoked salmon doesn't have to be too expensive and neither does the unagi. And of course fake crab is crazy-cheap! I've also had success with hummus and warm pita triangles -- more success with midwesterners if I fry the pita triangles for a few seconds first! Of course, I'm in a land of incredibly cheap shrimp and scallops, so I'd do bacon-wrapped scallops or marinated shrimp skewers, but you're probably not so lucky.

My mother's beautiful units are called Whirlpool Sidekicks. http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison...S.html?mv_pc=br fridge http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison...Q.html?mv_pc=br freezer. She says they're great, and has only one complaint: While ice makers are available, there's no cold water from the door. But that's not that big a deal usually.

If you are going to remodel any room in your house, do it with your kitchen, and don't be afraid to spend. Why? Because it'll pay you back. When people sell their houses, different remodeling projects tend to generate different levels of return. For instance, adding an inground pool in the backyard generally has a less than 10% rate of return -- a lot of people don't want to maintain a pool, or don't swim. Bathrooms and a lot better at around a 70% rate of return. But kitchens will give you an over 90% rate of return as long as you don't buy anything that's blatantly ugly or that breaks. So think of it this way. You think you're spending $3000. But at a 90% rate of return when you sell the house, you've really only spent $300, which you'd spend on a couple of nice dinners!

My mother (who loves good food but is the best bargain-shopper I know!) has two side-by-side units that she loves. They are stainless steel and at first glance everyone says "WOW, is that a Subzero?" She replies, "Nope, and I got them for $1100!" I know she got an extra-good deal by shopping around and getting floor models (she has phenomenal luck with that -- I need her luck). I'll find out the brand and model from her today and get back to you.

I live for the moment when the Life cereal and the milk have just combined, the crunchy-cold texture is great! But it only lasts for a minute before it gets soggy...so I just alternate. mouthful of life, sip of milk. I know, I know, I'm disgusting.

When I was in college, I was viewed as the resident cook. My specialty was making meals out of college staples like ramen noodles and ingredients freely available from the cafeterias (condiments and the like). The only things I had to cook with were a microwave and an electric wok. It's this kind of thing that really shows a cook -- given constraints like that, can you make anything palatable? I gave it my best shot. Often, the best way was to make a "salad" of a bunch of veggies at the cafeteria -- veggies I'd later use in the cooking. They must have thought of me as "the girl who makes salads completely out of broccoli and chicken and peapods" at one of the cafeterias. One of my favorite dishes -- perfect for late-night food -- was a variation on cold noodles with sesame sauce. Instead, I made cold ramen with peanut sauce. Peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, and hot pepper were all available as condiments, take as many as you want, from the cafeteria. A little vinegar (I had some around for cleaning -- white isn't as good as rice vinegar, but in college, who cares?) and I was all set. Cook the noodles, drain, rinse in cold water, refrigerate for a couple minutes while making the sauce, then cool the sauce in the freezer for a couple minutes. 10-15 minutes and I could, given a big enough pot to boil the noodles in, cook this for my entire floor!