ilively

Dear Son has new GF in Iowa ... closest 'city' is Omaha (an hour drive, or so). Wants to take her out to a nice restaurant. [He's flying in from East Coast] V. Mertz was suggested but quick google and reading reviews panned it for bad staff, and slow service, even tho the food was listed as good. What do the locals suggest?! Ida

I'm two weeks from a Gastric Bypass (RNY). I've read lots of books. I know the complications. I just want to know if you foodies (for surely I am a foodie) still enjoy the good foods that you were eating before. I had the most wonderful dinners in Chicago at the Pump House and North Pond. I absolutely loved the steak I had at Emeril's in Orlando. I've had divine food at Tavern on the Green in Manhattan. Have you survivors done the full-on gourmet meal at some of your favorite restaurants after your surgery -- when you're in the 'you can eat anything' stage -- I can't imagine drinking a protein shake at any of my favorite places without the urge to kill everyone who was eating 'real food' at the time. I'm currently reading Before & After by Susan Leach. I purchased it about a month ago, along with several other surgery books, and high-protein cookbooks. I chuckled when I saw it mentioned early in this thread, since I just decided to check on here for a Gastric Bypass thread on here as I read her descriptions of several meals.

Okay. I'm here to stretch your minds. I'm headed to a quilting event in Paducah, KY and would love to find a nice place to eat. I've already found "Pizza by the Pound" which proclaims having a 'challenge pie' for those of you who love to consume food, but not necessarily taste it. (It sounds a lot like Beau Jo's restaurant chain in Colorado.) Any suggestions?

I've been looking for a Truffled Macaroni and Cheese recipe ever since I had it at Mama Maria's in Boston last year. I've found 'similar' but not 'exact' ... NO panko, YES bacon. What do list members have to say/share? Ida

Munchos. Are they only an 'East Coast' thing? I love the odd potato crisps. But, I only eat them when I really crave salt ..otherwise, they taste like a 'salt lick' to me. I'm "fortunate" that our vending company keeps Munchos in supply at my work. FatGuy .. if you need a source in Central PA, I'm willing to mail a box or two to you.

I'm headed to NYC for a girls weekend mid-September. Would love FUN, FUNKY or OFFBEAT. (I can't imagine that there's ANY of those in NYC?! ) Suggest away!

I have reservations here for next Thursday (9 days) .... i'll report on it.

Alton is featured in the current issue of GUIDEPOSTS. He talks about starting Good Eats, and there's a nice bit about Feasting on Asphalt and his new friends the Patels.

i watched all 4 episodes, and found them amusing at least. I'm now looking for DVDs for my son who missed most of them by going away to Navy Boot Camp -- to become a Submarine chef. I know Pikes Peak is the local thrill, but I don't understand why they didn't go up Mt. Evans -- the highest paved road in North America. It's higher, and the road is paved. I prefered Mt. Evans to Pikes Peak when I visited in 2004.

Well, he's in the air. He's scheduled to arrive at O'Hare in about an hour. We'll be out for graduation in about 8 weeks.

For my birthday my hubby got me ... okay, okay ... he allowed *ME* to get tickets to a Cookin' Camp directed by Johnny Nix, host of the popular Campfire Café television cooking show. We'll be at the Hagerstown/Antietam KOA August 25-27. I've been a fan of Johnny Nix ever since I caught his show on RFD-TV a couple years ago. The show promotes easy to prepare gourmet recipes cooked entirely over an open fire. Hubby has declined to take the cooking class(es) with me. He said that he'd tour the battlefield and surrounding area. Of course, that was before we discovered that the Kamping Kabin (that's pretty "princess camping for a die-hard boy scout leader) will have WIFI access. That adds "just hang out at the Kamp" to his list of possible activities.

I have no doubt that there will be times he'll want to quit. Haven't we all felt that frustration in our lives at some point? He learned last week that his A-school is changing from Hyde Park to Great Lakes/Chicago. He wasn't real happy about that, but signed the paper acknowledging the change. Unfortunately, that means he won't be training at the CIA .. which was the original A-school destination.

I've used this recipe many times while out camping with the Boy Scouts (and Cub Scouts). This is easy enough that even the little guys can do it -- just monitor them around the pot of boiling water. A few tricks I've learned: 1) squish out all air -- for some reason the eggs cook quicker this way 2) don't put in too much cheese, or your omelet will be 'runny' 3) Find a stick (wooden spoon?) that will fit across the top of your pot and use SPRING-clothes pins to secure the bag to the stick -- this helps prevent the bag touching the metal and melting. We generally use quart bags -- they're heavier than sandwich bags, and have success. Alternatively, we've used gallon-sized bags (to feed 3-4 boys), with success, too.

For the entire list of James Beard winners, go to: http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/index.php How many of you ate at these places, read these books? How many of you PLAN to, now that the winners have been selected?

My father was excited about shelf stabilized milk when he made a trip to Spain in 1987. Even then he saw the advantages of it. Anytime my family goes camping, I purchase Parmalat (or similar shelf stable milk) to take with us. While drinking warm milk takes some getting used to, it's great not to have to worry about keeping ice in the chest to keep things cold. [We tend to purchase our evening meat just before we retire back to the campsite to prepare dinner.] Dear Son continues to prepare for the Navy. We're now just over 3 months left of DEP before he ships out. He's deep into learning lingo, ranks, ratings and ribbons. It really isn't just the individual -- the whole family is learning. I know know my Alpha Bravo Charlie's and can quote at least some of the General Orders of Sentrys -- number 7 is my favorite. ;-) Upon recommendation of the chat-boards at Navy.com, I'm reading Honor, Courage, Commitment: Navy Boot Camp by JF Leahy. It follows an integrated (male and female) squad through arrival to graduation at Great Lakes. So far, I'm still on 'arrival' (the P-days), but have learned a lot. For some of you old salts, it would be a great 'I remember that' book.

Hooray! One thing my son has decided upon: Chocolate Bars from Aldi. They're nice milk chocolate bars that easily break into appox. 1x1 squares. Each square has a fleur-de-lis emblazoned on it. We're not serving whole bars, but instead taking the time to break the bars into smaller units, and placing a portion at each table. And, if there's extras, we'll take them to the campfire for use in s'mores. [Extra chocolate?! That's a crime! ]

No! Don't be sorry! GS have a good thing in cookies! (I've heard that 1 of every 4 cookies sold in the US is a GS Cookie. Can you imagine?! Wow!) I regularly take GS cookies to BS events. And, of course, there's always jokes about 'our competition's products' from the adults, but they sure eat the cookies. I always buy enough cookies to get me through the year (they freeze well). Of course, when half of the troop have little sisters are in GS, I can spread the wealth.

For MLK, Jr Day, I heard that Ft. Devens in Mass. served Fried Chicken and collard greens ... this from a former inmate who said "that's what they always serve on MLK Day."

Are you willing to make them? We're doing sheet cake. I'm considering a pastry platter. My son likes the idea of a tower of donuts.

Chicken Nuggets ... great idea. I can see the kid appeal! Pizza squares. Hmmm ... another interesting option. I need to think of vegetarian items as some of our guests don't eat meat. This gives me an option for them (as long as I keep the toppings friendly.) Scouts can eat. That they can! Our Scoutmaster will make them wait until the others are served before letting them loose.

First, Thank you! My Hubby and I debated on 'pigs in blankets' ... we know of three foods by this name: 1) sausages wrapped in pancakes, 2) haluskis (sp) -- beef/rice wrapped in cabbage cooked in a red/tomato sauce and 3) hot dogs wrapped in biscuits ... I assume you mean the third? S'mores. Of course Boy Scouts eat them. Following the reception, he's hosting a campfire. There's a Cub Scout Pack holding their graduation (from one rank to the next) at camp the day of his Court of Honor, so, we've invited them to join us after the end of the reception for the campfire. [isn't that what you remember most about your camping experiences -- the campfire?] After the campfire we'll have s'more supplies. While I'm thinking of it ... here's an idea for you: Smacos (S'more tacos). Take flour tortillas, spread peanut butter on it, toss in some mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, fold into taco shape, wrap in tinfoil and heat on coals for 2 minutes each side to make everything gooey.

Hobo packets (Foil Packs) were in the running for awhile. These were seriously considered (much longer than the hot dogs and poptarts). We have a nice large bbq pit behind the dining hall. The big drawback to this were: 1) time -- most people only stay 30-45 minutes at the reception, and these take 15-20 minutes to cook 2) mess -- not everyone will be in a scout uniform. There will be dignitaries and honored guests in nice dress clothes who might not enjoy the smell of charcoal, nor having to make their own dinner 3) timing -- someone would have to miss the ceremony to stay with the fire/charcoal

My son will receive his Eagle Scout Badge in May at a special Court of Honor beginning at 4:00 PM, May 20th. Following the Court of Honor will be a reception for the new Eagle. I expect the CoH to last about 1 hour. Our setting is the Dining Hall of his favorite Scout Camp. We're looking at about 200 people (waiting for the RSVP's to come back). At first he thought to do traditional 'boy scout' campout food -- hot dogs, poptarts and bug juice (kool-aid). After much cajoling, we're going for more of an appetizer reception. What are the MUST HAVES for such an event?

Wedding one: full catered meal, beautiful layered cake, big bucks ... his family didn't come (wonder why we divorced two years later) Wedding two: lunch for 10 at our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant (he was/is a Texan), bride/groom teddybear cakes (I'm a collector). Divorced 4 years later, but remain friends.[Friends enough that when we (me and new hubby) go out west, or they (he and new wife) come east, we stay at each other's homes.] Wedding three: Roy Rogers Burgers and fries. Got lost in the DC-burbs (Rock Creek area) on the way back to his parent's house from the JP in Virginia. Had to be back to our house (Central PA) so he could catch a flight out for a job interview in the morning. Just celebrated 8 happy years on 1/15.

Hailing from Central PA, I'd have to say one of my favorite 'diner' dishes is Chicken and Waffles. I know it sounds kind of odd ... think Chicken-a-la-King served on a waffle. It's a popular local favorite. They even have big 'festivals' where that's the main food being served. My husband, a DC-burbs-boy, won't even TRY it.