BeeZee

Raw beets are terrific as a salad, grated, with a ginger/orange vinagrette.

I have a freezer with icemaker, but I hate the way the ice tastes. We don't use very much of it and it does get "stale". When we have a get-together in warm weather I'll dump whatever ice is in the bin so a new batch will produce, but I still buy bagged ice for drinks and use my icemaker cubes to keep bottles cool.

I always have unsalted pretzels in the cabinet. Good for dipping into hummous. But sometimes that also means squirting/spooning a little of every condiment in the fridge into a bowl and trying to create "super dip".

mmm, red Swedish fish. One of the few candies where I like the green ones, too. They aren't lime. But red is my favorite, they are more of a raspberry flavor. I tried the "Sea Life" shapes and somehow the flavors seemed different, I didn't like them as much as the original fish. If you live in the northeast/midatlantic, Rita's Water Ice has a Swedish Fish flavor ice.

I've found in those bagged salads (yes, they aren't ideal, but sometimes convenience is important) that when I get "that smell" there's usually a couple of slimy leaves mixed in somewhere. Shake the contents out and you'll find the offensive ones. Often they are stuck to the sides of the bags because of moisture.

that's the deadly one for me, I'll have a bag sitting on my desk while I work and suddenly realize there's nothing but air left. Hershey's Hugs or those "fun size" candy bars...the small size doesn't let you realize how much you've eaten. Until that particular sick feeling from a combination of sugar overload and self-recrimination hits.

What I like about her, aside from her recipes being quite "do-able", is when I'm trying to figure out how in the world to prepare a nice meal for some guests coming over when I'm just up to my eyeballs...her experience as a caterer is brought up to demonstrate how to plan ahead and prepare ahead to allow you some time to relax and enjoy your guests.

I seem to have an inordinately large number of canned tomato products...

I like incorporating avocado into my salad, usually with something acidic (oranges, tomatoes), it kind of mushes in to create it's own dressing...so I can keep the use of additional oil to a minimum, usually prefer to use a flavorful vinegar.

Could you refill my water glass, please, without me having to flag you down? Last night hubby and I were out and he asked the waiter for more water (both of our glasses were half full) and the water refilled his glass and walked away. Heelllooo????

Fresh bagels, never toast them. I even ask for the most well done ones at the bagel shop to ensure the crunch. Bialys, on the other hand, I have to toast. I grew up in NY and NJ, so we can usually find good bagels in the more traditional style.

There is a local soup/salad/sandwich shop near my husband's office that uses the small pieces at the end of the rye bread loaf for their "half" sandwich on the combo deal. Not the really small ones (those get turned into croutons).

Smoked salmon, chopped into little pieces, instead of bacon?

My first taste of sushi...I was probably around 12 years old and just decided I wanted to try it. Our family had eaten Japanese food for several years, but nobody tried sushi. That daring leap into eating RAW fish...I can't say I remember it for the flavor but more for the little bit of fear/anticipation at the time.

Pudding cups...I always look at them suspiciously in the supermarket...and they say they are made with "real milk".

if there is great debate about what makes a great "X", it intrigues. When there's acknowledgement of dozens of variations, a long history...well that is my current fascination, mole sauce. I have some time off the next 2 weeks so a chance to try some of those long set-aside recipes.

No matter how much coffee goes up, I'm buying. I only drink one cup a day, black, and it is important to me. Other things, I'll just buy less frequently or figure out how to "extend" them. Example...hubby loves Sabra hoummus, which is $3.69-$3.99 for a tub and he can easily eat 2 of them a week. If I make some homemade (which isn't the same flavor/texture, but he likes it) and mix the two, I effectively cut the cost in half.

one of the companies I used to do business with had someone bring in warm, fresh soft pretzels from the bakery in South Philadelphia on Fridays...mmmmm

we used to go to my grandparents' house for dinner on Sunday...obligatory stop was Wall's bakery for 7 layer cake. They were from Austria and sub par cake was not an option. And I also get nostalgic when I see a bakery using plain white boxes with that red and white cotton string to tie them up, it reminds me of that time...

Huge pet peeve of mine. Sets my teeth on edge when I see a description "...to perfection" (ie, "roasted to perfection").

I do something similar to Melissa with 3 ring binders. The reason I like that format (vs keeping them on the computer) is that when I'm planning a menu I like to pull the potential recipes out and scatter them on the kitchen table so I can evaluate the whole menu, appetizers to dessert. That way I can re-shuffle and winnow down to the finalists.

Cinnamon and nutmeg, sometimes a pinch of cardamom. For the liquid, I often do half water and half milk (cow/soy/almond - depends on what I have). Dried fruit, chopped if larger. Drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Sometimes I just mix in a spoonful of preserves for fruit flavor/touch of sweet.

don't discount "nature vs nurture"...I love cooking and my sister hates it. She likes eating, but the process does not interest her. I think some kids just have a natural interest and/or affinity and if they have parents that appear to have fun preparing food, they will naturally gravitate to the kitchen.

one of my first jobs out of college I worked at a strange company which was run by the family, the queen bee was the 70 year old matriarch. They refused to supply any kind of coffee setup, saying that you should drink it at home. She scowled at all of us with our thermoses that we were forced to bring in with our brew of choice, but couldn't stop us. Ah, memories.

Very critical to the assembly...squeeze that spinach very thoroughly (after defrosting or cooking the fresh leaves), you need it as dry as you can so you don't get spinach water messing up the lovely crispness. Tiny pinch of nutmeg in the mix is nice (optional).