BeeZee

I think there are three factors at work here (at the very least): 1) physiological changes: it is a fact that our sense of taste changes at different points of our life. Things taste different to a 6-year old than a 40-year old (even if you don't smoke, which is bad for the buds). 2) formulation of prepared foods as ingredients (touched on by several people above). Can you say MSG? huh, what's that? And forget about all the better living thru chemistry crap that is done to our food. All those additives with chemical formulas that resemble toxic waste. 3) guilt or unreasonable expectations...we can't enjoy foods now because we know they are "bad" for us or just because maybe we are "foodies" now and think the flavors are just not tasting right because they are one-dimensional and we've become jaded and expect more.

When I was a kid, we used to go to my father's parents' house for dinner on Sunday. My job was to shell the fresh peas...I quickly learned how sweet and delicious they are when raw! My Dad's parents were Austrian...foods I remember regularly showing up at dinner were cauliflower which was steamed or boiled, then baked with buttered bread crumbs. And my grandfather loved cucumber salad (that sweet-n-sour one with the onions). My Mom learned how to cook potato pancakes from my Dad's Mother, using shredded potatoes to make super crispy cakes. My maternal grandmother was a notoriously bad cook, but she's still cookin' (down in FL) in her 80's. She made a mean stuffed cabbage roll, tho'...and homemade cheese blintzes. The cleanup after a batch of those...whew...usually the top wasn't on the blender all the way and we found pale white goo for days!

Let's say it's a cookie with some kind of morsel in the middle (like a choc kiss or 1/2 of a nut)...I eat around that center and save it for last! I like to make sure my last bite has the highest proportion of "goodies", whether nuts, candy, jelly, fruit, etc. And the tearing off pieces to pop in your mouth is more of a "girlie" thing to preserve lipstick. Although it doesn't work with cookies like Mexican Wedding Cakes, where you just hope to get it into your mouth without getting powdered sugar all over yourself!

The other end of the spectrum is at a local market which is staffed by polite kids from the local H.S., where if a price doesn't come up when scanned they just ask how much it was. Don't you hate when a price won't come up (even when they punch in the UPC code) and then you are holding up the line while they send someone to check the price...

Aha, if you're going slightly off tangent to movies not strictly revolving around food (and I did love "Big Night")... Don't forget the kitchen scene in 9 1/2 weeks...couldn't eat a strawberry for a long time after that

So do I understand from your post that you prepared 2 separate meals and was ready to serve them when you were told 2 people would not be there? Are your employers apologetic/sheepish when they see your work going to waste, or is it more cavalier? Are they at all cognizant of the problem of not telling you until the last minute? Or do you think they just figure that you're being paid to cook for them and it really doesn't matter if they eat it or not? I just can't conceive of being so inconsiderate, but I also can't conceive of having enough dough to have a chef on staff (but wouldn't it be nice, along with a masseuse on call...)

So there was a Roy Rogers within walking distance of the dorm...and on Sundays we usually slept thru brunch at the dining hall. I didn't have any money so when my friend went there to get a burger for lunch, I'd help myself to the stuff from the fixin's bar: lettuce, tomato, pickles. Topped off with mayo/catsup (hey, secret sauce dressing!)...and had a salad.

My grandma told us that eating the crust on the challah bread would make your teeth strong!

I was giddy when my sister gave me a gift at the holidays of some gourmet goodies (truffle oil among them) and told me she went shopping at her local gourmet gift store and said "my sister is a foodie, what can I get her"... I don't work in an office, but I enjoyed learning about different foods years ago from my co-workers. Pickapeppa sauce comes to mind, as I had a co-worker who loved Jamaican food. When I was a cubicle dweller, I had a drawer full of secret snacks. I was snackin' on hoummus 15 years ago before it was really popular...I remember some inquisitive looks at that.

If you're gonna use food for seduction, don't oversell yourself or your cooking ability. I know a guy who thought he'd impress a date by cooking fried calamari like his grandma used to make...until they both got sick from it! I dated a guy who built up my expectations by saying he was going to cook me a "very special dinner"...then had to ask me to help him prepare it...and it was only grilled tuna!

When I was a little kid my favorite breakfast cereal was "Rice Fiffies"...the family still calls them that!

Well, last night I ordered the following in a Chinese restaurant Hot Pot - white mean chicken with eggplant Guess I'd be mean if I was stuck in an iron pot...

Really good (sweet like a cookie) but I hate that vague "oilyness"...I guess they coat it with something to make the sugar/cinnamon stick My fav is Cinnamon Life!

My husband and I knew we were a match when we found out that we both liked to peel and eat grapefruit segments (plain, no sugar)! We have similar attitudes towards food (like to try new things, but sorry, no offal), like same level of spiciness. Makes for a more pleasant dining experience, right? We both have our quirks ref. foods we don't like (he won't eat "cold" cheese, only melted) and it seems to work out OK.

I have intense carb cravings...satisfied by: potato pierogies (melt some butter and sprinkle on chives) potato pizza - yep, for carb-o-holics, it is heaven on a slice. Nice thin crust white pizza with thin slices of roasted, brown at the edge potato slices...sigh, only Suvio's in Morristown makes it. And I'm really wanting to make a lasagne right now...

Aha, the weird sandwich combo's we devised as kids...I know many a lunchbox sandwich was enhanced by a layer of potato chips...especially good on a tuna-salad sandwich! And I remember the wide-eyed wonder of seeing a peanut butter and banana sandwich the first time (age 6).

That's always been one of my favorite daydreams, to think how cool it is to be the President because you have someone to cook anything you want at any time. That's really the only reason I'd want to be Prez If I'm paying a chef 6 figures to cook for me, you better believe I'm gonna have that meal served to me when it is done, not reheated 3 hours later. Some people really don't see the difference, too bad for them!

This is very useful, BeeZee. I have worried about precisely your first point here: a poorly planned space can make two (not just the one) rooms feel oddly constrained. It would be as if we're trying too hard, you know? (Here's the wall that would have the hole, btw; it'd be over by the white pantry door to the left of the white shelf.) ← OK, well the designer in me needs to see the whole floor plan (kitchen with the adjacent rooms) to figure out if you are better or worse off with/without the opening. I guess everyone has the vision of the "open" kitchen but sometimes the existing architecture doesn't want to cooperate My first instinct was "no" to the opening because of the other wall jutting out and you have a doorway to the right, correct? Unless you remove that doorway and make a counter that is kind of a peninsula?

I generally drink one of the blends (like orange/pineapple), as I find "straight" OJ too sweet. Also usually dilute it with a little seltzer.

In a former life I was an interior designer, so I can say there are often "visual tricks" to make spaces feel more open. Mirrors are problematic in the kitchen (constant cleaning from airborne grease), but keeping all the colors really light will make it feel more open. Also, depending on your budget, if you can raise the height of the ceiling (make a coffered ceiling, with cove lighting) that's a really nice effect. If the opening is going to be really small, it can make you feel boxed in, ironically. Oh, and I like the idea of an interesting shape to the opening, like a soft arch, if it works with the overall design.

Well, aside from the sugary "King Vitamin" cereal (like Capt Crunch) that I know I ate as a kindergardener... When I was around 6, we moved from an apt. to a house on Long Island. Our next door neighbors were avid gardeners and bee-keepers. I have a vivid memory of the taste of raspberries off the bush in their yard...pulling baby carrots and radishes out of the ground, washing off the dirt and eating them (so sweet!). Fresh honey from the comb. As a kid raised (thus far) on canned or frozen veg., I have those vivid tastes in my memory.

Well, I had a couple of clues: 1) Had a friend in elementary school who had some woods with a creek behind her house. We used to take old pots and pans and make fake food (you know, muddy water with leaves and stuff in it) for hours... 2) Ordered "exotic" foods in restaurants as a kid (pressed duck) and tried sushi before my parents did 3) Read all my mom's cookbooks, cover to cover 4) "Doctored" prepared foods to make them taste better (added spices and such)

Mozzarella (as mentioned before) and nuts.

I've taken out several cookbooks from my local library to see if they had anything interesting. If I read thru the whole book and find several recipes that I want to try and there's good info. in it, I'll buy it. I'll usually get them online (overstocks, used, etc.). If there's only a couple of recipes of interest, I'll just copy those. Saves a ton of money vs. buying a book that looks good and finding out that it's really nothing special.

I learned a new term, "food porn" !