BeeZee

Michelle, that's a beautiful plate! We had dinner at Mom and Dad's last night, this year only one Seder (which is OK by me...). I contributed a farfel stuffing/casserole with leeks and mushrooms. Mom made stellar chicken/matzoh ball soup with lots of veg (spinach, carrot, parsnip) - had two bowls. Entrees were brisket (cause she knows my hubby loves it) and chicken (baked in a light tomato-ey sauce). Carrots, lightly sweetened sauce. Dessert was a Passover Sacher torte (surprisingly good) - bought from a bakery and the Charoses which we forgot to serve earlier!

When I lived in Phila (Old City) I used to stop in there every Saturday on my way home from Karate class to pick up lemon yogurt muffins, warm fom the oven...

I think a key point that a previous poster made is that the beginner cook is likely to use a recipe on a product label. Directions need to be simple and worded in such a way so that a kid could follow them. You gotta crawl before you run, and it's a good way to get someone comfortable with the idea of 'cooking' and following a recipe (rather than nuking a frozen meal in a tray). Once you gain a comfort level and an ambition to try new things, you graduate to "real" cookbooks. I started with a Betty Crocker cookbook for kids which had very simple recipes with every step spelled out. I do remember reading a glossary of terms in a "real" cookbook as I got older and was wanting to try more ambitious recipes. That can be a great learning tool, as well.

Mine too...I call it the "Flinstone sized steak" - minimum size 1lb. He has to cut it in half to fit it on the dinner plate . No room for anything else, maybe a salad or some grilled veg on a separate plate.

I watched Iron Chef America last night and they used American Kobe beef. I don't eat beef but it looked incredible. I would have to include lobster, caviar, and raspberries in my perfect meal. Raspberries not being in season may rule that out, though. Maybe you can make a lobster bisque and use caviar on blinis for an app? Molten chocolate cake is perfection for many people (topped with a scoop of super-premium vanilla ice cream).

Well, since they are reopening soon (for those of us in Central and South Jersey)...Rita's Water Ice has a card you can get punched for each purchase and after you fill it (maybe 10 purchases?) you get one free. I've noticed that a lot of the local bagel/sandwich shops have cards like that, so if you are a regular customer you can get a freebie pretty easily.

mmmm, when do we get smell-o-vision? I can't stand the smell of eggs - cooked in any way (I don't eat them). Leftover tuna can and burned microwave popcorn (as mentioned by others above) I love: freshly ground coffee...mmm ambrosia garlic cooking in olive oil the roasting pan from a chicken or turkey with all the browned stuff in the bottom, nicely caramelized fresh from the garden, still warm from the sun tomato

Derek, thanks for the link! I'm planning a visit to Vancouver this summer and I'll definitely check it out if I can...mmm, gelato....

That's like the Eastern European recipe for "kasha and bowties" which you make with buckwheat groats which are sauteed with egg until they dry out...I guess the egg is what keeps them separated. Then you mix in browned diced onion and cooked bowtie pasta.

I keep my spices grouped by type of cuisine (complementary seasonings)...ie, oregano near basil, ginger near five-spice powder. My mom keeps them in alphabetical order. Teapot used to be on a back burner, but moved off since I (like others) rarely use it. My mom kept hers on the stove since Dad used it every day, so I probably started that out of habit.

Thanks for the advice...I'm looking out more for my guest's feelings/perceptions. Of course, I can't help remembering my sister telling me someone she worked with got mugged at lunch time a couple of years ago Seriously, these places look great, thanks a bunch!

I should have noted that I'm not really looking for Spanish/Portugese. This guy is not terribly adventurous, I want to go somewhere that has some "safe" options so he can get a good sandwich if all else fails. Theater Square Grill is probably a good option, thanks.

The details: I have someone coming in for some meetings in NJ next month. We finish up around 1pm in downtown Newark. He flies out at 4pm. The catch: he's a nervous Midwesterner and I don't really know the places to eat around Newark, so I wouldn't want to get lost in a "dicey" neighborhood with him. Any thoughts for lunch fairly close to Newark and the Airport?

Hubby called in from the road last night asking if I'd like him to bring "something delicious" home...which means he's driving past Harold's NY deli. So dinner last night was turkey on rye w/russian dressing and a little slaw, sour pickles, plus 1/4 of a monstrous potato knish. Whew, I was thirsty all night!

I think I've seen Corelle on Overstock.com? I have one bowl I got at either Wal-Mart or Target and it is a light beige color. I use it all the time for serving rice or veggies! Another place I used to get odds-n-ends pieces from is Pier 1 Imports. Generally plain white stuff. They always run sales.

I used to love this as a kid, my Mom would indulge me occassionally and buy it (now I know why, it must have been pretty pricey). I had a bad incident with it when I was a kid where I opened it up and there were bugs in it and it totally turned me off, haven't eaten it since. Although I did look at it in the store recently and decided I just didn't need such a calorie-dense breakfast cereal! I thought I remembered a sort of "malty" flavor, but didn't see anything on the ingredients to indicate that. I always ate it cold.

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.