Kouign Aman

yup

Sometimes, we have nachos for dinner. Grate cheese, melt onto chips, heat beans, slice veg. But we cant do that every night.

Going to Catalina soon, staying in Avalon. Where to eat? All I remember from my last trip, 10-15 years ago, is mediocre to bad food, and nothing about where we ate it. We'll need at least 2 lunches and 2 dinners, and 1 breakfast. Thanks in advance for any help.

Sure, why not? Maybe not if it were all restaurants, all the time, but for some/most meals, sure. Had a lovely experience at a communal table on a riverboat in China. Talking about the other diners wasnt an option since I only had two words of the language.

Are you advocating that people should regularly consume McD's? And I question the nutritional value of their offerings. My breakfast today consisted of scrambled eggs w/cheddar, homefries and a dash of Tabasco; large orange; orange juice and a tall glass of milk. Slightly over 1,150 calories, 49g protein, 56g fat and 119g carbs. More important for my purposes are the total g of protein than the calories or fat. I eat like this almost every day. I'd be hard pressed to find an equivalent meal at Mc'D's that provided a similar macronutrient breakdown. How did you get there from what I posted? Feel free: McD's nutrition breakdown Not having the exact preferred nutritional breakdown of a specific adult male does not change the fact that the food from McD's does have reasonable, if high on fat, macro nutritional content. Most folks I know dont eat > 1000 calories at breakfast. They live somewhere in the 2000 cal a day range (2000-<3000) and split their calories between at least 3 meals (sometimes to include snacks). Nevertheless, yours is the example given, so lets look at it: Your meal ~ 1:1:2 protein grams: fat grams: carb grams Ex from life (not cherrypicked for the results I want) Sausage McMuffin w egg: Calories 450 protein (g) 21 fat (g) 27 carbs (g) 30 It also has reportable amounts of Vit A, calcium and iron. While I wouldnt want to serve it day in and day out, as breakfast go, its basically nutritious. Add a glass of orange juice: (complete with Vitamin C) 150 calories 0 fat 30 g carbs 2 g protein now the "hashbrown" is definitely a luxury item: 150 calories 9 gm fat - about 1/2 calories are from fat. No surprise there - its all deepfried crust. 1 g protein 15 gm carbs We're looking at a total of calories 750 = 450 + 150 + 150 protein (g) 24 g fat (g) 36 g carbs (g) 75 g which is 1 : 1.5 : 3 which is not awful. High on fat as noted in my original post.

The school cafeteria is not a balanced budget institution. It is heavily subsidized. Its a marvelous thing to have, for kids who otherwise might not get a breakfast or a lunch. A brain needs fuel to function. Long-term the body prefers fuel that includes micronutrients and vitamins. Right here and now, the brain just wants calories. So junk or not, kids who eat learn better than kids who dont. Those of you who keep a stash for the kids who arent eating - many thanks for your thoughtfulness and kindness. I know to some degree its also self-serving - those kids are less disruptive when not hungry too, but there's no harm in getting two benefits from one kindness. I dont like the policy of mandated school food only, because its one more right taken away because big brother knows best. Besides, I can pack just enough food that herself has to eat it all in order not to be hungry. This gets the less desirable bits eaten (like the carrot sticks). School meals are the same size for 5 yr olds and 12 yr olds. That lets mine pitch 2/3 of it, which of course is the veg, fruit and milk. Thus, she'd get plenty of protein and calories for the day (burgers, chicken fingers, and school pizza are good for that), but miss on the other benefits. I like being able to micromanage lunch.

Why is a McD's breakfast being described as devoid of nutrition? Egg, meat, grain-based starch, possibly cheese and potato. Its high in fat and therefore calories, but not devoid of nutritional value. Its probably no higher in fat than the much beloved egg-in-a-nest of many pages of eg discussion. I know kids who skip all the food at school - they dont learn well, especially in the afternoon classes. Me? I had the other problem. I loved school lunches and always cleaned my plate. That put in about 2x the calories I needed. Finally, if my kid meets some criteria of which the rest of the world is unaware, and as a reward gets a bag of junk for lunch? Tough on you.

If you allow for the difference between wholesale and retail costs, I have doubts as to the accuracy of this. Whether or not parents will is another story I'm just wondering whether requiring kids to eat school food is entirely legal. No, not allowing for that difference. That is the cost of the food. Meet the challenge, or dont. I provide my kid a nutritious lunch, usually for less than the $2 cost of a school lunch, but its not "better" food. Its probably equally nutritious and I can certainly tailor it to her particular tastes, but I dont pretend I can pack a hot lunch that stays hot and safe between house and lunchtime, nor do I provide the day to day variety the school does.

The first two you mention have fruit in them, therefore structure (fiber). I wonder if it would help to add fiber to the honey, such as the pectin suggested above or something a bit bulkier - fruit fiber or BeneFiber ?

Sherbet or icecream?

Hmm, someone mate a really tasty dinner roll that turned out to have been made using chemistry to copy the result of good flour, kneading, yeast, rising, etc. That wasnt a hit, as I recall. Why fake the rice?

Panda Country - spouse has been going there for >25 years, is recognized and greeted, always orders same three things. Perks? Being said hello to, having the munchkin have a spare 'grandma'. On occasion, Grandma Julie came to our table and fed the baby munchkin, who was and still is a sweetcorn soup monster. Buffet across street - 7 years now, they recognize the munchkin mostly. She first went in her pram. Opera Cafe for breakfast once a week. Manager recognizes me now whatever time and day I come in. Perqs? Again, mostly the greeting & updating each other on how life is going. She saves me an almond croissant in the am, if there's a run on them. Used to be Samson's Deli in La Jolla: the waitstaff all knew my lunch order. Aesop's Tables knew us, and knew we ordered something different every time. Also Andiamo in Tierra Santa. Went monthly - got comped a dessert or two, special recommendations, had our drinks on the table before we sat down. They moved and we moved and its just too far now. Shame, that.

Kraft mac'n cheese, tuna, frozen peas = childhood.

Honey. Cant go to the cupboard now to check them all, but definitely hoarded 'just in case'. The only one anyone is allowed to use is the desert honey. From memory: tupelo, manuka, bush, orange flower, clover, mesquite, grapefruit flower, sunflower, 'mixed wildflower' aka desert honey, white honey.

Party at llc45's house! I'll bring my stash of "we couldnt fit it into the moving van" bottles - 3 big boxes of them, gifted by relocating friends.

Ah, but they will spread the word far and wide about that much 'customer service'. I like the buffet suggestion made by the farm owner. Every meal is build your own, with a fancy name. At breakfast, call it Danish or European style. Lunch is Build your Own Dinner is Charcuterie buffet. Limit it to the four. Everyone else gets a regular meal.

I use vanilla wafers instead of graham crackers. More butter helps hold either kind together. Not too much more or you get cold buttery waxy crust. Baking and egg white ideas sound interesting. Evenness- I read somewhere to get two identical pans, put crust in one, put other on top, press. On the other hand, how important is evenness, really?

From England Cadbury's chocolate - tastes maltier in England. Same formula worldwide, but raw materials sourced by each plant, so obviously going to be regional differences, and there are. Plus, I cant find the whole hazelnut/filbert bars here. Birds Dessert powder - key ingredient in our in-a-hurry icecream recipe. Marmite

The sausage patty is some mighty fine sausage.

Good point, Toliver. Here's another definition question: What about using frozen veg? Is that cooking? The only step skipped is washing it. Why is prebagged salad not cooking? Does personally washing the worms off lettuce intrinsically improve the taste and nutritive content? Or was that just the third part of the meal that included frozen cheese sauce? Does heating leftovers count as cooking? Because if it does, we cook 7 days a week, but if it doesnt, then we cook 3x.

Hypothesis doesnt hold up. Appears to be a case of observation bias. Although a couple posts could go either way, on the first count the tally is: one of my parents cooked reasonably well or better / I learned: 26 My parents served boiled boots, when they bothered to cook at all: 20 and now to raise the first class to 27: measuring, reading thru planning it all to come together, use the kitchen well, etc menu planning trying new ingredients, recipes, techniques and some favorite recipes.

Depends on where the 'vast masses' live. Bugs are popular snack foods in much of Asia.

Sliced then frozen will thaw well enough to make it to your grilled cheese sandwich as mostly intact slices. Chunks wont slice well enough for that. I havent had a problem w melting characteristics post-thaw. In some ways, the crumbling is a boon, because there's more surface area and it speeds melting. Yes, a perfect cheese is dandled on its father's knee until the moment of consumption, but pretty darn good cheese can handle a refrigerator/freezer life and still provide pleasure. And a sale is a sale!

Or on the back of your stool, if it has one, or under you, if it doesnt. Handbags- over shoulder, at feet (not so safe) or on lap. Possibly on bar next to your drink. But I can see using the next stool, if occupancy is low. Why are rude kids worse than rude adults? :confused:

Please dont tell me 'how the menu works'. If its designed properly, I can figure it out faster than you can describe it. Why do you care if I've been here before? Does the food get better? If I have, and my guest hasnt, dont you trust me to explain things, given I liked the place well enough to return?