annabelle

Who is driving little Ethan and Meredith to the drive-thru window, Mitch? Are they jumping on their Big Wheels and heading down the highway? Parents need to take the bull by the horns when it comes to child-rearing. If the kid demands a Bud Lite with his supper instead of milk, you don't get up and get him one. If she screams that she wants a Happy Meal and throws a tantrum, let her wear herself out and she'll do the math soon enough. If you're in a public place when this behavior takes place, tuck the kid under your arm and head for the car. Who's in charge here?

You'd think so, wouldn't you? I just don't like that woman and she sets my teeth on edge whenever she's a judge.

My son brought them home one day after wrestling practice and I tried one. I wouldn't go out of my way to get them, that's for sure. He also said once was enough for him, as well.

Thanks. For a minute I was afraid they were going to film in Miami again.

Don't they cast from around the country, Shelby?

Why?

Those Fish McBites aren't bad, but they really are over-powered by an onion flavor, and that is without the tartar sauce. Filet-o-Fish is my favorite McD's sandwich although I haven't eaten one in a decade or more. I used to eat them a couple of times a week when I was in high school, back in the Stone Age.

The tobacco industry isn't allowed to advertise and hasn't been allowed to on television or radio since the 60s. Candy cigarettes and bubble gum cigars have been around since candy began being mass produced and may still be purchased in stores that focus on nostalgic candy items. The campaign to demonize tobacco has been quite successful. All that said, children do not have transportation and purchasing power to get themselves to the market to purchase foods that frankly, don't taste very good. I used to buy my sons "Kids Cuisine" frozen meals about once a month just because they were fun and one meal a month that I didn't prepare wasn't going to kill them. They ate them once or twice and decided they didn't care for them. I have only bought Lunchables once as a lunch for my youngest son to take on a field trip since I didn't want him throwing away my tupperware containers at the park. (The teachers had requested that they bring a brown bag lunch that had nothing to return home. They were shepherding 60+ first graders, so I knew where they were coming from.) Anyway, he opened it and ate the crackers then gave the rest of it to a friend. No one is being forced to purchase crappy foods that are very expensive such as Lunchables. Instead of culpability of the producer, I'd concentrate on gullibility on the consumer.

Good for Uncle. He'd get along great with my 83 year old dad, a straight talking German fellow.

Ad hominem attacks avail you nothing, huiray. I am disappointed.

I'll drink to that.

Oh for crying out loud, huiray. Settle down. No one expects anyone to know all the ins and outs of every single cuisine on the planet. People use the term Mexican food to refer to food from Central America to Southern Texas. It isn't precise, but it's a reference point for most people. Southern food isn't monolithic, either, but that doesn't stop people like Tom C from thinking that if one says "fried chicken" he means Southern fried chicken which can vary widely, as well. Many are the battles fought over sweet versus unsweetened cornbread, as well.

I believe I meant the PRC, not ROC which is Taiwan, yes? Anyway, land mass(es) and food styles are separate things no matter what the UN may decide to toss on the table. Pan-Asian was the term that was eluding me. Thanks, Dignan.

Really, huiray. Who is being monolithic now? Claiming the better part of a continent and the upper half of another is perhaps a pipe-dream of the ROC. I believe the Russians, Arabs, Persians and Jews would take issue with that definition.

Huiray, your last paragraph of your reply to Dignan regarding Asian food is perhaps broadly correct, but a bit loose in interpretation. I have several Middle Eastern cookbooks and quite a few of those countries are considered ME according to Paula Wolfert. Asia is vast, but I don't believe includes the ME and the Balkans. I can see many of them getting their backs up about that. Just my 2¢.

Mukki, my point remains that if one is looking for a book on vegetarian cookery, Martha isn't the first nor the last place to look. Deborah Madison is the queen of approachable, tasty vegetarian food.

I think Kristin like Emeril and many others, is classically French trained. Such training is certainly going to have an influence in any style of cooking she may choose to do. If nothing else, it is going to influence the way she sets up her mise en place, builds sauces and all technique she brings to cooking meat and fish. She has a very clean style that isn't rustic (which often reads messy on the plate) and shows much attention to detail. She keeps a very clean station, too. I appreciate that after suffering through Josie sloshing food all over the place.

Thanks, Jaymes. I live in a tiny corner of East Egypt that does have a gourmet shop that is quite large. I'll see what they have and if they look puzzled, I can always order it. Regarding vagueness in the recipe, Brooke (or whomever put the recipe together for Bravo) also doesn't specify the size of the pan you are to cook it in. The volume doesn't seem large, so it shouldn't be difficult to determine although I haven't bothered to figure it up since I'm not baking it today. I can imagine that alone would make some throw up their hands and say "forget it!"

What the heck is vanilla bean paste and where would you go to buy it? That recipe sounds good, though. I'd like to hear how it turns out as well.

Wouldn't that be wonderful! I love that book and the movie, too. One of the catering challenges could be a garden party/cocktail party.

I agree with your choice of Charleston, SC, Jaymes. Or my suggestion of Savannah. Both have beautiful, historic homes, rich histories, fantastic food and wonderful people. The emphasis on fresh produce, seafood, fresh fish and cooking styles would leave no one stuck in a rut and would make for some very enticing dishes. The chefs could go shrimping, too.

I don't believe there is, either. There have been some questionable decisions made in every season, but I don't think it is indicative of bias.

TWOP's forums are full of women. Gossip-y, young women for the most part. I'm not sorry to see Sheldon go. Much like Josh, I thought he had reached his tipping point with what he was able to do. He tried to change things up and screwed things up, instead. One's reach should exceed one's grasp, but not necessarily in limited time in a competition. I did think for a brief moment that Brooke was going to get PYKAG, instead, since Tom and Hugh have been man-crushing on Sheldon for weeks. Kristin and Brooke will make for great competitors for the finale. It could just be teasing for next week, but it sounds like Brooke is going to make that pig ear and radicchio salad from her restaurant for her final meal and someone (implication from camera shot that it was Josh) burns the pigs' ears. Kristin for the win!

Braum's, a dairy franchise in the Oklahoma and Texas, sells excellent ice cream sandwiches. I seem to recall that the ice cream at Friendly's stores in Pennsylvania was good, as well. They were one of the few places that still made fountain desserts and drinks. I don't recall if they sold ice cream sandwiches, however.

To my reading, there is no risk of anaphylaxis. Again, the scandal is the mislabeling of a product that is supposed to contain beef.