Susie Q

Five Guys will be opening 200 outlets in Southern California. They have twenty something now. The biggest hurdle they say will be In-N-Out customer loyalty. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/08/business/la-fi-five-guys-20110408

I went to the one in Cerritos California. A very good burger and great fries indeed. I love In-n-Out burgers and a Five Guys burger is different but just as good. Anyone could beat In-n-Out fries.

I hate that sour deli smell. You can even smell it as you walk past. It ranks right down there with the funky over ripe fruit and vegi smell that some small markets have. I'm not a fan of subway and haven't eaten from there since the early 90's. I didn't care for their food and the sour smell that every shop had just bowled me over and always made me nauseous.

Nirvana for me is Diedrich Sumatra full roast, french pressed, served in a bowl to keep my hands warm. My first bowl is 1/2 and 1/2 with whole milk to get my daily calcium, after that it's black. I'm not a coffee snob. If it's good, it's good. Who cares where it came from. I have on occasion taken my own electric tea pot, french press, bowls, and coffee when traveling. I've been drinking coffee since I was three years old (got started with coffee milk on a camp out)and can drink it hot or cold. I'll also drink it slightly sweetened and with cream once in a great, great while. I don't mind arab coffee that is flavored with cardamon, BUT NEVER will I drink flavored coffee. YUCK! I fully understand the 180 degree sip hole/seam thing. I've had it drip on me too.

I do believe that craving is physical. Normally I'm a carb girl but once a month, every month, if you know what I mean, I crave meat... I want rare steak, thick pork chops, giant burgers, and I want ibuprofen for dessert. I think my body is telling me I need the extra iron.

In-N-Out Burger spread packets. It's thousand island dressing. The odd clear and pink Sweet-n-sour sauce at chinese take out houses mixed with the chinese hot mustard packets. The best on a greasy egg roll.

I came across so many expired can goods when cleaning my grandmother's pantry a few years back in the mid 90's. She would put the new stuff in front when stocking up the cupboards for winter. Towards the back a few of those cans were from the early 70's. After living through the Depression she wouldn't and couldn't throw anything away. She had a fortune in twist ties and butter tubs. I silently tossed can after can, and box after box while telling her I was just cleaning and dusting.... and then went to the store to buy new items so the shelf depth looked the same.

Last year I found fresh quince at Bristol Farm's. It's a market here in Los Angeles.

I use a scalpel to slash my bread loaves. A metal flower frog to dock dough, a 1" tiny frog to dock homemade crackers. I use the base of a small telephone pole insulator to create a pattern on cookies. A coke bottle to beat round steak for chicken fried steak. I've also used a 3# sledge hammer to tenderize and flatten meat. To store onions I tie them off in panty hose and hang them in a closet. I use 6 clay tiles in the oven to bake bread on. I almost forgot.... kniting needles to turn aebelskivers.

There are so many good smells. Fresh baked bread, bakery anything, BBQ, garlic and onions turning golden in a pan, stinky cheese, quince. What smell do I hate. Sour Sandwich Smell. You can smell it when someone unwraps a certain kind of sandwich and also at some shops, especially Subway Subs which always has that smell... which is why I've never been there for decades. I have to leave and get away from it or I will toss my cookies. To me it's worse than rotting meat.

I like my own when I'm at home and I like Sabra Classic for my lunch bag. For ease I get the Classic in cups at Costco and just sprinkle on some cumin and sumak to spice it up. It's also great because I work with the public and don't have to worry about garlic breath. I also like to use it instead of mayo on a sandwich.

I treid it for the first time a while back because of a thread posted here. I've been a Popeye's girl ever since. Love their mashed pitatoes and gravy, their dirty rice is good too. I always have to make a stop at KFC for the coleslaw and then head to Popeye's as I don't care for Popeye's coleslaw.

I've had an Opinel #6 in my lunch bag and kept a couple #10's in a picnic kit for years. I love them. edited to add: they are also cheap enough to replace if I lose one or left one behind.

Licorice. I still hate the sweet kind, but I've developed a fondness for the unsweetened, bitter Italian kind. Cheese. I used to hate cheese as a kid with the exception of Jack cheese and blue cheese. I can't get enough of cheese now, and the stinkier the better. Morbier comes to mind. There is always pimento cheese in the ice box! I still can't eat dried seaweed.

If my family makes it...potato salad...the mayo, sweet pickle, and egg kind. We warn others it's not been refrigerated and even after sitting out 3+ hours nobody has ever gotten sick from it.

I once ate at one in Arizona. I did not like it and would never give it another chance. Had a burger and onion rings. Both were awful.

I appreciate all the info posted. I'm looking into buying my first dishwasher and this discussion has been very helpful. Thanks!

I've stored mine two different ways. When I first got them I'd roll them up and stick them in a plastic bag and secure with a rubberband. Now I hang them to dry and and store them using a pant hanger with rubber padded grippers. I flip them to let each side dry.

Tommy Burger, the only burger you eat once then it eats you twice.... the chili grease that is. Still it was gooooood. I remember going to the one at Beverly and Rampart as a kid with my parents. Sliding open the lid on the metal cooler and grabbing a glass bottle of chocolate milk. Tommy burger extra chili no pickles or a tamale with chili? It was always a tough decision. Haven't had one in years. Mmmmmm...... maybe I should.

I won't put anything, not even my purse, in the critter seat knowing full well that there isn't much of a difference between the seat and rest of the cart where some mother has plopped her remaining kidlets in the basket along with her groceries. I just put hope in the belief "That which does not kill me makes antibodies!"

I've had them both and this So. Cal. gal votes for In-N-Out! Double meat, no cheese, with grilled onions is the best! Their fries do suck even if you do order them well done. Not a shake person unless it's a Date shake from Hadley's.

I've got two sets of the 3 Pyrex nesting bowls and bought the larger 4th bowl for each set. Love them. I also have a cheap set of 5 plastic mixing bowls that have held up over the years. They've got this great double lip on them.

mayo - Best Foods sugars - C & H a/p flour - Gold Medal ketchup - Hunt's fish sauce - 3 Crabs cake mix (when scratch isn't possible)- Duncan Hind's

Another fan here. Mama introduced me to her books and I still use her dog-eared copies. Yes, her gingerbread is the best and I buy a bottle of Steen's just to make it.

I refuse to choose. They all have their merits. I would also have to add aebleskivers to the list too. They were always a special treat when my mama would fire up the two cast iron pans. Light round balls under a cloud of powdered sugar and eaten with jam or my favorite lemon curd. Orange marmalade or cherry preserves were good too. Once again...I refuse to choose.