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Meredithla, I've never heard of a "cakewalk," but what ever it is, I want in on it. Your cakes are lovely. I especially love the naughty penguin tyring to eat the goldfish. Good work!

C'mon, David Ross, the truth is that your food is wonderful and you are a talented photographer. I know this to be the case, since no matter what "fixing" I do to my pictures, they never look anything like yours! Just gorgeous cake, BTW. You have now inspired me to make yet another dessert . . . . David Ross Cherry Clafouti shall be joined by David Ross Upside Down Cake. (My family wants to know who the heck is David Ross!)

Damn! I am in Florida and we don't see claws that size around here too often. FWIW, I think that many people have a wall when it comes to crab, and that's why its safe for Truluck's to offer an "all you can eat" Florida stone crab dinner special on Mondays. Thanks for your reports, they really have changed my opinion of Houston.

If you like beans, your life will never be the same after your first order. It's like, bean nirvana.

If it's not too late, could you please post some pics? I am always confronted with frozen meat, and always at a loss as to what to do with it (after I get home from work at the end of a frustrating day). I've always wondered whether my pressure cooker might be of use here. Any thoughts?

I'm glad that I was nowhere near your party, Kim, as that piece of cake would have thrown me off my diet in a heartbeat. Yeeowza! PS The bowl is from TJ Maxx. I gave up buying serving dishes (and glasses!) anywhere else, because we have a lot of clumsy people in my family and they are always getting busted. Later I found out that the pattern (American Atelier Baroque) is still available (e.g., here), but at the rate that we break things, I wouldn't consider paying regular retail prices for other pieces! (If you look closely, you can see the big chip in the matching platter next to the bowl )

Well done, Shelby! I especially love the pick up outside your window. Your wings look so much better than mine. My "helper" was missing in action all day (in fact, he didn't show up until after kick-off) and with 12 lbs of wings plus all the other fixins' (turkey chili w/accompaniments, homemade yeast rolls) and desserts (Ina Garten's Coconut Cake, Dorie's Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars and her Black and White Banana Loaf), I just didn't have the energy to try to stuff the wings with blue cheese and fry them. I ended up marinating the wings overnight in buttermilk and Louisiana Red Hot sauce, then roasting at 475F for 45 minutes. There was not a wing left! But when I have a smaller crowd or more help, I'm making those blue-cheese-stuffed wings. I forgot to take a picture until half the wings were gone . . . . Turkey and Bean Chili with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, sour cream and grated cheddar and yeasted dinner rolls (my traditional cornbread was vetoed in favor of these rolls)

Bravo! I say long live Turduckens. I know that they are supposed to be so "last millenium" now, but I think that they are fun and great food for a crowd. And Peter the Eater, I would love to see your turducken lasagne and bird roulade things.

My understanding is that the number is a reference to the size of the pan in relation to a full-size "hotel pan". So a 3-pan would be 1/3 of a hotel pan, and a 6-pan would be 1/6 of a hotel pan. If I'm wrong, I'm sure that someone will correct me.

It doesn't look quite as bad until you see the pictures of the guy making faces while he ate it. Well, I also thought it was kind of gross to look a the insides. My boyfriend, who has low gross-food-tolerance, couldn't finish looking at the pictures because they seemed so goopy. ← I meant that it didn't look half-bad compared to what I expected to see! (My expectations were very, very low - for obvious reasons). The guy's facial expressions as he consumed this burger were priceless.

At least he's keeping it food-related. Speaking of which, what did you have for breakfast/lunch/snacks today? The kitchen shots are, indeed, fab, but I want to know what's being cooked and eaten in there!

My suggestion is to pick a theme and go with that, e.g., Asian food. You could do a sesame noodle salad (always popular), rice salad (Molly Katzen has a great recipe for Sri Wasano's Infamous Indonesian Rice Salad that tastes better if made ahead), summer rolls with assorted fillings (cheap and easy), cucumber and fruit salads, and then maybe bring in some satay skewers if you want something hot. If you do a nice presentation (lining serving trays with banana leaves, for example) people will be really impressed. My sense is that flavors that are typically Asian (sesame, ginger, soy, garlic, etc.) are always popular at parties. For good reason, of course. But if you don't like that idea, you could pick another theme, such as Mexican, Retro, High Tea, or whatever. I just find that picking a theme at the beginning makes it easier for me to plan a menu for a crowd. Totally OT, but what is your roommate's instrument? I've always wanted to figure out how to make a cake shaped like a violin. And there are some really cool old sets from Wilton for making a grand piano cake.

Place the rack upside down in a jelly roll pan (the same size or larger), add soap and hot water and soak overnight. The gunk should wipe right off. If that doesn't work, use the same procedure but coat the rack with "Dawn Power Dissolver" instead of soap and water. Wait 45-60 minutes, scrub with a plastic scrubber to loosen any stuck bits, and the gunk should rinse off. If that doesn't work, you've got yourself one heck of a mess and the only other thing that I would try is spray-on oven cleaner. They make "less fume" cleaners now, but they are still pretty bad and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Let us know how this turns out.

Wow! There is a bun inside and pickles and everything. And it doesn't look half-bad. Not at all what I was expecting to see. Very, very interesting. Thanks so much for posting this link. PS So much for the theory that bread and bread products cannot be "successfully" canned.

ACK!And I'll be careful about not letting any glitchy things go unchecked. Thanks for that bit of advice. ← Our mishaps occurred when the glass tray was not pushed all the way back into the oven before the door was shut. So, Miele considered it "owner misuse" and refused to replace the item without payment. Ahem. Anyway, my suggestion is to just be darn careful with the trays, because IMHO, they shattered rather easily and without sufficient justification. (Especially considering the original cost of the appliance!) Oh, boy. . . you are in big trouble lady!!! Seriously, you know better, right??

They couldn't seriously have put the bun and everything in the can, right? I mean, from what little I know about canning, my understanding is that it is impossible to can bread or bread products. Not to mention the lettuce, onions, etc. So what is it? When you open the can, there's a "meat" patty with some cheese on it? I hope that one of our members in the UK will take one for the team, buy one and open it, then post photos (might have to go in the Dinner II thread). I'm really curious to know what is in the can and I can't find any answers online.

Is it possible to post larger pictures? My old eyes are straining to see some of the details in your kitchen, and I don't want to miss anything. I'm glad that you are enjoying the speed oven. Be sure to handle the glass tray carefully, though. We've had ours for a year and a half and already broken two trays. They are NOT cheap. (The last one was $250 plus shipping, I think). We've also had a lot of service problems with ours (in fact, the microwave function is not working at all right now, but hopefully ours is just a lemon). When it was working, it was great. For example, you can take a frozen-solid 9 x 13 casserole (lasagne, etc.) and using the Masterchef combination microwave and bake function, it will be golden-brown-bubbling-perfectly-done in about 42 minutes. What did you have for breakfast/lunch today? PS The best dog name that I ever heard was "Hoover". As in, when something falls on the floor in the kitchen or dining room, "Here, Hoover!"

Fair enough. I don't eat coldcuts nor do I frequent these kinds of places, so my evaluation should be considered with that in mind. Nonetheless, I guess what bugged me was that I had heard a bunch of hype about the place, and how great it was, so I was excited when I finally found one. I went in with the expectation of a good meal. IMHO it was no better than any other restaurant chain that is plaguing our country and homogenizing our diets. The hokey decor really annoyed me, too. But that's just me and needless to say, these chain restaurants are extremely popular with the Average Joe in the USA (no offense to ludja or anyone else who enjoys Potbelly's intended!)

OK, this works for me. (As it conforms perfectly to my normal practice of disregarding technical aspects of recipes and using them strictly for inspiration ). Thanks again for this brilliant idea!

Ding ding ding! This is a winner! I am soooo going to make these and everyone is going to me!! Thank you not only for the idea, but for the pictorial. A few more questions, though. Would you say about a tbs. of blue cheese stuffed in each wing? And they just stay together in the fryer - you don't batter them or pin them shut with toothpicks or anything? What temp do you fry and for how long?

Check the owner's manual - most of these kinds of filters can be removed and run through the dishwasher. It is important to clean them regularly. If they get too clogged, it can damage the blower motor.

Peter Green, you have completely changed my opinion of Texas (and Houston in particular). Thanks for the enlightenment. I hope that this means we can look forward to a travelogue from JP in two months. Am I the only one who remains skeptical?

Well done! Great job! {insert sound of applause here} The tilapia looks especially good right now, and I haven't even had breakfast yet.

Best of luck on this enterprise. I wish that I lived closer so I could see it in person. Looking forward to seeing lots and lots of photos and detailed descriptions!

I was all excited to try Potbelly's when I was in Illinois last summer. They don't have them where I live. Sorry, but I don't get it. First, the decor reminds me of TGI Fridays with all the "antiques" and a bunch of stuff gathering dust laying around. And the corny line about the alleged history of a little antique shop growing into "a happening sandwich joint." It's too schmaltzy for me. Second, I ordered a tuna salad sandwich, which was nothing special. The accompaniments (pickles, hot peppers, etc.) seemed to me to be the exact same products that you find at other sandwich chains. (I guess they all come from Sysco). Third, my sense was that the prices were higher than at other sandwich chains such as Subway. (Since I don't eat at those places often, I can't be sure on this point, but it just seemed expensive for a mediocre sandwich and a drink). No disrespect to VPF or anyone else, but I really don't find anything redeeming about Potbellys vs. Subway, Quiznos, etc. They're all the same IMHO. All in all, I'm going to continue to patronize mom and pop operations over the numerous chains which are homogenizing the US. But to each their own.