Stephanie

Believe it or not, PB&J sandwiches. There was a time where I was eating them every day for lunch and I think I just got so sick of them that I never wanted another one.

Leftovers do not last long in my house at all--gone in a week, max. In fact, I encourage having leftovers around, whether by cooking several portions' worth of food or deliberately leaving food on my plate to take home (helps keep the weight down too by not eating everything that's put in front of me). I'm usually way too busy to cook, so I appreciate having something in my fridge to pop in the microwave.

Here in the U.S., the big commercial brand of baking chocolate (Baker's) packages their product in 1-oz squares, 8 squares to a package. (Each square is scored so that you break it in half easily.) So 3 squares = 3 oz, and you can substitute accordingly if you are using a different brand.

I went to Bussola a few weeks ago. Pricey, but I recommend whichever flavor I'd tried that had marsala wine in it.

Thanks for the restaurant tips, Jaymes, but since I will only be able to have one non-wedding related meal during my stay I wanted to sample some really good Texas BBQ. (I will be having Tex-Mex at the "girls-only" brunch the bride is having on Sat. before the wedding.) Do you have any favorite BBQ places?

They sell them at Yankee Stadium, and that's the only place I've ever had them. I don't think they're all THAT bad; I tend to put them in the category of "junk food I only eat at the ballpark."

Stella, I will be arriving in Houston around 4:45. I should be at my hotel by 6:00, and it appears it's only a couple of miles from the 5109 Kirby branch of Goode's. Let me know more as we get closer to 11/8.

Really? Pass the Courvoisier, indeed.....

Stella, wanna have dinner together? I might have to give Goode's a try. I trust eGulleteers judgement.

None--everyone's fasting. Seriously, do you mean the meal before the fast or the break-fast? For the break-fast, any easy-on-the-stomach food will do. Usually, this means bagels, hard-boiled eggs, lox, whitefish salad, herring, sable, maybe egg or tuna salad, regular salads, sliced mild cheeses, etc.

I'm going to Houston in early November for a friend's wedding. Flying in Friday afternoon, "girls brunch" with bride & friends Sat. noon, wedding Sat. evening, leaving Sun. AM early. I'll be arriving in Houston just in time for dinner Friday night and am looking for good BBQ not too far from the medical center/Rice campus, where my hotel is. I won't be renting a car, so it has to be taxiable but not way out in the hinterlands. Recommendations?

L'shanah tovah to you, Nina.

Suzanne, Reminds me of my birthday bash. Yummmm. I loved chopping with that Yidisha mezzaluna. The one I use is from my childhood although its a little squarer than an Italian one. My mom used to call it a hochmesser. My Alaskan ulu knife looks similar, though having been developed for skinning fish it's not quite the same.

It's "grib-i-nuhs" of course!

Actually, I did end up buying a pint each of blueberries & strawberries, enough for 2 servings, which I had mit der schlag after dinner last night & probably tonight too.

Last night I made a homemade pasta with salmon cream sauce, which stemmed from a purchase of bavatini with dill from the Morisi-Coppola pasta factory. Put water up and made the sauce as soon as the pasta went in the pot. Chopped a sweet onion (not a regular yellow one) and sauteed that in olive oil for a couple of minutes. Added salt, pepper, dried dill, and a little juice squeezed from a lemon half. Another couple of minutes, then added some heavy cream and chopped fresh parsley. As the bavatini was almost done, I added some cut-up smoked salmon and a splash of chenin blanc I'd been drinking during this whole process, cooking just long enough for the salmon to firm up. Since I had lots of heavy cream left over, afterwards I made a batch of whipped cream (by hand--lots of work with the whisk). Took half a brownie I had, topped it with whipped cream, then added some Haagen-Dazs raspberry gelato on the side of the plate. Great dinner! And yes, I did this all just for myself--gotta stay in practice. Now, however, I have to dispose of all this whipped cream before it goes bad.

Some sauces in the Classico line (such as the Tomato & Basil) don't have any sweeteners. Taste is just OK though.

I had a friend who went from vegetarian to vegan and then mysteriously developed "allergies." She said that she couldn't have wheat or soy anymore; I was too polite not to scoff as I thought they were entirely in her head. At the time, she was trying to wean herself off this cocktail of antidepressants that had been wrongly prescribed--could that have been a factor?

Bread, sliced American cheese, and butter, so I can make a classic grilled cheese sandwich. Tomatoes optional.

I guess I don't want to know that I'm being thought of as such, particularly if I'm dropping a wad of money.

Yes, I thought that a bit insulting as well. I had heard that Babbo is a good place to dine at the bar if you're alone, but I may have to rethink my going there if they openly admit that they consider such solo diners that pathetic.

Unfortunately, I am one of those people truly MSG-sensitive. If there's been too much in my food, literally just a few minutes after I stop eating I get terrible, sharp head pains (not a steady headache, but pulsing twinges) that no amount of Advil can get rid of. Only sleep & time help them go away. No fun, believe me.

I just went there Friday evening right before it closed. I had a taste of the hazelnut gelato, which was great but too heavy for me to get on a hot day after I had just eaten at Bereket. The orange sorbetto I did get was just what I needed and tasted of fresh orange. My only complain was the texture--more grainy and icey than I'd expected. I had to sacrifice several chunks to the sidewalk because I couldn't get some of it properly on my spoon.

Did they really say "limited edition"? And are they the "American" KitKats, but with white chocolate? The chunky Brit ones are available in white chocolate in England, and have made their way to the States in dribs and drabs. I don't know how they taste, not being a white chocolate fan.

I am not really all that into bones. I think this is because when I was growing up, my father would seize any bones that had any trace of meat of them--I think he considered them his "right." Even today, only he gets to pick the bones clean from the carcass of the Thanksgiving/Passover turkey. Now fat, on the other hand, is a wonderful thing. Never could resist the really crunchy fries or chicken skin. Whenever we had chicken, Mom would always leave the skin on the plate and Dad & I would eagerly take it. Hmmm.....maybe that would explain how she stayed thin.