LizD518

Yes, a Domino's thin crust ham & pineapple hits a certain sweet spot for me that I can't identify, and can't duplicate anywhere else. There is another regional chain from Florida, Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, that is expanding to the mid-Atlantic and maybe northeast and is pretty good. I like their Melanzane, although I always ask for them to go easy on the sauce, other wise it overwhelms everything else.

Years and years ago n Newport, RI, the bakery that supplied pastries where I worked did a blackberry-lime muffin that I have never forgotten. I think she used a plain Pillsbury boxed mix that she added fruit and flavorings to - there was a delicious peach one too. I still want to recreate that. May need to go to the farmers market today...

Ahh ... a great idea. Will try that very soon! And now I need to pick up bananas...

I've been on a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter and jam kick the past few weeks, for breakfast. Most days it is PB on one half and homemade blackberry jam on the other, but some times I dab a bit of PB on the jam side and vice versa - always eaten open-faced though. I adore a PB & Banana sandwich, grilled (or on toasted bread, but is better when the entire thing is grilled). A nice, hearty multi-grain is the best choice for this, I think.

I was just at Woodberry Kitchen on Friday and had a great meal. A friend and I ordered a bunch of different items (BBQ Pulled Pork Flatbread, a salad, Tillman Island Crab Pot and the macaroni & cheese) to share and told the server to just bring them out as they were ready. Everything was perfectly timed and flowed one after another and the server was attentive without being intrusive. We had a 10pm reservation and never felt rushed - actually it was still relatively busy by 11:30 when we were leaving. I also had an outstanding cocktail - a whiskey smash made with rosemary, which inspired me to make it at home yesterday. Delicious!

Cold Sesame / Peanut Noodle salad - with some grilled chicken and julienne vegetables Baked spaghetti casseroles for the frozen dinners you mentioned - with chicken and/or Italian sausage, sauce and cheese - kind of like lasagna, but with spaghetti. Mac & Cheese with spaghetti

Hadn't thought of the fridge before, but if you go on Etsy and search for Vinyl decals you will find all sorts of options and they would be completely suitable for decorating your fridge or any other surface. I have a few hanging around at home that I couldn't figure out what to do with and am thinking I may put them in the kitchen...

I'm almost always making it to go with something saucy - usually Indian or a stir-fry. If I am doing it as a side for roast chicken or something, that is when I add a bit of butter, S&P

I would agree, but I think it has more to do with the familiarity of potatoes and the perception of rice as a thing you eat with restaurant foods, rather than with dishes you make at home. Pasta is simple because you boil a lot of water, throw in the pasta and set the time. Potatoes are simple because you have always had them and know how to deal with them and as a rule they are all about boiling in water in a pot. Rice seems harder because you need to measure it and the cooking water accurately and cook it at the correct temperature so as not to burn it (excluding a rice cooker). Add that to a cooking style that doesn't really complement rice-based dishes and you can see how rice gives an impression of being troublesome. I've been cooking rice like pasta for years and eliminated any problems with stickiness, etc... My go-to rice is basmati, so I also soak it for 20-30 minutes before cooking it and it cooks up super fast and ends up fluffy - I just have to remember to test it because it can get mushy if I let it go too long. I drain it in a small sieve and then put the sieve back in the pot with the lid loosely over the whole thing while I finish up whatever else I am making. If I want to flavor it I flavor the water or I might gently toss in a little butter and seasoning when I finish cooking it. And I always salt the water, just like pasta as well.

Street carts! They are all over the downtown area, especially as you get back in the neighborhoods in the romantic quarter, I think it is called - south of the river that bisects the city. I was there about a year ago and the only memorable meal we had in a restaurant was at Cafe des Artistes which is upscale, modern Mexican. But we ate at several taco carts and snack carts and had great food. On the bus trip up to the botanical gardens we got fresh cut papaya from a lady on the side of the road, and ate oysters on the beach downtown. The food at some of the little beach restaurants was good too - not life changing, but we stuck to things like guacamole, chips & salsa and emapanadas and were fine.

I love that your vacation breakfast includes a glass of champagne!!

Follow-up question: what about restrictions on mixing meat and dairy? I'm thinking a simple roast chicken, served with a homemade aoili, and maybe roasted potato wedges and roasted asparagus on the side. I'm trying to think if I could do a fruit crisp using matzoh & nuts as the topping, but what to replace the butter in the topping with? Coconut oil is solid at room temp, it might work, and would taste better than margarine.

I lived in mid-coast Maine for three years and had some friends that basically did this job for a couple - and all of their various personal assistants, etc... They were on the mainland near a popular tourist town, so that helped, but there were set times that shopping was allowed and this couple actually had a little diner on their property (seats 30!) and the chef had to provide the menu (they had a regular diner menu, plus specials) every day, and was only allowed to leave the property to shop at certain times of the day. A car was provided and support was available for entertaining larger groups, but still, it was a lot of work. BTW, the house with the diner was on sale the last I checked... ;-)

It sounds like Franklin is my best option - now I need to convince everyone else to get up Saturday morning and wait in line for an hour or so...

Haven't read the entire thread yet, but Date Nut Balls were, and still are, one of my favorite Christmas treats. It looks like your recipe is pretty similar to my mother's, although I don't remember the milk. I'll have to dig it up when I get home. We always scooped it out into truffle-sized balls and then rolled those in a variety of items - sweetened, shredded coconut; ground nuts; or rice krispies. I also think that we used rice krispies instead of ground nuts in the actual candies as well. I adored eating them when still warm and would stuff myself silly with them...

I'm going to be in Austin the last weekend in April for a family wedding. The Austin Food and Wine Festival will be going on, but schedule and budget will not allow me to partake. I think I will have Saturday & Sunday breakfast and/or lunch to fill. We are staying in the Radisson, which is downtown, and will be without a car. Everyone is pretty adventurous and I would love to try some great Texas BBQ. Would love to go to Lockhart, but without a car and with limited time I don't think it is going to happen.

Not five minutes, but no more than 20 if you have the crisp topping ready to go: dice an apple of your choice and lightly sauté it with butter and sugar, put in large ramekin and top with streusel topping - I make a big batch and spread it out on a sheet pan to freeze, then store it in a ziplock in the freezer. Just pull out enough for your individual apple crisp, topp the apple and bake @ 400* for about 20 min. Also works fine with frozen fruit, tossed with a little flour and sugar - I've been making a strawberry-mango version lately. More desperate times call for a cup of hot cocoa made with good quality cocoa powder, sugar (or Splenda), milk with fat content of your choice, and flavored with any number of flavorings I have on hand for baking: peppermint extract, espresso powder, vanilla, liquors, etc...

I agree - high quality plastic or other disposables are readily available. With more time in the future you could search out some of the cool disposable bamboo dishes that are being used in all sorts of high end catering these days. In the short term, fer a casual event, go with high-end clear or black plastic, the likes of which are being sold at any party supply store, or possibly even target / walmart-type places. And use real flatware. My grandmother (whom I love dearly) switched to foam / paper years ago for all big family gatherings. I can't tell you how much I detest eating Christmas dinner off of a paper plate. Sigh.

I was talking to my Grandmother (83 yrs old yesterday) about this recently. She, my Mom and one of my aunts were discussing a traditional meat pie they all make. My Mom never uses bought pie crusts - pie crust and biscuits are two of those things she can make in her sleep and nothing else is good enough. And she did work full time for many years, but she also had a garden and canned her own vegetables, made jams, etc, because she enjoyed doing it. My grandmother and aunt always use store-bought crusts - pre-tinned for the bottom crusts and the kind you roll out for the top crust. I don't even think they own pie plates! My grandmother was saying that the modern women of today don't have time to fiddle around with making a pie crust - to which I pointed out that many modern women (and men) today are going back to making their own. But my grandmother raised 8 kids in 12 years as well as working full time so convenience foods were a God-send and there is no convincing her that it is worth the trouble for home made. Holiday meals feature canned corn and peas, cakes are box mixes (and she makes all the family wedding cakes) and sauces are from a jar. But ultimately, her cooking is plenty tasty and we love her and it. But really - I prefer my Mom's pie crust...

Chicken or turkey meatballs with spinach mixed in. This recipe for Saag Kofte doesn't use a ton of spinach, but it is delicious. I adapted if from one of my Indian cookbooks: For Meatballs: 1 # ground chicken (originally made with lamb) 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and upper stems 1 garlic clove 1/4 inch piece of ginger salt to taste 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1/2 tsp garam masala (spice mixture) 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 egg 2 slices white bread 2-3 Tbsp oil - to fry in For Sauce: 1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and drained 1 cup diced onions 1 cup diced bell pepper 2 cups diced canned or fresh tomatoes, drained 1 1/4 cups water 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp tumeric 1/2 tsp ground coriander seed 1/2 tsp cround cumin seeds salt to taste 1 garlic clove, minced or grated 1/4 inch piece of ginger, minced or grated 4 Tbsp plain yogurt (not non-fat), beaten slightly 1/2 tsp garam masala For meatballs: 1. In food processor, mince the coriander, garlic & ginger. Add the seasonings, egg and bread. Mix thouroghly, then add chicken and pulse to incorporate. Chill for 1 hour to allow mixture to firm up a bit. 2. Form mix into walnut sized meatballs. Approx 24-30. Brown in oil on allsides and set aside. (could possibly spray lightly with oil and bake in oven) You do not need to cook the meatballs all the way through - they will finish cooking in the sauce For Sauce: 1. Thaw the frozen spinach and wring out any excess water. Chop it finely, but not pureed. Sautee the spinach, peppers and oinions in the remaining oil from the meatballs 2. Heat the additional oil in a new skillet. Add the whole cumin seeds, and after a few seconds, the ground cumin and corainder, cayenne, turmeric and salt. Add the minced garlic and ginger and sautee briefly. Add the yogurt and stir continuously until all the moisture has evaporated and the oil appears around the edges (about 5 minutes). 3. Add the spinach, onions and peppers, and the tomatoes and 1 cup of water, then stir in the meatballs. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid is reduced. Mix in the garam masala and serve over rice or pasta, or with bread.

Flaky kosher salt, which I use for everything from baking to finishing. I could live without butter (just barely), but everything would probably by cooked in EVOO.

I vote for parchment as well after basically ruining a few of my grandmother's old enameled baking sheets. Yes, I've tried barkeeper's friend and every other trick to clean them. The only problem with parchment is that it is expensive to buy in the grocery store. I always grab a few sheets of it from work when I need them, where we get a box of 1000 sheets for about $65. And if you can get the bulk foodservice packages at a restaurant supply store (and find somewhere to store it), it also comes in a flat package instead the annoying rolls that don't lie flat like when you buy it in the grocery store.

Same Here - my basic easy tomato sauce is usually made with whole, peeled canned tomatoes and I don't bother to de-seed them. Once I hit it with the immersion blender I can't distinguish the seeds. And when I make a fresh tomato sauce in the summer I really don't care all that much about the skins. I use Penzey's stock bases instead of even using store-bought broth. Just have to remember to be very cafeful with additional salt.

Wow - those are beautiful colors and the flavor combinations sound great - especially the cherry.

Had some girlfriends over last night to how them how to bake macarons - I'm hardly an expert but it was fun and the results came out pretty well. We also made buttercream and lemon curd. Apologies for the horrible picture.