birder53

I prefer Starbucks because I can add my own milk - just the way I like it! DD always put too much creamer in for my taste. What I don't like about Starbucks is not knowing which coffee they will have each day. I like the Verona blend. I usually end up with something else. At least at Quik Check or Wa Wa I know they will have the blend that I want and I can prepare it exactly the way I like it.

Bad coffee in the morning is a major problem. I can go without coffee after dinner but not breakfast! Heading out for breakfast can be very risky, especially on vacation. Much to my husband's chagrin, I've insisted on bringing my own cup of coffee to a few breakfast joints that just don't serve good coffee. I prefer to drink coffee from Quick Check than some of the vile brews out there. While this has gotten a few odd looks, no one has thrown me out or taken away my brew. I let them know while I like their food, I can't drink their coffee. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

I've enjoyed several Austrialian wines that were "cheap" and easy to drink. Alice White Chardonnay was only $4 when I first tried it. It was easy, inexpensive and good for an everyday wine. I think I tried YT because of a display - and the price. The fact that it was Australian helped, since I've enjoyed a lot of well priced wines from the likes of Penfold and Rosemont. I bought it again because it was decent and well priced. The owner of a small local wine shop said I would "get over it" when I said I enjoyed Austrialian wines. I enjoy wine and these do not intimidate me. We've all got to start somewhere!

Seltzer.

I have a lot to learn before I can cook without a recipe. The few times I decided to wing it and just throw something together I immediately threw it out. I follow recipes, and not always successfully. What I'm learning from this forum is that I really need to know my ingredients and learn some techniques to move on from following recipes to actually cooking. I'm lacking the basics which can allow me to throw something together successfully. I get a lot of inspiration from you folks! I'll get there, and the fact that I finally realized I'm not really cooking is the first step. I doubt I would ever abandon recipes, but as least I would know how to make substitutions without fear.

There was a review in Sunday's paper, Star Ledger? I thought from the review that they serve a complimentary Kir, not a Kir Royale. Rosie, which were you served? (I hope it was the Royale!)

I'm in New Jersey. I'd prefer to buy the wine than the toys. It appears that someone over 21 has to sign for the delivery whether I purchase wine or non-alcoholic items. I'd rather get wine for my trouble! But I guess I should see if they have that wine clip first....

I received a $50 gift certificate for wine.com. I usually pick wines by taking my time in a wine shop and speaking with the, hopefully, knowledgeable people who work their. What would you buy? I like reisling, sauvignon blanc, usually wines to compliment spicy foods. I enjoy grenache, syrah and pinot noir for reds. I figured I'd buy one or two nice bottles of something out of my usual $15 and under price range. Any suggestions? Has anyone used this site before?

I doubt that it was a double bock. Much more likely a dubbel, a Trappist or abbey-style brown ale.

Nightscotsman started my interest in cocktails and I think the Aviation was one of the "mystery cocktails" at one of the infamous Northwest cocktail parties he hosted. If you decide to try it, make it with the juice of Myer lemons. JAZ also recommends adding a Fabbrini Amarini (sp?) cherry - which I am still trying to track down locally.

The Belgian Double bock never made it to the meal. My nephew found them and finished them off before dinner. (There were only two bottles.) The stew was wonderful and hubby will buy some more Belgian DB to go with the leftovers.

Hubby and I will venture next door for the evening. The neighbors are making fondue, which we have never had. We're bringing shrimp cocktail and a pitchers of cocktails - probably Aviations. We're keeping it simple since we all have to work until 4:00 on New Year's Eve.

Thank you, Jason! You're a life saver!!!!

The recipe just calls for beer. It contains chicken, bacon, peppers, onions, chili powder, chipotle peppers and black beans.

Hubby said I didn't need to buy the beer called for in my southwestern chicken stew recipe. Said we had plenty. Well, we have pale ale, Bass ale and some kind of belgian dubble(?). We also have Guinness - which he said not to touch! What would be a suitable substitution here? Since I don't drink beer, I have no idea what taste differences I'm dealing with here. Can I use the ale?

I like this wine too. I just can't seem to find it again. Forgot where I bought it in the first place. I was able to get 6 bottles for $8.99 each in the New Hampshire state liquor store on I-95 in September. A nice wine and a really nice price!

Magazines - particularly gardening issues.

The Mayan Hot Chocolate sounds very seductive! I really enjoyed the brief history of hot chocolate that accompanied all the recipes. I'll report back when I've had a chance to try it - maybe this weekend! Thank you all for your replies.

If you saw this movie (Johnny Depp was in it) do you remember how wonderful the hot chocolate was supposed to be? I thought the owner of the chocolate shop said the secret was a little chili pepper. Is there really such a drink? Anyone have a recipe?

I agree with Lauren. I look forward to food shopping since Wegman's opened in Bridgewater. There is always something special to try. The variety and quality of their produce, seafood and meat inspires me to cook. We eat out far less often these days because cooking has become so much fun.

This sounds wonderful. I think I'll try it tonight. Not going anywhere with all this snow!

Made Vespers last night for the first time. Bought the Lillette Blanc last week and wanted to try something new. The recipe called for an orange slice as garnish, which we did not have available. We did have Absolut Mandarin Orange Vodka, so we used that in lieu of the garnish. Very nice drink! Also tried the Lillette on it's own and enjoyed it. We'll have to make the Vesper again with regular vodka and add the orange slice, but this was a nice variation.

We were off yesterday and did some holiday shopping in the Flemington outlets. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. Stopped at Wegman's on the way home and stocked up to make a mediteranean chicken stew with olives and preserved lemon (Fine Cooking) and some apples for apple crisp. There were no crowds at Wegman's. They had plenty of bread and milk. We got about six inches of snow here in Martinsville yesterday. About two more inches have fallen already today. Let it snow - we've got good food and plenty of liquor!

I saw those at Home Depot and walked on by - thought the price was too low to be any good. I think I'll reconsider based on this thread! Even a small fluctuation in temperature is better than what happens to the wine sitting in my winerack at room temperature. We aren't deliberately aging anything, though some bottles should probably have been drunk a while ago. The price is just too good to pass up.

Okay, that last suggestion/comment seals the fate of my grinder - back it goes! I just bought a Cuisinart drip coffee machine without the built in grinder. It uses the gold mesh filter, which I like very much for convenience. I'll do a bit more research on grinders that hopefully are less challenging to use and keep in mind that my filter will not prevent small grinds from ending up in the pot. Thank you all for your help.