maggiethecat

It's one terrific read, and inspiration for us mid-life game changers. Plus, it's an astounding insider look at the Chicago restaurant scene.

I'm blushingly admitting that I ate one of BK's 99 cent Spicy Chicken Sandwiches for lunch -- it's two minutes away and I didn't have any bread in the house. This happens once every two weeks. But Bittman's entirely right. For the price of four SuperDooper meals at a fast food joint you can feed a fam of four for a week, if you're blessed, as we are, by a fine selection of food vendors. And I'm not talkin' lentils and brown rice, though there's nothing the matter with that. I understand Tri2Cook's aversion to guilt-tripping. Grrrrr. And I understand that we're empty nesters who can work around an episode of "Hustle," and no longer have a starving teen at our table. But, apart from two bucks per month spent on emergency lunches, knowing how to cook, and be willing to do it, is where you're going to get the cheapest, healthiest, most delicious bang for your buck.

Very true -- but there's never any of that kind of pizza leftover. It's a beautiful seasonal thing, not a leftover in a box in the fridge thing. But Nonna's parm only pizza changed my mind about pizza -- it didn't have to be a slimey sloppy congealed mess the day after.

Madonna! You don't actually put mozz on your pizzas, do you? My Nonna-in-law made fierce fab pizzas and it was all parm all the time. But like many others on this topic I counsel: give it a rest and give him cold pizza. Compared to the cuinary/literary/scientific/ ethical things you'll be teaching him, this is close to a no-brainer, Dad.

I'm with PJ and Richard -- ain't nuthin' the matter with room temp pizza. When you make pizza save a slice for PJ, or make a small personal pizza. Your own pizza will be far and away better than his friends' are. Hmmm. Something muffaletta-like?

By the way, the speculation about the next restaurant critic always reminds me of the election of a new Pope. We're just waiting for the College of Cardinals at the "Times" to send up those smoke signals.

I kinda liked Sam's showing off. Because I live in Chicago, not New York, I can't argue about his opinions. But I like his writing. A lot.

Yes, it is all those things! But still, it can be simpler.

D'uh! I forget the important point: try pressing some of the pennies upright against the foil along the sides of the springform.

Hmm. This may seem like a primitive solution, but it's the best I can up with. Make sure the tart edges are a bit thicker than that of the center crust, and press it it well with your fingers. Non-stick foil might help, as well as allowing the crust to completely cool. (I have my ball jar of penny pie weights too! )

I think that Bourdain HAS jumped the shark. I mean, I've met him, he's smart, charming and nice. Hey, he bought be a drink and kissed my cheek. That said, I can't imagine why he's flogging Food Network types except for the media buzz. No serious food person gives a flying about FN and their peeps. He seems obsessed by them. Why? Because they didn't have the sense to renew Cook's Tour? I'm as cynical about Bourdain's blather on this subject as I am about Sandra Lee. I feel he's let me down.

Yikes, Kim, what a nightmare for Mr. Kim. Although his 'rents put the kibbosh on everything, I hope he , at least, got a couple of decent pub lunches and some good beer. That's the least one gives the navigator.

There's little competition for a Dove Bar! That said, I like the idea of a sampler size (if it's cheaper)for as others have said: trying varieties 2)portion control.

How about choosing two arbitrary dates, say the 4th of July and New Years Day, and switching the bottom half of the stack for the top half?

Like others here, I maintain that if you're a pet owner good kitchen hygiene is imperative. But... Would you come to a dinner party at my house if you knew that my big black feral cat Ajax presses his nose between my lips when I'm sleeping? Does that make me the kind of person, knowing that, whose potluck dish you'd avoid? You see, you just don't know about folks. If someone actually cooked something for a workplace potluck, I'd eat it and not worry about the state of their kitchen. What I won't eat is the supermarket veg and dip tray. I live.

I'm horrified by brining fanaticism -- brining done right is good, brining done wrong ruins food. A cookout I attended this weekend, at the home of cooking enthusiast buddies, was a horrible example: half inch pork chops left to brine for 24 hours = mushy, salty, inedible. It was a damn shame.

With four new books of my own, that's a nice round 173,880 cookbooks.

I think Bud may have something here. My plain ole chives are MUCH more chivey tasting in July than they were in April. Garlic chives? They are rampant predators in my garden and I'm trying to pull them out, root and branch. But I use them more earlier in the year; their flavor is fresher in springtime.

Well, Philly does not ever make it as "Heartland." Geez, where next, Portland OR? (Sounds good, actually.)But, in homage to all the eG Heartlanders who have arranged this year after year, I'm OK with it, if it's still billed as the Heartland Event. Heartland is an interior space too. And I'll say it again, why has no other portion of the continent arranged a similar event? Are we Mid-Continent people just too friendly and hospitable and well-organized? That said, bring on Philly. Heck, Katie's there, an organizational goddess.

Well, Marlene, Cottage Country is more "Heartland" than Philly is. Right?

I'm still making vanilla with the original beans Steven sent us early adapters. It may take a bit longer, but , amazingly, with more time, it still makes vanilla.

You were probably still in high school back in 2003, Chris, but in fact the first Heartland Gathering, the Mother of them all, was held in Grand Rapids, MI. And a fine time it was.

Robert:Very enlightening! Thanks. (Of course, had I known all this I'd never have had the courage to write the piece.) Parhermo: Perfection! I now know what I'm making for lunch.

Today I read this topic all the way through, and I'm feeling 1)jealous, 2)grateful, 3) seriously unworthy! Anna: all that amazing bread! Kerry: working, cooking at home, baking for work -- the energy involved floors me! You ladies prepared, day by day, the most amazing food on Manitoulin and places NSE and W. I can see a CBC series here -- I'm casting you both in my head, along with the butcher, the nurses, the kid who didn't know from Bourbon...

OK, now I know: LMM and Anne Shirley went to Dalhousie. I'm rapt, Peter. (What tartan is your kilt?) Are you gonna be anywhere near Dalhousie NB in your travels?