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Our family will be in The Morningside Heights neighborhood (800 block of Amsterdam) for 2 days in early August. We love The Hungarian Bakery for breakfast. My girls love NY style pizza and there are a ton of pizza places along Broadway and Amsterdam. Any local favorite? Also, any great not to be missed dining spot in the neighborhood? We found a cool bagel place on Broadway where it was packed with locals getting their bagel sandwiches. We eat everything except Sushi. We will not have fancy clothes to enjoy fine dining experiences on this trip. Any rec would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Last night on NYC Housewives, Ramona Singer had a party and everyone had these purple colored wine glasses that looked like they had a silver glass lining. The things sparked beautifully and wondered if anyone knows anything about these and where to get them. I live in Chicagoland. Thanks for not laughing at me for watching this program.

We made it to Blue Dog and the place did not disappoint. We arrived to a packed house at 12:15 and by 1:pm the place had cleared out-something about the big football game... Plenty of steam table options-plus carved turkey and roast. Dirty rice and the pecan sweet potatos were our faves. The whole bill for a family of 4 was $62 plus tip. We had no booze and OJ was provided. The next day went to Thyme for incredible fresh oyster Po boys and Guidrots to stock up on sausages and other goodies.

we hope to gwe in Blue Dog-it sounds perfect. Thank you.

We are taking a road trip from Chicago to LA over the holiday. Depending on travel time we will be in either Baton Rouge or Lafayette (or a nearby parish). Anyone know of a place to eat that is not too fancy but great food? Any help would be most appreciated. Thank you!

We will be travelling from Sakhalin Island to St. Petersberg on the BAM and other RRs. Is there a Vodka that is available only in Russia that I can not get in Chicago? I would like to pick up a few bottles for gifts and for my own use. I do not want to spend more thatn $10-20 USD. Two years ago we were in a Moscow liquor store I was dumfounded by the selection- I bought bottle for $6USD that the clerk recommended- yum! I like my vodka with a kick versus smooth. Thanks

We will be in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania-travelling overland- for a couple of weeks in early August. I have read dining blogs-albeit a bit old and would like some general recommendations as what I should eat. Are there special fish from the Baltic Sea or rivers/lakes I should seek out? Special breads, pastries or other baked delicacies famous to these regions? Are there special stews, meats, mushrooms or alcohol that I should try? I am a budget traveler and am not bringing 'fine dining' clothes. Any recs would be most appreciated. Thank you.

The Violet Hour is a big time deal here is Chicago-it is the 'it' place to go for cocktails setting the standard. Glad you have a one in Nashville.

We are taking a weekend trip to Nashville from Chicago. Husband is a beer guy and I drink bourbon and sour mash. Should we stock up on beer enroute (for the hotel room) or can you buy beer in the area? The same goes for bourbon. I do not have time for a distillery tour and wondered where I can pick up some nice small batch bourbons enroute. I am a bit confused as to which counties are dry and the availablity of alcohol. What about drinking in restaurants? We are targeting 'meat and three' types of places. Any explantation would be most helpful. Thanks.

Vermillion is tasty indeed but the portions are very small. The room is cool and the FOH is very well informed. IIRC, the mint chutney is an extra charge and the naan is super small and pricey.

I like the rye Triscuits.

Not to sound like (ugh-forgive myself) Sandra Lee, I use a few tablespoons of the stuff in canned pork and beans and add some brown sugar to the mix and let it simmer on low for a long time. I also put it in my BBQ sauce. The jar seems to last forever.

My husband wants to take us to the Sunday buffet at the Grand Aleutian. It supposedly has some great seafood. It sounds a tad pricey and we are going to hit the breakast buffet rather than the lunch as we have to get back on the Tusty. (I don't think it is a brunch buffet). Any experience here?

Liked the show-would have preferred a professional chef or a foodie -like Alton Brown adds to Iron Chef-rather than a car show model.

We caught the 4th of July BBQ in Cordova a few years back. Tons of salmon on the grill and the locals made homemade desserts and sides. It ws truly the freshest fish we had the whole trip. Although the salmon were running it was hard to find salmon in the restaurants. The folks would say that they catch their own and thus going to a restaurant is a splurge and they were not going to spend money on fish. I am craving a halibut burger now!

Thanks so much-I kinda have had the same experience throughout Alaska-the exceptions seem to be good coffee even in remote spots and halibut burgers.

We will be spending a couple days here and would like a rec as to places to eat. I know it is a small place and the choices may be slim. We will be there in late July/early August-anything in season?

We are taking the Dempster Highway to Inuvik, the Cambpbell Hwy from Watson Lake to Dawson City and the Canol Road to Whitehorse. Any good places not to miss along these routes and cities? We will be travelling late July thru late August so hoping for some fresh fish too. Any recs will be appreciated!!

She's not on The FN channel but has written a book, has her own line of food and drink and is a 'personal' chef. Does anyone know the scoop on whether she has talent rather than the PR? Did she go to cooking school or is she self taught? Has she ever worked in a restaurant kitchen ? The Bravo reality star has tossed a salad, cut a watermelon and made alfredo before our eyes...what's the NY scoop on her cooking skills?

The "Oven Issue" is holding up any renovations. I would love a double wall electric oven-the self clean operation is the motivation factor. Old house/ crappy electrical prevents electric ovens so I am stuck with a gas oven. Do the new ones really have a decent self clean option? I did not think that the gas oven temp could get high enough to zap the crud off clean. Does anyone know of any worthy gas wall oven? I do like the broil function with gas better-as close to a salamander as one can get in residential kitchen.

Are there any web sites like this that are devoted to kitchen remodeling? We are considering redoing our kitchen and the questions outnumber the answers. I like this type of format-with blogger input but I have only been able to access vendor sponsored type of spots. Any recs would be helpful. Thank you.

Have car will travel for great food. Little shops, restaurants and cafes with delightful fare is what we seek. Any not to miss places? Where should we go for that one splurge meal? Your help is most appreciated. Thankyou.

We have actually done this but not on purpose. An outdated ready to toss out packed freezer coupled with an overstocked pantry and busy schedule prompted the store 'boycott' two years ago. I did not want to waste anything and the pantry was overflowing with stuff I had not used for years. Our pantry was full of canned soups, canned corn and baby peas, tuna, pasta, olives, chipotles, and Kraft (aka'Crap' )mac and cheese. We always have basics- eggs, onions, garlic, celery, carrots and potatos and apples and cheese. If I recall our only fresh veggie was broccoli. I made pies with the berries I had frozen, we cooked the meat-pork chops, hamburgers, hot dogs, italian sausage, and pot roast and I made a sauerbraten that we ate at the end of the week. My husband would eat the mac and cheese while I ate the soups. I would have done some casserole things but he does not like these kinds of dishes. The only thing that we missed dearly was fresh bread. I had all the ingredients to make bread except for yeast and frankly I am not a bread maker and do not have the time to do it. We made a lot of pasta in different ways ( and our favorite was the one with anchovies (that sole tin way back in the cupbaord)and olives and Romano cheese. We did pick up milk and beer at the train station Osco (now CVS)for our kids. Now I find ourselves over stocked again! I thought it was fun and it saved some money but my husband's memories are not so fond.

Ate at Charlie-T's in Beaux Bridges. Just went for the boudin-a bit spicier with more green oinion. Nice flavor but the casing was a tad tough. Ate the best oyster Po boy at Le Cafe in BB-OMG. Big oysters, good bread and planty of shredded lettuce and tomato. Went back to ge more for dinner but they were out of the oysters-(it was Valentine's Day). This was a locals type of place as we did not see a single tourist and the place was always packed. Went for the chicken which was not good at all. We should have gone for the fried catfish-we got a sample from the owner as our order had been dropped-a very crunchy peppery coating with moist tender fish. We went to St. Martinsville and ate at the little french cafe across from the square. Best coffee on the trip and the homemade begneits -dusted with powdered sugar, chocolate chips and a carmel sauce were delicious. A charming room as well. We had a daquiri at Pelican Bar in New Iberia-a freshly made concoction as opposed to the slurpee variety sold through out the area. A nice outdoor deck out back overlooks the bayou. Food prices looked reasonable. We had more boudin at Guidroy's(SP) on the outskirts of Lafayette downtown. A very friendly place serving really good boudin. They had cowboy stew ready to go but alas I was not up to it at 9 am. The pork cracklins and deep friend pork belly chips were really good. We bought some of their house blended spice. We had a plate lunch at Dwyer's it was a little late in the day so it was a bit tired. The girls ate the mac n cheese, boudin balls and baked beans while we ate the roast beef and boudan balls. Friendly staff. We ate at a crawfish place just off of I10 in Beaux Bridges-it was not good but the crawfish this year is problematic due to the hurricanes.

I just posted a review on "Sundays in NOLA forum". (The moderator may move it to this forum ) This is a must go place!