lindag

Elsie, those are the most delicious looking meatballs I've ever seen!

I liked the looks of the LC sauté, just disappointed that it seems to only be available in the 4.5 qt. size, too big for my needs. I currently have a 3 qt. All Clad that i love but at some point I'll have to replace it and AC no longer makes a non stick sauté. posted while enjoying a Jack Daniels cocktail.

Her general attitude...trying too hard to agree and to be likable. Again, just my opinion.

I thought Shirley tried too hard to suck up to the judges, to me she was really obvious. just my own insight, I know many wouldn't agree.

Although I've never been to a Jimmy John's folk around here tell me it is head and shoulders better than Subway. I have a Subway quite near, the JJ's is about 15 miles from me. I never go to Subway anymore but there were times in the midst of summer heat that I'd stop in and pick up a sandwich for lunch (I'd go in the mid morning to avoid the lines that start about 11:30 some days). When I was working in Portland we had a Quiznos in the building on the main floor; I'd often stop in there for lunch rather than face the wind and rain (and possibly snow) outside. Their food was very good and service was fast. The only thing that irritated me were the twenty-somthings that had to pay for their four dollar lunch with a credit card!

Katsuji; from the beginning I didn't like his snide attitude.

I don't make the Chex Mix anymore simply because I can't keep my hands off it. What I do instead is purchase a small bag of Chex Cheddar Mix, add a can of Spanish peanuts (the mix must have nuts) and put it in an airtight container. At least I don't have three gigantic boxes of cereal to store.

??? You have a separate freezer for your dogs' food? I buy my dogs' food online from Darwin's and it comes frozen in dry ice. I get about 11 weeks' worth at a time and store it in the big upright in the garage.

What a very special gift!

D DAMN that looks good!!!!

our favorite restaurant in the Wailea area was Joes' Bar. Really great food and a nice atmosphere. That's been a while ago though so do know if Joes' is even still open.

DH and I and another couple had dinner at Mama's a few years ago. DH and I went one night and when the other couple indicated that they wanted to go there we tried to discourage them. But they really wanted to see what everyone was talking about so the four of us went another night.. Well, we were very disappointed. The food (in our opinion) was average at best. The atmosphere was nice but I didn't think it was super special. We were surprised that it was so well regarded because we didn't think it was anything put of the ordinairy and certainly not any better than many other places that were much less pricey. Maybe we were there the wrong week, I don't know. I do know that based on our experience we would not recommend it.

Speaking of re-useable totes. I buy dog food from a source in Seattle. It is shipped to me every six weeks in a box with dry ice (the food is frozen - Darwins). The boxes are large and very sturdy and are returnable to Darwins. You only need to re-seal the box and add the return label included and set it out for your UPS guy. No charge for the return. It helps keep the shipping costs down and I appreciate that.

Wow! 4 bucks. My Shuns are, without question, my best knives. They stay sharp.

Me too, although these days it's all audiobooks for me....so soothing. I love listening when I go to bet at night, it's just so peaceful that I easily go to sleep. Although sometimes I have to search back for the last chapter before I fell asleep. The Ann Cleeves series sounds quite interesting, I'll definitely look for it.

When I was a kid I used to like liverwurst sandwiches with a little thin sliced onion and maybe some mustard on white bread (of course).. That was a really long time ago. About a year ago I happened upon a tube of liverwurst in the deli case and was tempted to buy it until I looked at the amount of fat....17G. I changed my mind.

sounds like a really great book, can you tell us what it is?

I suggest using the lid from a small-ish cast iron (Le Creuset) stock pot. My smallest is the 4-½ qt. and the lid is fairly small in diameter.

I got my Vitamix at least 12 years ago, mostly for making smoothies. Well, after a year or so I got really tired of the smoothie routine. I've never had a need to make purees or pastes. hummus, etc. Except for the (extremely) occasional need to use it for a blender, it has sat in the back of my pantry. If I were making that decision today, I'd pass on the Vitamix and stick with my old reliable Oster.

I really love this topic. while I have no connection to resataurant food preparation I think we can all see how it affects everyone who eats out. The inside stories are fascinating.

I have had those moments when, just settling into bed I think to myself, "Did I put away the leftover food from dinner?" I blame it on the wine.

I miss the days when I'd go to TJ's, order up 8 cases of wine and have them loaded into my SUV. Nowadays the nearest TJ's to me is a 3-½ hour drive in good weather. No more TJ wine for me.

When I bought there, they had only one brand in the large bag, I don't know what it was. I have found I can rely on Costco to almost always have the best that's available.

Do you have a Costco nearby? I have bought large bags (10#, I think) there in the past and it was very good (and inexpensive).