Allura

This is also true, when I go out to eat with a friend of mine. She can't even have a quick lunch without getting an appetizer, dessert, coffee, and random extra stuff. When I go out with her, my $9 salad generally runs me...yeah 35 bucks. ← This behavior always surprises me, since with our friends, we generally do the math when the check comes. Occasionally the math works out that it's just easier to split it, but that's the exception, not the rule. And, we've done the math with 10 people at the table, so it's not just one couple.

Starbucks already has a number of branded products in grocery stores (coffee beans, ice cream), so perhaps that's the market for it? My mother will happy. *wry*

I noticed recently that B&J has been using "chocolatey" chips, not "chocolate." In other words, garbage. It's definitely turned me away.

Your upper cabinets are completely flat on the bottom, right? I have older cabinets, and there's a bit of frame/edging around the bottom, with the base set about 2" higher than the bottom of the wood. The previous tenant put tack nails/picture nails all along there, giving me extra storage for utensils with holes and potholders. Also, I know you prefer to prep near your stove, but I've been prepping opposite mine, because I have a lot more space on that side. But, everything goes into a bowl or something and sits next to the stove, so it's just as easy to hand. For me, though, I'm better off prepping and then cooking, rather than doing at the same time. I'm novice enough to still feel stressed at trying to chop and watch a pot.

Oh, thanks for letting me know. My dad loves seven-layer cake, and that's not too far from me. On the topic of seven-layer cake, you mention the cake had a light lemon flavor. We had one once that had a significant orange flavor. I found it grew on me, but no one else liked it. Is that typical/unusual?

There was *just* an article about this in the NYTimes Dining & Wine section: Clicky. Basically, they claimed it doesn't work for pumpkin pie, because it'll weep too much. Frozen store pies use blast freezers to freeze theirs.

I cruised for the first time ever this August, a 5-day jaunt to Bermuda and back on Royal Caribbean. I thought the buffet was mediocre, but the dining room was pretty darn good. Sometimes things were more salty than I would prefer, but that's a common complaint I have with any restaurant. There were some staples on the menu every night, namely a strip steak, a caeser salad, and a vegetarian Indian dish. My dad tried the Indian dish twice (I don't think he's ever had Indian food before), which endeared him to our Indian asst & head waiter. Generally, I liked everything, and you know what? There was always pizza and sandwiches to be had at the 24 hour cafe.

I have a friend in Bremerton who is originally from NJ. He's craving a cannoli badly, says he's had one in the six years he's lived there, at "a really expensive Italian restaurant in Seattle." That just won't do. Can anyone help me point him at a bakery near him? Thanks!

Depending on where you are, you might want some sort of potato dish on there.

Just a quick bit of info: The AeroGarden is today's "Goldbox deal of the day" at Amazon, so it's $99 instead of the usual $199. (I still can't get one; my cat would eat it all. )

I understand that. I don't subscribe to NJ Monthly, though (I do occasionally read it occasionally it at my mother's house), so I haven't noticed trends one way or the other. My question is whether the reviews & the advertising are linked or coincidence, though. Do you consistently see favorable reviews that you would disagree with? Reviews are so subjective beyond things like facts of the decor, items served, temperature of food, etc, that it is hard to say a review is precisely wrong. My point is that NJ Monthly reviews higher-end restaurants AND they are a good advertising location for higher-end reviews. There's likely to be overlap there, and it may seem skewed when it may either be simple coincidence, or perhaps coincidence combined with a policy of only printing favorable reviews, period. Heck, maybe NJ restaurants are just all good! Anyway, I'm just saying it may not be deliberate, but I'd definitely be interesed to see examples if you think it is. (I'm also thinking maybe it's time to break-off the thread to a new topic?)

I dunno. Where else would you expect higher end NJ restaurants to advertise? NJ Monthly seems like an obvious choice to me.

Two years ago in late August, iirc, a bunch of us went out to dinner at The Garlic Rose in Cranford and discovered it was "Restaurant Week" there. I went looking later to get more info, and couldn't find any. My SIL reminded me that Restaurant Week was coming up again in DC (where she lives), and that had me wondering: is there such a thing in NJ, particularly North or Central NJ? Per Open Table ( http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?pid=224&m=13&ref=1076 - I can't get links to work today!), there appears to be one being held in Southern NJ, in what looks like the Philly Suburbs area. What about us? Any love for those of us in North/Central NJ?

How do they compare to simply keeping a paper towel in with the produce, to absorb the extra moisture? I was looking at these, but there's a lot of negative reviews on amazon, including ones saying that the food looks good but is still rotten on the inside?!

My only comment is that it might be salty. I'm guessing it's been injected with salt solution, from that "with oven roasted au jus seasoning." (Rant: Why is it so hard to find non-injected pork? Now they're doing it to beef, too?!?)

I have to agree with that. More ricotta. As my mom says, "Keep adding till it looks right," but she rarely buys less than 2lbs.

I think for me (we have on near me in Watchung, NJ now), the fries remind me of "boardwalk fries," the ones my family and I would munch as we wandered the Jersey Shore boardwalk when I was a kid. The burgers are good, but the bun is too big for my tastes. There's also a Cheeburger, Cheeburger near me (Westfield, NJ), and I prefer their burgers because the meat:bun ration is better. And their shakes are good. The fries are so-so.

I make it on the stovetop, just rice, milk, and water, cooked on low for hours. And, of course, I only know how to make it in size huge. I add the sugar at the end, and I find that if I taste it when it's still warm, it's much sweeter than it is when it cools down. I don't care for it warm; I'll eat it cold or room temperature, with lots of cinnamon on top (no nutmeg for me!). I think rice pudding makes an excellent breakfast, btw.

Eh. I'm going to guess that's just clueless-ness. The things are becoming a fashion statement *shakes head*. I'm more interested in that Fractured Prune donut shop she mentions further down.

We're going to a restaurant in Long Branch named Cask 591. Haven't been there before, so cross your fingers!

I don't know about other loans, but we have $25k left to pay on DH's loans (for a rather expensive non-culinary school, though), and we're paying $240/mth. That's just one of two loans; the other is comparable. I'm not positive what the initial amounts were, and these were initially signed over 15 years ago. We're still paying them, and they can definitely hurt your bottom line.

I'm supposed to bring something to our family dinner for Passover, but I'm stumped. Mom is making a bunch of the mixes (no, my family's not exactly gourmets, but it's one of those comfort things, I guess). One idea was homemade chocolate pudding, something I know is a favorite of my father's, but the recipes I know of use cornstarch, which isn't KfP. Any ideas for anything in the custard/pudding style? I did find one for Sweet Matzo and Cottage Cheese Pudding, which is a quasi-noodle kugel, something I always think of as a dessert, not a side dish. It looks interesting, but I'm not sure how it'll come out.

Oh, that's a great source. Thank you!

My SIL is looking for a fairly detailed Easter bunny mold. She'd love something intricate like this, but I don't know if the antique ones are really safe to use today. She's in northern Virginia, US, so if there's a good supply store in the area, that would work too. I just know she hasn't been happy with most of the molds she's seen online yet. Any ideas? (Edited to fix link)

That one's a staple of DH's "repertoire," along with his strogonoff: ground beef, sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, garlic (at least that's fresh these days). I confess to really liking the mac & cheese in the right mood, preferably with cream of broccolli and a second can of tuna. It's...ummm...sturdy.