IsItSoupYet?

Your grandmother sounds like a wonderful woman, Suvir. May her journey to the next stage be peaceful.

Better known as pork roll. When my brother comes down from NJ to visit me here in the Capital of the Confederacy, he knows that the entrance fee to my house is a big ol' chunk of pork roll. Oh, and before I forget: E A G L E S EAGLES!!!!!

What about boiled custard? I first encoutered this when I lived in Kentucky. Basically, it's eggless eggnog. The stuff I got in Kentucky (and I can't remember the brand, but I did buy it in the supermarket) was great--nice and creamy, almost like vanilla ice cream base. Drank QUARTS of the stuff when it was out, used it on cereal, the whole nine yards. When I moved to Virginia, I was delighted to find Richfood "Country Custard," but it's thinner and a little more sweet than the Kentucky stuff. Still good though. Boiled custard is definitely a southern thing. Eggnog's okay, but I'd rather have boiled custard.

Wouldn't the cheese and topping stick to the pan if you didn't grease it and just make a mess if it was? Don't get me wrong, reheating pizza that way sounds excellent, but I don't want to get cheese all over the place. What's the time frame involved? P.S. Alas, I give cold pizza radar love most of the time. Just too impatient.

Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge is definitely worth a visit. My husband and I had our anniversary dinner there during a week-long trip, and we loved it (and considering that my husband normally dislikes "serious" food, that's saying something). Here's a recent menu: Artist Point The food at the California Grill is always good, but the service can be very spotty, which is why I hesitate to recommend it. Here's the menu anyway: California Grill I haven't been to the Flying Fish Cafe, but since so many people love it I give you the menu to judge for yourself: Flying Fish Cafe The breakfast buffet at Boma (in the Animal Kingdom Lodge) is considered the best on property. I don't know whether it's "serious" food, but we enjoyed it. The menu: Breakfast at Boma And I do have to agree with Steve on Le Cellier in Epcot's Canada pavillion. It gets overlooked a lot, but the food is extremely good and the prices very reasonable for Disney. The cheddar cheese soup alone is worth the visit. Le Cellier Steakhouse

As someone who once lived in Kentucky and now lives in Virginia, I say that the biggest difference between Smithfield ham and country ham is that country ham is much chewier and rough-textured. Smithfield ham has a smoother mouthfeel. But either of them are AWESOME on a fresh-baked biscuit.

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? My mother was of Irish/German descent, but could make one heck of a spaghetti sauce. She also spent her childhood and teen years in Florida when it was still the deep South, so a lot of Southern food was on our menu as well. I have friends who still remember her fried chicken, sauerbraten and potato pancakes vividly. Was meal time important? Yep. Every night at six o'clock, except for Sundays, when it was dependent on what sort of sporting event was on TV. Mom was expert at timing autumn Sunday dinners for halftime of the football game. Was cooking important? Very important. No take-out in our house! What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? Death. No, actually the rules were pretty loose. Who cooked in the family? Mom, although as my sisters and I got older we would get a meal started which Mom would finish after she got home from work. After Mom died, my sisters, then me. Despite the fact that my brother never cooked while we were growing up, he's a good cook now, probably because his wife doesn't cook. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occasions? Special occasions and vacations. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? Yep. Being the youngest in the family, I sat there for what seemed like decades. When did you get that first sip of wine? My parents weren't big drinkers, so the first sip I remember was at a bar mitzvah for my mother's friend's son when I was six. I thought it was really sour grape juice. Was there a pre-meal prayer? In spite of my mother being a pretty heavy-duty Catholic, we only said grace on Thanksgiving. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? We would eat a lot of the same things, but the closest we came was having spaghetti pretty much every Saturday and some sort of roast every Sunday. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? I still cook every night except for Saturday date night, and we eat at the table (unless there's a really good football game on, heh heh).

I moved from New Jersey in 1995, so I have a feeling a lot of the restaurants I frequented back then are either in different hands or gone altogether. My favorite NYC Indian place was a tiny little place on 4th Street called Kebab and Kebab's that, alas, closed in the early nineties due to the death of the owner, Sanjoy. Sanjoy was a foodie to his soul and was a gracious host to boot, remembering names and faces and stories. One time some friends and I were in the Village on our way to another restaurant. Sanjoy must have seen me passing by, and obviously miffed that I didn't come in, literally screamed out the window, "PATRICIA (my maiden name)! YOU WILL COME AND EAT WITH ME NOW!!" As he was normally quite reserved, I took this to be a holy command, and my two friends lost their Indian food virginity that night. Steve, Lebanese Taverna sounds wonderful--and definitely not pretentious. What I mean by pretentious is someplace where they care more about the food than the atmosphere, and that's rarely a problem in either Indian or Middle Eastern places (with the exception of NYC's notorious Indian tourist trap Nirvana)--at least not the ones I've been to. As far as Richmond dining goes, now that the Frog and The Redneck is gone, the only place I keep hearing about is an Italian place in Oregon Hill called Mamma Zu. It's supposed to be excellent. There IS the Sunday brunch at the Jefferson Hotel which is very good, if a tad stuffy for my tastes. Other than that, it's Chain Hell--you can't even get good BBQ here.

Homemade ice cream, preferably mango. After a rip-roaring vindaloo, there's nothing better. And shrikhand ... there was a tiny hole-in-the-wall Indian place in Greenwich Village that was my first experience with that dessert. Oh, WOW! Great stuff!

Thanks for all of your input. I was fortunate to grow up in the NYC metro area, which has more great Indian restaurants than you can shake the proverbial stick at, although the best Indian food I've ever had was in London, where I'm told the Indian food is better than in India! I agree with Steve and Monica about a lot of Indian restaurant proprietors "dumbing down" the menu for the perceived bland American palate, particularly where curry is concerned. At an Indian restaurant I tried here in Richmond, the vindaloo I ordered was more like lamb stew with a bit of cumin added, although the waiter warned me that it was "very, very hot." Also, it was the only Indian restaurant I've ever been to that actually screwed up naan--this stuff looked and tasted like greasy cornbread. But it was lauded in the local paper as being "excellent authentic Indian cuisine." Oy. I've heard a couple people mention Aroma favorably, so that may be my first foray into the DC Indian scene. And I've also heard of a restaurant here in Richmond called Royal India that's supposed to be good. Since the person giving me this information is of Indian descent, I'm inclined to take his word for it.

I've heard that DC has some excellent Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants, and my tastebuds need adventure (plus I need to get the Consort out of the house). So tell me where to go ... in the literal sense, of course.

Being somewhat porky these days, I decided to try Atkins, and when I found low-carb convenience food in the local health food store (oh, the irony), I was a happy camper--until I started eating it. Low-carb pasta is DISGUSTING; Atkins' brand of low-carb bread tastes pretty good but is horrifically expensive; the shakes and bars are awful. The only two low-carb convenience foods I've found that I really like are Atkins chocolate chocolate chip muffin mix and Lo-Carb cinnamon frozen dessert. Nowadays I stick to meat (chicken and turkey mostly, and I do eat the skin), veggies (with butter), salad and some fruit; I eat three meals a day and I go to the gym six days a week. Lo and behold, I feel better and I'm losing weight--and that includes a weekly pasta/pizza/Mexican binge. I find that eating this way controls my appetite and my food obsession. I tried low-fat and was hungry all the time. Amazing what a little fat can do, eh? Limiting your carbs does work, but Atkins' approach is draconian and inevitably boring. And somehow I don't believe that an occasional apple or starfruit is going to end up on my ass ...

I must sing the pleasures of a small-town dive. Mary Ann's, in Colts Neck, NJ. Colts Neck is essentially a farm town discovered by ex-pat New Yorkers and turned into a very high-priced NYC bedroom community (with Mafia touches) and now known as the place where Bruce Springsteen lives (he also recorded "Nebraska" there). But on Route 537, on the corner of Muhlenbrink Road, Mary Ann's sat in her faded glory. My childhood best friend lived right behind Mary Ann's, and we started getting served there when we were about 14. There was a big pool table, MGD and Bud on draft, a jukebox stocked with ancient country and rock tunes and a good fight every Friday night. Oh, and great pizza and pork roll sandwiches, too. The bar was generally populated with farm workers and Marines from the Naval weapons station, so two teenage girls got a LOT of attention there When we were younger, we even went trick or treating there. We'd come out with at least twenty bucks apiece.