hjshorter

I'll join you Seth. Something has to get me in the mood for holiday baking and a new cookbook would be just the ticket.

I was there once, and I remember nothing about the food. That should tell you something. It's primarily a tourist place, isn't it?

There's a visual. I saw this monstrosity on MSNBC's Countdown the other night. Holy cow does it look disgusting, but if people want to buy it, Hardee's should be able to sell it.

I would second that suggestion. They are very accomodating to small fry, and not terribly expensive. My daughter (5) is crazy about the profiteroles.

I would be interested. The 7th, 8th or 9th work for me, weekends in December will be tough.

That sounds great. I caramelize the little pearl ones in butter and add a light cream sauce. Even those who don't like onions like them.

Homemade onion relish, cranberry, dried cherry and clove sauce, pickled green beans, Indian spiced pickled cauliflower, and pear/sour cherry chutney. I have been cleaning my canning kettle and rounding up jars this week. Cookies - about ten kinds plus some quick breads. Martha's Dowager Duchess Fruitcake. Mini loaves. Best fruitcake ever.

My mom would be happy to let me cook, because I'm the second coming of Julia Child.

Might I be the first to reccomend some pimento cheese and some okra. You can learn all about it here on eGullet! Your source for the better things in life. ← My husband grew up in New Orleans, so he knows pimento cheese and okra. I am canning this weekend, so maybe I will try pickling my own. Got a recipe, Brooks? Jaymes, that dip sounds good. Might be a nice change from the Roquefort dip we always have.

Right on Busboy. Do you feel your experience as a server predisposes you to feel charitable about poor service? Or having had the job are you more likely to get irritated when on the receiving end? I worked in customer service at the Kennedy Center for 9 years, smoothing the ruffled feathers of (in all likelihood) of the same folks who dine in the cities' better restaurants. That experience made me less inclined to pass over what I know to be the result of poor training or a bad attitude. That being said, I have to agree with Fynnicki that sometimes I don't complain because complaining feels like work, and if it's the intangibles aren't right than often it's a bigger hassle to complain than to just get it over with and make another choice the next time.

It may be a Southern thing, but it's a Northern thing too. My Massachusettes born and raised mother always set out a similar tray - minus the okra and pimento cheese. Black Olives, green pimento stuffed olives, gherkins, celery, carrot sticks, nuts, deviled eggs, and always a bowl of homemade cranberry-orange relish on the table. We'll be hosting family and some friends this year and I was just mulling over the relish tray yesterday.

Bernaise all the way. I used to frequent a place in Washington DC (it is now gone, ) where I could get Eggs Benedict with french fries 24/7. Heavenly.

Cold weather has arrived. Casserole time! Tuesday: Manicotti stuffed with ricotta, parm reg, and spinach. Emma (my 5 year old) helped to stuff the manicotti and did a not-too-shabby job with the pastry bag. Big chopped salad with the last tomato from the garden, dressed with toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil. Warm sourdough bread with salted Plugra. Wednesday: Shrimp with coconut milk, tomatoes and cilantro. Served over rice. We got this recipe from a Brazilian friend of ours. Emma ate huge qualitites, Ian was dubious. Steamed broccoli Big juicy white grapefruit for dessert.

My mother is from the Boston area, and I grew up eating baked beans, brown bread, corn chowder, clam chowder, sweet cornbread, cod cakes, Harvard beets, molasses cookies, etc. She never used Joy of Cooking, her kitchen bible was the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1965 edition). My own cooking has branched out but I still prepare many of these dishes regularly. I've never warmed up to Joy but have two editions of Fannie - the 1965 I grew up with and an updated version from the mid 1980s.

The slab bacon at Whole Foods. Delicious.

I buy the organic version occasionally, the kind with no trans fats. The kids love them. I do too.

Had a glass of wine, calamari, and pizza last night with hannnah and Mr hannnah prior to the REM show. The wine was warm , and the calamari was decent and accompanied by a spicy tomato sauce that, ahem, kicked it up a notch. The pizza (arugula and prosciutto) was much better than when last sampled - thinner, crispier and good char on the bottom. Service was unexceptional. The hostess refused to seat hannnah and the Mr unti I arrived, despite a near empty restaurant.

One of my double wall ovens was convection. We had it for four years and never turned on the convection. Life (and good food) went on as usual.

Is the website's beer list the regular drafts plus the rotating draft of the month, or does that list include their bottled selections? Just checking - it's all labeled "beers on draft" at the website. Heather

Interesting Dave, we had the opposite experience with our GE Profile double ovens. They saw heavy use and never had a problem. Now the Profile refigerator we had...oy. Bad news. Our gas cooktop was Thermador and not GE so can't comment. I will say that the service was excellent. Prompt responses, fast repairs. Dual fuel: nice even electric oven heat with gas stovetop cooking. Ideal but pricey. I don't recall how much but there is a premium as opposed to getting a range/oven that both use the same fuel.

Add the cheese bit by bit and not in a giant clump works. We made fondue the other night and have a useful tip - if you run out of sterno, it's best to get more and not try to substitute a votive candle.

It's been a few years since I lived in Wheaton but as I recall the pho at Nam's was nothing to write home about. It has changed hands since then. My favorite place was An Loi in Wheaton Plaza. (Squids - I remember when Wheaton Plaza didn't have a roof. )

Good for him. I wish someone would do that here.

That does sound delicious. I love the traditional Waldorf with homemade mayonnaise. It was always served at formal dinners at our house. I still remember what it looked like on my mother's china salad plates.

Ah... as far as Glu-Cola goes, the lemon-lime flavor is the easiest to get down, particularly if it's ice cold. The orange one was pretty nasty. I had to down a bottle each time I was pregnant. ← Gah. The lab is always out of all but the orange flavor when I do these tests. The worst was the 3-hour glucose tolerance test while pregnant. A whole bottle of nasty orange crap, and nothing else to eat or drink for 3 hours. I was very surprised that I hadn't hurled by the end of it.