Toasted

My children love going to Chuck E. Cheese so I bring them every once in a while because it makes them so happy. I know that if I was their age I would have a blast too. BTW, I kind of like their pizza.

You mean you left before you got to dance with Chuck E. Cheese? I tell you, you haven't lived unless you've hokey pokeyed with the Rat.

God, that has to be the most depressing thing I've ever read.

If they really cared about the parents they would serve shots.

It's not just you, believe me. Ronald is a clown, a terrifying hamburger eating clown.

They do serve food. Pizza, hot dogs, grinders, all the stuff kids like. At the Chuck E. Cheese near us they have a pretty good salad bar too. They also serve beer and wine which is kind of weird considering it's a kiddie restaurant.

Baked gnocchi with 3 cheeses ( recipe from the most recent Martha Stewart mag)- added some diced tomatoes which improved the dish IMO. Roasted asparagus with evoo and sea salt a green salad with toasted pecans

I have to agree with you that most restaurant biryani's are boring. When I make biryani at home I use a recipe from "Sunday's at the Moosewood Restaurant" that is very good. I always tend to use less rice than suggested too.

The Ceder Street Restaurant in Sturbridge Mass. is excellent. Wonderful wine list and a very eclectic menu. They offer a vegetarian menu as well as steak and fish. The service is outstanding too. Their number is (508- 347-5800). I can't seem to link it but their website with menu is www.cedarstreetrestaurant.com

Goat cheese, sliced tomatoes, and asparagus (blanch first)

Actually, Silestone doesn't scratch at all, at least in my experience and we've had the counters for over six months. I even cut food on it all the times which dulls my knives but doesn't harm the surface at all. We chose Silestone because we wanted maintance free surfaces that would hold up to serious abuse- yes, we have kids! Even though the new counters cost more than my first three cars put together, I am still happy with them.

"My Kitchen Wars" a memoir by Betty Fussell- picked this up at the used book store for $2.00. "Women Who Eat"- a new generation on the glory of food- Basically a compilation of stories by women in and out of the culinary profession. Just got this from Amazon, a gift from my sister and it looks really good. Halfway through the "Best Food writing of 2003"- another great book, excellent writing.

We put in Silestone counters and an island for the kitchen this year. I absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone. Very easy to clean, doesn't pick up stains, can handle both hot and cold temps w/o any problem. I've found that it works nearly as well as marble for rolling out dough and pastry. It is expensive, especially if you get one of the specialty colors like we did but well worth it in my opinion.

Pizza! Cranking that oven up to 500 warms up the house, feeds the kids, and gives you a good reason to drink beer. Not that you need one.

Last night I made the pomarita's using the recipe from the Pom's website. I highly recommend them. After two it didn't even seem so cold out anymore

My favorite and first food memory occured when I was about three or four. We lived in Newton Mass at the time and would frequently walk downtown to Briggam's ice cream on summer evenings. The night that stands out in my mind is the night I was finally allowed to order ice cream in a 'big girl" cone instead of a baby dish. I was so proud and excited and very, very careful not to drip any chocolate on my dress.

Mini manicotti sounds too cute for words! Would you be willing to share that recipe?

I rely on a couple of signature dishes because my ability to cook something really good tends to fluctuate from day to day. I am most often asked to bring the following: Avacado mousse w/homemade tortilla chips Curried sweet potato fillo triangles Pear and leek tarts ( original recipe from Epicurious but I tweaked it a bit).

In our house it's vegetarian chili with tons of melted cheese and sour cream to balance out the healthiness of all those veggies. I make a big pot of it at least once a month and freeze the extras so it's always available. However when it's just me and I'm starving, the obvious choice is beer and Cheez-its. I don't have to cook it and I never get sick of it.

I agree with Moopheaus, the magic fridge or oven would be my fantasy. Didn't they have something like that on the The Jetson's cartoon? Or maybe Rosie the robot made all the food. Anyhoo, this past pregnancy I craved fruit salad all the time and wished many times over that I could just open the fridge and a big bowl of it would be sitting there all ready made. Now I'm not lazy but making a good fruit salad is a pain in the ass especially when you're pregnant, starving, and cranky.

I have been collecting old cook books for a while. It's so interesting to compare the menus and recipes of today to that of yesterday. My favorite old book right now is "Househould Discoveries and Mrs. Curtis's Cook Book" copywrite 1909. It includes everything from recipes to home furnishing to raising children and the illustrations are wonderful.

Hey! Some people (uh, me) like Tang. Actually the Tang was the only good part of the meal. I still like Tang btw, especially with pop tarts in the morning!

Mom's Saturday night "special" was so repulsive that even describing it gives me the dry heaves. It was called "tuna wiggle" and involved a can of tuna packed in oil (undrained ), a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a can of peas all heated together and slopped over toasted white bread with some fried onions (canned of course) sprinkled over the top. This was always accompanied by canned fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. Oh, and Tang to wash it all down!

Beer with poptarts? Have you gone mad? The only correct pairing is a big glass of Tang, freshly mixed of course!

Thank you for the Mattar Panner recipe. I made it last night and it was much better than the recipe I had been using. (Found it online somewhere I think). Served the dish with basmati rice and some truly wretched poori bread. I have tried to make this at least ten times and it never puffs up all the way around and usually tastes greasy. Any suggestions about making poori bread would be most appreciated.