gulfporter

Maybe at a cocktail party, but if you call a doctor's office, the answer you'll get is 'make an appointment.' Lawyers/architects may as a business strategy offer an initial 'free' consult, but those meetings are pretty vague, filled with lots of 'I can help you with that.' They aren't going to file a writ or give you blueprints for free. From a customer standpoint, 'tastes' will bog down restaurant service; picture a few tables of 6 where everyone asks to taste a different salsa, a sauce, a salad dressing, a soup, while the rest of us customers wait to get our orders taken! And where does it stop...."I'd like a taste of your prime rib to see if it's tender enough for me."

Having lived in a foreign country, I'd hesitate sending food overseas that was not pre-packaged. It may not make it through customs.

EXACTLY!! In fact, many of my most memorable meals are the ones where afterward, I find myself saying, "I really didn't think I'd like this."

Polenta lasagna with escarole.

You don't say if you are doing this for weight loss purposes, but if you are, here's my story. I fell victim to middle-age spread. Gained about 5 pounds a year, between ages 40 and 48. It happened so slowly; but in the end I was 40 pounds overweight. Got fed up when I went shopping and realized I was a size 14. Here's how I lost the weight (rather painlessly) and went from size 14 to size 6 in about 4 months. I used salad plates for all my meals. I continued to cook 'regular' meals for myself and my husband, but I ate ONE portion on a salad plate. Whatever would fit, that was it. I'm 62 now, and a size 8. Whenever my scale goes up more than 2 pounds, I go back to the salad plate. Works like a charm. No weighing food, no special low fat diet, no separate meals for me and hubby.

We lived in Virginia for 30+ years (my husband is a native). For 9 years we lived in Culpeper and bought this man's wonderful ham. It's the REAL deal. I have never ordered from him online, but I highly recommend his ham and business practices; he is a true Virginia Gentleman. See what Patrick O'Connell of the Inn at Little Washington says about Calhoun's. BTW...Calhoun was featured in a Saveur cover recipe. http://www.calhounhams.com/ And, why in the world would anyone order a real Virginia ham from anywhere outside of Virginia??

I cannot fathom anyone asking for a taste from the kitchen. It's rude, crude and socially unattractive. I'd guess those that do are cheapskates AND hard-to-please and not very likely to return to the eatery, anyway.

This is our first Halloween at our new home and we aren't sure we'll get any trick-or-treaters (no young kids in immediate neighborhood). I asked a neighbor and she said not to expect many, but she has gotten a few halloween-ers in the past, but often none at all. Since it's likely that whatever treats I buy will end up being eaten by us, I'm going with individual packs of Goldfish, peanut butter crackers, Oreo minis....the sort of stuff we keep in the car in case we need a quick snack on the run. We don't like milk chocolate at all, and most kiddies don't like dark chocolate so I'll skip the candy this year.

Is the Kraft (or Land of Lakes for that matter) white American cheese at the deli counter that you get sliced to order, real cheese or processed cheese? That's the cheese I use for mac n cheese; I thought that was 'real' cheese as opposed to the processed cheese in the pre-wrapped singles. But maybe it's not???

I think it's the cheese. I tried to upscale my Mother's mac n cheese recipe by using fancier cheeses, but it's never as smooth as hers. She used Kraft White American. It really does melt down nicely.

We lived in Mexico for 5 years and bought a lot of tomatillos. Simply remove the husks and wipe off the sticky stuff with damp dish towel. In addition to savory recipes, I used them as a base for a version of mincemeat pie, along with apples and raisins. Tomatillos are quite acidic and they worked well in that recipe.

Pfeffernusse. Trader Joes's are good, as are many that you can find at bakeries, especially a German bakery.

I like garlic aioli or chipotle mayo. If you've never had a fried green tomato BLT, please try one! Heavenly! We recently moved to an 'Old" Florida small town and there are 3 restaurants that serve FGT in various forms. The BLT; a FGT grilled cheese; and an FGT omelet are the ones we like best.

Chocolate bark recipe I use is: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/french-chocolate-bark-recipe.html I also make truffles, using various coatings for both taste and good display. Buckeyes (peanut butter balls dipped in dark chocolate) look best if 1/2 are plain and 1/2 have a walnut piece on top. Also chocolate covered coffee beans. And, if available chocolate covered pomegranate seeds. The key to all these candies is using good quality ingredients since there are few ingredients in each recipe.

We will be in Spain for 3 weeks at the end of this month. We will divide our time between Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. Anyone have a recommendation for sweet shops in any of these cities....looking for gifts for my sweet-toothed friends. We have traveled elsewhere and Spain and everyone loved the St. Teresa "Eggs" from Avila and of course the turrons (nougats) which should be everywhere since Christmas is coming up. Wondering if there are specific local sweets I should look for on this trip?

Someone gave me a bottle and I use it sparingly in baked beans and bbq sauce.

I think in most families, each child has their favorite birthday cake flavor. Mine was a Duncan Hines White Cake mix with homemade peanut butter frosting. My DH's was German Chocolate Cake. What was yours, growing up?

Have not bought them, either dry or jarred. The neighborhood bars in the Italian part of Scranton, PA, served them hot with a heavy dose of salt as bar food. You'd 'score' the skin with your teeth, then squeeze with fingers and slip out the edible part into your mouth, discarding the outer skin. Last year in Barcelona, they were served as a cold tapas with a drizzle of olive oil, but were already skinned and ready to eat.

Mmmmm....salted chilies. Surprised I haven't stumbled across them before; we're both a couple of chili-heads. In googling, the most referenced recipe is that of Fuchsia Dunlop's, link here courtesy of the LA Times. There is no mention of siphoning off any accumulated juices. Is the basic recipe similar to the one you're using? FWIW, I have made preserved lemons and limes which is a similar process of salting and waiting; I do not remove any accumulating juices in those recipes. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/20/food/la-fo-congeereca-20100520

Dinner last night.....homemade Banh Mi sandwiches (I even made the baguettes) with '33' beers. Sorry no pics! Shelby...Happy BD....40, cripes you're just a kid!

In my husband's family, it's creamed onions. For my family (I'm first generation from Lithuania), it's fresh kielbasa. Yes we have turkey, but also the kielbasa. What's your family's one must-have Turkey Day menu item?

I appreciate all the ideas here, especially freezing the meals in baggies. My 90 y/o FIL has a caregiver who makes his meals, but we visit for a week every 6-8 weeks to give her a break and we always leave some meals behind in the freezer. Those bulky storage containers really take up a lot of room in his freezer compartment.

Looks cumbersome. Anyone actually tried it out?

Hate microwaves and won't use them. Love my gas grill....we live in central FL and the grill is three steps out the kitchen door; it heats up far quicker than the oven. Anything bread-y, I reheat on the gas grill....from pizza to savory croissants to flatbreads to spanakopita to naan. The gas grill (mine is well seasoned) adds a bit of smokiness to the leftover. For lunch today I reheated leftover 'delivery' calzone on the grill. Anything 'wet,' I heat up on the stove-top. Rarely do I reheat in the oven as I find it dries most leftovers.

I agree that it all depends on one's local offerings. When we lived in Central Mexico, we were surrounded by farms that grew produce for export; while some of it (including tomatoes) were shipped 'green' to the US and CDN, the ripe stuff was sold dirt cheap to us locals. When we lived in a small isolated mountain town in Arizona, pickin's were slim for local produce most of the time. Currently we are in Central Coastal Florida where the local food producers are constantly selling new items all year round; we have two very large weekly food markets in downtown St. Petersburg and in Gulfport that allow us to eat local without much effort on our part. In northern climates, this would simply not be as feasible.