Margaret Pilgrim

Fresh mozzarella with olive and sun dried tomato, EVOO. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Half a pound of greens to serve two people? The last of our stash of Lucca Delicatessen cheese ravioli. Here with simple butter sauce. A sweet good-bye, maximizing their gentle flavor.

I remember going to lunch with an older relative. She met me at work and we went to a nearby diner-like coffee shop. She was wearing her full length Black Diamond mink coat. We sat in a booth with cracked leatherette seats. She ordered the Double Hot Dog. She was served three halves of hot dogs. She looked at it and called the waitress back and asked where the other half was. Her plate was removed and returned with another half. I wincied, not out of embarrassment but in squeamish wonder over what had happened to the dog originally and where and how they had found it so fast. I would have let well enough alone. She survived so I guess it wasn't too bad...

I like to think that the tales of kitchen retribution are urban myth, but...

I don't send food back because of the consequences. Table service it totally screwed up. The kitchen, naturally defensive that their prep was correct usually overcompensates by sending back something wrong in the opposite direction, like raw liver when pink was ordered but well done was served. It's only dinner. Regardless, I'll survive. Why ruin everyone's evening.

TAB by Coke. It had an edge not found in original, diet, and certainly not in the "Edsel"esque new Coke. Of course, they killed off Tab. Diet Coke was never comparable.

👏👏👏👏👏

Anna, can you buy Bubbie's sourkraut? Cold-packed and very fresh tasting. Like all their products. Here

If you are talking that area, Watsonville, Aromas etc, you're talking about Blenheims, the epitome of "apricotness". Very few have survived Silicon Valley. You have to go east into Contra Costa County, Brentwood area, to find orchards now. And well worth the drive. We picked up half a box several weeks ago, ate half of them and canned the rest. Should have bought more! As a kid, I remember running through the house when my mother was canning cots. She'd have a big tub of washed, halved and pitted fruit ready to jar, and we kids would grab handfuls and dash back out to play.

Never realized it at the time, as we seldom do of our childhood surrounds, but this is indeed God's Country.

Can you supply any details of how you prepare this chicken? It looks fantastic and seemingly comes with great recommendation...

Ahem...CASTROVILLE, not Watsonville, is the artichoke capital of the world. Ii know of which I speak! We grew artichokes in the back yard where I grew up. Away from home, my mother would send me a dozen artichokes instead of chocolate eggs at Easter. And, yes, fresh picked have a completely different flavor. Now I satisfy my yen by eating artichoke bruschetta off a spoon, standing at the counter... No one else in my ignorant family likes artichokes. Losers! 😝

Is Cosco's needling eat a local thing? We gave up our membership several years ago, and we were never huge meat buyers there, but I've never seen their meat treated that way, and friends have often shared prime grade they bought at Costco that was so treated.

We could have an entire thread on which brand's miniature bottles and jars we save from airline trays. Mustard. Jam. Heck, I've even suitcased home Brittany butter! Then there are the mid-flight chocolates...

Pretty boring looking corn salad with snapper. Enlivened with tartar and chili sauces and a bowl of grapefruit segments.

Understood. I think Duvel catapulted the thread into premium classes and, dare I say, carriers. Many American carriers have given up on food service while touting it on their sites. I was floored at dinner service in first class (bumped up) one transcontinental flight. The sloppily attired attendant sloshed DH's main course sauce all over the plate and tray. Her only comment was "Eats the same." Doubtless this has become a family retort for anytime there is a serving mishap at home.

United did partner with McDo in the early '90s. Fizzled out. Actually, business class menus often have at least one main course "designed" by a 3* Michelin chef. Absolute waste of money, IMHO, but it is being done. (re United, Air France)

When I'm dragged to a fast-food place, I look for a non-beef product. I don't eat ground beef that I haven't seen ground with my own eyes. Or done it myself. Everyone has his own hangups. I have no dietary concerns re fat or salt or fiber. Just don't like mystery meat. Am okay with mystery veg. 😉

I understand and agree with what you write. But there was such a difference in quality on the different directions, same airline and service level. I assumed they probably had a fixed budget per passenger and that the money just went farther at one terminal than the other. When the dollar was 1 and euro 1.30, there is a huge difference in available product quality. Now, not so much.

Looks similar to Air France transAtlantic business class. Your wine glass much nicer. i have long Quibbled with airlines about their tryying to serve steaks and chops. For food safety reasons, they have to be overcooked (for most people) and even assuming that they start with good meat, the final result is clumsy and disappointing, Why, I've repeatedly asked in letters to management, can't they serve a really good braise that takes well to reheating? Beef or lamb both work well, and the cuts would be cheaper to boot. Another question I've had is why the food is always better flying out of San Francisco than on the return out of Paris. Logic says that the French should be able to "do it better" but we have always had worse meals on the westbound leg. I always attributed it to the difference in exchange rate, i.e., spending the same amount of money per passenger, they had a bigger budget out of the US than out of France. Or something else...

When DH and I go to Grocery Outlet for milk, eggs and wine and come out with a cartload, one of us will usually mutter while going out the door, "she said she wasn't hungry..."

Really?

Simple meal. Bloody grilled beef and peppers, corn. I surrounded 2 corn and 3 peppers.

Airline food, its concepts, cost, country of origin, is the subject of an entirely new thread.

I could have written this...altho we no longer stock MW.

Everything stunning. The blue board "table" is perfect with the octopus and beets. I can smell the surf just feet away.