Basilgirl

Thinking of giving one for a Christmas present. Any thoughts? Consumer Reports gave it a thumbs down.

Rachael Ray: EVOO Chicken stock for that all-day taste Chicken tenders Pro-shoot Rigotta Steak seasoning Poultry seasoning 2 jars of giardiniera, one to be pulsed in food processor and stuffed in bread, the other to be used as a chopped salad FHM magazine Tony Bourdain: Cigarettes Beer Scotch

Burke, VA: Kale 3 kinds of apples Sister bought white sweet potatoes The market is over until next Mother's Day.

Weds. night: oven-fried chicken chunks (Cook's Illustrated - not bad, not great) on mixed greens with blue cheese and bacon , Trader Joe's Vidalia onion dressing Last night: Stouffer's 5-cheese pizza - not into the kitchen thing - could have been the long rainy commute home or the few beers to take the edge off Tonight: Lidia's new-style chicken parmigiana and pasta aglio/olio

NEW! Campbell's Chunky Chicken and Dumplings Soup. Blech.

So I picked up pupusas at the store the other day. I had never seen pupusas in a regular old grocery store, so naturally I bought them. They were a "product of El Salvador." The Boyfriend had never had them so I figured I'd lay them on him. Last night, took 4 pupusas, layered with some roast pork I had in the fridge and a little Salvadoran fresh cheese I picked up at said grocery store, topped each with another pupusa. Had made the coleslaw awhile earlier ("curtido" - my favorite coleslaw for any meal - well, maybe not NC BBQ). Anyway, griddled the pupusas to heat up/melt cheese. Turned my back for one minute, turned around and - as The Boyfriend exclaimed, it was a "sea of cheese." I think I'll let the professionals handle the pupusa situation from now on.

Tried your recipe today with great success. Just the smell alone created a sensation and it is garnering rave reviews. I am looking out a window at a full winterscape, five inches of snow and quite cold. Thank you for for my warm, satisfied belly. Suddenly, outside doesn't seem so bad. Tam: Just saw your post. This makes me very happy. That is always the first soup to be made in my house when cold weather hits. Glad you like it.

Oxyclean

Do you think it would be good for reheating pizza?

Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman Cook's Illustrated The Best Recipe

Update: took the leftover soup and simmered it down a little last night. It was WAY better than it was on Sunday, like most soups & stews are. So now I am content. Thanks again to all for your advice.

Did your everything bagel include coarse salt? At my old job there was a bagel place next door and my standard lunch was a salt bagel, toasted, with butter. Sort of like a big fat Auntie Ann's pretzel.

I think it's pretty good for what it is. The Maggiano's salad with the prosciutto nuggets, red onions & blue cheese, the "Rigatoni D" - chicken/shrooms in a marsala cream sauce, and the crispy onion strings are all good. It's also very loud.

I don't like the new type-face at all. I don't like Gourmet much at all for anything anymore, come to think of it. Last month's cover with the rock star chefs was just too much. This Thanksgiving issue is just boring, boring, boring. Roasted chestnuts? Yawn. Jellied cranberry sauce? I think you can get the same recipe on the back of the cranberry bag. Yawn. Creamed pearl onions? Yawn. I guess they were just trying to do a traditional American T-giving. Last year Bon Appetit had a great Thanksgiving issue with a separate section for each course and variations, like a stuffing section with Italian, cornbread, etc. and a potato section with mashed, roasted, sweet, etc. I saved that issue. And yes, the vegetarian menu IS strange. I, too, am thinking of unsubcribing.

Priscilla: Elaborate, please

The recipe I used was Cook's Illustrated's quick version Thanks to all for all the great suggestions.

Mr. Smith's

Hasselback. And my favorite from when I was a kid: thinly sliced, concentric circles on a pizza pan, sprinkled with oregano, S&P, a STICK of butter, 1/4" water. Bake until crispy. Mmmm.

Please help. What did I do wrong? It was just...blah. I've never made this before, is it supposed to be blah??? Saute pancetta, remove, discard (NOT), olive oil, onions, garlic, beans (canned), simmer, throw in rosemary sprig off heat, cover & let sit for 20 minutes. It as icky and thin, so I pureed it and threw in red wine vinegar & hot sauce. Tossed in the pancetta and swirled olive oil on top. Oh yeah, also threw in some of Mom's tomato/basil sauce I had hanging around. That helped a little bit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Babyluck: You poor thing. Leave some kimchi WAAAAAYYYY back in her bottom desk drawer over the weekend.

Well, thanks to all for the good suggestions. I used Lidia's recipe instead of my old made-up one. She said to cook the pasta "semi-covered," which I did not. She calls for fussili, to trap the good stuff, but I had none so I just used linguini. She uses cerignola and gaeta olives, I used what I had (from Trader Joe's - called "World's Largest Olives" - I think they're Greek) and kalamatas. (So what is Greek for lady of the evening?) Six cloves of garlic left whole. Percorino. Anyway, it was delicious. Thanks again.

Uh-oh, Katie. I think I'm in love with you now.

Probably.

He guessed it last night when I asked him if he'd ever had it. I think we'll just call it "As Made by the Ladies of the Evening" from now on.

I'm making puttanesca tonight for my newly-coming-back-around-to-olives boyfriend (long story). I haven't made it in awhile and will probably use Lidia's recipe from her Italian-American book...but I thought I'd ask if anyone had any tips for this rusty puttanesca maker?