Basilgirl

My ex-husband (a Venezuelan) used something called "arepa pan." I don't remember the brand name, but it was in a yellow bag with red and blue stripes, like the flag of Venezuela (and Columbia). Actually, it may have been a Columbia product. Anyway, he made them just like Suzanne F, and boy is she right. Add some grated cheese or they are very bland indeed. We usually had them on weekend mornings with ham and cheese (more cheese, please) stuffed inside. Oh, and dripping with butter...

I just received a free sample of it in the mail. I haven't had the chance to read the instructions yet. Should I assume that after "erasing" that you still need to wipe down/rinse the area that got "erased"? Um, I dunno. I didn't. They're kind of weird. They keep compressing until there's nothing left and you throw it away and get a new one. They seemed to absorb whatever I "erased" with them so I didn't bother with rinsing.

You're welcome, Toliver. It's definitely soup weather in D.C. today. About 55 degrees, breezy & cloudy. I hope it gets cooler soon where you are so you can have some soup!

I thought it was a great show last night. Mario's dad is cool. So's his mom. I WANT TO GO TO SALUMI but I live in D.C.

A new one for my list: Tyler Florence's Tortilla Soup. Made it last night and it was awesome. Had to keep shooing The Boyfriend away from the fried tortilla strips sprinkled with sea salt. I kept screaming that they were FOR GARNISH!! I knew I'd have to do that, so I made extra! Toliver: Here's the white cheddar & ale recipe in a nutshell: Saute a mess of chopped shallots and some garlic in a lot of butter. Add a little flour and make a light roux. Add 12 oz. of ale/beer and let simmer for a little while. Drink the rest of the beer and then drink another one. Add some chicken broth. Let simmer for awhile. Gradually stir in grated white cheddar - 2 cups or so. Add a little cream if you want to be really decadent. Top with country ham crunchies or proscuitto crunchies. I also usually put in a little lemon juice and some hot sauce.

Those new Mr. Clean eraser things really work.

OK. Will purchase Pringles and consume side by side with Stax.

Chicken sammie: layered Swiss, chicken, S&P, red onion, blue cheese (now available in slices!) on ciabatta. Wrapped in foil and baked until gooey. Was going to put bacon on after it came out of the oven, but The Boyfriend and visiting neighbor dove on it and said it was not necessary. I got a couple of bites. Way too much red wine on a not very full stomach.

Fat Guy: I just bought the Stax and ate half the can. But I like Pringles better. The Stax are not salty and greasy enough for me. Fifi: I think they make fine duck lips.

Hot and sour from the cheap Chinese place down the street. The only decent thing on the menu. It's hard to find a good hot & sour soup. Why is that? Most of them taste like dishwater and wind up going down the sink. White cheddar and ale soup from an OLD Bon Appetit. Not available on Epicurious, for some reason. Excellent. A ton of shallots. French onion with gobs of goopy stringy cheese Corn and crab chowder with sherry Italian wedding Lentil with smoked sausage or ham Italian sausage/tortellini/spinach

Beans: That chicken salad sounds really, really good... Bertucci's for me today. Met my friend there and we each had a cup of sausage/rice soup and split a medium Margherita. I'm stuffed. There wasn't very much mozzarella on the pizza, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty. Usually lunch is here at my office building (AKA "The Bunker") downstairs at the cafeteria (AKA "The Trough"). My bosses buy my lunch at The Trough. Usually one of them runs out to the local grocery store and gets soup for everyone (there's only 4 of us) and then we round it out down at The Trough. I love my job.

An old boyfriend of mine and I challenged each other to finishing the entire can of Pringles before we got them home from the 7-11, which was like 3 minutes away. We did it. No spillage, that I can recall.

Any child who is not yours.

A HUGE chicken, marinated in Cornell marinade - anyone tried this? - roasted/rotisseried in the Set It and Forget It, gravy Roasted baby Yukon golds and kalamatas with Tuscan herb salt Fried green tomatoes with chipotle mayo Made a quick stock from the chicken bones and simmered it all night Tonight: Muffaletta! Or leftover chicken...

Green tomatoes, fried up last night using a combination of Jaymes' and Cook's Illustrated recipes Beautiful green beans A bottle of habanero honey mustard from the bee man No gourds or pumpkins

ANY brat is a good brat.

Indian Meal Moths. They seem to particularly love pasta. I've started storing things they like to munch on (like CEREAL) in the freezer. I have installed a trap. And yet, still, they torture me.

Reuben quesadillas. I thought they were weird, but The Boyfriend gobbled them up. I think he was very hungry.

Baked for a long time, split, drizzled with olive oil, S&P. Or better yet - butter AND olive oil.

"Rancher's Reserve" Safeway NY strips cooked on grill pan Hasselback potatoes Caesar salad Potatoes did not turn out like Mom's

Solid white Olive oil A little mustard Capers Lemon juice Just enough Hellman's to hold it all together S&P Must be made into a tuna melt

Turkey reubens with Jarlsberg grilled on Pepperidge Farm swirled rye/pumpernickel with lots of 1,000 Island and kraut. Yum. It's hard to cook dinner when you don't get home until 7:00. And no, I don't have a Crockpot.

Ratatouille frittata smothered with 6-cheese blend. Cooked on stove, finished off in oven. Used an idea from Ina Garten and added a little flour and baking powder to the egg mix, which made it rise high in the oven and gave it a great texture. Biscuits with the new spreadable butter from Land O' Lakes. Much white whine. Breyer's mint chocolate chip for the S.O. (he did give me a few bites).

I was not impressed. Mario didn't reallly seem to be all that into it.

Miracle Whip makes an excellent face cream. Really.