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Varmint - any specific time (or even a general idea) when things will start so we can have more of an idea of when we should get there? I'm also shooting for 1/3 servings all around --sound about right?

I never have the patience to cook a 'grilled' cheese entirely on the stove top. Just get it golden brown on each side and pop the pan in the oven at 300° for 5 to 6 minutes. Never burns, always melts and I only have to pay attention for the 3-4 minutes it takes to brown both sides.

Sounds tasty...but Downtown Durham is very inconvenient.

http://www.hollyeats.com/RalphsBBQ.htm If you haven't been to Allen & Sons, I'd try there, or if you're in Raliegh and don't want to make the drive give Murray's (not Don Murray's) a try. http://www.hollyeats.com/AllenSonBBQ.htm http://www.hollyeats.com/MurraysBBQ.htm I can email you a map (suitable for printing) to either place, or if you're here Thursday or Friday daytime will even head out there with you. The freedom of unemployment... Just PM if you want the map - they're both easy enough to find, but Murrays can be a little tricky if you don't know the area.

I wonder if something like this might help in low light situations where you didn't want to use a flash: REI Ultrapod II It's just small tripod that stands about 8 inches tall, folds up pretty small.

To get everybody in the mood, check out this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36489 Or alternatively, just jump right to the site being discussed: http://www.stefo.net/full.html

Doughnuts - Krispy Kreme store when the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign is lit up. Bella Monica - Extremely thin crust pizza Fresh local Fish w/attitude - Capitol Seafood Market - You'll note 'Friendly' is not their middle name Vegetables - Guy on the corner of Pinecrest and Leesville Rd. He has about an acre of land that he plants and sells the vegetables on the 'honor system' from a shed next to his house. Try it next summer if you remember. Croissants - Gourmandises de France (corner of Milbrook & Creedmoor)

Mama Dip's is overrated. I wouldn't drive to Chapel Hill (from Raleigh) just to eat there. Actually, even if I was in Chapel Hill I probably wouldn't eat there. That place really lacks consistency. Sometimes what you order will be good, but (in my experiences) most often it is not.

This makes me wonder if anyone here ever "serves" themselves, when no service appears to be forthcoming. I can think of a few instances at least where I've just taken matters into my own hands. On a couple of occasions when I've run out of water (and it being the only thing I was drinking) after so many minutes of waiting and trying in vain to get someone's attention, I'll just get up and find the water pitcher and bring it back to my table and fill my own glass. Another fairly common thing is ordering something that "requires" a condiment. Say mustard for a burger or something. I'll wait for a little while, but I won't just sit there and let the food get cold. Or a dirty fork that you didn't notice until you picked it up to eat - although it's usually easy enough to just swipe it off another table. And my final pet peeve is when you have to wait....and wait...and wait...and then wait some more for your check so you can leave. Usually this happens in fairly casual restaurants, and honestly in those types of places I don't much mind, but I've had these types of things happen in nicer restaurants as well. Usually when the person waiting on my table of 2, is also waiting on a table of 8 - a prime situation for getting ignored if there ever was one.

Green Bell Peppers Wish I liked them because they appear in a lot of dishes I'd otherwise probably enjoy, but I just can't eat them. Actually I've made progress in the last 5 years or so as I now could probably choke down a couple pieces to be polite, but I would be secretly retching as I did so.

Anyone here ever order a burger "medium rare" at a fast food place? I worked at McDonald's for 5 (count 'em, 5) weeks, and actually had several requests for burgers cooked to a desired doneness. This was back in the 80s though. If you're wondering, essentially the doneness was determined by how long the grill press was allowed to rest on the burger. Also had a guy come through the drive through right before closing once and order a burger "with a lot of mustard...and I mean a lot of mustard." I was 15 and you know I didn't let an opportunity like that pass me up. Really, I wouldn't get surly with the workers at a fast food restaurant, esp. if they're teenagers. Aside from my propensity to overdo any order for extra condiments, I never did anything nasty, but then I was only there for 5 weeks and quit before it got to be a case of serious hatred for me.

not all of us eat crap I was 20 something at the time too, so I didn't mean it as a slam against the entire age group or anything. I'm not even saying that I don't like fast food....just not everyday as a lot of my friends did back then.

The problem I had with lunch at my last job was that given a large enough group of 20 somethings, you inevitably end up eating a lot of crap for lunch - or eating lunch by yourself. For the most part, people don't want to spend the extra time or the extra dollar for something better. When I could convince others on something different, Thai, or Indian were the usual choices, but that had as much to do with what was near by as my personal tastes. There was also a excellent (and cheap) burger place, a few decent Mexian restaurants, and even a good fish and chips place, but still a certain percentage would prefer someplace like Wendy's or Taco Bell. Actually, given the choice some of those guys would have eaten at those places for every meal as far as I could tell. The worst part about eating lunch with people from work though? Those certain co-workers who want to spend the entire meal talking about work. I guess the other 8-10 hours of the day spent on that subject just weren't enough.

I think my wife and I would go to Magnolia Grill on the 6th if that's the way it works out. btw...does anyone else appreciate the irony of a 'Pasta Feast' at this moment in time? Everywhere else I turn it's "Atkins Friendly", "Low Carb", "South Beach Diet" etc., but not here.

That's my plan - seems like it would either be chaos or eternity to make everything there.

I have a Perfex grinder and it'll never hold the coarseness I set (fine). It always ends up backing out to a medium coarse grind or so. Annoying as hell. I wouldn't buy one again.

Duck Ragu w/ Toasted Penne?

I kind of like the idea of a toasted penne as seen here. But I really don't want to make anything with cream as that's too heavy considering all the other dishes that will be there. Ideally I'd like some type of sauce I could simply make in advance as that seems it be the easiest all around. I've never had toasted penne either. No idea what it tastes like, or if it's even worth the bother, but then that's why I want to try it. Any ideas of what else to try with it?

Requires registration to view the article. It's free, instant, and doesn't verify the info you give it. I do think chains are making it increasingly harder for the independents. I've got no real proof of that, but if you head to Crabtree Mall any night of the week PF Changs and The Cheesecake Factory are usually pretty crowded. And inevitably whenever someone we know (not from here of course ) raves about a new restaurant, it's a chain. Seeing as how people only have so much disposable income they can spend on restaurant, it stands to reason that a meal at The Cheesecake Factory is one less meal at an independent. If you think about it, it kind of makes sense. These big chains are designed to appeal to the most people: the food, the location, the atmosphere, the price, the amount etc. And with every new location they can dial in what works with even more precision.

Yep, my wife and I will be there. And I can bring a industrial sized can of Chef Boyardee Raviolis.

I can almost picture that...

Miss North Cackalacky if she's available. You know we've got 2 right? Didn't know that. Cool-- bonus! That's from a year ago. There currently is only one Miss NC, the one in Al's avatar. Oh damn...sorry. I must have have totally missed this years pagent. I guess I don't keep up with Miss North Carolina unless it's full of scandal. I'm just a bad North Carolinian!

Miss North Cackalacky if she's available. You know we've got 2 right? http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,10526,00.html

On the onion rings - really, they weren't bad. Lightly battered, crispy, just a little bit too sweet, but yeah I was surpised to see they were frozen as they're simple enough to make fresh. Mostly it was that brisket that got to me. The sides were all okay, better than most barbecue places, but obviously the meat is suppsoed to be the star of that show, so when its not up to par, the sides aren't going to save the day. I actually didn't remember your review, and hadn't had barbecue brisket in over a decade, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I wasn't impressed while eating it, but it wasn't until I read your review describing it as, "incredibly tender and juicy", that I new I got a bum steer. Like I originally said, there was good flavor there, it was just too dry. Probably try lunch there in a couple of weeks once NCSU is back in full swing and If it happens again...I'll take it back and ask them to try again or get me some pulled pork. But really, I think it's just a problem they're going to have when turnover is low...literally there for 30-40 minutes and was the only customer the entire time. 7:00 wed when NCSU is on break is not the time to go. btw...Is it possible to write about barbecue without using phrases like "Get me some pulled pork"? Think I've got a Southern Accent? Nope, not even close. :)

My wife and I ate there last night...and it didn't live up to my expectations. We had the Chile Rubbed Beef Brisket with Mac & Cheese, and Onion Rings. And the Mesquite Smoked Beef Sausage with Mac & Cheese, and BBQ Beans The brisket was dry...and gray...and then a bit drier yet. Decent flavor was there, but you better have some barbecue sauce and a Coke on standby, because after the third bite or so you're going to need a drink....stat. Unfortunately, this is what I was looking forward too, so having it disappoint didn't put me in the best of moods for the rest of the meal. The sausage itself was not a problem. Good smoky flavor, moist, and a lot of it. The Mac & Cheese was pretty good. It was very rich, with plenty of cheese and a creamy (almost too creamy) consistency, while avoiding the all too common problem of the macaroni turning into an over cooked mess. The BBQ Baked Beans were probably the best of the sides. Good BBQ flavor, and they hadn't been cooked into submission; still had a little bite to them. The onion rings were taken frozen from a plastic bag and fried before our eyes, so they were pretty good. A little on the sweet side and (apparently not home made), but still good nonetheless. Specifically chosen as I noticed a lack of Onion rings being held in the warmer tray. Speaking of which, the hushpuppies were decent, but taken from that warmer alongside which sat some lonely looking fried okra which appeared a little past its prime. Enough so, that we were scared away from trying it. The Texas Toast was simply a waste of time. Barely toasted, barely warm, not much flavor. So why the difference from the mostly glowing reviews written by Varmint? Well, it was 7:00 Wednesday night and there wasn't a single other customer in the place besides us. I guess some of our food (esp. the brisket) was just held too long before serving. I want to like this place, and I suspect it can be better. I'll probably give it another chance, but only if there's a decent sized crowd eating there at the time and then only because of the other reviews above. If I hadn't read those, I'd simply write this place off as nothing special and wouldn't bother fighting NCSU parking to eat there again.