Tropicalsenior

Nor mine, because I think I just drooled on my telephone.

@Darienne if you don't like the fat there probably isn't anyway that you can prepare it that you would like it. It would just be like putting lipstick on a pig. However, I will send you my address in a PM and you can send it on down.

If somebody gave me that I would have died and gone to heaven. However that is neither here nor there. You could make bacon out of it. After all, that is the cut that they do make bacon out of. I've done it with whatever little resources I had here in Costa Rica. The only thing that I couldn't do was smoke it but other than that it was darn good bacon.

I just looked that up and it looks very much like mine but I don't think it's quite as tall. I'm glad to see that it isn't digital. Most of the bad reviews that I have seen with countertop ovens are problems with computer systems. Does yours have the air fryer system? If so, let me know how you like it. I'm glad that you didn't go with the other one recommended here because I saw some scary bad reviews on that one.

I must say that I am a little disappointed in you but I also realize that since Ed does most of your shopping, you don't have it right there in your face tempting you like the rest of us do.

Okay, done.

I read all 15 pages of this this morning and I couldn't stop saying, me, too. This one is too good not to revive. We all post our beautiful, healthy recipes and we never say anything about our dirty little secrets. I'm afraid that if I post all of mine I will just add another 15 pages. My worst one is ice cream. It's so bad that I don't even keep it in the house anymore. I can't keep it in the house. Give me a quart of ice cream and I can magically make it transform into a teaspoon within just a few hours and I don't even have to dirty a dish. A half gallon may take me a couple hours more. My worst stupidity is that I know that anything with a high sugar content is going to make me suffer with cramps later on. But I still stick them in my cart and I still eat them and suffer later. My favorite wine ever was a Masi valpolicello that we used to get for $2.49 a bottle. Never had anything to top that. I really do like the taste of fake crab. I'm sure that I will think of more things later but right now @Darienne it is your turn. Thank you, @Dave the Cook for this one.

Reminds me of the last eGullet Rabbit Hole I went down. The eGullet Hall of Shame. It might be time for a Revival.

I have this Hamilton Beach convection oven. I use it for all my baking because turning on my big oven here in Costa Rica is like turning my whole house into an oven. The broiler is a little wimpy but it does get the job done. It has a rotisserie feature but I don't use it. My last oven had a rotisserie feature and I used it once. It took longer to clean the sucker afterwards then it did to actually prepare, eat, and clean up after the meal. I'm really happy with this one and the price is certainly right. I like it for the double rack feature and the fact that it will hold a 12 inch pizza pan. Yes, it does get hot enough to make pizza. The only thing that I don't like about it is it the print on the dials is very small, but the print is baked into the finish and does not wash off like previous models that I have had. It won't last you like your old one because this is the second one that I have had in 5 years but if it goes out I will buy another one just like it. I should say, also, that I use it everyday, sometimes two or three times a day.

That reminds me of when Nathan's Hot Dogs came to Costa Rica. We made a special trip to their first location just get a good hot dog. They were over $6 a piece but what the heck. When we were served they asked us if we wanted onions on ours, sure, would you like some dill pickle, sure, Etc. When we went to pay for them they were each over $16 a piece with tax. It seems like the only free condiment that you got was mustard, everything else was over a dollar a piece. That was the last time we went and within a year there were no more Nathan's Hot Dog franchises in Costa Rica.

People who hate green food. Therefore they are stuck between: A tomato sandwich + B. Or A BLT - L.

Ah, but yours are lacking that delicious Mailard effect.

At least in China they have the decency to wrap them in printed plastic that you know you have to remove. Here in Costa Rica they come wrapped tightly in transparent plastic. Anyone that's been here awhile knows better than to buy them but it is always funny to see the newcomers throw a package on the barbie and watch it go up in flames. The final result is a tube of inedible cereal and slime plastered all over with inedible burned plastic.

My husband was like that when we traveled. I had to make sure that I had packed plenty of Imodium because I knew that sooner or later he was going to need it.

I hope you succeeded. Unless you know that everyone on your guest list is a devoted chilihead, that is a recipe for disaster.

Uh-oh, we found one. We found a 'try it you'll like iter'. Seriously though, Margaret, I love your writing and I love lima beans. Unfortunately it's something I've never seen down here and when you start talking about things like that I miss them. Unfortunately, some of the haters have had such bad experiences with the food that they hate that no matter how well you dress it up or how well you hide it, they are never going to be able to eat it.

I kind of miss your Talavera plates and tiles.

But it would certainly have been an article with a very small audience. And would you, as a child, been inclined to read it?

And when you're sitting there in your own home, with that fresh brewed, steaming coffee in your favorite coffee cup checking out eGullet first thing in the morning, priceless.

Probably the stupidest advice that I ever heard was if you keep your mouth shut while you are chewing and swallowing you won't feel the heat. Let me tell you from experience, it is hard to keep your mouth shut while you are screaming in pain.

I don't see any shaming in the article but I don't see much value in it either. As I see it, people fall, mainly, into four categories. 1. People who love hot food, who have grown up with it, enjoy it, the hotter the better, Bring It On. 2. People, who for some physical reason, simply cannot tolerate hot food. It's painful. 3. People who don't like hot food. It's not in their culture and it's not to their taste. They may like a little heat but they don't want to make dining a painful experience. (That's me). 4. People who are adventurous and want to try other cuisines or people from category 2, or 3, who have been tormented by mental morons who keep insisting, "try it, you'll like it". Therefore the only audience for this article is category 4 and probably, they have heard all of this advice before. It's also obvious that none of us who have responded to this topic are within the targeted audience and I, for one, found it a total waste of time to read.

And it would be just one more lousy Appliance to repair.

An old one but good one. And the world is full of them. Later I transferred to the restaurant and my favorite was the wine expert. He was the one that sniffed the cork, smelled the wine, swirled it, tasted it and pronounced it excellent. Five minutes later I would get called back. You guessed it. The rest of the table was gagging because it tasted like pure vinegar.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. Many, many, many moons ago, I worked as a cocktail waitress in one of the casinos in Reno. The free drinks that they sent out to the people playing the slot machines usually had no alcohol or if it had any it was just a float on the top to make it seem like it had some when you took that first sip. You would be surprised at how many people got drunk and obnoxious on those free drinks.

When we were in New York City, the worst coffee we got was at Starbucks. I used to get my coffee every morning at 7-Eleven in Flushing. It was darn good coffee.