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At home (not at work, I have a massive recipe for that), I use this Tyler Florence recipe. I love the texture and crumb of this bread - but I skip the onions and olives, and just use the cheese and rosemary.

Hey, I got your mango tutorial right here! eGullet Culinary Institute Basic Knife Skills Scroll down, it's near the bottom of the course. With pictures!

I attended high school in rural Appalachia. For the first three years, there was NO cafeteria. We were allowed to go off campus for lunch - either home or to a restaurant. Many of us ate at a burger joint that was the closest restaurant to school. We still ate there even after folks started to refer to it as "(A name beginning with T)'s Ptomaine Tomb" - because a group of cheerleaders claimed to have contracted food poisoning from eating there. In my senior year, the gods smiled on us and the school added a "Cafetorium" (cafeteria/stage/auditorium). The cafetorium featured an all-you-can-eat salad bar (cost: $1.40 US). We ate the hell out of that salad bar. I don't know if the same thing would happen today. Are there salad bars in high school cafeterias nowadays? I don't have any children, so I wouldn't know. But I suspect that a salad bar might go quite idle, since there are Taco Bells and Pizza Huts in a lot of cafeterias...

Gorgeous plate, johnny. I love the fennel frond garnish. Beautiful!

I got busy doing something and totally overcooked them when I roasted them last night. I guess I was thinking "garlic, it's hard to over-roast it" and didn't check it often enough. Word to the wise: they get mighty tough when overcooked in the oven

Last night I served fresh farmer's market strawberries with a premium vanilla ice cream, topped with a sweet balsamic reduction (sweetened with brown sugar). Now, I know that that combination is not that "weird" to most of us eGulleteers; however, two of my guests are not that adventurous, food-wise...so I found myself on the horns of a mini-dilemma! I settled for saying (as I served it): "Boys, that ain't chocolate syrup on your ice cream and strawberries." Them: "Well, what is it?" Me: "It's a brown sugar reduction." Them: "Mmmm. Yummy. What exactly is a 'reduction'?" Me: "That's anything that's simmered gently to evaporate the water, thereby concentrating the flavor." Them: "It's really good. It's tart! That's not just brown sugar!" Me: "Uh, yeah. If you must know, it's brown sugar and balsamic vinegar." Them: "It's awesome! I never would have tried it if you'd told me it was vinegar on my ice cream!" So begins their awakening.

I guess it's like "boned" and "de-boned" (if that's really a word...I'm not sure). Interchangeable, yes?

*sigh* That's what I figured. Ah well...better get to pittin'. Side note: This is so basic as to be ridiculous, but....whenever I buy olives and the label says "pitted", I always hesitate, hand outstretched. Does pitted mean "pits included" or "the pits have been removed"? Heh. You'd think I'd remember. But it seems to me I've bought "pitted" olives both with and without pits.

I bought a big old bag of scapes this weekend - first time for me. I thought they tasted delightful raw - so I made a giant batch of hummus with some of them last night. While it was tasty (and almost completely consumed by us and our guests), I detected a little "green bitterness" - not sure how else to describe it. I believe I will roast the rest of the bag in bacon drippings tonight. If I like that preparation as much as I think I will, next time I make hummus out of scapes I'll just roast them first.

I'd be interested to know the answer as well. I have a quart of fresh cherries from the farmer's market sitting accusingly in the fridge. They have a great flavor - but I find that if I eat too many raw (and God knows I can eat a ton), it tends to upset my stomach. So I was eyeing them today and thinking about how to break them down for a sauce - but also feeling really lazy about pitting them (I don't have a pitting tool on hand).

I'm sure many of us toast-lovers have heard comedian Heywood Banks' song "TOAST!" (vocals accompanied by a toaster beaten with two forks), but for those who haven't... Click for the Flash movie YEAH, TOAST!

Look no further than RecipeGullet's Peanut Butter Burger recipe. Coutesty of Marlene, the Recipe Czarina. ← You know, this is the first time I've read that recipe. That sounds really, REALLY good. I'm going to try it. Take that, George Foreman!

WOW, Pam....great thread! I've been mighty busy at work, or I would have chimed in sooner! I'll have to relate the incident that shared with Pam via PM, that sparked her idea for this thread. Soon, I promise. I'm coming off a 12 hour day and staring 15 hours in the face tomorrow

I love ketchup as well. Mind you, I don't want it brought to the table with my steak frites...but - I'm not eating a burger without it, most of the time. Problem is, now that I'm getting older - it gives me ferocious heartburn.

I know some people will revile me for this, as well - but, even though I'm the "pastry chef" where I work...I rarely eat dessert, either. Unfortunately, that doesn't absolve you of making at least one dessert during the blog. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Anything resembling an electric appliance or battery operated? No, don't answer that. ← Mum's the word.

I don't drink Crown Royal - but I snarf the bags up whenever anyone will give me one. They are definitely handy and elegant for holding all sorts of things. I have one in my bedside nightstand.

To clairfy: is it in two pieces (pedestal and bowl)? here's mine

Hopefully, even with the pointy side down, the dirt is STILL flowing away from the eating surfaces...unless your cutlery basket has a solid bottom? Pointy side down, man. Hopefully, though, this is only steak knives and butter knives. NO PREP CUTLERY IN THE DISHWASHER - even if it's advertized as "dishwasher safe".

Marlene, that trifle looks awesome!! And it's so great you got to use that beautiful bowl. I love that you're so proud of your meal tonight, that you didn't have any mishaps...all during a food blog. Okay, Sam...whatcha gonna do about dessert? Think fast, buddy. edited to add: is that one of those invertable bowls that makes a cake-dome-keeper when you turn it upside down?

Well...I absolutely loved it. I guess that makes me a lowest common denominator. Yippee!

I propose we give Marlene extra "points" for having to do her own dishes. But then I suppose we'd have to award the same amount of points to Sam for choosing bergerka to be his kitchen assistant. Heh.

Today at work I made myself a quick BLT out of the salad station mise: wheatberry bread, roma tomatoes, kosher salt, pepper bacon, romaine. I took a bite; mmmm. Good. Then I opened it back up and added goat cheese, roquefort crumbles, and a healthy squeeze of reduced balsamic vinegar all over. Now you're talking.

I think it's an extremely well-written piece. The writer, Anne Hull, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her serial in the St. Petersburg Times about Mexican women working in a crab house in North Carolina: Una Vida Mejor

That made me laugh, but not as much as this: