bergerka

All right. Ok. Yesterday morning, I finally caught an episode of this show on tv. This HAS to be a put-on, right? No one seriously makes "taquitos" by cooking up "beef chorizo" in a nonstick pan (scraping with a FORK!), adding salsa from a jar and like a pound of (pre-shredded?) cheddar cheese and rolling it up in corn tortillas...then baking them???? Right? Now, anyone here who knows me knows my cooking skills are basically nonexistent...but based upon this chick's show, I could have a perfectly successful cooking program on the food network and ANYTHING I MADE would be better than the shit she was putting together. I have to go now, my baby ferret is "helping" me type this answer and he's ready to move on to the next website. K

Oh wait wait...I thought this was on the 25th, but if the next day is MLK day, that makes the potluck the 18th? That being the case, I can't make it...I have a performance that day at 4pm in New Jersey. I'm sorry. K

I'm with you. The barbacoa is delish, although I usually skip the rice (if I have the burrito with the rice, it's too much for me, and I want to enjoy EVERY LAST BITE). I may have to go there for lunch tomorrow, and if I do, I'm blaming it on you. It's a good point that Bayless ought to be singing the praises of Chipotle, what with its Niman Ranch pork and all, rather than Burger King. After all, Chipotle really IS trying to do it with fresh ingredients, etc. K

I'm sorry. I'm still stuck on this post. I could almost - ALMOST - deal with the vanilla pudding cup idea (after all, there's always room for Jell-o...pudding), but COOL WHIP????? WTF??????? That is the most heinous shit on EARTH! This woman must be stopped. I must watch an episode of her show right away so that I can maintain the proper level of ire. Either that or I'll fall off the couch laughing, hurt myself, and THAT'LL piss me off. K

Oh, then you just have to get yourself to a Steak N Shake. Never tried the frisco burger, because I love the frisco chicken sandwich so much. (Buttered, grilled sourdough bread, grilled chicken breast, Swiss cheese, special sauce). And their cheese fries ROCK. http://www.steaknshake.com/default-home.asp HOWWWWWW could I have forgotten Steak-n-Shake?????????? I have to go back into drooling mode now, and it's only 9:50 am EST. Steak-n-Shake rocks my world. K

The freshly killed Kung Pao chicken at Grand Sichuan International. I dream about the taste, actually (yes, really). Real hot chocolate and newly-roasted coffee are big with me too.

I apologize for this in advance. It made me giggle, so I had to share. The sick jokes have officially begun! Cow I: Say, you hear about this Mad Cow Disease? Cow II: Yep. Cow I: You worried about it? Cow II: Nope. Cow I: (puzzled) Why not? Cow II: Because I'm a squirrel. (credit where it's due: originally read on Metafilter) Oh, come on, I thought it was funny. K

Oh, normal are they? Even though you never ate a raw oyster in your whole life until a little over a month ago? Nothing I've ever eaten can compete with the things previously mentioned here--just the usual offal and blood dishes. Nepalese yak's milk cheese perhaps, courtesy of Ellen Shapiro? Hey! They're normal! I just wasn't! I can think of some things you've, er, eaten, that are kinda wacky...but they aren't suitable for discussion in mixed company, either! *ducks and runs* K

Also, it's not TECHNICALLY a sandwich, but I may be the last person on earth who loves Taco Bell's bean burritos. I was at a very low-paying singing gig last spring, and when we ran low on $$ before the next payday, we'd stock up on those puppies. They used to have a Grilled Steak Burrito, too, that was delish. K

chocolate covered ants, I guess. I mean, oysters, lobster (big red bug!)...those things are perfectly normal. Oh--turkey fries. Yup, you got it, deep-fried turkey testicles. actually, they're not bad. K

1. I'm with y'all, the McDonald's sausage biscuit rocks my world and always has, ever since my best friend and I took a 7:30 am class together in college and would meet every morning at 6:30 at McD's across the street from campus to have breakfast (always sausage biscuits, sometimes hash browns, always tons of either coffee or diet coke). 2. The McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese. 3. Any hamburger served at In-n-Out Burger. YUM. K

Currently perusing some fun sci-fi while I wait impatiently for slkinsey to finish "The Art of Eating." but I DID buy my mom the two Steingarten books for Xmas. When I left AZ, she was reading the chapter about the cheapest possible diet and giggling madly. K

Oh, thank goodness...I'd been avoiding eating M&M's because of the fear of coming across a candy coating that clashed with whatever I was wearing that day. Black and white go with EVERYTHING I own! (hey, I live in NYC). K, off to buy a pack for breakfast.

This just in: Agriculture Department Announces New Restrictions on Beef Seems it's not a good idea to eat cows that are already sick. Ya know, I'm sitting here behind a desk at my day job, and I could've probably figured that one out. By the way, I'm still eating beef. It freakin' tastes good. We tend to buy the grass-fed organic stuff anyway (and Sam, of course, grinds his own when ground is called for). K

My dad, both a doctor and a type II diabetic who spent the first ten years after he was diagnosed controlling his blood sugar with diet only and only recently started taking small doses of oral insulin, uses Splenda. I actually rather like it for cooking. K

This post is long, sorry. I have a big family, Xmas season is a big deal. Funny, MOST of my family holiday traditions involve food. I have to work on getting these Thanksgiving five pounds off my ass so that I can put them back on next week when I head out to Phoenix for Xmas with the family. The first thing that happens is that my mom & dad pick me up at the airport and immediately my dad insists that I simply must go to eight million parties given by people I've never met, because we're all invited and they're just DYING to meet me (largely because my doting father exaggerates my accomplishments greatly). Usually we argue about that for a while and I compromise by going to a few of them (hello? I'm out there to see my FAMILY AND FRIENDS, not to hang out with people I don't know!). Then, my mother and I drive each other crazy by doing all of her shopping, all of my shopping, and looking for a tree three days before Christmas. She's just informed me that she's breaking this tradition, her brother is in town overnight and he's HELPING HER BUY A TREE TODAY. I may cry. And not only that...mom discovered online shopping and all of her Christmas stuff is bought. What on earth will we fight about??? We still have MY shopping to do, but I only have to go to Barnes & Noble (for the nieces and nephews, I am auntie who giveth books), Pier One Imports (they make nifty serving trays and dishes to put baked goods on) and the grocery store (I bake for Xmas, as you'll see in the next paragraph). My best friend of 18 years comes over (this year she'll have new baby in tow) one whole day, and we bake cookies, honey cake and lemon bread, make candy (she has some fantastic sugar-free candy recipes for my diabetic dad), drink, eat and gossip all day as our present to each other. Our neighbors, a 1/2 Jewish, 1/2 Greek family, have a Hanukkah party right before Xmas every year (whether or not it actually falls that week--they schedule it so their kids will all be there). We all hang out and talk and eat and play with the kids, my dad makes the latkes and tells the story of Hanukkah and lights the candles and sings the prayers. I've been informed that this year, that duty falls to me...both my dad and my brother will be rehearsing "Noises Off" that night and can't make it. Anyone want to go over the Hebrew words to refresh my memory? I know the tunes. Last year my brother and his girlfriend and I started another tradition...we went caroling around the neighborhood after the party, which was actually a big hit out where my parents live, so I'm hoping we can repeat it. On Christmas Eve, we used to go to a tamale party at yet another neighbor's house, but a couple of years ago we started staying home, making potato soup and hot cider or mulled wine and decorating the tree that night...which is much more fun and means my mother at least has the OPPORTUNITY to go to bed before 5 am on Christmas morning if she wants to. Tree decorating tradition: several years back, my older brother found a pig hand puppet and put wings on it and it has now become the angel at the top of the tree. Tradition once tree is decorated: that howling sound you hear from the living room is my mother's cat, Mewsetta. It means that once again, she has killed the little stuffed chicken ornament, and is carrying it around waiting for someone to come in and tell her what a wonderful brave hunter she is. All during Christmas eve, now that we're ostensibly grown up, we sneak around filling each others' stockings and covering the cat's eyes so she can't see what we put in hers. Funniest stocking stuffer ever: the year my younger brother said he needed socks, mom was a tad distracted and brother ended up with something like 25 pairs of socks in his stocking and nothing else. I found out about Santa, by the way, by finding a picture of my brother in law putting together the Barbie convertible Santa left me that year. In order not to hurt my parents' feelings, though, I pretended to believe until I was, I think, twelve. Am I a good daughter or WHAT? Christmas morning, we get up 10-ish, have cinnamon rolls, coffee, juice and lemon bread and open presents with the sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews. They all go home to nap around 1pm, and Mom, 24-year-old niece, sister, sister-in-law and I hit the kitchen and start cookin' (yes, I know I said I don't cook. I do chop, clean, mix, stir, cheerlead and make the cranberry sauce). Usually, by 4pm, things are well enough in hand that we can force mom to take a nap (she loves to stay up all night) and have one ourselves. 6-7 pm or so, the family and whatever friends we've invited this year all show up, and we eat the big traditional dinner--turkey, etc.--around 8 or 8:30. Then we sit in the living room with our pie (and whipped cream) and coffee and talk until 1 or 2 am. Then my niece and I do the dishes (recent phenomenon: 24-year-old niece is currently living with my folks while she gets her shit together and she is a demon housecleaner) and we all go to bed. Incidentally, the iron-clad rule at my family's house is ABSOLUTELY NO FIGHTING ON HOLIDAYS, and mom will nail you with a wooden spoon on the behind if you break it, even if you're 50. The other tradition is that the day after Xmas I have pie for breakfast. Don't you? K, officially shutting up now.

All right now. All you anti-peep folks, just send those little cuties right over to me...I'll gladly spare you the pain. Jello salad is always bad, no matter what. Yes, it is too. Mincemeat, ditto. Not an Xmas treat (you did say "Holiday" after all), but Cadbury creme eggs make me want to woof cookies all over. Chopped liver, ew (not specifically a holiday food, but my sister always makes a big batch for my dad's Christmas present). My mother's eggnog, however, rocks my world. K

Terrific interview, Rachel--you're hitting ALL the things I wanted to know about Ted! K, making a mental note about tonight's Queer Eye Holiday Special

I wish I could. They're both married. If it were up to ME, I'd offer you the blond one with the gazongas and make her husband...just...go...away. and just to keep it on topic, they do both LOVE whipped cream, in all its various guises except that heinous Cool whip. It doesn't even exist in nature. K

You just haven't eaten it off the right person. I mean with the right person. I mean with ice cream or something. Yeah. K

Ideally, I'm eating it off my beloved, using no utensils at all. *double take* I'm sorry, that's not what you meant, is it? I like it whipped from cream bought at the store, preferably unsweetened or with just a touch of Grand Marnier, with berries or pie or on ice cream (banana split!) or atop my gingerbread latte, perhaps. It also makes an excellent substitute for cream in my coffee. If I'm gonna use the shake-n-spray kind, I'm gonna spray it directly into my mouth. Or maybe hold a contest to see who can hold the MOST Redi-whip in his or her mouth without cracking up and spraying it all over the opposition. Yes, I am twelve years old. K

I'm on my second cup of coffee (late start...the ferrets had a vet appointment this morning) made from beans from the Porto Rico Coffee Co., or whatever the name of it is (it's a tad strong, I overestimated the amount of grounds for the french press), also drinking a glass of Apple and Eve apple cider, and just finished an egg bagel with poppy seed, sesame seed and garlic, toasted, with plain cream cheese and a slice of ham on one side (this organic cream cheese doesn't spread as well as the regular stuff) and scallion cream cheese on the other. I might make cookies later. First, though, I think I'll take a nap before the Jets game. K

I'm curled up in the comfy chair having another bowl of Chubby Hubby and watching the original Terminator. Life rocks. K

Just out of curiosity, why would one have faith in Burger King; that is, faith that BK would have its consumers' best interests at heart rather than its own bottom line? Or did I misunderstand? It's possible, it happens all the time. As far as faith in consumers, since it's been pretty well conclusively proven that the teeming masses (myself, of course, included, now give me my goddamn Twinkies and get out of my way ) are easily influenced by marketing...well... K

Sherri...any luck? K