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From Talk

The Persimmons Are Here

Persimmon Date Nut Breadlets the flavor of persimmon shine instead of drowning it with sugar.

From Talk

Not-Boring Thanksgiving Recipes?

I just put together an article called Try Something New This Thanksgiving that has what I like to think are some more interesting recipes :) Enjoy!

From Serious Eats

In Season: Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes by themselves! Roasted in the oven, they make their own sweet glaze, hence why they're called sweet potatoes. Yum.

From Serious Eats

Do You Like Eating Pie Crust By Itself?

I have ignored fillings before, yes. It is better when you can eat the filling and the crust together but the crust is almost never problematic.

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Recent Posts

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French Toast Casserole

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Ratatouille in Progress

From Talk

I met Rick Bayless! (And I still can't believe it)

From Talk

Cheap Beer and Wine in Bulk in Chicago (Any Wholesale Shops?)

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From Serious Eats

Look Who's Talkin': Comments, Quips, and Tips We Have Known and Loved

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Recent Comments | Response to Comments

From Talk

The Persimmons Are Here

Persimmon Date Nut Breadlets the flavor of persimmon shine instead of drowning it with sugar.

From Talk

Not-Boring Thanksgiving Recipes?

I just put together an article called Try Something New This Thanksgiving that has what I like to think are some more interesting recipes :) Enjoy!

From Serious Eats

In Season: Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes by themselves! Roasted in the oven, they make their own sweet glaze, hence why they're called sweet potatoes. Yum.

From Serious Eats

Do You Like Eating Pie Crust By Itself?

I have ignored fillings before, yes. It is better when you can eat the filling and the crust together but the crust is almost never problematic.

From Serious Eats

Vegetarians, How Do You Do Thanksgiving?

I totally have that beanie baby, haha. We're having my brother's girlfriend for Thanksgiving this year and she's a vegetarian so we're nervous but she swears the sides are good by her!

But just in case, I do have this article I wrote last year up my sleeve ;): 25 Thanksgiving Recipes for a Vegetarian

From Talk

find a nice food blog name

Maybe use some of your favorite ingredients to name the blog. Lots of food blogs are named for foods i.e. Chocolate and Zucchini

From Talk

What's a good word to replace "garlicky"?

Eh, I think I would be more annoyed by "garlicious" than "garlicky"...sorry :)

From Talk

Slow cooker recipes?

Becky's Roast and Vegetables


Ingredients

* 1 3 lb. bottom round roast
* Ground black pepper to taste
* Garlic powder to taste
* 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
* 2 10.75 oz. cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1 1 oz. pkg. dry onion soup mix
* 5 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
* 6 small new potatoes, halved

Directions

Season roast with black pepper and garlic powder. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Brown the roast on all sides for 20 minutes. Mix together the mushroom soup and the onion soup mix in the slow cooker. Place roast into the slow cooker, and arrange carrots and potatoes around the meat. Cover, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

From Talk

What's your stuffing / dressing recipe?

We make this sausage pumpkin cornbread stuffing most years! Hope you like it! Happy early Thanksgiving!

From Talk

Best black bean soup recipe??

This hearty Black Bean Soup should hopefully appease the vegetarians! :)

From Talk

Tired of the chest cold and looking for Souper ideas. Yours?

I hope you don't still have the chest cold but another great suggestion would be Beef and Barley Soup.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

I will admit I do appreciate how very unpicky my boyfriend is. I would be livid if he threw things I made out. But it's worth talking about it before ending things.

From Talk

Favorite Bagel Fillings/Toppings?

Good old lox and cream cheese with tomato. Typical Sunday morning :)

From Talk

Tipping on Alcohol

Interesting concept but I think it's appropriate to tip on the total bill. If you had a problem with his lack of serving the wine, you can factor that into your total tip and decrease the percentage a bit.

From Talk

Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

How about not criticizing what you order?

I like spicy food but I need water with my spicy food...I ordered buffalo wings once with extra sauce and the waitress was nowhere to be found. I requested water twice and she finally came around with a glass and I asked politely if I could have a pitcher so she didnt have to come around as much and she yelled at me and said "Maybe you shouldn't have ordered spicy wings!"...Um hello? Is that appropriate? I was PISSED.

From Talk

What's your favorite grocery store goat cheese?

Trader Joe's goat cheese logs. They come in half and full :)

From Talk

Eating quirks

TurkeyandPickles - I do the Swiss Cake Roll thing too! I think the frosting just comes off easily and tastes better by itself :)

From Talk

What would you eat for 30 days?

Salmon nigiri with ginger and wasabi. Give it to me baby. I can't get enough!

From Talk

ginger recipes

I think cookies would be awesome but as a ginger lover, I can't tell if cookies will deter a ginger hater or not. I think maybe soup would be a good way to go: Ginger Pumpkin Bisque.

From Serious Eats

An Offally Good Plate at Chicago's Argentine Meat Market, Folklore

No way! I think you read my mind - My boyfriend and I found this place last week and plan to go there next Friday! We're so excited!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'The Pioneer Woman Cooks'

I would LOVE to win a copy of her book!

Besides her, my favorite food blog is probably Orangette (who is on a bit of a hiatus right now). I own her cookbook as well!

From Serious Eats

That's Nuts: As American as Peanut Butter and Apple Pie

Totally wish I saw this peanut butter version before making my apple pie. Will have to make another! :)

From Serious Eats

Serious Heat: Roasting Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

I personally like them plain and simple - with some salt! Yum!

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

We all have our food preferences. I don't like fruit mixed with foods that are supposed to be savory, savory stuff with raisins, or chocolate mixed with fruit (though separately, I love them both). Other than that, I'll eat anything at least once, maybe twice (I believe it second chances for everyone and everything). I think the thing that bothers you the most is that he doesn't share your passion for food and he doesn't want to even try. The point is: can you live with this? or will it be a thorn in your side that digs deeper with time? If you can't make peace with yourself on this, then walk away. If you can deal with it and have it not affect your dignity and self-worth, then I don't see that it's a real problem.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

My first wife hated eggs, bananas, mustard, my watermelon fruit salad, my top secret recipe 6 grain pancakes, didn't like breakfast in general. Of course, I'm more of a breakfast cook, but her idea of cooking is heating up canned soup (mac and cheese was a highlight of her cooking skills). In fact, when we first got together, the only thing she ate was McDonald's cheeseburgers and fries. (I did get her to eat fresh cut up strawberries.) So when we split, I vowed that I would avoid dating picky eaters.

So of course, my last (I'm planning it that way, anyhow) wife is a great cook - an amateur chef IMHO, but she's vegan (and I'm allergic to the entire legume family). We have great fun trying to create dishes that we can both eat (the entree is always veggies, the protein ends up a side dish for each of us), and she has decided that fried rice with eggs is ok (she is having trouble getting enough protein in her diet). And as a bonus, she loves my pancakes (which I modify by substituting coconut or almond milk for sour milk and/or yogurt), and never complains about my potatoes.

So, as to your problem, drag the bum into the kitchen now and again and make cooking a shared activity - fun-shared, not chore-shared. If he is a good kitchen companion (maybe not entirely his cup-o-tea, but as a special activity), then it will lessen the anti-everything you seem to interpret from him right now, and some of his ideas might end up being useful in figuring out how to feed him when you are cooking without him. If you two can't get along in the kitchen, I'd have to vote for a quick exit strategy.

From Slice

Do You Put Ranch Dressing on Pizza?

How do you get a white trash girl to suck your d**k?

Dip it in ranch dressing.

From Serious Eats

The Best Chocolate Chips for Cookies

Chew on that, I'm happy to share with you the site for Jacques Torres's chocolate disks (or feves): http://www.mrchocolate.com/detail.aspx?id=58

Also, here's his recipe for the NY Times chocolate chip cookies: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?_r=1

After reading all these delicious comments, chocolate chunk, chocolate chip, Valrhona, Ghirardelli, Guittard,.... I WANT A WARM CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RIGHT NOW!!!

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

Every person you meet and get along with very well isn't necessarily your mate. Food is something you will be sharing with this person for life, 3 times a day plus snacks. Not to mention favorite holiday treats... that adds up to a lot of things you won't be sharing, possibly even arguing about. You love to cook, and may see food as love. His constant rejection of your offerings and likes may over time wear like water dripping on stone and erode love and respect. A very long list of verboten foods is a whole different thing than not caring for a few things. Stay friends if possible but think long and hard about developing more intimacy.
BUT- utimately it's your life, your choice.

From Talk

Inca Coke or Mexican Coke: Have you seen it?

We recently found Mexican coke at Wegman's. Snagged a few bottles, because we refuse to drink the HFCS stuff. The coke with real cane sugar tastes much better :)

From Talk

Inca Coke or Mexican Coke: Have you seen it?

My local HEB in Texas stocks imported Coke from Mexico. It really does taste better. I don't know why, I will not pretent to know if it is healthier. But, when I'm at the grocery and I see someone about to buy Coke, I point them at the import Coke. Yep, I'm a Coke sniper :) I can't tell you it tastes fresh and spicy and have you beleive me on my word. You must try. It costs more, but it tastes better. I'd rather pay extra for something I enjoy than anything for something sub-par. I have extra seats on the bandwagon :) Aside: Poster from Canada, skip the Coke, just send REAL maple syrup. Canada seems to be the only place selling something other than that chemical crud on almost every shelf.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

I think if you were really crazy about this person, his food habits wouldn't bother you as much.

It would eventually chip away at her patience, no matter how much she cares for him. You can only overlook something for so long before it ends up being part of an argument that goes, "Yeah, and another thing..."

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

I think if you were really crazy about this person, his food habits wouldn't bother you as much. And, vice-versa, he would make an attempt to be more adventurous.

My husband was a picky eater when we first started dating. Over time, he's broadened his horizons food-wise, and I save the things he really won't eat to savor when I'm having a meal without him. A good compromise, I think.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

I married a picky eater-- not quite as picky as yours, but some of my faves are the things he hates. Over the last 4 years, it's been easy to "cook around him": to use ingredients he likes, or just make sure the stuff he hates is in large chunks so he can pick it out and give it to me. I kind of like have double the mushrooms in my coq au vin! The thing is, for me, there was no consideration of not getting married to him because of his pickiness-- because it was SO obvious that we were meant to be together in every other way. So now I have artichokes when I go out, not at home, and I make a side of kale for just myself, and it's no big deal.

I have another friend who passionately loves her hubbie of 20 years, but they eat separate meals-- hers are gourmet feasts, and his are pizza, hot dogs, and pancakes (he has a severe food issues).

So it can be done! But it sounds like there are many other things that make you unsure... trust your instinct on this!

From Serious Eats

Vegetarians, How Do You Do Thanksgiving?

I've made this meal for years, and now have a set menu everyone likes. If anyone wants to bring a turkey or anything else that's fine. I sometimes have a quorn roast, but don't bother with it much anymore. Here's the menu:

Cornbread dressing (I use No-Chick Broth, works great)
Mashed Potatoes ( and this year we grew them, along with most of the veg)
Wild Rice with toasted almonds
Acorn Squash with honey, cinnamon and rosemary
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Light Wheat Yeast Rolls
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower Salad with Remoulade
Yellow Squash
Green Beans
Corn
Sweet Potato Pie
Pecan Pie
Vanilla Ice Cream
Iced Tea with the meal, Coffee with dessert
Everything is made from scratch. I have a game plan written down and start 3 days ahead.
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

From Serious Eats

Vegetarians, How Do You Do Thanksgiving?

This year is my first vegan Thanksgiving and my aunt, whose house I'm going to for the meal, is sort of put-off by it, I can tell. But, her sides are always amazing and delicious, and I am going to bring some mushroom gravy and maybe some Field Roast for my main dish. She makes an incredible apple pie - made with vegetable shortening and Earth Balance margarine - that is the best I have ever tasted, and I'm not a pie person so that's a saying something.

From Talk

Brussels Sprouts

This is an age old debate. Most of us weren't introduced to brussels sprouts as kids, and only discovered them in our adult lives. Last year, there was a host of recipes posted, and I made one that was pan-roasted with garlic and balsamic vinegar that barely made it around the table once, they were so popular. I will probably do the same thing this year - though I'll double the recipe! Hmm, bacon, now that's a thought....

From Serious Eats

Vegetarians, How Do You Do Thanksgiving?

I'm not a vegetairan by any accounts but I did make this recipe one Thanksgiving and it is truly a show stopper.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Stuffed-with-Vegetable-Stew-240601

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

I'm sorta torn. To some extent I do agree with tapioca. If food is your passion then there is no real way it's going to work out (and you kinda knew that). I am sorta dealing with the same thing, but the exception is that it's only a couple of things and of those things the problem is that he has eaten canned versions and not fresh versions. So I am slowly converting him. I'm still working on cucumbers and pickles - he's German can you imagine him not liking pickles, isn't there some rule about pickled food and Germans. Anyway - if it were a few things then I'd work around it but he seems pickey like a child and for me that's a big red flag.
Years ago someone told me that you can tell everything about a person by what they eat...she was so right

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

Wow, what a thread! And what a smorgasbord of advice! This guy must have really swept you off your feet in every other way for you to have endured his food fetishes for a year. Or, you are selling yourself short that there isn't someone out there who is perfect for you. And someone else perfect for him.

From Talk

Not-Boring Thanksgiving Recipes?

I regularly make a potato dish that treads the line between 'traditional' and 'different': Cider Scalloped Potatoes. Instead of broth, use good, fresh cider so you get a good tang & some sweetness, and then smoked gouda to add another element to the taste. I've done it with regular potatoes, with turnips, with celeriac and even with sweet potatoes. It's amazing and people ask about it years after...
It's a riff off an old Cooking Light recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=222496

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

At this stage of a relationship, I dump this guy faster than a hot potato. For anyone who is a subscriber to Serious Eats, food is important (along with wine and other stuff). So connect with someone that shares this passion not someone who is going to disparage or pick at everything you love about food. Get to the core of the issue and stop fretting about symptoms.

Chef Wannabee

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

Being with someone who starts out a picky eater but eventually decides to expand his horizons is not the same as being with someone unwilling to budge. One is a victory that opens up a whole new world of flavors - the other is a huge pain in the ass.

From Serious Eats

In Season: Sweet Potatoes

At my cafe, one of our most popular sides are our sweet potato hash browns which we serve year round. I have never been a fan of sweet potato fries but I do dig the hash browns. Simple to make, too. Shred a sweet potato using a food processor or box grater. Toss the hash with some corn starch to coat them and simply cook on a medium high griddle with a little canola oil. When they are brown and crisp flip for about a minute more. We season ours with a mix that is 5% cayenne pepper and 95% cinnamon.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

@WannabeTVchef - Food allergies are hardly rare. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, approximately 12 million people (or about 1 in 25) have food allergies. And that's allergies alone, not sensitivities or intolerances (like lactose intolerance). While a list of 8 foods cause about 90% of food allergies, who are you to judge what is a 'real' allergy. Obviously not a medical professional with the training to diagnose someone's immune disorder.

I've seen someone swell up like a balloon when a server didn't know the correct answer to if there was garlic in a dish. And personally, I'd love to eat raw tomatoes, but paying for that fantastic salsa with a blistered tongue is not a price I'm ok with.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

Canadian Sunshine could end up with a chronically frustrating life with this picky eater. In considering a long-term or even a lifetime relationship, you need to identify the features and characteristics in the other person and in your interactions which will eventually drive you nuts. In several areas of our life together that could describe my 45 years of marriage but he loves my cooking, most of which involves a big bowl or plate of homemade glop du jour. He is enthusiastic about every vegetable except brussels sprouts and turnips, both of which hit his "too-bitter button." I love to shop for food, cook food, share food with others, and eat it myself. Without a welcoming audience at home for my cooking, my life, which is rich in so many ways, would be much poorer. Canadian Sunshine should not settle for this picky eater. They are not compatible.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

It depends of course on just how picky someone is but for the most part, yes it is a deal breaker. I mean someone with acid reflux is one thing or extreme lactose intolerence but when they are the type to special order everything every time they eat out I have no patience. Also I have no patience with "food alergy" person who seems to have an alergy to everything an adult should eat like mushrooms or spinach. Food alergies are very, VERY rare and some of the ones I've heard (garlic allergy, onion allergy) just do not exist. Nut allergies, shellfish allergies, these are real and they are dangerous but please don't tell me that you are allergic to tomatoes and then soak your fries in ketchup.

From Talk

Is dating a picky eater a dealbreaker for anyone?!

I have been in a 10 year relationship with a picky eater. When we first started dating, he said he ate everything and enjoyed going to restaurants. He wined and dined me until I moved in, then I found out the truth... It affected my cooking and dining until last year when I said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I cook what I want when I want and if I want to go to a restaurant that doesn't appeal to him, I go with friends or alone. So if you can tolerate this type of lifestyle then continue dating him, if not DUMP him! But trust me, it is hard to live with someone like this when your a foodie and some days you just want to scream...

From Serious Eats

Vegetarians, How Do You Do Thanksgiving?

I'm going to have to agree with other comments that sides and pie are enough for me! 101cookbooks has a great olive oil mashed potato recipe with kale that could be vegan but still omni-friendly.

@nitsuj If I eat meat/chicken stock/etc. I get sick. I don't think it's polite of me to ruin Thanksgiving by getting violently ill just to avoid putting them out and having my host make a different recipe when they are already cooking and have invited me over to eat. Often I will bring a dish, suggest a recipe so they don't have to find one, or offer to cook. Would you think a Jewish guest should eat bacon because they are inconveniencing you by voluntarily keeping kosher?

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About Chew on That

Website: http://www.chewonthatblog.com

Location: Suburbs of Chicago!

About:

Favorite foods: buffalo sauce, filet mignon (ok I've been spoiled), chicken souvlaki pita sandwich, fresh pasta dishes at authentic Italian restaurants, sushi (salmon nigiri), a good cholent (Jewish stew of short ribs, veggies and barley)...and a good juicy burger!

Last bite on earth: The freshest piece of salmon nigiri I could find...YUM!