My office room mate is eating some sort of warmed up turkey dinner microwave thing and somehow the smell reminds me of my school lunchroom back in the day ("Sweet ambrosia to my olfactories"-The Tick, anyone?).
Some of the food was good (homemade rolls), some was bad (weird shepherds pie, that we called "shepherds pile"), some was goodish eventhough it was bad for you (cheesey greasey rectangles of "pizza") and there were a lot of fruit cups, bouncey pancakes and peanut butter.
What smells bring you back to the lunchroom? What was the food like?

Just out of curiosity, what do you call those cookies that are basically pecan sandies rolled in powdered sugar? I've heard a few names for them, so I'm just wondering how many names they have.

Also, do you add any to yours? I've heard that with lemon they are lemon meltaways, but there have to be other things that can be added.

I find that if I'm out of sorts, it's best to just heat something up or order a pizza, crack open a beer and yell at the TV for a while. Have you ever screwed up something you were cooking because you were angry/frustrated/distracted by some other emotion?

I was reading another Talk thread and realized that I've never had creamed spinach, and I imagine that seems weird. I didn't even know it existed until I saw it on Top Chef.
What food have you never had? I don't mean something necessarily exotic, I guess I'm veering more towards regional things that you just haven't had the chance to try or inkling to make.

Maybe this has been around for a while, but I finally got around to getting, "Forking Fantastic." In it, there's a recipe for Commando Chicken that is really great. The only thing that makes it different from a regular roast chicken recipe is that the chicken sits on its own grate above a pan full of potatoes that's on the grate under it.
The fat and whatever from the chicken flavors the potatoes that you crisp up after you take the chicken out, I just tried it a few days ago and holy crap it's great.
I know it's not rocket science, but it made me wonder what kind of tricks all you other SE'ers are using that I don't know about or have you had your own moments of, "Oh duh, why didn't I think of that?"

Do you have any cookbooks where the authors personality shines through so much that you wish they had a show? One of my favorite cookbooks is Goddess in the Kitchen (also released and re-titled as Romancing the Stove), and the author's whimsical take on food and being creative in the kitchen makes me think the Marjorie LaPanja would have a very interesting cooking show.
So are there any cookbook writers whose show you would watch the heck out of?

Is there a LBD equivalent? You know, something that could be served anywhere, any time and (assuming it's cooked well) would be appropriate, personalizable, even stunning in its simplicity?

So far I've come up with roast chicken, chocolate chip cookies, prime rib and chocolate cake. Is there a vegetarian or vegan LBD?

Do you think food trends cycle around like fashion trends do? Granted I've only been paying attention to this sort of thing for a few years now, but it seems like whenever a food personality makes/uses something that was cool in the 80's, (pesto, tiramisu, sun dried tomatoes, I really don't know what else was cool back then, they just always reference the dishes being "retro" when they make them), they act like it's a woefully overdone guilty pleasure dish (unless you are one of the 2 Fat Ladies, then you dig up some old recipe from 1874 named after a Duke or somesuch).
I imagine the same is true for dishes like salisbury steak, chicken diane, or beef stroganoff, at one time they were at least respectable and interesting, but are now relegated to "comfort/diner food." Not that there's anything wrong with that.
So do food trends recycle or do people just revise old classics? Are there any classics? Is there a food equivalent to the little black dress? In 20ish years do you think molecular gastronomy will seem quaint? Or is food crafting the closest we're going to get to old school food. This might be too many questions for one Talk, I guess we'll just see where the conversation spins.

I was going to ask everyone a question about breadmakers, but that got me thinking about kitchen appliances; Which kitchen appliances have a permanent spot on your counter?
For me it's the coffee maker and a slow cooker, but it occurred to me that a lot of people probably have much more interesting things taking up high priority spots on their countertops.
So how about it, which appliances/accessories are the MVP's of your kitchen?
Does anyone regularly use something terribly exotic?
*besides, you know, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves and ovens.

Forgive me if we've already been over this, and I know it doesn't matter, but what exactly do you think is the definition of a salad? Perhaps it's the word-nerd part of me, but the sliding definition of salad has always bothered me, maybe we need a salad continuum or a food taxonomy.

Is it just a collection of random ingredients that aren't a soup or a casserole/hot dish? There's jello salads in all their carrot shred and raisin glory, what up with those? Does anyone (outside of a church cookbook) still use the mayo-like salad dressing stuff?
A lot of pasta salad turns into casserole once it's baked. But it's not whether the ingredients are cooked or not that defines a salad, because there are plenty of perfectly respectable salads with cooked ingredients. And what's up with bread salad? Is stuffing technically a salad? I mean really, what's the definition of the word salad? Do you just know it when you see it?

I know it's a bit late, but do you think Serious Eats could do "favorite tv cooking show host" brackets? I'm sure there are 32 worth putting on there, maybe old vs new, "chef" vs "personality" (which I realize is a troublesome distinction, I guess you would have to scientifically quantify "chef" to do that one) or men vs women or some other sort of dividing line (since you need 2 sides of brackets in the beginning.)
Anyway, any chance of getting some March Madness going on here?

*and if you do one about TV show hosts, don't forget the 2 Fat Ladies!

I know this is pure silliness, but I notice that a lot of other commenters like food puns/jokes. So what's your favorite food pun/joke/riddle whatever? I'll start.

Q: What do vegan zombies eat?

A: Grrraaaaaaaaaiiiins!!!

Well it's obvious what this thread is about. I thought I was the only one missing the column so I didn't mention anything, but Look Who's Talking vanished into thin air. Can it be brought back? Talk has been really boistrous this week in general.

Could I possibly use any more butter?
Including shopping time, prep time, cooking time and clean up time,
Spent a 24 hour day on a 30 minute meal,
Oh well, I'm loving every sniff!
4 gallons of potatoes and 7 pies,
A whole smack of good looking food photography today.
BLT for dinner...and the LT does not stand for Leftover Turkey,
I used four pounds of butter this morning,

The sound cranberries make when they pop on the stove,
Gluten-free rolls that he baked two days ago, like rocks,
Canned whole cranberry sauce goes great with cottage cheese,
Fried egg sandwich with a glass of Sirah,
Bourbon pecan pie on old Czech gold-rimmed plates from Asbury Park,
..Enough leftovers to feed an army

Slow roasting turkey overnight, a smell better than coffee,
Being alone is better than being the recipient of snide snarky comments,
I do not envy my wife who went,
Facebook connections almost make up for missing the fun commotion,
PJs, Mythbusters marathon, good meal, cold beer, and nap,
Perfect end to the day, I would say.
Leek bread pudding? That sounds amazing.

Wonderful fresh cranberry compote to no avail.
You'd swear I shot their dog.
Buy the goop tomorrow for next year's dinner.
Brought home turkey,
Gave to feral cats and neighbor's dog,
Not much of a vegetarian that spaniel..

Doesn't have to have turkey to be Thanksgiving,
No laser levels, pulley systems or pie birds needed,
Grilled steaks, mashed potatoes and green beans instead,
T-day with my 4 people is lovely lovely lovely.
My father's nickname as a child was Sun Buns,
Nude sunbathing discussion ensued,
Crackle and sizzle, you've got it.

All bellies full and sprawled haphazardly,
Napping together: husband, dog and cat,
Another one bites the dust-many lessons learned.
How did the Grandmas of yore do Thanksgiving with a smile?
Glad to see the tail lights for another year!
I'm surprised you did all that with only 4 pounds of butter.

So recently I made my glass caserole dish explode/fall apart forcefully. I should have seen it coming, I had just rinsed/wiped it out and I guess it was a bit cold. Anyway, I started putting in what was eventually going to be scalopped potatoes that had come to a boil for a bit, and then without a warning crack, only a BANG! the bowl just shattered apart.
Of course only then did I realize how stupid I was. No one was hurt and I was able to salvage dinner from what hadn't been put in the bowl yet, (obviously the bowl was cheap so whatever).
I was just wondering about other people's harmless/silly/I should have seen that coming kitchen mishaps. You know when you get the feeling that you are doing something slightly thoughtless, but haven't quite noticed it yet? That sort of thing.

I know from my Rob Walsh Texmex book that Velveeta is used in authentic Texmex because it's melty...but otherwise, what's up with it? Why is it in a different place at every supermarket? And most importantly, does it really need to be kept cold after it's opened? I don't think it's really cheese.

So far my special occasion ingredient is vanilla bean, but I know there are probably a lot more pizzazz adding ingredients out there,..so what's yours?

Bonus discussion question: Does anyone else get a weird sort of "I can't believe you are spending money on that" half glance/eye-roll from people at check-out when they puchase said ingedients? The last time I bought Madagascar vanilla beans at the Commissary (around 8ish bucks I think), the check-out lady gave me a weird diapproving look, like I just bought gold dust or something.

This recipe is sure to revive meatloaf tastebuds of america.... More

I know this is pure silliness, but I notice that a lot of other commenters like food puns/jokes. So what's your favorite food pun/joke/riddle whatever? I'll start. Q: What do vegan zombies eat? A: Grrraaaaaaaaaiiiins!!!... More