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DCraver

I desperately want to wear the mantle 'foodie', but alas I feel that I am not yet worthy...and if gas prices keep going up, the only thing I am going to be a connoisseur of is Ramen.

  • Favorite foods: Spaghetti alla Carbonara, feta cheese, buttercream (it's a food!), hummus
  • Last bite on earth: Hopefully something that won't make me bloat.

So This Exists: Girl Scout Cookie Flavored Coffeemate

I am using the Samoa flavor right now and I really like it. However, it seems like a lot of the distinct flavors get lost in the coffee. It's much more flavorful on its own. Or maybe I'm just not using enough.

Taste Test: The Best Pickle Relish

I agree, I'd rather have dill relish every time.

What's the Deal with 'Mildly Sweet' Oreos?

Agree, the mushrooms are good, but I prefer the pinecones.

Win Tickets to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, Sunday, May 13

Anne Quatrano

How do you season your squash?

Sorry for any confusion. I am not well versed in all the squashes. I don't know what kind they are. Just the little yellow ones, kind of bulb shaped.

I never liked squash growing up so I thought I'd give it another go.

What atmosphere turns you on or off when you are dining out?

We have three small children and very very rarely eat anywhere that doesn't have a playground in it. On occasion we will go to a sit-down restaurant, but it is not uncommon for us to flag down our server right after we've ordered to tell him or her to box it up because we simply will not sit there while our kids freak out. One manager actually came over to our table to ask if there was a problem with anything because the server must have thought she did something wrong since we were asking for our order to go all of a sudden.

Basically, we will sacrifice our dining experience so that we don't bother other people because we remember how that used to irritate us before we had kids.

Bad taste or just plain ignorance?

@Ron_johnings...why bother to say you're sorry when you very obviously are not? I really hope you're just being funny.

Finger Lickin' Good!

@IslandDweller I second that! It seems like such a waste not to. Besides if you're at a barbecue place and you have evidence of eating ribs on your hands, if you go to use a napkin, the napkin just gets stuck to you. Then you have to lick your fingers anyway and now you have to eat your napkin as well.

Do You Know These Regional Pizza Styles?

I mean no disrespect, but why no cheese? To me, it's just not a pizza if there's no cheese.

What Kitchen Item Should You Not Scrimp On?

Definitely will get the quality cookware for sure. I already have a KitchenAid stand mixer and I love it dearly. It was the best gift I ever got!

Cook the Book: 'Mary Mac's Tea Room'

Every year my family runs a convention in Atlanta and at least one morning of it we all walk across the parking lot and eat at the Waffle House. What is more Southern than the Waffle House? The menu hasn't changed hardly at all in years and yet I still like to read the menu before I order my hashbrowns scattered, covered, chunked, and smothered.

What is your worst cooking disaster?

One of the first meals I cooked in my first apartment was Hamburger Helper. It was simmering and I got sidetracked doing something else. Next thing I know the smoke alarm is going off. I had to throw out the whole pan and that dish will forever be known as Smoke Alarm Stroganoff. I always burn rice, too.

How far would you go...?

I am not down with catering to a child's ridiculous pickiness. My boys eat what has been cooked or they don't eat at all. I will not make a separate meal simply because they don't like something. Now granted my boys are very young, at one and two years old respectively, but that will remain the standard at our house.

How has parenting gone so far down hill? There was no way my parents would do something like that for me and I am glad! If I ever had a problem, I had to take care of it myself. It's called being self sufficient. I had wonderful parents and they didn't jump at my demands. That's how it should be.

I need a stellar bolognese recipe

I'd really like to try one of the recipes with different meats and maybe milk. It sounds great.

Wow, I didn't think it would be quite this heated when I asked for a recipe!

What's The Worst Restaurant Name You've Ever Heard?

We had a place called T. Martooni's, closed now. Three Three Three on Broad (guess the address) and Yummy Thai. To me, if you have to say how good your food is in your name, it may not be very good.

In Videos: 'Pancake Island' Denny's Commercial

Those commercials scare the crap out of me.

Pantry 'Ghosts': Do You Have Them?

I have a can of coconut milk, a can of clam chowder which I have never liked, a box of couscous, and various generic soups. Ordinarily I don't mind generic (it is cheaper after all), but there are some things that to me are just not as good. Generic soup is one of those. My husband will eat it, but I have to cook it.

Do You Love Onions?

I lurve onions! My soups and pasta sauces are not complete without onions. Nothing is, really. I feel the same way about garlic. When I first got together with my husband he had a serious aversion to onions, claiming that he was allergic. I didn't inform him that I added onions to almost everything I would cook. No hives, no swelling, no anaphylactic shock. Not allergic. Turns out his mom just made him eat them in some awful dish she used to make so he thought he hated them in all things. I fixed that!

Smelly foods in the office

Once at my old office I brought in Greek salad for lunch. I didn't realize how aromatic feta cheese and raw red onions can be. That was the last time I did that.

What's So Weird About That?

I had never heard of cream cheese and jelly sandwiches until I read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I wanted to try it but never got around to it. I don't think it was very common in the south in the late 80's early 90's.

When I was little I would eat salted carrots when I watched tv. I also loved maple syrup. We even have pictures of me sitting on a little stool with the syrup bottle turned up.

Really missing the point

Oh, and out of curiosity...what is "the point" anyway? Clearly I've missed it as well.

Really missing the point

She probably realized that the majority did not jump on her bandwagon and therefore didn't want to campaign anymore.

I have a one year old son and another on the way. If it turns out that either of my boys are allergic to peanuts then they will be informed not to trade lunches or to take anything offered to them, albeit in a nice way. I respect that some people have allergies but it is just inconsiderate to expect everyone to bow to those allergies.

I can understand the school cafeteria being nut-free but you can't presume to dictate what individuals bring for themselves to eat.

Home-Baked or Store-Bought? Or: Huh? Are you kidding me?

Try not to fret--sometimes there is just no accounting for bad taste. At my last office I would make the birthday cakes and one of the girls told me she liked grocery store cake better than scratch. Those old partially frozen, mostly tasteless, unimaginative cakes with the clump of pink roses in the upper corner. Of course this is the same girl who insisted that her cake be made with box mix and not from scratch. I stopped baking for that office, needless to say, as who can compete with Kroger!

He said, 'Broccoli is the anchovy of vegetables'

Mushrooms. God help me.

Leeks: Way or No Way?

I like leeks personally. They're not as strong as onions for when you need something more subtle.

Bad taste or just plain ignorance?

With so many people claiming the mantle of 'foodie' (and equally as many searching for a less abhorrent word for it) we see the potential food snobs judging and sneering at those not on the haute cuisine bandwagon. I personally love new and different food, but not so much that I won't eat anything I used to eat that was considered 'normal.' I know that I have seen several posts that look down upon people who eat at chain restaurants, or use dry herbs instead of fresh, or who still from time to time crack open a can of Chef Boyardee.

Here's my question: Are these somewhat less sophisticated eaters guilty of bad taste or are they simply ignorant of the food world? I'm sure there are hundreds of towns like mine where there are but a handful of restaurants that are not owned by a chain. And unfortunately, most of the non-chain places all serve pretty much the same thing, barbecue or comfort food. Do you have bad taste if you have no other options? If you just don't know or venture to know that there is more out there than Chili's and Applebee's?

I could understand if you lived in New York or some other big food hub and just preferred to eat at McDonalds, but what about the towns that just don't have any interesting restaurants? Should we bash on the people that actually like Papa John's or, God forbid, Olive Garden? It's just not cool. I know that I have seen posts even here on SE that have made me feel bad for eating things like American cheese, Ramen, or even the occasional serving of Beefaroni.

Everybody likes different stuff. Not everyday can be a truffle oil coated glory of mastication.

What do you think? Is it bad taste or unfortunate regional placement?

What Kitchen Item Should You Not Scrimp On?

I am desperately in need of a bunch of kitchen items as mine have broken or been scattered over the years of moving. What kitchen tool or appliance or item would you recommend splurging on? Of course, I always hear knives should not be cheap buys. What else?

What do you eat as an adult?

It seems so many of you are horrified and disgusted by, gasp!, processed food, lol. So now do you only eat food that is organic? I don't have near enough money to only buy organic food. I don't understand why so many people are revolted by what they used to enjoy so much.

So what DO you eat now that you are a more intelligent, seasoned eater?

What's your favorite novelty/odd food item?

Since the birth of bacon salt and probably even before, food seasonings, ingredients, and recipes have taken a turn for the weird. I say weird, but it's really just not commonplace. I love all the flavored salts, but the idea of a smoke cocktail isn't my idea of a nightcap.

What weird foods or food seasonings do you love and/or hate?

How do you dress up your rice?

With food prices going up, so many people are looking for ways to make simple, economical foods, well, less boring, less bland.

Take rice for example. Long grain white rice is uber cheap, but still fairly boring. What do you do to it to make it better? What do you serve with it?

Will you succumb to Girl Scout Cookies?

It's that time of year again, boys and girls. The time when little girls and their ever-insistent and overzealous mothers camp out in front of supermarkets to solicit their wares.

Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? Will you be? I sadly have ordered 3 boxes from a coworker's daughter. It's for a good cause. I think.

Do you have to trim green beans?

Again, do you have to trim green beans? Is it only haricots verts that you leave the ends on? If you do need to trim them, how much is necessary?

I am roasting green beans on Christmas Eve and need to know and I figured if anyone would know, you guys would.

A bad trick or treating idea?

In keeping with the seasonal topic of Halloween, I submit to you a question. Well, a background briefing and a question.

My son is eight months old and we are dressing him up and going to a family gathering which ends with trick-or-treating. Do we hang a little treat bag on his arm or is he too young for that? Granted he can't eat anything he might get, but is it tacky to trick or treat vicariously through your baby?

Let's talk mashed potatoes!

Ok, we all know (at least some of us think) that mashed potatoes are the most perfectest food on the planet. From the basics of milk and butter, to the wildest secret recipe you have, what's your favorite way to... More