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Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
In Seattle, it's pop, though I say soda.
Lunch at Whole Foods
I love the deli sandwiches. Ours are named after local places in Seattle. I love the Golden Gardens Veggie sandwich. Basically a vegetarian panini.
Music & Cooking
Violent Femmes does it for me. Often while singing into whatever utensil I happen to be using at the time! My stereo perfectly uses up that empty space above the fridge. My other go-to for cooking is Snoop Dogg, though I cannot believe I haven't used the Beastie Boys yet!
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Your best gourmet burger recipe?
I love turkey burgers either stuffed or topped with very tangy goat cheese. I then top with roasted bell peppers and arugala or basil. Delicious on focaccia or a standard burger bun.
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
In Seattle, it's pop, though I say soda.
Lunch at Whole Foods
I love the deli sandwiches. Ours are named after local places in Seattle. I love the Golden Gardens Veggie sandwich. Basically a vegetarian panini.
Music & Cooking
Violent Femmes does it for me. Often while singing into whatever utensil I happen to be using at the time! My stereo perfectly uses up that empty space above the fridge. My other go-to for cooking is Snoop Dogg, though I cannot believe I haven't used the Beastie Boys yet!
Chili
I enjoy the vegetarian chili from Trader Joe's. It's made with tofu instead of meat (canned meat grosses me out?), and doesn't contain corn (which I am allergic to, and many vegetarian chilis have).
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
My Gram wouldn't eat any salad or raw vegetables, claiming it was "rabbit food." All vegetables and pasta had to be over cooked until soggy and mushy and served very, very hot.
I got to ask Tony Bourdain a question!
He's married, but oh so sexy...
_________ gives me heartburn
Orange juice, fruity mixed alcoholic drinks, and corn products all give me heartburn or some kind of gastro-intestinal discomfort!
Cook the Book: 'Panini Express'
My favorite at home is roasted bell peppers, goat cheese, and turkey on foccaccia.
Do you do weekend food prep for the week?
I wash and chop all of my vegetables for salads. I like my salads with lots of "stuff" but after 12 hours days, the last thing I want to do is wash and chop. Cucumber, tomato slices, and others are in their tupperware containers, ready to go!
Your Worst Meal Ever
I haven't made anything really terrible (yet) but I did attend dinner at a co-worker's house who didn't yet speak and understand English very well. When dressing my burger she had barbequed, I noticed a bottle of IAMS dog food gravy on the table. When I asked her what it was for, she said it was barbeque sauce and she put it on my burger. I put tons of ketchup and mustard on that burger, along with many layers of onions. Thank goodness IAMS isn't bad for human consumption!
Favorite naughty snack.
I love the sweet maui onion potato chips that come in the purple bag. They're definitely my guilty pleasure.
Who partakes in a little fast food action?
Mmmm... Dick's. I also enjoy Ezell's spicy chicken...
What's for lunch today?
Sadly, top ramen and water from the water fountain. I overslept and had no time to put together lunch, and have a meeting at noon. I am dipping into my EMERGENCY food drawer today!
What is your favorite local microbrewery?
In Seattle, my favorite is the Elysian Brewery. Fantastic food, and if you're here in the fall, their pumpkin ale can't be beat!
Yucky foods of the past
As a kid, I hated cooked spinach and asparagus, olives of any kind, and cheese. Now I love cheese, and cooked spinach, but still won't go near asparagus or olives.
Mix ins!
I am sure this is normal, but I add andouille sausage, a can of chopped tomatoes, and a can of rinsed black beans to Zatarain's jambalaya mix. If shrimp is affordable, I add that too.
What's your best "retro" recipe?
My mom's "dog food dip," so called because it looks like wet dog food. Mix one brick of cream cheese and one can of chili, and serve warm with tortilla chips. It's delicious, and always a hit at every party of mine (no matter how unappetizing the name or appearance.)
Small Mexican themed potluck ideas
You can make easy empanadas with pie crust and vegetables, cheese, and taco seasoning! I always add chicken, but i don't know why you couldn't use beans instead.
What's your favorite soup?
Rachael Ray (I know, I know) has a fantastic white chicken chili recipe. I serve it topped with fresh cilantro and usually add more chiles than the recipe calls for. I think it's called white lightning chili?
My ____ sauce fails everytime!
I know it's ridiculous, but I can't make a decent spaghetti sauce to save my life. I throw it away every time.
IKEA Starter Kit?
Check out Tuesday Morning, if you have one in your area. I find a lot of utensils there, quite cheap.
Worst day ever foods?
Kraft macaroni and cheese, made with a lot of butter and beer instead of milk. Curled up on the couch with my knitting and a terrible movie or in the tub with a trashy romance novel...
Eggs Benedict Arnold
Glo's is my favorite breakfast joint in Seattle, and I have tried most of them. FYI, Adam, the Eggs Benedict at Crave is pretty fantastic too! They make a mimosa hollandaise that is amazing. Their Crave omlette with rosemary, duck confit, and goat cheese is also worth a try!
Panini makers - frequent user advice sought
I, too, got a Griddler for Christmas and have used it frequently. My favorites so far have been chicken panini (I first marinated the chicken in honey and balsamic vinegar) and last night I made turkey burgers stuffed with goat cheese and topped with roasted bell peppers... there is no end to my inspiration with the Griddler!
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
It's pop. Done. Unless it's a brand name.
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
Growing up in northern NY (not up state) it was soft drinks. Here in central NY ('cuse) it's soda.
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
@cybercita--that made me laugh out loud!
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
I lived in southern california my whole life and always referred to it as soda but after moving to Ohio ant age 23 I am getting sucked into calling it pop...
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
Soda. The stuff I don't drink.
Coke is only for Coca Cola and Cocaine.
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
i come from berkeley, where we called coca cola "the black waters of imperialism."
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
pop. and im curious... i live in the pittsburgh area, where we say pop, and pepsi has billboards every where just saying "pop". Where those of yousay soda, do they have "soda" billboards? every time i see one i wonder...
Soda, cola, pop, coke, etc.?
I live in california. Have lived here nearly all my life, and have always refered to it as coke no matter what I am drinking. I live in Riverside, CA but have also lived in San Diego, CA growing up and we called it the same in both places. Not sure who calls it soda sounds strange. But my cousins come down from Virginia and they call it Pop. Thought they were talking about those little pop rock candies the first time they asked for a pop. lol.
Your best gourmet burger recipe?
Bulgogi burgers and meatballs are really good when small/thin and browned but horrid when huge in size or tenderly baked without browning. The meatballs taste better than the burgers.
Surprisingly, it tastes better with 75% vs >85% fat free ground beef. Just serve with vegetables (mild peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, carrots) and red pepper/bean paste over your favorite starchy food (ie bread, rice, noodles). May add lettuce or sesame leaves to a sandwich or as a wrap.
Have you ever bought anything off of an infomercial?
I love the "AS SEEN ON TV!!" crap!! I have the George Foreman (I've owned 3 of them), a Flowbee (since 1989!! I haven't had to wait an hour to get a bad haircut and pay $15 plus tip since 1989!), all sorts of stuff. I just bought the Smooth Away hair remover.
A lot of the stuff doesn't work or doesn't work AS ADVERTISED, but some of it does. The Flowbee is great, the George Foreman was great, the Pedi-Egg or whatever that is called works pretty good.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
Oh - and my friend has a great one. She went to a restaurant and because she's one of those people who doesn't like meat that tastes anything like anything, she always has to ask if it's chicken breast (yay, tasteless!) or like, thigh meat (boo, flavor and a reminder that this was once an animal!). So she says to the waitress, "Is this chicken in this white or dark meat?" And the waitress stares at her a second and says, "white." This cannot be good, I thought.
The food comes, and it's straight-up thigh meat. So she calls the waitress over and says, "Sorry to be a bother, but can I change my order? You said this was white meat, and it's not."
"It's white meat."
"Um... not to be difficult, but it's not."
"Yeah it is. It's CHICKEN. CHICKEN is white."
"Um..."
"Chicken's white, beef is red, and pork is brown."
Oh dear.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
Once at the grocery store, the young woman checking me out kept asking me what stuff was:
"What's that?"
"That's hearts of palm. It's the center of a palm tree. It's good, it tastes sort of like asparagus but huge."
"Is this.... a tomato?"
"No, that's a persimmon. It's fruit. I think it tastes like a cross between a peach and pumpkin."
"Um...so is this..."
"Gorgonzola cheese."
"Okay. Are these.... uh... is this.... um.... green beans?"
"... yeah."
Poor girl. She didn't trust anything anymore.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
My sister-in-law turned down a nice juicy (deseeded!) slice of watermelon on a hot hot day. She claimed it would make her have to pee, and she had a five hour drive ahead of her. I looked at her, confused, as I watched her gulp down a super huge iced coffee. She replied--Surely you must know that there's a lot of WATER in watermelon. That is why they call it that--WATERMELON--it makes you pee...a lot! Can't have that! Over the years that one has been a source of never ending amusement...
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
My dear sister calling me to ask a question about an ingredient in a recipe:
What is prepared mustard?
Me: Well... it's in the condiment aisle. By the ketchup. Usually comes in a yellow bottle.
Sister: I hope they carry it in Wal-Mart!
Me: I just had a great meal at the best Indian restaurant. You should try it sometime.
Friend: Gross! I hate Indian food.
Me: Have you ever eaten it?
Friend: No, some guys at work told me it sucked and smelled bad.
Me: *silenty shakes head in disgust*
Overheard at work:
"I like my steaks cooked beyond well done. I like them charred. Sometimes when I am at a restaurant I will tell them to cook it twice."
While working in the wine section of a grocery store:
Customer: I need some wine for making chicken marsala.
Me: OK, here are the Marsala wines.
Customer: Wow! They make wines just for making chicken marsala?
Me, not in the mood to explain: Well... it is a pretty popular dish.
Working in wine section of same store I had countless people ask me for the "cooking wine." Grrrr.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
I can't count the number of times I have heard people order Chicken Tikka Marsala.
My grandfather firmly believed you could not eat dairy in the same meal with steamed crabs. Ice cream was forbidden for dessert.
My husband's family has the same belief about drinking milk with spaghetti.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
These are all hilarious!
I used to work in a gourmet food store. Some of the more esoteric ingredients people would come in and ask for included "tepid water" and "teaspoon salt."
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
@bareneed - probably not the story I should have read considering that I still have half a jar of Marmite in the fridge...it may stay there for quite a while now:-)
@coolname - my MIL says that she is allergic to MSG on every possible occasion. However, she buys and uses things like onion soup mix, boil-in-bag rice with a seasoning packet (which she uses) and Knorr beef bouillon cubes on a regular basis, without any problem. We're not talking about naturally occurring glutamates here, this stuff is laden with MSG, but oddly enough, it doesn't seem to affect her one bit. I find this kind of selective allergy rather mysterious, but what do I know.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
My grandma chastised my mom for allowing us kids to eat granulated sugar.....said we'd get WORMS!
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
I have a friend who says that she "doesn't like sauce." ANY SAUCE at all. She also says she "doesn't like -------" about absolutely any food she hasn't tried before. (So basically, her food repertoire is limited to foods she tried as a child.) It's INFURIATING.
(Also, coolname - the natural glutamates in those foods aren't equivalent to the huge quantities of artificial MSG that is added to foods. It's completely realistic that someone could be sensitive to MSG while also being able to eat naturally savoury foods.)
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
last night i heard someone order a steak as such: 'medium to medium well, you know, just a little bit of pink.' i have cooked thousands (really) of steaks and i'm pretty sure just a little bit of pink is considered medium well on the way to well.
or someone will say: 'i'm alergic to MSG.' then i'll say 'do you like miso soup, parm. cheese, or tomato paste?' they'll say 'yes.' i'll say 'these items have more natural glutimates than any general tso's chicken you have ever had.'
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
I'm sittin in a diner eating breakfast with a friend of mine.....after I salted my breakfast,he said that all that salt was gonna kill me.....all the while he was sittin there smokin a cigarette....DUH !!
I'm an assistant meat manager at a large grocery store and it always makes me laugh when a customer asks me for "lean bacon".
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
My two sons grew up eating toast and Marmite (similar to Vegemite), probably because I grew up eating it - it was their favourite. One a.m. an overnight guest (kids were about 10) watched in horror as my kids spread Marmite on their toast. "What IS that, ear wax?" Ever since then I have never really enjoyed Marmite.
Overheard: strange things you've heard people say about food.
my boyfriend will not eat cold food.
What's your favorite soup?
We have a Thai place nearby and I always get the Tom Ka Gai soup . . . so satisfying! I made some homemade with relative success last year, may try again.
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I love turkey burgers either stuffed or topped with very tangy goat cheese. I then top with roasted bell peppers and arugala or basil. Delicious on focaccia or a standard burger bun.