Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Kinda figured the story of the tattooed guy was going somewhere, like he knew you or something, and then it didn't. This story seems quite flat, yeah you were really busy but had plenty of time to discuss opening a wine bar??? V

I have to say I'd be excited too if I got to hold an American ballot. Wish we had absentee ballots in Ireland, but you barely get any time to vote there. The papers are full of the election debate but my job in particular, there is barely a ripple of interest. I asked what everyones thoughts on the vote result were and was met with a wall of silence - disappointing!

Brilliant, you'd almost have to order it just to see...ok maybe not! I love the Three Ingredients item as well, just like any 3 ingredients or whatever they have lying around the prep table?

My particular favourite Chinese irony was once coming across a place called - Soon Fatt Chinese.

Uggh I ate a tootsie roll once, (am Irish) it was the worst kind of awful thing I have ever eaten. Just baffling as to what it is supposed to be. It isn't chocolate at all - the closest it has ever been to chocolate is maybe having a dream about it. Seems we have way better 'candy' offerings in Europe, though the most disappointing thing you will get in your Halloween sack are the monkey nuts (peanuts still in the shell). These aren't even in the candy family!

I do envy the wholeheartedness that everyone in America has for Halloween, the costumes and the way people decorate their houses looks amazing. We really do not have that kind of enthusiasm here, which is a shame for a kid.

Hah so brilliant, wish all job descriptions sounded like that. They'd probably get much better staff that way,

Jerzee lol! Thanks for the advice everyone - will attempt a batch at the weeknd and try your suggestions

Egg whites? No eggs in the recipe at all - icing sugar, butter, water. Did I use the wrong recipe perhaps?

Just to add, I am not a cheapskate even though I may be coming across as one ;-) I am actually a horrific spendthrift and shop, eat and pay without any thought to the consequences of my bank account.

I've worked as a server in America and Ireland – in America the wage was significantly lower, so I really relied on tips. In Ireland and the Uk that is not the case, you get at least minimum wage or above – tips are a nice extra. That is why Europeans are considered bad tippers; guess they don't see why they have to supplement a server's poor wage, when they are already paying enough for the meal. It's no excuse for bad tipping, but does go some way to explain the 'cheapness' theory.

I have always found American servers, the majority that is, to be excellent, attentive and definitely go the extra mile. So tipping well there is fine for me. But over in the UK, servers are belligerent, lazy and frequently rude; they have no concept of customer service and seem to think you should be happy with whatever service they give you. Tipping them irks me, do they deserve my hard earned cash – no! I have always been of the belief, since my time serving in the states, that you earn your tip, it is not just expected. The worst part is that most places here include the 12.5% service charge on the bill, so even if they totally didn't deserve it, you feel obliged to leave it.