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My Grandfather was Danish - and I remember many many summer mornings sitting across the breakfast table from him trying to see who could eat more! My poor Grandmother would be making Aebelskiver for hours!

When my girls were little these were their favorite breakfast treat - always, like at Grandmother's, with bowls of powdered sugar, and wonderful homemade jams and apple butter to scoop up in them.

My DH loves them - I don't make them too often - but they are always a warm and wonderful reminder of my childhood. Thank you for the memories. I shall have to try some savory ones one of these days. Grandmother and Grandfather will roll in their graves - but perhaps she'd have loved them.

I'd have to say way - but carefully. We bought the Thunderstick immersion blender with all the attachments. The Thunderstick works great - but all of the attachments have broken. Darn fine immersion blender though, but not worth the price.

We had a very dear friend who had been a chef. I gather that he was quite the gadget and gizmo for the kitchen collector. I recall his SO didn't refer to it so nicely. After he passed away the SO was cleaning out all of the stuff and brought me the Flavor Wave oven. Our friend had wanted me to have it. Danged thing worked for some things - but not everything.

I love my steam mop! What a cool thing that is. But now I am intrigued by the "Big City Slider Station" for making mini burgers, etc. I don't really need it, but I want it. Oh, we have two G.Foreman Grills - a little one that my ex gave me years ago and a big G5 that we got ourselves for Christmas last year - LOVE IT!

Porterhouse is our special occasion favorite! About 2" thick and grilled to crispy goodness on the edges and barely cooked on the inside. A ribeye of the same size would be good too.

For everyday beefy goodness - flank steak, skirt steak. I'm droolin' and need beef!

A beautiful chicken roasted in a hot oven (450 with my hearthkit in the oven), simple with lemon and herbs, and a salad. Couldn't be simpler or better!

I know so many people who eat to live. Calories in to sustain energy for the day is all they care about - it doesn't even have to taste, bland is fine. That is freaky! Not the other way around.

On the other hand I start thinking about dinner in the morning, pretty much spend the day thinking or talking about food or researching recipes or reading cookbooks. This is my passion, my husband shares it. Even the most simple dish, well prepared from fine ingredients, is a masterpiece. Creating that masterpiece is a joy, it is pride in a job well done. This is not freaky!

My advice - find a boyfriend who loves food as much as you.

Braised pork belly - Asian style, is heaven on a fork! Hmmmmmmmm, sexy, decadent, luscious.

You could cure and smoke it, just cure it for pancetta, or make twice cooked pork. You could do all that, the braised is the way to go!

Peanut butter, whole grain bread, chipotle tabasco, and blackberry jam comprise my all time fave. We tried peanut butter, bacon, tomato, and basil - too die for!

OMG!! I don't think I could survive with only 25 herbs and spices. I have 64 just in 3 drawers. Then there are about a dozen on the counter, lots more on a spice rack, and a couple of cupboards full. The ones in the drawers are in alphabetical order. There are no duplicates and yes, I use them all frequently. Oh, that doesn't count the different dried chilies or the liquid seasonings and vinegars & oils.

This week we're moving to a much smaller house and I'm going to have to cram my kitchen into a significantly smaller space so I can feel your pain.

I start buy getting the basics and then adding things as you need them. Buy small containers. I used to keep the bulk of mine in a covered plastic bin on a shelf when we lived on the boat. (Then we were dealing with 200 sq feet total living space for 2 adults, 1 cat, and 4 pugs)

Mexican oregano, cumin, ground ancho chili, ground chipotle, ground toasted chili d'arbol, granulated garlic and onion, and black pepper make up a pretty basic seasoning mix. Depending on what I'm putting it it it can vary. Lately I'm liking the powdered lime "juice" and toss in a couple packets of it. On occasion a bit of cinnamon and some cocoa.

I make a batch once or twice a years and just keep it on hand - we use a lot of it - and it's easily modified depending on what I'm cooking. I like the flavor of epazote if I'm making beans. I don't put any salt in mine - that way I don't have to worry about upsetting a recipe.

We had planned on a big pot roast, roasted veggies, and butternut squash risotto. Didn't happen - we had leftover Hong Shao Rou (red cooked pork belly) and garlic noodles leftovers - fresh bread and red wine rounded out the evening. My face hurts from grinning so much last night. Whoooooeeeeee - pot roast tonight!

Inviting a new beau to dinner and having my 18 month old grab a 1/3 lb. chunk of bleu cheese off the counter and eat the whole thing (there went the salad!) while I was out of the room - then while I was taking the lemon angel pie (layers of lemon curd and whipped cream in a meringue shell) out of the fridge and dumping it upside down on the kitchen floor.

"He" told me that would teach me - the meringue belongs on top! Sheeesh!

Oh gawd spare me! A friend knew I loved asparagus - so when he saw a can of white asparagus he bought it and presented it to me with such reverence - I was afraid I'd hurl on his shoes and spoil the moment for him. Donated that to a canned food drive (along with the canned peas he bought)!

Oh, who's the nutcase that discovered that revolting combo of sweet potatoes out of a can with a 2 lb box of brown sugar and a bag of mini-marshmallows???? Him I'd like to brain with a pan of green bean slop.

And, speaking of cranberries - I cannot stand the stuff that always shows up with the orange juice and rind. That flavor combination just sends me to hurl - now lime zest, lime juice, and tequila make a great cranberry compote! We alternate years, bourbon cranberries or tequila lime - everyone loves 'em!

Then there's the instant mashed potatoes - WTF - how hard is it to make real mashed potatoes. Thank heavens DH and I don't have to put up with that crap!