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This might sound stupid on a discussion of a food, but I'm deathly allergic to blueberries and wonder if anyone else has ever met anyone with this strange allergy. I'm allergic to no other food (but hesitate over huckleberries which are related to blue, I think) but became severely ill twice in my life and after analyzing the 2 events (some years apart, maybe 2 or 3?) could only come up with one thing in common in both meals- blueberries. I'd eaten them as a kid without problems but this happened when I was a teenager and I've never eaten another - just in case. Does anyone recognize this? I know most of you are here to talk about eating the things but i thought I'd ask. It can be gotten around but i have to avoid a lot of "mixed berry" foods, just in case.
Oh and Kathy? Terry Garey is a long time friend of mine so I'm delighted to see you mention her. Both she and I used to live in the bay area.

Yeah, right. That's where I'm going for good coffee - a chain/fast food restaurant. No matter how much "comfy seating" they add to a Subway, IT'S STILL A SUBWAY!
I can't imagine that there aren't good indies in the DC area. People who tend to go to fast food places want....um, fast food. The idea of settling into a fast food joint to enjoy my double latte just baffles me. No matter what they're selling, these places are meant for fast in/out, plastic, bright, shiny and quick. I do go to lots of coffee places where coffee is the primary menu item, not an afterthought. The design, the focus, the customer service is different in a coffee house/shop/cafe. I doubt very much that the Subway staffers would greet me a second time with "double tall?" or "the usual?" the way my local espresso cafe owner and her employees does and did from the start. (and yep, that's me, the Seattle coffee fan as referred to up there!)

EUUUU! You folks really eat those things? They're not really food you know.

We all have our secret bad foods, I'm sure but euuuuu!

It's all so grotesque. I don't watch her show - she just seems oddly phony, something that can come from seeming, or being just "too" southern. Her accents seems awfully thick, as if she ever left her home town, ever. It's fine that she's got a southern accent but most of my friends from the south just don't layer it on that thickly.

The "meal" isn't a meal, and isn't exactly cooking. A year from now, I expect to see it in the freezer case when they "brand' her crap and sell it as a frozen breakfast "treat". Doughnut sandwiches. Dear gods.

"With this she served baked garlic cheese grits, yogurt parfait, and chocolate chip pancakes with cinnamon (whipped) cream."
indygal, please tell me you're joking. I can't take too much more disappointment (after finding out that Ben and Jerry really aren't selling "Yes, Pecan!"

Clearly he uses raw to mean uncooked (see the recipe itself where it says "layer of uncooked lasagna noodles - i assume they are meant to absorb liquid during the overnight wait). The idea of all that sitting overnight bugs me and i'd love to know the point.

The lack of amounts, how much this or that shows that he's way more relaxed a cook than i am but i can't use a recipe that simply says "tomato sauce" and "ricotta cheese". I also don't get "a thick pile of spinach". Spread out? trimmed? I mean how hard IS it to steam spinach if you want it whole leaf. Doesn't it slime out this way?

it's not like cooking noodles is that challenging. I've used the same spinach lasagna recipe for 30 years; you cook the noodles while you're prepping the other stuff and poof. No onion, no herbs. How can you make lasagna without basil, oregano, all those great things that make tomatos sing?)

Would you leave all this in your refrigerator overnight? Do you see it as a good idea? Anyone tried it ever? i'd love to know other reactions.

Mmm...think I'll pass on the doughnut burger tonite :)

Wow, that's a ton of great ideas! Thanks so much, everyone. I plan to grab some at the market this weekend and see what I can make of it.

Slow-cooked courgettes on toast

I often cook courgettes like this - they lose most of their moisture and become a thick, fragrant, chunky mass. They can be used as a pasta sauce (just add a little cream) or the base for a lovely soup (just whizz up with a little stock and/or milk). But they also make a great toast topping - which of course the Italians would call bruschetta. Serves six as a light lunch.

3 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1kg courgettes, finely sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the toast/bruschetta

6 slices of coarse country bread

1 garlic clove, cut in half

Extra-virgin olive oil, or butter

Parmesan, or other grateable cheese (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the garlic, courgettes and a little salt. Cook gently, so the courgettes soften without browning. As they release their water, turn up the heat to bubble it off. When they become more concentrated and pulpy, turn it down again. Stir whenever they begin to catch on the pan, and do not allow them to brown more than a shade. Keep cooking until they are rich and oily, but not watery. Check seasoning.

Grill the bread, rub each side with garlic, and trickle with olive oil or melted butter. Pile a mound of the hot courgette mixture on top, grate over a little cheese, if you like, and serve.

You know how Bubba Gump goes on and on about shrimp? Well, I kinda have that same affinity for zucchini.

Delicious brushed with olive oil, s& p, then grilled on low heat. Don't let it burn, but get some grill marks. If the zucchini is small (about 6 inches long and about two fingers thick) I just wash, slice down the middle. If it's one of those monsters the size of a small child, then I slice on the diagonal slightly less than half inch thick for grilling.

Tempura-style or a Fritto Misto, with zucchini, sweet onion rings, mushrooms, sliced sweet potato. Fried anything is delicious.

Speaking of fried, at Brio's (probably at Bravo's, too) they have zucchini fries. Zucchini stips breaded and fried, topped with shredded parm and served with marinara. If you don't feel like cooking, go try those. Fried anything is delicious. Did I already say that?

Ratatouille--the version I make is chunky, but I love the elegant looking, thin sliced and arranged in a spiral version that I've seen on some food blogs lately.

Eric Ripart did a super easy zucchini dish recently on his blog. Sliced thin, arrange in a single layer on a baking tray brushed with olive oil or butter, salt, broil, turn, broil, plate, sprinkle with finely grated parmesan.

Asian style--sliced into rounds or half moons, about 1/4 inch thick. On medium, heat a wok or large skillet with a neutral oil. Add minced garlic, sautee briefly, add the zucchini, salt, sautee until the zucchini is nearly done, turning gently during cooking so as not to break up the zucchini too much, then drizzle a little toasted sesame seed oil and a handful of thinly sliced scallion, sautee a minute or two more, then transfer to a shallow serving bowl and garnish with a generous sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and a few thin slivers of scallions.

I really love zucchini, especially prepared simply like grilling or broiling or sauteeing, with little other than salt as seasoning.

I'm not sure if someone else suggested this since I was too lazy to read all of the comments (sorry), but I love sauteeing sliced zucchini with lemon juice, olive oil, the omnipresent S&P, and pine nuts or sesame seeds. Sautee the zucchini 'til it gets a little brown or black on the pan-side to get a nice caramelized nutty flavor. Nom nom nom.