Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My Grams were wonderful, smart, loving, tough, sensible German immigrants. How I loved those women!

Grandma Clara: "Always offer your guests something. Even if all you have are humble crackers, offer them with love on your best plate." Most valued possession, Gram Clara's apron she hand-embroidered with cherries.

Grandma Viola: "Your meat needs to have a bone and fat. Fat is where the flavor is. The bone will make soup the next day." My most cherished posession is Gram Viola's is her solid maple rolling pin. If I only had a nickel for every pie crust rolled with that pin!

I was on a business trip and staying at a hotel that served a free breakfast outside of Cedar Rapids. I was working late (it was around 4:00 am) and all I could smell was waffles, and was literally drooling. All I could think of was there would be waffles for breakfast. When I went down for breakfast -- no waffles. When I asked, the hotel servers smiled. We were down wind from a Quaker Oats factory that was making cereal that night and THAT was what I was smelling!

Salmon. I have tried it many times, but just don't like it. It's the texture. I also never got on the 'sun-dried tomatos' kick that was all the rage several years ago, again, it was the texture.

I thought I was the last person on Earth not to own a microwave!! Nice to know I am not alone. Not having a microwave is the reason I cook today. When I first graduated from college and got my first apartment, I couldn't afford a microwave. I didn't see the use of cooking a frozen dinner for an hour in the oven when I could make something much better in half the time. I have been cooking and loving it ever since.

Home canned dill pickles. Every year I try, every year I'm disappointed.

Ha! I got a kick out of the 'high' shelf stuff. At 5'1", EVERYTHING is on the high shelf to me!

I understand your dilema. Last month I cleaned out my pantry and discovered I had multiples of canned goods I didn't realized I had (for example, I always would buy tomato paste thinking I needed it and when I cleaned the pantry, found out I had 12 cans - two with an expiration date of '05!). Clean out your pantry and be brutal - toss anything that is past its prime. Also get rid of all the boxes of pasta that only have an ounce or two of pasta left in it, you may find you have 5 or more boxes like this and it really takes up space. Ditto for all the 'foodie' items you thought were a good thing at a time but never used - e.g., special vinegars, anchovies, etc. Wipe down all the shelves when you are done. Pause to admire your clean pantry.

Next, re-stock your pantry using the tips the wonderful posters before me suggested. Be careful not to buy canned goods that are a really good buy (like 10 for $10) but that you will never use, if you don't use them, they are not a good buy. That will just get you in the same spot you are in now.

Funny, although I like to kick up my other sandwiches, I like my turkey sandwich very plain - white bread, lettuce, salt, and mayo.

I am torn on this one. Whenever I see Alex, I am reminded of when she was a contestant on the Thanksgiving Dinner Food Network Challenge (she didn't win). She seemed to have a mental breakdown during the competition. She was crying in front of the judges saying how hard it was for her to have her food judged in front of her. She completely lost it. I find it hard to take her serious as a judge on Iron Chef because of it.

That said, I though what she was making looked very good and will probably try one of her recipes.

I know some pizzerias in the Midwest use brick cheese instead of mozzarella. Real brick cheese (not the stuff found vacuumed packed in the grocery store from large manufactureres) can become very strong and full-flavored if left to age. Only thing, I don't know if they make it in wheels!

To me, the BLT is the perfect sandwich. Two slices of toasted white bread, thick slice of home-grown Beefmaster tomato, crisp (almost burnt) slices of bacon, leaves of home-grown lettuce, slight smear of Miracle Whip, and a light sprinkle of salt.

Hmmm - since you are in your local library, I am assuming most of your patrons will have reading material with them, and the library will have WIFI, a plus for you. Here are my two cents worth of suggestions:

Cater to the library crowd. I am assuming most of your patrons will be either high school/college aged students, families with very young children checking out a gazillion books, and senior citizens.

Does the library feature a book, video, or author of the month? Choose a coffee that represents the location of the book or native to the author for your cleverly-named special. The price of the special should really be a value, students and seniors probably either can't afford or will balk at $4+ per cup. Try to keep it $3 or less if you can. This is only for the special, not the other coffee offerings. For the kiddies, how about a themed sugar cookies, Dr. Suess, Harry Potter, etc. The kiddies want cookies, the parents will treat themselves to a higher-priced coffee at the same time.

For the cultural-continuing education-minded, do a coffee-tasting night once a month, similar to a wine tasting. Pair various coffees with food and educate the attendees on how to taste coffee, etc. Of course, you will have the coffee beans featured during the tasting available for purchase. Heck, I would attend a coffee tasting!!!!!!!!!

I have canned dilly beans and strawberry jam (using apple juice instead of sugar this year, turned out quite tasty) so far.

I am determined that '08 is the year I finally can a decent dill pickle. I try them every year, and every year they are either not as crisp as I like or are too vinegary. I will hit on the perfect mix sooner or later that I can proudly share with family and friends.

Do you use the water bath method or steam method for canning? I have only done the water bath but would like to try steam.