Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Actually, I had an early aversion to red meat, but I, like many children, feared many, many vegetables. I blame this on the 70s-era tendency to either overcook everything or serve it completely raw. Either one could inspire morbid fear in even the most hardcore vegetable lover. Also, I partially blame the 70s era style of parenting that said not to force any foods on your children that they rejected.

For about 4-5 years I ate few vegetables other than corn, potatoes, onions, and well-disguised broccoli (80s style quiche, cheese sauce), along with the occasional thousand-island drenched iceberg lettuce. Ah, and artichokes. I could be convinced to eat steamed artichokes, but probably because we could drench it in lemon butter.

However, starting in my teenage years I started to realize that not all vegetables were terrible, and cafeteria meat in the Midwest generally is, so by 19, I was a full-blown vegetarian. Now I'll eat anything, including brussels sprouts, as long as they're prepared decently. And most restaurants have learned how, and even some home cooks have figured it out.

I'm not finicky or picky, but I do put a lot of emphasis on my dinnerware. My habit of collecting Japanese ceramics means that I sometimes expend as much effort picking the right plate for dinner as I do thinking about what to cook.

In most French-influenced cooking, the food decorates the plate... but in Japanese cuisine, the plate decorates the food. I prefer this latter style of presentation, generally. The plate can mute or emphasize the colors and textures of the food on it.

Many Japanese also think that food tastes different when it's served on the right plate.

I certainly feel that wayt when I take leftovers to work in plastic containers for lunch....

I don't have a precise recipe, but I've made a musk melon sorbet a couple of times before.

One thing I learned when making a melon sorbet that turned quite icy was that I needed a bit more sugar than I expected, because the melon is mostly water. Balance that sugar with a little lemon juice. You can also use a splash of alcohol (neutral like vodka or complementary in flavor, like perhaps a white rum) added to the ice cream maker in the last minute or two.

I must have my coffee in a certain size mug, so apparently I'm not alone. I also must have my table look inviting for guests, even at a barbecue. It is usually simple- appropriate dinnerware, silverware, linens, candles and great flowers. When I serve, the platters must look like art- pretty colors arranged with thought.

Watermelon!

I HATE cantaloupe. The smell of it makes me sick, and I can't eat anything that it has touched (ie, fruit salad or a fruit bowl) because its pungent juice gets all over everything else and the taste of it makes me gag. I think this is a result of having eaten bad cantaloupe a few years back and now I'm scarred for life.

I'm picky about drinking cold liquids in a glass. It's nauseates me to drink cold juice, water, or soda in a mug. Don't know why.

I agree with DocChuck----heated plates for pastas, chilled bowls for salads, ice cream, frosty mugs for rootbeer floats. Yes! All foods served with spotlessly clean utensils in likewise vessels.

(I was going to cite that very episode, Annmarie, but decided I was being too negative about a show that I never, ever miss an episode of. But you have to know that those carpenters were probably thinking she was totally nutso.)