Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Mmmm I just got back from Italy -- I love prosciutto on a freshly baked roll, maybe with a little cheese and definitely with a glass of wine!

Damn this was good! My fiance and I love spicy food, but even I was taken aback by the volume of spice in this (a TABLEspoon of allspice??) But, I followed these directions, and this came out amazing. Our chorizo was kind of old and freezer burnt; if we used some good fresh stuff I'm sure it would have been even better.

....and coming from someone who uses garlic as a vegetable and not a seasoning, there wasn't all that much in this? I might toss in a couple extra cloves next time :)

I had no idea this type of debate was occurring behind the bars of America. Maybe I'm just low-class, but I'm not sure I'd want to grab drinks with someone who got their panties in a twist over 1/8 oz of extra gin. If your drink has more than a handful of ingredients, and they need to be measured *just so*, maybe you should just order a beer. A good bartender is a good bartender, with or without a jigger (although I am duly horrified by Kenji's "margarita" story).

Quizno's does not have provolone cheese. HOW do you run a sub shop without provolone, or American for that matter? Cheddar on a sub? No. Mozzarella? Only on meatball subs. Swiss, eh, not a fan. The only reason I go to subway and not Quizno's is their lack of appropriate cheese. Also, I never get my sub toasted. And as everyone else, I prefer the local mom & pop place when I have a choice...

Ugh, I second the annoyance at people who drag an entire cart of groceries through the self-scan lane. I live in western NY, so I usually go to Wegmans, which always has scads of friendly cashiers who do their job competently. When I'm stuck going to the far inferior Tops, they'll have a few regular lanes open - and no express lanes open. This means if you only have a few items, you go through self-check. Unfortunately, there's always some puckered OCD fool spending 20 minutes checking and bagging a week's worth of groceries while I wait for them to finish so I can self-check my single carton of milk. GAH! I'm fine with self-check lanes if they're reserved for people with 10 or fewer items... but I perfer the Wegman's setup of just having plenty of cashiers on duty.

Okay, I can't get over the author's name... "Sue Veed"?? :D

I go through a box of Diamond Crystal kosher salt about every 2 years... I cook at home for about 95% of my meals and use no processed foods. Anyone who doesn't salt their food or claims not to be able to tell the difference must have woefully weak tastebuds! I had some really under-salted beef last night, and it was completely obvious from first bite... Count me as one of those who thought that this was a pretty basic "common knowledge" part of cooking... salt brings out the best flavor! You don't have to dump a cup of it in, but taste and salt, taste and salt.

I grew up in Buffalo NY calling it "pop". @anysuchname -- "soda" used to sound uppity to me too!

When I went to college and was exposed to "soda" usage, I slowly started assimilating. Now, it's "soda" all the way, and "pop" sounds kind of... whatever the opposite of uppity is... hick-ish?

@ArchieLeach -- I second that! I've always thought these "Cook the Book" entries would be much improved by a pic of the actual recipe rather than just the book cover.

Lentil salad with tomato, cuke, and mint. Top with pan-grilled halloumi cheese. Ready in no time, easy peasy.

Pecan tassies -- they look like tiny pecan pies! And I could eat about a dozen.

Awww, these remind me of my grandma! She also rolled hers in confectioner's sugar after baking. I think she balled the dough, but they didn't spread much (like Mexican wedding cakes) I never got her recipe, so I'm glad to see this one... :)

Really, just any dinner at my parents' house with the extended family: everyone talking over everyone else, drinking too much wine, passing dishes every which way... Thanksgiving is the epitome of that setting, enhanced by the fall colors and everyone in sweaters, using the "good" china, and of course the over-the-top dessert spread, finished off with a big pot of coffee.... thinking about this is making me hungry!

@carriebwc : hear, hear!
Personally, I simply cannot make a huge batch of sauce and freeze it -- my miniscule apartment has a miniscule fridge with a miniscule freezer in it... all it holds is one ice cube tray and a couple of chicken breasts.

As others have said, spaghetti is my "I'm dog-tired and I'm not cooking tonight" meal. When I want to dirty a bunch of pans and stand over the stove for 30 minutes, I make something a lot more interesting than spaghetti!!

I haven't seen Batali's sauce in my supermarket... I'm a little taken aback by the price tag, but I'd be willing to try it once, just to see if it really blows my old stand-by, Classico, out of the water.