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Just out of curiosity, why did you guys taste the Berio Extra Light Tasting rather than their Extra Virgin?

buttered noodles, tortillas with melted cheese, radishes, cereal and dried cranberries. not all together, but those are the things I'm most likely to get into when by myself.

No special experiences yet, but if I win the book I'll make some brave potatoes and together we will save the world!

If you're trying to eat things that are reasonably healthy and calorific, this list is from http://healthyceri.blogspot.com/2008/05/cers-famous-healthy-calorie-dense-food.html

Ceri's "famous" calorie dense foods list:

- All natural peanut butter
- Dark chocolate
- Raw almonds, cashews & other nuts
- Fruit & especially Fruit Juice
- Whole grains, pastas, rice & cereals
- Potatoes, yams
- Sunflower seeds
- Dried fruit
- Beans & other legumes
- Avocado
- Dairy such as 2% milk, cheese, yogurt
- Fish high in omega-3's such as salmon, tuna
- Red meats with the word "round" or "loin" in the name
- Cook vegetables/meats/etc in olive oil
- Add flaxseed or flaxseed oil to your food
- If you can't get enough calories from food, try a meal replacement shake. Add peanut butter, flax oil, fruit, etc to make it even more calorie dense.

We had great success with his recipe, but made a few changes (we don't think like chefs - we think like people who want dinner). Used our soup/pasta pot (6 qt.), 3 VERY BIG leeks and just under 3 lbs of potatoes. We added the stock 1/2 c. at a time, but 1) we're impatient and still poured it in pretty fast and 2) we decided we wanted more liquid so we added one more cup of water. Finally, we ust cooked it until the taters were done and then blended some of it with the stick blender. And it was delicious. :)

Is SoCo a cheap sloe gin? I never knew that, but I guess I'd never given it much thought. Dear lord, a good sloe gin might get me in all sorts of trouble.

I'm with MaryRas - except my mom's, not her mom's. :)

Aw, ya made me drool! So where can I acquire some "aged, crystallized goat's milk cheese," anyways??? Because I assure you, I love goat cheese.

Once every few years I'll bring 7-layer salad to an event and people flip out. People my parents age (60+) seem amused and surprised that I know what it is, let alone that I'd bring it. It's more fun to watch younger people react, though, because of the shock and awe response to the amount of mayo-cheese-bacon. Maybe not so much kitchy, though - isn't it a southern thing?

Impromptu Sunday dinner with another couple was lentil salad, grilled mild Italian sausages and grilled zucchini with cantaloupe for dessert. I like cooking for people, and only have one other friend who likes to, so everyone is always unreasonably impressed that I can give them dinner without any notice. Kind of nice, really!

When eating anything that is filled (burritos, pasties, pies), I eat the filling first, then the crust/wrapper.

And I sort things like granola, m&ms, etc. and eat them all evenly, as well. I thikn it started as a way to prevent me from wolfing down an entire bag of candy and is now an entertaining way to baffle my husband.

Hah! I totally understand your hurt feelings - my husband's brother and his family are crazy picky! And generally opt to tell me things like "oh, we don't like our green beans this crunchy," since I don't cook them for hours in bacon fat.

Don't apologize - you're not a mind reader and your MIL was probably just talking, not even realizing that you might take her comments as anything. And don't let your miffedness get the best of ya - I'm sure that even if it's not the food that they would choose to make themselves, they have enjoyed every time you've been kind enough to make them dinner.

And by all means, make them steaks, salad, green beans and taters until you feel like making them something else!