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I hate the whole tipping custom. I would much rather pay one person (the restaurant owner) enough to cover the REAL cost of my meal AND the service. Instead, I have to pay both the restaurant owner (for the food and setting) as well as the server and whoever else gets a share, over which, please note, I as customer have no control, although how much I leave in addition to the price of the meal is supposedly a response to only the server's behavior. AND, I have to do the math, which I don't enjoy. Also, I hate the idea of having to give a free job performance review at the end of a meal (I hate doing that at work, too, but that's another story; at least I have gotten paid for it).

That said, I usually tip 20% if the service is average to good, maybe a bit less if it isn't, because those in the biz didn't set the rules and it's not fair to punish them for working under stupid conditions. But I still hate the whole darn thing. We are chumps to put up with it, but I don't know how to change it.

The sauteed brussels sprouts and bacon can hardlly go wrong.

Maple walnut cornbread. And I don't usually like to interfere with a classic, but it sounds so good.

I keep the curry paste in the refrigerator consistently after opening. This has happened to me with a couple of brands. It's just plain weird.

I keep the soy sauce in the cupboard. I have tried rinsing the top of the soy sauce bottle after use, to no avail. Maybe I should wipe it instead - I'll try that.

Bacon, lettuce, tomato on toasted white with mayonnaise and a sprinkle of green onions/chives.

What was known where I worked as "Dr. Perlmutter's sandwich" - involving shrimp salad prepared with extra something that made it better than the shrimp salad offered to others in the regular cafeteria. Dr. P. was detained one day, so they gave it to me and it was wonderful. But they would only make it for him.

Some kind of calzone I will create with some of my refrigerated artisan no-knead bread dough, and the mushrooms and baby spinach I liberated from the refrigerator earlier - maybe some parmesan or that gouda with nuts that's still lurking in there, as well. The baking should warm up the house.

Kristen, thanks! I wound up buying a "medium" size squash from among the choices at my grocer's, which came to 2.5 pounds, but I figured that I Iike squash and I don't know what to do with half of one, so go ahead! But I found that I wound up with about two layers of squash in the 8" by 8" pan (which I didn't change because I wanted the sauce and butter to cover the recommended area to be topped), and the middle layer didn't cook as well (it was good, but it didn't have the browning or the tenderness of the bottom layer). The apple layer and the cranberries were fine, as was the sauce. All told, it was very good and worth repeating. I served it with sweet Italian turkey sausages that I cooked in the oven with the vegetables for the last 20 minutes and browned off under the broiler, a fine flavor combination - maybe next time cook the sausages in with the vegetables? Altogether, a success.

Mushroom soup (frozen this spring when I got an insane deal on fresh mushrooms), artisan bread, and the bacon/fig/brussels sprout dish from the New York Times (an experiment).

I got mine several years ago at Target: Aroma Water Kettle, AWK-1158. My Brit fiance liked it so much he got one too. Fast, reliable, easy to use, cheap.

White toast, cut into squares and put in the dark blue bowl (I think it's Fiesta ware). Crack soft boiled egg over toast and scoop out with a spoon. Add salt and pepper (lots of pepper). Mix with spoon. It's not the same if you don't use the blue bowl.

Let us know how the unusual pot roast turns out, please, yayfood. I am currently making a stew in the oven at 275 degrees, supposedly leaving it there for 8-10 hours - browned chuck cubes, canned chopped tomatoes and their juice, cup of fresh basil, 8 cloves garlic, tablespoon cracked pepper, red wine, covered tightly. It smells great, and is taking the chill off.

Can't hear anything on the video. What's up?

Thanks, yayfood. This sounds wonderful! Could you give me some directions? I'm hopeless at guessing how much butter to how much (many, although I don't count them) seeds.