Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I love all of those things. I don't have them anymore at my thanksgiving table, but if I'm served (any and all of it!) somewhere, I go for it and bask in nostalgia for days gone by with Nana and the whole fam!

I come from Brooklyn, where one of my fondest childhood memories is the daily walk I took with my father and uncle to the neighborhood bagel bakery (in Boro Park).

I now live in California, after living 20 years in Massachusetts. I have never been able to find a Brooklyn-style bagel, and I wonder if they still exist.

My childhood bagels were hard and chewy, there was no way to make a sandwich from them. I ate them radially, schmearing the exposed end with cream cheese and eating my way around.

At the company cafeteria today, everyone was talking about bagels, and all but one person laughed at me for eating bagels the way I did. The one person who concurred with me, was a Bulgarian. He was a true Bagel maven.

Don't be hating on me, but Campbell's creamy onion soup is far superior to use in casseroles versus the cream of mushroom. When I took over Thanksgiving duty from my MIL, that marshmallow sweet potato monstrosity was banned from my menu. As well as the canned cranberry "sauce", I make my own SF version from the real cranberries from the produce section.

true hidden treasure. easily missed by most tourists, thankfully.

CROISSANTS CROISSANTS CROISSANTS so yummy!

My daughter has discovered Yukon Golds so we use those now, but usually we use russets. Cut them in half and bring to a boil in salted water. When done, drain, remove to a plate, and turn heat down to low. Place each half of potato into a ricer (cut side down), and squeeze the potato into the cooking pot on low. After all the potatoes have been riced, keep sitrring until the bottom of the pot begins to get a thin layer of stuck potato. Add butter (and cheese if using), mix together then add the salt, pepper and milk.

The trick of driying out the potatoes in a low heat pan is from Julia Child.

Yukon Gold or Russet
Unsalted Butter
Whole Milk
Kosher Salt and Black pepper
Optional:
Goat Cheese, Feta, Parmesan, Roasted Garlic

@tvilov, perhaps you would be better off not knowing.

Since pasta and beans are so cheap try combining them. In a tablespoon of olive oil slightly cook about 3 cloves of garlic. Add one or two cans of pinto beans and chopped up broccoli and serve over a pound of short pasta (penne or rigatoni). As always puts some parmesean cheese on top. $4 total

Cook about 4 cloves of garlic and 2 or 3 whole pepperoncini (probably about 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes) in a half cup of olive oil, serve over pasta. $3 total

1 Onion cooked in half a stick of butter, add a can or 2 of tuna and serve over pasta. $5 total

3 cans of tomatoes (15 ounces each) cooked with either garlic or onions (not both), basil, salt, pepper, a dash of red wine vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar. $4 total

Throw some Edam or Gouda cheese in with pasta and nothing else. $5 total

Anthony Bourdain is an intelligent guy that cracks me up when in interviews, but his show bores me to death.

Giada's food sucks. It has no flavor! What the heck is AB thinking? Please get rid of Sandra Lee, I get a headache when I hear her speak. I feel like everyone is just repeating catch phrases that the other person said. We need ppl that actually know what they're saying. Bring back Mario, Emeril, Wolfgang Puck, hell even bring back Ready Set Cook!

@gabagool
The Barefoot Contessa was the name of the Hamptons gourmet food store that Ina bought years ago. Her husband spends his week at Yale and comes home on Fridays. Her friends are a little creepy, but so what!

Paula Deen is probably a decent home cook; she tells you that she isn't a chef ~ which is obvious to anyone who ever cooks anything that isn't loaded with butter, cream cheese and sour cream. And/or deep fried. That stunt with the Krispy Kreme donuts as the hamburger bun, still makes me gag a little. I do find her antics mildly amusing and sometimes grossly embarrassing

Wow.. none from Missouri? Even Alton Brown knew of the legendary spots in St. Louis.

No Sweetwaters?? Thats my favorite shop of all time. http://www.sweetwatersdonuts.com/default2.asp?active_page_id=130

I like the peanut butter and jelly donuts, and Reese's is always a crowd pleaser.

asparagus, green beans, corn, and different jams would be my top choices. I would love to win this! In fact I was thinking of having my husband's grandmother teach me how to can.