Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

With melon or figs.

Eat Real Butter. Jen is so GENuine, doesn't suck up, and is an INCREDIBLY talented cook, baker and photographer.

Pretty bad here in here East Central Illinois as well, for the third stinking year in a row. I'm not even going to get all the canning stuff out for my meagre tomato harvest (I usually do 12-15 quarts just for canning). We've had only about 1" of rain in the last 5-6 weeks. I feel much more sorry for the farmers though, crops are stressed and their harvest will be way down.

@BitchinFixins and Carrie: the marinade I use has soy sauce, A-1, a wine and pepper Worchestershire, dehydrated onions, cayenne, mustard powder, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, Taptio, etc., it changes a bit each time I make it. I should clarify that I start out with 20lbs of meat, which probably makes about 7lbs. of jerky. My older brother's bag of it never even makes it home with him!

A friend in the UK just sent me Mint Aero bars. Taste the bubbles!

It takes a bit of early morning prep, but I chop carrots, potatoes, celery and onions and put a big roaster chicken in one. After a day of boating on the lake, come back to a delicious dinner. I also second the dump cobbler thing, we made enough for twelve people last year. I even brought CoolWhip to plop on top!

We've also made an egg/ham/hashbown/cheesy casserole that feeds a crowd. Boy Scout sites have a ton of tried and true recipes.

Poblanos and Thai chile peppers, basil, dill (the oregano, chives, thyme, parsley and sage are perennials), six or seven varieties of tomatoes: Roma (for canning), beefsteak, Brandywine, cherry and grape, a striped, and whatever else I feel like this year. I've got to have at least six Romas, though, the rest are just for eating fresh. I guess I've got my work cut out for me this weekend! And of course the mint is all over the place, regular and chocolate mint, which is excellent on strawberries.

Wow, it certainly sounds good and all, but... 'the kitchen crew slits and juices individual kernels of corn?'

Isn't that a bit excessive? Wouldn't a food mill do just as good a job? I'm not trying to be mean here, I'm really curious as to what the difference would be.

I think people just like: originally, what they know, and secondly, what they...like (see #1). I grew up in a family that cooked, and I was taught to cook...therefore, I cook. We all do.

Hamburger Helper, box cakes culture = more of the same. My younger son is at college now, and (from what he tells me, ha!), he eats salads and fruits along with mostly heathly choices, and I believe him, because that's the way he always ate at home, too. The kid ate a dozen peaches in one afternoon.

I prefer not to preach, but show by example. We are a very healthy family, because I have fed them mostly unprocessed foods over the years. That is NOT to say that there have not been Mac&cheeze dinners and Oreos and chips in the pantry, there certainly have been!

But telling someone else what to eat is like me telling the kids to put a jacket on when THEY'RE not cold, or them asking ME why I do have one on, if that makes any sense.

One of my brothers tried this in highschool once, and thank God it was summer (and we could open windows), because it about gassed the rest of us out of the house! We were all tearing up, and the smell lingered for a week or so. It's VERY powerful, it what I'm saying!

I wish for people to pronounce 'culinary' properly, but I fear that time is long gone.

I put some smashed garbanzo beans and cheese in mine, too (the kids never even knew they were getting fiber in there). I have used panko as a binder, and find that they stay together better if refrigerated for a bit before frying. We just had tuna burgers Friday for dinner!