Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The Oregon Dairy is great! Good breakfast buffet...never been there for lunch, but they are on Oregon Pike in Lititz.

@seemunkee - That was great!!! Loved that link!

The first thing my partner ever made for me was a steak, broccoli and baked potato dinner. I think that can qualify as the LBD meal for those who eat meat. She has very limited cooking skills and like someone who has limited fashion sense, that simple and classic little black dress can make them look like a million bucks! The dinner swayed me, for sure!

It's a meal you can power up or down...grill in the backyard & serve on paper plates or broil in the high rise with the classic china and glassware!

Agree on the bruschetta. Goes with anything!

@OneWallKitchen - your statement of "Back then, we didn't hire people JUST to round up carts. We had to do it when we had time and weren't doing something more important," sort of irks me that you think getting carts isn't part of the customer service responsibility.

This post went out on 5/22 and has over 70 responses. This issue is very important to a lot of people as I read how many folks here are irritated by this. If you are a manager, gathering carts ought to be one of the more important parts of your staff's jobs! Just because an employee isn't working with a particular customer directly, doesn't mean its any less important overall.

However, as has been mentioned, our low expectations of customer service today are appalling! It's almost epidemic to see how we just take what we're given for convenience sake and forget about the fact that we can use our pocketbooks to make a statement. I too, do the same thing...I shop at a store that's on my way home and not at the Wegman's where customer service is an all-time high for grocery stores in my area.

I have also covered this topic on my blog and it's one of the things that will make my blood pressure go up. This and people not using their turn signals, but that's for another blog/site. I'll stay on topic!

My grocery store has employees whose smarts about gathering carts is parallel to packing grocery bags...there are no smarts! They avoid it at all costs till there aren't any in the store or the only one's left are the *bestest* carts of all with the wheels that don't work or the front seat is messed up!

I don't see the thing about putting a child in a car seat (that's the right thing to do anyway, right?) while you have the car in a direct line of vision for 30 seconds to be so god-awfully dangerous as long as the car is locked. And if you have an elderly or ill person with you, shouldn't you try and find a better time to go grocery shopping so you don't have to take them? Or better yet, ask for help from someone, be it the store or a friend or family member to make your life easier.

Before stepping down from my soapbox, I do think this has something to do with food as it's part of our hunter-gatherer survival methods in gaining the supplies we need to make serious food. For many of us this is a serious issue...damage caused by wayward shopping carts left by the lazy, inconsiderage bastards who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves (thanks DMC!) is considerable and it's just not right or fair to do to fellow human beings!

******stepping down now.....

Just baking in general. There are only a few things I have in my repitiore and even those I can screw up! A Betty Crocker applesauce cake where everything goes in one bowl and guess what I forgot to add? Yup! The applesauce!

Even boxed mixes can be stumpers for me! I tend to forget to pull things out beforehand to get them soft or room temp. Don't know if that's my problem or not, but baking is just not my thing...I can poach eggs, make omlettes - even flip them in the air to turn them over - roasted chicken or potatoes, rice, soup...all that's fine for me. I just can't get over the baking thing, no matter what!

I won't invest in a bigger grill, it's a space issue mostly and a shared back yard with family...a bit complicated, however, my brother-in-law who has the BIG grill on the property and I are having a semi-serious Rib Cook Off, so wanted your advice.

Had the idea to start in the oven and finish off on the grill, but wanted to see what you all said.

Yes, I'm going to make a grill rub with smoke flavor and love the idea of keeping them warm in the cooler!

I have about 5 pounds of country style ribs and about another 5 pounds of spare ribs...the B-I-L has the rest of the meat and I know there are a few who won't eat the pork, so there will be some variety of protein!

Thanks folks! Never let me down!

Ice cream in a cup with a spoon from an ice cream shop? Unfathomable!

Pretzel cone if they are available. Love that salt and sweet together the best and the crunch is great. Otherwise its a waffle cone!

Duck eggs are coveted by my baker friends. We used to have ducks and ate their eggs and I miss them! They are stronger tasting if you like them fried and runny, but I find them to be delicious and I'm truly not an egg eater...almost can't eat more than about once every two or three weeks!

Duck egg yolks are huge, high and very bright orange! The whites are thick and need a bit extra beating with a fork to make them less viscous...but, my friends love baking with them because they make cakes rise...and if you only have two, that would be perfect for a recipe...

Although, if they are really big...often bigger than a jumbo chicken egg, you may only wish to use one or measure the volume instead. They can be like having a double-yolker chicken egg...

Here's a margarita for you & don't knock it till you try it~~~ Absolutely GREAT!
New Alison Margarita’s
Courtesy of The Sweet Potato Queen’s Book of Love by Jill Conner-Brown

1 – 12 ounce can of Limeade
1 – 12 ounce bottle of Corona
12 oz Tequila
12 oz Triple Sec
12 oz 7-Up – never Sprite, not ever!

Pour all into a pitcher and stir. Pour over ice with or without salt on the rim of glass. DO NOT PUT IN BLENDER!

Hannah,
Wonderful article. Quite revealing and not an easy thing to do when it comes to your weight and your eating disorder...I commend you and really enjoy your entries here.
Thanks for opening up to us.

Hands down - ABC!

I agree with folks here that it's not a steadfast rule. I'm one of those who is self-taught, but I am a "cook" not a chef. Never had any formal training and think for cooking that may be easier than being a pastry chef unless someone's willing to teach you on the job.

There's so much precise-ness (is that a word?) and if you screw up you can't necessarily turn it into something else as you often can with cooking.

I imagine that there's more chance to lose product/revenue if you don't know what your doing as a pastry chef...things take hours and hours to make and if you don't know the chemistry behind it, the work can all be for naught.

A few baking classes under your belt to learn large scale measurments and such would be nice and most community colleges have something like this in their rosters.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I would bring my World Famous Veggie Chili! Even hard-core carnivores are Wowwed by this pot of goodness!

Would also have to bring some wine...nobody said wine yet, did they?...and maybe we'll do a taste test of box wine vs. bottle or cork vs. screw top...could be fun!

@dbcurrie - your buns and breadsticks were my reason for chili bringing!!! Can't you bring them along with the containers for leftovers?

@CJ McD - great posting of a question...now if we could only do this!