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A brief tribute to the chief lunchlady at my school from grade 4-12. Mrs. Harwell fed about a hundred hungry kids every day. (towards the middle seventies she supervised two locations)

Almost all of the food was prepared onsite from fresh ingredients. NO surplus cheese or bunk food. Our school district was very small and had the benefit of being well funded. We paid a nominal fee for lunch.( I think it was fifty cents my senior year -1976). Potatoes arrived in a sack, were peeled and cooked from scratch.

In her kitchen the only thing that came out of can was condiments. She would come out into the lunchroom with a big pot under her arm of whatever was leftover about 20 minutes after everyone was seated and got many takers. The food was simple wholesome and fresh.

Pinto beans and cornbread from her kitchen was a feast I still remember.

@AliceBlue
Actually, I ripped off the name from Matt Groening from Futurama's opening credits. I love the divided plate idea-- and the rows of sinks. Maybe glass tables over sink bases? How about Dorito or Frito and bologna sandwiches?

I'm making a deep dish pizza tonight, and I'm already thinking about the leftovers tomorrow morning.

Bachelor Chow. Wow @MarvinDog, that's brilliant. What else would that restaurant serve? I'm thinking that instead of bowls, they serve soups/chili in tin cans. And they need to have those divided plates like from old school TV Dinners.

Cold pizza is fine for me, but not something I drool to think about.

Once you bite into a Great A&P 150th anniversary chocolate chunk cookie, that taste will make you forever foresake Whole Paycheck.

Head on over to any A&P Fresh and rediscover the origins of foodie paradise, great food at fantastic savings.

Can't beat that A&P!!!

If I have had a beer or ten I would eat just about any food that is cold.

this is probably wrong but when we order pizza to the dorm we often order an extra one that goes straight into the fridge for breakfast the next morning. cold pizza for breakfast is the best. especially if you have a hangover lol

@duncan: Set your oven to 350 to 400 degrees. Rinse the beets but don't peel or cut. It's important to wrap the beets individually in aluminum foil; that way, they'll steam as they roast, and the skin will peel off quickly and easily by hand when you've finished the roasting and allowed the beets to cool.

Roasting can take up to an hour but with small beets it's hard to tell. To test doneness, just stick a knife into the largest beet. When the knife passes through easily (like through semi-soft butter), the beets are done.

One note: you should put a pan covered with aluminum foil under the beets. Once you've poked holes in them, they'll leak very sugary juice onto the bottom of your oven, which caramelizes and is extremely hard to clean.

The dill dressing from this recipe is great: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Warm-Beet-Salad-with-Dill-1932

Also, a beet risotto is lovely and it turns out all pink! You can decorate the dish with shapes cut out of a beet slice. Lots of fun.

My favorite beet salad!!

http://veryculinary.com/_blog/2009/08/12/beet-and-cucumber-salad/

Beet salads are best served as light and refreshing sides.

I'd say the basic flavor profiles you want are acid, salt, and sweet, finished with olive oil and a nice cheese: feta, manchego or parmesan. Some great additions: shallots, parsley, mint, arugula, purslane, celery leaves, endive, frisee, walnuts, pepitas or pumpkin seeds.

Here's my most recent creation:

5 medium beets, roasted and coarsely diced

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 orange, juice and zest
1 lemon, juice
1 shallot, fine dice
2 teaspoons fresh mint, chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste

Finish with shaved parmesan.

Enjoy!

We appreciate all your feedback on the fest. We're taking to heart the lessons we've learned and we will certainly apply them to any events we get involved with in the future. If you'd like to request a refund, please contact jimlewi@theagencygroup.com. These requests will be addressed on a case by case basis. We are closing comments on this post. If you have additional feedback that you'd like to share with us, e-mail foodfest@seriouseats.com.

I'm mad but no longer fuming about the whole fiasco. As the anger is settling, I've come to the conclusion that more than apologies, which though sincere still don't really make up for anything, Serious Eats and/or whoever ran the show owes us, the poor souls who gave up a BEAUTIFUL Saturday - if you live or have ever lived in the Bay Area you know good weather is a rarity - the good food which we expected. Gift certificates to local eatiers, mail order Pink's hot dogs, I don't care what it is, it just better be tasty.

@bruisedbuddha - Thanks, I'm here every Friday. ;)