I happen to have a desk about twenty feet away from the lunchroom and bathrooms, and someone had some sort of smelly fish for breakfast this morning... and obviously the smell spread all over the office, so now we have people running around and spraying cans of deodorizer in the air.

Generally I don't have an issue with what people eat, but this was a really sickening way to start the day. This isn't the first time this has happened -- a few months ago, someone burnt their microwave popcorn in the morning and smelled up the office in a similarly unpleasant fashion. What's a nice way to address the food smell issue to my coworkers?

Unfortunately, my work is sending me away for training to the state capitol for a few days. Fortunately, hubs has the same week off from work, so he's coming with me! Any recommendations for good restaurants, etc? We're heading down at the end of the month.

Hubs and I are going to take a day trip there on Friday and will most likely be stopping for dinner. I've been recommended Quahog's Seafood Shack in nearby Stone Harbor, and told to avoid the Lobster House as it's a tourist trap with a bleh atmosphere and long waits. Primarily we'd like to try out the local seafood without spending an arm and a leg. Any suggestions?

For the past few days, this message intermittently appears whenever I drop a comment on a topic in Talk:

Thank you for commenting.
Your comment has been received and held for approval by the blog owner.

Subsequently, my comment never appears on the topic I've replied to. Any help, SE? I really want to comment on the pork belly thread, but didn't realise my suggestion was so incendiary. I promise I'll tone it down! :P

It was mentioned in a thread awhile back, but when starting a new post, the preview function doesn't seem to be working. In the previewing topic box, it only provides the default message without changes ("enter a title above, enter a message, blah blah").

(Previews are working for comments, though!)

In a series of miscommunications, instead of purchasing the angel food cake which I so craved, dear husband ended up purchasing a carton of egg whites with the idea that I was going to bake a cake tonight. Umm, not so much.

I've never cooked with just plain egg whites, and as I hate to waste something that my husband thoughtfully purchased (even mistakenly), I'm looking for suggestions aside from the omelette variety. Go!

Once upon a time, you were invited to a gathering where food was served by the host... except that the food wasn't just "meh, I could do better", it was worse. What was it, and were you able to keep a straight face?

For me, my most memorable experience was when my parents-in-law invited us over for assemble-your-own fajitas. The look on my brother-in-law's face when his mom brought out her version of guacamole was priceless: mashed overripe avocado and soft-boiled egg. My husband, normally someone who keeps his ruder thoughts to himself, blurted out, "Holy s***, that looks like zombie brains!"

This conversation came up today at lunch in regards to Halloween candy -- one girl admitted that she sorted her M&Ms in colours, another said that she ate the edges of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups before starting in the middle.

For me, it's one of two things -- eating Cadbury mini eggs in batches of colours, and keeping everything on my plate in neat sections. So I'm curious -- all you Serious Eaters, time to 'fess up. What are your eating quirks? :D

An acquaintance recently linked to me a do-and-don't list for restaurant staffers off the NYT. He felt that the article was fairly uptight in tone, and questioned whether it was an attempt to make servers "robotic and impersonable".

Personally, I found the list pretty enjoyable to read from both a customer and a server perspective. (I especially cheered at #5.) What do you think?

Thanks to all who commented on my last post regarding compact dinners for school. Today I decided that I wanted to bring onigiri this week, but I'm falling short of ideas.

Right now, I do have a frozen pre-grilled unagi which has been patiently waiting to be eaten... also, furikake which I recently purchased from Wegman's. I also have a packet of zhacai (Chinese salty vegetables) which I could try out.

What would you recommend?

My husband and I have different work schedules, and as a result we have to figure out a basic meal list for the week. It ends up being planned in two ways:

1) Looking at what's in our fridge and freezer, and deciding on meals based on said ingredients. (We came up with this technique after my mother decided to pack our freezer with tons of frozen meats during her yearly visit to our side of the continent... let's just say, she is a pro packer.)

2) Finding recipes (nowadays, from SE!) that I've been dying to try, and buying ingredients as a result.

In the end, the list of 'meal ideas' ends up on a whiteboard on our fridge, and we cook based on the list and what we feel like for the evening; if something's remaining on that list, we leave it up for the next.

Just curious if anyone takes a similarly insane route for their meal planning... :) If not, how do you decide what you're eating for dinner?

I'm currently attending evening classes at a local university after work, and I'm not able to go home for dinner before classes begin. As I've already exhausted the local Cosi and cheesesteak shop on campus, I'd like to try and bring my own dinners (both for health and economic reasons). As I am relying on public transportation and also carrying significantly heavy items for school, I'd like to make this as compact (but tasty!) as possible.

Ideas, please! :)