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Find a sweet & spicy rub and rub it well into both sides. Sear well on both sides using hot coals or a griddle or electric skillet. Place a flat rack in the bottom of a large roasting pan, then wrap the seared brisket in heavy foil and place on rack. Poke a few holes in the bottom side of the foil so some of the juice drains out. Cook at 200-225 for 30 minutes per pound until very tender.
I usually make it one day, let it cool and then slice and reheat the next day w/bbq sauce if you like. Being meat&potato people, I would probably fix scalloped potatoes or a potato casserole. Doing both the day before is nice because the mess is cleaned up.

I usually don't have much for lunch - but today was a nice exception.
We had a soup pot-luck. There were 6 different kinds of homemade soup,
several loaves of homemade bread, a plate of relishes and some cookies for dessert. Now I just want to take a nap! If we did these too often we'd never get any work done.
White chili w/ chicken
Gumbo w/chicken and smoked sausage
Borscht
Chuckwagon stew
Broccoli cheddar
Baked potato w/bacon & cheese

We have them several times a year and they are hit and miss. One was a soup theme and we had about 8 types of soup and the rest filled in with salads, breads, desserts. We have our share of store boughts, but would rather have staff participate and enjoy rather than thinking they needed to bring something over-the-top, from scratch in order to take part.
One of the best potluck stories isn't from work but from a social group that gets together every month for dessert and conversation. This took place back in the late 1950's or early '60's. (the group, mainly farm wives, has been together in some form for close to 80 years) They had a Sunday night potluck and brought the husbands to share the meal. EVERY member brought a pie! No meats, no vegies, no salads, just pie. Since then they usually send around a sign-up sheet so there's a little protein! I'm sure the old farmers loved the pie, but would have appreciated some meat and potatoes first.

There's a book called "The Perfect Mix" by Diane Phillips that has
"90 gift-giving ideas for bread, soup, dessert and other homemade mixes."
Check to see if your library has it. Lots of great ideas.

We live in the country so have no one to buy for, but that doesn't stop me from doing it anyway! There is one neighborhood where a co-worker lives where about everyone in town goes to trick or treat. She has had as many as 1200 kids come to her door.

Several years ago my 2 sisters, 2 daughters, niece and nephew and I met in KC to go to a show but first had lunch at the Savoy. My niece had car trouble and a kind soul had driven her clear through KC to the restaurant. When the rest of us arrived she was settled in the big window booth having drink and calming her nerves. Our waiter had taken good care of her. He looked like he had been with the Savory almost since it opened - well over 100 years! He gave us such wonderful service and told us great stories about the history of the Savoy and Kansas City. The Savoy was a favorite of Harry & Bess Truman and there's a plaque marking the booth they always used. The recommendations and food were excellent and it proved to be the beginning of a very memorable weekend. We've been back to the Savoy a few times since and always enjoyed great service and food, but that waiter and that day will always stand out.

I'd have to echo a lot of the selections...Ruth Reichl, Calvin Trillin, Buford's Heat and add Michelle Lee West's "A Food Obsessed Life"
I enjoyed "Julie and Julia" and foodie mysteries are one of my guilty pleasures. Not great lit - but a fun distraction and the Diane Mott Davidson books have some great recipes.
Currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It makes me wish I had worked a little harder at putting in my garden. Barbara Kingsolver is coming to the Prairie Fest at the Land Institute in September. Really looking forward to hearing her discuss the book.

I thought about this thread as I was eating a pretty average buffet lunch with my mom and wishing there was some place a little nicer we could have gone. When you're 100 miles from anywhere, Applebees sounds pretty fancy. The cafe was where Mom wanted to go and that's what counts. I drove up (about 80 miles) to go to church with her and spend the day. As I said, lunch was so-so, but the day was beautiful and it was nice to have time for just the 2 of us. Mom's 87 and pretty amazing. She just bought her first pair of blue jeans as well as a 42" flat screen HDTV. One of the best things for me was channel surfing and coming across a replay of the KU-Memphis game. Watching the end of that game on the big screen was great!

We have a Traeger grill which is electric and uses pellets (hickory, cherry, etc.) It's great for things you want to cook slowly like ribs or brisket. It makes a wonderful beer can chicken. Things stay very moist. You just have to remember to check the pellet chamber and makes sure it stays filled. It doesn't work well for steaks and burgers because it doesn't sear the meat so I'm looking for a griddle or something to preheat that might to do job. Our local butcher had 6 oz. fillets on special last week for $2.49 each and I ended up cooking them inside using a cast iron skillet. Soooo goood!

It's great to meet all of you! I'm Dutchgal (a salute to my grandparents) and I live in the middle of a wheat field right in the middle of Kansas. I'm in my mid-50's and work at a public library.
Marrying into a farm family, I learned quickly to cook on a large scale. Wheat harvest meant packing lunches for a dozen and taking supper to the field for 15-20. Consequently, picnics have never been to high on my list of fun things! We also had a hunting lodge for several years and I did a lot of cooking and freezing in bulk. It was fun meeting people from all over the country who came to hunt pheasant and quail. Now it's just my husband and I and it's a challenge to cook just for 2.
SE is a great site and gives me lots of ideas and the chance to travel through your experiences. I didn't have too much sympathy for the writer who complained about not finding any good restaurants in Barcelona - I was munching on something from Sonic as I read it and would have been thrilled to trade places!

With $10 wheat, there is about 12 cents worth of wheat in the average loaf of bread. Having been involved in agricultural all my married life (34 years) I know first hand how hard it is to make a profit in farming. Although the prices are high right now, the crop is still in the field and I'm certain the price will drop when harvest gets underway. Most farmers HAVE to sell when they deliver the grain to the elevator and won't get that top price. The bank, fuel and fertilizer people all need paid, so the majority don't have the option of holding their crop. We are no longer actively farming, but still have ties to the land - our son has cattle and puts up hay; our daughter is involved with a student farm at Kansas State, is an Ag-Historian and on the state Democratic food and farm counsel. They are 6th generation farmers. As for my husband and me, we are trying to become more self-sufficent. We're planning a big garden, thinking about getting a few chickens (our Vizslas will love that!) and might have my nephew (manager of a grain mill) bring us some flour the next time he comes this way.

I like "Smoke & Spice" by Cheryl Jamison. It has lots of rubs, mops and spices. Drop by your local library and look through the cookbook section.(641.5+ on the dewey scale!) It's a great place for cookbook junkies.

When my youngest was a senior in high school, I started a diary/cookbook based on the school year. It included comments about what was going on, menus and recipes. It was a way to highlight her year and provide a source for all our favorite recipes. I asked family members for their favorite recipes and included them on their birthdays. It is also a great way to remember everyone's birthday! Some dates may have no recipes, while others will have several.The book is still not completed as we keep adding recipes, but have it saved to a disk and am looking for some kind of software or template to format the recipes. Typing everything in word is very slow going. My daughter is a senior in college so maybe by the time she gets through grad school........