Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

i just got all four wisdom teeth taken out yesterday and i made a zucchini casserole without the cracker crust for supper last night. it was really good and surprisingly easy to eat without that gross mushy taste.. just make sure you bowl the squash/zucchini nice and soft don't over cook it in the oven. the more cheese, the better!
tonight for dinner i'm planning on making either hamburger pie (hamburger, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc.) with really finely ground hamburger or a bubble up pizza, which is a pizza made with soft thick bread and tons of cheese. if either one doesn't work i'll let you know, but so far i'm definately not stuck with soup and jello and the only thing that's been painful to eat was mint chocolate chip ice cream. you just gotta do a little research. : ]

get better soon everybody!

victoriaa.

I took a "coat check girl" job last night in New York at one of the steak houses because I am in need of some extra cash. Going from an office job to behind the scenes at a restaurant was a complete eye-opener. I am a very thrifty person and I never check my coat, always hanging it on the chair behind me, unless I am attending an event where everyone checks their coat - and even then I can't recall even tipping one dollar, although I probably have, because I never paid any attention to the coat check people. I can tell you that it is a tough job. I worked very hard to keep the coat room organized and took special care of people's things. I tried to return their belongings as quickly as I could when they returned with their tags. It was pouring rain last night, so people had a lot of bags and wet umbrellas that they wanted to store. It was amazing to me how many people checked two umbrellas and a heavy attache in one bunch, and tipped $1. One group checked 10 huge umbrellas together in one group, then tipped $5, which was at least better than nothing. I am sad to say that most of the women, if they were alone or with other women, did not even tip me $1. The men were by far the most generous tippers, some tipping $5 and one fellow $10. Even thinking about the $10 tip makes me appreciate this guy even more, because he must have a better understanding of what it means to be a coat check person than I did before I took this job. I can tell you that every dollar is greatly appreciated. I worked solely for tips, and the restaurant took 20%.

Its real and its here... (as disgusting as it is)

Paula's Fried Butter Balls

2 sticks butter 2 ounces cream cheese Salt and pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Peanut oil, for frying

Cream the butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper together with an electric mixer until smooth. Using a very small ice cream scoop, or melon baller, form 1-inch balls of butter mixture and arrange them on a parchment or waxed paper lined sheet pan. Freeze until solid. Coat the frozen balls in flour, egg, and then bread crumbs and freeze again until solid.
When ready to fry, preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
Fry balls for 10 to 15 seconds until just light golden. Drain on paper towels before serving.

Full recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/paulas-fried-butter-balls-recipe/index.html

Whats the difference between this recipe and deep fried mozarella or deep frying whole turkeys or chickens (before baking) or even Krispy Kremes which are deep fried TWICE?? All of which I cannot stomach.

Growing up in northern NY (not up state) it was soft drinks. Here in central NY ('cuse) it's soda.

I lived in southern california my whole life and always referred to it as soda but after moving to Ohio ant age 23 I am getting sucked into calling it pop...

i come from berkeley, where we called coca cola "the black waters of imperialism."

pop. and im curious... i live in the pittsburgh area, where we say pop, and pepsi has billboards every where just saying "pop". Where those of yousay soda, do they have "soda" billboards? every time i see one i wonder...

you people really need to get a grip.. its not like shes forcing you to eat any of her foods and she will tell you herself that she puts a lot of butter in her food.. i mean seriously butter and cream cheese isn't half as bad as deep fried ice cream or deep fried candy bars and twinkies.. and yes people really do fry these things or how bout Duck Confit (sp?) which is duck boiled and or baked covered in duck fat..lol fatty unhealthy recipes have been around forever, its up to us to learn self control and portion control..lol

as a college student myself, I found all of this extremely helpeful and thanks to all of you!!
from one poor student to another, or to a single mom, or someone just trying to cut costs, I leared A LOT of tricks from my mom.

*things that you can cook in one pan without dirtying too many dishes usually mean its something cheap.
a personal favorite of mine is a dish where you cook those spiral pastas, i believe they are rotini? in a large pot, drain and set aside. then brown some sausage with onions in the same pot, drain your meat and add the noddles along with some half and half, shredded mozerella cheese and raw spinach. stir and and s&p to taste, along with any seasonings you enjoy, i like cayanne :] oh and top with parmisan.
makes a lot of food, so you can save the rest and it heats up great the next day!

another good one is just as simple. you can substitute the shrimp with chicken though as I know sometimes if you don't buy shrimp on sale, its pretty pricy.
but in a large pot cook shrimp, and then in the same water, cook your pasta, drain and set aside. (of course if you use chicken you'd want to cook your pasta first, drain the pasta and then cook the chicken with the veggies in the pot)
then cook some chopped bell peppers and onions in the pot add your meat and pasta along with a little packet of 4 cheese sauce (this involves adding milk but the packet itself is only like $2), or something comprable ie ragu alfredo sauce from a jar, ect. stir until your sauce is warm.
again, makes alot and reheats great!

i noticed that grilled cheese was only mentioned once!
get creative with it :] i like wheat bread and swiss cheese with spinach. YUM. and its always good with a bowl of soup

+cheesecakes!!
+i basically ate potato mash, sweet potato mash...every which way
+burrito innards bowl- beans, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa
+soft brownies...
+baked apples- whole golden delicious apples cored with cinamon and +sugar in the middle, bake(over bake til more on the mushy side) and serve with vanilla icecream
+scrambled eggs, omlets with cheese

Make some mac and cheese. Boil the macaroni down till its super soft - no al dente for you! Hope you feel better soon. :)
Also, I'm sure the doc told you, but avoid drinking through a straw for a while. The suction can loosen your stitches (if you have them) or pull off any scabs that are helping your mouth to heal.

I'm sure the doc told you this, but do NOT use a straw, at least for the first few days. It could open up sutures or the wound. Avoid anything too hot. I agree with someone else's suggestion of yogurt. Not sure about spagetti-os though.. you have to chew even those. Follow the after care directions the doctor provided you with, which most likely suggested you use salt water or a mixture of one part hydrogen peroxide to three parts water. Do not use a mouthwash as the alcohol can cause big problems.

I remember when I had my wisdom teeth removed, all I could manage was yogurt, pudding, broth, then gradually moved on to cream of wheat, mashed potatoes the following week. I was 19 and it was the week before Thanksgiving.