Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Lovely pic - and a great post on Salade Nicoise; both "correct" and inventive! As puttanesca is a favourite, I'll be trying that dressing very soon.

total decadence in the name of charity - revolting!

This may not be suitable for very young children, but you could do a lot worse than Nos Ancetres les Gaulois on the Ile St Louis. It's very different from anywhere else you might go, and limitless (red Corbieres) wine is included in the €39 prix fixe menu, so with live musicians, singalongs are frequent. Lots of fun - have a look at their website as they take online bookings: ">http://www.nosancetreslesgaulois.com/UK/qui.html"> Nos Ancetres Les Gaulois

Well, my first husband grew up eating nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and carefully picked out every single mushroom from the first dish I cooked for him; he found it highly amusing to refer to anchovies as "smelly little fish". And yet he made a seriously mean breakfast burrito and when dragged out to an Indian restaurant said it was "really living". Food was not our deal breaker but with hindsight it could have saved me a lot of time and heartache; happily I'm delighted with husband #2 who eats - and enjoys! - pretty much everything. Except for coconut, that is, and in a weird act of unity I've actually come to dislike it too - Thai curry and the odd Bounty bar excepted...

Anyone know how I would go about ordering one? Call HQ?

These are all great ideas guys, thanks! I feel a LITTLE better today (at least I was able to sleep better, and my skin is no longer radiating heat) and I THINK it might be turning into a tan, with the exception of my forehead, which is currently peeling. I made myself some cucumber soup (PERFECT suggestion since I love cucumbers...it's actually a running joke at the office that I bring cucumber slices or sandwiches for lunch a lot) and had a gin and tonic and a lime popsicle and felt much better. I think I'll make some gazpacho tonight, I haven't done it in awhile. Thanks again, always wear sunscreen!!

Neither is a deal-breaker unless the person is fanatic about it, or tries to convert me to their ways. Same goes for just about anything -- religion, politics, milk-or-sugar -- whatever. I'm perfectly happy to have a reasoned discussion about whatever it might be, and I'm just as willing to let the topic lie undisturbed, but I'm not fond of people who insist that I should change who I am to suit them.

I'm actually more interested in people who are unlike me than those who could be my clones. I like learning about other people's cultures (including foods) and beliefs. I might not agree with them or embrace them in my own life, but I find it interesting on an intellectual level.

Things that are deal breakers are unkindness and ill manners of all sorts. Some ill manners I might excuse in a friend or relative that I wouldn't accept in a mate, however. Luckily, that choice is already made.

I agree wholeheartedly with Karen Resta, while I love both food and books, I am of the opinion that the heart and soul of a person determines their worth.

I am a pescetarian married to an omnivore, but we have had few problems since we do both love food. And we are both readers. While I don't worry too much about WHAT he reads, the fact that he DOES read was important. The previous boyfriend didn't read newspapers and was never in the middle of a book. 'Twas a deal-breaker, for sure.