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Omitting Soda Pop
I will have a Mexican Coca-Cola about once every two weeks (it is made with cane sugar, not HFCS and, to me at least, has a more refreshing taste). Other than that, I drink iced tea every day in the warmer months, hot tea in the winter.
Wanted: Your ideas for a potluck church picnic this Sunday
@rideandcook--that's my go-to salad! Goes over well every time. So I second the black bean salad.
Favorite Brand of Salad Dressing
I like to mix olive oil and fresh-squeezed lemon juice with a bit of Cavender's Greek Seasoning . . . it's delicious on any veggie salad!
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Omitting Soda Pop
I will have a Mexican Coca-Cola about once every two weeks (it is made with cane sugar, not HFCS and, to me at least, has a more refreshing taste). Other than that, I drink iced tea every day in the warmer months, hot tea in the winter.
Wanted: Your ideas for a potluck church picnic this Sunday
@rideandcook--that's my go-to salad! Goes over well every time. So I second the black bean salad.
Favorite Brand of Salad Dressing
I like to mix olive oil and fresh-squeezed lemon juice with a bit of Cavender's Greek Seasoning . . . it's delicious on any veggie salad!
Monin Syrup vs Da Vinci vs Torani: what do YOU prefer?
@Jerzee . . . I called Torani as per your suggestion and asked about the free sample and their response was something like "Huh???" . I called the number on their website under the Contact Us area. How did you happen to get the samples? Is there someone in particular I should speak with? Thanks Jerzee!
Needed: a meal that would win a man's heart!
I have never met a man who didn't love meatloaf.
What's everybody been doing...?
I am planning a wonderfully long and much-needed vacation to Northern CA and Southern & Central OR. If anyone has any suggestions for great food stops (cheap eats OR fancy stuff) I'd love to hear it! So daydreaming about this trip takes up much of my time. The CA redwoods and OR coast rocks!
Extremely Low Calorie Foods
I second edamame--very good and filling. Also popcorn, I put Cavender's Greek Seasoning on mine and it's delish!
your opinion: calorie free / sugar free products
I say go for the real thing, but in moderation. It tastes better and I'm sure is healthier in the long run.
The Term 'Housemade' Is the New 'Homemade'
I can go either way . . . they are both conveying the same message. Housemade seems to be used in more upscale restaurants these days. However, if you want to be REALLY correct about it from a syntax standpoint . . . it might be better to say "made on premises" or "made in our kitchen" , as the item is not really being made in someone's house OR home but in the restaurant. Well, unless someone HAS made said item at their home (house) and brought it to the restaurant to sell : ) Personally, I think it's much ado about nothing.
Favorite Camping Food / Recipes ?
I haven't been camping in forever (even though I LOVE camping!), but it seems like we baked potatoes in foil over coals and heated canned chili separately and then topped the potatoes with the chili and added cheese. All of the above posters' ideas sound yummy too--I wanna go camping! But no one I know likes to. Waaahhh!
what is the first thing you grab?
Greek yogurt with honey, hummus with a cracker or veggie, or a PBJ with banana.
Urgent Pineapple Upside Down Cake Question
@rockhollow--the cast iron skillet is better at carmelizing the sugars than a regular pan (the worst is glass!). I learned to make pineapple upside down cake that way from my grandmother and have had several little old lady neighbors who made it that same way and swear by it. It has just always worked best for me. I think mango upside down cake would be great in a cast iron skillet--darkened or not. I have also made peach upside down cake--yum!
Urgent Pineapple Upside Down Cake Question
I make these all the time and 10 minutes is my tried and true time to wait to invert it after pulling it out of the oven. And they ALWAYS taste better when you make them in a cast iron skillet, like I learned from my grandmom. Hope you & your mom have a great Mother's Day!
Question of the Day: On Your Burger—Ketchup or Mustard?
Ketchup, mayo, onion (fresh or grilled), leaf lettuce, tomato (homegrown), maybe guacomole or cheese (but not usually). NO pickles!
Fiddleheads
What do fiddleheads taste like? I have seen them in mags like Gourmet, etc., but NEVER in any stores around here. Where would I be able to buy them?
Sauce for Ravioli?
An update--I made it with the brown butter and sage and added some pinon nuts I had forgotten about in the cabinet (thanks embolini9 and beersnob!) --it was delish! I think next time I may use AppleJack's idea and use lightly sauteed spinach as a base layer, then the ravioli, then a light sauce. Thanks for the input guys!
Happy Cinco de Mayo.....
I am eating guac and drinking a Corona as I read this!
the GOOD HUMOR ICE CREAM truck!
We had an ice cream truck that came by occasionally, but I was never really into it very much. My favorite summertime childhood treat was the sno-cone. There was a small mom and pop store up the street that had an OLD ice shaver and these out-of-this-world syrups and they would make the best sno-cones. They would serve them to you in a paper cone cup, not the plastic things you get nowdays. Somehow that made a difference, as today when I get a snocone, they just dont taste like those old ones. The owners of the store (called Risner's Store, which has LONG been out of business) were the aunt & uncle of the famous Colonel James Robinson Risner, so there was always lots of newspaper clippings around to read in the store.
Ideas for what to bring to a bbq?
thegoch--I make a very similar salad, adding a bit of diced avocado. It's delish!
Favorite or Odd Fair Food
What a timely post! We went to the Spring Arts Festival here tonight and I had (shared, of course) an Indian Taco, Strawberries Newport, and a funnel cake. I saw people eating the chicken-on-a-stick you mentioned!
what food do you miss from childhood ?
My mom's homemade chicken & dumplings
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
I love all of those things. I don't have them anymore at my thanksgiving table, but if I'm served (any and all of it!) somewhere, I go for it and bask in nostalgia for days gone by with Nana and the whole fam!
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
@ mr guy- I agree, the brining doesn't do much for me either. I've done it the past two years, and if you ask me it's a big pain in the ass for little results. Expensive too.
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
Cans of thick slop and sludge never get anywhere near my cooking. As a matter of fact, Campbell's cream "soup" line is single handedly responsible for making crock pots the biggest laugh in the kitchen. (The crock pot was later de-throned by Sandra Lee as the biggest laugh in the kitchen - ironically a chronic user of cream soups.)
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
Don't be hating on me, but Campbell's creamy onion soup is far superior to use in casseroles versus the cream of mushroom. When I took over Thanksgiving duty from my MIL, that marshmallow sweet potato monstrosity was banned from my menu. As well as the canned cranberry "sauce", I make my own SF version from the real cranberries from the produce section.
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
Everything was fair game until you got to the marshmallows.
Marshmallows aren't Thanksgiving food. They're candy.
weird reasons for not trying certain foods?
Growing uo on a farm in KS my brother and I wouldn't eat chicken because we knew them personally.
weird reasons for not trying certain foods?
p.s.- oops I lied...when I was little I wouldn't eat the legs in calamari and other squid/octopus dishes because I thought the suckers would stick to my tongue...
weird reasons for not trying certain foods?
I know a guy who is so put off by milk that he won't eat any dairy products or anything that looks remotely dairy...his reason "it's white"
it seems in my area fish in general is just a big "ew" but I can't get anyone to give me an actual reason why they won't eat it
my father...most confusing of all...refuses to try sushi because it's raw fish yet he swears up and down it can't possibly be raw because "americans have poor immune systems and would just get sick" he fails to acknowledge his own contradiction
as for myself...maybe it's because both of my parents are immigrants or maybe it's because my dad is a chef but I can't remember ever flat out refusing to try any food...well other than anything involving bugs...I was always the kid to try anything from cat/dog treats to leaves to the glazes in art class (which pretty much all taste the same btw)
among friends I have a bit of a reputation as "a foodie" solely because I actually know what's in/goes into foods and how they're prepared...I find it alarming that other people don't know and/or don't care to know
The 20 Dishes you need to know
My personal Top 20:
1. Bacon and Potato Omelette (I'm from germany and can't live without my "Bauernfrüstück")
2. Pasta with a garlic sauce
3. Spaghetti with meatballs
4. Roasted Chicken
5. Kao Pad (I'm also half Thai, and grew up with this dish)
6. Pancakes
7. Steak
8. Pizza
9. Potato Soup
10. A good Sandwich
11. Satay Sticks
12. Mashed Potaoes
13. Meatloaf
14. Gravy
15. Thai Sausages
16. Green Cabbage and Smoked Pork Chop
17. Spareribs
18. Quesadillas
19. Burger with some Fries and Fried Onions
20. Double Mud Chocolate Cake
Are we Freaks?
You know what I find much stranger than being into food? Being into fantasy basketball.
What's the Best Mexican Food Town in the U.S.?
This one is an absolute no brainer. I am a software programmer and fortunate enough to work for a company that allows me to work from home, I try my best to make a point of living in a different city every year, I pack light and go. I've gone from southern cali, mid-west to the east coast and NOTHING compares to the mexican food in San Diego! Travel just 60 miles up the coast to Los Angeles and the difference is night and day, doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same category. San Diego is on the border of Mexico, and the mexican food gets exponentially worse the farther you get from it. Ask anyone who has actually tried mexican food in mulitple cities, I will guarantee the same response, San Diego hands down. Anyone who calls them nachos instead of carne asada chips, or taquitos instead of rolled tacos can automatically be discredited in this discussion. Those of you who have lived in San Diego will know what I mean.
Blogwatch: Culinary Fool's Maple Cream Cookies
A recent visitor from Las Vegas brought me Maple Cream Cookies (by Manning) and they were fantastic. She tells me they are available at 99 cent stores in the Vegas area. I have found the Dare Maple Creams at Walmart, but I don't think they are as good as the Manning brand.
What is the best meal you have ever had?
Reviving the thread...before she got feeble, my mom fixed a "typical" dinner one night...green beans cooked with streak 'o lean, corn on the cob, sliced fresh homegrown tomatoes and cucumber, homegrown cantalope...there may have been some "fried cabbage" (grated cabbage cooked in an iron skillet with butter, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and a bit of water), fried potatoes, cornbread. A po' folks' supper since it had no meat. And lots of love...I miss mama.
Healthy & Delicious: White Chicken Chili
I realize this post is a bit old, It seems to me that turkey could make a reasonable substitution for the chicken. I've got some leftover turkey that I roasted in my BBQ sitting in the freezer. Anybody have any input before I try it and possibly ruin it? Thanks!
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
Robin, wow...that original pic is super cute.
the GOOD HUMOR ICE CREAM truck!
I wanted to marry the Good Humor man! He used to let me ride to the
next corner with him and ring the bells. My favorite was the butterscotch
sundae......coffee ice cream in a dixie cup with butterscotch on top....hmmmm. Does anyone remember what the coconut bar was
called? Wish they'd sell that one in the grocery stores.
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
Very cute. I love bunnies. We have tons of them running around our area.
None seem to be able to eat ice cream however. What did we do before the internet and Photoshop?
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
I guess there is something wrong with me.....
...but I've always know that.
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
Mmmm, roasted rabbit. Maybe with glazed parsnips and a dirty rice made with duck or chicken gizzards served with a gewurztraminer.
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
@MarvinDog: I'm ashamed to say that I was picturing the roasted rabbit as well. Mmmm...OH YEAH. cute too.
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
I was hoping for a bunny really eating ice cream much like seagulls stealing ice cream . Maybe the internet is ruining me but pictures of real things are more exciting since I see so much doctored work. I'm not trying to be cynical but failing. It is a cute baby rabbit.
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
If exposure to this sort of treacle makes you hunger for a bracing chaser of sick humor check out fupenguin *dot* come (and I'm not affiliated with it all, i just think it happens to be absolutely hi-larious). WARNING: contains profanity so not for kids ('cause they never swear).
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
I was going to say "if you're not thinking photoshop right now there's something wrong with you," but you beat me to it @roboppy.
Very cute, nonetheless. Reality is fluid.
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
I just realized the bunny is eating a 99 Flake! How British. :)
Also, original photo by Tanja Askani (aka my wallpaper on my work computer)!
OMG, a Bunny Licking Ice Cream
Cute? Sure, but if I see it in my garden, IT'S GOIN' DOWN!
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OMG!