Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I don't think you've got enough jalapenos for that many people. I do a dozen just for my family of four, and we're always wishing we had more! :o)

Thanks fellow SEers!! I should have thought of the freezing trick as it would be an obvious solution, but am glad I asked.

@mmmmmm -- What sort of breadcrumbs do you find work best?

I'll admit to having succumbed to the siren call of the occasional taquito or hot dog, which has been no doubt hanging out in those heater-rollers until they are way past their prime...and I've always regretted answering that siren call a few miles further down the road, when I'm searching for the next gas station with a semi-acceptable toilet facility.

A good roasted chicken with crispy skin, and smashed sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar!

A good warm slice of pumpkin bread with cream cheese spread on it!

I eat the brown spots if they aren't huge. I think a banana really comes into its sweetness when the peel has a few brown spots on it. A perfectly yellow banana has an odd texture to me and coats my mouth and teeth with a strange filmy substance -- whereas a nice, ripe, banana (one with a brown spot or two on the peel) doesn't do that.

And I, like so many others, never throw away an over-ripe banana...I put those into bananas foster or banana pancakes or banana bread.

@Timonthyrows -- why not?

I think those are hilarious.

That was hilarious! If only mornings worked that smoothly in my house.

I recently went to a highly acclaimed restaurant here in Atlanta called Veni Vidi Vici and I was really disappointed with the Risotto Frutti di Mare that I ordered; it was so heavy-handed with saffron that it was inedible. I picked out the seafood and choked it down, but left almost the entire plate of risotto because I just couldn't eat it. I kept thinking, "Did the Chef really mean for it to taste this way?" and I felt like to send it back to the kitchen would make me look silly -- so I didn't. But I thought better of it later on when I was writing my review for Open Table...I just wish I had had the guts to let the Chef know (in a nice way) that I didn't like the dish while I was at the establishment -- especially since I spent good money on it and was left unsatisfied. I would have much preferred the lovely scallops with polenta and braised fennel which my husband ordered.

Chocolate macaroons which are so rich, dense and chocolately that it's like eating fudge.

I think @ride&cook hit the nail on the head -- maybe these are the times that a nice trip to a great restaurant, choosing a dish you may never have attempted at home, feeling "treated" and "served", would be the perfect cure. Awaken your tastebuds with something fabulously prepared...and then try to recreate the experience at home -- with your own twist? I know when I'm feeling slumpish I tend to go for something ethnically different from what I'd normally serve. Being Italian, my weekly repertoir tends toward a lot of the foods I grew up with and are familiar and easy (pastas, etc.) but then I've got to shake things up and figure out a way to make it interesting again, and I'll jerk some chicken and serve it with coconut rice and fried plantains...or I'll get regional and do a crab boil.

yeah, this is crazy. I'm having trouble commenting. I'm going through comment withdrawal!