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my great aunt marie's chicken and dumplings will never EVER be topped. never never ever.

and everything my grandma ever made. but only because she made it and that's what made it so good and so special.

first of all--- jealous! i'll be there next month, though, and i'm alreay excited about eating at grouper 'n chips and aurelios--- both happen to be within 1/2 a mile of my parents' house. dangerous for my figure that needs to not look terrible in a bathing suit that weekend. yikes...

for italian--- pazzo! on 5th ave is a great place because it's what i would call "naples casual." pretty much every place on 5th ave is italian, though, so you have your pick of the litter.

the fun part of naples dining is walking up and down 5th ave and 3rd st and reading all the menus posted on the doors and then making a selection :-)

i will say, however... beware of tommy bahamas on 3rd st. i guess it's ok food. but it's SUPER overpriced and they can get away with it because they are "beachy themed" which is what so many tourists are attracted to when in naples (i suppose).

i like pazzo--- mmm, we eat there every christmas eve. and i know that aureolio's is technically a franchise... but it's the best pizza i've ever had. ommmg so good! have fun! oh! and 8th street has a place called capt. kirk's stone crabs and you can get the BEST seafood salad and grilled grouper there-- i think it's only open at lunch.

@cb1414... I made the PW braised short ribs and creamy polenta for Christmas dinner. While I usually pride myself on my intuitive cooking skills and rarely rely on a recipe... I goofed BIG TIME on this one. Ree doesn't mention that you should trim the fat off the ribs. Yeah, that should be obvious, but when consumed when the stress of the holiday, it's easy to forget. Heed my word... trim the fat. THEY SUCK OTHERWISE. I'm so so disappointed in myself. I literally cried over fatty and almost inedible short ribs. My polenta was lumpy, too. Cooking FAIL. I wish you much better luck that I had... although I don't think luck is needed-- just less bourbon drinking and stress and more common sense while cooking. I will say, though, that the little bit of meat that didn't completely disintigrate under the fat was VERY flavorful.

i'm fairly certain i once heard my dad describe a manatee he and his brothers consumed. was this a false childhood memory? maybe, but considering my family owned a commercial fishing business on the gulf coast or florida for 40 years, it's highly probable.

and i don't think alligator is considered "controversial" anymore. nor is it all that exotic. they are plentiful in the southeastern states... more than plentiful! but if the gator eats a dog, and you eat the gator, i guess you could say you've had dog. now that's controversial. woof!

i suck a frying a chicken. raw inside, black and hard outside. oh, and i have the same problem with frying okra. i just can't get it right. my oil is too hot, i know, but it's hard to regulate on my crappy electric stove. i guess frying in general isn't something i am great at.

i ran out of salt recently (for the first time in my life, might i add. who runs out of salt?! i usually have 4 different kinds in my pantry)... i was already done chopping my veggies for a pomodoro and had them simmering away when i realized what i was lacking. NO SALT?! omg what was i going to do?! so i added some lemon juice and extra parmesan, and lo and behold! i would have NEVER known it was missing salt. in fact, with the extra parm, it was almost TOO salty. moral of story: normally i would say that salt is critical for every dish (even sweet ones), but in a pinch, there are enough ingredients (like cheese) that already have a salty quality so that salt may be omitted.

@yayfood... BAHAHAHAHHA. so true :-) thanks for the laugh.

my boyfriend THINKS he hates onions. in fact, when we started dating 3 years ago, he told me he was allergic to onions. false. i cook with onions ALL the time now (i had to work my way up to it with him, though), and as long as i mince them or grate them and make sure they're nice and soft in a recipe, he likes them! so not allergic. for a lot of people, it's a texture thing. i LOVE onions but i don't particularly enjoy crunching down on an undercooked piece of an onion in my risotto.

mr guy, i'm right there with you. i am by no means a food snob, but i am a foodie. and having just entered my mid-20s and being the only family member who likes to cook, i've become the appointed cook for thanksgiving and christmas. but my family says "why not just go to campbellssoup.com and get some easy recipes using canned soup. stop being such an elitist!" *sigh* they just don't get that interesting and fresh recipes don't take any more effort than the canned concoctions. (not that i don't sometimes cook with the occassional can of cream of whatever soup) anyway... to my point...

last night i made michael chiarello's butternut squash pastina and it was DELIGHTFUL. it's super easy and tasty. you can easily find his recipe on www.foodnetwork.com or on a few blogs i've read. i made it a little differently and added some ricotta and a few extra spices, etc. this is a great fall-ish alternative to mac n cheese, if your family won't disown you for messing with traditional mac n cheese. this will be making an appearance on our thanksgiving table and hopefully my family doesn't stage a revolt.

good luck!