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I discovered potato salad with turkey dinners when I was working in a large metropolitan hospital and found that my African-American co-workers would bring it as part of a potluck turkey meal. And despite what Mom always said about Thanksgiving meals too much about "starch", i.e., carbohydrates, I thought it was a great addition to the meal. It's cool, the texture a good contrast to the other items, and if I'm doing a really big turkey dinner, as opposed a pared-down one, I've kept it on the family menu.

The "relish tray" was part of our Thanksgiving meal, too. And Jello salads come out of the Fifties, presumably as an attempt to add sometthing light to the heavy meal.

We can buy those yam patties at our supermarket meat counter sometimes, although I've never seen anyone put them in their cart. (This is in St. Louis, BTW.)

Mr. Meatloaf suggested we eat out this Thanksgiving, and to my absolute astonishment, I found myself extremely relieved. I, too, normally go all out and enjoy it, but we're havin' a gob of people over Christmas, and I am focusing on the pre-cooking and menu planning for that. Never thought I'd have the relieved response to not cooking for T-Day, but there ya go.... You Are Not Alone.

Just back from our first post-Katrina visit and feel much the same way we do. They are indeed ready for visitors and lovers of the city should make it a point to return for a stay. It's not what it was, and I am glad I knew it before the storm, but visiting the city is a more emotional pleasure than it ever was. And when was the last time that doing something that was a blessing was also such a pleasure?

Have sat at a bar with him, and found his language much less rowdy than I would have expected, but absolutely delightful.

Aren't we talking about already cooked potatoes? They wouldn't sprout, and you wouldn't need to cook them again.

There is no reason why folks can't like Imo's and other pizzas as well. That seems to be something the detractors sometimes don't get. We have some fine pizza spots in town, and their number has increased over the past year or two. But there's room for all of them. Imo's certainly is what our kids crave when they come back to STL for visits.

N.B., be aware that most Imo's is sold as take-out or delivery; many spots don't have eat-in.

Ohhhhhh.......

A little Dijon instead of the chile can be used for the folks who aren't metalmouths.

A vote for Burger's Smokehouse, which got great reviews from a NY Times panel. We've used them for years. Several different kinds of ham, too.
www.smokehouse.com

Oh, my. I do a whole routine on this. Lovely man, but just not An Eater. And as the relationship was winding down, one night a man showed up at my front door with a couple of lobsters under one arm and a copy of MFK Fisher under the other. And that, my friends, was Mr. Meatloaf.

In the midst of the earlier relationship, I had the opportunity to write Mrs. Fisher and thank her for all the pleasure she'd given me with her writing. And then I asked her if she'd consider getting involved with a man who didn't like to eat. She replied, "I would no sooner get involved with a man who didn't like to eat than a man who didn't like Mozart."

I rest my case. Tapioca is right.

Y'know you don't have to scrape the insides of oreos off to make the crust unless you just want to.... Smaller here than usual, numerous groups of middle-school kids, more than average. We hadn't planned on being here at all, so I had to grab some stuff very quickly. Ended up with some 100-calorie bags of microwave popcorn at the end of giving it out, which puzzled some of the little ones but mostly pleased.

And how on earth did that bowl get stolen? Mine never leaves my hand when I open the door.

Well, you know, this clearly is not a list of rules for, uh...some sit-down hamburger chain like Red Robin, say. I wouldn't call it uptight, I'd call it a little more formal. And there are places where that's much more appropriate. When I'm paying $30 or more for an entree, I expect a certain decorum from servers. To quote Mr. Meatloaf, "Restaurants set their own standards by the way they price themselves."

And a particular gripe from me: DON"T call me "young lady". I am an adult with adult children. Being addressed that way sounds sarcastic or condescending.