I'm still mad over a meal I had more than 12 years ago. It was my 23rd birthday, and we were po' so poor, we couldn't afford the rest of the word. Most nights, dinner was box mac and cheese, hot dogs or tuna. So, for my fancy birthday dinner, I wanted to go to a local gastro-brewpub. I'd eaten there once before, when my best friend was visiting from out of state, and the meal really stuck with me. It was expensive, but I dreamed about it. So, that's where I wanted to go for my birthday. I was envisioning flights of beer for tasting, delicious small plates of great bar food.

Uh. They recently had a big changeover that I wasn't aware of. They went from really great bar food and beer to a stuffy Italian joint, with no beer on the menu anywhere. We soldiered on, and I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, a plate of penne in vodka sauce for a whopping $22. This was 2001, and that was pretty much my grocery bill for the week. Husband got the veal parmigiana. Our waiter carried two ENORMOUS plates out, the plates were literally the size of my kitchen sink, so I thought hell, this will be great, good food, huge portions! He set the plate down, and there were 14 noodles in a little cluster in the center of this gigantic plate, swimming in what looked exactly like Campbells tomato soup. And tasted that way. I almost broke down in tears. Husband's veal was, I shit you not, two patties chopped and formed, under a scant bit of cheese, floating in watery tomato puree, with a meager handful of spaghetti.

We ate our garbage. Paid the extravagant-to-us bill, and left feeling horrible. I mean, really horrible. Like everything was a huge prank, and we were the butt of the joke. These days, I wouldn't stand for it, but back then? I just felt lucky going into a place like that, and that maybe I was missing something about "haute cuisine".

What really burns my ass, is to this day, people are always raving about it, recommending it as one of the finer eateries in a town with lots of great places. The place is THRIVING. People love mediocrity. I still don't get the joke.

I have a small mesh strainer, but I find myself going for the huge colander, because I hate cleaning the fine mesh screen, and it doesn't sit on the counter upright if I need it to. But then...I also hate washing an enormous colander. I can see a use for this, totally. Sometimes, all you need is to drain one can of beans.

Definitely the ice cream maker. Who has room in the freezer for the huge canister? To make ice cream just requires so much forethought. I trot it out a few times a year, like for summer barbecues, and sometimes holiday meals where pie is present (there is no better partner to hot apple pie than homemade cinnamon ice cream). But still.

If the pizza is leftovers, or really shiteous, yeah. Otherwise, hot pepper flakes all the way.

Yay! I am right there with you on the bread thing. Cheese forever!

My main concern is preventing it from spilling. I'd rather a lightly screwed lid than a little metal hat perched on a jar of runny preserves.

See, I agree with the OP, and here's why. I got an excellent jar of blackberry jam as a hostess gift when I had house guests. No ring. How am I gonna reseal it? I had to transfer it into a plastic pint takeout soup container. For whatever reason, that took much of the appeal out of the jam. Tasted fine, but, I don't know, it lost something. Just because I knew they were stingy, I washed and returned the jar. They took it.

Next time, give me the damn ring, and I'll refill your jar with something good, like a spice rub, or my own preserves.

If you have a grinder and a Costco membership, their Colombian, in the silver bag is quite good. The Kenyan in the royal blue bag is pretty hard to beat, too. They run like $11-12 for a 2 pound bag.

No, couldn't possibly. I'm lactarded. The very idea...

They're letting you touch stuff on the higher shelves! Oh happy day! Our little Will *sniffle* drinking good rye.

I got a really nice Zojiriushi fuzzy logic rice cooker, that looks like a stainless steel sports car...the thing has a "cake" setting on it! Major upgrade from my 10 year old $20 Waring rice cooker. Also, the traditional waffle iron that I've been lusting after for over a year. The kind that makes waffles like your grandma, none of this newfangled thick round stuff. Half a dozen Belgian beer glasses. Actually, I bought the dozen, and gave half to my best friend, kept half for myself. A few new bamboo cutting boards, since I lost all mine in Sandy. Very nice, I cannot wait CANNOT WAIT to make rice.

Season some chicken thighs or whatever part you like with some salt and pepper, and saute them in a bit of oil till they're browned and cooked. Remove them to a plate, and put like a cup of marmalade in the pan, with a few tablespoons of Dijon mustard, some fresh grated ginger, a few cloves of minced garlic, maybe a splash of soy or Worcestershire. Stir till dissolved and melty then put the chicken back in for a minute. Serve it over rice. It's really damn good.

Slowly heat a can of condensed milk, add half a stick of butter, and a bag of high quality chocolate chips. Fudge. Oh yeah. Or else, sometimes, we make s'mores over the gas burner, but with Nutella instead of chocolate.