Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Avocado shake (w/tapioca pearls optional) FTW! Though I do love a tomato/avocado/red onion salad.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! You guys are amazing. Seriously, seriously amazing.

Not only did you all give me ideas for our office potluck, but for my own holiday party!

So on my office party list (someone else is bringing the meat and cheese platter. Dammit!)
1) Puff pasty tart w/tomatoes, parm and oregano
2) Roasted/candied nuts
3) Mexican dip. (I made it last night. I'm not gonna lie: I ate half the pan in one go. I am a little ashamed of myself.)

EVERYTHING ELSE: party at my place. I'm extra excited about the spinach "brownies" and the different savory tarts.

Question: the instructions state that you season with salt after you've blitzed the hell out of it using a hand blender. Why wait till the end? Why not add the salt at the beginning for a more uniform seasoning? Would it break the mayo if you add salt with the lemon juice?

No recipe for the cheesecake cupcakes? *cries all the tears in the world*

@dbrackst: Maybe not for the ginger ale (and yes, I've tried the whole underfilling the bottle so it just covers the tip of the tube). You guys are probably right - it's all that sugar.

As to why I'd fizz up the flavour, one of the recipes on WashPo was for a watermelon soda. The recipe states:

"Because watermelon juice is so naturally watery, using seltzer to carbonate it is not recommended. For best results, use a soda siphon, which carbonates the juice without further dilution...For the soda: Pour the juice into a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer's directions. Divide among tall glasses filled with ice. Garnish with more sea salt, if desired. "

Makes sense: If I poured fizzy water into the blended watermelon, I'd get very barely fizzy agua fresca. So now I'm wondering what kind of soda siphon they're using that they don't get the exploding action.

Thank you all for your tips! Maybe next time I try to fizz up a pre-flavoured bottle, I'll do it in the bathtub :)

Onigiri, JFC, and steamed veggies. Yeah a little boring, but comforting!

@djwackfriz - was TOTALLY waiting for beef curtain comment. I loled.

I'm imagining Gaga opening up her dressing room fridge, and pulling out a mannequin wearing the dress (and maybe some vodka from the freezer because you need to be terrifically drunk to wear that.)

I can't wait to read your taste test - I use Vermont when I have a hankering for kare raisu. I have a box of S&B golden in my cabinet but haven't gotten around to cooking it.

Japanese curry is one of my favorite things to eat during winter: hot rice, curry w/potatoes and meat (and a few lashings of fish sauce), what's not to love?

Velveeta. I make Heart Attack Cheez Dip with it (Jimmy Dean or similar breakfast sausage + garlic + thai bird chilies + velveeta + rotel = delicious, delicious death.)

Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty Murder is my favorite.

Birthdays/weddings/whatever in our family means "mocha" cake (more like coffee, really, as there's no chocolate in this cake): a chiffony cake flavoured with coffee liquor, and thickly frosted with a coffee buttercream. It ain't a party in our house without a "mocha" cake.

I can't even remember the name of the little diner/restaurant - but it was on a road trip from Wash DC to Montreal with my family. I had this bowl of potato leek soup that, seriously, put me in such a good mood for the rest of that interminable ride.

We stopped at the same place on the way back home.

Oh noes, I don't have one - I live in Northern VA, there aren't any awesome BBQ joints around here :-(