Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Pioneer woman, Smitten Kitchen, minxeats, Serious Eats (of course!). Yeah, I'm just one of the sheep. :)

Not at all.

I gave up on Gourmet after Ruth Reichl took over. To my mind, she ran the ship aground and the only thing worth reading any more was the Sterns. I wouldn't buy the magazaine for one column, though so it was strictly doctor's office reading. I much prefer Saveur for writing and Food and Wine for food.

Insane as it sounds a friend recently served me pre-made burgers from Costco which were among the best I've ever eaten. We just salted and peppered, grilled and served on Kaiser rolls (I hate sesame seeds so Kaisers are my bun of choice). Lettuce, tomato and ketchup for me, chili sauce for her and we were in beef heaven. I'm not sure what the beef/fat ratio was since the original packaging was gone but they were juicy without being greasy and had an amazing beefy flavor.

I'm probably going to head to Costco this afternoon to see if I can find some for the weekend. DH, who cooks professionally, will turn up his nose but once he tastes them I think he'll be a believer. He puts mayo on his burgers, though, which to my mind is heresy (although I knew this before our wedding and I married him anyway...)

We were predisposed to like Carla because she's from DC (where I live) and went to the same culinary school as my husband but I'm rooting for her more and more as the season goes on. I was really worried for her last night and glad we get to see her for another week. Unfortunately, now that they've gotten rid of Melissa (the last really poor performer) we're getting down to where the middle chefs are going to be sent packing. Let's hope Ariane packs her knives and goes next. I am completely over her.