Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I love pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, and I will eat butternut squash right out of the rind once it's roasted. I bake pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie in autumn, not really for the holidays so much. I generally love squash. I once made pies from a squash in Peru just because it was a novelty. These squashes/gourds are so big it takes two people to carry one. It's important to remember that pies aren't just a desert - they are often the main course, filled with meats, vegetables, and spices. My family usually has pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we also get tired of traditional holiday foods. Frequently, for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we will decide to have something different at the table. Last year we had an incredible Italian dish that my father prepared for Christmas, and I smoked chicken and baby back ribs for Thanksgiving. It didn't change the spirit of the holidays at all for us. So, I guess the important thing is that you enjoy what you cook and eat during the holidays.

I am not sure where I fit in. My favorite oatmeal is baked oatmeal that I started to have when I moved to the Pennsylvania Dutch country of southeastern PA. I can offer a recipe but more or less it is some of your typical oatmeal combinations with egg and baking powder mixed in and then baked like a coffee cake. It is hard to describe if you never had it - the oats have more texture (stay more intact) yet they stick together into a cake. Here is a basic recipe that serves about 6.

3 cups Oatmeal (old-fashioned = best texture), ¾ cup Brown sugar,
1 ½ cup Milk, 3 whole eggs, 1 ¼ tsp. Baking powder, ½ tsp. Salt
6 Tbsp. Melted butter or margarine

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased 3 qt casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ½ hour or until center seems set and top is golden brown. Serve straight from the oven or keep it warm. Serve with warm milk.

You can add vanilla, spices, dried or fresh fruit, or about anything else folks have suggested.

I miss the S'mores cookies and Fudgies, the little Kraft chewy candies in a gold wrapper. Does anyone remember the cereal, Double-Dip Crunch? I was like a "frosted" Crispix. Mmmmm!!! Oh, and the Quacker "strawberry" snack/dessert bars that looked like Nutri-Grain but had a little "squiggle" of white "icing" on top. I'm hungry now.

My 2 cents about all the people who mentioned high employee wages as a factor in the WF costs- my sister worked at WF for a long time, and she would regularly run in to coworkers doing her shopping at the inexpensive grocery store across the street. They may pay more than your average grocery store, but it's still not enough for the line-level employees to be able to afford to shop there!

Its been a while since this thread has been refreshed, but I would just like to add my two cents...

While reading many of the previous posts to the OP, I noticed that people were comparing Whole Foods to other grocers like Wegermans, TJ's, Fresh Market, etc. IMO, these are all "high-end" grocery stores: Grocers that offer high-quality artisan products and an aesthetically pleasing decor. In a nutshell, they are selling more than just groceries: they are selling a shopping experience. The classical music, the distinct aromas in the store, helpful staff, samples.... In business, this is called "branding". I think we all recognize, know (and love!) the Whole Foods brand, just as by comparison we know and recognize the Wal-mart brand as well.

But when you compare two high-end grocer's to one another, I would say its more of an apples-to-apples comparison than, say, comparing any one of those high-end grocers to a Safeway or Albertson's. Prices between grocers like New Seasons, Wild Oats, or Whole Foods are all going to be roughly the same because they all are targeting the same demographic with similar brands.

I think the reason some people are offended by Whole Foods is that they already are used to the prices at their "go-to" grocers. Like many people have said, items (even "staple" items) are typically 2-3 times more expensive than other grocers, and some people have a hard time justifying why anyone in their right mind would want to spend that much money on, for example, pasta or flour .... even if their is a good reason for it (organic, free-trade, sustainable, local, etc.).

Now, I love places like Whole Foods: Like many have said, they offer high-quality products, many of them organic, and a lot of stuff that I just can't find anywhere else. (I have recently read "The Omnivore's Dilemma", and it has really gotten me thinking about the health benefits of buying organic .... There really is a big difference, and not just in taste!). I was never a big "cheese" person, but I am always impressed by their charcuterie, and beer and wine selection.

The problem is that I just can't afford to do all of my shopping there. I would love if I could buy all of my groceries there, because I do see the difference in quality that these kinds of stores offer. But when balancing the checkbook with things I need to buy and things I would like to buy, I wish I could say groceries were a higher priority for me. When I grocery shop, I still tend to buy mostly staples: bulk items, produce, meat, etc. I try and not to buy any processed or frozen foods, limited canned or packaged items .... this has helped me stretch my food budget. But when even staple items are usually 3-4 times more expensive than my local WinCo, its hard to justify the expenses, ESPECIALLY now that "times are tough" (or so I'm told by the news everyday).

This is hysterical - I have been trying to enlighten my fiance on the yumminess of Magic Middle cookies (apparently he was sheltered and never tried them) and he just doesn't get it. I guess if you never tried one, you wouldn't know what you were missing, but still. Also, LOVED Crystal Pepsi!!! Was it really only out for one year? That's surprising - I thought it was fairly popular in my little neck of the woods.

@cybercita--that made me laugh out loud!

Soda. The stuff I don't drink.

Coke is only for Coca Cola and Cocaine.

...um it's soda.

I live in california. Have lived here nearly all my life, and have always refered to it as coke no matter what I am drinking. I live in Riverside, CA but have also lived in San Diego, CA growing up and we called it the same in both places. Not sure who calls it soda sounds strange. But my cousins come down from Virginia and they call it Pop. Thought they were talking about those little pop rock candies the first time they asked for a pop. lol.

I will give the ABSOLUTE greatest crock pot chili recipe EVER!!!!!

Ingredients:
-3 lbs. Lean Groud Beef---
-2(28 oz.) cans of Chunky Crushed Tomatoes---
-1(28 oz.) can Peeled Tomatoes----
-2 (12 oz., give or take) cans Red Kidney Beans
-3 Green Bell Pepers (abaout 2 lbs.)---
-1 Red Bell Pepers (about 3/4 of a lb.)---
-1 large Onion---
-2 Jalapeno Peppers (about 1 1/4 lbs.)---
-2 cups Rice(any style)
-2 large Tomatoes--
-8 table spns. Chili powder--
-3 table spns. Flour--
-3 table spns. Salt--
-5 table spns. Crushed Red Peppers--
-2 table spns. Pepper--
-3 table spns. Basil--
-3 table spns. Oregeno--
-1 table spns. Sugar--
- 5 table spns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil---
-8 table spns. of finely Chopped Garlic(sorry i don't know how many cloves exactly, but $1 worth of garlic is plenty---

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

-1. Fist put the two cans Crushed Tomatoes and 1 can Peeled in the crock pot on HIGH. Just let it cook.

-2. Cook the Ground Beef on a medium high flame until browned, add 2 table spns. of Chil Powder to the meat as it cooks. When ground beef is fully cooked DRAIN it and add it to the crock pot that already has the cans of Crushed + can of Peeled Tomatoes already cooking.

-3. Cook the Onion(Chopped), Green Bell Peppers(chopped), Red Bell Pepper(chopped), 8 chopped tblspns. chopped Garlic, Jalapeno Peppers, and 5 table spns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Cook until ALL ingredients are glazed/tender/slightly browned.-------and add it to the crock pot that already has the cans of Crushed + can of Peeled Tomatoes, and ground beef already cooking

-4. mix 6 tblspns. Chili Powder with 3 tblspns. Flour with *about* 5 tblspns. water. thouroghly mix the Chili Powder + Flour + water ( it should be a little thinner than a tooth past consistancy) ADD that mixture(RUE) to the crock pot.

--5. Add Basil, Crushed Red Pepper, Oregenp, Salt, Pepper, Sugar, to the Crock Pot.

--6. Chop the 2 Tomatoes into fairly large pieces. Add the chopped Tomatoes to the Crock Pot.

--7. *DRAIN* the 2 cans Red Kidney Beans

scallops. or serrano ham.

a lifetime supply of filet mignon would be the greatest. perfect for BBQ's. cooked medium rare. best cut of meat there is, no question.