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From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

One other thing to consider is having family members "proof" their recipes. A well-meaning family member put together our family cookbook, and the thing is so riddled with errors (ingredients, measurements, directions, attributions) that it's almost not usable. She worked so hard on it... but...

From Serious Eats

Watch It with Us: 'The Next Food Network Star,' Episode 7

I realized while watching last night that I would not watch a show with any of these people. In fact, I've switched to rooting against people like Debbie, who seems to have been set up to win since the beginning. The times that she's failed have been because the other contestants put her into a position of authority or because she's stuck her foot in her mouth.

Anyone catch Debbie explaining an excess of garlic powder (yuck) was a "Korean" thing?

From Talk

The Simplicity of a Subway Breakfast

Subway does sound like a good breakfast option - but, in terms of fast food, Subway will always seem like fast food to me. Reason: in college, I frequently at a sketchy Subway in a very sketchy gas station in a transitional Chicago neighborhood. Anything that franchises into gas stations is definitely fast food.

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From Talk

Anyone else peek at the spoilers for TNFNS?

From Talk

Basic bread improvements?

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Dinner Tonight: Cauliflower with Bacon and Mushrooms

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Dinner Tonight: Cashew Chicken Curry with Cilantro Sauce

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Cakespy: Chocolate Peanut Butter Special K Bars

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Cook the Book: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

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From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

One other thing to consider is having family members "proof" their recipes. A well-meaning family member put together our family cookbook, and the thing is so riddled with errors (ingredients, measurements, directions, attributions) that it's almost not usable. She worked so hard on it... but...

From Serious Eats

Watch It with Us: 'The Next Food Network Star,' Episode 7

I realized while watching last night that I would not watch a show with any of these people. In fact, I've switched to rooting against people like Debbie, who seems to have been set up to win since the beginning. The times that she's failed have been because the other contestants put her into a position of authority or because she's stuck her foot in her mouth.

Anyone catch Debbie explaining an excess of garlic powder (yuck) was a "Korean" thing?

From Talk

The Simplicity of a Subway Breakfast

Subway does sound like a good breakfast option - but, in terms of fast food, Subway will always seem like fast food to me. Reason: in college, I frequently at a sketchy Subway in a very sketchy gas station in a transitional Chicago neighborhood. Anything that franchises into gas stations is definitely fast food.

From Serious Eats

Serious Green: Turn Your Lawn Into an Edible Garden

@itsmdorsey -- HOA stands for "home owners' association." They're a neighbor-run or company-run group that enforces rules in a neighborhood to ensure consistency and cleanliness and - so the theory goes - retain home values. Some HOAs regulate things like landscaping and communal garden areas, and others provide for pools and tennis courts, etc. When people buy in HOA-overseen areas, they sign a contract that states they will uphold those rules - and pay dues so others can enforce those rules - so a court case probably isn't going to do much. In Texas, an HOA can foreclose on your house for non-payment of dues and fines - like the ones you would get for planting veggies in your front lawn. Don't like the rules? Don't buy in those neighborhoods.

So that's why I don't live there and can enjoy dandelions, natural grasses, and a pesticide-free lawn.

From Talk

Ethiopian food

Here's a recipe: http://www.angelfire.com/ak/sellassie/food/injera.html

When I was motivated to make it, I wasn't able to find teff (aside from ordering on ebay) - but it looks like you can buy it on amazon now. The other "trick" is having a big enough pan.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Endangered Recipes' by Lari Robling

Cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches!

My grandfather also made an amazing spinach dish - spinach with an egg on top and loads of vinegar.

From Serious Eats

Tap Water Now Available at Millennium in San Francisco

If people can pay for Brita filters in their homes, then what's the big deal of paying for filtered water when you eat out?

From Talk

Best deals on appliances?

We bought a Bosch range from the Sears Outlet store last year for around $600 (and a Bosch built-in dishwasher for less than $300).

They even have their inventory online now:
http://www.searsoutlet.com/d/index.jsp

What I did is stalk my local store's selections until they marked down their "hot deal" - which is how I saved so much on the dishwasher.

We've done Best Buy before - and that's great if you need delivery and want in-box, no scratch/dent/etc. However, I'd rather go through a little extra effort for higher quality like I've gotten at Sears.

From Serious Eats

In Season: Avocados

Rather than squeezing to tell ripeness, try testing the give/flexibility of the stem. No movement = not ripe. Very flexible = ripe.

From Talk

Favorite Chicago Foods?

I think you hit all the musts. If I were there this weekend, I'd do:

lunch: Mr. G's for the hot dog - with everything (747 N Clark St.)
dinner: Lou's - sausage/mushroom as you mentioned - plus the dessert pizza
breakfast: Anne Sather's! a benedict and cinnamon rolls
lunch: Gyros - with everything
dinner: Rose Angelis for Italian
breakfast: Anne Sathers again? or a Greek diner

From Serious Eats

Dear Serious Eats: Ba Lee Banh Mi in Carrollton, Texas

The Dallas area has always been quite the boon for Vietnamese food. My parents were big on going to places in Arlington (southwestish of Carrollton) back in the 1980s - although the food seemed more Americanized/Chinese-influenced (or could that have just been what I ordered?).

From Talk

"fix" an unripe avocado?

I've heard of microwaving it for a few seconds - or putting it in a paper bag for a few days.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Serious Barbecue' by Adam Perry Lang

This is simple - but *finally* getting a grilled pizza cooked throughout without too many char marks. So good.

From Serious Eats

Domino’s Launches Line of Bread Bowl Pastas

Ew. I love carbs, but those look like poorly conceived dessert pizzas.

From Serious Eats

Served: Why Tipping Makes Everyone Uncomfortable

Wow - way to spark discussion.

I've left crap tips before - for crap service. I live in a suburb where good service is the *exception* - and the last time we went out (where we live, not in the city), our waiter was completely/obviously stoned (at lunch). He would occasionally stop, stand by our table and kind of sway as he stared out the window. This is the second time this has happened to us this year. So odd. But in my opinion, a crap tip should still fix that person right at a living wage.

I love the idea someone mentioned about going more European. I'd be thrilled if our restaurants included the staff's wages in their mark ups on the food - and more thrilled if our government got with it and upped a waiter's wages to minimum wage. I'd still be happy to leave extra for exceptional service, and I think that I'd eat out - as opposed to carry out - more than I do now.

From Serious Eats

Snapshots from Italy: Grano Stompato, My New Favorite Food

If I were to be a poor 18th C. farmer, then I would want to be in Italy.

This, some cheese on occasion, and a steady supply of red wine = perfection.

From Serious Eats

No Beets Will Grow in the White House's Organic Vegetable Garden?

Down with beets. Long live the heirloom tomato!

(Seriously, if you had to devote a patch of your garden to something, would you pick a beet over a pepper or a berry?)

From Talk

Anything special going into your menu today?

Funny - my family is Irish, but we've never once eaten corned beef for any type of family get-together. Anyone else?

From A Hamburger Today

New Identity for Jack in the Box

Isn't there some sort of marketing thing going on right now where "Jack" is missing? (Coma or something?)

Since the whole brand isn't being changed over, this reeks of publicity stunt. Get people worked up (similar to the orange juice packaging) about a "sissy"-ish change and bring back Jack along with a return to classic foods or prices or something.

If they were really changing anything, then they'd change everything.

From Talk

Central Market

For fun, ask the cheese guy for his favorite cheese. Buy whatever produce is highlighted - since that's usually what's most seasonal.

They sometimes have a loaf of bread with prosciutto and black pepper. Yum.

In the take away section - the leek soup is my favorite, and the tuscan olives are fantastic. The homemade guacamole is really good, too.

From Talk

25 Random Things about Food and Me

@cowprintrabbit - I sulked, too! No one tagged me, and that got more irritating as other people complained about being tagged. Funny.

From Serious Eats

Served: Why Tipping Makes Everyone Uncomfortable

So I didn't see the last post, and I haven't read all the comments, but it's a topic that depends on the situation, imo. If it was a large group of people, I would ask again, because that does eat up a lot of one waitress's time. I dined at a nice little place with a friend a few months back, and it was my second time there (pretty sure the waiters recognized me). I had tipped well the first time, as it was a great experience, and the second time, my friend and I completely miscalculated the tip. My waiter came back around and asked us if everything was ok. It was a bit awkward, but I'm glad he did ask, because he deserved more than the $3 we had somehow managed to leave.

From Serious Eats

Served: Why Tipping Makes Everyone Uncomfortable

I think the whole idea of tipping is ridiculous: do you tip the toll collector for taking your money? Do you tip the gas man for reading your meter? Do you tip your IT guy for fixing your computer? Of course not. Now, obviously, they don't live on tips. GUESS WHAT: NEITHER SHOULD WAITERS! How insane is it that a customer has to pay basically twice: for the food and for the service? Can you imagine if we had to tip UPS person for delivering the package to your house? Here's another tidbit: are the dishes heavier at T.G.I. Fridays than they are in a fancy steakhouse with $100+ dishes? Where do you come off with a sense of entitlement to a $20 tip just because the food was $100, whereas at Fridays a $20 plate would only get a $4 tip? If restaurant you work at charges that much for food, let them pay you! Enough is enough!

From Serious Eats

Chipotle Calorie Math Makes Absolutely No Sense

you can pick healthy choices... i can get crunchy tacos with carnitas, fajita veggies, lettuce, and medium salsa. all stuff that I know won't add a lot of calories (like rice, beans). My total for that is 410 calories.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

I used tastebook.com as a gift for my bridesmaids, my mom and my MIL. I was able to upload my own photos and put stories in so I could "dedicate" a recipe to each of them. It was a HUGE hit and they all loved it.

I did have some issues with it though. I suggest putting all your recipes into word and then copy and pasting it - more than once I'd get done typing a recipe into tastebook and then it wouldn't save. I also couldn't figure out a way to change any recipes I downloaded from epicurious, so I ended up having to retype those. It also seems to encourage plagarism - I adapt a lot of recipes, so when I tried to put in "Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's. . ." (I wanted to give credit!) it would flag it for violating the terms of use, but if I took that line out I was fine.

I do love the finished product though!

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

My wife and I were given a book for a wedding present titled "Favorite Family Recipes" ISBN 0-89009-493-4. It had been passed around behind our backs at showers and other family gatherings for folks to write in recipes. Over the years I've added other recipes from my mother as I've discovered them.

I still use an old Win95 version of Master Cook software to keep all my recipes on an old laptop in the kitchen. It can print in several formats. When someone asks for a recipe, I just print it to a PDF and email it to them.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

Although I haven't made a recipe book yet, I have successfully used Word for similar projects. My one tip for those who decide to use Word is this: make sure you allocate adequate space in "Margins" for the vertical "gutter" that runs down the binding side of your pages, and select "Mirror Margins" if you plan to print on both sides of the paper. Otherwise, you could have your recipe butting right up against whatever your binding material is (spiral, comb, 3-ring, etc).

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

I did mine through Heritage Cookbooks, the program is really easy and the books came out beautiful, I definitely recommend it. http://www.heritagecookbook.com/

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

I put all of the recipes on a CD and put it in the back of the binder when I made my cookbook for my daughters. That way if a recipe gets damaged or comes up missing they can reprint it. And my oldest daughter made copies for her best friend whe she went out on her own.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

Many brides I have worked with swear by tastebook.com

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

Years ago my kid sister [now 58] put together something like that when I became a single parent. She typed and dot-matrixed printed them, put each page in a plastic sleeve and put them in a 3 ring binder. The plastic sleeves protect the pages in the kitchen and also from age a bit. I've added to it quite a bit over the years [the 3 rings] and when Sis' daughter grew up I sent her a copy.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

@Gator Pam due to the the waterproof qualities of the papers they must be laser printed or copied, the print is very stable. I have had a color printed sheet of the DuraCopy paper used as a menu for a school concession stand, displayed outdoors for over a year in full exposure that has faded a little, and is becoming a little stiff nearing brittle, But it stood up to hurricane Ike, I just took it down to replace it for another year.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

I use a MAC and iPhoto, and am currently working on a cookbook for my kids. I can save PDFs to iPhoto and crop them as I please. I also like the fact that I can copy / scan recipes that I like from Julia Child and others, that are really not mine, but ones the family loves. iPhoto has book formats you can choose from, for a variety of looks and they can come hard-bound, spiral, or soft in different sizes. I like the fact that I can post a photo of my mom or mother-in-law in the kitchen, with a recipe on the opposite page. Last year I made Christmas Cards and a calendar using it, and the quality is excellent. After checking Blurb's pricing, I found iPhoto / Apple was comparable, if not cheaper.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

How about somebody starting a site or flicker group where we can post a few photos of our family books?

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

I am doing something similar for my daughter who is getting married in October. I have been collecting recipes from all of our family members including a short story about the dish or who prepared it for what occasion or party, giving some history on the dish and the people who enjoyed it!

My plan is to print the recipes on recipe cards that will fit into a specially made recipe card holder that my daughter received as a gift. I have found several really neat recipe card options on Etsy.com. There are several artists that sell custom made stationery on that site that include cool food related graphics. So...that is my idea for the moment!

Thanks to all of the others for their ideas on Lulu.com and Blurb.com and Tastebook! Good luck on the project.

From Talk

Compiling recipes for a family cookbook - advice?

Dont forget the strange stuff your family eats at holidays, given any, both sides of mine has a few :)

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: '100 Best Vegetarian Recipes'

Thank you for participating, and congratulations to our winners:

XCue
moo1018
ilydnic
tankwatkins
luxie

Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: '100 Best Vegetarian Recipes'

My favorite meatless meal is mattar paneer with couscous.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: '100 Best Vegetarian Recipes'

A new dish I just made up that I call creamy eggplant ziti, it is out of this world delicious. One everyone, even the eggplant haters kept going back for more of.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: '100 Best Vegetarian Recipes'

Meatless Lasagna with Ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, tomatoes, tomato paste, noodles, onion, green pepper, mushrooms and spices; a Caesar Salas and a glass of Chardonnay is my favorite meatless meal. garrettsambo@aol.com

Recent Posts

From Talk

Anyone else peek at the spoilers for TNFNS?

From Talk

Basic bread improvements?

Recent Favorites

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Cauliflower with Bacon and Mushrooms

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Cashew Chicken Curry with Cilantro Sauce

From Recipes

Cakespy: Chocolate Peanut Butter Special K Bars

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Grilled Corn on the Cob

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Orecchiette with Broccoli, Anchovies, and Chiles

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Venetian Spaghetti with Sardines

From Recipes

Eat for Eight Bucks: Gai Pad Krapow (Thai Basil Chicken)

From Recipes

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From Recipes

Cook the Book: Baked Hot Chocolate

From Recipes

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From Talk

The Popper Dip - did you alter the recipe too?

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Cannellini Beans with Wilted Greens

From Recipes

Baking With Dorie: Creamy Cream Cheese Cheesecake For Passover—Or Not

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