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Tarragon

A freshly made french baguette beside a dish of french cultured butter. God.

confit and more confit.

For those on a budget the Trader Joe's Black Mountain pinot is an amazing wine for $5.99. Their own 'Petit reserve' at $6.99 is also quite remarkable. For a dinner as rich as Thanksgiving dinner, the nuance of even $40 pinots are lost - what you want is something that would cut through the richness and refresh the palate.

Although I don't have a Boston Market in my new area, I always found it exceedingly handy for those nights one didn't want to cook and it was honest food - nothing spectacular, but handy honest food.

Singapore Airlines, business, roast goose with an Asian fruit sauce. Never had better.

While I'm a fan of Cook's Illustrated, the french fry method attributed to them actually belongs to Patricia Wells in one of her early books. She attributes them to a French chef whose name I've forgotten. Credit where credit is due!

For those of you who might be too young to have seen "Babette's Feast" be sure to rent it. It is truly the best food movie of all time. The last scene alone is one of the great moments of the movies.

While the class distinction argument that has popped up here is despicable, I have never (and never will) shop at Walmart for all the reasons mentioned plus one more: almost single-handedly they created the economic monster of China - and yes, all the big-box stores have followed . The prices may be great for mediocre (or worse) products, but with China now owning a huge slice of U.S. debt, and the power over us this debt allows, Walmart is a major-if not THE major player - in our balance of trade problems. Why, for instance, does the U.S. not do more about civil liberties and pollution in China? Figure it out.

I'm delighted to see them as the food of the year. As one who loves them, its about time!