@ Ginger Cookie - totally agree!

Job seeker is a CHEF, not an accountant. Also - and with all due respect to The Grumpy One - this is not 1955. It's not a big deal for applicants - especially in edgier artistic fields like cooking, art, design, etc. - to have moderate piercings and tats, much less some cool clothes.

If your clothes are boring, it says your cooking is boring, and no one has ever hired a boring chef (unless you want to cook breakfast at Cocos).

Finally, also agree about the travel. Friend was willing to relocate anywhere, and it paid off very nicely. He started at a country club in the midwest, then on to Vegas. Relocation will also give you an opportunity to see regional cuisines, farmers markets, local farms, etc.

Don't worry, don't despair and don't give up. You will be on this journey whether you think positively or negatively, so might as well give yourself every opportunity by thinking positively and keeping a great attitude.

Keep up updated!
Your Serious Eats Foodie Family

Suck excess from whipped cream nozzle after every use; it's too good to rinse off!

Guilty on the paper towel thing; they seem so much cleaner than cloth towels!

Wiping down the counters means wiping everything onto the floor; my displacement theory of cleaning = move the dirt to another location.

Feed the cat grated reggiano parmigiano whenever we have it; kinda gross, but I do make her eat off her own plate.

Joey D's for chinese chicken salad.

Otherwise, I hate most salad dressings. They use poor quality olive oil and vinegar(s), they add a ton of salt, and they think that using a ton of garlic makes it "Italian."

I AM Italian, and just the opposite is true, so I make my own!

Check out the Neiman Marcus CC cookie recipe.

It became famous as an internet hoax (people claimed a lady was charged $250 for it, but, of course that wasn't true). Here it is:

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/service/nm_cookie_recipe.jhtml

Good luck. Let us know what you decide is the best!

I used to use Penzey's, but got so tired of their completely crappy website and customer service. They invested zero $$ in their website or backend technology, no one at the company was computer literate, and trying to get them to enter the 21st century was a losing battle.

I've also tried the Spice House in Chicago, run by Bill Penzey's daughter and son-in-law. Gail Gand (True and Food Network) gets her spices there. Good, but not great. Don't like that they take bulk Neilson Massey (spelling?) vanilla, and pour it into smaller, no label containers. Seems kinda cheesy, to me.

Still looking for the perfect online spice house. Have tried growing my own, but if you have any semblence of a life, the time and upkeep requirements for all types of spices, fresh and dried, are impossible!

However, if you are retired, this might be an excellent home based business, as you can supplement any online selling with a farmers market booth.

Definitely my favorite to make, because you can customize it to the eater (type of apples, raisins, craisins, sour cream, amount of cinnamon, etc.).

I will eat restaurant apple pie if it is (1) served hot (2) with cheddar cheese (3) in a crust with butter only, no shortning!

I know the butter vs shortening statement is controversial (I have had very heated arguments about this!), but my grandparents were dairy farmers, and it was 100% butter for pie crusts, so that's the only way I can or will eat them!

Second the fish ideas. Grilled swordfish will be ready in about 6-8 minutes, and only needs lemon and butter for garnish. Bag-o-lettuce with good quality olive oil and balsalmic, plus baguette from local French bakery, and meal is complete.

Baked potatoes topped with broccoli or any leftover and reheated meat or veggie are also quick and easy.

Patsy's Basil Marinara sauce - expensive but worth it - on fusilli, with a real good quality parmesan (none of that pre-grated stuff!).

If you choose really good ingredients, you only need a few of them to have a quick, easy, fresh and healthy dinner. PS - I think there is a cookbook entitled 5-Ingredient Dinners or something like that. You may want to check Amazon. Hope this helps!

I bet if Thomas Keller opened a fried chicken truck - like the taco trucks - in LA, NY or SF, people would go nuts for it!

I would definitely drive many miles to stand in that long line!

@ Adam Kuban is correct, Delicious.

Basic intertubes etiquette states that all caps is the equivalent of yelling (and I'm not talking about acronyms). It's telling that both your screen name and your post title are in all caps.

It is you, dear delicious, that needs that chill pill - or two.

No brainer - San Francisco!

Go to the Chronicle's Food Section (online), and look at articles from the last 1-2 years for restaurants, food markets, diners, ethnic restaurants (amazing chinese food), etc.

The weather is great, and airline and hotel prices are down because of the economy. Plus, in between your meal adventures - you're in San Francisco!

@KarynMC - OMG, my Canadian grandparents served me those sandwiches! Some days it was white sugar, some days brown, but always butter and white bread!

My mom and aunts had a love affair with packaged, sliced ham (Danola, I think). They would serve it on Wonder Bread - double ugh - with either mayo or Squeeze Parkay Margarine.

All the ingredients would stick to one another the moment you took a bite, and then, en masse, they would stick to the roof of your mouth, your teeth, etc. It was like wallpaper glue in a lunchbox. I am gagging at the mouth feel memory of those slimy, chewy creations.

Great question!

In grade school, one of our field trips (no kidding!) was to a McDonalds. It's shocking to me now that this wasn't seen by the adults or by the public school board as an introduction to a lifetime of product loyalty.

What I got out of that trip was that their french fries were the most amazing thing I had ever eaten! Years later, I was told (and I don't know if it's true) that at that time, McD's fries were cooked in beef tallow (which would make anything taste awesome). As time, money, science and healthcare marched on, the beef tallow was replaced by oil, which, of course, completely changed the taste and texture of those amazing fries.

If anybody knows the facts, I'd love to fiind out if what I was told was true!