Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I will try anything once.

If it has Tofu or Olives anywhere near the dish I will not even try. Besides being completely pointless tofu has an awful texture and I've gotten ill twice from dishes made with it. And olives make my taste buds explode in all the wrong ways (I have the same reaction to pickles but not as intense).

I find I like what Giada makes but I find her annoying. So I own her cookbooks but don't watch the show. Alton is the only person I watch on the network anymore.

(one morbid note: if you look for Giada's family dinners cookbook on amazon.com it recommends purchasing Giada's book with Rachel Rays 30 second meals)

Ditto to JerzeeTomato's comment. I also think Alton is to attached to FoodTV which is disappointing.

Our turkey is locally owned and raised. Everything else will come from my butcher or local big box grocery store. Its next to impossible to find organic cranberries in that special "can" shape. [grin]

I would also go with the tasting menu if there is one. Some of the best meals I've ever had have been in restaurants that I've never been in before and order the tasting menu.

Otherwise - I never get the specials or ask the waiter - too unreliable. I will typically order something I know very well or something that the restaurant may be known for.

Toasted English muffin, scrambled egg in the microwave, a little cheese.
Yogurt with granola and dried fruit.
Oatmeal. *wry smile* I keep frozen fruit and lots of spices on hand, so that helps.
A Carnation Instant Breakfast, peanut butter, banana, and milk smoothie.
Cottage cheese with a banana and toast.
Hard-boiled egg and toast.
Frozen waffles/pancakes with peanut butter and honey.
Cheese toast with a side of fruit.
Scrambled egg and cheese wraps (with or without breakfast meat - precooking breakfast meats help!)

I've been experimenting with breakfast egg muffins - sort of like breakfast casserole, but made in a muffin tin and frozen and reheated. I'm not quite happy with it yet, but I think I'm close!

Smoothie -

1 banana
1/2c cottage cheese
1/2c yogurt
2-3tbsp water or milk
1/4-1/2c berries (frozen works great!)
1tsp honey
1 tsp ground flax

Blend, toss in a travel mug, and enjoy :-)

First of all I have to recover from laughing sooo hard at the remarks from:
Nance- re: Sandra Lee on the Kwanzaa cake (topping in with corn nuts) please tell me your joking, I don't know if you or Sandra's Kwazaa cake recipe want to kill ME. rotfl.
Jensings- your comment also made me roll off the couch, well put.
Alssa- same as above
Thanks y'all for a very good laugh.

Now who I like:
Alton - becuz he is silly and informative, I like that.
Emeril- becuz of due respect, but he needs to (or has) retire, his "bam" has gotten a little too old.
Ina- like her soft spoken demure and her recipes seem very good, but did she make a pact with the devil? Read her bio eveything thing she did she is successful at... hmmmmmm. That nervous laugh does get to me though.
Tyler- tried some of his stuff....really good.
Sara Moulton- like her alot, she is so relaxed, I like her cooking, she teaches, and she covers UP!! I miss her.
Cat Cora-total professional, she is very pretty but like all chefs ( iam one myself) cover's UP!! She wears a chef coat. I like her demure and professional knowledge.
Anthony Bourdain- Love his shows, they tell the real shit that goes on in cultures.
Mario- real authentic chef. Love his shows and his foods. Wll miss him too.
Duff-I like but other then his oux and Mary Alice many of his workers seem liike there on drugs.
Guy- I like him. his show makes me sick becuz my city has very few diner, drive-ins and dives anymore( I live in Seattle). His other show I only saw a few times, but I liked what he made so far. He's funny.
Symon- I like him. He's professional and his giggles crack me up. I like his food.
Flay- His actual shows bore me to sleep but I do respect his success and I 'm sure his food is good. I hear good reviews about his restaurants.
Ming Tsi- I miss him, he too is a Pro. and I loved his show. I made a dish of his for Mother's Day once and it turned out great but man, I almost had to hop a plane to Asia to get some of the ingreds. for it.

Now for my dislikes:
Paula Deen- I like her home program (she's somewhat mellow) but the shit she makes.......
Paula's party- That is enough to make my ears bleed. Is she drunk on that show? She is flirting, forgetting what they are doing she is hamming it up. Nooooooooo!!
Robin What her name- Boring.
Giada- I liked her pogram when it first aired, but now it is a joke. Yes that phoney accent, the Farrah Fawcett smile, yes the low cut shirts. Shit she is making Italian food (maybe), she should be professional and wear a chef coat. You get shit all over yourself making Italian food. It's food food porn.
Sandra Lee- Ah wtf is she doing on FN? Yes she has a concept for making things go easy in the kitchen, yes someone above wrote that some chefs use canned this and that for fresh and its true, and that is good, but she can at least come through with some dishes that are homemade 100% for the times one has day off or special occasions ect. Anyone can open a box or packet and just add shit to it, but I thought the FN was to educate people how to make real dishes.
Bobblehead aka Rach Ray- She is over the top of WHAT???? Yes I play a game with my boyfriend, everytime 30 mins. airs we get beers ready and when she says her imfamous words "EVOO, sammies, delish, garbage bowl, awesome, eyeball it, giggles, ect., we take a drink. Guaranteed your tipsy (if not drunk) in 30 minutes. FN needs to restructure what their goal is really quick. Do they want the true chefs that really show people methods, ideas of real cooking or do they want to have circus acts like they are airing?

I enjoy Food Network! I AM SO GLAD THAT THEY FINALLY PUT AFRICAN AMERICANS ON THERE TO SHARE SOME RECIPES THAT I CAN RELATE TO. I am not interested in panini or vinaigrette....give me soul food & my family is happy!! I am glad that they are more diverse now & I will watch them even more now, since I will be getting recipes that my whole family are used to & will be able to enjoy! THANX FOOD NETWORK...KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!
Also, dont be so hard on Rachel Ray....she is not a chef & it just shows how food network is not so fast to judge others, they accepted her & the audience saw themselves in her & that is how she has became so famous. She IS goofy, but that just reminds me that she is human! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK RACHEL!! JUST (PLEASE) get rid of the goofy laugh....she laughs at LEAST 4 times a show & it is beginning to DRIVE US CRAZY!! lol

At home, I'm a little clean obsessed, but I am indeed a very messy cook. I consider messy and dirty two totally different issues. Now if you leave the mess sit and don't clean it up in a timely manner, it then becomes filth, in my estimation.

We dine out alot, so at some point I force myself to become oblivious to small things or I would be dining at home much more frequently. My first observation at the table is generally that of the silverware. If they are not immaculate, I ask for new. Next is the glassware, which is very obvious if not spotless and free of any gunk. It has always been my contention that the mark of a good restaurant is the cleanliness and tidiness of the restrooms. If they don't care that there is a layer of fuzzy fur on their plastic flowers and wet paper towels are overflowing onto the floor then they are not apt to pay attention to detail elsewhere either. It never occurred to me to accidentally walk into the kitchen, but that is a great idea.

This thread brings to memory very bad experiences at TGI McFunster's. Repeated, heinous experiences. I used to live fairly close to one, and it was one of the more "upscale" restaurants in the area. haha... Nonetheless, dining companions were constantly insisting on the place for convenience. One time, I found a plastic wheel from some sort of kitchen implement in my spring roll. When I complained, to their credit, they did ask if I would prefer some cottage cheese or applesauce. Then another time I ordered a BLT and the B was raw, never having seen the inside of a skillet. This is the biggie - another time I ordered a shrimp cocktail and pulled a piece of raw chicken out of the bowl. When I complained, they offered to bring me another app, so while I was waiting, (watching my companions enjoy their food and the servers go in and out of the kitchen), I could see the servers sitting on the food prep counters in the kitchen. Three of them SITTING on the counters!!! Why don't people notice that the food there tastes like a_ _?