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I think meat eaters get tired of chicken, beef, pork, et al. I know my mom cooked about 8,183,007 chickens, seemingly all in a row for a while - and I couldn't even EAT chicken till about a year after that. I'm not against occasionally having all-vegetarian meals, I like to do that a couple of times a week.

To pick up on dbcurrie's point - as customers, we get coached on how to make a valid, intelligent complaint but I think restaurants (and all businesses for that matter) should know how to field a complaint.

If a patron complains, 9 out of 9.5 times, the restaurant did something the patron is NOT imagining to warrant this complaint. Do NOT defend. This is a lame attempt to deflect blame and it never works. Accept that the customer is not happy, take away the offending item, and make it right.

I went to an awful wedding last year. The venue was beautiful but everything went downhill fast. The "catered" food was a small, miserable array of exactly 4 items. It seemed more like a prison feeding line than a wedding buffet. But insult was about to be added to injury.

A fellow guest and good friend found a long hair in his food. His wife, having worked in restaurants, approached the manager about it. The manager came to the table and said this: "All my servers have short hair so it must have been cooked into the food back at the catering kitchen." WTF???? You don't defend your servers by throwing the catering company under the bus - it does nothing to rectify the situation. Here's what he should have said: "I'm sorry about that sir, may I assemble another plate for you from fresh trays of food?" One sentence. The manager would have a) accepted the blame, b) given the guest a workable option and c) rectified the situation. Not rocket science.

I didn't read all the responses but have you ever added tomato paste? I usually add one 7-ounce can of tomato paste and one tomato-paste-can of water to every 28 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes I use. It tastes great and does not separate.

What makes marinara "marinara" is the fact that it's meatless. It's "in the style of the mariner" who needed a product that would not turn rancid when brought out to sea for long periods of time.

As many vegetarian dishes as I prepare, I don't think I could ever dedicate myself to vegetarianism as a lifestyle. How many beans and tofu can a person eat?

Unless your family has a deep, burning desire to adopt a meat-free lifestyle, try eating lighter meats, chicken and fish; or making 3 days a week "non-meat/fish" days.

Yes. So much so that every T-Giving, I mix a batch of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cheddar Pie Crust and make cookies out of it. I use gingerbread cooky cutters, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake. I started this tradition years ago after having made apple pie with the cheddar crust. I had leftover crust and made a few cookies. My daughter loved them and insists every year that we have them.

By eating Szechuan food with a boyfriend when I was very young. I had never even heard of it and got hooked immediately on the heat. Since then I've tested every spicy food I could get my hands on.

@PrettyNicola - Here are a few pix of the cookies.

The Dough

Cookies cooling on a speed rack.

Nekkid cookies (waiting to be iced).

Iced cookies.

I cannot stress enough - do not roll them too thin and don't overbake them. They are nice and moist and not dry and bitter.

@AuntJone - great minds, baby!!

It's not a stretch even in a busy place to keep a small steam table tray with teaspoons for sampling - and then to deposit them in the sink or in a basin of soapy water that is eventually transferred to the dishwasher.

As for a "do as we say..." disclaimer, TVFN would have to make a 30 minute crawler loop out of it to air during Sandra Lee's entire show. I'd rather it said, "Hey kids, don't try this at home."

This is my default gingerbread cooky recipe. It's Nick Malgieri's Decorated Gingerbread Cookies. I know for a fact the dough freezes beautifully because I made it one year on T-Giving weekend and baked the cookies off the second week of December for my office. I increased the recipe to make 455 gingerbread cookies.

Even gingerbread haters love these. The tip is NOT to roll them too thinly. Don't try to get three thousand cookies from one batch of dough. Roll them just around 1/4" thick and don't overbake them. They come out nice and chewy with no burnt bits. People who hate gingerbread because it's "bitter" have had cookies by someone trying to stretch the batch.

You will NOT be disappointed.

My nephew lives with us so he will be allowed to pick out his favorites, then EVERYTHING goes to the office with my BF and nephew. Period. End of story. End of temptation!!

How would you know if drinks/ apps are going to be ordered? Should arestaurant have to deny a full party a table so an incomplete party canshare an app?

Because if a DINNER reservation was made, it's a safe assumption that DINNER will be ordered by each patron - even the one who's straggling.

Frankly, if I were to be denied a table because one member of a party or four or more was not present, I'd spend my money someplace else. It's downright rude to inconvenience diners like that. It's disrespectful - and very short sighted as I'm sure others feel as I do.

I agree wholeheartedly with the critique of "foam." WTF???? I ordered only one dish in my life that had "foam" on it, and it looked like the chef (or maybe the waitperson) spat on my dish. It was hideous. I hope this trend dies as quickly as "vanilla lobster."

Chef as Media Whore - and who did they throw up as the photo? Rocco DiSpirito. This dude was a great cook and that ONE BLUNDER he committed called "The Restaurant" cost him about 5 years of productivity. After The Restaurant, I wouldn't pay to watch DiSpirito boil an egg. I'm sorry to say restaurant "reality" shows have not improved much. It's still drama, insults, distractions - with little attention to what the contestant is actually cooking.

Communal tables don't bother me - try getting into Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown at high lunch hour and see if you don't relent and sit at a communal table.

I think "knee-jerk" reviews are only a small problem, compared to a) inflatedly positive reviews written by the restaurant owner's brother-in-law and b) exaggeratedly horrible reviews written by someone who couldn't get a timely reservation - or worse - someone who has NEVER dined at the establishment whose food he or she is reviewing.

LBNL, the first category "onion blossoms," and the "proudly obnoxious" categories could be combined. It's all about vulgar amounts of fat and calories - and pokes fun at gluttons who go in for this sort of thing.

#3 has caused a lot of discussion. I've worked in a busy restaurant with 24 seats. A table for 4 is too valuable to let 3 people sit there for an hour while waiting for a fourth who is always "just around the corner."

I'm sorry but if a fourth person is expected momentarily, the party should be seated. I can see being frustrated waiting for one person when there are only 2 in the party but three people should not be standing at the entrance when only 1 is outstanding. If people are ordering drinks and appetizers while the other person makes his or her way to the restaurant, money is still being made.