Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Baking disasters are infinitely more entertaining than the successes, though the latter are obviously more enjoyable! I once tried to bake bread by letting the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator -- it was supposed to be a long, slow rising to allow me time to do things through the rest of the day without having to worry about baking my bread right on time. Big mistake -- it was like a rerun of "I Love Lucy," with bread dough falling all over the sides of the bowl!!! Never again -- if I'm baking bread, I am 100% devoted to worshipping at its altar rather than neglecting it and having it tell me in no uncertain terms that it will not be ignored ....

So, Tapioca, which side won???

It's not a proper rye bread without seeds. It may technically be a "rye" bread because it contains rye flour; but it is merely an imposter without the caraway ....

My favorite burger??? My own, filled with gooey Gorgonzola on an onion kaiser roll ....

Whole Foods isn't a good option; personally, I refuse to shop there. For starters, here are articles from the NYT discussing their not supporting local farmers to the extent that they claim they do, as well as divulging the less-than-honorable blogging practices of the founder:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/dining/28whole.html?scp=2&sq=whole%20foods&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12foods.html?scp=5&sq=whole%20foods&st=cse

In addition to that, we had an incident some time ago in my city where a WF employee was fired for tackling a shoplifter; that violated the store's policy about contact with customers. God forbid you should have a heart attack at Whole Foods and need CPR!

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/12/grocery_worker_fired_for_stopp.html

No, no, don't worry -- you don't dig around for the pits; you place the side of the tines against your lips, and gracefully (ha!) remove (a.k.a.: not quite spit) the pits from your mouth and place them onto the fork. Or you could have enough sense to pick the seeds out before placing the watermelon tidbits into your mouth. Or leave it on the plate. But really, watermelon (and spaghetti, for that matter) shouldn't be issues in public. Ribs, I grant you, are difficult because you never know how tender they'll be, how meaty they'll be, and then there's the sauce issue ....

It's a sad and perverse tradition at my house to get strawberry shakes from McD's after trips to the ER (and we've indulged 10 times in the past 18 months or so). When you get discharged at 2 in the morning, that's the only thing open; and ya kinda need a bit of comfort, after all ....

Roast chicken -- sprinkled on the oiled skin, in the cavity. In the fall, I brown chicken in a skillet and then combine apple cider, Dijon mustard and herbes de Provence to braise it in ... fabulous, fabulous dinner that most consider to be my specialty!

I give Paula a LOT of credit for being a self-made woman. But God, she annoys me!!! The drawl, the insipidness, the revolting quantities of butter and mayonnaise and sugar ... ick. I know almost nothing about her hubby, but he seems to be on the opposite end of the "dynamic" spectrum from her, so I can't imagine that his book will be particularly interesting. Of course, she sells and her shows sell and her books sell, so SOMEbody must care ... but 'tisn't me.

I will happily, gleefully pay extra for pre-cubed squash. I'm naturally clumsy anyway, and have an assortment of scars to back me up on that point. So to take a large knife to a rolling, nearly impermeable squash is simply an invitation to the ER. If someone else wants to put their fingers at risk for me, I will pay them lavishly for doing so and offer up a blessing to their health as I cook with the pre-prepped results of their labor ....

Oh, I am SOOOOO jealous! I spent a month in Anchorage while my ex did a month's rotation there ... it's been awhile, so I'll have to think back to some of the food. But absolutely, without hesitation, go to the Moose's Tooth; I still have one of their takeout menus for memories, inspiration, longing. I even violated a Lenten vow to give up sugar in order to have a ginger ale there ....

The trip down the Seward really is beautiful; we took it down to Homer, which has great funky character and fabulous coffee joints!

Cheese bread. Can't remember the Brazilian name for it, but it's addictive if it's warm from the oven. At room temperature, it's nothing special ....