DJS

Real Name:

Debra

Location:

Manhattan

Best meal I ever ate:

Friday nights and holidays at my grandma's. We have the recipes, but it's just not the same.

My current drink of choice:

Ice cold milk.

I really wish I could:

Go down Alice's rabbit hole and get a time share in Wonderland.

My "Go-to" dinner party dish:

Whatever course is needed -- I've been a caterer.

My favorite comfort food:

Chicken pot pie. Thanksgiving leftovers. Open face roast beef or turkey sandwiches. Cupcakes. The foods I ate before I turned six are still my favorites.

My top 5 favorite restaurants:

The Second Avenue Deli; Bingham's Family Restaurant (Kingsley, PA), Sammy's Roumanian, Grimaldi's (Utica, NY), Famous Lunch (Troy, NY)

My most tattered cookbooks:

I have many that are more impressive, but the truth is my "Go To" is one of those fundraisers that the women of my hometown put together to raise money for a local nursing home. It's got everybody's best recipes -- sometimes more than one for each dish, because the women fought over whose cakes were the lightest, kugels were the fluffiest, and how to make a matzo ball lighter than air. You can find fancier recipes, but not better ones.