Tallahassee, Fl. Easy walking distance (20-30 minutes) to a Publix down the road. If we are in the mood for a bit longer of a hike, we've also gone to Winn Dixie and our Asian store.

In all honesty though, we generally don't walk to get our groceries. The combination of carrying a lot home (since we only shop once a week), and me being sick of walking (since I walk dogs for 4 hours a day as a side job) means we usually just drive.

Personally, when I'm that ill, my "favorite food" is Ensure. A couple years back I was incredibly sick and couldn't keep anything down for over a month. I literally lived on Ensure. The chocolate flavor wasn't great, but it was good enough to satisfy. Just don't touch the strawberry stuff. Awful.

When I started feeling better, I kept up with my nutritional requirements by sipping Ensure, but started making real food in very small portions to re-acclimate myself to eating. Being sick is awful, hope you are feeling better.

This is a great idea, sounds like a fun party!

Same here! We still eat them occasionally on camping trips, but those green packages were a staple of my childhood. We also called it astronaut food! :P

Alton Brown's scrambled eggs recipe finishes his eggs over high heat. I absolutely love 'em his way.

Leftover pizza heated up in the oven, rather than the microwave, is the sort of thing we college students would kill for. ;)

Ancient history though it may be, it certainly still happens. Yuck. I purposely don't come early to my grandmother's Christmas party, because it infuriates me that she expects my mom, my sister, and I to prep/cook/set the table/clean, but purposely lets the guys go watch TV. I used to think it was just the way she was babying my little brother, but when I got married she treated DH the same way. Drives me up the wall. I don't mind helping with family stuff, but when her attitude comes out, I make myself scarce. Okay, enough whining out of me! =)

That said, I've been a bit confused about the cleanup issue myself lately. Whenever we attend family get-togethers, people volunteer to do dishes. The events are usually at grandparents' houses, and the generation before us (mine and DH' parents, aunts, etc.) end up in the kitchen washing dishes. I don't want anyone to think that we are ungrateful, but they are very quick on the cleanup (usually start before I even finish eating!). I've asked if they need help before, but since they are already cleaning, they just keep at it.

Should I just keep asking if they need help or try to eat faster so I can help?

Personally, I've hated every iteration of sweet potatoes that involves marshmallows that I've tried. I adore marshmallows, and mostly like sweet potatoes. Together though, ugh. Actually, I just not fond of sweet potatoes being sweetened in general.

Maybe I would feel differently in I had a fancier version of it.

Having been on the other side of this argument this past Father's Day, I'm rather more inclined to think that it is fine, as long as the server isn't rude about it.

My family (parents, grandparents, and aunt) had reservations for 2 pm on Father's Day. We showed up at the steakhouse promptly, but ended up having to wait until almost 3 before the table they had intended for us was cleared. The people who were at the table before us took forever. If I remember correctly, the server said they had been there for almost 3 hours by the time they finally left. They opened presents at the table, sat around drinking afterwards, the whole nine yards. On Father's Day, when the place was incredibly packed. I'm not talking about an upscale, multi-course place either, it was a chain steakhouse.

I certainly wouldn't want someone to feel rushed through their meal in an effort to get to a table, but at some point, you are just shooting the breeze rather than enjoying your meal. If someone is waiting on that table, maybe shoot the breeze outside, or at the bar.

Spam in rice balls. Love it. But then, my palate isn't exactly sophisticated.

Just make sure you add things that might melt near the end of it's time in the mixing bowl, right before you pour it out to set. I've added chocolate chips before, and those little cinnamon candies. They might melt a bit, but it shouldn't be too bad. If you are brave enough to face the stickiness, you could fold them in after mixing. I think my marshmallow book instructs you to do that, but I'm too much of a ditz to do that. I already make a huge mess just pouring it into a pan. =P

Alternatively, you could just add them on top like Adrienne said. Last Christmas I made chocolate flavored marshmallows and topped them with crushed candy canes while they were setting. They melted just a touch, and it was wonderful.

I really appreciate the advice everyone, thank you! Lots of stuff had to go (milk, 2 dozen eggs, bacon, yogurt, etc.) so I'm glad to hear that not everything in the fridge is a goner.

Ugh, we just got home from a weekend at my parents' to find that the fridge was ever so slightly open. The fridge thermometer said it was about 60 degrees. Naturally, we just went grocery shopping for the week right before we left on Friday. :(

Already tossed almost everything that was in there, but I'm not sure about a few items. I did some research, but the results were mixed enough that I figured it was worth asking here.

We were gone from Friday until now. Should we throw out the block of parmesan cheese, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, dry mustard, and lemon juice?

Most any recipe from America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated and Alton Brown is a hit here. Specifically we are big fans of AB's pot stickers (they aren't authentic, but that doesn't matter to us) and chocolate cookies (we've tried the chewy and one other, both great). There are probably other recipes of his that we've just co-opted to where we don't even remember they came from him anyway. :P

The only failure I can think of off the top of my head was AB's corn dogs. They weren't bad, they just didn't taste at all like corn dogs. If I'm going to fry hot dogs, I want my fair-style corn dogs. ;)