Alphonso's (Italian) has decent dinners and great garlic knots. Pizza is a bit better than average. I haven't tried anything else around there to compare it.

Haven't been there in a while maybe 6 months ago, but I had a really good hangar steak there. I can't remember what sides or dessert I had but I remember they were average at best.

Cluck U...chicken spot

The Institute for Culinary Education has cooking classes for kids, you may want to look into that. They are on 23rd and 6th.

www.iceculinary.com

Have you tried the Blendtec blender? i've never tried it but it looks like it will blend the hell out of anything.

http://www.willitblend.com/

I IQF (Individual Quick Freeze) bacon all the time. Seperate the slices of bacon and freeze them, once frozen you can put them together into one package. Then you can just defrost whatever amount you want.

I agree that it was stupid for FN to let Mario go but don't go putting Giada in the same class as Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee. Yes she can be annoying at times but shes a trained chef not like the others that were previously mentioned.

what about BBQ? they have to like BBQ if they are from the Midwest. Maybe Rub or Dinosaur BBQ.