great idea! I do crunched up pretzels.

lamb kabobs with mustard sounds sooooo good.

I agree with this assessment. It's hot and it's otudoors. Keep it light. cheese, olives, nuts, salad, fruits, charcuterie and pate, with some bread and realllly good butter, and then perhaps a stellar dessert like a plum or nectarine galette. If you want to do a more formal dinner I'd look to provencal food. Good for patios: seafood dishes, roasted garlic and peppers, pistou and herb oils. and terrines!

agreed. A nicely marinated grilled chicken that gets all crispy and charred around the edges.

yep. If the seeds are dark when I cut it I salt between paper towels (no weight). if they're light, I skip it.

pilar is awesome. Their Saturday night beef dish is one of my fave foods on the planet. We love Nicoise Pizza on Franklin, especially good for a semi-late night slice with a glass of good wine. Choice is great for a sandwich or a cheddar scallion scone (good lord those are good!) And, Maggie Brown's has a good lunch. As a southerner I get annoyed with all of these faux-southern places, but their biscuits are good and the raspberry butter is awesome. Other dishes have been good but not great. Also an excellent bloody Mary.

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Maggie Brown
455 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205

I moved to Brooklyn from Philly, and expected NYC would offer me upgrades of all of my favorite foods (ok, other than cheese steaks and Italian hoagies, and roast pork sandwiches). But apparently Philly is kicking NYC butt on the Pho train as well, because, c'mon! You call that broth?! Where are the good Pho places?

I'm from NC and can't wait to eat here as a recent transplant!

I spent my first 18 years just outside Charlotte, and my next 7 in Asheville. My grandmother grew about 10 kinds of greens, all were chopped and cooked down together for "greens". Turnip, "rapi", collards, mustard, arugala (which she called rugala), beet greens, etc. made for a nicely balanced dish.

exactly! But we call it that sometimes too.

I am having a little party tonight, kind of late night thing. I need to make a few snacks but....my oven's broken! I do have broiler, and stove-top. No plates or forks. Not that kind of party.
Ideas?

black-eyed pea salad: mix vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Use to dress 2 cans black eyed peas, diced red onion, red and green pepper, jalapeno. Let sit for a day. Add cilantro or parsley at the last minute.

Cucumber salad: same dressing as above without the cayenne. cover cucumber and red onion and let sit for a day

As a NC girl, I can attest that these two salads are at every summer picnic.

all the places on West Girard Ave, particularly Butters. And isn't there a place called Miss ?'s I can't remember the lady's name, Miss Diane's or Miss Tina's?

We loved loved loved this place.
http://www.lebuissonardent.fr/index.htm

We were staying just NOrth of the Louvre, so did an evening walk along the river, across with the spectacular view of Notre Dame, a then a short walk from there. Lovely walk, got us into a neighborhood we probably wouldn't have visited, and the food was amazing.

The atmosphere is perfectly french, and the place was full of locals. Lovely night.

About a half cup total. You could get away with a more if you add more egg.

Also the cheeses will actually help with the sticking together, so if it's a cheese you could probably add more.

Sure. For 2 people the basic recipe is:

1 can of beans, mashed with a fork (or one can tuna/ salmon)
1 egg
1/2-3/4 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper

Extras are up to you. I like to pick a theme and go with it.
Italian: pesto, sundried tomatoes, hard cheeses
Mediterranean: red pepper, feta chunks, olives (good with white beans)
Asian: green onion, ginger, garlic, chili flake (good with salmon and tuna)
Latin: onion, garlic, cilantro, chipotle
Cajun: onion, celery, green pepper, cornmeal in place of breadcrumbs
Southern: pinto beans, cheddar, onion, cayenne, cornmeal

Mix it all in, add bread crumbs last until it pulls together. Form into cakes the size of your palm and dredge in more bread crumbs. Fry over med to med-high heat, 5 minutes or so on each side, until crispy and brown. Don't flip before they're ready! Possible disaster!

Toppings can be cumin-sour cream, vinaigrettes, remoulade, pesto mayo, or just some chili sauce.

We, like many here, go meatless 2-3x per week. This saves so much money. My DH and I are both active people, so meals need to be filling and have protein. No simple salads for us after 2 hours in the gym!

I make a lot of "cakes". Salmon cakes, tuna cakes, black-eyed pea cakes, black bean cakes, pinto bean and cheddar cakes, zucchini cakes.
Salmon and tuna can go asian or italian. Black-eyed peas cajun, black bean cakes are generally latin style and zucchini are simple. These last three are all excellent laced with a little shredded deli ham or bacon bits. Or just fried in bacon fat.

These can serve as a real center for a meal. With a little spiced sour cream or remoulade, with rice and another veg. The cakes are also great on top of salads as a protein boost. YOu can call them fritters if it makes it easier to sell.

The salads are also good with just white or black beans on top. Some avocado or some other fat source.

We're from the south so once a week we always have the garden dinner. Pretty traditional in the south. So in the summer that means sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, maybe some fried eggplant with bread and butter. In the winter it's a little trickier, but roasted squash, a pot of greens, maybe some baked potatoes. Throw in some bread. Pretty great stuff.

I'm in the chopping camp. Chopping, rolling meatballs, making doughs. That sort of busy work with my hands. Also thing I have to tend to constantly, say, fried chicken.

Sure we all want to EAT comfort food when we're stressed, but for me, the process of cooking really cools me down too. What's your favorite thing to cook when you've had a crazy day at work?

third this. I just made this for VDay with a raspberry glaze in between the layers. Perfect amount of chocolate. Perfect texture.

I have a throwback Czonka hoodie. I wear it everywhere and know that only about 10% of the population knows what I'm talking about!
Anyway, we've strayed from food. Go Dolphins next year. And then we can all cook tuna steaks.

oh no. That was to JFood's "oops, not the 70s" comment.

Yeah, what DO they eat in Indianapolis? All I can come up with is corn.

watch it.

you know, my husband suggested last night that if the saints get in (go saints!) that we could do some sort of cajun nachos hybrid, like a jambalaya nachos, with say, andouille, cajun seasoned chicken, tomatoes, chilis, etc. Could get creative.

Southern_expat (ha, me too, NC to PA), do you broil and melt the cheese in batches, make one batch, make a cheese sauce, or just do the sprinkle cheese unmelted?

OH I am. I'm a dolphins fan but with them out, my sister lives in NOLA, so they're next in line. I'm there visiting often, so will definitely check it out.
In philly the best is at Southwark, if you're ever here.

sazeracs are so. so. good. The best one I had was at that blacksmith shop/ bar in New Orleans, but you can make some pretty good ones with Sazerac Rye.

again, 'phins fan here. WHEN the jets lose we will be breaking out something celebratory!

jfood is a Phins fan? me too! too bad.

bake. The initial recipe called for seasoning with s&p and baking them, then mixing with the sauce. I did that the first time and thought the meat needed more flavor. The second time I basted them with a little of the sauce before baking, then tossed with the sauce after and they were great!