Haha! I haven't thought about this for years. Thanks fir the memory poke!

When my husband and I were first dating, he was really looking forward to the night I'd cook dinner for him. We'd talked about cooking a lot and I'd recently done the food for a major event at my showroom, so he had some high expectations. I was making a nice fool-proof (HA) pot if slow-cooked red sauce and, well, we got ... umm ... distracted during all the downtime. After a while, the smell of the sauce in the final phases of irreversible ruin made us finally come up for air.

Even with all we did to try fixing it, that sauce was a wreck, but we both ate it with grins from ear to ear.

Haha! I have a similar reaction to seeing folks cut some meat off a ribeye or prime rib and leave the beautiful bone with all the super-tender meat and fat untouched. Granted, I am a savage and cannot resist gnawing away until every last bit of the goodness is in my belly.

Wow! Nobody mentioned my favorite yet.

Natural casing dog + savory chili + crispy, tart sauerkraut + spicy mustard = happy, happy me!

Sorry if what I said came off wrong. My intent was not to insult their restaurants, but point out that, as a destination, food is only a part of the bigger picture, not the only reason one would want to take a trip to the Getty. With all they offer, the type of complaints about parking, fees, and what have you seemed a little petty. That the Getty has nice places to eat while one is there enjoying everything else is a bonus. It's just my opinion, but they should not need to placate the whims of people just coming to eat.

It also helps lift the flavor quite a lot to caramelize some extra leek whites and add just a wee bit of soy sauce and worchestershire during the process. I'll sometimes add a little roasted garlic, too.

All due respect, but I don't assume the Getty gives much of a damn about being a destination for food, despite having places to eat. That's not really their focus, is it? As someone exceptionally grateful to have ready access to an amazing art & antiquities collection (plus great visiting exhibits) for the cost of parking, I respect what the Getty offers LA.

We live around the corner and are happy to have a consistently good and affordable cooked-order burger so close by. A few places in the neighborhood had been willing to cook med-rare but started to refuse or just cook to med-well (ruined) anyway (Lucky Devil's + Juicy, I'm looking at you), so finding Kitchen 24 was great for when I just don't feel like making burgers myself. They have delicious booze + ice cream cocktails, too.

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Kitchen 24
1610 N Cahuenga Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

When we have leftovers of the big bowl o' spinach salad dinner, I like to use them on sandwiches or in wraps. Granted, I don't generally dress it too heavily and use just oil, vinegar (or lemon), and herbs, so it's not demolished by next day's lunch.

It's no contest for me, the scallop tacos at the seafood joint at the back of Grand Central Market. Just thinking about it makes me need one!

There is an interesting idea at work at Doomie's, I think. When I went there, it was to meet up with a fairly large group, most of them vegetarian or vegan. Doomie's felt like, and maybe it was the context, a casual place for veggiefolk to bring their omnivore friends without them facing too much disappointment. We also had several recent converts, si they were happy for the indulgence of a "pulled pork" sandwich or the like, which tastes good but has no actual meat.

As far as the food was concerned, I had the mac n cheese and it was pretty good (albeit a bit thinnish in the sauce). It wasn't anything mindblowing, but solidly tasty considering I generally tend to like cheese in my cheese dishes. Everyone else seemed pretty content with their food. Would I go back? Maybe not if it were just The Boss and I, but I could see maybe for another such meetup of varied diets. Everyone there was really friendly and helpful, which made for an overall positive impression.

Seconded: A Grocery Warehouse (on Sunset), Bangluck Market + Silom Market (on H'wood)

Don't think Otto's (in Burbank) has been mentioned yet. They have lots of Hungarian specialties plus great sausages and salamis. I'd also add Jon's. Their selection of international goodies and deli are quite impressive at ridiculously good prices. Besides, how can one NOT love affordable veggies and all manner of innards and funky bits in the meats?

Great tips, thanks! I may have to offer to drive so I can check them out, too.

Hooray! Thank you! Can't wait to share all your great suggestions with Mom!

Hey everyone!

Every time I talk to my Mom about grocery shopping, we always wind up trying (usually in vain) to find a good ethnic or independently-owned market in her general area. It kills me for her to have to pay so much more for specialty foods and fresh ingredients, especially veg, for lack of a non-mega-chain store or Whole Paycheck variant. For example, a place like those I used to shop when I was in OC, A Chau, ABC, Al Tayabat, or the ones I hit now, Jon's, A-1, 99 Ranch.

She's in Brea, near Imperial and Harbor, so in/near Fullerton, Diamond Bar, La Habra would be ideal, something that's not a major drive. The folks also get around a bit for work to the Inland Empire, so Upland to Riverside could be good, too.

Thanks for all your help!

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99 Ranch
17713 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA

Mmmmm mmmm! Chili dogs are one of the few fast junk foods I'll indulge in ... just can't resist them. Recently, I started getting kraut + chili and MAN is it a great combo! Savory, meaty + crunchy tart + snappy kind of garlicky dog = happy me.

If you have any Halal markets in the area, that might be a good bet. I've found them, at least down here in SoCal, to have superb prices for both beef and lamb (as well as lots of great veg and herbs).

What a great, interesting question to get everyone thinking!

The entire attitude toward cooking and eating I have, for the most part, comes from my Mom's (the Hungarian) side of the family.

The family meal is probably where the food culture most revolves. It was not (and still isn't) just a sit-down-and-eat affair, but a day-long event of talking, cooking, eating, and more talking. I used to laugh sometimes, realizing the very comfortable living room was only breached when it was time to open presents on Christmas; afterward, it was straight back to the kitchen and hard wood straight-backed chairs. But that kitchen table at my Nana's house was always where everyone wanted to stay to hang out and talk. I guess, with generations of Hunkie cooks all together doing their thing, that was where the actions was, anyway.

Now, at my folks' house, it is still very much the same. We have big family gatherings and nobody leaves the dinner table. There's noshing and food prep before dinner, then a multi-course meal we've usually been making most of the day, followed by more conversation and coffee afterward. As I grew up, it always struck me as odd when families would get together and watch TV or such, still does. It just seems so bizarre to me, so counter to the ideas of a family gathering I was raised with in our immediate and exended family.

Of course, with all these great cooks around, my brother and sister and I all wound up loving to cook and, at least I can say in my case, particularly loving cooking for people I love. And, the coolest thing, I think, is that all of us have developed a love of old-school from-scratch cooking. The cooking is so much a part of the enjoyment of the meal, rather than a chore. It's a good thing we all live in different states or we would constantly be having immense, elaborate meals and it would feel a bit too Henry VIII for comfort *heh*.

Our background effected the character of the food, too.

There was so much flavor and gusto in the food we grew up with, so we also wound up being very adventurous as eaters and cooks. The prevalence of robust spice and garlic in the cooking our Mom learned from our Nana and hers, as well as the presence of what most kids would consider "gross" taught us to appreciate a lot of things we probably wouldn't have otherwise. I still cook with lots of innards and funky bits and love to play with making unusual and robust flavors work together in a dish. Only now, the playground covers a huge variety of cuisines instead of just what one could easily cook with ingredients readily available in old NJ neighborhoods back in the day.

My MiL used to always make us this heinous abomination of a casserole with boiled-to-death broccoli held in stasis within ghastly amounts of eggs and cheese. I'm pretty sure it was there because she knows the man and I love our veg. So, of course, the only nice thing to do was get through the smallest portion we could manage to take without offense and smile, because she is such a lovely person (though a terrible cook). Thankfully, it's been absent in recent visits so, hopefully, it's found its place in the bad food idea graveyard where it belongs.

Otto's in Burbank is a great source for all things Hungarian, too.

It would be great in some pea or lentil soup, which is my immediate left-over meal for ham + bone. And, if the liquid doesn't soften it enough, you can always use larger bits and leave them out of the bowls when serving.

Yes, THIS! I'm also a fan of mutton and veal breast, which I can usually pick up without sale pricing in the $2ish range, and a downright gushing devotee of pork necks, which usually run in the $1/# area.

Soups and peasant stews are always a great bet, especially if you have the time to make stock from water and/or slow cook cheaper, humbler cuts. Beans and peas are also superb dollar-stretchers, as are dense, filling veg like beets.

Granted, though, my most fool-proof way of saving lots of money is to plan out meals and menus in advance, based on that week's sale circulars. Then I make out my list and very rarely deviate, unless something REALLY catches my eye. I also never, ever shop hungry.

Ethnic markets are definitely a great way to go, where you can can special products reasonably priced (like sesame oil, which is extortion-priced at non-Asian mkts), plus great prices on usually-pricey ingredients (most Asian mkts for fish, Halal for lamb, etc), and usually very good, cheap produce. There are also pretty good multi-ethnic-friendly smaller local chains, which are good, like Jons here in SoCal. L.A. farmers markets I've been to are, I agree w/ipsedixit, more about organic and rare finds than great pricing, though I can usually scare up a few good buys here in H'wood on the Sundays I stagger up the block in time, especially near closing up time.

It's a very interesting experiment. I commend you giving it a try and will be very interested in hearing how it goes.

I made this one a few years back ...

Started with a moist vanilla cake with some butterscotch pudding mixed in. Then, I poked holes in it with wide skewers and drizzled in a mix of espresso, Tia Maria, and dark chocolate. I used a mix of dark chocolate and Tia Maria to spread between layers. Whipped up some cream and drizzled in just a touch of espresso to frost the cake, then topped it with crushed Heath bar and shaved dark chololate.

It about did us in, especially after the decadent dinner I made, but was so good!

I've used smaller pumpkins (probably 8-10" or so), which I always see available close to T-day, with very good results. I've also used butternut and kabocha squash, too, which turned out very tasty, though different than pumpkin.

FWIW, the butternut has been the family favorite so far. I think I added a touch of blackstrap molasses, too, for a bit of twang.

Yes, this works beautifully. Sometimes, I also add some roasted garlic to the mix just before the tomatoes go in.

Wow! That's crazy! We're still getting really good bread at the grocery store (made at a local bakery) for $1.99 - 2.75 and even some pretty decent breads at Trader Joe's under $3. For reference, we're in Los Angeles, right in the heart of H'wood.

Is this pricing consistent for other parts of the country? Maybe we're FINALLY getting something back for the insane rent out here.

That's good, I like that ... "strip mining" the Brie. Must say, it is off-putting seeing people do that, too. At least, when I follow these sorts to the cheese table, I get the treat of extra Brie skin to munch when I cut off my slice.

I remember that cheese well! We used to get plenty of it because my Nana and aunts always got more than they needed. Made superb grilled cheese on snow days.

The closest I've had to it is yellow American from a few good delicatessens. *heh* Now you've got me all nostalgic, so think I'll have to check out regular deli's yellow.

I guess stealing is a bit of a strong word, HillJ, but it does (at least karmically) apply in terms of reaping benefit from using someone else's content to entertain one's own readers. I suppose, to me, even if one includes attribution and a link, their readers are not as likely to go to the source if the thing is already posted in full. Certainly, it is not an according-to-Hoyle legal thing, at least yet, but since website owners can benefit from their traffic (via advertising, sponsors, etc) it is a rather shifty thing IMO to lift the reason for the traffic (the content). *heh* Guess that's the webmistress and content producer in me showing. Once I've put time, energy, and budget into creating something to share, I get a bit protective of it.

No worries, pikawicca, no confrontation taken. I utterly agree with your point about most recipes being derivative. There is very little brand new under the food sun earlier cooks haven't though of already. Even the recipes I write are often based on something, usually dishes I've tasted and enjoyed. I think, in the end, the difference is in how I handle it vs some others who use someone else's recipe as a jumping off point. Rather than working off existing recipes (outside of tweaked family recipes, which I sometimes post as well), I simply gather the ingredients I'd like to taste in my version and write down what I throw in the mix as I do it, adding to it if I tinker during the process. In some cases, it's really just another version of the dish, while other times it becomes a virtually completely different thing by time I'm done with it.

I write most of the food portion of the blog at Sex, Food, and Comic Books. My posts are here: http://sexfoodandcomicbooks.com/food/...

Yeah, you've got to give it to the Nanas. They live somewhere in the core of our subconscious, still giving us warm, loving feelings of being a pampered little person in their kitchen with just a slight smell or taste.