Has anyone tried the zucchini cakes? Like zucchini latkes, found in the refrigerated section near the sausages and smoked salmon. They're a bit of an older item, but I look at them every time I go in and can never decide to spend the $ to try them...

I'm with lamb - this is also my go-to response if someone's pronunciation is really killing me. I always play the ditz: "Are you sure it's sousss vidde? I've only heard it pronounced sous vide before, but I don't know." and then I give them about 30 seconds before I pull out the dictionary.com app on my phone and say, "I'm sorry, this is just driving me nutso that I might have been pronouncing it wrong all this time. Can I just look it up?" I've had my own pronunciation corrected before, and when done in a way that allows me to save face, I very much appreciate it; when I'm just called out on it, I despise both the correction and the person doing it...

I disagree - we love the 10-minute farro! It's become a staple.

If you want to get psychological, one could posit that even if the rustic food preference HASN'T remained, as evidenced by the smooth-food-lovers here, that the marketing appeal of Chunky plays into the American mystique - chunky suggests rustic, down-home, old West, Ma's homemade cooking, and as a culture (prepare to be generalized), Americans like to think of ourselves as a pull-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of people. As a cultural touchstone, we respect people who have achieved the American Dream, not inherited it. Everyone wants to hit the upper middle class, but no one wants to look down on their roots or the neighbors they left behind... Many European countries with a background in nobility or more established class systems don't carry this same pride in poor beginnings.

Thank you for this! I finally saw them again this week and bought a few bags!

I'm with a lot of the others on here - we always tried to go during less-intrusive times (someone mentioned Linner - around 2:30 or 3) and brought "quiet" food, that is, food to keep him occupied. As a former server, cheerios and crackers were usually out because of the crumbs, but raisins, etc. were common. We usually gave him tastes off our plate, and now that he's older, we usually try to order something for him, whether it's a glass of milk or a side of baked potato, just to put something on the check. He is another diner, after all - though sometimes we simply give him half of our food and then overtip to compensate.

Wednesday was Rice Night, which meant we got nothing but a small bowl of rice for dinner to see how most of the world ate - needless to say, I usually found an excuse to eat at friends' houses on Wednesdays... [gulp]

Fridays during Lent was usually Kraft Mac & Cheese mixed with tuna and peas, or Long John Silver's for a treat.

And Sundays dad made pancakes for breakfast - the only thing he cooked.

I no longer live in NoVa, but thought I'd weigh in as a mom of 2: I have no problem with this, and might even like the idea to spread. I love that my kids are mini-foodies, even as babies, and wouldn't want every restaurant to have this policy certainly, but as long as it's stated in advance, I would LOVE to be able to go out without the kids and not have to go high-end. I adore my kids, but sometimes (like date nights) I don't want to see ANY kids for 3 hours. (Plus, TMI here - I'm still breastfeeding, so a crying infant causes me physical pain and can shorten/ruin an evening, so the guarantee I won't run into kids would be an added blessing.)

Which Pasadena store, please? We frequent all 3 but I haven't picked up any asparagus lately-

I'm with melpy - bitter, astringent and grassy - but unlike melpy I won't eat it.

Weird! I hate big corn but love the babies...go figure!

1. Shelled Peas
2. Corn
3. Cucumbers
4. Peppers (any kind)
5. Okra

I like the way the coconut crisps things, and I think it's healthier at high heats - a splash of the neutral cuts through some of the coconut flavor without changing the cooking properties too drastically. It's like using oil and butter on the griddle for pancakes. (Another great use of the coconut oil! Awesome on a pancake griddle)

We usually buy the smoked sockeye (black package), but I thought of this thread the other day and couldn't remember whether people liked the Coho better or worse...so we took a chance. Definite Nay. The Coho was so mushy down the center that it was almost gag-inducing. The Sockeye is so much better.

In recipes where the coconut flavor is overwhelming (and yes, I feel overwhelmed by it often) I throw in a little olive oil or peanut oil to cut the coconut - you only need a tablespoon or so when cooking vegetables or anything you want a little more neutral.

I usually tip for takeout based on how service-necessary it is, that is, something that requires a great deal of arranging and packaging, let's say sushi, might get closer to a "standard" tip (though rarely more than 15% for takeout). Most takeout I add an extra dollar or so to the total.

Having worked at Starbucks for 6 years in my college and post-college days, I always leave a little something in the tip jar at similar places, unless they're truly surly. The pay is roughly minimum wage, which barely covered my portion of rent and utilities, and the tip money I received paid my groceries. Bad tip week? No food. I don't think it's obligatory, by any means, but I literally was able to survive because of tips, so I think of it as paying it forward. As an aside for anyone with the means to do so: want to make a barista's (or rather the whole crew) night? Put a 20 in the tip jar. We had that happen once every 6 months or so, and I still remember the absolute elation and gratitude we all felt - it probably evened out to about $5 a person for the night, but it was heavenly.

That sounds awesome! Thank you!

Bread and butter pudding - my favorite!

You're right that it's not about deficiency - my two year old goes through a gallon of organic whole milk in about a week, maybe less. He loves the stuff. He's a skinny marink that doesn't like to sit still to eat, so I don't mind giving him a glass of milk at every meal and most snack times so that I know he's getting some protein - and he doesn't eat junk; he's never even had a bite of processed food (pre-bought, etc.) We make everything from scratch.

My point was about the psychological implications of such restrictions. Food is not just about vitamins, or just about cost, as many others have pointed out. It's about enjoyment. When you make food, and one's relationship with it, less than the complex, intricate, intertwined relationship that it, by its very nature, is and must be, you create potential problems in other areas. This is one of the first things I had to learn to recover from eating disorders: food is a different thing than other consumables, and to treat it the way you might treat a pair of socks, or a haircut, is to not give it the respect it deserves as an essential part of our emotional makeup, not to mention its role in society, whether as a cultural or economic touchstone.

Yeah, as the youngest of 5 and a borderline poverty-level mom of 2, I have issues with the food restrictions... I think some restricting is called "parenting", some is called "budgeting" and some is called "creating future therapy bills and/or serious food disorders." Food is not just sustenance - it is comfort, it is culture, it is sociability...I have also suffered from almost every eating disorder available in my youth, and thankfully came out the other side able to butter a slice of bread without inflicting bodily harm in one extreme or the other, but it was a long journey to get there.

I post simply to say: when you make food about control, you make someone's entire LIFE about control - the struggle to gain it, retain it, submit to it...because food is too much a part of life to not have that eke in to everything. Please, budget, be frugal, you don't have to make your kitchen an open party zone, but tread carefully when making food a battleground. My child's well-being (in body and mind) is more important to me than an extra glass of milk.

Praline paste details please - just hazelnuts and powdered sugar, or is there more to it? And what do you use it on?

I am now going to get my food processor and stand next to the computer in anticipation...*mouth filling with saliva as I think about praline paste*

Which just goes to show to each his or her own...and I mean that in a friendly way.

I prefer to shop almost daily - get some ingredients for whatever I'm in the mood for tonight with the intentions of using up the leftovers for lunch another day, always buying what's a good deal/on sale that day. Now that we have kids, that's less feasible, so we rejoined Costco. The result? I spend $200 at Costco buying a bunch of stuff that's a good deal for regular prices but comparable in price or more expensive than the sale prices I used to seek out. And then I still go to Trader Joe's on my way home from work 4 times a week because we forgot something, ran low on something, or have had a rough day and I really want something delicious tonight, thankyouverymuch. When we looked over our pre-kid and post-kid grocery budgets, we were astonished to see that our spending had almost TRIPLED after the baby, and I was exclusively breastfeeding.

When I know I have to use up what I'm buying in the next few days, I buy less, and therefore eat less. When I know this is my one trip of the month, I go into hoarding mode, and overbuy, and buy crap. Everyone has their own methods and madness.

Ooo, yes! Our local sandwich place calls it a BLT&A =)

We do this, too, but with canned tuna or canned salmon - make like tuna salad with mayo, but with avocado instead. Add pickle relish or red onion if that's the way you grew up with it and you'll barely notice the difference, except it's a little creamier and full of healthy fats.

Also: chopped with tomato, garlic powder and salt for quick lettuce-free salad when all the lettuce has gone bad
chopped up with hard-boiled egg for breakfast or lunch - toast optional

strangeandyummy.com

Where are you?? I go to 4 different TJs on a regular basis and none of them have had them in the past 2 years - I've heard the same spiel about production issues, which makes sense, but have never seen them since.

I was told they were TOS about 2 years ago, but last time I asked they said they didn't expect them back...

The great Cotes du Rhone in the squat bottle with the gold label is TOS with no expected date, which was our everyday go-to wine. Also discontinued, the fruit leather ends and pieces which were great for tiny toddler snacks, and the tomato juice - it's just Garden Patch on the shelves now, which is atrocious.

The mods deleted my earlier post because I guess it's against TOS to post directly to a blog entry...I thought we could when it was relevant. Sorry to anyone who is confused as to context here.

I like them at 400 for 20 mins or so because I find that the higher heat carmelizes the sugars a bit faster and gives a little bit of a crispness to the exposed parts - I also don't mind them a bit charred, however, so if they overcook at that heat, I don't mind. Other people do. I really, really don't like them unpeeled before baking, or baked, because it steams the insides and makes them mushier, also making them taste more earthier. For beet-lovers, that earthiness is their charm, but I am not a beet lover by nature. I grew to love them after being served them against my will at too many restaurants and dinner parties. How is Fannie serving them after baking?

strangeandyummy.com

I also detect fishiness in canola and sub in olive, unless frying where I'll use peanut or coconut - but I still haven't found a good sub in cakes or things where I want a very very neutral oil. I've been subbing in melted butter or other things (yogurt...) ever since I discovered that canola was the source of the off taste in my baking, but melted butter often changes the final texture/greasiness. I keep meaning to try sunflower, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

re: olyolyy - It well may be that waitstaff comp me more than they should, but IMO, that's their ethics, not mine. If someone does me a favor/service that goes above and beyond the expected, I think they should reap the reward of it. Re: grampart - If the item was comped because of quality (the dish was unacceptable or something) I agree with you; but if they sent me a free drink or dessert, then yes, I think they should be thanked adequately.