Thanks for your comments. I have tried, but never managed to recreate the texture or taste of the egg salad. -mz

the soup sounds great!

ps- Klary, please check back in after the event and tell us what you served and how dinner turned out!

Turkey pot pie sounds really good...

Hi Cynsa - Unfortunately, there is no recipe! I do it differently each time.

In the summer, I buy steamed Maryland crabs "out" and bring them home to eat on my own screened porch. The best of both worlds...

Agreed. I still frequent noodle houses in Chinatown, pizza joints in New Haven, Crabhouses in MD/Del, etc., etc. I wouldn't think of trying to recreate that kind of food at home--and certainly couldn't replace those types of experiences. However, once a cook commits to high quality ingredients at home, that cook discovers that food "out there" often tastes bad and is poorly executed. I mean none of this in a snobby way.
Any food experience = quality of ingredients + care in preparation/execution...
To the extent that formula is followed, I'm a very happy eater...

I do see what you mean, in a way. I find that, generally speaking, meals out tend to be a bit unsatisfying or even disappointing, except at really fine restaurants. For that reason, I don't eat out very often--much less often than I did five years ago. However, when eating at a fine restaurant I now delight in "studying" the dishes, especially if there is a commonality with something I make.

Aversions are contagious--so I will have to stop reading these posts. But it is true about the smell.

yes, just right

that's too bad. i love an overdone cookie, a sucker for the crispiness..

Enjoy! Gillian Welch concert will be great.

Well, the only ingredient I can think of that wasn't mentioned here is cream cheese... i have experimented with a combination of cream cheese and yogurt...

i wish there was a "like" button, because I loke so many of the ideas suggested here...

I agree. Recently, I cooked some ancient navy beans; they were okay in soup.

An alternative to apple cobbler, a dessert I suggested in an earlier post, is Sweet Potato Pie. Here is the recipe for a very good one: http://www.wchstv.com/gmarecipes/dips...

That's good to know -- about getting okra in an Indian market...

LaLa, please share?!

Love, love, love everything already mentioned. I live in New England, but grew up very southern in the South... My 2 cents: Because currently it's not summer, okra, summer squash, and good tomatoes may be difficult to find... If I were you, I would prepare a hoppin' john-style dish by combining lightly-cooked greens with black-eyed peas and brown rice, garlic and other seasonings. Other diced veggies can be folded into the mixture, as well: bell pepper and spring onion or red onion, for instance. It's not a cold salad, but not a hot dish either--somewhere in between. (By the way, I use dried beans and cook my own (very slowly), rather than using canned beans, because I prefer the texture...I use collards or swiss chard... I play around with seasonings...). The dish is quick-ish, easy to prepare, and a large quantity can be made. Serve with corn bread and/or biscuits. Also, serve various pickled vegetables on the side (e.g., pickled ocra, pickled tomatoes, bread and butter pickles, a spicy pickled relish, or anything you have on hand). If you bake biscuits, be sure to serve some nice jellies too--especially a jalepeno jelly. For dessert, make an apple cobbler and serve with ice cream. (Apples are in season right now.) The meal I described is plenty SOUTHERN. And, if you want finger food to serve prior to dinner, make deviled eggs...
-ps understand that ingredients, such as greens, beans, and rice are to be cooked separately and then combined in a large container/pot... I don't know how you'd handle the prep in a smallish Amsterdam kitchen...? How many people are you cooking for? What varieties of bean do you have available? Let me know, and I will suggest something other than black-eyed peas to play "the bean" in this version of what is essentially rice and beans with Southern attitude and flavor...

I make an amazing soup (my spouse adores it above all else) with kale or sometimes swiss chard, cabbage, zucchini, carrots, green beans, turnips, chicken, and sometimes white beans. It is sooo nourishing and yet delicious. I call the dish "3-hour standing soup", because prep time is at least that long. On the lookout for other one-dish wonders. Do you have one?

I will never be able to think of chocolate pie, in the same way, again. As a dessert, it will probably go out of fashion for a decade or two...!

Are there suggestions for preparing my first Brisket? I will us a large round Le Creuset. Share your preference--inside oven or stovetop?

Sauce is the making of a fish taco, and I've never been happy with my efforts. Can you recommend a sauce?

Those are some real beauties...

Do you ever find yourself in a cooking funk? Uninterested, uninspired, bored with the process...
What do you do to get out of the funk?

Candy, you're the second person to recommend the "old" Sunbeam. I love the idea and so I'll be on the lookout for one... In the meantime, we decided on the 4-slice Breville. It is, of course, GORGEOUS. We love looking at it. I hope we'll love using it, as well! To everyone, who commented: Thanks for your thoughtful responses. Good information, all.

What to do about toasters?
One crappy cheap toaster after another. What's a cook to do? For a new approach, I'm considering the possibility of going commercial. My spouse wants a 4-slice version anyway... Is this one over-kill?
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/warin...
I wonder what your toaster experiences have been?

thanks for suggestions. have you ever mixed lean chunks of pancetta in the egg salad itself?

c oliver, I too wonder what "goo factor" is. Perhaps cream cheese contributes smoothness to the mixture?

I like the idea of trying smoked paprika. Thanks.