Claire Lower did a piece on diced tomatoes and recommended chopping whole, canned, tomatoes because many diced tomatoes are treated with calcium chloride so they don’t break down well. I didn’t agree completely with that because I think it varies by brand and sometimes you don’t want them to break down.

He specified he was leaving off canned tomatoes because of the cost of real San Marzanos but even canned American tomatoes (like Red Gold) are much better than the winter tomatoes I get in Chicago around now. Roma’s can be OK sometimes, but even the hot house ones are closer to orange cardboard than they are to a…

$100 only gets you 2 stuffed cats at BBW?  Ouch.

Have you exposed her to popcorn? It’s the other part of the holy trinity for my dogs lol.

Our dog is an absolute cheese connoisseur/fiend/addict. I swear, he can feel us using cheese in a recipe, even if he’s outside, and next thing you know, there’s a face there, politely demanding cheese.

Where the fuck is Rocky Road

color me disappointed/surprised there isn’t a recipe for them on Serious Eats.

The zucchini didn’t work due to lack of salt. a pickle would have given you a light show.

You shouldn’t feel bad about not financially backing a friend. Money is the easiest way to ruin a relationship. Just contribute by eating there a lot.

A good friend recently opened a couple of restaurants, both of which are so far very successful and really good. Last time I went in, he was telling me that exactly this had been going on and, despite the fact that he has an open kitchen in both places, he usually just pretends not to recognize people when they come…

I think you see a lot of this in MasterChef Jr., which is one of my absolute favorite TV shows. He can be critical when the kids mess up, but it’s always in a very kind and constructive way. Sometimes they cry, because they’re small and under pressure and they’ve messed up, but he always talks them out of it. It’s a…

When I watch Chef Ramsey chewing on potential chefs it occurs to me that he’s saving some of them considerable time. If Ramsey can get under their skin wait until a customer, 2 suppliers, the IRS, the bank, and the Health department start all yelling for attention at the same time.

Things I’ve seen doom a restaurant:

But what if ... your pet already IS a bun??

How did the Nigerian princes let this one slip through their hands?

Do you like ketchup on your burger? Then it belongs on your burger.

Mistakes happen. I don’t understand why restaurants compound them by saying it will be a minute when it’s going to end up being 20 or 30 minutes. Admit the mistake and ask the customer if they would prefer to get it later or if you get them a substitute you can serve faster, or maybe offer a free dessert.

“Our heart lies in raw milk because it’s just easier [and] there’s less processing steps. It’s better, it’s healthier, it tastes great.”

Solution: Less milk, more cheese.

To be fair, I’ve spent the past year trying to decide if the Domino’s “carryout insurance” is a real thing or a joke.