There’s a taco place I’ve gone to regularly since it opened in 2010. When I started a job with 6-day work weeks, my partner and I started going there every Sunday for lunch, then kept up the tradition for a solid three years. One week I was half-heartedly trying to diet and when I ordered the cashier looked at me…

Naively, it hadn’t occurred to me before now that a fast food franchise (a counter-service model that de-emphasizes tipping) might have the same deep, well-established relationships with its customers as any other restaurant.

When it was clear a shut down was coming, I went into my favorite local place and bought a $200 gift certificate for myself. The owner wasn’t there but her dad, who runs the place in her absence, was. He’s a sweet old man and we talk all the time when I’m in there to eat lunch and hang out and grade papers. He asked…

There is a family-owned Greek restaurant in a stripmall down the street from my house - it’s been there for 30+ years, but the location is horrible and most people don’t even know it’s there. A friend and I discovered it years ago when looking for a quiet place for a drink and a chat. We’re now regulars. They know our…

I worked at Starbucks for five years at 6 or so different stores. Each time I moved, it was a few weeks before I knew most of the regulars drinks and/or food orders. 13 years after I quit, I still remember many of them: the lady ordered two croissants and wanted each one in its own handlebar; the lady who would make he…

There’s a Greek restaurant that I frequently get takeout from, and the owner and staff recognize me by voice when I call in an order, and treat me like family when I actually eat in. It’s my first experience being a regular and it genuinely builds a sense of community. I’ve been sure to give them as much business as I…

The last night of service before our shutdown, a woman at one of my tables left a $200 tip. I almost started ugly-crying.

Seconding this. There’s an Indian place I’ve been going to for, what, 8 years now? Almost every Saturday. I hope to high heaven it lives through this pandemic and isn’t shuttered. I miss it so much. 

We regulars miss our regular places and their staff too.

PANGER!

Really, there is never a bad time for ravioli.

Weirdest food-wise: 48 (bigger) cups of jello pudding.

Food: mini blocks of Velveeta and vanilla instant pudding mix. Some weird isolation cravings for sure.

I bought a paint-by-numbers canvas because I tried doing a puzzle and it just didn’t keep my attention. We’ll see how the painting goes. I need something to do to get a break from all the togetherness with my parents, who live with me. 

Yes, it’s a chocolate ganache that has been refrigerated so it’s more solid. Here’s the inside. It’s not as even as it could be, because like I said, the crust (while still tasting very good) split and cracked and some of the caramel ran out, so it’s thinner in some places and the ganache is thicker.

I adore caramel and because I can see that crack in the surface, I’m guessing the chocolate is ‘solid’? A bit like a shell? It looks very good. Would love to see a photo with a serving removed so that we could see the ‘inside’.

I mentioned it is a few past posts, but I did a prime rib roast the other night. I followed the NYT method, checking it after it was at 350 for an hour. Ran it another 30 minutes past that hour and voila! The full slices are deceptively big. It covered half the plate.

I keep having rage dreams where I’m fighting someone or screaming at them. I lost my temper on Teddy Roosevelt a few nights ago...why Teddy Roosevelt, I have no idea. My subconscious has a lot of sublimated impotent rage to work out.

So let me see if I have this straight: instead of giving us “pantry pasta” recipes that call for ingredients we might not have in our pantries, you’re giving us recipes that call for fresh ingredients instead, and just calling them “pantry pasta”? Am I missing something? (Besides fresh tomatoes, cream, lemons, and…