. . . fill in the blank . . .

what is your achilles heel (I know that some of you say you don't eat cake - so what do you LOVE instead) . . .

is it a childhood memory (do you think it would live up to your remembrance) - or an up to date creation that you treat yourself to regularly . . . how did you discover it (by accident - recommendation - something mother/grandmother used to make - or did you create it) . . .

and what do you pair it with . . . tea (what kind) . . . coffee (what kind) . . . something else??? . . .

I'll be interested in hearing what this group of creative foodies thinks are "to die for" treats they would drive miles out of their way to satisfy their desires . . .

hmmmmmm one of my moms scones. She used cheap butter, cheap sugar and cheap flour and they were sooooo nice. I havent had one since i was about 12 (23 now) but i've never tasted one as good as my moms since.

She also made something called saturday soup. It has lamb, lentils, leeks, onions, carrots, potatos, yam, pumpkin and dumplings in it. I miss that a lot

I don't have any one thing. It all depends on what hits at what time. If it dessert related I just go make it LOLOL That's a whole nuther issue LOLOL. My baking obsession right now is bread. Looking for the holy grail. LOLOL. If it gets any worse I'll be walking to France for a baguette.

Mike

Living outside the States makes me dream up all sorts...DQ Chicken Strip basket, Wendy's burgers & frosty, Taco Bell anything, BK Croissanwich, Bruno's Pizza-Longview, WA, Lucerne Rocky Road ice cream....among a trillion other things...

But, for memory wise...Taco Day (Thursdays) in elementary school - you got your taco, cup of salad, buttered corn, and a fudge bar ice cream. Man, you couldn't ask for more as a 10 yr old!

Also, New Years Day family reunion each year cooked by Grandma Merble...never without her Black Eyed Beans and Cornbread, and Chocolate Cream & Lemon Meringue pies for dessert. Deeelicious!

Being so far away from family....it's more of the time I miss than anything, but I'd have to say my granny's super yummy sunday night supper:

Homeade biscuits w/ peanut butter and REAL ribboncane syrup, sausages and real french fries with the best crust I've ever had......top it all off with a glass of sweet tea and you're in a sugar coma with a smile on your face

Oh gee, yeah, sweet tea!! I never went to Grandma Merble's when there wasn't a big pitcher of tea in the fridge. I remember the day the ancient Tupperware container broke on her. Gosh, you'd have thought we lost a member of the family that day! hehe

A Blue Plate special of real country fried steaka nd gravt,mashed potatoes, and grren beans. With a biscuit on the side, and of course, sweet tea. Peach cobbler is a must for dessert.

My dad and I went to the same restaurant in atlanta for about 25 years. Everytime we went in the owner and staff knew us and said Hey y'all...and we would catch up from the last time. The first time I brought my son in (now 9) was like introducing him to extended family.

Last year, they closed and sold to new owners. I have not been, but my dad says it is just not the same....

Could you tell I/m from Hot'lanta?

Julia

My old neighborhood in GA would have a fish fry once a year. The men would fry up huge batches of catfish, fries, onion rings, streak o' lean (I think it's called) and HUSH PUPPIES (the real kind, not the sweet kind that places up North serve) and we'd have garlic cheese grits and slaw with it.

[quote="Homemade-Goodies] I remember the day the ancient Tupperware container broke on her. Gosh, you'd have thought we lost a member of the family that day! hehe[/quote]

I have a particular pot that I always use to make tea, I also have four grown daughters. They talk about who is going to get the "tea pot" when I'm gone at least as much as who will get my ring I mean down here sweet tea is almost a religion .


Oh, yeah michellenj-catfish, slaw and REAL hushpuppies!

My grandmother's gingerbread. She would never be called granny or grandma but had us call her Momo. She was never getting old. lol She only made her gingerbread from Halloween on. Never before then and never after Christmas. As the leaves start turning I can smell gingerbread in the air. lol. I can eat a whole batch alone. lol. Thought we lost the recipe but found it in a really really old church cook book. Now I get to make it every year. Thanks for letting me share and thanks for sharing your stories.

Coffee and a chipotle fajita burrito!
A non-food item...Michael Buble. I'd walk a thousand miles for him anyday!

Oh I have several

From childhood, my mom's fried pork chops, mashed tators, and green beans..yum! I've tried replicating it several times and it's never the same; I'm counting down the days until Christmas since she promised she'd make it for me.

From a resturant: Roy's Ahi Tuna or Aureole's (LV) CHARLIEâS ONION SOUP; beef consommé with onions, foie gras, truffles, Gruyère cheese puff pastry.....heaven.

From my own kitchen: Carne Adobada made with Bueno Red Chile....thankfully we're going back home at Christmas so I can stock up on chile....darn florida and their bland dishes

Oh Geeeeez now I got the thing going on for chocolate chip cookies. Off to the store for some CCs.

Mike

Mine would be a grilled London Broil with Bernaisse sauce, stuffed baked potatoes, and garlic butter steamed asparagus. I love to make this meal and eat this meal. It's also great as a leftover....FOR DAYS!!!! So very yummy!

Oh my goodness, my Grandmothers dish she called Beef & Noodles......she would start with left over pot roast.... I have stood with her countless times trying to memorize that recipe, I have written it down, I have watched every step, but I cannot re-create what she does......my Greandmother is still alive and kicking at 91, her doctors say she'll live at least anouther 20 years, and whenever we get together she loves telling the story of me watching her every move trying to get that recipe right.....for my younger brother and I, that is the best dish on earth! My children and grandchildren say they'd walk a million miles for my cinnamon rolls......it took 2 years to perfect the recipe, but worth every minute........I have been propsed to over those cinnamon rolls too....LOL. Thank you for this thread....it has taken me back home in my memories!

Oh boy - it just depends on the mood!! A really good steak and caeser salad is my fav, but there is a little Scottish bakery in Hamilton, Ontario that makes the BEST snowballs - (they are a round pastry filled raspberry jam and then covered in coconut) - I'd walk to Hamilton to get them! My mom buys a dozen for me every time I visit - my conscience makes me share them with the rest of the family...

There is a restaurant here that has its own creations, they are a mix of thai, vietnamese, and indian food. so good. When we didn't live here, but my parents did, I would go here there every time we visited. I've had everything on the menu, and it's all good. Follow it up with some mangos and sticky rice with coconut ice cream, or a fried banana and you're in tastebud heaven.

I would also do a lot for a Soy Chai Latte. mmm... After a flawless delivery yesterday in the cold rain, I rewarded myself with one.

I'd walk anywhere for one of Panera's cinnamon crunch bagels...I buy a dozen or 2 at a time, freeze them, and then toast 1 every day...yummy!

Otherwise, my chili & cheesy bread...yummy!!

. . . . warm glazed doughnuts coming off the conveyor belt at Krispy Kreme and a cold glass of regular mild (not skim, not 2%, not nonfat!). Authentice Italian food. Chicken wings from The Caberet (used to be in Oswego, NY yeeeaaaarrrrsss ago, but there was one in Syracuse, NY last I knew). Ham and cheese omelet from Wades Diner. . . Oswego, NY. Cake Batter icecream with graham cracker crust from Cold Stone Creamery, it's a 'staple' in my diet . Hoffmans Hot Dog and salt potatoes . . . . again, a New York thing.

B2B

i will alwaysalwaysalways remember this burger we got while vacationing in oahu (hawaii), in the halewah area...the little teeny tiny shop was called "kua aina" pronounced like "coo-a i-na"...they had mahi mahi burgers and stuff with avocado on it, but i just loved the double cheeseburger there...it was so moist it would drip with every bite you took, and the taste was so unique...not really sure how they achieved it. you got it with a side of shoestring fries that piled up the other half of the plate, and it was all for only $6 or so.

funny thing, though, was that the restaurant is only only about 12 feet wide or so, and only long enough for a small kitchen in back and only about 7 or 8 tables up front....the atmosphere was so awesome too, because everyone was coming in in their bikinis and dive suits, grabbing a burger, and heading outside where there was room to eat it.

breathtakingly beautiful hawaii, and the thing i remember most is a burger!!!!!!!

I'd go out of my way for two things from Wisconsin - a cruller donut from Grebe's Bakery in South Milwaukee. It's not that French sort of donut - but a long, crunchy glazed stick. DD's doesn't compare.

And a scoop of butter pecan frozen custard from Leon's.

Aside from that, a true French baguette or a chausson aux pommes. I try them everywhere I see them in the US, but nothing compares. (But it may just be that I really like France, too!)

I am envious those of you whose favorites are home-cooked from your childhood.

As a child growing up in the 70's most of my meals were various things tossed into a casserole dish. But I always got my 4 squares! Hotdog for protein, macaroni for starch, a salad for the veggie portion... um, what was the "4th" supposed to be comprised of? Lol. Being up all night working on cakes just fries my brain!

But my all-time favorite food is an old-fashioned chocolate malt. That's my go-to food when life throws me a curve ball. Chocolate ice-cream, chocolate chip cookies, chewy fudge brownies... but, gee, for some reason I am sooo over chocolate cake.

spaghetti and italian bread from elementary school

peanut butter turds (that's what we called 'em)from the same school...I've tried someone else's, and just wasn't the same...The school's as I am remembering them, had like Product 19 in 'em....small, cupped flakes...

Mama's fried cornbread...thin and crispy edges fried in bacon grease...probably wouldn't taste the same...she went all diet on me!

and

Buc-Wheats cereal!!! I don't know why they ever stopped making it!!

Well from my childhood my grandmother's chocolate chip cookies - always so moist and delicious and her fried trout. I also would walk to my mother's for some homemade chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream - I just cannot get it the same no matter how hard I try.

On the fast food side it would have to be a KFC Big Crunch from St. John's, NL! I always have one (or two or three) when I go on vacation - we don't have it here! :'(

while the hawaiian hamburger reigns supreme, i live in tn, so it's not easily accessible , so my comfort food is southern cooking. when my husband and i have arguments, or when i'm fried from doing a cake, i jsut go to my favorite restaurant around here, and pig out on their fried chicken, green beans, beans, and cornbread.

perfectly seasoned side dishes are not easy to come by..not enough salt, not cooked in bacon grease, not enough pepper, not enough gravy!

i also like to make "wilted lettuce"...that's lettuce straight from my own garden, washed and dried really well, cut up, and hot bacon grease poured over it....yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i can hear my arteries slamming shut as i type!!!!!!!!!!!

oh, i also agree with the other poster about the hot krispy kremes when the sign is on!!!!!!!!!

MY GRANDMOTHER LIVES IN CA. AND WE LIVE IN MI. MY BROTHER WOULD TALK ABOUT HER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FOR A YEAR AND DRIVE US ALL CRAZY UNTIL WE WOULD VISIT AGAIN THE NEXT YEAR SHE WOULD NEVER GIVE OUT THE RECIPE SHE SAID IT WAS A SECRET MY MOM WOULD TRY AND MAKE THEM AND WE SAID THEY WERE NOT THE SAME SHE HAD A STROKE WHEN SHE WAS 93 AND I WENT TO VISIT HER SHE WANTED ME TO KNOW THE SECRET I GOT A PEN I WAS SO EXCITED SHE WANTED ME TO HAVE THE RECIPE SHE TOLD ME NOT TO SHARE IT WITH ANYONE NOT EVEN MY COUSINS SO WHEN I ASKED WHAT THE RECIPE WAS SHE SAID IT WAS ON THE BACK OF THE BAG. YES THE SAME RECIPE EVERYONE USES NOW THAT SHE IS GONE I MAKE THEM FOR MY BROTHER AND I TELL HIM THAT IT IS GRANDMAS RECIPE HE LOVES THEM

I miss my mom's homemade jelly... she gave me her recipe book so I just finished my 11th batch of various jellies.

I miss my grandmas potato salad... I am in the process of figuring it out...

I miss making homemade pizza with my dad... We made the dough rolled it out put the sauce on and then we would banter over what toppings to put where!

I miss grams cookies... She is from England and her recipes are just different and I love them! I need to send her a letter to ask her to please write me a copy of her recipes so I can have them before she goes.

I miss grandpap's salad. He used to grow a garden... with the best lettuce... it grew in single leaves... I swear I have planted 20 varieties of lettuce trying to figure out what it is and comming up blank... any garden growers out there! It is the best with garden fresh tomatos (still warm from the sun) and bacos and catalina salad dressing.

I miss eating bran flakes with pap in the mornings with OJ well before anyone else was up... They had more kid friendly cereal but I still ate the bran with pap.

I miss making cookies with my mom at christmas time... That is where I got my baking bug... Every year we filled boxes with tins of cookies (at least 7 varieties), homemade cracked candy, fudges (3-4) breads (2-3 kinds) and peanutbutter sandies (like reese peanut butter cups). We sent those out to all the family and to the church and we even sent several to military troops who were away from home.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

I want a Whitey's turtle malt from Iowa and an In & Out Burger from CA. Dang, now I'm hungry