Ooooh, sounds delicious Miggy

Try them with hot buttered biscuits.

It's that time of year again. I bought my 55 oz. pumpkin pie from Costco yesterday. One of the food pleasures of the fall.

They are very good pies.

Costco makes GREAT pies. Years ago, though, they also made pumpkin muffins at this time of year, which were packaged with orange/cranberry muffins, too. They haven't had them in a very long time, but I used to look forward to them every year. It was a Thanksgiving morning tradition for my husband and I to eat them while we got the turkey ready.

While I never had Costco's pumpkin muffins, I can attest as to the greatness of the pumpkin muffin from Panera. If you have not tried them, please do. They are indescribably good.

We have a Panera's near us, and for some reason, I always forget to go there. I'll have to pick some up the night before Thanskgiving!

SB-
You really should "test" the muffins first, prior to Thanksgiving. You may want to sample them, say on two or three different occasions, before Thanksgiving just to make sure they are satisfactory.

I ate at Panera's yesterday for lunch and saw the pumpkin muffins. I should try them next time.

I do enjoy going there on a Friday for their New England Clam Chowder in the sourdough bread bowl. It's the only place I know of to get it on the east coast.

Goombah, that sounds like an excellent idea! Maybe several taste tests will be necessary!

Btw, they make the BEST peach danish!

This is a staple in Boston. All around the Commons there were restaurants that boasted the best clam chowder bread bowls in the city. It's been a long time since I've had it. I may have to go to Panera's tomorrow for it as Boston is 6 1/2 hours away.

Boston has some really cool restaurants. Being a New Yorker, I can be a bit of a food snob, but I have to admit, Boston is a great bar and restaurant town.

How ironic that you say this. I have a friend who just loves New England Clam Chowder. Everytime we go out to eat, he orders it. Last week he and I went out to lunch. He told me that the week before he went into Manhattan to see a client of his and went to this place called The Oyster Bar Saloon. He raved about how great their New England Clam Chowder in a breadbowl was.

Okay PB, speaking as a snob, do you prefer thin or thick crust pizza and have you ever eaten chicken-fried steak with white gravy?

Thin crust, like Patsy's on 1st Avenue.



And yes, I LOVE chicken fried steak with white gravy. I love all southern food. Don't forget, I live in Florida about 3 months a year, and sometimes drive down from New York. Stopping at the diners on the way down is half the fun!

I'm an omeletmeister now, apparently.

Don't know how it happened, but I was totally incompetent forever making a good-looking, perfect omelet. Then 2 days ago I tried for the first time in years, and it was almost perfect, and I figured out how to fix it. The next day, perfection!

Fresh baby spinach, bacon and cheese with just a touch of EVOO, garlic and nutmeg like I make my sautéed spinach. Niiiice!! And perfectly formed for once!

New kitchen has inspired me apparently!

You're gonna end up saving a lot of money by cooking for yourself (now that you have your own real kitchen). Especially with the winter coming up.

Have fun, bro.

I don't know about that. Well, I SHOULD, of course, but now I have a family-owned homemade-everything Italian deli 2 minutes away. It's not cheap, but it's DAMN good! Plus they stock Pastosa pasta (ask Cardi about it) in the freezer case. OMG.

Geoff, I'm not kidding, but did you get a new pan by any chance?? I was awful at omelettes (still not as good as Mr. Babe) until I got a really decent pan. They were vastly improved after that.

Either way, sounds delicious. Now you need some home fries on the side.

It's not a new pan, but one I never tried making omelets with. It IS a decent Bialetti pan, though, despite some of the non-stick coating being a little scratched up. The pan seems to distribute heat pretty evenly which could help.

Anybody familiar with "Carlo's Bakery" in Hoboken, NJ? I see it on "Cake Boss" on TLC Monday nights. I love that show and the pastries all look great!

Renting THE FRENCH CHEF from Netlix (3 DVDs) -- 18 episodes of Julia Child's show which I haven't seen since I was a kid. Some funny stuff!! Watched the first 6 episodes, and #1 may've been #1 cuz she was soooo nervous and -- bad. Still funny as hell, tho. But I am learning good stuff, so that's good.

Just saw L&B Spumoni Gardens on Man V. Food on the Travel Channel. It certainly looked tasty.

Love, Man V Food...cool show.

Heavy snow coming to New York City this weekend. My Mom loved to make fresh pasta during snow storms.

There would be pasta sheets everywhere and different pastas drying all over the place, on clean bedsheets layed out all over the apartment. Not just the kitchen, either. You might find linguini drying over the radiators in the hallways .

I miss my Mom .

I'm making lasagna tomorrow ~ great for a snow day. I just got back from the supermarket... it was PACKED! I guess the words "Blizzard Watch" scare a lot of people.

How long has it been that your mom died?

7 years, 3 months and 2 days.

But who remembers such things?

I know what you mean.

Make some pasta today or tomorrow.... it'll bring back some good memories.

Thanks, man. Good idea. I think we'll do homemade ravioli .

Stuffed shells for me tonight.