AMEN!!! Can't even take the smell of it..... GROSS!!!

For the most part I don't like mustard..

If its in the sandwich I try and grin and bear it..

Long term, there is no reason 400 cals of meat and carb would be different than 400 cal of veggie and meat - the trouble is people often eat more when they eat refined carbs, and short term it affects glycogen levels, meaning if you drop carbs you initially drop weight, but doesn't remain the case long term.

We adopted a rule a few years ago after a case of family food poisoning acquired in a Chinese restaurant in Richfield, Utah: Never eat Chinese food in a state that does not possess a salt-water boundary. (And no, the Once-Great Salt Lake does not qualify.)

Peanut butter must be in or on any cookies, but never on pancakes. Only pure maple syryp there.
Dining tables at home are for books and keys, not food.

No spinach in meat lasagna. No meat in veggie lasagna.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...t-spinach.html

No ketchup near hot dogs. No mustard near hamburgers.

Mmmmm. Lilikoi mustard on a Puka Dog!

Speaking of dogs...I had a Chicago dog yesterday that was to die for...poppy-seed bun, mustard, onions, sweet relish, hot peppers, tomato, dill pickle spear, and just the right amount of celery salt...not a hint of ketchup. I'm salivating now just thinking about it.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

yum,,,,,

I guess its the digestion part.. and the speed of metabolism effects.

I agree.. seems calories and having all four food groups in the tummy makes sense..:)

Were you in Chicago? Pretty difficult to get it perfect like that otherwise. :)

Was there any "dog" underneath all of that? ;)

I'm a big fan of "Capt'n Franks" at the Outer Banks (NC), chili and mustard...that's all. Oh maybe a few onions...

Difficult, but not impossible:

http://www.johnnychicagos.com/

The only difference between Johnny's and, say, Portillo's is the price. It's a little expensive to fly Vienna Beef products up to Anchorage. ;)

No, but I've had them in Chicago and the one I had the other day was as close to perfection as it can get in Texas. ;)

The only thing I'd mark them down on is not using a Vienna Beef hot dog. Otherwise, it was a perfect knock-off.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

1. No raw onions in or on anything, ever.
1a. If raw onions must be added to an otherwise tasty dish in a buffet-type situation, then slice or chop them in large enough pieces that I can easily identify and remove them.

2. No raw carrots in or on anything, ever.

3. Butter or margarine on the side, always.

Carrots should be served raw in salads or stir fried in cooked dishes. Boiled carrots are against the Geneva Convention.

My personal rules:

Try everything. Once in a while, try things I think I don't like. Sometimes, I discover my tastes have changed.

There's very little I won't eat, though organ meats and hot dogs are probably up there.

If the "bagel" doesn't come from a reputable place in the Tri-State Area it's just bread with a hole in it.

Texas best foods done right.
 

4. Chili must never contain beans, then it's just called a good meat and bean dish. I'm from Texas, we invented few dishes, but chili is one of them. No tomatoes, and there is no such thing as veggie or chicken chili. It should only be made with diced beef, dried chili peppers, salt, and beef stock or water. Anything else should never be labeled as chili. Food labeling laws are not stringent enough.

5. Pecan pie, another thing Texas excells at, considering we have been the top producing pecan state, we know it. It should be simple and goey hot. And never pronounced Peeeecan, it's only pronounced Pahcahn.

6. Non Texas specific, but there is no such thing as beef, turkey, chicken, or tofu bacon. Bacon is pork belly that has been cured with salt and seasonings and SODIUM NITRATE. There is no such thing as bacon cured without pink salt, then it's not bacon. All those products saying it's been cured with celery juice, that's where SODIUM NITRATE comes from to cure it, still the same chemical. There is no possible way to make bacon without it, same with corned beef and pastrami. SODIUM NITRATE or NITRITE will never kill you, and you eat it all the time, way more in vegetables naturally occuring than you will eat in your life in bacon. Bacon should be thickly sliced, and never crispy, you don't eat steaks or any other meat like that, why do it to bacon.

What tri-state area is that?

Starting to adopt a care free approach..

trying different foods..

and escaping habits..

I had assumed CMK10 referred to the tri-state area in which you appear to be centrally located. ;) In fact, I would argue the only true bagels are in NYC, with the best coming from Brooklyn.

You've obviously never had a Montreal bagel.

Off to Montreal in 2 weeks and looking forward to much bagelage! :D

• Don't ever eat/chew with your mouth open, or slurp your food near me. That will result in a punch in the face.

• Try everything twice.

I don't like getting punched in the face while eating.

I have not, but I will be sure to try the next time I am there.

You are correct. But I am stubborn and fiercely loyal to where I grew up (and yes CopperSteve is correct I meant the NY/NJ/CT Metropolitan Area) so no matter how good it was, I wouldn't change my statement. Hence why it's "Your personal food rules" :D

Good point. :) Personally, I think some of these rules are a bit wierd, if not in your face, but hey...whatever floats your battleship. ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Or one of my home-made ones!

I am trying to learn to be less picky with my food, but still have far too many rules.

• Stop putting so many things in my food. If I can't taste it, or feel its texture, it doesn't need to be there.
• No mayonnaise. Ever. I don't care how lovely and home-made it is. And you keep sneaking it in there without telling me!
• Similarly, vinegar, and all the evils that contain it - especially ketchup and salad cream. Things smell acrid when they go off as a warning to you - heed it!
• Salads are wonderful things. So, if you're going to have one, make it worthwhile. Two lettuce leaves and a slice of tomato will never look anything but sad.
• Cold meats. Hmm. Not something I have often these days, but I love a nice bit of ham. Sadly, a nice bit of ham is increasingly hard to find, but water-pumped, textureless, sulphorous flattened plasticine is.
• Similarly, cured meats. Back bacon that shrinks to half its size in the pan - no, that's not what's supposed to happen.
• And what about beef? Lovely beef, lovely texture. Yes, texture. "That beef is like butter" is not a compliment in my book.
• Keep hens in a battery, and you get rubbish eggs. I don't want them in anything I eat. Same goes for the chickens kept in similarly intensive conditions.
• Same for milk, really.
• While I try not to be too obsessive about food miles, I refuse to shop somewhere that imports Asparagus from Peru (to the UK) in the middle of the English Asparagus season.
• You know what the best thing since sliced bread is? Unsliced bread. Chorleywood has a lot to answer for.
• Mild cheddar isn't cheese, it's a form of edible rubber. Give me crumbly, crystally, pungent, West Country cheddar.
• I can trim spring onions. I can find a cauliflower curd in amongst those leaves. And, you know, it's really easy to trim asparagus, it breaks naturally in the right place. So please, don't pre-cut it for me, wrap it in plastic and charge me double.
• Please do not mess with French patisserie. Two circles of puff pastry filled with cream is not a millefeuille, eclairs have flavoured creme patissiere, not whipped cream, and profiteroles should have ice cream inside, and hot pouring chocolate for the outside (you may be excused for a piece montee). I love these dishes, and always feel disappointed when I get a poor imitation.
• Soft ice cream - Margaret Thatcher worked on its invention, as a way for manufacturers to save money. If that alone isn't enough, it tastes awful. Put some cornish cream in there!
• Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll have clotted cream with my scone, thanks. The order (with jam) isn't important - Devon-style or Cornwall-style is good for me!
• Cornwall makes the best ice cream too. Well, and Italy. And 'gelato' is a type of ice cream, not a thing in its own right.
• If a food is traditionally served with strong-flavoured condiments, and you complain it's bland, you're doing it wrong.

I'm sure there's many more...

http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/index.htm

or

http://www.stviateurbagel.com/content/?id=135

I think it's normally sodium nitrite (NaNO2) rather than nitrate(NaNO3).

If the food is spicy, make it spicier :)

I think Rachael Ray said it well in one of her books:

Bottled dressings on fresh greens-- an oxymoron.

If dressings aren`t homemade I won`t eat them.

+1 I can't stand bottled salad dressing. There are so many dressings that are very easy to make, and they taste 1000x better than any stuff from a bottle.

Does that mean that if they're made with olive oil, it has to be just pressed - can't be out of a bottle of olive oil or vinegar that's been sitting on a shelf for a couple of years?

1. My Apples have to be Red and Washed.
2. I hate Breaded Pork Chops.
3. I only eat Ranch Dressing on my Salads.

For some, I agree. however, when it comes to blue cheese dressing, good bottled / jarred stuff beats most homemade for some reason.

You seem to be confusing bananas with broccoli!

"Buffalo wings" are an all around fail as far as I'm concerned:

I dislike dealing with wings as they're a lot of work for very little payoff.
The hot sauce used has no flavor, it's just ... hot.
Celery is horribly bitter ... please don't sneak it into deli salads!
And then there's blue cheese ... maybe for you there is, I won't go near the nasty stuff!