IOU Payne

If only Joss Whedon had been associated with the project! I really liked the pilot, and I've been a Supergirl fan since the 60s. A little quippiness and a few pop culture references would have taken this from good to freakin' awesome. And is Superman now the Supreme Being? The arch use of "Him" and "Your cousin" was so grating that I'm glad I didn't have any alcohol in the house because the drinking game rules wrote themselves. Looking forward to next week, and how things develop. I'm all in!

Except for the fact that her sauces aren't original creations, but amalgamations of other sauces. Like her spaghetti sauce that used jarred spaghetti sauce as one of its ingredients. Or her barbecue sauces that contain both commercial BBQ sauce and ketchup.

My mom, who was physically frail but mentally intact, would get loopy whenever she had a UTI. When you've been through this with a loved one, it gets very familiar very fast. (((Hugs to everyone going through this))) To get off the Jello topic for a minute, whose house had Breakfast Rules? We did, and they were as follows: Saturday was the only day we were allowed to eat sugary cereals like Lucky Charms, because it was our Shabbos treat (We managed to scarf down many boxes of the stuff as TV snacks!). Sundays were the only days in which it was allowed to have bagels and cream cheese. The remainder of the week was regular boring cereal or toast, with hot cereal in the winter occasionally. Even then, there was a pecking order for hot cereal: Cream of Wheat (gag!) was for warmer days, oatmeal for seasonally average days and when it was freakin' cold or extremely snowy, it was Red River cereal day. Being Jewish, delicious porky breakfast meats were a big no-no, unless we were on vaycay, and even then, there was a good deal of furtive looking around to make sure we weren't spotted inhaling contraband bacon with our eggs.

ZOMG! P'tcheh!!!!! No, I am not hocking up phlegm, that's the Jewish name for the dish, which is made without the pig's foot, obviously. (My grandmother probably used chicken feet) This was the usual Saturday lunch for my grandfather after synagogue, along with more schnapps than he needed, judging by his mood change mid-afternoon. Being a spoiled kid, I got a Swanson's TV dinner, often the Franks and Beans one, but sometimes the Fried Chicken which always had a few stray peas baked into the Apple Cake Cobbler. Happyfatchick, I'm willing to bet your mom has a UTI. I hope she's feeling better soon. As for me, I went for the results of my home sleep study and found out that I probably have apnea, but I will need another sleep study to prove it. This time I get to sleep in the hospital. Yay me! Note to anyone wanting to give me a spa/pampering experience: This isn't it. I'll be turfed out of the Sleep Lab before the caf opens. Me without coffee: Not pretty, especially because I take insulin and everything has to be timed accordingly. Oh, who am I kidding - it's more my bitchiness without caffeine.

Yes, I'm Canadian! KD with frozen peas is as Canadian as butter tarts (basically pecan pie without the pecans but with the addition of raisins!) or poutine.

Nostalgic food: Kraft Dinner with frozen peas, the way my mom used to make it. Corn soup made with one can of creamed corn and one can's worth of milk. Yes, those are the only two ingredients. Hamburger steak with brown gravy and mashed potatoes from the restaurant I've been going to since I was a kid, on my late father's birthday. But the guiltiest of pleasures is what we erroneously called "trifle", which is partially set Jello mixed with Cool Whip to make a mousse-like substance. It's awful, but it's awfully good. *blush

Iggy is indifferent to the kittens but Max is on High Alert!

If you've never seen this site, and you're brave, check it out. And wear Depends, because you will laugh so hard that you'll need them. #overshare

Bella, maybe you should see if you can get treatment for PTSD quickly, because if you read this next paragraph, you may need it: There was a "semi-popular" party sandwich consisting of squishy white bread with the crusts cut off, schmeared with Cheez Whiz, then rolled up with canned asparagus in the middle. It was then heated in the oven. Thank goodness we've evolved!!

I was in NYC on vacation in September and I agree that the street food is amazing. Halal Guys = so awesome! Note to Ree: I have eaten a ton of falafel in my life, both Lebanese and Israeli-style, and using cooked chickpeas is just not done in any culture. You are supposed to soak the raw chickpeas overnight then grind them in the food processor. I will also go out on a limb and say that Ree's chicken and waffles will never measure up to Amy Ruth's. Hell, even Popeye's chicken with a McGriddle on the side would probably be better. (Actually, that doesn't sound all that wretched....)

FN Canada never ran Sandra Lee, so I've only caught her a few times when I've been in the US. I am all a-squee at the prospect of watching her, because, trainwrecks. My grandmother was the World's Worst Cook - the family joke was that when she gave a dinner party, the walkway to the house was flanked by life insurance agents. Her specialty, if you could call it that, was a traditional Jewish dish called "p'tcheh" which was meat aspic with random things floating in it. I was oddly resistant to its charms, so she'd make me a TV dinner. My mother inherited the delicious-cooking gene, for which I am grateful. ETA that brussels sprouts glazed with balsamic vinegar and maple syrup are soooo good! And while you have the syrup out, take 1/4 cup of maple syrup, mix with 1/4 cup of soy sauce and marinate salmon fillets in the mixture. You'll never have such tasty salmon, whether you grill it or panfry it. All that mention of maple syrup is probably a reaction to the fact that Canada has a federal election today, and my patriotism is showing. Canadians aren't flag-wavers, unless there's a hockey tournament, so I'll be very very Canadian and say "Sorry"!

My mother would recycle leftover mashed potatoes into mashed potato kugel. Actually, she'd make a double batch so she could make kugel. Basically, it's mashed potatoes in a casserole dish (old-school Corning Ware for the tate of authenticity) with the top brushed with oil and sprinkled with paprika, then baked until the outside is super-crusty. It should have a nice, thick crust, with creamy insides. If you serve it with meatloaf, it's like deconstructed shepherd's pie. I never had mashed potato pancakes, but latkes? Awww yeahhhhh!!!! Latkes are so good that I wish Chanukah was more than eight days.

Not a recipe per se, but a technique: I use a panade (bread-based filler) to make my meatloaf tender. Basically, take a slice or two of bread, rip it into pieces, soak the bread in milk till it's squishy, squeeze out the excess milk and add the ensuing bread goo to the meatloaf mix. Otherwise my meatloaf is tough and dry (kinda like me without carbs, but I digress...) You could also grate some onion into the mix, and the liquid will help keep it moist.

frenchtoast, what kind of a doggie is that? Besides "awesome", of course! (I am guessing grayhound, but I am a cat person, so I may be wrong)

We had Thanksgiving last week (I'm Canadian) and I did all the cooking except for the mashed potatoes, which are my son's specialty. He used 500 ml of light cream and 1.5 sticks of butter, and made enough potatoes for 15. We ended up only being 8. So I froze the rest and will be making potato chowder as soon as I get some purple and sweet potatoes to cube and cook in the soup. I watch a lot of "Chopped", if you couldn't tell. :-) For me, the highlight of T-Day is The Leftover Sandwich the next day. It has to be on squishy bread, and must contain schmears of mayo, globs of cranberry sauce (straight from the can the way nature intended it!), a layer of stuffing, white and dark meat, and a few lettuce leaves. I capitalize this dish in my head, even though it makes it sound like one of the Pioneer Woman's concoctions. Canadians don't make green bean casserole, nor do we ever have sweet potatoes with marshmallows on them. But we have a variety of pies! My son grew up watching pro rasslin' and one of Mick Foley's characters has been on my brain - the deranged Mankind, with his famous Mandible Claw finishing move, starring Mr. Socko. Good times, good times.

My 94-year-old Uncle Ben got DNA tested, much to the merriment of the family. (Jokes around the table at Rosh Hashana along the lines of "In the case of 7-year-old Tyler, Ben, you are NOT the father!") He found out that he is 91% Jewish, 8% random Slavic and 1% Muslim. Things fell apart when he read us the name of the nearest genetic match, a woman with a distinctly Irish first and last name. Then, Uncle Ben didn't quite get why my father (his only full sibling) didn't pop up as his nearest relative. It took my brother and I five minutes to explain that my father had never been tested or entered in that particular database. But Colleen O'Hara (not real name) was in their bank.

Ketchup and onion soup mix? For reals? I haven't had that combo since the early 1970s. My father actually made this, using chuck roast, when my mom came home after being hospitalized. It was the only complete dinner he'd ever cooked, since my mom was Queen of the Kitchen and he was relegated to being King of the Grill. Being adventurous, he may have thrown a glug of HP Sauce into the mix instead of the ketchup. I can't wait for Ree to make chicken with a jar of apricot jam, a bottle of Catalina dressing and a package of onion soup mix. She'll rave about the glorious neon-orange colour and divine stickiness of the sauce. Then she can make a flavourful trifle using Jello made with only the hot water component (so it's thicker), partially gelled and mixed with a tub of Cool Whip. This glorious yummy mixture will be layered with Sara Lee Pound Cake and served straight from the Pyrex bowl it was mixed in.

Today's episode featured a horrendoma called "Pawhuska Cheese Steaks". If you've been lucky enough to dodge this bullet, Ree heated sliced deli roast beef in a cast iron skillet with lots of butter, then sauteed red pepper rings and onion slices in butter. The cheese component was straight outta a jar, nuked and with a dash of hot sauce, because her family can take the heat. All this was piled on rolls that were toasted in - you'll never guess where this is going, kids - more butter! There was no cooking per se, which is, oddly enough, the reason I watch cooking shows. It's all assembly from beginning to end. Seriously a cooking-free zone. To be honest, my mom did a bit of assembling, when she wasn't actually cooking from scratch. Maybe she should have hosted a cooking show based on her throwing a handful of frozen peas into Kraft Dinner. Who knows. There probably was an audience for that, if PW is any indication. .

And I can't stop humming "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose". Which, in the context of the Fall of the House of Duggar, is good enough for me and Joshie McGee.

Glad I'm not the only one that wished for a BFFing of Quinn and Ivy. They look kindasorta alike, they're both designers, and watching Quinn's unique mentoring as a mother-in-law would have allowed each of them to play comedic beats. Ivy was extremely tolerant of Aly, so she'd show the same latitude and kindness towards Quinn's socially awkward missteps. Wyatt's "mother issues" in stereo as a major plot point would be freaking awesome! But nooooooo!!

I'd tune in to watch Ladd explain cattle farming and them show us some grilled food. In fact, I'd prefer it to watching Ree. My breaking point came last weekend when she squealed "Cookies too!" when delivering the food for the taco bar for the fence fixin'. The regisetr of her voice was so high that I could barely hear it, yet I'm sure every dog in the 'hood perked their ears up.

Neil Winters is the Worst! Wedding! Planner! Evah! The tagline for his services must be "Cheap and Nasty", because his wedding to Hilary was cheap (catering by Mr. Hot Dog??? Not cool even if you're a hipster who loves food trucks more than anything!) and his plans for revenge on the menu at Devon & Hilary's nuptials? Nasty to the extreme. Neil has waaaaay too much time on his hands. he should fly to L.A., and play a few rounds of golf with Julius Avant.

Bonus points if this takes place at the Adoption Party for Rick & Maya's baby.

I'm imagining Caitlyn will do "Dancing with the Stars" at some point, assuming that show outlasts "I am Cait". She'll no doubt write a book, which will be remaindered at Dollar General within six months. My opinion: Her shelf life is running out unless she can manage to tap into the boomer market, people like me who remember her with fondness as an Olympian and appreciate the notion of people re-inventing themselves at any age. But I can't see teens idolizing anyone of that age over one of their own.

I don't even think it was real chicken soup. My theory (and maybe I should spoiler-tag it) is that Victor replaced the chicken broth with broth made from boullion powder. Yup, a soup-elganger.