A Girl...

I like #4. Except I can never finish a whole bottle myself and A. doesn't like it. So that leaves us with the cheap champagne option, which defeats the purpose. Sigh.

I stripe cukes, and Mle thinks it's weird. I think it's neat, and I'm glad to know I've got a kindred spirit out there...

we always have champagne and let me tell you, it is brilliant to always have a bottle b/c you never know when you need to toast something. we also have a toaster b/c you never know when you need to toast something.

Aha! Another person who likes both kidney beans and garbanzo beans on salad! (Hulk doesn't like kidney beans, and so I almost never have them)

although i've always found doing dishes sort of a zen calming thing (as long as it's not something burnt requiring a scouring pad), i too avoid washing dishes by doing things like eat cake straight from the pan (or box if i've scored it from virginia bakery) and scarf down meals over a sink. . . i think that comes from never having owned a dishwasher. . .

the only drawback is that whenever i do stuff like that i start thinking of repo man quotes like "put it on a plate dear, it'll taste better" and "plate. or shrimp. or plate o' shrimmp."

Do people have to be told #4? If I get down to less than five bottles, I get itchy.

We are all about the Big-Ass Salad in our house, too! Although in depths of winter, the appeal of the salad decreases, and we start doing Big-Ass Bowls of Whole Wheat Pasta and Veggies, which does not have the same ring to it and is somewhat more caloric. And sometimes I will do a Big-Ass Pot of Hearty Vegetable Soup, which is more the winter equivalent of the salad.

I do need to keep Champagne around more often, although we can't finish a whole bottle by ourselves in one sitting. Which: yes, we are lame. So we usually limit it to special occasions and stick to red wine or beer the rest of the time.

Here's a little tip that I learned from my sister-in-law's mother who is from Mexico. When you make guacamole, leave the avocado seeds in the bowl. It may not look as pretty, but it will keep the guacamole from turning brown. I thought it was weird, but it does seem to work.

We are also fans of the Big-Ass Salad™ around these parts, although we like different things, so I have twice as much to chop! Garbanzo beans and hard boiled eggs are also two of my favorite salad toppers.

Lawerish-We have a fantastic champagne bottle stopper that works wonders, although we rarely ever need it! ;)

Last time we had champagne (Monday), we didn't finish the whole bottle, so Simon just put what was left in the fridge, sans cork, and crossed his fingers. Amazingly, it stayed fizzy until Tuesday night. Not sure how that happened.

One good thing to do, though, if you can't finish a regular bottle, is buy it in splits--about half the size of a normal bottle. Either that or invite people over more often to share!

Other great stuff I recently put in my salads: pomegranate seeds (best seeded underwater to reduce chance of staining), chopped orange slices and blue cheese! YUM. Oh! Ands shoestring beets!

I'm all about the prep work, especially for big meals. Thanksgiving in particular. I premake whatever I can, chop, peel, clean and store ingredients for stuff that needs to be done on the day and then make a cooking schedule. Started doing that last year and it really made the entire meal so much easier to pull off.

In fact, I have a 25 lb turkey sitting in my freezer right now (long story) so I've invited a bunch of friends to Thanksgiving in February! What what!

My ass needs me to ask more questions about the Big Ass Salad. First-- what do you use for a nonfatass dressing? Ok, I guess that's really my only question.

BUT THEN...keeping the avocado seeds in the guac-- um, maybe I have some weird strain of avocados, but the ones here just have one big ass pit. Or is that the seed to which the commenter referred?

We also like goat cheese, strawberries, walnut bits, and dried cranberries (not all at once!) on salads. But we're much more likely to have Big Ass Salad through the summer and (like Laywerish) Pot o' Veggie Soup in the winter. (Soup freezes and thaws very well!)

We usually make our own vinaigrette: extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon-style mustard, salt and pepper, and a little water to thin it out. Simon also likes to put o.j. and/or red wine in if we have some sitting around, but I prefer my food as basic as possible, so I usually leave that stuff out.

We dump everything into a small round Ziploc container (without measuring! because we're experts!), then snap on the lid, shake, and pour. If we were more ambitious, we'd put it in a fancy dispenser so it looks nice on the counter, but most days that's asking too much.

Although I do love me some Ranch dressing, we never buy it because the regular stuff is fatty and the "lite" stuff is an abomination. The thought of eating a salad with yucky low-fat dressing is enough to make me skip the salad altogether in favor of something less healthy, which defeats the entire point, right? My philosophy is that it's better to have good food that I can enjoy in moderation instead of yucky food I don't enjoy at all.

Ah yes...another reminder of how insanely jealous I am of California produce. Yesterday, at Wild Oats (Denver), avocados were going for $2.49 EACH.

I am definitely not a salad aficionado ("What? It isn't fried or chocolate? I'll pass."), but I do have a fabulous no-fat dressing suggestion if you like a sweeter taste on your salad. Consorzio makes Balsalmic, Strawberry & Balsalmic, Raspberry & Balsalmic, and Mango fat-free dressings, and they truly are great, and all-natural. Highly recommended if you are like me and don't have the expert balsalmic making talents of Simon and Leah. :) And the bottle labels are pretty, which is always important when consuming food.

here in california, the avocadoes are on sale, two for a buck... but only because they're rotten. i would guess that's why the denver ones are so expensive. they had major field frosts this year that ruined the crops.

yes, one big pit. keep it in the bowl of guac. it works!

also, they make cucumber stripers! i don't know what they're called, other than a cuke striper, haha, but we own one!

b. a. salads are a staple 'round here. and adding some cheese and meat? yum!!! i think i know what i want for dinner...

Cucumber striper? You mean a fork?

(Our avocados have been fine lately, although I assume that even though we're buying them in CA, they probably come from Argentina or somewhere anyway.)

I thought people ate lots of salad to avoid a big ass. I'm so confused!

Oh, and if you want to avoid baby stuff do not go to my site to gawk at the adorable picture.

I need more information about cucumber striping. I don't have any specific questions, other than "What?"

Salad prep is a great idea. I am surprised at how easy it is to trick me: if it is ready to eat, I will eat it almost no matter what it is.

Tip 2 is great. I have woken up my grandma 600 miles away some mornings :)

#3...a personal favorite!!

Love the Big Ass Salad idea, and will totally implement it. As the step-daughter of a fire chief, though, your space heater idea makes me nervous. Space heaters cause a large number of fires every winter, and putting clothes on them is like falling asleep smoking a cigarette - very dangerous! I guess you could get away with this if you're standing in the room, but please for your own safety don't walk out with stuff hanging over your heater.

Kerri--Not ON the heater, but held up in front of the heater. My dad is not a firefighter, but neither am I an idiot.