Count me as someone who came to appreciate Brussels spouts very belatedly--but I only like them roasted.

Thanks for the mention! If anyone knows any great food/drink specials, please send them our way. Quite a few places are getting ready to roll out new/updated specials so stay tuned. There's definitely a great deal for every day of the week!

Congratulations on the Association of Food Journalists award! Do all the food section writers get to split the $100 third prize, or does Kate get to keep that for herself? And why doesn't AFJ have a prize for best food blog?

She didn't tell us about the prize money. :-) EL

"The power of food: it may be a cure for drug addiction." But what's the cure for food addiction?

Drugs. Life is a vicious circle...

Brussels sprouts are lovely. My favourite way to have them is roasted with hazelnuts.

The cure for food addiction is, of course, drugs.

My wife steams her Brussels sprouts. Far and away my favorite vegetable.

All this talk of Brussels sprouts brings up another issue - is there some nation wide shortage of lima beans? I happen to really like lima beans (adult beans, not Baby limas), and they have disappeared from stores. All I can find in the frozen section of multiple stores are baby limas, which are not as good. Forget canned limas, yuck.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts? Like, on a stick over the camp fire?

Barb, I adore lima beans, too. I have been able to get them from the fresh bean people at the JFX market. Just look for the very long line that doesn't involve pit beef.

Lima beans: library paste in a green wrapper.

RtsO - try baking lima beans in oven in milk, salt, pepper and butter bath. Not you same old, some old boiled beans. Same goes for ucky boiled cauliflower - roast in oven in oil/butter, herbs, s&p. Totally different taste.

Eve, you put them in a roasting pan or cookie sheet (with sides) in a single layer, loosely, top with some olive oil, toss some broken up hazelnuts on top about halfway through the roasting.

Although, brussels sprouts onna stick does sound interesting...

I think I'm in the minority. I am neither in love with nor hate lima beans and brussel sprouts. I just think they're ok. Now, asparagus and broccoli - total veggie love for me. I think blackeyed peas may be the only veggie I hate and I don't think I've had them prepared correctly anyway. Guess that's why I was always President of the clean your plate club growing up!

the Sun's food section won third place for best food section

reminds me of when Boris and Natasha raced Rocky and Bullwinkle. They lost, but Boris said "Natasha dahling, vee came in second."

Okay, I'll admit I've not had lima beans since I was a kid. and I don't remember if they were frozen or tinned. I'm pretty sure they were never (99% precent of the time, that is) fresh. Hell, we even ate tinned peas: how sad, they were already gray before you even began heating them.

Mother used to serve brussels steamed with little cherry tomatoes. My favorite veg.

I like lima beans, even the canned kind. I do rinse them well before adding fresh water and cooking them, either on the stove or in the microwave.

Not a big fan of brussels sprouts or asparagus though.

Eve, to add to what Lissa posted about roasted spouts, I cut larger ones in half, drizzle everything with a little good olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, and roast at high temperature in the oven (at least 425 degrees--maybe higher). I also do this with cut up broccoli--it's the only way my broccoli-hating son will eat this veg. Once out of the oven, toss with some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Speaking of items in the nature of shameless plugs for the foodie inbox -- the annual What's In Your Guinness? Contest will be held tomorrow evening (Wednesday 10/22) at An Poitin Stil in Timonium, featuring Guinness-inspired recipes from local restaurants. The event benefits Irish Charities of Maryland, Inc., sponsor of the annual Maryland Irish Festival (to be held November 7-8-9 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds' Cow Palace). Further details are available at the Irish Festival website.

My favorite way to cook Brussels sprouts is cut them in half, arrange cut-side down in a little water (~1/4 cup?) in a skillet, sprinkle with salt, and "steam" about 10 minutes til done to your liking. Just before serving, dot in a little butter and drizzle with a little Balsamic vinegar. Yum!

My granddaddy used to make smoked brussel sprouts with homemade barbecue sauce in Amarillo.

I LOVE lima beans - always have - particularly with corn in succotash.

The only veggies I don't eat are kale and rutabaga, and I can't get past the "mud" taste of black-eyed peas, so I won't eat them either.

Dottie, I didn't like kale either until had kale and sausage soup at a restaurant. It was a revelation. I don't eat rutabaga because I don't know what to do with 'em. I used to use patty pan squash either til this year I saw some cooked on the food network (I think it was that annoying Rachel Ray, but I watched it anyway). Rutagaga remains a mystery to me.

We should probably do a top 10 on foods you don't know what to do with or how to cook.

Succotash is a way to ruin perfectly good corn.

Kale, rutabagas, and black-eyed peas, on the other hand, are all quite tasty when prepared well.

I like Joyce's idea for a top 10 on foods you don't know how to cook. Just think of the collective wisdom we could bring to bear on this topic!

And I agree with Hal, VoR, as usual--except that I don't know what to do with a rutabaga except as one ingredient in my favorite root vegetable soup. Hal, what do you suggest for a tasty rutabaga recipe? Do you mash them?

We make a black-eyed pea salad for the New Year to bring good luck--you need a good vinegary vinaigrette, plus diced red and green peppers, onion or scallions, and a big handful of parsley, Dottie. Delicious!

I like rutabagas. I usually cut them into chunks and boil until soft. Drain, toss a bunch of butter in, a little salt, and mash. You can mash potatoes with the rutabaga as an intro to rutabaga. Don't forget to peel them - you don't want to boil the wax covering that most of them have.

For added flavour, boil them in homemade chicken stock, don't drain (don't go crazy on the amount of stock, either), add butter, mash and serve. Yum.

Corn is pig food.

For the most part, anything you can do with potatoes you can do with rutabagas or turnips.