You either like Brussel Sprouts or you hate 'em. They're my favorite vegetable, although this is one veg where fresh is far better than canned, frozen, pickled or preserved. My daughter, on the other hand, can't stand them. Planning our family Thanksgiving feast, she issued one edict -- no Brussel Sprouts.

My late guinea pig (rest his soul) would eat everything from kale to cardboard. The only thing he ever turned his furry little nose up at was a brussels sprout.

I prefer frozen brussel sprouts to fresh ones. Go figure. It's one of the only veggies I feel that way about.

I'm over the fresh local thing too. But, I knew I would be because I'm not overly wild about all the fresh local winter fruits and veggies. Yes, root veggies are very good, but as a change not as a staple. Pears are good, but not as good as peaches. And, I've had enough of pumpkin to last me another year. Seasonally affected here!

Have we talked about what if any restaurants are opened on Christmas Day? I'd personally like a change from the mandatory "it's Christmas, let's eat Chinese food".

Mmmm....brussels sprouts. Neither I or my husband were ever served them as kids, so we didn't have any preconceived notions. I adopted a couple recipes and came up with our favorite vegetable dish. Slice them thin and sauté first to slightly brown them, then add a little water, cover and steam to cook them through. Toss with some toasted pine nuts and enjoy! We're going to have them again tomorrow...

My British father used to cook Brussels sprouts to within an inch of their poor wee lives, and I hated them with a passion. Now that I've had them sauteed, I like them a lot better.

Oh, EL, you're unsettled right now because of this Chapter 11 business. (And rightly so) You'll come to some sort of terms with it and feel a little more cheerful.

L-O-V-E brussels sprouts. Alas, my lovely wife does not appreciate their awesomeness; so single-serving frozen packaging gets a big thumbs-up from me.

The popular consensus so far is that Bucky is Shallow Thinker John Lindner. Get your votes in before the poll closes.
http://owlmeat.blogspot.com/

Talk about a slow day for topics...

I like this name: Giant Steam Ready Asparagus Spears. They are steam ready! True ...

Birds Eye makes "Steamfresh Mixed Vegetables". Not sure what that means.

Green Giant Rice Pilaf -- Rice pilaf ...have you had any other kind of pilaf? Same with shrimp scampi, which means shrimp shrimp, since scampi is a large shrimp.

SLOW DAY FOR TOPICS? I gave you the choice of frozen vegetables OR THE WHOLE YEAR IN DINING TRENDS. el

I don't like brussels sprouts either.

The frozen vegetables I eat are spinach and the broccoli/cauliflower combination.

Other stuff, I buy canned - limas, peas, green beans, turnip greens, and other beans. If its not "no salt added" then I rinse the stuff.

It sounds like you need a big hug today Elizabeth. Maybe you should have some cocoa and cookies.

Whenever I feel down, I play the Terrier Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB1eQrCBw0k

If that doesn't help then you should watch this video of a cat playing the piano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div

My dog loves Brussels sprouts. When I trim off the end of the stem before cooking them, she gets to eat what I've cut off. She drools all over the floor while I'm trimming, imagining the delicious Brussels sprouts in her belly.
And my new passion is those microwave steamer packages of whole green beans. They come in a big bag, but that's fine with me, because they're so fresh and flavorful, I eat all four servings myself. A tsp of olive oil, lots of salt and pepper ... yum.

When a guinea pig rejects brussels sprouts you have a very discerning guinea pig and a major Gack food. Maybe they single serve pack bs (I didn't think of the joke value of that untill I wrote it.) because sales of whole packets were low and this way the odd ball can have bs whilst the rest of the family have good veg.

(And remember, we love you. Of course with that and a buck you can generally get a Coke from the machine.)

brussels sprouts are one of my faves... my husband hated them (only had the mushy/frozen kind)....

but now that i roast them with olive oil, salt and pepper at 425F for about 20-30 minutes...oh he can't get enough!

I used to be among the sprouts-haters, but then I learned to roast them, and now I'm a convert (as long as I'm fixing them ...)

Single serving veggies? No thank you. I'm fine with frozen veggies (scurvy is not my friend), but I'm not ok with spending extra money on extra packaging.

What is so inconvenient about a twist tie?

In my crack freezer, the vegetables always frost up once the bag is open. EL

I'm certain Bacon Girl would agree with me as to the only way to truly appreciate brussels sprouts!

In my crack freezer, the vegetables always frost up once the bag is open.

Best solution for this is a FoodSaver. Get the biggest size bag of veg you want and then vacuum seal into whatever size serving you want. You can nuke in the vacuum bags and the re-sized bags seem to keep the frozen veg 'fresh' for years (no frost.) The little hand held units (you got and wrote about one of them) don't seem to do the trick. Those bags seem to be the problem: the zip lock seal is not so zip or seal. The FoodSaver and its heat seal does the trick. (God, I sound like an infomercial.)

SLOW DAY FOR TOPICS? I gave you the choice of frozen vegetables OR THE WHOLE YEAR IN DINING TRENDS. el

I thought that would get your attention.
8>}

BTW: I hope it cheers you no end that a post on Brussels Sprouts get almost 20 comments in under 4 hours. That's cause we luuuuuuuuv you. (Not so much BS, as stated above.)

In my crack freezer, the vegetables always frost up once the bag is open. EL

I didn't realize crack was supposed to be frozen. Or is that a Baltimore thing?

We also do the frozen brussels sprout thing...but not the single serving size. I just steam them, so I guess I don't notice the freezer burn...

Roasted brussel sprouts the best. Learned this years ago from Stephen Schmidt author of Master Recipes. He did a class years ago for me at my gourmet shop outside of Philadelphia(that was my other life!)

the vegetables always frost up once the bag is open

I really hate when the frozen peas all freeze together into a big block. :-(

Judging from the comments there seem to be no highlights for this year.

"In my crack freezer, the vegetables always frost up once the bag is open. EL"

You have a crack freezer? I was always under the impression it was best served at room temperature... :)

Crack Kills! Just say no!

Hey Owl,
Can you vote more than once? You know, ballot stuffing is quite popular here in the Sunshine State.

In all honesty, I had brussels sprouts once, when I was a kid and thought them nasty. They are, in essense, tiny cabbages, right?

EL, I'm guessing you decided that calling your great freezer a crack freezer was not the best choice. But still, great humor!

Actually I was being sarcastic. It is beautiful but inefficient. EL

I've had quinoa pilaf.

I guess I eat bags of frozen veggies quickly. Mostly, I only eat frozen peas. But, in the winter, I'll branch out to limas and brussel sprouts and other delicacies.

The only veggie that is edible after being canned is corn.

Trends in dining? I didn't know we were supposed to look for them.

Um...5 Guys still cooks their burgers too much. Lexington Market is still there, and the cheap sushi still scares me.

Crack Kills!

Fear me.

The popular consensus so far is that Bucky is Shallow Thinker John Lindner. Get your votes in before the poll closes./

Please, hurry. According to Owlie's blog, you have only 94 days left to vote.

(And I've been told that soon y'all will be pining for one of jl's shallowest thoughts of all, as an alternative to my most profound thought of 2008.)

Please, hurry. According to Owlie's blog, you have only 94 days left to vote.

My blog -- the rules may change at any moment.

Joe the Plumber,
Your comment had me absolutely bellowing with laughter!

Lissa,
Do you like quinoa? I love the stuff, but am running out of ways to prepare it.

PCB Rob, quinoa is ok, but I haven't had it in ages. I had a couple years where the only grains I could eat were amaranth (inedible under all conditions) and quinoa, so I got a tad sick of it.

My memory is that I started by using it in anything I could use bulgar in. I think I even made quinoa tabouli a few times.

While bacon does make everything better, for me it can't overcome the non-appeal of brussels sprouts.

I've been convinced since he showed up that Bucky is JL. I tried to vote more than once but it wouldn't let me... maybe just need to clear the cookies...

The year end kind of got buried under stinky brussel sprouts. Surely something happened this year. I looked at the posts for last December and not that I'm trying to give you more work but I was looking forward to your year end highlights. I liked your ten best zingers. And also the funniest comments of the year where you tried to separate the Roberts. I was a casual viewer since around the time you started it, but was too shy to comment. I figured no one would care about my daffy ideas, but then things seemed to explode last January. Now I always feel welcome to kick in my goofy comments.

This blog is the big thing for the 2008 restaurant scene in Baltimore. Congrats to you.

Brussels Sprouts and Lardons are a wonderful combo. I assume bacon would be just a good. Pig back vs. pig belly...either way it is all good.

Lissa,
Having been a recent discoverer of the superfood quinoa, I love it! Most times I cook it with some low sodium chicken broth. While that is cooking, I heat up some olive oil and cook (is that sauteeing?) some red peppers, celery, or whatever is handy, and then add seasonings like chili powder, cumin, onion powder or flakes ( the real stuff doesn't agree with me) and garlic powder.
Then I mix it all and it quite a tasty and filling meal.
Alternatively, I will heat up some spaghetti sauce and mix that with the quinoa, adding some garlic and onion powders and mushrooms.
Its very filling and seems to be a good comfort food as the weather turns cooler.
(by the way, I have a wicked paper cut on one of my fingers and its bandaged. So typing is a backspace festival. If I missed something, sorry!)

We all LOVE Brussels sprouts. I do them two ways: (1) roasted with a little garlic oil, salt and pepper; (2) halved and steamed cut-side down in a tiny bit of water, then dressed with a knob of butter and a splash of balsamic. YUM!! If I can't find decent fresh veg, I'll get frozen. I grew up eating canned vegetables that were cooked til they were grey. Talk about GACK factor! The only canned veg I use are tomatoes, creamed corn (for corn fritters) and beans.

Sounds good, Rob.

Thinking back, I also used to gratin it sometimes. Possibly with some green beans. Cheese improves as many things as bacon does.

I suppose one could do quinoa with both cheese and bacon. Call it "quinoa a la trayf." Perhaps add a shrimp or two on top.

Canned beans are wonderful, but I don't think of them as a veg. To me, they are a protein.

I got the single serve Brussels sprouts and Hubby was making his own dinner the other night when I was too sick to make dinner much less eat anything.

His only complaint was that he had to microwave two "single serve" portions to get his regular size portion.

In my crack freezer, the vegetables always frost up once the bag is open.

El - I have that problem, too. Bring out your trusty Reynolds Handi-Vac and seal them up.

I grew up eating canned vegetables that were cooked til they were grey. Talk about GACK factor!

As did I. My mother was always afraid of Botulism or something. She'd put the canned veggies on to boil before she even started the meat.

I only leanred to actually love many veggies later in life and in their fresh form.

As a small, single-serving veg, sprouts make sense to me. As others have said, some like 'em, some don't. A single-serving size allows A to get his sprouts on while B can enjoy something else. Corn and Peas are much more popular, so B is quite likely to enjoy one of them as that something else.

What other less-popular veg would you make single servings of? I say beets. I just don't like beets, but I know others do.

It is beautiful but inefficient.

Hmmmph! I think I've worked with her.....

Crack is Whack!

Lissa, beans are not protein. Beans have a carb to protein ratio of 2.5-3 to 1. Leave it to you to dredge up a lot of anti-Pythagorean sentiment. Puppy hater.

Puppies don't taste right.

Beans, combined with the proper grains, can form a complete protein. Whether they have more carb than protein is irrelevant.

I really hate when the frozen peas all freeze together into a big block. :-(

Take the brick of peas, put it in a colander or sieve, and rinse in cool water. The ice melts away, the peas (or whichever) stay frozen, prepare as directed.

Link spam at 4:16 PM! (It's shilling freelance writing services from Ukraine, which likely accounts for the wretched syntax. Besides, EL already has the Sandbox.)

Spam at 4:16 pm.