I can't think of a smell worse than sea cucumber. I cant eat breakfast now that I even read that!
one thing I will never make in my house is scrapple, saw it being made at the carroll county farm museum during a festival some years back (hope it wasn't the wine fest). i'm sure there are plenty who love it, I just can't do it! by the way, the MD wine fest is coming up sept 19 - 20 and I will be selling cigar as I have for years there, silently donating a portion to the boys and girls club of carroll county so stop by if you will be there!

My mother always had margarine in our fridge. We only served butter when my grandfather was coming to dinner.

Scrapple--gack! I am not fond of tripe either.

Almost anything thant Anthony Bourdain eats when out of the continental United States. I have some pretty daring friends but I'm just not up to telling them, "Here, try the fricaseed iguana tongue" or "You'll never taste better creamed Venus Fly Trap."

My DW still won't allow Hot Dog Burritos to be served anytime.

Like Dahlink, I grew up in a household in which margarine was the spread of choice. I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've bought margarine for home consumption since I moved out.

In 2001, Chef Jacques Haeringer of L'Auberge Chez François had a short-lived PBS cooking show, Two for Tonight, which was taped in front of a studio audience. Each episode would inevitably include the following call-and-response, which I never failed to enjoy:

Chef: What's wrong with butter?
Audience: NOTHING!

More often than not I have a package of RAPA Scrapple in my house.

Now, I'll never serve any other scrapple, such as those nasty Amish scrapples I've picked up on trips to PA.

I'm with RoCK on scrapple. I never order scrapple in Lancaster County. Rapa, on the other hand, is very tasty when sliced and fried crispy!

I love scrapple. No margarine will ever cross my doorjamb. No crisco, either.

There are a lot of things I eat that I wouldn't serve to guests, mainly because I don't think most people eat like I do.

Oceanaire does a nice creamed corn.

But, number one on my list of things I think it highly unlikely I'd ever serve for Thanksgiving (or any other meal) is hákarl.

Rapa Rocks!

So does Spam!

Margarine however is used in the house. So is butter.

What will never find a spot in my home kitchen... liver. I used to love it as a child. Seriously love the stuff. Now I am not sure if I cold stomach a forkful. In that regard, no organ meats. GAHHHHH!

So glad I did not read the blog till after my cinnamon roll and coffee. I've been looking forward to indulging in the two for a week.

I've never bought margarine; however, I understand that if one is making hotwings that margarine works better than butter. Of course, I've never made hot wings.

We're eating a lot of the olive oil based spread now. No butter in the house.

No-no foods:
Pig's feet
Shad roe
Eggplant served any style

I would serve whatever foods that I know my guests would enjoy.
We use Land O lakes sweet cream in my home.

I will never serve "Liver", i eat nothing intestinal, smeels marvelous but taste "yuck".

Bring you own liver

Canola Oil only, Don't believe the hype about "Oliver Oil" it not the best for you

Lets see, I have salted and unsalted butter, always used for cooking and baking, and a particular brand of margarine made with yogurt for spreading on my breakfast rolls. Cooking and salad oils depend on the recipe, but I keep "regular" and extra-virgin olive oil, "regular" and fragrant peanut oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, canola oil, light and dark sesame oil, safflower oil, hot chili oil, and a mix of vegetable and canola oil. When I was (much) younger I used to keep a gallon jug of Wesson Oil for parties.

No organ meats for me either, GACK.

I've been using the Promise spread.

If I invite Cleatus to dinner I'll have to be sure not to serve any of our favorite eggplant preparations or my famous shad roe with bacon. I'm with him on the pigs feet, though.

Just curious, RiE--why would a party require a gallon of Wesson Oil?

RiE

We used to use Mazola for our parties.

why would a party require a gallon of Wesson Oil?

I don't know, but I would certainly like to score an invite to find out.

I would never serve flavored Jones Soda for thanksgiving!

In homes with carpeted floors, it's nearly impossible to get a beer slide going with beer. But a gallon of Wesson oil, even on shag, makes for pretty sweet sliding. And frankly, if it's berber, I'd recommend two gallons. You can get a heck of a burn if you hit an unlubricated patch.

Dahlink, you really don't want to go there.

Weren't you in engineering, RiE? I guess you probably had to deal with a lot of oil over the course of your career.

jl, you didn't use rubber sheets?

Okra. Ick. Has NO place in our home.

Butter, not margarine. Cut with olive oil for sauteeing, it's wonderful.

I don't eat bologna or hot dogs but the poor long-suffering husband likes them so they are allowed in a few times a year.

Dahlink and all - made me laugh out loud cause I thought the same thing about the gallon of Wesson.

That's the line from "Last Tango in Paris" isn't it, when he tells her to "Go get the Mazola."

Miss Camille, not only was in engineering, but for the government. I spent the last 24 years of my career in Quality Assurance, making sure the contractors actually delivered what they promised. You can bet I got served a lot of snake oil.

The parties I used to attend needed multiple containers of crisco.

NEPA, I'm with you on the Jones soda. I still haven't recovered from tasting every bottle in the Jones Thanksgiving pack about 7 years ago. Nightmare material, there.

RiE, I am in awe of your oil collection.

The parties I used to attend needed multiple containers of crisco.

With all the bans on trans-fats, a party like this would now have to be held in a speakeasy.

On the wrong track, RoCK.

I'm not sure crisco is food, anyway. It probably doesn't count here.

I make delicious biscuits with Crisco as the shorting.

I also use Crisco to fry fish. I like it because it doesn't leave a taste of it's own behind, you just taste the fish.

Scrapple is delicious, hard to find where I live (Pocono's). When we lived in Maryland we always bought Parks, or we would get it made fresh, usually in the fall, from our butcher in Hampstead.

This admission will cost me any foodie cred I may have, but my three absolute never-serve, never-eats are lamb, goat cheese and beets. Can't stand any of them.

Margarine is actually quite useful as long as you understand that it is not butter and is not a substitute for butter. Check out Paul Prudhomme's first cookbook.

The only reason I can think of to use a gallon of Wesson oil would be for frying a turkey.

I like organ meat and I'm a Crisco believer (The Monkees even did a song about it!), love lamb, goat cheese, beets,fois gras, eggplant and just about any food that's crossed my plate except KRAB. yuk.

And, it's ALWAYs real butter never tub-o-butter, and always Olive Oil.

BTW, Lissa, it probably won't surprise you to learn that my child still (as far as I know) has a 6 pack of that Jones Soda Thanksgiving dinner around here someplace!

I have mixed feelings about Crisco shortening. I know the stuff isn't good for me, but it performs really well in pastry. Butter isn't an adequate substitute, and good lard (like Lissa uses) is more work to obtain than I seem to be willing to do (supermarket hydrogenated lard is crappy stuff).

I don't make pastry very often, so I probably wouldn't be shortening our lives much by using Crisco. But who knows...

shortening our lives much by using Crisco.

Very slick, Hal.

more work to obtain than I seem willing to do...

This from the man who possesses a lifetime supply of saltpeter.

Misha, hate to break it to you but scrapple contains organ meats, look on your package of Rapa. I'm surprised all these regulars hadn't informed you yet!!

Very impressive memory, Laura Lee. :-)

A lifetime supply of saltpeter is much more compact and much easier to store than a lifetime supply of lard.

I don't think I could fit a lifetime supply of lard in my house.

I do need to do some rendering soon. I've been going through a good bit of lard trying to get my crust edible (tonight's attempt is quite good, actually).

MDtopdad, I didn't want to discourage Misha from eating the modern wonder that is scrapple. Delicious stuff.

Here's what I'm not serving in my house anymore: boneless, skinless, tasteless chicken breasts. If I'm making chicken, it'll be the entire bird, roasted whole or cut up in pieces, but with the skin on to preserve the juices and the bone in to keep the flavor intact. And the dark meat is where the flavor is.

I'm with you, Laura Lee. A whole roast chicken is one of my go-to company meals, because it is easy, economical and tastes really, really good. I make stock from the bones for an additional free meal or more.

But, boneless, skinless chicken breasts are as attractive and tasty as a styrofoam cooler.

I recently marinated (overnight) a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a concoction of hoisin, plum and worchestershire sauce plus a bit of olive oil, a smaller bit of balsamic vinegar, and a few drops of whatever hot sauces were in my refrigerator. Flash-fried them, then turned the heat down until they were done. They were delicious!

Back to EL's question:

I won't serve a guest (or have in my house):

1. lamb
2. veal
3. organs

The first 2 are because I don't like the idea of eating baby animals. I'm not trying to start a blog-fight here! Just a personal opinion. I actually don't like the taste of lamb, but I love the taste of veal so that one, at least, is a bit of a sacrifice.

As for the third, I loved fried chicken gizzards when I was a kid but when I realized gizzard = organ ... no.

I'll probably regret asking this, but Hal--why the saltpeter? Is it to cancel out the need for the oil?

Count me as one who is not terribly fond of lamb. I blame Sunday dinners with an overcooked leg of lamb served with mint jelly at my Grandmother's house. Lamb served just done with a lot of garlic and herbs is a whole different dish, and one worth considering.

why the saltpeter? Is it to cancel out the need for the oil?

Good one, Dahlink! :-)

I'm with the anti-liver gang, the reason my wife indulges her craving for liver and onions only when we dine out. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoy that Jewish deli specialty, a chopped liver sandwich (based on my grandmother's recipe which legend has it was first handed down from mother to daughter some time in the 14th Century.)

Things I'll never serve

1 Bluefish

2 Eggplant

3 Organs except calf and
chicken livers

Am I the only person here who has seen the lights, eaten them and loves them?

I'm with folks on eggplant, though.

How are you making fried chicken without Crisco? It's like those crazy people that steam crabs without Old Bay....it's just not right!!
Or as my great grandmother would say, "It's just not fittin'"

B--f S--------f. Was there any doubt?

I did break down this weekend and buy red quinoa, but hurriedly shoved it behind the canned goods in the laundry room until I muster the courage to cook with it (let alone eat it).

YumPo, you really are fixing to make me cook beef stroganof for you, aren't you?

Would it help if I waited until St. Patrick's Day, and dyed it green?

YumPo,
Congrats on buying the quinoa! Eating quinoa plain would be nasty, I agree. There's lots of ways to doctor it up.

Lissa, green? More than my gag reflex just kicked in. Much obliged.

PCB Rob, anything you can recommend to doctor that stuff up would be appreciated. I thought red would be more friendly-like than the greige-y-colored.

Lissa, you've eaten lights?

Nothing you've eaten would surprise me.

How do you think I got through college, Laura Lee?

"Lights" is an old word for innards, organs, etc. You know, the tasty stuff that goes in scrapple.

I guess it more archaic than I thought.

offal?

Yep.

I thought "lights" referred specifically to lungs....

Ah, you see I do learn something new from you Lissa, almost every day. Well, lungs, offal, or organ meat, it all sounds more appetizing than munching on General Electric incandescent light bulbs.

Lissa, you obviously haven't eaten my husband's grilled eggplant with lemon and capers.

Bank Street, all the stuff I'm finding online says lights are only lungs, but I could swear I've seen it used in a broader sense.

To the tie-breaker...well, the OED agrees with you. My apologies. Lights are apparently only lungs, which I haven't had the pleasure of eating yet.

Dahlink, why on earth would your husband be feeding me?

Dahlink - Yummmmmm. That sounds delicious. When's dinner.

Because he's a nice guy, Lissa.

That may well be, Dahlink, but we haven't been introduced.

I'll stipulate that his eggplant thing is excellent, and that I'm broken for not enjoying eggplant.

"Lets see, I have salted and unsalted butter, always used for cooking and baking, and a particular brand of margarine made with yogurt for spreading on my breakfast rolls. Cooking and salad oils depend on the recipe, but I keep "regular" and extra-virgin olive oil, "regular" and fragrant peanut oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, canola oil, light and dark sesame oil, safflower oil, hot chili oil, and a mix of vegetable and canola oil."

RIE: I hope you're taking your coated baby aspirin every morning.

So, who wants to take a field trip to the butcher aisle at the H-Mart?

I'm in, El Gener. Only place I know to buy pig's blood, which I need for Rokeg Blood Pie.

As a long-time fancier of offal, I must state some limits: brains are too mushy and look too much like, well, brains. Lights/lungs don't appeal ...but I'd be willing to try 'em. My chef brother-in-law is known for his sweetbreads, but I wasn't impressed. Now...liver and tongue...mmmmmmmm. And, as to scrapple, it is an acquired taste -- one that i acquired years ago....yum!