Deep (and true, IMHO) thought from Garrison Keillor two weeks ago: "Pumpkin pie is the essence of mediocrity. The very best pumpkin pie you ever tasted is practically indistinguishable from the very worst pumpkin pie you ever tasted."

I happen to like pumpkin pie, but when I eat it I'm always conscious of the fact that I'm enjoying nostalgia, not food I love. Can you really say you've ever had a traditional pumpkin pie that knocked your socks off?

(I solve the problem by making a chiffon pumpkin pie with a gingersnap crust.)

If i were cooking Thanksgiving dinner and working this week, I'd be shopping for as much I could five days in advance, making the carrot souffle and freezing it (see earlier Thanksgiving menu), cooking the cranberry sauce and cutting the bread in cubes for the stuffing.

Instead I think I'll watch the episodes of "Flashforward," "The Good Wife" and "V" I've TiVoed.

I'm taking next week off to do something I haven't done in forever: Have a week off at home. There are chores to be done, and my daughter and I have a movie list a yard long; but I'll still have time to blog with the help of some virtual friends.

I'm going to try to make vegetarian meals while she's here next week, and I'm already fighting the urge to wake up one morning early and start making stuffing for a nonexistent turkey. ...

Robert of Cross Keys eats better than I do, and I'm the restaurant critic. Here's RoCK with a Free Market Friday guest post that's making me hungry. EL

This week the wife had a business lunch in Harbor East.  She decided to bring me along. I was already off for Veteran’s Day, and a downtown lunch beat my original plans for the day of watching reruns of The Golden Girls on Lifetime.

My normal weekday lunch routine is going to the American Legion in the burbs. (I should say that American Legions are great places to go for lunch.  Where else can you get soup, sandwich and a beer for $4?)  On this day, however, I went to Roy’s, where I got some Hawaiian with a touch of the Philippines and even a little bit of Baltimore.

One of the things I like about Roy’s is that there is some discretion over the menu that allows for the chef to add some unique items to be mixed in with the standard menu items.  At Roy’s Baltimore, the chef is from the Philippines; and you can see some of the culture in the menu....

My daughter and I stopped by the Crossroads Restaurant in the Radisson Cross Keys when she was visiting one weekend recently and had a bite to eat. (The not-so-great art is a camera phone photo by me.)

I was curious about it because I had gotten a press release about its new farm-to-table menu. ...

Don't miss Other Reviewer Richard's review today if you like interesting, small ethnic restaurants. It sounds like a real find.

The restaurant is Cazabe, a Dominican restaurant in Jessup. It must have been a good evening if Richard enjoyed it in spite of getting stuck in traffic for 2 1/2 hours getting there.

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

In other news, the Sun has a readers' cookie exchange going. 

And there's a new Taste Facebook page, not that it does me a lot of good because I can't FB.

Recently I got an e-mail from a reader:

I'm an aspiring bread baker trying to work up the courage to leave my office job and begin baking full time.  The Sun article on [Dale] Dugan from a few months back is taped on my wall as motivation; I will definitely apply for the position if he is still there.  

The article in question was an excellent column by Rob Kasper, which unfortunately doesn't seem to be online anymore, so I can't link to it.

[Update: Community Coordinator Carla has come up with a link to the story.]

Today I got the sad news that Dugan died this morning after a short battle with kidney cancer. He was 48. ...

I get so many e-mails like the following one, I need to come up with a Top 10 of every neighborhood and suburb.

Let's get started with Catonsville. My first choice is Catonsville Gourmet (seafood), followed by Jennings Cafe (pub), Pho #1 (Vietnamese), Wong Gai Bi (Korean) and Ships Cafe (seafood).

Any other nominations, specifically in the categories asked for below?

My father recently moved to Charlestown in Catonsville. I would like to take him out to a local restaurant but I am not familiar with the area. Could you please recommend a nice Italian, Fish, Am food, and Chinese restaurant in Catonsville. Thank you. ...

I'm finding out that fewer restaurants are open on Thanksgiving than I thought. If you want to eat out, you have my Top 10s to consider, or the traditional lavish buffet many hotels in the area are offering. But I freely admit these are expensive options.

NotableM, I hear you.

I also realized, reading the comments under my earlier post, that not everyone wants turkey on The Day. ...

Think RoCK's guest post on RA was controversial? How about this one from our Shallow Thought guru John Lindner? Here's John. EL

Note: there is no known connection between the Advanced Cat Yodeling video and the following Shallow Thought. My apologies to newcomers who haven’t learned to ignore the STW videos.
 
Food-related things I won’t say on my hospital death bed: ...

The package looks nice in the print edition. You don't get the same effect online -- and I don't usually praise print over Web. If you get a chance, take a look.

I also did my dining awards.  ...