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@joyyy - the tahini commonly used in pita sandwiches with falafel should never be straight up. It's a tahini sauce, usually referred to as "tahini", which may be confusing. To make it, you simply blend together 1 part straight up tahini, one part water, salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and parsley. It should be slightly (pleasantly) tangy when it's ready (I like a bit more parsley, so it becomes greenish), with the consistency of pancake batter, more or less, perhaps just slightly thinner. It's absolutely fabulous even in a simple veggie wrap (my "spread" of choice, although I've been known to just enjoy a pita with tahini and nothing else), with meats, and, of course, with falafel. Do give it a try!

In the Middle East, it's often served with hummus, and at times, a bit of tahini may be poured right into the centre of a hummus bowl for dipping/"wiping" with pita bread. Both hummus and tahini (together) often used as condiments in various pita sandwiches.

@izatryt - ah, I see. Care to share the brown gravy recipe?

@carol - I think it's a good idea!

I make granola bars and various muffins for my OH (I work from home).

I'm not a heavy, chubby or overweight person by any means, I eat generally healthy and really, really, don't have any food or weight-related issues (never had, either, although I suppose I used to be underweight. I also used to hear "I hate you that you can eat this and stay so thin" from a colleague every time she saw me eating a croissant for breakfast. It wasn't pleasant) - but I reiterate, there are people out there who judge what and how much one orders when eating out with them, no matter how thin or heavy one may be.

You can't just say, "it's all in your head" - I have a very real example, and have I mentioned that the 'rack of lamb" story refuses to die a year and a half later? The woman who ordered it wasn't heavy, and wasn't ashamed of her choice, but I don't know if she'd ordered it had she known how many times it would be mentioned in the next 1.5 years! The only solution is just not to eat out with people like this...unless it's family and you simply can't get out of it.

Even better than a farmers' market - see if you can find a U-Pick farm in your area. Picking your own produce is rewarding on so many level, and is definitely good for your pocket.

Read weekly circulars, find larger ethnic markets (I find that smaller ones don't necessarily offer very good deals), buy in bulk/stock up on sale items - it actually may be wise to invest in a freezer, believe it or not. Plan your weekly menus, including "transformation of leftovers into another meal". And yes, like @huney said, definitely cut your own meats.

Check out this thread from several months ago.

Well done, Chiffy, congratulations!!!

Yeah, I probably wouldn't call it a "phobia" so much as a really strong aversion. BEETS. I'm not talking about the taste, as I can't even bring myself get them to my mouth. There are things I dislike but try from time to time, to see if I maybe now like them, however, beetroot will never cross my lips. Even if I have to starve to death.

That, and dried fruit. If I mistakenly eat something with a teeny-tiny piece of raisin or dried whatever in it, I spit it out as fast as I can. Still, it's probably not as bad as beets.

@mepolo - here goes:

4 egg yolks
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp minced garlic*
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt (about 1/8 tsp)
oil (I use either canola, or olive or hazelnut oil, depending on the flavour I want to get. Canola is the most neutral flavour-wise) - about 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups

*You can use more or less garlic, or not use it at all. Sometimes I also add smoked paprika and/or cumin, or fresh herbs, when I want to play with flavour and/or colour; this is just a "basic" recipe.

Blend together all ingredients except oil for about a minute (I use a blender for it, but you can use a food processor or even, I'd imagine, an immersion blender). With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the oil (slowly is the key here, don't "dump" it all in. I usually use my bottle with the drizzler, as I don't need to measure the oil at this point - after you make it the first time, you'll see what I mean).

Watch the mixture in the blender as you drizzle the oil in. Once you get the mayo (i.e., the mixture has formed a thick emulsion and looks like mayo), you'll see it. At this point, stop the blender and don't add any more oil (which is why, like I said, you don't really need a measuring cup for oil, rather a bottle with the drizzler:-)). Don't overprocess or it will "curdle" on you. The whole thing takes no more than a minute or two, I'd say.

It's incredibly easy, and my OH, who is not a big fan of mayo, is absolutely addicted to the stuff. This makes a rather big batch. Naturally, you can make less if you use fewer egg yolks.

I need to look through my notes, because I often make ketchup too, but I don't remember the quantities off the top of my head.

God knows how I ended up having two melon ballers - one really small, the other one is relatively large - but they are fantastic multitaskers! I use the larger one both for falafel and for meatballs, the smaller one when I make little meatballs for soup, and both of them for various biscuits/cookies. I don't even eat melons, ever, but I'd kiss the person who invented melon ballers:-).

And I agree with @Heart on all counts...

Korean.

I like to think I don't have bad kitchen habits...other than occasionally utilising the same water glass for a week, @hungrychristel:-)

But there are plenty of those that my OH has - if he unpacks the groceries (or unloads the dishwasher, for that matter), I can never find anything, so I'd rather just do it myself (and he gladly lets me). I always rearrange the dirty dishes in the dishwasher after he'd put them there - the man has no clue about efficiency, I swear!

And yes, he also has that thing when he leaves a plate or a bowl in the sink, and doesn't even pour water into it! Drives me mad, especially considering that I always clean as I go and never, ever leave anything in the sink even for 5 minutes (when I was little, my father used to ask, "who do you expect to wash this for you?", when I'd leave something in the sink. I reckon it stuck!)

Another bad habit of his - he leaves a little tiny teeny bit of, say, mustard in a jar/bottle, puts it in the fridge....and opens a new one! The other day, I found a total of five(!!!) empty bottles of spicy brown mustard in our fridge...just throw them away!

Ah, I just thought of one of my own - I taste raw meat, when I make a mixture for a meatloaf, or postickers, etc. I'm sure this will gross most of you out, but I've been doing this for ever, and it doesn't bother me one bit.

I also tend to find numerous ways of burning or cutting myself - does it count as a bad kitchen habit?