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When I have people over to my house and want to be a good host, I choose a few different styles of beer and wine and liquor to have available that I think will let virtually everyone choose something they'd enjoy. I don't worry about having every possible option available and I try not to presume what someone will or won't want. I'd say that the President should do similarly. Have a few types of beer available and then don't worry about it. I also think that everyone should stop looking to glean any information or larger commentary from someone's choice of beverage.

If it were me and I could only offer one beer to my guests, I'd choose a lager like Sam Adam's. In Charlottesville, VA where I live right now, I'd serve Starr Hill Amber Ale because it's delicious and locally made.

My favorite in this class is the Gibble's Cheese Puffy:
http://tinyurl.com/d45kmh

The problem is that the large bag is essentially a single serving because I can't stop, so I only purchase a bag if I'm prepared to eat the whole thing and that's a fairly rare occurrence.

As with most things, I think it comes down to quality of the item and how well it is prepared. A good quality potato whether fresh or frozen, good, clean (but perhaps not brand new directly out of the container) oil at the right temperature, frying the potatoes for the right length of time, salting/seasoning them quickly post-fry and getting to eat them pretty soon after they come out of the fryer are all really important to a good french fry experience, right?

I've had spectacular fries that were fresh and fried just once, fresh and fried twice, fresh and fried three times even and I've had spectacular fries that were frozen and chucked in the fryer straight from the freezer. They've been thick and thin and shoestring thin. They've been made from all sorts of different kinds of potatoes.

I do think that frozen fries allow for a far more consistent end product than using fresh potatoes.

@lemons: Remander found that it didn't take any longer to cook two.

I disagree, Ed. It sounds like this thing wouldn't have anything funky in it. And it would be hot and fresh. It wouldn't have to be all that amazing for me to still be ecstatic to find it as a choice in many circumstances (midnight check in at a hotel after a delayed flight, rest stop vending machine area on the middle of a long drive).

I guess part of where I'm coming from on it is that a bag of chips or a Snickers aren't so much objects of desire for me particularly anyway (just owing to personal food preferences). But for 3 minutes and $5 that pizza doesn't look so awful.

Guilt should have nothing to do with it.

Reason, though, should. If you can afford $15 plus tax and tip for the server for lunch but you can't afford $15 plus tax and tip for the server plus tip for the coat check person....then you couldn't afford $15 plus tax and tip for the server for lunch to begin with.

These aren't the kinds of savings that are reasonable to look for or budget for. They're "$40 a Day" kinds of savings. The way you save "in these times" or deal with the "uncertain economic climate" is to go out less. When you do go out, go and do the normal things which while they need not include every extravagance, should include _your_ normal things. If you'd normally check your coat, check it. If you'd normally valet your car, valet it. Just do what you normally do.

Wait...The waffles I get, I guess but pre-cooked bacon (same bacon, just already cooked) and egg beaters weren't OK while peanut butter crackers were?

This is the sort of stuff that makes no sense to me. Just because it happens to be in some sort of package or was processed on some level (because everything is) doesn't mean it will kill you.

@fuuchan, we've been eating different mochi ice cream. The stuff we get from an Asian market near us is wonderful. The ice cream (we get green tea or strawberry) is creamy and rich and the mochi is chewy with a nice flavor of sweet rice but dissolves pretty nicely as you chew it.

As I'm thinking about it, though, I have had what you describe at a few restaurants and you're right, it's a sad ice cream experience.

Good luck with the dinner, OP. The advice about hand rolls is a great thought; low stress, fun and you can laugh at any "mistakes" which when you're assembling your own sushi with your SO don't really exist.

I don't like M&M cookies, so I'd go for the chocolate chip cookies. Especially if the chocolate chip are store bakery (which are often not nearly as bad as pre-packaged cookies). Most of the straight ahead types of cookies I've had from in-store bakeries tend to be pretty good.

You wrote, "...having seen so many recipes that call for (and adore) the stuff, I assumed on times #1 and 2 that I or the pastry chef had done something wrong. But after meal #3, I have come to the conclusion that it may not be me."

The logic here kind of baffles me. The first part of that shows that a great many people love the stuff (and are willing to pay a fair amount to get it). It's completely reasonable not to like something, and it's not _just_ you (I'm sure there are other people who don't like it) but in the specific, yeah, it's you.

@Cassendra: Fried rice denigrates the rice? What?

I eat rice almost daily. I get the 5 or 10 pound bags of Jasmine rice from our local Asian market. As I love the flavor of Jasmine rice, I often eat it plain or stick it into the rice cooker for a long time and turn it into congee. A bit of soy and some chili sauce or other (we have 4 or 5 different jars at the moment with various combinations of chilis and garlic) and breakfast is ready to go. Soft scrambled eggs on rice is a good option for any meal.

We just moved into our new house about 6 months ago. We went with a brand new smooth top electric range for many reasons and I was sure I would hate it after having finally had a gas range in our previous rental for a couple of years. Honestly, it doesn't make nearly the difference I thought it would. The heating elements are far more responsive than older electric ranges. Pans pre-heat in more or less the same time as they did with my gas range. They do, obviously, take longer to cool down when you drop the heat but that probably took about a week to learn how to anticipate that and adjust when I hit the knob accordingly. The only thing I think one would want to make sure of is to have enough space next to the range to have a large trivet so that if you want to take a pot or pan off the heat entirely (and you have pots on the other burners) you can move it to the trivet.

Gas ranges (generally speaking, clearly some folks will have their own experiences that don't fit this) will make things in your kitchen a bit stickier. The burning of the gas gives off water vapor that will mingle with the fats from whatever you're cooking and that combination will carry higher and further in your kitchen than the fats alone would from an electric range. That ends up sticking to the vertical surfaces of cabinets and such and attracting dust. Not a deal killer for me, but maybe something to keep in mind.

Another significant issue with gas ranges is that they can pose some indoor air quality concerns. Finding one that has a pilotless ignition helps because you won't have constant combustion from the pilot light. Making sure you have a sufficient and well functioning hood ducted to the outside is also really important.