I really want to try a Bread Fruit - someone at my office had one the other day and it looked really interesting...I can't find them anywhere though.

I would love to try more exotic fruits- there are a ton of them out there which I think most of us don't even know about..custard apples, starfruits, rollinia, pomello, mangosteens, etc. I can't find anywhere that has more than a few of these- so if anyone knows of someplace to try let me know!

I had hotdogs last night. Yup. Two huge hotdogs- and you know what? Hotdogs really don't taste as good when they aren't grilled...boiling them just doesn't cut it and grilling them on a pan doesn't seem to do them justice. I also felt a little sick afterwards...

So I didn't make anything...well I can't be expected to every night, right??

Might make a steak tonight...hmmmm. I need to stop at costco again- the last time we were there I swear I spent like $400, but our freezer was so full it was a little ridiculous - and we ate like kings for a few months!

One great tip- buy one of those huge, uncut,whole fillets or large stip steak packages. You'll know them when you see them- they will look like giant slabs of meat. They will most likely be over $100 as well! Don't let the price scare you though- since these are uncut and costco has good deals, you really end up paying less than half per pound than what you would be paying at the supermarket. One strip steak slab I bought I cut up into 18 steaks - it lasted me a couple of months and ended up being much cheaper than if I had bought the steaks at the store (which i probably wouldn't have done since a good steak is ridicoulous - like $20/lb!). I could have made it last longer if I weren't such a pig and didn't eat such huge portions ;)

Anyway- once you get your fillet, strip, or whatever, get it home and put it in the freezer for 30 mins or so- just to get it firmed up. Don't freeze it! You can't freeze things after defrosting them (the cellular walls of meats, etc get broken down and they turn into gross mushy things).

Once the meat is firm, bring it to the sink and unwrap it- then rinse the meat off. Take a sharp carving knife and slice the slab into steaks anywhere from 1.5" to 3" (for fillet), depending on your preference. I would get a ruler and use it to guide your cutting, it really makes a huge difference.

Make sure you remove as much fat as you can. Also, there will be membranes of tendon, or whatever on the steaks- you will be able to tell by the fact that they are thin, translucent, and tough- and run the length of the steaks. Remove these! Unlike fat, which cooks off - these will stay tough and chewy. Take a sharp paring or fillet knife and run it underneath the membrane- all down the length of it- they should remove in large pieces and without much effort. Try not to take meat with them!

If you get to an end piece that you don't think its worth cutting further, you can do a number of things. You can 'butterfly' the piece, slightly cutting almost entirely through the center of the piece, and folding it over so you have two halves of steak the thickness you want (sounds confusing, but just look up 'butterflying' online- its really easy). Or you can just cook the end piece like on long, thinner steak!

If you have a lot of scraps, even fatty scraps - save them! I love cut them up into 1-2" cubes and then marinate them in a ziplock bag w/ good balsamic vinagear, some kosher salt, and ground pepper. Cook these like shish kabob, over an extreamly flaming hot grill - charcoal preferred, but gas OK too. Cook only for a couple of mins - depending on if they just came out of thr fridge or not. You should get nice, rare, slightly charred pieces of amazing steak!

You can also save these, then make cheesesteaks w/ them! Just roll flat with a rolling pin, chop up into small pieces, and then sear over high heat in a frying pan! Get some crusty french bread, and whatever cheese you like - cheese wiz or american is my choice. I also like mine 'wit' - with onions, and to do this just 'sweat' your chopped onion over med-low heat for around 10 mins, or until they start to get translucent, but are not getting browned.

Thats it! You will be eating like a king for months without breaking the bank! A little more work than buying from the buther, but worth it, in my opinion.

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I get many of my ideas from the cooking magazine Cooks Illustrated (which I make reference to below) and from Alton Brown on the Food Network. Alton's show, Good Eats, is really something to watch - especially if you enjoy knowing why things turn out they way they do, not just how. Knowing the science behind the cooking will really help you to create your own meals- and make things much more fun for you (it's also cool impressing your friends with your vast knowledge of foodie chemistry...or not). I live by Alton's book, 'I'm just here for the food', and have his first season on DVD as well. I also plan on getting his guide to kitchen gear, since I am always impressed by how efficient he is and I want my kitchen to be like his. His show is a little cheesey, but I like it like that- and you will learn more about cooking from him than anywhere else. He actually teaches you how to cook, not just what to cook!