You are not as smart as I gave you credit for being.

#BleuCheeseMakesEverythingBetter.

That was very uncouth.

#BlueCheeseCantEvenDecideOnAProperSpelling

#RanchGivesAngelsWings

Le fromage bleu est l'ambroisie des dieux.


#RanchMakesTheAngelsWeep

#SoisRanch

LOL

Sorry for T_witterizing this thread.

#MyWorkHereIsDone

Just say no to all white creamy salad dressings. They are totally nasty. Why would you cover up the taste of wings with anything? Enjoy the real food, without the extra junk on it!

<hates almost every white sauce on the planet.. why? no idea, they are nasty>

Give me Panera's French Onion Soup in a bread bowl and I am happy. I like some of their pastries. You can have the rest...

The image of pudgy suburbanites pouring Hidden Valley Ranch on iceberg lettuce made me sick to my stomach!

Since going out to eat isn't, in my opinion, something that should be done all the time, I don't mind wasting calories every now and then on one of those warm delicious bagels! (from a personal stand point...now once I open a restaurant I want people to go out to eat for every meal at my restaurant! $$$ :D)
We have discussed this in various classes (I'm a hotel, restaurant & institutional management major) and because for a majority of people, going out to eat is a special treat, you're not going to limit your calories on that one special night.

There's a lot of research to support the fact that almost nothing changes when you post calories.
I go to Panera for my potato soup in a bread bowl with a baguette on the side or my french toast bagel with fatty delicious cream cheese or mac n cheese and when the calories get posted in my Panera, I'm still going to want those things and most likely still going to buy those things.

Is there evidence that posting calories does change what people buy? Yes.
There is a complete toss-up right now on whether it will help or not.
Some people will buy into this, others will just get what they always get.

It still comes down to the same personal decision that you always make. Big Macs are high in calories but they still sell like crazy offered next to a salad.

I'm with you. I can eat small healthy meals at home, but when I'm spending a lot of money I want something GOOD. And that means taking the calorie hit.

For people who have little time and need to eat on the go though, posting calories could be a huge help.

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Haha I freaking love this thread! Yay yummy food!

Not me. I eat horribly when I go out, but it's so so good...I love things with lots of salt and fat. Kinda wish I just liked sweets and could eat some low fat brownies to be happy, but nope. I just try to do a better job at home...and it's mostly Lean Cuisines because I hate cooking, but at least that keeps the calories down and keeps me eating veggies. Once I have a bigger kitchen with a working dishwasher that will be different. But I know if I were on having to eat on the run day-to-day I would very much appreciate having those calories up there.

I agree with you that those issues have a lot to do with the lack of information on what is and isn't healthy.

I've missed you! XOXO:D

At the Renaissance Festival a couple weeks ago, they have chili in a CORNbread bowl. ZOMG...awesomesauce.

Panera - I'm going with whatever the featured low-cal salad is and a Mediterranean Veggie You Pick Two. However, I'm very tempted to try their chili and cornbread...has anyone had it?

FYI-they did a very slow roll out of the cards in my area. Apparently Cincinnati and Dayton had them months ago, and they became available in Columbus in the last month or so.

I'm also addicted to Panera's iced green tea. So wish I could replicate it at home.

In keeping with the paean to Panera's:

NPR: Panera Opens Second "Pay What You Can" Shop

According to The Detroit News, Panera learned from the Clayton [MO] shop that "20 percent of patrons give more than the suggested donation, 60 percent give about the same amount and 20 percent leave less." There are no cash registers; just donation boxes.

^^^That's interesting.

Needless to say, breadbowls are heaven... HOWEVER - I can't believe so many of you like Panera Mac and Cheese! I didn't think it was bad, but it was just okay for me. I'll stick with soups and sandwiches!

That's not too far from me! Very cool concept.

I actually thought of you when I posted it.


Like I said earlier, not for some of us. :p

I'm always surprised when people ooh and ahh over any kind of mac and cheese that's basically a cheese sauce poured onto pasta. I don't care how good the sause is, mac and cheese isn't worth getting excited about (or paying more for than a box of Kraft costs) unless it's made with a custard or a white sauce (and lots of cheese) and baked.

Cool.

I wish more businesses were VOLUNTARILY socially conscious, rather than the government forcing it the people.

I'll agree there. It has to be baked and i want lots of real cheese. I want the top crunchy.. mmmmmmm.

Darn you! Darn you all to heck! 6 pages of nothing but FOOD?????


I'm now starving, and the soup I had for lunch is NOT going to hold me over until dinner!!!!! Plus, I heart Panera (1/2 turkey artichoke, bowl of french onion with baguette and shortbread cookie, thank you very much).

The title of the thread has "breadbowls" in it. What did you think was going on in here? LOL

I guess I should mention the soup and 2 slices of pizza I'm having? :p

I thought it might have had something to do with smoking pot out of bread, and then eating the bread. :D;)

Interestingly enough, I know someone who has managed to do that. I'm not entirely sure how, but I watched it happen before I realized what was going on. At an outdoor concert, in the rain. I give them props for resourcefulness.

Lucy- if Panera sees a sudden upswing in bread bowl sales, it's all you. On his way home from work, my husband stopped at Panera & is getting me a bread bowl! I haven't had one for probably 5+ years.

As someone who went to UC Santa Cruz, I've heard/seen lots of stories related to this. I think someone told me about smoking out of a lemon...and another story about an apple, pretty sure.

Woo! So maybe I should go into marketing? :p

Sigh.... we had Panera for dinner tonight. But I only had soup, need to stockpile the calorie intake for tomorrow.

I admit it - I've never had a bread bowl. I could see how fattening they would have to be from the start, and realized that, if I never tried one, I wouldn't miss it.

But my macaroni & cheese has to be liked MysticCat's, or it's not worth it.

My thoughts on the mac n cheese is that there should be different names for the creamy kind and the baked kind. They just don't even compare to each other.

Example: One time, when I was little, we had a babysitter who was a senior in HS going into culinary school the next year. She made us velveeta shells for dinner and I remember saying to her that I had no idea how she was going to be a chef if she couldnt even make good mac n cheese.

I was raised on good baked mac n cheese from scratch. It is my favorite. I do enjoy the panera mac & cheese though as well as Wegman's mac n cheese. They are both delicious.

I must take back what I said. Where we had Thanksgiving dinner yesterday had mac and cheese that was pasta in a cheese sauce, but it was a blue cheese sauce. Out of this world amazing -- definitely worth getting excited about.

O.M.G. I want.

That bleu cheese sauce sounds wonderful!

Small anecdote: one of my first jobs was for a very blustery politician who had an older, nice but rather blowsy mistress. This was a time when women rarely ran for office, but did all of the scut work, and a few women from my office were invited to get together for a casual dinner at a very proper lady's home. I was chosen as one of the few.

It was a small group, and the first few of us showed up in casual skirts & sweaters, and made small talk. Last ones to arrive were the drunk mistress & sidekick - both in jeans. She offered a bottle of fine wine to the hostess, saying, "I always like a snort before dinner." From the smell of her, she had snorted quite a few!

We retired to the dining room, oohing and aahing over the china and Duncan Phyfe decor. After we were seated, our hostess brought out the most delicious macaroni and cheese casserole (remember, this was casual) and said, "Oops, forgot the spoon!" While she was in the kitchen, the mistress declared, "I would have thought a clasy broad like that would have served something better than macaroni & cheese!" of course, near the top of her lungs. It was all downhill from there.

The next day at work, I was called into the front office, and the mistress said to the politician boss, "Yeah, that broad thought she was all prim & proper, but we had our secret weapon - Honey!"

Why did I tell this story (and trust me, this is just part of that story!)? Because really good macaroni and cheese doesn't come out of a box, but is a delicious, occasionally dressed up casserole. It can be a meal in itself or a side dish, but it's one of the world's best comfort foods, even when you're discussing some incredibly stressful tactics!

Ok...I have to know...how were you the secret weapon?

On my very first day, I was told that I had to buy one of their flimsy white [politician's name] t-shirt. I just smiled and said that I'd buy the t-shirt, but could never possibly wear it in public (I'm top heavy). So, they called me "the classy broad", and I campaigned at teas and other places where flimsy white t-shirts weren't appropriate. Beat the heck out of slinging spaghetti!

My thoughts on bread bowls:

1) They remind me of high school. Our cafeteria food was delicious, so naturally the bread bowls were great as well. Anyways, everyone went CRAZY on bread bowl day. Seriously. People would be sprint to the cafeteria on bread bowl day. I remembered one day they were short on bread bowls so they had to ration them out between the lunch periods. Everyone was panicked! Girls would cut in line, get in fights, etc. It got ugly. Moral of the story: Don't ever stand between a hungry, PMSing, teenage Catholic school girl and her bread bowl.

2) My coworkers introduced me to the BEST soup place in the city (agzg, other Chicagoans and any visitors, I highly recommend you check them out). It's called Soupbox, (there's a few locations I think). Anyways, the soup is phenomenal! I haven't had a bread bowl yet, as they give bread on the size, but I'm gonna cave one day...soon.

3) Most everyone has judged me for saying this but the Domino's Pasta Bread Bowls look amazing. Yes, it's probably extremely high in calories...but I think they look delicious. Anyone ever have one?

So you made the mac and cheese?