I made the grave mistake of ordering Pizza Hut online once, about eight months ago. I had a craving, I read about the online ordering, and I went for it.

...Big mistake. First, it was way too expensive. Second, I happen to live in one of those delivery netherworlds - between the boundaries of one delivery area and another - where the delivery dude refuses to visit. This, however, was not made clear to me on the website - I was easily able to enter my address, and the system informed me that my food would arrive shortly.

Two hours later, no pizza. I wearily called up my local Pizza Hut branch, and a pissed-off sounding teen answered. "...Yea? Pizza Hut?"

"Um...I ordered online, and it still hasn't arrived. Do you happen to know...?"

"Oh. Yea," she said, snapping her gum. "We don't deliver there." (This, mind you, was about .75 miles away). "You can come pick it up."

...And then the e-mailing began.

About a year and a half ago, I posted about the work of photographer Michael Harlan Turkell, particularly his Back of the House Project, a great series of 25 very candid black and white photos of restaurants and their staff. Turkell recently dropped Slashfood a line, pointing out his photo blog, as well as what appears to be a new photo series called "mise en place". It had been a while since I checked Turkell's site, so the blog was news to me. It appears he's also been commissioned by New York City restaurant blog Eater to photograph the subjects of their "Gatekeepers" series, which profiles "the very folks that stand between you and some of your favorite impossible-to-get-tables." If you've ever worked in the restaurant industry, or if you're just a lover of food, dining and photography, do yourself a favor and check out Turkell's website as well as his blog.

Pumpkin season is coming up and without getting in to GMO pumpkins and the nutritional value of ice cream, let's get imaginative and make some pumpkin ice cream, served in a creative way.

• You'll need an ice cream maker (there are even ball shaped models that can be kicked around at partie, though I have never tried one) and a good pumpkin grown for its meat, rather than just its appearance.

• This can be a family endeavor-- messy. In this typical ice cream recipe I would add two cups of good and mashed pumpkin meat. Not too stringy. Make the ice cream and then serve it the carved out pumpkin, lid and all.

I posted about McDonald's Talk, a LiveJournal community of McD's employees, back in March, but I hadn't looked at it lately. Fast Food News recently posted an excerpt from a list of "things not to do when visiting a mcdonalds" created by McDonald's employee in Louisiana and recently posted on McDonald's Talk. Perhaps my favorite of the nearly 50 subtle suggestions is: "Does this look like Toys-R-Us? Who cares if your kid's got 10 of the same toy already. That's telling me you don't feed them at home enough!" Some commenters to the original LJ post even included links to their own lists of McDon'ts, like this one.

When we were talking about how much we tip in restaurants last week, some people expressed a bit of consternation over having to do math right after eating to come up with the tip. A Tip Table, which denotes what 15% and 20% are of various dollar amounts, makes tipping easier because it eliminates the need to think about how much to leave.

I will note, however, that the Tip Table is not without problems. For example, though the range it gives will certainly cover many meals and it's not too difficult to combine various amounts to reach higher totals, is it really necessary to say that 20% of $1 is 20¢? And is it even appropriate to leave such a small tip - regardless of the percentage - in all instances?

I agree with the commenters in the previous post who said that tipping rules are not hard and fast - especially when you want to be generous. And the Tip Table, practical as it may seem, cannot take exceptions into account. Leave more than 20% when you sit sipping your $1 coffee for an hour and reward outstanding service in general.

There are some restaurants that you just don't go to. Maybe you don't go to them because they're further than you'd like to drive, but – admit it – there are some in your neighborhood, like the restaurant a few blocks away that you have just never been to. It just isn't in your list of possibilities. You might not be able to say anything bad about it, but you don't want to go there, either.

I have a restaurant like this near me. Actually, it's one neighborhood over from mine, a branch of a chain of Mexican restaurants that I happen to like quite a lot. A big part of the reason I like the chain is that the one in my neighborhood had a great chef and was one of its original restaurants. The reason I'm saying "was" is that the restaurant's lease recently expired and, due to a huge spike in the rent, they opted not to renew it. Twenty plus years of good Mexican food and memories – gone.

When I discovered that the place had shut its doors, I was actually standing just outside of them. After I read the notice announcing their closure, as well as the notice announcing the grand opening of its replacement, I decided that I might as well head to the chain's other location. I still wanted Mexican food and my options were limited.

How bad could it be, I thought. I'm sure that the only reason I don't go there is because the parking is lousy.

It's a constant battle for celebrities to stay fit and look good on camera, and in Hollywood, even non-celebrities feel pressured to slim down. Some celebrities take their dieting too far, but others, like Janet Jackson, have lost weight and stayed healthy with the help of Fresh Dining.

The company offers prepared gourmet meals that are delivered straight to your door (before 6 am) in the Los Angeles area. Their menu is based around a plan of lean proteins, fresh fruits, vegetables, good fats, and low glycemic carbs, and an all organic option is available as well. Each day includes three meals, a snack and dessert and a total of 1000 to 1400 calories. A sample menu includes cranberry and walnut oatmeal, Chinese chicken salad, grilled filet mignon with chipotle butter and veggies, shrimp cocktail (as a snack) and blueberry crumble for dessert.

The LA Times described it as "as fabulous as anything you'll have in pricey restaurants" and their other press has been equally glowing. With prices that start around $40 a day, it isn't something that has to be limited to celebs, either.

With very few exceptions, I have never had a problem getting a reservation at a restaurant that I wanted to eat at. Holidays like Valentine's Day can pose their own problems, of course, but I am speaking of an ordinary night out. If I have not been able to get a reservation, I go somewhere else. If the restaurant is closing when I walk in, I go somewhere else. Some people don't want to go somewhere else, though, and either bribe the hostess or outright lie to get in. They have fake reservations. A fake reservation is what some diners use to get into restaurants that are full or closing, knowing that most restaurants will not question their claim. But here's something they may not know: they're not fooling anyone. The restaurant knows that you're faking.

No matter how much you want to eat at a restaurant, it's not going to be as satisfying if you're faking. Service will be slower because the staff is slammed. The staff will be annoyed that they have to hang around for hours after closing. You'll get annoyed because your waiter is brusque, or not all the specials are available. Try using OpenTable.com to make your reservation based on existing availability. This way you won't have to fake it.