Jonathon Safran Foer Rule of Thumb

Thanksgiving is the meal we aspire for other meals to resemble, and the Thanksgiving table is not a sanctuary from the world but a representation of our best hopes for it ... Of the thousand or so meals we eat each year, Thanksgiving dinner is the one that we try most earnestly to get right ... It holds the hope of being a good meal whose ingredients, efforts, settings, and consumption are expressions of the best in us.

Ethan Becker Rule of Thumb

Dessert menus suffer from a lack of fruit desserts, and a good strawberry Bavarian.

Jim Jindrick Rule of Thumb

Red wine with red food, white wine with white food, sweet wines with dessert ... of course, there are always exceptions, but for the most part, these guidelines usually work.

Roger Tappen Rule of Thumb

Simple sauces with highly flavored entrees ... more complex sauces with more natural flavored entrees.

Anatole France Rule of Thumb

Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.

John Colenback Rule of Thumb

To calculate what TV screen size you need, estimate your main viewing distance to the screen and then divide by 2 to get the optimal diagonal width of your screen for viewing ... for example, if you are sitting 8 feet away from your screen, you want a screen with a diagonal width of about 4 feet (or 48 inches – round that up to a 50” display).

William Smith Jr. Rule of Thumb

In determining the right size chess board square, take the diameter of the king base, and add ¼” to it.

Plaxico Burress Rule of Thumb

If you think you might need a gun at a certain establishment, maybe don't go there.

Dublin Pub Rule of Thumb

If it is so crowded you can barely squeeze through the door, it is probably OK.

Jay Rayner Rule of Thumb

If, at the bottom of a pub chalkboard menu, you see the words 'some dishes may contain nuts' - run away ... it means the food wasn't prepared there and they don't know what's in it.

Robert Noel Rule of Thumb

Aromatic food pairs well with aromatic wines.

Martha Stewart Rule of Thumb

The more conservative the host, the longer the length of the dress.

Bill Finley Rule of Thumb

In horse racing, the favorites win about 30% of the time.

Mari Stull Rule of Thumb

If a wine says "Serve well chilled" on the back label, it's a crummy wine.

Juliet Chung Rule of Thumb

For a good wine value in restaurants, go for lesser-known regions and varietals.

Neil Pendock Rule of Thumb

The quality of the wine is inversely proportional to the ferocity of the beast depicted on its label.