Grogs Rules for Food (which can count as truisms)
#1 NO FOOD in my food. which means leave out the BERRIES NUTS and TWIGS
#2 tomatoes are the only fruit that should be cooked
#3 its Carolina-style for pulled pork, Texas for brisket, Memphis for chicken and Kansas City for ribs
#4 Ketchup is for potatoes, except for mashed or baked
#5 do NOT get between the fat man and the buffet table. (more of a safety tip than a rule)
#6 Cheese
#7 if youre eating at a restaurant, you can complain about any problems with your food &/or service, but NEVER EVER send YOUR FOOD back to the kitchen
#8 Arbys sucks ass
First, with #2, are you also talking about applesauce??? With a properly cooked pork chop (or roast, depending on how it's cooked) it can be great. Hell, even by itself.
100% behind the comment about store bought crust making a pie NOT home-made. That was done (by a family member) with an apple pie on Turkey Day... Crust was nasty and somehow the pie filling was like soup.

Worst pie EVER made at home. Can't call it 'home made' since it wasn't.
#4, applies to fried spuds, except for potato skins (if they are fried). Also, home made ketchup trumps the stuff in a bottle. Chili sauce is also far better than ketchup for almost everything.
Can't agree with #7. If I order something cooked to a level, and they miss it by more than a bit, it's going BACK. Luckily, I've only needed to send stuff back a couple of times. One was where the steak was actually COLD. Excuse me, I ordered medium rare, not medium rare and left sitting for 30 minutes. Plus, they didn't even trim it right (tenderloin and it had the silver skin still on it).
I did have a nice steak when on vacation (up to Bar Harbor, ME) that had a really nice red wine reduction sauce under it. Not poured all over it, but more a 'use as much as you like' deal. Damned fine eating there. Tactful use of a sauce can be a good thing. Bathing your food in it, no. Personally, I almost never use a gravy with meat/meals. I make gravy for turkey and beef that everyone raves about and lusts after, but I almost never use it. IMO, you shouldn't NEED to use it. If the food was cooked/prepared properly, it won't need it. If you want the flavors it brings to the meal, fine. Just don't bath everything with it.
Truism:
Everything is better with butter.
The only thing that is better than butter is BACON!!
CreamyGoodness said:
8) If you handle a hot pepper with your hands, DONT DO ANYTHING WITH YOUR HANDS OTHER THAN HANDLE THE HOT PEPPER!
IF you're smart, you'll wear latex gloves when cutting/handling hot peppers.

I keep a package of them in stock for such use, as well as a few others (not for THAT, keep your minds out of the gutter).