Pouncy

Frugal Gourmet's Immigrant Ancestors and Three Ancient Cuisines. Charcuterie, Cooking By Hand, La Methode.

I use Neela Paniz' "The Bombay Cafe" to great results.

I keep thinking about Bartles & Jaymes, calamari, and Oatmeal Swirlers.

Mmm, now I want to walk to the store for onigiri! I don't read Japanese, so it's always a crapshoot, but the 7-11 closest to me has little English notes written on their onigiri rack. My favourites are tuna with mayo, a salty kind of small fish egg, and salmon. Though I do miss Spam musubi. That's some tasty stuff!

I'm quite fond of the Daiei supermarket on the waterfont here in Yokosuka. I'll get a little box of tonkatsu, some noodle salad stuff, and an onigiri for later, along with a Coke. I'm surprised at how well the fried items in stores here hold up for transport home - I've usually at least a 30 minute walk home, and they don't get soft!

I love online menus. We take *forever* to decide, and an online menu lets us strategize over e-mail while at work and not blow the first 45 minutes debating while wasting out night and hogging the table. That and throwing rock-paper-scissors looks so retarded at nice places.

Oh, that's useful. I'm moving to Yokosuka at the end of the year, so I'll be sure to pick that up.

I tried it, and I kinda liked it, but in a very middle school way, and I'm very glad I hadn't had breakfast that day. I also like silly amounts of salt on my food (low blood pressure). I might get it again when my husband is out of town and I watch 80's cartoons on DVD. My inner white trash adolescent adored the mixture.

I like Pepsi One.

I pretty much eat udon and soba for lunch at work. The udon I buy in refigreated packs and cook in the microwave at work with frozen chopped veggies, adding a healthy shot of soy sauce with whatever flavour packet it has. Our favorite at the noodle shop down the street is nabeyaki udon. The soba I like to eat cold, tossed with Thai peanut sauce and steamed broccoli. I'm looking forward to trying all these noodle variations when we make it to Japan at the end of the year!

My husband loved the habanero rings, but we can't find them anymore. He's a consistent BBQ Ozack fan, and I'm addicted to Jagarico sticks. So. Tasty.

1. Rocco. 2. Lack of decently priced good seafood in San Diego 3. Can't afford some of the cookbooks I want. 4. Apartment kitchen. 'Nuff said. 5. That Semi-Homemade crap on Food Network. It actually made my mom buy Cheez Whiz. And send me a recipe. 6. Justice League Macaroni and Cheese isn't being made anymore.

I love Star of the Sea - the flavors are consistently bright and well thought out and the service is great. The bar leaves a little to be desired but the wine and coffee services were great. They even have some local beers on tap! Bertrand at Mister A's is darn good as well, with a fantabulous view. The foie gras is the best I've ever had. The time my husband and I went to the Sky Room we had a great time and the food was marvelous. Expensive, yes...but we were going for a fancy dinner. Honestly, I'm tired of the consistent declaration that San Diego doesn't have good food. It does. Maybe not the world's greatest, but immensely enjoyable all the same.

While perhaps there aren't any "truly great" restaurants in San Diego, I think there are quite a few truly likeable ones. My foodgasms have for the most part all been in San Diego. Star of the Sea, Bertrand at Mr. A's, Blue Point, the taco shops...there's some good food in this town.

My man is a great cook, however I cook more. He does decadent steaks and grilled stuff, but I have the edge in most everything else and am usually the one to try new recipes and tweak them for him.

However, how productive is it to beat it around even more now that he's passed on? He did good and bad. Let's keep the good and let the bad fade.

I grew up watching the Frugal Gourmet with my dad - it's what I believe started me out as a foodie. When I moved out to go to college, I went down to Pike Place Market and picked up a few of his books in paperback - they were heavy reading for me even as a kid. I love the sense of community, story, and history that goes into his books and anecdotes. My husband keeps asking why everytime we get out the wok I say "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick!". I credit Jeff Smith with making me curious about different foods, and different cultures, and his excellent show for being a centerpoint of some serious father-daughter quality time in my house. When my dad deployed with the Navy, I would turn on the Frugal Gourmet and it was like I was watching it with my dad and we were deciding what to make for dinner. For that, I will always have fond memories of his show. I would love nothing better than to have his shows on DVD or on the graveyard rotation on PBS or Food Network, but sadly I don't think it will ever happen. I never would have tried variety cuts if it hadn't been for him, or been such a garlic fan. He gave me my first stock recipe, my kale soup recipe (which makes my husband homesick for New Bedford), and made me want to search out farmers markets. I for one, will miss him, and pass his books to my kids. Any wrong doing on his part is passed, and I will continue to cherish the good in his legacy. I have an address for his business manager, if anybody would like to write his family a letter as I did telling them how much he meant to me growing up.

I have the very basic FoodSaver, and really do like it. I made some fantastic scallops and gnocchi sous vide the other night, after watching the Iron Chef episode. Frozen scallops, frozen gnocchi, frozen corn and onion, some minced garlic, pepper, heavy cream and fat free milk went in the bag, and I simmered it at about 200 degrees for half hour or so. Very yummy. I hang the bag off the counter so the liquid has to travel upwards - not much gets sucked through, and a second seal usually does the trick.

Love the Mexican Fanta Naranja...I get it everytime I visit Tijuana.

Reminds me of our "ghetto" apartment. Honest to God, the people right under me were a pack of drug dealers who played what we called "booty tunes" constantly. Normally we could tune it out, but during finals I'd had enough. After going downstairs and screaming at them that if they could shut the damn stuff of for *one* week I'd not bitch until next semester, they agreed. At which point I return to hour 34 of wakefulness and frantic typing. Hour 37, they forgot. Speakers to the floor, 1812 Orchestra, *repeat*. Took them five minutes to knock it off until that Friday.

I'm a huge fan of Peep Jousting. Now THAT is high entertainment!

Yeah...craving clams now.

Cherries. The smell makes me gag. For the first 8 years of my life, I was on twice-daily doses of Cherry Septra for my sinuses. I know medicine never tastes like the real thing, but the smell is close enough that I can't take it.

I have a kitchen shrine. Complete with candles and offerings, my shrine stands small yet proud over my kitchen. The middle shelf of my spice rack is backed in holographic aluminum foil, and scattered with Chocolate Starlight candies. Beads wind their way about the kitchen god's feet, and raspberry votives illuminate his presence. A faithful wooden spatula serves to draw the eye towards the god, it's broken halves testifying to its thirty years of service in my family's spaghettis and sautes. The god stands among his offerings, his beatific smile wreathing his face, his hair curling over his forehead just so. My kitchen god is a Surfing Elvis Stitch bobblehead, and I have served him well.