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I've made the Fresh Ricotta and Egg Ravioli with Browned Butter and it is hands down one of the best dishes I've ever made. Of course, depends entirely on the quality of your ingredients. But it was really outstanding. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/fresh-ricotta-and-egg-ravioli-with-brown-butter-recipe.html

I signed up for it through a gilt group offer about a month ago. I can honestly say I've learned quite a bit. You can see all the courses listed without being logged in (I think they allow you to view the first part of a lesson without being logged in). Anyway, i got a year for $99 and have taken maybe 10 out of the 60+ lessons. I can say that I've learned as much - if not more - in those ten courses as I did in the $1400 course I took at a local culinary institute. It's nice because you can replay courses as many times as you want - which would have been nice in my real life course. As for watching YouTube - maybe it's similar - I don't really know cause I haven't watched any YouTube cooking demos. The videos on rouxbe are good quality - very clear and very close up. Anyway - I guess it's been a good experience for me so far- I recommend it.

I actually quite like my teeny tiny kitchen in my teeny tiny condo - it is very efficient. The only problem is there is no ventilation to the outside - so the hard-wired smoke alarm tends to go off from time to time. Now my mother's kitchen in her brand new house that she designed (with the help of an architect)...is a nightmare. Oven and fridge are way too small (smaller than mine). It's a very big kitchen, so nothing is ever handy (or where you think it should be). And her lovely Kohler faucet that she spent a small fortune on - while pretty to look it - sprays water in 50 directions any time turn it on and stick something under it. Nice...

Wholeheartedly agree with this. Something I've been bad at, but am vowing to be better about responding to other's posts (I'm a blog newb, what can I say?). A little give, a little get.

Submit a blog post on tastespotting and foodgawker. I got a lot of traffic from that. I don't get a ton of hits a day, but more than none. But yeah, a blog can be difficult to keep up with. This is my third try in like 5 years and I've finally kept with it for a bit. I mainly do it to keep track of things for myself and as a creative outlet.

I just participated in Hobo Mondays mentioned above. Also - there's Tuesdays with Dorie (which happens way too often for me and my waistline). And you might get some ideas from http://www.ismyblogburning.com/

Ditto this. Spotted Cow is made by New Glarus - the brewery alluded to in a previous post. Sadly, they do not distribute outside of Wisconsin (can't keep up with demand according to a spokesperson).

Funny, I was just thinking about Jungle Jim's yesterday. I used to live in Cincy - about 9 years ago (wow, didn't realize it has been that long...) and used to make special trips to go there. It's HUGE - the size of an airport hangar. It's like every ethnic market you can think of combined into one. So, in the ethnic foods section, each aisle is devoted to a different country or region. It's amazing. Everything you could possibly think of under one roof. The produce was great and so was the fish, meat and cheese sections. Definitely worth a stop. But from what I remember, it was a nightmare on the weekends.

I recently had a fabulous meal at Umami Moto in downtown Milwaukee. The chef used to work with Beau McMillan at Elements (Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain in AZ). The lobster chowder was to die for. Also very good were the Ahi sashimi (loved the pairing with watermelon), the heirloom tomato salad (with olive oil ice cream). The diver scallops and and the sea bass were also outstanding. For dessert, the pistachio ice cream with champagne sabayon was sooo good. We really enjoyed our meal(s - ok, I admit, we went twice in one week when I was in town a few weeks back since we liked it so much). http://umamimoto.com/ I have also heard great things about Hinterland from my family, but have not made it there yet. http://www.hinterlandbeer.com/restaurantmilwaukee.shtml I moved away from Milwaukee maybe 4 years ago and it seems like there has been an explosion in restaurants since I left. The area near Umami Moto has a number of interesting restaurants. I'm going to try Carnevor next time I'm in town. If anyone has had any experience, I'd love to hear about it. http://www.milwaukee.com/carnevor-steak-house/

Nope, we don't know any further than the general vicinity. And right now, it's only been narrowed down to the three areas I listed above.

Thanks for your responses! At the moment, we are hoping for 30 people. We potentially would like to get 90 people, but that is being rather ambitious (for us). We are at the beginning stages of planning and need to come up with a cost estimate. No dietary restrictions at this point since we have no idea who is all going (although, I'm sure there will be at least one vegetarian in the group). We have been given three possible locations for the work we will be doing: St. Bernard, Orleans or Jefferson Parish. I agree a restaurant would probably be our best bet - so any recs regarding that are greatly appreciated. I will look into the ones you have posted.

Hello - I am not located in New Orleans and am working on a volunteer trip to the area. We are in need of a lunch caterer for a group of maybe 30 people (could be more) for next spring. The first thought is a boxed lunch or something that travels well and is easy to eat on the go, but I think it would be nice to have something that would be a good sample of local flavors (turkey sandwich sounds really boring). Anyway, if anyone knows of a good caterer or restaurant that could supply for a large group, I would greatly appreciate the recommendation! Thanks!

I was just going to recommend Chef Interrupted as well. Some of the recipes aren't all that simple, but the results are great. I also have ATK's Restaurant Recipes - similar concept (and some great stuff in there too).

Just brought some vanilla beans back from Tahiti (and tiare tea). To be honest, I have no idea if I'm supposed to have them or not. Anyway, I marked the seeds category on my customs form, like a good girl, and handed the agent my form. Since my husband and I have different names, we filled out separate forms. The agent asked if we were married. I said yes. So he says "you only need one form" and crumples mine up and throws it in the trash. Well, ok. I guess I won't declare anything!

It's one of my family's favorite restaurants in Milwaukee - even among the Bartolotta restaurants. Beautiful setting and the food is always excellent. I usually am pretty boring and order the steak au poivre - but it's always very good.