tirgoddess

Hot and Sour Soup Greek Wedding Soup Greek Lemon Soup Tea Water Wiskey w/Lemon & Honey Cabernet Affrin Codine Cough Syrup Remote Control Sleep

Great thread-it has been a while since I've checked in and it was just the conversation I was looking for. NickMach007 don't worry, you'll get your kitchen, just keep cooking! We are sort of remodeling my kitchen right now and I miss it. Knives are number one for me-when I am cooking away from home, I try to find a sharpening device, some people just don't get the difference between sharp and dull knives, and then when they use the sharpened knife, they say, "Could you please sharpen them all?!" My mother-in-law-has a lovely kitchen with huge rows of windows, like 6 feet high, beautiful work spaces with great halogen task lighting. A lovely place to cook-BUT she follows me around with a towel and sponge and I am really not messy. She is OCD on clean and to her cooking is something that needs to be expedited quickly. Get it done, move on, what's next, tomorrow's mail that hasn't even arrived yet. So when I am doing something that takes time, she wants to know why "I go to all that trouble". We were making a lox/cream cheese hors d'ouerve on toasts with capers, about 80. She was spreading the cream cheese on and toast crumbs were coming up. I was trying to place the lox in a "V" on the toasts w/ capers placed on the bottom of the "V". You know- for a nice presentation. The toast crumbs were driving me crazy, then she started helping w/ the lox and capers 'cause the spreading was done. I was so tense. No harmony what so ever. Now I know that I just have to go w/ the flow or stay out of it. There is so much to be said for that special flow that takes place when two people work together in the kitchen.

Recently purchased the pizza dough and the nitrate free Nieman Ranch bacon. Both are excellent. The pizza dough is great to wrap pre cooked sausages/franks and bake a la "pronto pup". Slice and serve w/ mustard, or if you have kids, let them make their own and have ketchup. Pizza dough is a great baby sitter dinner activity or kid's birthday party idea. For those interested in nitrate free products they have an new chicken apple breakfast sausage that is delicious. The new low carb flaxseed soy chip is great as well. It is a sturdy, nutty flavored chip that stands up to heavy dips and nachos. Also, check out the frozen french (from France) green beans. They are excellent, they taste so fresh. Keep the Trader Joe's food ideas coming, I love trying their stuff.

For what it's worth, I saw some carts washed at Albertson's recently. Last week I went to the donut shop to bring a dozen in to the folks who were working on my car, the guy behind the counter sneezed into his arm as I was walking in, then asked me what I wanted. I politely asked him to wash his hands because he had just sneezed, he did without fuss or attitude-otherwise I would have walked out.

Well, we just had our annual neighborhood adult night out at Maggiano's (Santana Row) and it was sub par at best. It was $50 per person. There were two apps, two salads, chicken marsala (sauce was not deglazed pan sauce, seemed pre-prepared and poured on top), roasted veg pasta (shells, w/ a filmy after taste), salmon w/spinach, chicken spinach manicotti, pound cake w/ ice cream & fruit plate. Yes, lots of food, but poor execution and quite flavorless (except for the stuffed mushroom app and the manicotti). There was no cocktail/wine service in our private room which was a royal pain in the ass. I was reminded of the Cheesecake Factory thread, because this place makes people wait on top of each other for their tables. The bar was stacked and it took about 15 min. to get a drink. I ordered my cocktail and my glass of wine at the same time to avoid the wait again. Folks were bumping into each other all over the place. I think that they were missing a profit opportunity by not offering beverage service in the room. It was nice to visit with our neighbors and that really was the point of the whole thing. In the future, I will stick with the smaller places that put more thought into their food. Edited to finish sentence.

Dining with my husband is a bonding experience. We don't necessarily trade plates, but we do put portions of our dishes on the butter plates and exchange those. We sorta think that since we only live once, we might as well share the experience as much as possible. He sweetly gives me a taste of everything on my little plate as it is presented on his. To me, it is a loving gesture.

My husband and I ate at a popular Mexican restaurant last night. We were seated at a two top, placed against a wall, with glass over the linen table cloth. I immediately thought of you folks! Having not been there in years, I noticed that plastic cups had replaced the glassware and printed paper napkins were used instead of the colored cloth ones which were arranged in the stemware. I also noticed the addition of white duet blinds on the windows. They didn't fit the size of the windows and were terribly out of place with the rustic theme of the place. That said, the thing that really ticked me off was when I looked at the faux painted wall, I noticed rust flecks in the paint. I immediatley searched the area of the wall for more of this technique and did not find it. I soon realized that the rust flecks were either mole or enchilada sauce. Gross! Why can't staff pay attention to this sort of thing??? (I did not point this out to my husband, as I didn't want to be an annoying dinner companion.)

If you're unsure of the pronunciation, order by number.

I collect: Bowls - I am a bowl freak Colored Glass-platters, stemware, votives, vases-colored glass freak as well Retro Linens Bakelite Utensils My Mom's Silver Pattern-since my Dad still has everything of hers in storage, and I don't know when/if I will see it again, it gives me comfort to have these pieces Silver Pieces-in general Colored Lights Shaped as Fruit- I have a peach, pear and apple on my counters Flower Pots-I know, not food Dish towels - from places I have been, not necessarily depicting the place, just ones I like, (inexpensive souvenier) (I don't have a dishwasher, well I do, but when we bought our home and the new dishwasher to go with it, we neglected to measure the counters, so it doesn't fit and now it sits in our garage in the box it came in.) Also, why aren't thongs food related?

When I "dine" with small children (usually my neices and nephews), I always clean up after them, just out of courtesy. I am grateful to be able to eat in places with them and for the extra service that is sometimes required with small kids. Family restaurants do not give one license to be a pig.

I looked at both the Cusinart and the KA and decided on the KA. I love it. The reason I chose it is because it was explained to me that the early Cusinart had the Robocoup motor. KA bought robocoup and now has that motor in their machines, Cusinart does not. I was impressed with my mom's old Cusinart, which still runs to this day, so I went with the KA in the end.

I saw those at Ikea last weekend. The price can't be beat.

This is the sort of dialogue I was looking for, thanks! My husband and I have some stand bys that I can share here. Taqueria Adelita, on Curtner Avenue at Leigh, in San Jose has excellent, authentic Mexican food. The service and family friendly atmosphere is welcoming. We love the super tacos. I usually order the carne asada and my husband gets the carnitas. We usually spend about $19 for five tacos and soda. They are closed on Sundays. Chez Sovan I on Bascom Ave. in Campbell gets rave reviews every year. The cusine is authentic Cambodian and it is excellent. We love the shish kabobs, the Tom Yam Hot & Sour Soup (especially if I have a cold), and the Samlaw Curry Moin (chicken). This usually costs us about $30. They are closed on Sunday as well. For high end sushi, Komatsu in Campbell is excellent. Though the sushi bar is small, it is the best seat in the house. Harry, the owner/chef, mans the sushi bar and he is a riot. By him a beer and let him go to town for you. The fish is super fresh and exqusite. We usually spend about $80 including sake. An inexpensive alternative to Komatsu is the quirky Sushi Expo on Camden Avenue at Hillsdale, in San Jose. This place is a formula compromise, but good. Kevin is the owner/chef. He plays Country Music Television non stop on his plasma screen. The sushi plates travel on a mote. They will do specials for you, but you really gotta speak up. We get out of there spending about $30. When we want to treat our friends, we take them to Viaggio Restaurante on Big Basin Way in Saratoga. Chef/owner A J and his wife, who is a server, go out of their way to make you feel welcome. The cusine is Mediterranean and it is excellent. My husband's favorite is the paella. They have great wine tasting events on Thursdays, where a local vintner is featured and appetizers are prepared a la minute for $25 per person. We have also had a couple large dinner parties there in one of the two banquet rooms which resemble a formal dining room and a cozy library. viaggiorestaurant.com One place I would like to try next is Resturant O, in Campbell. It was formally called Buca. Buca was wonderful. The dining room is intimate and Tuscan themed. Since the name change (lawsuit v. Bucca di Beppo), the menu has changed as well. Perez is the same chef. Has anyone been there? I would like to try Manresa, in Saratoga as well. Especially since it has been compared to French Laundry. A woman in my supper club ate there recently and was delighted. I recently ate at Yankee Pier in Santana Row (Bradley Ogden formula). Though they were offering wines by the bottle at half price (which was great!), I was disappointed with the mediocre fish and chips. I also ate at Casula's (sp?) in Santana Row and thought the food was pricy and just okay. The tables are too small for all the little plates, and they are placed very close together. This was inconvenient and uncomfortable. I think they try to turn the tables to fast so the service seems forced. The marguritas were excellent though. Sorry for any mispellings, I tried to check it, but kept loosing my post.

I have recently had the opportunity to explore various food message boards and sites. I love to dine out, but have cut back as of late due to the economy. Having searched the "California" site, I noticed that there isn't much South Bay input. Are there any folks here who would like to provide input on their South Bay dining experiences here? Old standbys, new openings, great cheap eats, great fine dining? I understand that there is another site that does this sort of thing, but it is difficult to navigate and the SF Bay Area category seems to be North Bay centric. Any thoughts on this?

Family and friends of mine, with various ranges of dining experience, have been raving about this place. I have not been there yet, but my neighborhood annual "Adult Night Out" dinner is planned to be there. My first thought about the place is formula food, maybe a notch above Bucca di Beppo. I was talking to a friend about the place and he said that everything there is already pre-prepared, that it comes out of bags ordered off site. I thought this sounded like a bit of a stretch. Any input on this?

I actually enjoy hearing pet peeves on all sorts of subjects. It causes me to reflect on my own behavior and experiences, calling attention to things I might do or say that could be perceived as annoying to others to which I can decide to modify my behavior or mannerisims in order to be a more pleasant person to be around. (Sorry for the run on sentence.) That being said, my worst pet peeve when dining is loud chewing, food in mouth sounds.

Melkor- Re: Bamix blender, does it have a steel or plastic rotor? I need plastic since most of my cookware is Le Cruset and I don't want to scratch up the enamel.

My husband and I were dining at the fine dining resturant (forget the name) at the Lodge at Kehole on Lanai. We didn't know that it was a jacket required resturant so they made my 6'4" , 250+ husband wear a jacket that they had for such and occasion. (Even though it was off season and the resturant was slow.) My husband knew that I really wanted to try the place so he suffered the humiliation of the jacket-which was quite ill fitting and ridiculous. Anyway, we order the cream of mushroom soup for the first course. Large, really large, bowls, the size of first base, were placed in front of us and we waited for the soup. The captain chatted us up about where we were from etc. Then a woman came by with a platter and silver tongs. She placed five mushrooms, though at the time I couldn't tell what they were, (they looked like snails) in the bottom of the gargantuan bowls and walked away. My husband and I looked at each other like, "what the f*&^?" and wondered what to do. About eight minutes later, another person came out with the tureen of soup and ladled it into the bowls. Oh! Now we got it! We remarked to the captain that time lapse in the presentation of the soup threw us off, and he remarked with, "Do you not have fine dining in the Bay Area?" Well the drama was just too much to take. I told my husband to take the f*&%ing jacket off and eat his meal in peace or we can walk out. We have been back to Lanai twice since then and have not returned to that resturant and there are only about three on the island.

I recently ate at a small plates venue, the tables were small and crowded and the menus were large. My guest and I ordered an appetizer, three small plate entrees and a couple of sides-on small plates. There were also condiments placed on the tables. The food was okay, but the experience was very crowded and subsequently felt rushed. We were constantly moving the food around and stacking plates to make more room on the table. The ticket was the same as if we ate at a traditional, somewhat upscale resturant. Is small plate/small table a trend that is usually better executed?

Fat Guy- It was an exchange between you and eliotmorgan (sp?) on about page 21.

My friend and I were lunching recently at a brewery type resturant. The wait person greeted us and went straight into a sales pitch about all the beers. We kindly cut her off since neither of us wanted beer at 11:30 in the morning, and ordered other beverages. While were were eating our entrees, she came by with a tray of beer samples and left two "chocolate" beers at our table ("because it's my favorite"), which we ignored. She obviously ignored our desire not to have beer and wasted it on us. Later she came by and said, "Are you gonna drink the beer or should I just take it away"? Just take it away.

I agree about the boxes. They are so cumbersome and make one feel obnoxious. I always insist that they take it all back to the kitchen, where I suppose they box the leftovers and top them with spit.

Dirty menus, inaccurate menus and menus with price increases taped or stickered on them. What a crappy way to start off the meal. My husband and I recently ate at a sort of up scale pizza/pasta place in our neighborhood. They have fancy oil/vinegar cruets displayed at the wait stations but you don't get them with your bread, you have to ask for them. This partiuclar time we sat at the nice, wood bar so he could watch football. I witnessed two employees consternating over a Sysco box right in front of us. They were struggling to get the Sysco "Select" desert out of the box. It was a terrible thing to witness. On the same visit, a chef in the "exibition" kitchen stired some food from a saute pan and some fell on the stove, another chef picked it up with his hands and put it back in the pan. This annoyed me to no end. I wish I said something to the resturant operator. Even though it is a cozy, neighborhood joint, I have serious reservations about going back there.

FatGuy-I too am interested in the links mentioned on the previous page.

They will probably make him shave his goatee.