heyjude

There is also a book called Vegetable Desserts by Elizabeth Schafer and Jeannette L. Miller which is subtitled Beyond Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Pie. They use vegetables in guises including Celery Doodles, Beet Mystery Pie, and Snappy Tomato and Spice Cake. Ice Creams and sorbets include Honey Garlic and Yam-Apricot Ice Milk.

Ben, go look at their website, www.brasa.com. They have all their menus posted with days and times.

While you were all sitting around beefing, Richard and I and two friends went to Brasa for the half-price 5:00 to 7:00 PM bar menu. What a deal. We shared 8 dishes and one dessert and several drinks for under $100 including tip. This was more than we could finish, but we wouldn't have missed any of it. We started with two salads, one a wild greens and the other a spinach with a delicious Cabrales cheese. Good bread was served and replenished. Next came roasted mussels, large, juicy and sweet and some very spicy ribs. All of this was handled and paced well by our server, who then brought frites and Spanish Pork sandwich. Not slowing down by much, we finished up the mains with Cataplana Fish Stew, very generous with a spicy coconut milk broth, and a grilled chicken crostini sandwich. The signature Brasa Sundae was elegant and enough for all of us. It is layered with brownie, fruit and sauces. We will go back to try all the menu items we missed. There was a large birthday party nearby, but between the waiter and the busboy service was very adept. I'm sure they could handle an eGullet group.

chefb, for many of us, these were our introduction to cooking other than what we'd grown up with. Time-Life's Good Cook series is, if possible, even better. Check out the bibliographies.

My childhood comfort food was extra wide egg noodles with cottage cheese. I still love it but, now I doctor it up a bit with butter and pepper. Here in Seattle, I get imported Eastern European noodles at PFI. They maintain a wonderful slick-firm texture even when reheated in leftovers.

This is, of course, my favorite topic. I think I change the list every time we discuss cookbooks. I refuse to even think about a fire, but I have used the moving test and parted with a few. Mostly, I just keep adding new favorites. They fall into categories including collectibles, old standbys, new and cooked from, and new and just read. So, today's list includes: Great Dinners From Life which I cooked my way through as a newlywed Balanced Recipes from Pillsbury because it is unique in format Ruth Wakefield's Toll House Tried and True Recipes because it was my Mom's. Grandma Rose's Book of Sinfully Delicious Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Cheesecakes, Cake Rolls and Pastries by Rose Naftalin which I think tells its own story All the Cooks Illustrated Annuals with separate index Sunset Kitchen Cabinet because it is a compact history of 20th century western cooking by decade The New Good Housekeeping Cookbook(1963) because it has always been my go to for basics All of Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg's books. Just good reads Cucina Simpatica by Killeen and Germon because it has perfect recipes The Elements of Taste by Gray Kunz Babbo One Potato Two Potato These are 3 of my favorite recently published CBs And always Pepin, Child and Heatter whatever they do. More than cooks or writers, they are heroes.

This summer, while in Vancouver, B.C. on vacation, we visited Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks where they were featuring Rick Rodger's newest book. In their demo kitchen, they were serving samples from "dip it!" (ISBN#0-06-000223-9). They were all very tasty especially the Curried Vegetable Dip. Each recipe has suggested dippers and make ahead info. The Spinach Dip is very similar to Rachel's. For a small, single subject book, this has a lot of must tries.

Phoenicia on Alki serves a nice piece of ahi along with other tasty dishes of a Mediterranean and northern African flavor. Gracious service, too.

Has anyone seen a review copy of James Peterson's new French cookbook? It's due out about now.

Searching on www.bookfinder.com, I found several copies of Vol.2, a couple of boxed sets of Vols. 1&2 and one of The Way To Cook. Sometimes it takes a few tries to find what you want if the site is being balky.

Jenaya, glad you're here. Mamster, we used to go to Procopio on every See Attle trip when you were kids. I didn't know it was still there, but it was great. The gelato is kept at the proper temperature with a good variety. Ditto Gelatiamo. The owner there loves to talk about her seasonal flavors.

There are hundreds of French cookbooks, old and new, and the ones mentioned are absolutely the best. There are others to use for different points of view or for the color pictures you are craving. All of these are in English, but some can be found in French, too. L'Art Culinaire Modern by Henri Pelleprat Ma Cuisine by Escoffier is available in several translations The Making of a Cook (1971) and The New Making of a Cook (1997) by Madeleine Kamman Bouquet De France by Samuel Chamberlain The Hundred Glories of French Cooking by Robert J. Courtine Gourmet Cooking School by Dione Lucas The Time-Life Foods of the World Provincial and Classic La Cuisine by Raymond Oliver France the Beautiful by Gilles Pudlowski Anything by the Roux Brothers La Varenne Practique by Anne Willan Jean-Louis Cooking with the Seasons by Palladin All of these can be found with a used book search with prices ranging from $2 to several hundred dollars. Please let us know what you try.

Mamster is right about the Edgewater. It was especially disappointing because it was recommended to me by 2 Seattle food writers as an ideal place to celebrate our wedding anniversary with the family. When I called for the reservation, I specifically asked if there would be a problem being there in the last hour of service and was assured that we'd be unable to tell. Sooo not true. The food and the staff were all tired. The pastry table was in ruins, drinks were not offered and the occasion was not acknowledged. All in all, this was barely above a chain restaurant experience and very pricey, too.

Many years ago at the supermarket on 8th St. in the Village, they sold lamb riblets which was just the breast cut into individual unmeaty ribs at $.18 a pound. That just about fit our budget and we had them often. It's been a long time since I've even thought of cooking them. Which leads me to ask whether anyone is tempted by the Applebee's ad. There are 100's of food ads on TV from Special K to Red Lobster to Milky Ways. Do any food ads make you go out to buy the product? What has been the satisfaction level if you have?

What's the secret to making crepes that are not too thick? When I get them thin enough, they tear.

I was a part of last Thursday's Northwest Grillfest held on the Rainier Tower roof garden. This is an annual event held to promote literacy. The food was all cooked on Weber grills, a $3000 one of which was raffled. The chef's, all of whom have published a cookbook in the last year, produced some wonderful dishes. They were supported by students from the Art Institute culinary program. The Grilled Peaches with Fresh Cherry Sauce were heavenly. Watch for this event next year and this coming Oct. 19th and 20th attend Northwest Bookfest at Sandpoint. There will be at least 10 cooking demos or panel discussions. Call 206 378-1883 if you'd like to volunteer.

This sounds like translations from an unknown tongue for an ESL class.

The Publishers' weekly issue of 7/15/02 has a list by publisher of all the cookbooks expected between now and December. It is available online and at some news stands. It makes me greedy. Mark Kurlansky has edited a collection of food writing dating from the 2nd century B.C. due in Nov. Obviously, there is a beginning, but no end to the discussion.

Eda LeShan, who died recently, was a very wise psychologist who wrote books on every aspect of life from birth to old age. Her best advice to parents on all the crises and challenges of raising normal, healthy kids is "wait". If you don't like what your child wants to eat now, Wait. All three of the adult sons we raised are great eaters, willing to try almost anything. It was hard to believe they'd get there based on their childhood tastes which were very limited. Part of the change came from eating at friends' homes, where they were too polite to say, "yuk", as they did about new foods I prepared. So, maybe the secret is to teach them manners and let eating take care of itself.

My favorite is "one of these things is" not there. Meaning, my best friend and I used to go to Ben and Jerry's and order a hot fudge sundae, hold the ice cream. It confused people, but even in our munchy state, we knew what we wanted was the best part. Sometimes we ordered hot fudge salads. That slip of the tongue made us feel so virtuous.

Tom, Wildwood or Wildflowers? If it is Wildwood that was recommended, you can't go wrong with the food. I've eaten there very happily many times, but the noise can be unbearable. Ask for a quiet table. Here in Seattle, I love Nell's for a slightly pricy night out. Let us know what you do and have a great trip.

Blue Heron and Researchgal, you should have written the new book, Everything Tastes Better with Bacon, but Sara Perry did and it's just out. There are even dessert recipes including bacon brittle.

cakewalk is right about the potato chips. They're better in a tuna sandwich than with a tuna sandwich. I love tuna salad sandwiches and I love egg salad sandwiches, but the very best is the two mixed together after each chilling separately in the fridge. It's not the same if you just add eggs and extra mayo to the tuna. It means you have to plan ahead, but there's always a little nibble of potato chips while you wait.

Manster posted about our tacos, but not that we were on the way to the Alton Brown book signing at a large suburban new/used bookstore. Alton was great and obviously has a huge following. The place was standing room only when we got there 15 minutes early. During his stand up quality routine, he asked all the Jews in the audience to raise hands and there were three of us. Later he asked all the home brewers to raise hands and there were about two dozen. Toto, we're not in NYC anymore.

What a fabulous bunch of French Toasters. An even easier (one step-no panfrying) way to do a festive version in the summertime is to layer well soaked diagonally cut slices of French Bread on top of blueberries mixed with sugar and a pinch of cinnamon in a baking pan. Bake at 400% for 20 minutes or so until bread is golden. If you want to go nuts, serve this with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt using the now saucy blueberries as a topping. For adult guests, I serve this with a strawberry, Grand Marnier compote for plating.