peanutgirl

How pleasantly coincidental to find my old thread near the top of the Philly page...Kooza for us today . We're leaving in about an hour, still undecided on food but armed with the spirit of eGullet I know we'll find our way to something good. We've done Vietnamese and everyone likes that. We've done Plaza Garibaldi and liked that as well. However, our 12 year old daughter doesn't tolerate Mexican food (not the spices, it must be something else in it. She gets sick everytime, everyplace). Are there any good Indian places in that general area? * How did you like Kooza BTW BruceDelta?

BUMP Thanks for the suggestions last year. We ended up at Wu Liang Ye and had a great meal. Need new, and or updated suggestions please. Yep... we're heading into the city again to look @ the tree and walk around. We'll be in that general area. Is that considered Midtown? Anything in the area is fine... not limited not Rock Center area. Any suggestions would be much appreciated as always. Basic same guidelines apply. Kids, not upscale, not touristy. Ethnic is fine , if not preferred .

Thanks for the suggestions. The whole family loves Chinese... so that sounds great. Also the kids do have a fairly high spice tolerance (compared to their friends anyway). The dishes could be ordered less spicy as well though, couldn't they?

The kids want to go see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. We've never done that, so it sounds like a nice thing to do. I'm not familiar at all with Manhattan, but will gladly take any suggestions into consideration. We're not looking for upscale or touristy places. There are no dietary restrictions other than one child is a vegetarian (though we've never found that to be an issue while eating out). What we are looking for is family casual dining in the general area of the tree. Ethnic is fine, even preferred.

I have a lunch date at The Garden State Diner in Wrightstown tomorrow. I notice nobody has recommended it, and I can't find a website for the diner. Has anyone been?

Jerry, is this store anywhere near you? There's always tagines.com... casablancamarket.com or even eBay. Marigene... your chicken looks delicious. The pictures are fine .

Last month I made some tomato "confit". It's basically oven roasted roma tomatoes seasoned with olive oil garlic and fresh herbs. I have it stored in the fridge. My question is : is it still safe to eat? I'm concerned about the possible anaerobic- ness of it.

Curiosity was getting the better of me today, so I went to a different store today with a slip of paper listing several ingredients I was looking for. I asked the store owner to direct me to ajwain as well as ajwan. She took me straight to the bags of ajman. When I asked about the different spelling, she assured me it was the same thing. Not sure if this helps anyone other than me ! bag of seeds close up of "ajman" seeds.

Yes, that would be appreciated and most helpful. Is there a thread devoted to this already ?

I picked up a bag of seeds labeled ajman today. Is this just a different spelling / name for ajwain ? I Googled and couldn't find ajman listed as an alternate. It does say "graines de thymol" on the bag though , which leads me to believe they are the same. Am I correct ? TIA !

So Abra... did you break in your rifi yet ? Is there a tagine recipe equivilent to cleaning out the fridge? I threw this together for dinner tonight (chicken, onions, garlic, cilantro, preserved lemons, zucchini & yellow squash, red bell pepper, potatoes, salt & black pepper, cumin, ground ginger, and a handful of olives) . I'm sure it's not authentic by any stretch... but it tasted good. I snapped this picture about 30 minutes shy of being done. Carrot Orange Salad Tomatoes & Cucumbers We skipped couscous tonight and just had pocketless whole wheat pitas to sop up the juices.

First of all...The show was f*ing amazing !!! Very cool that the guy who came out in the audience patted my 6 year old son on the head and removed my husbands arm from my shoulder . At least he didn't take our popcorn. We arrived way early, upgraded our tickets and then since we had time to spare the husband walked down to the strip mall to get some menus. During the intermission I had my older children peruse the options and we decided that Viet Huong was where we we going. Pho 75 seemed too limeted for one daughter who's a vegetarian that will eat fish and the Chinese place on the corner was too "seafoody" for the husband . I knew I wanted Pho so that's what I ordered. #31 Pho Dac Biet. Humungous bowl of soup. 6 bucks and I was so stuffed I couldn't even eat all of it. Luckily 7 year old bottomless pit of a son shared with me and liked it . Husband ordered an entree. #113 beef w/ mixed vegetables. Both sons ate some of that too. Daughters shared the Bun Tom Nuong (shrimps w/bean sprouts, letuce, herbs,cucuber and crushed peanuts). We also ordered 2 appetizers.... the Banh Cong (fried shrimp cakes) and the Cha Gio (crispy spring rolls w/ ground pork ect). I wasn't too thrilled with the shrimp cakes, they were dense and greasy. The Spring rolls were tasty though. The kids ordered strawberry smoothies with bubbles which they enjoyed. Husband tried the Vietnamese coffee w/ condensed milk. I stuck with plain old ice water. So that was our trip to Cirque in Philly. Great show and fun exposing the kids to another cuisine. Thanks everyone .

Wow! thanks for all the great recommendations . Personally I'm leaning towards the Mexican or Vietnamese places. I just did a search for reviews on everything mentioned and they all sound like excellent choices. Pho 75 is near or in an Asian shopping area? If so, that's a definite draw for me. Decisions, decisions ... I'll let you all know where we ended up to eat on Monday. Have a good time with your nephew Katie. Amada sounds wonderful, but I don't think we'll make it there this trip.

We have tickets to Cirque du Soleil this Sunday (Aug.13th). The show starts at 1pm and we should be out of there and hungry by 4:00pm. Any suggestions would be appreciated as we're not familiar with the restaurant options in that area. Nothing upscale (4 children in tow)... but nice enough to keep us adults satisfied. Thanks in advance .

Middlesex County Fair (East Brunswick NJ) started today thru Sunday. Make sure you get the fresh roasted peanuts on the right hand side as you enter the main gate. Tell my brother I sent you .