agnolottigirl

Two words: Little Smokies

Uh-oh. . . was afraid somebody might say that. Maybe "eating still more dairy" should have been my New Year's Resolution?

. . . . make a delicious Asian-style chicken soup (ginger, garlic, mushrooms, soy, sake, garnished with baby bok choy, green onions, mung sprouts), decide NOT to put the veggies in with the leftover soup because they'll get soggy, but decide that it WOULD be ok to put the rest of the soft, wide rice noodles in there. Next day, all excited for yummy lunch, find disgusting, mushy, noodles-in-chicken-aspic disaster. Note to self: rice noodles = good for oil spills, highway tanker accidents. Not good in soup, in fridge.

True--but if you had some good signage, I still think you'd do really well. I know I would make a tiny detour for a Top Pot donut! The little coffee joint on the other side of the pedestrian overpass (has since changed hands) used to do a lot of business, and their food and coffee offerings were only so-so. For walk-on passengers who want to bring in a treat for the office, this would be way more convenient than trucking something all the way from BI (where, as I have mentioned before, there is a serious donut deficiency anyway). The other thing I'd think would help is how many kids (teenagers) are regular ferry commuters for sports events etc. . . isn't that a built-in constituency? Not to mention the ferry workers themselves. (Yeah, I want the donuts. Mmmmmmmmm. . . . . )

Nope, sorry. . . . Starbucks over Dunkin', though I have to admit it took me a couple years to make the switch when I moved to Seattle. Besides, what IS that stuff they put there in if you ask for cream at DD? Corn syrup? Sweetened latex paint? Oogy.

India Bistro, in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood: http://edb.seattletimes.nwsource.com/ae/sc..._vd.cfm?id=1700 . . . hope that link works.

I was at the Market on Saturday and the whole place was INSANE. Must have been the sunlight. . . at any rate, Beecher's was overrun (looked like tourists, mostly), so I didn't bother trying to fight my way to the little cheese case where they sell maybe 15 or 20 different cheeses. They are making some of their own cheeses, and their own production seems to be focused mainly on curds (a novelty out here) and cheddar-style (cut and pressed) cheeses. They do carry a nice array of local(ish)--Pacific Northwest (WA and OR), Idaho, Northern CA--cheeses from small farm producers, including some organic ones. Stuff like Laura Chenel, Cowgirl Creamery, Humboldt Fog, etc. Rumor has it they are now selling their own butter for a whopping $9.00 per pound--not sure whether that's accurate or not, and haven't tried it. (Ha! It may be a bargain!) The big draw, and probably half their floor space (or more) is set up with the cheese-making equipment. Big glass windows, and the store is on a corner. Attracts a LOT of foot traffic. When I was there on Saturday they had a crowd almost as big as at Flying Fish, which is saying something. They have a counter where they sell panini, their own mac & cheese, a soup of the day, etc.--haven't tried any of those things. No seating. They also sell cheese-making supplies, some books, some fancy but not especially functional kitchen tchotchkes, and the usual assortment of logowear. Layout of the store is goofy; if they get more than 3 people in there, it feels too crowded; and the cheese case is open (like in a grocery store, and at about mid-thigh height), but they cut and wrap the cheese as you buy it. Biggest gripe is that if there are more than a couple people there, it's impossible to see what they've got in there--and many of the people aren't there to really buy anything, but just to look. Frustrating if you're trying to get in and out. Have only bought anything there once so far--some LC tomme and a fantastic cheese called Sheepish Blue (very sheepy!) that I hadn't seen before. There was one woman at the case who was very knowledgeable and then a much younger woman who clearly had no clue at all. She was nice enough, she just didn't know anything.

I vote for Bainbridge Island!! Actually, the Dept of Transportation is considering applications for food vendors at Colman Dock right now. I think a Top Pot place on either side--BI or Seattle--would pretty much be able to print money.

Stir fry with tuna, baby bok choi, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and rice noodles.

A "cream of" casserole that's pretty good is chunks of chicken, grated onion, celery, water chestnuts, and cooked rice. If you want to be fancy (!), cover with sliced almonds. Freezes great, and I've never met anybody who didn't like it. Makes no difference what kind of mystery soup you use, either!

Five Brothers, Muir Glen Organic, and Michelangelo's are all decent when I just can't be bothered. . . . though usually, I come up with something--even if it's oil and black pepper.

Springtime in the Pacific Northwest Pizza: tomato sauce and mozzarella + smoked salmon + red onion + asparagus Ripoff of Niebaum-Coppola pizza: No sauce: bake crust blind with olive oil and parmesan. When it comes out, throw proscuitto and arugula (neither cooked) on top so that the greens wilt a bit. Can drizzle more EVOO and/or lemon juice on top. Fresh black pepper and maybe a little sea salt, depending on saltiness of your proscuitto.

Any daube-style stew (though they pretty much all have wine) Cacciatore (I do put wine in there too, but it's optional)

RIGHT! Besides, they're a totally different color--not to mention they don't move around--when they're dead. And I thought she'd know better, as a transplanted New Englander. But nooooo.She'd taken care of our animals when we went back east for my sister's wedding, and so we brought back a nice big lobster for her. She wasn't home when we got in, so I stuck the lobster in a big bowl with his seaweed and put it in her fridge with a note (that did not say "I am alive!"). When I ran into her a couple of days later, she related how she had torn one of its arms off before she realized it was alive. . . she panicked and called another friend for advice (figuring, no doubt, that we'd either be appalled or laugh at her--to this day, I have a hard time choosing just one of those!).

This one may be a little OT, but it's too good (or bad): I will never again give somebody a live lobster without telling them it's alive. . . .

Oh, you should see me in action . . . . !

Butter & olive oil Onions & garlic & pepper Splash of chianti Sauteed crimini mushrooms (more butter) Can of crushed tomatoes Leftover pork tenderloin, in chunks Red pepper flakes Salt Fusilli

If you're lucky enough to have access to a farm that makes its own goat cheese, see if they make yogurt too. There's a little organic goat dairy near me, and their yogurt is great--organic, no weird additives. I think the goat milk makes a more creamy yogurt than the cow-milk product.

Oh, Suzanne, never fear. . . I could keep this thread alive all by my lonesome for at least another year. And that's if I stop cooking right now!!

I was actually thinking I might EAT it! Fortunately, the smart part of my brain came back from its bathroom break or wherever it had been before I could try it out.

The screwiest part about melting the spatula was that the first thing I thought was, Hmm--it looks so creamy. . . maybe it will be ok! I have also, too often, propped the (footed) colander in a sink on top of an unevenly stacked pile of dishes and stuff and watched the spaghetti make its way through the dirty dishes to the drain. This is one of those things I actually KNOW is stupid but do anyway.

In making gravy this Thansgiving, Mr. Agnolotti reduced about a half-gallon of balsamic vinegar. . . all was well until he put his head directly over the pot and inhaled deeply. Last night I confused the heat-proof spatula with the, um, non-heat-proof spatula. Melted plastic mixed in with my lovely shitake gravy. Oogy. Hours and hours of marinating time, down the proverbial drain. And then--a family favorite--the time my grandmother dumped parmesan cheese into her coffee, in the mistaken belief that we had a diner-style sugar shaker on the table. (Nobody saw her do it, but she kept saying it was the worst coffee she had ever had, and we eventually worked out what had happened.)

. . . . and so much less expensive than enameled. don't know why I didn't think of Lodge--I love my Lodge skillet. Thanks, WHT.

Thanks for the info! I'll also check out ebay. . . good idea.

Sorry if this is posted elsewhere already--I looked, truly!--but would appreciate any advice about the best overall cast-iron casserole. I'm looking for something I can roast and braise in, that will fit, say a whole chicken or a good-sized braise, cassoulet, etc. I've used a roasting pan, but it's too big for most things and so the liquid-to-surface-area balance is kind of sketchy; and I've used a stoneware casserole I have, but it tends to be on the small side for, say, a chicken AND potatoes. So far, I've been thinking along the lines of le Creuset, Staub, or the new Boulud cookware, but I have no clue about brand-specific pros and cons. Do you find a 5 or an 8 to be more versatile? How about shape? Many thanks.