hillvalley

Purple Basil Pesto Despite using purple basil, the pesto comes out a greenish brown. 2/3 c shredded parmesan cheese 1/2 c lightly toasted pine nuts 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 3 garlic cloves 3 c purple basil, tightly packed 2/3 c extra virgin olive oil 1. With the blades running, drop in garlic cloves. When garlic is minced, turn off blender. 2. Add all other ingredients except the evoo. Blend. 3. Slowly add olive oil until a smooth paste is formed. It may take more or less oil, depending on how tightly packed the basil was. Keywords: Kosher, Vegetarian, Sauce, Blender ( RG1110 )

Purple Basil Pesto Despite using purple basil, the pesto comes out a greenish brown. 2/3 c shredded parmesan cheese 1/2 c lightly toasted pine nuts 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 3 garlic cloves 3 c purple basil, tightly packed 2/3 c extra virgin olive oil 1. With the blades running, drop in garlic cloves. When garlic is minced, turn off blender. 2. Add all other ingredients except the evoo. Blend. 3. Slowly add olive oil until a smooth paste is formed. It may take more or less oil, depending on how tightly packed the basil was. Keywords: Kosher, Vegetarian, Sauce, Blender ( RG1110 )

A few months ago adrober's movie inspired me. I wanted to spend the day in New York eating. I enlisted squashblossom in this journey because she is the only one who would put up with me and my shooting for an entire day and there is no one else I would rather eat NY with We started as soon as we got off the train at a pizzeria around the corner from Penn. Station. squash and I were cranky 'cause I declared breakfast off limits. We needed to preserve our stomachs. Pizza was one of the three food groups (pizza, meat and potato) that we planned to enjoy that day. As we walked two blocks in the wrong direction (for the first but not the last time) we smelled the pizza calling us. So much so that squash couldn't wait for me to get the camera out of my bag before she took a bite It was all that I had dreamed it would be. Thin crisp crust, just enough tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese that made a string when you bit into it. We split the piece, just enough to get to our first (and major) eating stop of the day. After getting off the subway and walking two blocks in the wrong direction again (happily for the last time) we found Lucky for us, Pan had agreed to be our tour guide through the world that is Katz's. I was there for the same two reasons as everyone else: pastrami and to see where Meg Ryan faked the orgasm in When Harry Met Sally. It was a small lifetime dream come true. I knew that ordering would be an adventure from seeing some TV personality bumble their way through on FTV. Thank heavens for our seasoned veteran. He showed us where to line up for the pastrami (hint, it's not the first line) and how to order. Then, showing deft ordering skills he set a perfect example. Down to the banter with the guys behind the counter. squash and I had already decided to split a sandwich. This was just the second stop in what was supposed to be a day long journey of eating. We could not waste the stomach space. Our new hero behind the counter put each half on it's own plate without our asking. Finally the sandwiches were in our possession. We stuffed our tip in the cup and were on our way. Our Katz's virginity was lost to a pastrami on rye with mustard, cold sauerkraut (on the side), sour pickles (half sours are against my religion) and a Dr. Brown's black cherry and a celery. Once again squash could not wait for the camera We sat in the back, which was a first for our tour guide. Always the gentleman, Pan got a plate of coleslaw to make sure we had the full Katz experience. With first bite we were in love. This was damn good pastrami. Succulent and juicy, salted with a balance of bite from black pepper. It was not your average pastrami. Half a sandwich turned out to be more than enough. I did not get to devour nearly enough sauerkraut. Oh well. Did I mention that we were lightweights when it came to power eating? I am pretty sure my great-grandmother did this for my grandfather. As we stood in line to pay the clouds opened and suddenly there was a downpour. This was not part of the plan. Sure, the morning was hot and humid and sticky, but that was better than soaking rain. It stopped long enough to start upon a new plan when the clouds burst open again. Plans were changed, and changed again with the weather pattern. Once again it slowed down, this time for good. Half a block north of Katz's squash and I ran into two guys, musical man and changed-a-lot, who we went to high school with. Who says NY is a big city? This is the third random city I have run into music man in. We did the obligatory chit chat and banter until we ran out of things to say. squash and I were off to Russ and Daughters, they were off to the movies. On to This is my kind of store. If I ever live in NY I had better have a budget just for this place. I knew that it would take great restraint to come out without a bag full of treats. Fortunately the idea of carrying fish and cream cheese around with us on a hot day was a wonderful deterrent for going all out. I am proud to say that we came out with a splurge, a treat and a necessity: wild Alaskan salmon caviar, a chub and a container of plain cream cheese. The guy behind the counter wrapped up the package for travel in an ice pack and padded envelope. Everything made it home despite spending the day in a sauna. Alas there are no pictures of our purchase. The counters at Russ are tall and I am not, so the food was wrapped without a shot for prosperity. The next day I had eaten a third of the fish and roe before I remembered my camera. They were both as delicious as you think they were. On to for knishes. We ordered a potato knish, hot, and a chocolate egg cream. While waiting for our food we saw music man and changed-a-lot sitting in the back having a knish. We had inspired them. squashblossom's main comment for the next 10 minutes was "this thing weighs 10 pounds." Still stuffed from Katz, we wrapped it up for later. We headed down to wards Little Italy. Along the way I dragged us into a tiny, wonderful coffee shop with an emphasize on Japanese drinks. It was as if fate had drawn me in. We both ordered iced green tea which is supposed to be good for digestion. On to Little Italy. This is the view of from the top of Little Italy. All the restaurants have outdoor seating. Even the parking meters are special The pastas looked amazing. If we weren't already full and dripping with sweat I might have considered it. Tenderly I broached the subject with squash, which she quickly quashed. There was no way that was going to happen. At the end of the first block is I dragged us in, knowing full well I couldn't buy any cheese or meats. I settled on a skinny mini ritoni and a bottle of Bosco's chocolate sauce for my friend's sons. We were done with Little Italy and so far it was pretty much a bust. We headed up the next block which was Chinatown. The street was full of vendors selling everything a good Chinese kitchen should have. There was no way we could handle a full Chinese meal so we decided on a snack of fresh lychee's. They were wonderful. I am eating one of the leftovers right now. The purveyor of the stand had a good laugh at watching us try to eat the lychee's. You have to break them open and then suck out the sweet, slimy fruit. I will never be able to eat canned lychee's again. It just won't be the same. At this point squash decided she needed an Italian pastry. We headed over to Squash decided we should each have a cannoli, despite the fact that our stomachs were more than full. There was no way I could eat a whole cannoli. While standing in line we spotted mini cannoli's and each ordered one. Despite being tiny, the cannoli's went unfinished. By now it was hot and humid and we were tired. Sushi, which had been on the itinerary, but since it was the Monday after a holiday weekend we decided it was not a good idea. Our stomachs were full and we were tired. Our eating journey was coming to an early end. Over in the village we saw Had we been stealth eaters we would have downed a hot dog. But we are not, so we did not. Oh well. It was time to end our eating adventure. On the way back to the train we picked up a couple of slices from Rosa's again. Beginning and ending with the same meal seemed appropriate. We got a few cold slices to go. The guy behind the counter couldn't understand why we weren't devouring our slices. A few hours later, after a quick reheating in the oven, we enjoyed a late night snack of pizza and a wonderful salad. After returning to New Jersey I decided I needed some ice cream. Actually, what I wanted was gelato. Fortunately, Princeton is now the home of the Bent Spoon. They make artisan, organic gelato. What more could a girl ask for. Squash and I both had blueberry. Creamy, bursting with flavor, it was the perfect end to a day of eating. My waistline is glad I don't live near by, although my taste buds are cursing me. With that we went home, reheated our pizza and went to bed. Our stomaches were full, our feet were dirty and tired and our taste buds content we fell into bed, dreaming of our next adventure.

Don't forget another great Chinese American invention. The fortune cookie I am craving an egg roll now

We'll have a meal in your honor Who has the best deal this time around?

Cook them down into a sauce with sugar and a touch of lemon juice and zest. Use as a sauce for strawberry shortcake or ice cream.

Squashblossoms stuffed with creme freche and salmon caviar

1. Crop and resize photographs using some variation of photoshop to no larger than 640x440 (I think.) 2. Click on Imagegullet 3. Create album 4. Upload photos 5. Cut and paste the link into a reply. Hope that helps.

Sigh. I'm still not over my FL disappointement. Oh well. This is a pic of my gelato from the bent spoon. Sorry it's so blurry. Turns out mace himself personally scooped my order. It's a smal eg world Looking at it makes my mouth water. Someone has to try the whipped banana and report back. I tried a few more of your suggestions plus found a new place or two. I don't think they are there anymore. I went for lunch and there was a japanese couple behind the bar. It looked like they owned the place. Fortunately, the sushi is still good. My sister and I shared 4 different roles, which was one too mane. We had the rainbow, spider, dynamite and one I forget. The softshell crab role was disappointing. One roll had hamachi, salmon, tuna, avocado, cucumber and tobiko. The whole roll was then rolled into some kind of seaweed that was the color of old yellow lettuce. It was delicious none the less. I got a bubble tea and an order of chips from the Fish and Chips place. The bubble tea was good, although it is made with flavored powder (instead of syrup). The chips were great. I will definately go back for a full meal. Small world does sell their coffe to a place called Fialte on 518 in Hopewell. Excellent coffe, great muffins and a room just for kids to play in. I don't drink coffee but I am now craving iced lattes from small world. Also on 518 down in Hopewell is That's Amore. Last night after squash put in 13 hours on the farm we did one last meal out. Both of our dishes were good. Squash had rigatoni in a radiccio veal sauce and I had ravioli in creamy tomato/wild mushroom sauce. Unfortunately we both wanted lasagne, which they were out of. The BYOB thing is a PITA!!!! Today on my way home I discovered the Burrito place at the corner or New Road and Rt. 1. It's a little shack on the side of the road. The burritos were as good as they get. I picked up 3 mediums for the ride home. The tortilla held up nicely to the chilli/cheese/lettuce filling. This would be my first stop after a night of drinking

I'm sooooo jealous. Squashblossom is going with her mother and spent the past weekend telling me about it. It sounds like a pure food orgy I expect a full report from all of you once you sober up!

What happened to the pics from last time? otello? bbq?

That sucks. Something sounded funny about the story when I heard it. Oh well. Mace, squashblossom runs spring hill farms

squashblossom and I stopped by the Bent Spoon for some of their gelato. This stuff is as good as it gets without flying to Italy. They have about 8-10 flavors ranging from chocolate orange to mango to pineapple. When they can the use local, organic ingredients. squash and I both had the blueberry. It was pure heaven. Creamy and full of flavor. We ate it while watching Wizard of Oz outside of Mediterra. Princeton Food Porn: Thomas Keller gets his coffee for French Laundry (but not Per Se, oddly enough) from Small World

Sqaush is downstairs reheating our pizza and making a salad so I am writing for her. She says thanks for the welcome, but I think I got here a little before you. I can vouch for the fact that she has been too busy playing in the dirt to "spend anytime with anything you can't eat."

I'll be on The Bridge Farm outside of Princeton

The Philadelphia Cheesesteak Factory in Georgetown isn't bad. It's no Philly cheesesteak, but for DC it's pretty good. When the Eagles were in the playoffs the place was full of Philly expats.

Thanks Helen. One more question. Where does the term oshinko fall into all this pickling. Here in the states, if you order an appetizer of oshinko you usually get yellow pickled daikon and some pickled cucumbers, eggplant or minicarrots. I love all the natto in your blog. It's giving me some great ideas. Have you ever made your own?

Rereadin this thread I noticed that your are happier with the results (and the food sounds much better) when you try something on your own. I think it's time to THROW THAT FAKE DINNER COOK BOOK AWAY You don't need it and are too good of a cook to waste your time with it. If you are interested in cookbook selections let us know. The web also has a million recipe websites. Much cheaper than buying new cookbooks. The dinner party sounds like it is coming together very nicely. Have you thought at all about how you are setting the table? Maybe some flowers on the table? You're doing fantastic!!!

I had lunch with a friend who is sort of in the industry. He had heard a rumor that Mark was leaving Breadline? Anyone know if it's true? Did anyone have the soft shells this season? Are they still available?

While in undergrad I spent the summer working at a local JCC camp with my then boyfriend. Before each session there was a meet the counselor night that ended with a make your own sunday party. We were sent to buy the whipped cream and sprinkles I always look. That's half the fun.

I had a wonderful lunch with my mother there this week. If you avoid the lunch hour rush and go a little later you should have no problem. By about 3 the place was empty. Make sure you get the french fries. They will keep your little one happy for hours. Be careful with some of the seafood though. We ordered the scallops and had to send the first plate back. They smelled awful and one was red. The second order was perfect though. There are a number of seasonal specials that looked wonderful. We tried the squashblossoms stuffed with feta cheese. They were delicious but garnished with canned tomatoes, which took away from the dish. When you go, keep in mind that the pompous attitude of the staff is not 'cause you brought a little one. They are that way with everyone. It's worth putting up with the staff though, if for nothing else than those fries!

I love the 4th in DC. I've missed one in the last seven years, but I was in Paris so who could complain. This year I am traveling, but not that far. On the 4th I will be on an organic farm in the middle of New Jersey eating whatever organic farmers eat. On the 5th I hope to eat my way through the Lower East Side.

Who has the good happy hour deals? Where can I eat and drink and get the most bang for my buck? No limits, price or location. Just looking for a variety of options.

That's okay. Merging threads keep Rocks out of trouble. For a little while anyway

The Breakfast Club