lala

What KatieLoeb said, only using sherry vinegar, or sherry itself for a different flavor.

When using chocolate chips, it's easiest to get a shallow spoonful of the peanut butter, then dot the chips on top. Don't ask how I know

Baked Lay's plain potato chips into tuna salad - crispy, gooey, salty, sweet

Please be aware that mistletoe is poisonous.

Sorry, "shaking" cream is the way we made butter in grade school. It needs to be whipped to incorporate the air. Actually, if you don't have too many people (so you don't need too much whipped cream), you could use a fork. I've done that in a pinch, in a soup bowl at the place we were staying. Took a little longer, but made fine whipped cream for our dessert.

I just adore fennel. First time I had it was in Edinbourgh, with scallops as an appetizer. Loved it so much, I had it again for dessert. Shaved, with parmesan, evoo and orange sections, poached, braised, roasted...mmmmm...

I love the Macrina Guiseppe rolls. The crust is not hard, but has a bite, and the inside is the best white bread ever. Get them at the bakery, or at the hot soup station at Metropolitan Markets (and other stores, too, I'm sure!). They're a bit spendy per roll at Met Mart ($.80 ea), so check the prices at the bakery.

I picked this up at the library and read it over the weekend. Interesting revisionist history, from a very bitter, nasty man. His surprise at all the lawsuits was the funniest part of the book.

I also find that Il Fornaio is one of the least objectionable restaurants at Pacific Place, although I prefer the downstairs cafe to the full service restaurant. And their coffee bar in the middle of the ground floor has reasonable pastries and sandwiches for that shopping induced blood sugar drop.

I remember the bad 'ol days when ricotta was not available, and we did use cottage cheese (this was in the Midwest, in the 70's). While Mom would make her lasagne with the whole, bouncy, nasty curds, I always pureed it and mixed it with parm and herbs. Somewhat passable, if you didn't have a clue about ricotta. Fortunately, times have changed, and ricotta is widely available. I even managed to convert Mom.

You can certainly use 'Jack O'Lantern' pumpkins for pie, they're just not the preferred pie pumpkin, as they tend to be dry and stringy. If you have a choice, go for the 'Sugar Pie' pumpkins, which are bred for cooking.

I grew up learning to cook from Julia - Saturday mornings always found me in front of the TV, pen and pad in hand, scribbling notes (this was well before VHS, you young'ens...). I love a good cooking show to learn new things, and I like food travel shows, to 'armchair travel'. I like learning the 'why', but sometimes Alton's a bit too 'cute' for me. However, I have to admit, that after a long day, it's almost as fun to watch a bad cooking show, just so I can yell at my tv. Won't say who I yell at, I bet you can guess. Hey, it's better than kicking the dog...

Thanks for that report, Blue Heron. I'm going to try to get there next week.

I agree, I was there on Thursday. Food was good, but nothing made me go 'wow'. Has anyone been to Oceanaire for Lunch?

A spritz of olive oil, freshly grated parm, and pepper. Or, to recreate a treat from my childhood, buy a package of mac & cheese that uses the powdered cheese. Butter the popcorn, and sprinkle the cheese powder on, to taste. Fantastic with grape soda (if you're a teenager! )

I won't venture as to all salted butter being old, but salted butter usually tastes funky to me - if it's served with bread, I'll ask for olive oil instead. And since I generally cook low salt anyway, I use unsalted, to control the salt level better.

Oh, you lucky dog! Passionfruit are just about the most lucious things in the world! Make a sorbet, it's delicious. Or just pick a bowlful, slice them in half, and as Rhea_S suggested, have at them with a spoon.

Interesting... I wonder why they use different espresso? Cafe Vita is good - there's one a block and a half away from where I work. I'll have to doublecheck on Torrefazione/Vita at the Alki Cafe on Alki. It's always been 'Faz, and their brew urns are 'Faz, but I'll double check. They do make the best espresso drinks on the beach, whatever it is.

A killer Cabernet and a good steak cooked just right (black and blue) with creamed spinach Top Notch champagne with Smoked Salmon on brown bread with unsalted french butter, lemon and freshly ground tellicherry pepper A selection of excellent cheese with good wine, whatever the pairings dictate. A bowl of Grand Central Oyster Bar oyster and scallop panroast (expensive because I have to fly from Seattle to NY to get it! Luckily, I have the recipe) Passionfruit sorbet and a glass of Beaumes de Venise with almond/orange tuilles Freshly baked Zingerman's no nut brownies with a mug of Celebes/Arabian Mocha french press brew with heavy cream

I like the espresso at Alki Bakery, which is Torrefazione, but generally find the baked goods to be overly sweet for my taste (perhaps explained by chefpeon's comments about the cinnabon clones). However, it is a good place to have a nosh at the beach, and do some people watching. For relaxing, though, nothing beats the fireplace at Tully's on a cold day. I fondly remember a day off a couple of years ago, when friend and I got sandwiches from Salumi, went over to Alki in a *snowstorm*, watched some crazy guy windsurfing in the wild waves, then sitting in Tully's by the fire, eating our very messy sandwiches. What a nice day...

Ok, that is the dish that I go to Thaiku for, I just didn't know the name off the top of my head, and wondered if I was missing something! I agree with others, that while that dish is good, most of the other dishes I've tried there aren't very good. And sometimes the place just has a funky smell. You're right about the pickled vegetable!

Can someone please educate me as to what kao soi is?

Forgot that one! There used to be a McD's a few blocks down from my house, and every once in a while I'd get that rancid beef/oil stench. Yuck! Fortunately, they've moved...

Love: Rich, deeply chocolately brownies as they're cooling. I never let them get too cool. Coq au vin The freshest fruit in season - I regularly walk up to the produce vendors at the farmer's markets and just get my nose down, almost touching the fruit. Nothing transports like that heady aroma of peaches, or the crisp sweetness of just picked apples. Taking my cue from Carrot Top; walking around the Pike Place Market here in Seattle and getting the wafts of whatever produce is in season (see above), the french bakery, smoked fish, baking piroschkys, the greek place, lentil soup at the turkish place, espresso being brewed, mini donughts being fried... guess I know where I'm going tomorow morning... Frying garlic/onion in good olive oil, the begining to so many good things. The aroma emitted by a smokehouse working it's magic on meat or salmon Hot cocoa after a day in the snow Sliced cucumber. Nothing's as fresh and clean. The scent of Beaumes de Venise can make me insanely happy without even taking a sip. Hate: The stench of the stockpot that had been simmering overnight when I was on the early shift on my externship - it was stomach turning at 5:30am, and my first task of the day was to strain gallons of the stuff. That nasty boiled cabbage smell in airless apartment hallways. The noxious fumes from the pot of boiling chinese herbs I tried once from an herbalist. Cooked brussels sprouts Burnt anything And right now, while they're tarring the roof of a building behind where I work, the intense horrible combination of hot tar and frying garlic from the Thai restaurant. Just awful.

I only use a timer if it's a long cooking dish and I'm stepping out of the kitchen, usually on one of those days where I'm on a cleaning whirl, with something in the oven for dinner. And baked goods. Otherwise, it's all instinct, and my nose that tell me when something's ready.