lala

Hmmm.... I would say the same caveat about the proliferation of wine courses and certifications. And that's all I'll say.

Yes, yes, yes! I will make it down there ( mentioned it in my post)... thanks for the correct spelling and the link to the Santa Barbara site. I'll poke around on that for more information. ← My brain must have been turned off yesterday because your post clearly says you're heading down that far and, worse, you even mentioned Super Rica. I need to go lie down. ← Hey SiseFromm, I'm grateful that you took the time to reply, and you confirmed my decision to go there, so thanks!

Oh, great suggestions, thanks! I just want to clarify on the job thing (in case anyone knows anything and wants to PM me) - The wine program I graduated from inlcuded wine knowledge, tasting, marketing and sales. Other than that, I'm a CIA grad, ex-cook, and my other skills include event planning, food and wine pairing and management. So I'm looking for marketing, writing, front of house stuff, not cellar rat positions. Although I'd happily help out in the wine making process if the chance arose! Does anyone know anyone in Napa or Sonoma? Any good places to stay or dine in Sonoma - cheap? And yes, I'm counting the minutes until I can get to Taylor's Refresher! Last September (when I was still employed and had money) we skipped it at the Ferry Market and went to the Slanted Door (very niiice). So I'm looking forward to going to the one in Napa!

Yes, yes, yes! I will make it down there ( mentioned it in my post)... thanks for the correct spelling and the link to the Santa Barbara site. I'll poke around on that for more information.

Thanks! We had dinner at a restaurant over there and enjoyed the bread - but they were very casual about where it was from, so we didn't know where to go. We'll check it out this weekend

Hello everyone! I need reccommendations on good, tasty, inexpensive food in CA. I just graduated from a wine program up here in WA and am going to explore potential options in Napa, Sonoma and the Central Coast (emphasis on San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles). I'll go as far down as Santa Barbara and definately have a meal at Superica Tacoria (if that's the proper spelling!). Of course, at this point I'm not working and need to be as budget concious as possible while I do this. My thought is to bomb down I-5, then hop onto 101 and continue on down, then work my way back up. I'll spend about a week in the Central Coast area and a week in Sonoma/Napa. I may do Highway 1 and Big Sur just for the fun of it as well. So, if you can help me with good inexpensive food and lodging options, I'd appreciate it! And if you know of any wineries who are hiring, please PM me! Thanks, lala

"Both eggplant and some fish have higher concentrations of histamines, Freitag said, but "no one ever talks about eggplant headache syndrome." My guess is that far more people drink red wine on a regular basis than eat eggplant! One thing to remember is that eggplant is part of the nightshade family, which many people have problems with as well (don't know if that problem is histamines).

I live in an apartment where the landlord controls the heat (too hot!), so I keep my wines in the back corner of the garage where the wall is against dirt. It's the best I can do at this time.... best bottle was a 1996 Dom Perignon which a friend and I drank a couple of weeks ago to celebrate her birthday and my new wine certificate I look forward to a real wine cellar and investing in really good wines in the coming years!

What several of you addressed, but that article on the Pike Place Market didn't even touch on was transportation - the convenience of a grocery store with a free parking lot. The Pike Place Market garage used to offer a free hour of parking if you were in and out in an hour - perfect to get your grocery shopping done, or swing by after work to pick up dinner ingredients. They stopped that a couple of years ago, and they now charge for every second your car is in their garage. This means that if you want to shop for your groceries there, you have an additional fee that you do not have at a regular grocery store. They claim that they needed to charge to make money for improvements, but in two years I've yet to see any improvements - it's still a dirty, smelly garage which too often has one of the two elevators out of order. I love the Market, but they shot themselves in the foot with this one.

where is this place?

In my defense, the Chinese restaurant in Ellensburg wasn't my choice.... it was after a day of classes, 2 hours of wine tasting, and it was close! We nearly left when we realized they didn't have a liquor license, but regrettably, stayed. Ah, well... we survived. And I've been to 3 Asian restaurants here in Seattle in the week since I've been back

Tetra packs - boxed wines have a seal on the spout which prevents air from entering. The interior bag collapses as wine exits, keeping oxygen out. They say the box is good for 6 weeks once you start pouring. For bottles, refrigeration is good, and a really good trick is to buy a couple of half bottles of wine, enjoy them, then when you've consumed half a regular bottle, pour the wine into the (empty, rinsed) half bottle, stick the cork in and fridge it. Using the smaller half bottle reduces the exposure to oxygen. Works really well!

I just took a wine course and we used the Sotheby's wine guide as a textbook, which I found onerous - the author's personal comments were overbearing. I bought the Oxford Wine Dictionary (Jancis Robinson) and really like it.

I've never been, but isn't there supposed to be a good burger joint in Yakima? Miners? In Ellensburg, the Valley Cafe is pretty good, but I had three awful experiences at the Yellow Church Cafe in the last three months ( I attended CWU for the winter quarter - yup, I'm kissin' the ground here in Seattle... ). If you're in Ellensburg on the first friday night of the month, they have... First Friday... where several galleries have new art installments and wine tastings - it's kind of fun in this very small, old downtown area... Rodeo Barbeque on Main is ok. Avoid the Chinese Restaurant out by the Best Western - every dish is full of cabbage and no meat, and they don't have a liquor license...

Boat Street is lovely, but two caveats: The service will be more informal than you may want - since one of the servers is intent on touching me every time she comes over, they don't meet your "unobtrusive" requirement. And I think they're closed on Monday anyway...

With all due respect to Pure Fish as reccommended by Ledlund, I believe they carry precooked crabs. You want the freshest possible dungie, which is why I always to go Jacks Jack's Fish Spot in the Pike Place Market. They're the only ones who have tanks and cook the crabs fresh - ensuring that your crab will be fresher than any others bought at the Market. They also smoke a mean salmon! BTW: No reputable firm will ship live dungies; they only live about 12 hours out of water, sometimes less, depending on handling. Once they're dead, they produce toxins which would make for a miserable after dining experience if you eat them.

Ok, so it's New Hellas or Pegasus, with Sweet Georgia Brown in third (what kind of food do they make?). Thanks for the warning on the DIA, I'd seen that on their website. It will actually work to our advantage to just view the greatest hits in one place, as some of our party have trouble walking - but we're all thrilled about the Annie Liebovitz exhibit. There is such a difference between a photo in a magazine and an origional print by the artist. Thanks for your help, and best wishes for the Season!

If you've ever worked in a kitchen, you know that that layer of cotton saves you from countles splashes and splatters of burning oil and bubbling pots, and provides some protection if you brush up against hot pans. Also saves you from "bakers burns" when dealing with full size sheet pans. Yes, the jacket is hot, that's why you wear a t shirt underneath to provide a layer of air. But I wouldn't have worked without one.

Hi eGulleteers! This Seattleite is headed home to Ann Arbor for Christmas week, and one of our planned activities is the DIA and Greektown. I haven't been to Greektown since I was a kid, and hear it's gotten really touristy - however, we still want to go for nostalga's sake. What's the best Greek restaurant in that area these days? Thanks for your help! Otherwise, you can find me at Zingermans, snarfning down my regular, Randy's Routine!

The burgers are overcooked, flabbery and greasy. The fries are undercooked, flabbery and greasy. The shakes are fresh and frosty, and the sodas always fizzy and sweet. Dick's is one of my comfort food hangouts, precisely because it hits all the spots - greasy, salty, squoshy, pickley, topped off with cold, sweet thick shakes. Nothing like it at the end of a bad day, or after bad news. My friend who had some particuarly evil cancers would light up when I brought her a bag o'Dick burgers and a strawberry shake. Bless them, they've done their bit to make some hard knocks better....

RE: Sharffenburger - I took the factory tour in September, and they say that Hershey's is committed to allowing them to continue their work without interference. Don't know if it's spin, but the chocolate seems to be the same quality as ever. Personally, I'm a Valhrona 70% gal, and I get them at a great price at Trader Joe's...

I hate to be a bubble-burster, but Hershey is not listening to the dark chocolate lovers. They are marketing to the average consumer's desire to eat something sweet and, allegedly, healthy. Flavinol, antioxidents, etc. Dark chocolate has more flavinol than milk chocolate. So they (and other mass producers) are playing to the ersatz health benefits of chocolate. Never mind the fact that the high fat level of high-end chocolate counterweighs any purported health benefits. Me? Who needs a reason to be healthy when chocolate is involved? ← I agree that mass market chocolate makers are jumping on the marketing bandwagon re: health benefits of dark chocolate, but there is also a growing market for dark chocolate based on actual consumer preference. The explosion of varietal bean chocolate bars and artisinal chocolatiers bears this out. As well, dark chocolate has lower fat content than low end and milk chocolate because there are simply more cocoa solids in the bar as opposed to cocoa butter, added fats (fillers) and dairy components.

If they do that ( and I agree they should have) then they would have 2 gone in one episode and that would mess up their scheduling. ← But didn't they do that last season? Or was that another cooking contest show? I remember two people leaving, and the next week they kept everyone so the schedule worked out ok. I was glad to see Mia leave. It's a competition in cooking, not in how hard your life has been. I'm sorry that she's apparently had a hard one, and it seems like she's really pulled herself up by her own bootstraps, but that kind of tirade doesn't belong in any professional situation or contest.

I'll still eat beef, balancing it out with the mercury laden fish.

I saw them at trader joe's last night