Susan in FL

I didn't read the article or look at the slideshow, but the only thing on the list I drink with any regularity and really like is the Sierra Nevada. I love SNPA, when it's good and fresh. Chris, right, there are plenty of better beers in the world.

Thanks for posting it and congrats! That was a beautiful transformation, and it looks like the meal was delicious.

By footed, do you mean you're looking for stemmed glasses? I checked eBay, and fewer are stemmed, but maybe something here would be of interest.

Awesome. Please keep posting about your Thai inspired dinners. Meez, I was hoping to see you over here on this topic. I hope you will keep us posted on all your Thai cooking at home adventures. When you cook Thai or Thai inspired, do you usually follow recipes? When I first started with Thai, I always followed recipes, but the more familiar I became, the more I adapted recipes or improvised. It's great year-round of course, but it's especially good summer food.

What, nautical haricots verts?! There's a photo of what I know as sea beans in amongst the photos on this page.

I found myself saying the same thing, and I am usually horrified at even the thought of a mouse or rat -- to the point of being phobic. But a pet is a pet, and I can imagine how upset you were. Thank you so much for foodblogging during such a special week and busy week. I don't know how you do it all! Riding a bike to and from shopping is only naming one little detail. You're amazing! I look forward to all your posts to come. Thanks again, and best wishes to you.

Perfect timing to revive this topic! Mine grew year-round and like Maggie said, it got big and ugly. Just this morning I cut it back, even though I had no idea if it would grow again. I'm looking forward to the fresh new leaves, and now have these ideas for how to use it.

That doesn't sound strange at all to me. Like they said, it's about getting "wild" shrimp. I ceased to enjoy shrimp like I used to until we switched to the locally caught shrimp here, and I'm thrilled these are so good. If you don't have access to good shrimp, you might have some luck brining them before cooking.

I love those! My husband makes them every now and then, when we have bread in the house. I get a kick out of what different people call them. He calls it a "hole in one." Who knows them by another name?

Klary and breakfast foodies, I forgot to tell you. I bought some rhubarb for the first time, and to the best of my recollection, this was the first time I ever tasted it. I made this up: I chopped the rhubarb and cooked it with butter, sugar, fresh orange zest and a little fresh orange juice, and wrapped it with pastry. On the top of the pastry about half way through the baking I made a round indentation with a spoon and filled the space with mascarpone, sprinkled sugar on top, and finished baking. It was good with a cup of coffee for breakfast on the porch. I was proud of myself, the non-baker. The only thing was that the pastry didn't get cooked enough and it was too doughy on the inside. It was quite edible, though.

What a wonderful way to come home and unwind . . . reading your foodblog! And, three pages into it already. Welcome back to foodblog land! I am thrilled. Thanks for sharing such a special time with us, and happy birthday week.

Cool! Thank you very much. I'm usually in tune with anniversary dates and that sort of thing and I missed it. Cheers, to ALL.

One night last week I made risotto again. I roughly followed the recipe for Citrus Risotto with Seared Garlic-Chile Shrimp by Bill Granger, using orange and lime. Really good!

And a great first post it is. Welcome! I am so glad to know about that. (I wish I had known the last time I was in Key West.)

Sounds wonderful. So for when should we all book our flights to Amsterdam?

I'm looking forward to hearing about your experimentation with Asian cucumber salads. I love "American" cucumber salads, and I've enjoyed the Thai-style I've put together.

I second that. Sandy, thanks for the links to the Chester and Swarthmore sites. Especially that old Chester one, I'm looking forward to getting back to it and read more thoroughly.

I second that. Sandy, thanks for the links to the Chester and Swarthmore sites. Especially that old Chester one, I'm looking forward to getting back to it and read more thoroughly.

I like all the ideas mentioned, especially grilled onions, asparagus, corn, and zucchini. I don't think you specified that you wanted a grilled side dish . . . (?) A tradition in our home is to have a side of pasta with steak. Sometimes it's angel hair with a cream sauce (that's one my sons always ask for when they're visiting) or some sort of simple sauce. Pasta salads are favorites, too. My homepage always has a featured Epicurious recipe on it, and today when I saw this orzo recipe, I thought it would be an awesome side dish to something grilled. Another summery accompaniment we love is sliced cucumbers (pickling cucumbers that taste good enough to leave the skins on) & onions, simply dressed with oil & vinegar and generously salted and peppered.

I've only used arborio and find that hitting that al dente/creamy balance can be tough. Does the carnaroli help? Also, is the freshness of the rice important? I'd expect so from my understanding of other kinds of rice (jasmine, basmati), but I'm not too sure. ← I really do think it's easier to get the perfect al dente and creaminess, and I like the starchier taste, too. I used nothing but arborio for years, and switched as soon as I tried the carnaroli. In a pinch, I still use arborio; it's in all the supermarkets and carnaroli is harder to find. However, most of the time, I have a supply that I've ordered, usually from Lotus Foods, here. Maybe freshness is important with this, but I go through it pretty fast and so I don't imagine I've ever had it get stale. The bags I order are small, so it's not like having to store a bag of several pounds of opened rice.

Uh-oh . . . That question could provoke the discussion of a debatable and controversial subject! I am a die-hard for using carnaroli.

This Philly foodblog is great already. Philadelphia is one of my all-time favorite cities to visit, which I did much more often when I lived in Delaware. And, my father was born and raised in Chester, a city beloved by many (9th Street, Kerlin Street . . . what do they look like now?). My aunt lived in Swarthmore. Any chance you might buy a big fat, good, real Italian sub (or hoagie or whatever you call it), and show a picture of it? I'm more interested in seeing that than a cheesesteak. Blog on!

But of course! Why didn't I think of that.

Yeah, that's it on the zucchini. Actually before the overnight, I rinsed them. I was going to blanch them, but was glad I didn't -- they came about very rollable and full of flavor. I'll post a photo as soon as an ImageGullet glitch in my account is worked out. They were cute. I've seen that recipe -- I think I saw it on the food network recently -- and I thought about it, but only thought about it for a split second. That would have been more work than I wanted to do, and I wanted to do as much ahead as possible for yesterday. But they looked so good, I decided I want to make them for just Russ and me some night. And Klary, I did forget to say that the shrimp salad thingie was made totally the night before and the shrimp part and the red cabbage part were stored separately. Then I just put the shrimp on top of the cabbage before serving it. That was mainly why I mentioned that dish! Cold soup! Served in cups, which can sit on the plates with the other food, or not!

Surprisingly, one of the things that wow'd my guests yesterday was the zucchini and prosciutto roll-ups. The night before I salted thin lengthwise slices of zucchini and after they gave up quite a bit of liquid, rinsed and dried them. I stored them in the fridge overnight with paper towels, in a plastic bag. Yesterday morning I placed one basil leaf on each slice of zucchini, and then placed a half slice of prosciutto on top, rolled them up, and stuck a toothpick in each. A drawback (?) for you would be that it's another pork thing. The herb-marinated shrimp on top of spicy red cabbage was a big hit, too. I'll tell you more about that if you would like to hear about it. Are you interested in ideas that are just vegetable or starch kind of side dishes, or would it be of interest if there's a bit of meat (or seafood) or etc. in it?