Susan in FL

Today, the hamburger I had for dinner. No, it was the Usinger hot dog I had for dinner. Yesterday, the Pad Thai from a newly discovered Thai restaurant. The day before, a Frosty from Wendy's.

Thank you so much... can't wait to try it. Welcome! I don't know anything about this honey, except Tenerife is where one of my sons recently vacationed. However, from what I read, it sounds great.

Jinmyo, do you do any more cleaning of the shrimp than to break off the heads? Like Judith, I never thought of anything but stock for the saving the heads, or shells. We could have a ton of whatever if we bought our local shrimp whole instead of headless. And what do you mean by legs... how do you separate those little tiny legs from the shells?

Thanks, Melissa! If it's as good as it sounds, I'm in luck.

The photos of your meals out and the markets have been great! Before you go... ... Can you tell me anything about the restaurant in the Renaissance Hotel, International Plaza in Tampa? It is Pelagia Trattoria, and for that matter, what else might be good in the area? I think I'm going to attend a conference there in March.

I'm looking forward to responses, as well. I will probably be in Tampa in March and am interested in what is in the area of the Renaissance Hotel, International Plaza. Does anybody know how the hotel's restaurant, Pelagia Trattoria, is?

It's the sound they make... you know, kind of a joke, the only part that you can't use for food. Apparently the snout is used in souse.

Glad to know that "works," Elie. Thanks.

That sounds wonderful! Could you post or link us to the recipe you used? Interesting, I hadn't been much interested in figs either, until recent months, and now I'm finding these two are often associated together.

Last night I continued on our current kick for Asian cooking.

Send it to me.

Great posts, everyone. They are much appreciated. And Peanutgirl... impressive! I am in awe that you did all that in one snowed-in day. That is a testament to your skill and to the book. One thing that Thai is not for me is a whip-it-up quick dinner. It is still a time-consuming project (much enjoyed). Tonight was what is becoming weekly Thai night, but it was actually Vietnamese and Laotian. I grabbed the Hot Sour Salty Sweet book on my way out the door to work this morning, and then went to the Asian market in the town where I worked today. I bought quite a lot of stuff. Some was restocking staples like fish sauce, chili paste, curry paste, etc. I checked out the fresh produce, and there were nice shallots and scallions, beautiful Chinese broccoli, fresh galangal, lemongrass which looked better than our homegrown so I bought some of it, bird chiles, plenty of fresh herbs, and more. All this was inspired by having leftover Jasmine rice, so between that and what I bought, I decided upon a Vietnamese version of fried rice, accompanied by nuoc cham I made previously and an herb and salad plate, and Laung Prabang Pork Stew with Bitter Greens. We enjoyed it all, including experiencing some new flavor combinations. We're trying to learn some of the subtle taste differences -- for example, a different brand of fish sauce this time. The only thing slightly objectionable was in the Perfume River Rice (the fried rice), I processed a mixture instead of pounding in the mortar, and the onion and shallots sort of spread some bitterness throughout that I think otherwise would not have been there. So anyway, this is the Vietnamese Herb and Salad Plate, which I thought looked pretty with the new double flower vase thingie I bought with iris and orchids in it: Basil, mint, cilantro, leaf lettuce, bean sprouts, scallions, lime wedges, cucumber chunks, and bird chiles. This is the fried rice dish and the pork stew with Chinese broccoli. We think coming soon will be satay and peanut sauce, and we also want to tackle noodles. Any advice on noodle dishes? I bought some for Pad Thai.

Beautiful pasta, Wendy and beautiful sandwich plate, Judith. Everybody's sounds good. Tonight after work I get one more time to cook this week, and then I have to go out for some business + pleasure dinners.... awww.

I just found this thread and read through it -- missed it the first time around. I agree wholeheartedly with almost all of them; however, I admit I do like: Pea shoots Flavored bagels "Corn cake" ...I won't call my cornbread with sugar in it cornbread from now on Soybean oil Room temperature (soft) butter Skim milk Iceberg lettuce Other ingredients in mashed potatoes. To the list of crimes against food I will add good cheese, served cold.

Welcome... this kind of cooking is infectious!

A soup from dried chick peas I cooked today, leftover kale, turkey kielbasa (we're calorie cutting during the week), orzo, etc.

That's what I thought... How nice. The lady I was referring to was the wife of one of my Hospice patients. That confirms it was an honor to be invited over to eat some of her one pineapple.

Glad to hear there are some honey lovers, including converts. Before this discovery, I would probably have stuck up my nose at this, but now I am open to trying almost anything! It is fun. New meaning new to one's self... I do realize thyme honey is as old as the hills. Pardon the poor joke. That is really interesting! I'll check it out, and let you know if I have any trouble finding it. I haven't heard of that kind of honey before, but that's the kind of examples of "new" stuff I like! I found a recipe for Grilled Figs With Thyme Honey and Gorgonzola Toasts that sounds really good, and I've known honey to be good in sauces for boneless duck breasts. I also read about drizzling good honey on blue cheeses or goat cheeses... Anybody do that?

Elie, many thanks for the link to the Couscous thread. I just finished reading it, and now I'm tracking it... so much to learn!

It all looks wonderful, but the Moughrabiyah/Moghrabiah has me salivating for it. Is that Israeli couscous? Sorry if I missed that detail in either post. I want to make that...

Diana, has your pineapple plant produced fruit yet? Mine has not. I planted ours about two years ago and no sign yet, even though it thrives. The lady who told me this would work said hers took two or three years to make a pineapple.

The pine nuts aren't brined. Those are in a plastic jar. He gets lots of things in bulk and packages it in various sizes. Those are the best pine nuts I've found in this area... far superior to supermarket brands. One of the things I'm most thrilled with are his pitted olives. Always in the past when I found olives already pitted, they were not such good quality. These, I prefer the taste over the other brands I've tried, and I don't have to go through the trouble of pitting them when needed. I'm picky about oil-cured olives. I've had some so bad, I couldn't swallow them! Nice idea for brined green peppercorns... We haven't done that.

Robyn, I didn't know those three were sister brewpubs to River City Brewing. Thanks!

I've never been crazy for honey, using it only when called for in recipes, but since this discovery I have been all about honey. I got it from "my Greek guy" at Cosmos Imports, in South Daytona, which now has a web site. Each time I go to his store, I take his recommendation for something new to try. It was the Orino Thyme Honey the last time I went shopping there. I love to eat this on toast. I did some reading up on honeys, thyme honey in particular, and realized I have been missing out on something. ...Good, and good for you too, apparently. Please let me know if you have any special honey uses. He -- I really do need to find out his name so I can refer to him as something other than my Greek guy -- told me he takes a spoonful of this and a spoonful of EVOO every day. Here it is pictured in the first of the photos of my last Cosmos shopping. Any recent good food finds to report?

Absolutely! They will work perfectly.