sequim

Yes, I sit down to breakfast...in my cube before my computer screen. I don't like to eat when I just get up, I just have coffee-time, then head for the bus or the bike. I usually take a banana, a yogurt and whatever else sounds good....like pie or dumplings or muffins.

The Yoplait yogurt with the crunchy, chewy things in them.

Now that Comfort Me mentions it, I suppose there were some holes in the narrative, but still I did enjoy it and liked that he did end up going over to the dark side by working at HoJo's rather than work for the Prez. I felt he said some pretty nice things about his wife-she sounded quite interesting and outspoken, and found myself wanting to hear more about his life with his wife and daughter. Oh well, maybe he will have another book out because after all, this one was about being an Apprentice. I tried his mom's apple tart recipe and it was great!

bergerka, That pasta dinner had me drooling (sorry to be so late in posting about it) but I have a couple questions. 1. Since this dish is Italian, I have to ask, how can you possibly not drink wine with this dish? I find Italian food and wine are inseparable, even when I go out to lunch in a workday! 2. What is guanciale? 3. What is raw olive oil? Is this virgin? Thanks and sorry for the not-serious hard time I gave you...

Currently, I guess I like "slice of life" type cooking shows so I have been taping "Oliver's Twist" every week, and watch The Barefoot Contessa occasionally. I like the documentary style of Jamie and his mates, the unslick kind of show where he throws something together and the camera work isn't the best. He's fun to watch except his bed-head hair bothers me. For the same reason I like the Contessa as it's her meeting friends, going out into the garden to get herbs and so forth. I get tired of strictly-focused-on-cooking shows EXCEPT for Julia and Jacques. They have the best banter and I've learned alot from them, especially like their differing methods and Julia's cute, snide remarks. However I can't seen to find this on PBS anymore I do like to watch Rick Bayless now and again, but he's a tad too manic for a regular watching. I wouldn't mind Emeril, just Emeril, but he's on for hours and hours and I hate the studio audience. What a mess that becomes...panning in on the cute chick over and over, listening to the audience go ooh and aah. Watching Martha the few times I have was painful. She is so serious and grim. Her guests seem nervous around her.

And I love pie for breakfast. I'm open about what to eat for breakfast. Monday I had the McD's egg McMuffin meal, today I had steamed chinese dumplings and fish balls with hoisin sauce (they stunk up the lunch room badly though). I love egg burritos, eggs benedict, over easy eggs with runny yolks for toast wiping, softly scrambled eggs with country bread toast. On the weekend I'll make creamy oatmeal with cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins. Some of what other people are eating sounds really good too. I love breakfast for dinner and always have breakfast staples in the house. I hate the English breakfast we had when we stayed in a London B&B. Why can't they grill up the ham instead of making it look boiled? And why grilled, mushy tomatoes? I love just fresh slices of tomato with salt and pepper. Oh well, I guess it's their comfort food...

Ditto on the deli in BOC. I used to work there too. Now I'm in the Pacific Building, just a short walk from Salumi! For me, it's always worthwhile to walk to the ID and eat cheap and well. I avoid "food courts" like Columbia Tower, Marion Court and the like. And I agree with reesek - love Specialties' cookies. If you walk up Madison across the bridge over the freeway, there's a fairly decent Vietnamese place that serves good pho and other cheap dishes. Alittle further up Madison is the Polish deli.

It is tougher than spinach but has less water. I love it, having just discovered it. I put it in a hot pan with olive oil and try to crisp it up without burning. Then as it cooks down a tad, add some garlic. I think it has a nutty flavor and smell which I find unique among greens. I don't cook it too long as I like it somewhat chewy.

And that's a bad thing? Actually many people, myself included, think it tastes like soap. So it smells like underarms and tastes like soap. Actually it only tastes like soap when I get some bad cilantro. Otherwise, I love it.

No, Trader Joe's cheapo wine! Or maybe you were making a joke???

I get together with my friend who likes to cook and we do experimental dinners. The whole point is to try new stuff and try techniques we haven't before, so there's always going to be mistakes or disasters or disappointments. We raz each other if we haven't taken any risks. Then if something is good I can venture to make it at a true dinner. But what others have said is true, don't assume because something came out good the first time, that it will the next. I guess it's because you get overly confident or complacent and the gods have to strike you down!

Agreed. I always use a clean spoon to take miso out of the container. In my fridge I always keep a container of the yellow miso as I use it in salad dressing I make all the time.

Reading this thread is making me queasy. Do I really want to relive the first time? The most memorable one, anyways, involved rootbeer schnapps on Christmas Day with me and my two roommates - this happened in the morning, well before noon. We were only going to do a few cheers with it... what a ruin of Christmas Day, but luckily it only ruined my taste for schnapps and not for any good liquors, like tequila. Then there was the time I caught my SO in bed with someone else, that someone being a roommate in the house we all shared. So I stormed off and finished off a half bottle of whiskey. I was drunk for two days. I think that was the very worse.

Shucked oysters in the jar are quite common out here in the northwest for those who are using them for cooking or don't want to shuck. I don't find them appealing as half the fun is in slurping them from the half shell, but I imagine they're fresh enough for cooking. Smell them!

When we go camping, we always stop and get a couple dozen fresh oysters to grill. I agree that they don't "pop" open until they're well done and rubbery, but being on the heat will loosen them up so that even though you don't see them open, they are definitely easier to pry apart. What we do is grab one after it's on the indirect heat a few minutes, then try to open it, if it doesn't go, it gets thrown back until it's ready...if it starts bubbling, you know it's in danger of overcooking as its liquid evaporates. The one time I did wait until they discernably popped open, well, I didn't want to eat them...that was in my early days of schucking. As far as exploding oysters, maybe if you left them on the grill a long time, but in our camp, none are around long enough for that.

What a great topic! Bone-eaters united. My mother and I are the bone eaters. My sister and her husband aren't so it works out equitably at our dinners. I'm not as much of a fan of chicken bones because I don't like gristle but I will fight her for the chicken neck. But ptooey, I wouldn't touch the pope's nose with a ten foot pole - she takes that one.... And even though I don't like gristle, I will grab the gizzard and eat it up. M favorite bones are from red meat - t-bones and lamb chops and shoulders, especially when very well carmelized. But can't really leave out pork spareribs either. Nor a crisp pork chop bone... I don't like chicken wing tips and I've wasted many a one...I feel bad about that, knowing how many people like those.

Yep, I feel normal in this place! Before I can begin cooking, I must have a dit-free floor. It's white and shows everything and I can't stand thinking I'm stepping on stuff and dragging it all around. I have lots of other anal-qualities in the kitchen (which way the glasses stand, what pots are used for what), but this one gets the most notice from everybody who knows me. Some so-called friends will throw dits on the floor just to see me dive for them... The problem is, these kinds of qualities only get worse as you get older So I'm trying to be aware of this and kind of mix things up a bit just to stay more flexible.

Yep, agree. I was going to say Chinook's and Ray's Boathouse. I love the views from Ray's better though. That's a fun place to go to for brewskis and happy hour appetizers. Also, would mention Elliott's. I like their oyster sampler platter and the crab cakes. Oh don't forget Salty's. Nice views from there and not too bad food....I usually go there after rollerblading for the happy hour... But nothing beats Alki for views (course I'm biased being from West Seattle)

No, I meant brown in the oven. The reason I ask is that I love it when the tops get brown and crispy but I can't always achieve that. Since my first perfect chocolate souffle with the crispy top and creamy center, my other two didn't get the nice brown top. Oh I didn't know that the frozen souffles had "their time" and were done to death I saw a photo of one in a recent newspaper and it looked beautiful.

Oh yes I know there's all that - I just try not to think about it

Carolyn, Do you typically brown the tops of the souffles? I couldn't tell from the photo whether they were or not. My best chocolate souffle had a very crispy top and the inside was creamy chocolate, yum. I guess I've had beginner's luck with souffles and I regularly make 2 egg souffles that turn out well. I've also not noticed a difference between making one with a bain marie or without. Just the other night I made a cheese souffle with aged gruyere, had one right out of the oven for a light supper with salad, then refrigerated the other one. I had that one this morning at work, heated up in the microwave and it was very tasty. Kind of like very fluffy scrambled eggs. I would tell everyone who hasn't tried one to not be intimidated by them - they're impressive but fairly easy if you follow the steps. How about doing a frozen fruit souffle? They sound delicious.

Very silly-- the Europeans laugh at Americans for their scrubbing themselves until the skin comes off... Agreed I'm american and I think that germ phobia in America has reached epic heights. People walking around with paper towels gingerly opening doors, endless hand washing... I love hearing the story about Julia dropping the turkey (?) on the floor, then just picking it up and putting it back on the counter with a wink to the audience.

They are everywhere but most people don't eat them, that's for sure! Okay, this past Sunday I took my mom, my sister and brother-in-law to Sun Ya in Seattle's chinatown district for dim sum. I ordered a plate and the waitress gave me a grin. I munched on them like little corn cobs, chewing mostly skin, and then picked the bones out of my mouth. Mmmm, I agree, alot of work for little reward. And they seemed kinda overly greasy. I did get my mom to help me eat them, but the other two, no way. I guess the sauce wasn't good enough to make me want to finish the dish. But maybe all I needed was a recommendation of who has good chicken feet...

Wow, that sounds like my Polish family's food. My grandma could cook up a storm. She and my grandpa were farmers. Homemade chicken noodle soup (what is better than the slightly rubbery bite of homemade noodles, stuffed cabbage rolls, kielbasa, spareribs and sauerkraut, beet bortsch. .. My mom bakes great pies. Our family holiday dinners at my grandma's house were piled high with food. You could hardly lift the giant bowl of mashed potatoes to pass it on, or the platter of turkey and stuffing. My Uncle Stanley would always come by with his bottle of polish vodka and would give us kids a taste.

Actually I was ready to write her off based on her looks - too pretty, too trendy, too thin - but then I happened to watch a show and it was alright. She is not overly irritating and seems to genuinely appreciate good food.