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I would always watch Julia and Jacques, but now that time slot has been taken over by Ciao Italia Why is it gone! Enjoy Jamie with his mates infrequently. ATK, Boy Meets Grill, Rick Bayless ( ), Iron Chef, Barefoot Contessa (I've been liking her the most lately), even DeLaurentis (forget her show's name). I watch these occasionally, not religiously as they will all grate on the nerves with constant viewing. I program shows I want to see for the week so don't have to worry about when they're shown and I like to fastforward the commercials. In fact, when I watch regular tv, I find myself trying to fast forward...

... leave out of which group?

omigod, they're different people? The actress(s?) is too much - last week she had a dress on with wings! And she eats so daintily. They are a hoot and speak so poetically. I love the maestro - is that Kanga? He is a cutie with great jackets!

mmm, forgot to mention that weirdly green relish they put on too. I miss Chicago dogs.

I am collecting the Time-Life The Good Cook series. Lately, I've been using the Vegetables one and love it for every day cooking. My brother-in-law is a produce truck driver and frequently comes by with unexpected veggies, so I pull the book out and find some way to cook whatever it is he's given me. Have also enjoyed Tom Douglas's Seattle Kitchen. He puts the entire meal together, complete with wine and I haven't had a failure yet. Also love it since I'm from Seattle and he talks about where he goes to buy the best ingredients. Caveat: These aren't the world's best as I couldn't make that distinction, just what I am liking right now. I imagine once I've exhausted Seattle Kitchen, I will go on to the next book to cook through. But, I think The Good Cook books will be used on an ongoing basis as they're so encyclopedic.

Ah, Gourmet Cooking for Dummies

People are reporting good luck with the Mock Porchetta. I made it this Saturday and even though it turned out tasty enough, it did not go according to recipe or become carmelized like I wanted. Judy R mentions rolling the veggies in the rendered fat after an hour, well, I had none of that tasty stuff. In fact, I hardly had any fat. Is there a trick in buying the pork shoulder I should know? It certainly wasn't like roasting a chicken where there's always plenty of fat. Also, this was my first time cooking fennel and I thought it would be like celery and cook down - wrong! You could hardly chew the stuff. Now I wonder if that is because I should have peeled it? Any advice out there?

You know, I've noticed that too. Why is it that only people on the coasts know the proper strength of coffee? Except that Florida is an anomoly because of all the mid-westerners who moved down there and corrupted the quality of the coffee!

I agree with Vervain. I want to talk and eat food, drink wine and I want people who'd have something in common to talk about. An all day affaire with everybody in their prime. And have it be at Craig's or Richard's place. James Beard Craig Clairborne or Richard Olney Elizabeth David Julia Child

Some good ideas here for my favorite nothing-in-the-fridge meal. I like the basic grilled cheese, any type of bread (although my sister's dark rye is great) with generally cheddar, omelet pan with lots of butter, low slow cooking until crisp, brown and melting. Served with dill pickles. Sometimes a glass of pink grapefruit juice.

And these are food items?? I'm afraid to ask... Thanks everybody for the tutorial. I don't want to miss out on any edible goodies so I will order a plate of them this Sunday knowing how to correctly eat them! We'll see who at my table will join me...

Oh goodness, this was back in the 70's and my memory is very very hazy. I'm sure we didn't even know where we were at the time! And our palates were very untrained then so the sauce was probably fine. That was a good description, sounds like alot of feet-sucking involved.

I kinda think that will put my brother-in-law off as he can hardly stand bone-in meat...and this is a foodie-guy believe it or not. My mom likes bones and gristle and other chewies though!

Millions of Chinese can't be wrong, can they?

I consider myself an adventurous eater but so far, have not been able to cross the Chinese chicken feet line. I take that back. Many years ago in Chicago, my sister and I went to Chinatown and being the adventurous eaters we thought ourselves to be, ordered them. They arrived, looking like chicken feet (we kind of thought the name was a cute euphemism for something else...oh well) and we tasted them by eating some of the sauce. It was awful and we really didn't know if we were supposed to eat the actual feet or not. Where's the meat? I frequent dim sum in Seattle now with my sister and her husband, but we always pass on the feet. However, I've heard they're good and I want to make the leap. I just need some education. This Sunday we go to dim sum and we're taking my mom for her first time. I think it would be fun to finally do the feet. But I want to know what's to like and how do I eat these things! I want to be an educated feet eater. Thank you.

Must be George's, the place that we talked about some on this thread. Certainly deserves mention here on the sandwich thread. That would be George's, except I've never seen "George", just the two Polish ladies Except that they don't have the real good rye bread that you can get in Chicago!

And a sign of rotting is terribly bad? All I'm saying is you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water. Maybe control your ick factor and just scoop the offensive paprika/bug mixture out. I'm hardly advocating that one eat anything just because it grew outside. Actually I have a stronger ick response to a hair in my food as I don't like it twining round my teeth.

I do wonder why everybody is getting so grossed out by a few bugs. It's not like they're poisonous or harmful to eat, are they? Especially once they get cooked and camouflaged into the stew. Why waste all that food? Why be so removed from our natural world that we consider these so horrible?

The Polish deli on Madison in First Hill (around 7th or 8th Ave). Polish pickles (just like grandma made)! And headcheese on rye! But what I really wish I could find is a good chopped liver on hard roll.....haven't had one since I lived back in Chicago, sigh.

Exactly. Lunch for me is sometimes more elaborate than dinner as I'm usually hungrier at lunch and want something filling. I play racquetball for my lunch hour, then eat at my desk while working. I have leftovers (we have a microwave) and love them...no thin, pathetic sandwiches and carrot sticks for me. Today I will have homemade mushroom soup (my mom's), my sister's homemade seed bread toasted with butter, then my carrot cake for dessert. I also happen to work in downtown Seattle with all manner of noodle/pho shops around and other good stuff within walking distance. Lunch is definitely not a problem.

MMMMM, oysters! Barbecued to desired degree from barely warm to cooked (depending on the guests), then served with a variety of sauces. We usually have these when we go camping - stop at the local oyster farm and grab a few dozen. I love different mignonette (rice wine vinegar, sugar, finely chopped shallots, lemon zest, etc.), also have out tabasco, wedges of lemon, horseradishy cocktail sauce, melted butter. Mix and match. Did I say that I love oysters?

What wonderful food porn Why is all the fun in New Jersey??? The Northwest group never gets together

You would kill for a Starbuck's if you had to drink what's called coffee in the midwest. I found the same thing in Florida. Now that I think about it, most regular restaurants serve bad coffee, even here in coffee capital, Seattle. And even when they advertise fresh ground, it's been so watered down, it still tastes like Folgers.

Mexican pizza- Take a good quality flour tortilla (the thick kind), brown up alittle in a nonstick pan, then spread on a good salsa (not too watery), sprinkle with cheddar or monterey jack/jalapeno cheese, and add alittle cilantro if your salsa doesn't have it, then brown the bottom until the cheese melts and the tort is kinda crispy. Cut with the pizza cutter and serve!

I agree with you! There is a big difference between a farm egg and a factory-farm egg. As an "egg dipper" who has to have a perfect yolk to dip the toast into, having a farm egg means a luscious yellow-orange yolk. But maybe not all organic eggs are as good as the ones as you get from the farmer down the street. As for supermarket tomatoes, you definitely can get good ones if you buy the cherry tomatoes from Nature-Sweet. I always have some on hand for my salads and they're deliciously sweet. Of course they're about $4 for a teensy bag. As far as vanilla, maybe you won't notice the difference in cookies, but I think you might in say, a creme brulee. I've been wondering if that expensive Madagascar vanilla I saw at $14 a bottle could substitute for the flavor of an actual bean...