sequim

I find that if you throw them some food, they leave you alone. Of course then I have to worry that they're getting more wine than me and I'm getting distracted again.

Indian food looks terrible (no offense intended), tastes great. Japanese food looks beautiful, tastes alittle too subtle, somewhat bland although I do love sushi. As Pan said above and I agree - I love Indian, like Japanese. I couldn't exist on just Japanese food, it seems too ethereal, doesn't make me feel full. I guess there's not enough comfort food there for my taste or my taste buds are deadened by the spicy food I like.

Yes, beware, Seattle is a nightmare for driving. Except for West Seattle where I live, that is. I'd love to get together for any eat parties the group wants to plan.

I spend too much time cleaning up the counters and any bits that drop on the floor. I hate being so nit-picky~! However, I do have the clean as I go down, maybe to excess. But it's so nice to relax after dinner and know I don't have to face a mess in the kitchen. However, at dinner parties, it's more like what Moby describes. I just lose it in the last minute getting everything out and the place is a disaster zone. I like watching Oliver's Twist and how Jamie seems to throw his meals together effortlessly. He doesn't spend alot of time getting things just so and I love how he measures (not) - I mean, it's just approximations. I'm not sure I ever see him use a measuring spoon or cup. although he will tell the viewer whether a cup or teaspoon of what he's using. I like it though, it's refreshing to see him work.

Well I always assume restaurants in the ID are going to be alittle rough around the edges but when someone mentioned the wallpaper moving, I almost had second thoughts about going. I've lived in Chicago and do not want to see roaches again! So I just wanted to help counteract comments that might put someone off about going.

This is an update on Kau Kau's as I just got back from lunch there. My friend and I had the lunch special for $4.99. I'd never been here before but had been reading this thread and expected a hole in the wall, dirty place with good food. Well we were pleasantly surprised. Maybe it's changed from 2 years ago, but it was cleaner than alot of places I've been to in the ID, wasn't smoky or greasy, and I saw no critters or the hairy guy. The lunch special comes with soup, steamed veggies (unfortunately overcooked), fried rice, bbq pork and then a choice of one other meat. I chose the roast duck. The soup was a bit underflavored with bits of tofu and straw mushrooms but not too bad. I thought the fried rice was really good. It had lots of bits of bbq pork, shoots and other things in it. The bbq pork itself is wonderful and doesn't have 5-spice which I don't care for either, at least not in any strong amount. It was thinly sliced, juicy with nice chewy bits. The duck was good but not as good as the pork. True, the fat had not been rendered enough but I just stripped the chewy stuff off and ate it with the wonderful marinade, and left the fat. I also tried one of my friend's bbq pork ribs - it did have 5-spice but it wasn't that strongly flavored with it - unlike King's pork. Unfortunately the bits of rib didn't have much meat on them. I have to agree I think Kau Kau's bbq pork does beat King's. Afterwards we went for dessert at The Cake House bakery. Their fruit tart for $1.40 was delicious and covered in fruit.

Oooh, I picked this sauce up in a random go and grab through my local chinese market. It was so good I took it for granted and thought all were this good...that's not the case. Well I'm making myself a grocery list: mushroom soy (I know Soba raved about this too) Chee Hou sauce

Nessa, do you mind being alittle more specific about your spring roll recipe? They look mahvelous. I love that you just take cooked/marinated things and can put them together, no frying. However, what do you marinate the cabbage in? Also, do you use roast chicken for your shredded chicken?

I have to admit to having harbored a bias against Texas...I won't go into the nasty details. However, just within the past month a couple things have occurred to make me sort of turn my opinion around alittle. One was going to San Antonio and being impressed with the Riverwalk area (and wishing Seattle could do the same with their waterfront) and the other is Nessa's blog and what she tells us about Dallas. And I love Central Market too, only I would never ever pass the wine section.

Yes yes yes, get thee some vanilla beans! They are so expensive but they are worth it. I love the black specks you get in the custard from them. I was so envious when watching Oliver's Twist one time and he brought out a whole quart jar with vanilla beans..

I prefer a good plain vanilla ice cream. I like my pecan pie warm then the ice cream melts into a nice cream on the pie.

There's a whole thread on carmelizing onions using a slow cooker. I tried it and it works, pretty carefree. Then you can make a huge batch. I understand your frustration with the Search function. It doesn't work too well but they're working on getting a master index created, so I heard through the grapevine.

Mmmm, a thermos of iced lemonade sounds good. Also, how about a chunk of good bread, salami, and some fruit that won't go weird like grapes. I like to just go to a specialty store and cruise through it looking for ideas.

Ditto on the Deli. I miss chopped liver on hard roll. Real rye and black breads. Decent Greek and Indian places - I know it helps though, to have the right local population to make this happen.... Mexican. The kind you can get in California. So maybe it's Cal-Mex.

A co-worker once told me she liked the Hotel Monaco (Sazerac) for breakfast - I felt like I could trust her review of it as she was a foodie hedonist. Nice surroundings and they really take care of you as a single diner. But haven't gone myself. 1101 4th Avenue.

Don't forget the free bus zone in the downtown area. We have a whole thread on eating at Salumi! Definitely a unique experience but not much room there. Similar to Matt's in the Market. edited because I just noticed you'll be up on Broadway so alittle out of free bus range. Duh.

I am so tired of restaurant stinginess with menus. They always seem to be trying to snatch them away. I think it's foolish to be so concerned with the costs of printing menus not to have plenty around when we're talking about possible extra sales. I've never stolen a menu in my life so I'm certainly not going to walk out with the precious thing. And why should the cost be so prohibitive for some printed pieces of paper over anything else in the restaurant - I don't hear anyone complaining about the cost of fresh flowers on the table or how about the things people really do like to steal like silverware or salt and pepper shakers. Also, for me, my dinner choice includes wine and dessert. I have to think about it all together and I dislike having to ask for what I need. I just want to sit down and then enjoy the experience without having to look around for a server or somebody to get what I need. I also disagree that it's inappropriate for the menu to be out all the time at a good restaurant. If the cover is attractive, then it looks fine. I like to see the menus there for me when I get seated.

I guess now I can see that putting desserts separate, like wine, highlights them and can make them special, not excluded. But they must all be on the table. In my opinion if there are photos or a dessert cart, I assume the desserts won't be much good as pretty doesn't usually/always mean good and yes, it feels cheap. As is my opinion that if a restaurant has a great view (like on the water) the food won't be very good.

People talk about knocking down wasp nests but I'm not sure it's necessary to do that unless you're talking about the aggressive yellow jackets. We had several nests made around our house last year and I never got bothered by them. However, my sister and b-in-law were freaked out and wanted them knocked down. Now I think they may have been paper wasps which are harmless and also they do go after tent caterpillers. So I wouldn't indiscriminantly go after stuff until you know if it's harmful or not. Luckily last year I scraped all the grey pods off my one tree the tent caterpillers really went after and got most of them, so my yard has been pretty untouched this year. They don't seem to care for the later leafing trees, just the early ones. Rather than cut branches off like my b-in-law does I would just take a stick and try to knock their webs apart since that is where they return every night.

Yes, not worth having for awhile as one can be sick of them! In Seattle, ahi tuna and the aforementioned garlic mashed spuds.

This is a depressing thread.

That works for one's home cooking, but at a restaurant, it's different. I'd gotten so sick of seeing garlic mashed potatoes last year at all the restaurants, yet this is a classically good dish. Every time period has its fads - I guess it's a matter of time passing, the fad falling out of favor and then it becomes a classic. An example of finding something that you think is new that was a fad. I recently read about frozen souffles and in Carolyn's eGullet class on souffles, I mentioned how great these looked. However, she wrote that she saw these all the time growing up and had gotten sick of them so had no desire to make them. Even if something is done well, it can still be a fad and people will get sick of it. However, if enough time passes, the dish will come into respected favor again if it's a decent recipe. I'm alittle confused about what is considered a cliche though. Perhaps something that can taste good yet is so indicative of a time and place that it is snickered at. Maybe Carolyn's frozen souffles were a cliche of the 60's dinner parties.

I generally always have to ask for the dessert menu which annoys me, but I communicate to the server that I'm interested and hope that they would tell me about anything special or their favorite. I plan my meal and include dessert in the planning just as I would at home by reading the descriptions of the course ingredients and imagining how they will taste together and whether they are heavy or light. I have never been pressured to order dessert with the dinner but I let it be known that I may have dessert. One thing I don't like is when they try to whisk the dessert or wine menu away as I like to keep them close and peruse them as I eat in case I change my mind or need to order another bottle. But then I'm one of those who's in the habit of reading while I eat... Why is the wine menu separate? Ladylike or manlike behavior is so retro.

Holy cow, when did you plant your favas that they have bloomed? Mine are just starting to come up. I've never grown them before and didn't realize before planting that they're huge plants.

Grad school! I'm impressed that you withstood it that long. That is precisely the reason I dropped out of college in my junior year. Every once in a while come those pivotal moments when you get to decide whether to have your own experiences or to let others do all of your digesting for you. I don't think they could have ruined my pleasure in literature; but I could have ruined my academic career by tuning out their attempts. It seemed the better part of valor to get the hell out of dodge. /OT Oh hell, I made it to grad school but I dropped out after a year. My undergrad classes were great and inspiring, I thought grad would be the same. Instead, it was all about politics and the absurdity of deconstruction theory... I think I might still have been writing if I hadn't gone... /end OT Okay I've cleared the motes of discourse and stand firm with my original impression of the book as a fun read. I wonder if I'll change my opinion once I read her first book.