LaurieA-B

Portland street food suggestions in a recent article on Gourmet. com

The Edible Plant Sale at Seattle Tilth is today and tomorrow (May 2 and 3). Great selection.

Hard Rock Cafe on PIke

Thanks for the cilantro encouragement. We've thinned the pots (into quesadillas) and will see how the rest does. We've got a couple of larger containers and are going to try planting arugula next.

Our "garden" right now consists of two 6-inch pots that Iris and Matthew planted with cilantro. The cilantro sprouted and is flourishing, 3 or so inches tall right now. Each pot has at least ten tiny plants. The seed packet says to thin it to 12 inches apart. Hm. So, should we pull out a lot, or leave them crammed in? (We have no ground or larger pots, though of course we could get those if necessary.) A friend suggested we grow lettuce on our balcony. I saw some lettuce starts at the Broadway farmers market. How much space and depth do those need? Could I put one lettuce plant into a small pot, or do they need something larger? Thank you for any container tips.

The Making of a Chef and The Soul of a Chef would definitely be great additions to the list (I think they are both superior to The Reach of a Chef). Ruth Reichl--I didn't like her memoirs as much as everyone else I know, but if you're going to include one of her books, Garlic and Sapphires (her life as a critic) would be of greater interest and value to chefs. I enjoyed the Bourdain and Buford, but wouldn't give them top ten status. And I prefer The Man Who Ate Everything, a true classic, over It Must've Been Something I Ate (though I love them both).

We make the Cook's Illustrated chocolate cream pie (as found in the book Baking Illustrated; I think it's the same recipe that was in the magazine), and it's fabulous. One of my favorite desserts to make. The crust is made of ground Oreos.

My family loves the lard. My husband, aka mamster, wrote an article about lard that features (with permission) claire797's gingersnaps recipe. They're great. Marky Marc, this article also suggests sources for lard in the Seattle area. While Matthew uses lard in practically everything, the best use I've tasted was doughnut-frying. The doughnuts are AMAZING.

Crazyberry on Broadway is open! Matthew, Iris, and I checked it out this afternoon. We got two cups: plain (vanilla) with Oreo, and strawberry with fresh strawberries. I really enjoyed it, and Iris said, "I LOVE FROZEN YOGURT!" (The fact that each serving came with a Pocky stick really won her over. Also, the tables spin.) I figured Matthew would be the first person to blog about it, since they just opened, but while he was busy writing up Kintaro Ramen, someone else got there first.

We have a couple sets of Oxo Good Grips Bag Clips. Yes, they are much pricier than clothespins or binder clips, but good quality and have MAGNETS so they're always around on the fridge when we want to grab one. I think I may have found these in my Christmas stocking one year.

The first thing I thought of is the catfish sandwich at Matt's--though Matthew did manage a good facsimile during the long closure, recipe here. Lark is a good choice. Salumi. I'm pretty fond of the tiny doughnuts at Pike Place Market.

Bavarian Meats at Pike Place Market. Favorite with my daughter. elswinger, in the other thread you said you only found Oscar Mayer and Kroger at QFC. Did you try the deli case? The Broadway QFC where we shop has Boar's Head and some other meats that are much better than what you find in the packages.

Our current family favorite is Bacon-Jalapeno Pizza.

Your recommendations on storage are perfect. I ate refrigerated strawberries my whole life and only in the last few years learned what a difference it makes in flavor to keep them out of the fridge. We started getting wonderful local strawberries here in Seattle mid-June. We eat as many as we can after bringing them home from the farmers market. Since I love them for breakfast (on waffle with whipped cream this morning), I lay the remaining berries out on paper towel in a single layer on the counter. This seems to work well for getting two days (a day and a morning) of eating. Yesterday we made a batch of freezer jam, which I'd never tried before, and it has a wonderful fresh berry flavor. I'm looking forward to reading your book.

The Food Network's Power of Food series of shorts (which you can watch online) features a Northwest vegetable garden in the front yard. (It's the one called "Front Yard Garden.") On that page you can also watch Seattleites Orangette ("Lemon Cake") and Gluten-Free Girl (eponymous). And, of course, my own adorable family. But "Front Yard Garden" is the one relevant to this thread. We planted some cilantro on our patio today.

Tasting Menu recently featured Strawberry Buttermilk Pie. I haven't tried it yet, but I've made many of Dana Cree's amazing dessert recipes with delicious results.

XO Bistro on 10th Ave E is closed (may have been closed for a while, I just noticed it the other day). That block is rather desolate since the small grocery is also closed. I think it would be a great location for a family-friendly restaurant--there are a ton of kids and at least three schools in the near vicinity. Some great stuff (brunch menu!) on the Matt's in the Market blog. I am looking forward to the re-opening.

I agree completely--though really, all of the croissants are great. I always buy a plain croissant, plus whatever else, because their croissants are the best in town.

When we spoke to Peter before his trip he said March 10. I'm not sure if this is the planned day of restaurant re-opening or just the date they're returning from Asia--so definitely call before going.

The new Victrola on Pike is now open. (It seems silly for me to go there, since we live a couple of blocks from Victrola on 15th, but the new location's exterior is so appealing that I want to check it out.)

Whiskey Soda Lounge (aka Pok Pok) has some of the very best Thai food around. And drinks. The conversation Matthew and I had while watching No Reservations was, "Why haven't we been to Apizza Scholls yet?" "Because we're always going to Pok Pok." It's just a few doors down from Pix, too. Lorna, I figured you were planning to go to Apizza Scholls for the first course, and follow up with dinner somewhere else. I think they open at five.

Le Pichet, absolutely, for excellent wine and cheese. Open till 2 am on Saturday evening.

The December 2006 issue of Fine Cooking has an article on bar cookies and I made the Cranberry Streusel Shortbread Bars. They were delicious, very well received at home and work (my boss, who usually doesn't eat any snacks at meetings, ate three and praised them), and very simple to make--if you've got a bag of cranberries, you're set. I like bar cookies for giving, because you can easily cut the pan up into nice little squares. This article also includes Peanut Butter & Chocolate Shortbread Bars and Caramel Turtle Bars. The issue has a special pullout of 12 favorite FC cookie recipes. We just got our Jan 2007 issue in the mail yesterday, so if you see the December issue on the newsstand, get it quick.

Malay Satay is a good recommendation, and just south of there (12th and Jackson) is Iris's favorite, Seven Stars Pepper (SE corner, upstairs). Sichuanese Cuisine (in the strip mall on the NW corner) is good too. Tamarind Tree, good Vietnamese food a bit west on Jackson, was fine with a two-year-old. Green Leaf is another kid-friendly Vietnamese restaurant, but they're closed this week for remodel. Baguette Box is delicious and very casual--the bread is too chewy for Iris, but she enjoys the fillings. You can definitely get away with taking a child to any of the Tom Douglas restaurants, with Etta's and Lola being perhaps more family-friendly than Dahlia or Palace Kitchen (I haven't been to Serious Pie yet; Palace is probably my favorite food-wise). I would only go to Chow Foods restaurants as a back-up, would pick 5 Spot over Coastal Kitchen, and order simpler preparations from the extensive menu. (I always seem to end up overspent and undersatisfied at both; I haven't been to Mioposto or Hi-Life.) Oh, Iris and the rest of the family also love Red Mill Burgers, for fast food.

We visited the new Whole Foods yesterday (extremely convenient for us to reach on the #8 bus), which was not busy at all on a rainy morning. I was most impressed by the spectacular pastry/confectionery department--desserts, many marked "baked in house," that are a step above what I've seen at other WF stores (at least in appearance; I haven't tasted any yet), and a gorgeous chocolates section, an array of Theo (as Lorna mentioned, and much easier for me to get to than Fremont!), but also many other chocolatiers and patissiers. Several unfamiliar company names that I am curious to try. While people have been mentioning the focus on prepared foods to the exclusion of groceries, my quick glance around didn't reveal anything crucial missing. I picked up a box of my favorite 365 sourdough crackers on the way out.