LaurieA-B

If I remember correctly, the Cook's Illustrated article about spritz recommended using a pastry bag rather than a cookie press (I think they found the bag to be the quickest and most efficient method). OK, just found the Nov/Dec 2004 article: The pastry bag "allows for fancier shapes . . . and the bag provides more control and freedom of motion. I prefer to use a pastry bag, but it's hard to argue with the convenience of a good cookie press." As mentioned above, the Wilton Comfort Grip is the one they recommend.

Reese's Peanut Butter Christmas Trees--the holiday versions (pumpkins, hearts, Easter eggs as well) always seem fresher and more delicious than the standard peanut butter cups.

We had dinner there last night for the first time and I loved it. Beautiful room and we had the perfect table, next to the fireplace. (No one was eating on the waterfall patio but the heaters were on and it was very attractive.) I loved the shrimp-topped rice cakes. The cocktails sounded extremely delicious, but since it was a school night I had a refreshing tamarind soda. I look forward to returning. The service was pleasant and solicitous.

Over on the Farewell and Welcome thread, tsquare posted that a "NY Cupcake Store" has opened on Westlake Park. Details, anyone? Speaking of Cupcake Royale, I very much enjoyed their autumn seasonal cupcakes (now finished) and they are now offering red velvet and gingerbread cupcakes for winter.

The retail shop is in progress... expect to hear about it soon. I'm looking forward to it, especially if they offer the Cranberry Grand Marnier Christmas bun mentioned on the website.

After reading the posts upthread, I've been really wanting to try Geraldine's Counter. Since I had the day off work for Veteran's Day, Matthew, Judy, Iris, and I headed their for lunch. While my food was not particularly good, everything else was great. It's a very bright, attractive room, and was doing a brisk business (lots of kids and babies). I had a hard time deciding among the scrambles, omelets, sandwiches, and amazing-sounding macaroni and cheese. When I looked up their number earlier, I ran into a blog post that recommended the Geraldine's Breakfast Casserole, and described the biscuits as "sublime." So I ordered that meal, but the casserole (sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, cheese) was unfortunately bland, apart from the tasty pico de gallo topping. Not terrible, but lacked the flavor I expected. The biscuit I ordered on the side was dry, flavorless, and seemed like it had been sitting around cut in half for a while. The pancakes of the day were oatmeal with blueberries; would have been a better choice, in retrospect. Judy ordered the corned beef sandwich, which we all thought was very, very delicious. Rye bread from Columbia City Bakery across the street. Matthew had a hamburger, and praised it--check this out, burger eaters. I thought the french fries were very good too. Geraldine's is now open for dinner. We also visited the bakery, got a loaf of excellent bread, tasted some tender, eggy challah, and brought home a delicious pain au chocolat for tea. Also a very attractive room with plenty of tables for coffee/breakfast.

We ordered challah for this week, so I'm glad to hear it's good. Matthew always uses challah for weekend French toast. (And thank you for supplying the correct info on their kosher offerings.)

We went to Bagel Deli for the first time yesterday; it's our neighborhood bagel place since our recent move. I can't speak to the authenticity (I had a cranberry bagel), but my bagel was tasty, they had a big selection including choices like salt and onion for purists, and it's a nice airy space. They were doing a brisk business in flavored cream cheeses. Since they serve sandwiches with both ham and bacon (Matthew had a Denver bagel), "kosher" doesn't enter the equation.

We recently moved to a new apartment and my mother-in-law gave us an enormous wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Best housewarming gift ever.

Matthew's coffee and beer article was in the Seattle Times this past Sunday.

A few weeks ago, I baked a blackberry cornmeal cake that was all right, not great. The remains sat under a cake cover until Matthew noticed it and threw it away, telling Iris (age 20 months) that it was going in the garbage because it was "old cake." When I got home from work she was burbling about, "Dada, old cake, garba." This evening, after we put her to bed in her crib, we heard her murmuring, "Old cake, old cake, old cake. New cupcakes. Make 'em! New cupcakes! Make 'em!"

Brunch at Monsoon was written up in the Seattle Weekly. It does sound delicious.

Here's a link to the Seattle Times column about prosciutto adoption.

Where are you getting good peaches this year? I've had no luck so far. I've bought Red Haven peaches from a couple of different vendors at the Broadway farmers market (11-3 Sunday), which have ranged from okay to terrible (hard, tasteless, unripe). When I stopped by Metropolitan Market a couple of weeks ago, the peaches from Pence hadn't come in yet (delayed, still on the tree). Does anyone know the current status? How are the peaches from Rama? If I hear good word, I'll trek over to the U-District on Saturday or Pike Place on Wednesday to the Rama stand. We were at PPM last Friday and none of the peaches seemed that great (and I bought some that weren't, in fact, that great; soft enough to bruise easily, but mealy and tasteless). I want ripeness!

I think Lark definitely fits in this category (it's on 12th, right next to Seattle U.). And I love their food, particularly the interesting presentations of seasonal ingredients.

Belle's Buns are also sold at the Broadway Farmers Market, 11-3 on Sundays at Broadway and Thomas. (And you might catch a glimpse of Carolyn's new baby.) We were regular bun-buyers at the U-District market, so it's great to find them in our own neighborhood.

I think that Les Fromages is at the Friday farmers market on Madison (20th and Madison?), because I bought cheese from them at this market when it used to be at Broadway and Pine. I don't remember seeing milk for sale, but they had an excellent cheese selection.

Cafe Campagne might be good, especially with older kids like these (the last time I was there for weekend brunch, which is delicious, there were several families with small children). Their food is excellent, and the menu includes French fries. And of course there are lots of other good places to eat all over Pike Place Market, nice places or grab and go. I once had lunch at Matt's with a ten-year-old and it was fine (the food is highly recommended). He was a little uncertain about some of the food, but perked up over dessert.

Grand Central Bakery? Main location with great selection is on 1st, right by Elliott Bay Books. (I had lunch there the other day, which was pleasant, and shopped at the Paper Cat next door, which is probably the best stationery store I've ever been to.)

It's on the southeast corner, and there's underground parking. The favorite dish of both Iris (age 18 months) and me is the ants on a tree; we can pretty much demolish a platter between the two of us. Last time we had dinner there Matthew ordered the chong qin (I think) chicken, which was very spicy and extremely delicious.

New issue of Fine Cooking (Sept. 2005) has an ice cream machine test and one they recommend is the Salton Big Chill. Anyone tried it? The appealing feature is that instead of freezing the entire bowl, you freeze a disk that goes under the bowl (takes up less freezer space).

I was referring to the line "The beer-battered cod and chips ($12) may be the most delicious in Seattle."

I know someone who works at Brouwer's; the staff has read/is reading this thread. I imagine they might be a bit flummoxed by the parallel Stranger/Weekly reviews last week. Is it possible the Weekly reviewer got a particularly good batch of frites?

This P-I article says that Osteria La Spiga is planning to open at 12th and Pine. I assume that means they'll be moving out of their Broadway location. I'm certainly glad they'll still be in the neighborhood. The accompanying article about Broadway mentions Pho Cyclo moving in. It's the former Simply Thai space. Even though, as the article points out, there's already Than Bros. on the next block, I'm looking forward to Cyclo since I've heard such good reviews of their south location.

What sort of CCC do you want? We make them pretty often (Matthew makes them, actually) using the Cook's Illustrated recipe. They're fairly large and quite soft (not crisp at all). Some folks here enjoyed these recently at an Amster potluck. I haven't seen the Fran's recipe. So--if soft and chocolatey sounds good, we could probably hook you up.