ludja

pie hole (mouth) (edited to add; and the insult part would something like, "shut your pie hole"...

We use the corn holders and the dishes-- the first keeps butter off your fingers and the second keeps all the butter trapped to be rolled in the corn.

I earlier forgot one of my favorite recipes with mint--Thai Beef Salad. The combination of fresh mint, shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, chiles and cilantro is just wonderful.

Thanks for sharing your memories, epicurean905. Fig preserves, sausage, karo syrup, salmon croquettes--sounds delicious and lovely. If you don't already have it, you may enjoy Bill Neal's, "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie". It is a wonderful Southern cookbook for baking. Besides the wonderful recipes, there are stories and background information with almost every recipe. I treasure it as one of my top five cookbooks in my large collection.

Mine are half and half. If I can get good lard I'd rather use that. ← Being reminded that Ms. Varmint doesn't eat pork, I can see why you might not use lard. I like the taste of lard in pie crusts though and use Bill Neal's recipe with roughly half butter and half lard. The peach pie looked great; nice knife-work for the vents too! Compliments on the lovely cream biscuits as well.

To add to your nice list of sides: stewed or scalloped tomatoes stewed okra and tomatoes casseroles or puddings: summer squash, corn, sweet potato, zucchini and to expand on greens: turnip, collard, beet, mustard, kale spiced peaches coleslaw succotash pickled beets

The pizza e fuie look and sound delicous--nice to use the escarole along w/the broccoli rabe. Does the scamorza cheese add a unique flavor as opposed to using mozzarella? I know some scamorza is smoked, but I've never used it.

Sounds like work as usual to me...and I'll add: saltines w/butter and peanut butter It 's classic, but arguably gilding the lily, to add a pat of butter to the top of a bowl of New England Clam Chowder.

Are you sure that others would not like the scratch cakes? (Even if they are different than the mixss they are used to?) This isn't an accusation or even a suggestion! I guess it's curiosity that makes me wonder if perhaps they would enjoy a scratch cake. Their opportunities for having one may be limited and having a friend like you that bakes could open up a new experience for them.

I'll admit up front that I haven't yet made a cherry pie--but it's on my list of things to try so I'm interested in people's comments and experiences. Could you shed a little more light Dailey on how you made the filling that didnt' turn out well? type of cherries recipe for filling lattice crust? For comparision, here's the filling suggested in Chez Panisse Fruits: 2 1/2 lbs fresh sour cherries, pitted (~ 5 cups) 1 cup sugar 3 Tbs quick-cooking tapioca 1 tsp kirsch The ingredients are tossed together and allowed to sit for ~ 30 min b/4 putting in the pie and baking. (Reason given is to "plump the tapioca" and to dissolve the sugar. (Can use Bing cherries, but in that case cut back the sugar by half). The recipe also specifically mentions that a lattice type crust is preferred, "allowing the filling to get nice and syrupy". It sounds like a good recipe to me, for some reason I like the idea that the filling is not pre-cooked. It seems like the resultant filling would be less pasty or gooey... Thanks for the link and rec in your post Gleep---it uses another approach. Namely, precooked and with cornstarch as a thickner. How does your recipe compare, Dailey?

Another article (from today) on the sale of whale burgers.

We found Carabe early on in our trip and then ended up going there 7 or 8 times during our 10 day visit! Their sorbettos/granitas were also very good, and I too fell in love with the fior de latte flavor... Also remember some other wonderful gelati flavors: apple, canteloupe, almond and walnut. The other place I remember being recommended but to which we never got is "Perche Non". Maybe someone else will have comments on this place.

I had a great salad with mint at a friend's house last week: romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber, parsley and mint with a garlic vinagrette. We had it with grilled beef and grilled chicken and it went great with both.

I'll note that high end doesn't mean high-priced in my opinion. It's the quality of the food - not the amount of the bill - that counts. Lunch options are great (I don't eat breakfast and am always up for a terrific lunch). Robyn ... ← I agree completely--only mentioned "medium priced" to distinguish these restaurants from the responses you got earlier up thread re: "high end" places which are more formal and more expensive. The food at Delfina, Zuni, Quince, etc is very high in quality.

I'll also stump for Delfina, Quince and Zuni for medium-priced, very good food. I also like Gerald Hirigoyen's Basque restaurant: Piperade. Here's a link to the menu on their website: http://www.piperade.com/site/menu.html My absolute favorite of the four is Zuni--but they are all top choices for me. Zuni and Piperade you can also do for lunch. edited to add: Zuni has a great and unique interior which might excite your interests in design. My two favorite areas are upstairs in the mezzanine overlooking the bar and near Market Street or downstairs in the main room within view of the wood-fired oven. And--if they fit in with all with your meal, add a side order of their frites to share; they're great.

Thanks for this! As an aside, one reason that I don't buy cakes from the supermarket or from many bakeries is that they do taste like they are made from cake mixes and often use frostings made with hydrogenated fats. Similar to what halloweencat expressed earlier in the thread, I don't get any "gustatory pleasture" from these cakes.

I'm not an "In and Out Buger" expert, but I do like ordering their cheeseburgers with grilled onions. Make sure you get a shake at Taylor's refresher!

I've never eaten at the Cheesecake Factory, but below is a pretty standard recipe for the dressing for the type of 'classic' Chinese Chicken Salad invented in CA in the 60's/70's. I've not had versions with hoisin or plum sauce in them. The sauce is pretty simple and the dominant, distinctive flavor is from the sesame seed oil. Sauce 1/2 cup sesame seed oil Pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 cup light soy sauce 2 scallions, chopped fine 1 teaspoon hot pepper oil (optional) edited to add: As can be seen, this is not a sweet dressing. The Cheesecake Factory version may be their own invention.

Vodka and Cointreau plus cranberry juice sets you you up to make Cosmopolitan's... Personally though, I'd rather 'use up' the vodka in other ways and then instead use the Cointreau for Margaritas... edited to add: I just saw that plattetude included cosmos within his/her list... but my rec re: Margaritas vs Cosmos still stands.

Martinis, Manhattans, Gimlets and Whiskey Sours were a tradition with the adults in our family and their friends when I was growing up. Case in point, our first Siamese cat was named "Martini". (Was funny to stand on the back porch to call him back home...) I learned how to make 'real' Margaritas in graduate school and brought this knowledge back to my greater family---much to everyone's enjoyment. Later I was so entranced with my first Sazerac in New Orleans that I bought Peychaud's Bitters and Herbsaint as gifts for friends and family, thus introducing another new drink. The other new drink I have successfully introduced to them is the Mojito. Besides all this, I'm a biophysical chemist so I guess there was always some added intrigue re: the art of mixology! Didn't start drinking cocktails until grad school though, except a little at family holidays. Moving to SF in the early 90's cemented the deal as there were many great cocktail bars in SF and a revitalization of cocktail culture in the city.

Two good and cheap places to eat between Santa Cruz and SF: (both mentioned on previous threads) Duarte's Tavern (old tavern/restaurant from logging days in Santa Cruz Mtns; beautiful old wooden bar from the late 1800's, my favorites are the green chile and the artichoke soups with their homemade bread; also good homemade pies and seafood). THis is right off of Hwy 1 in Pescadero; a little south of Half Moon Bay. Nice to stop in for a beer even if timing doesn't work out w/lunch--but you can always fit in a bowl of soup! Tres Amigos (on Hwy 1 in Half Moon Bay, west side of the rd; a little before the junction w/Hwy 92) -- great carnitas burritos, tacos, horchata, etc.

Could be; but Campari americano's can be a nice thing, closer to a French-style aperitif than an American cocktail. This background information intimates that the Americano combination may have come before the Negroni: click

If you like negronis, you may also appreciate an americano. This is basically a negroni without the gin and is typically served on the rocks. It's a nice alternative when you may want a less strong aperitif.

There have been a couple of good threads on this that will probably give you some ideas: click A perennial favorite (for me and many others) is just good bread with sweet butter and sliced radishes, a little salt sprinkled over. I also llike chopping them up and adding them to green salads for crunch, color and a little bite.

Be sure to check in the ice cream freezers at gas stations/convenience stores if they don't have them at his local supermarkets and if you don't make it out closer to the Bay area.