Holly Moore

A double recipe of Snert - Dutch Pea Soup

I've asked Famous Fat Dave for an idea of what goes into a tour, food wise. Agree it's more for tourists than locals, but it would be great to hop in the back of a Checker cab one more time.

Pretty sure I'm going. I've been to Charleston a few times, but would appreciate recommends for road food types of places that I have missed. I'm probably going to hit Bowen's Island Fri or Sat night to get in shape for those 65000 lbs of oysters.

Saw it under quick escapes in the Times. I'm thinking of heading down. Anyone been? What's the weather this time of year? Sunday, January 25 Boone Hall Plantation Mount Pleasant, just north from Charleston Oyster Shucking Contest, Oyster Eating Contest, Oyster Cooking Contest? Lots of Charleston Area Restaurants Participating. Low Country Oyster Festival

Unless you went to Cornell where the "Bull Burger" was slurped down at all hours.

There are no grinder rolls in Philadelphia. The sandwich goes on a hoagie or cheesesteak roll. Tommy DiNic uses spinach sauted in oil and garlic. I'm pretty sure Tony Luke uses broccoli raab. The rolls are not toasted.

First, let's get the order right. Hoagies, being the ultimate version of the sandwich, must get top billing. Second, while Tommy DiNic's sliced pork with aged provolone and greens is assuredly worth a trip to Philadelphia, it is simply called a pork sandwich, not a hoagie. Tony Luke's and John's do excellent sandwiches too. But Tommy rules. Hoagies got their names one of two ways. 1. There is an area, south of the city know as Hog Island. Back in the early 1900's, a lot of ship builders worked on Hog Island, many of them Italian. Wives packed lunchs of bread and meats. The guys and their sandwiches were know as Hoggies which evolved to hoagies. 2. Same time era there where street vendors known as hokie pokie men. They took to hollowing out bread and filling it with an antipasto of sorts. Hokey's. Eventually became Hoagies. Hoagie History

The Hamburger and The Cheeseburger.

Sugar Busters here, which is Atkins with a few more fruits and vegetables. Both prohibit white bread and white bread products. Not sure about Atkin's but Sugar Busters permits whole grain, whole wheat bread. Instead of eliminating the bun, BK or one of the others might put their burger on a whole grain, whole wheat bun on the menu or a couple of slices of whole grain, whole wheat bread. Suspect they'd be surprised at how many they sold to both lo carb dieters and to people who basically appreciate good food. Edit: BTW, Trader Joe's, or at least the Philadelphia Trader Joe's has both whole grain, whole wheat hot dog and hamburger rolls. And even better, the hot dog rolls are top sliced, New England style.

You talking about me or the tomatoes?

Not as fabulous as tagging along with the Fat Guy himself, but on those days when he's off eating on his own, an intriguing alternative: Famous Fat Dave's

Plenty of big ol' blueberries in season at farm stands in South Jersey. But though big and plump, nowhere near the flavor of a Maine Blueberry. Wonder what would qualify as the Pennsylvania State Fruit?

Saw in the Philadelphia Inquirer that New Jersey now has an official state fruit - the blueberry. I'd credit Maine with the blueberry. For Jersey, the cranberry. Even better, by strict definition, the Jersey Tomato. Make that the the pre-corporate Jersey Tomato of yesteryear, or as is still found at some local roadside stands.

I'm thinking a cross between bubble tea and lime ade.

The Columbian Coffee Growers also use that recommended measure as do most major manufacturers. Brewing time and grind should not play into the formula. Slower than ideal brewing over extracts the coffee making it bitter. Faster under extracts, making it weak. The same with fineness of the grind. It relates to brewing method. But too fine a grind than recommended for a brewing method over extracts. Too course a grind under extracts. Best cup of coffee. Always one coffee measure or two tablespoons. Then the brewing speed and grind fineness recommended for your brewing method. All that said. When I was developing the Coffee By The Pound program for Dunkin Donuts we had two formulas. One for Kansas and neigboring states - one tbs per 6 oz cup and one for the east and west coasts (any anywhere else but Kansas) - two tbsp. At one point Dunkin Donuts made all franchises follow the same ratio of coffee to water. They had to relax their rule in the non-Chicago midwest. Edit: I just checked a plastic coffee measure to be certain. The standard coffee measure is, indeed, two tablespoons.

Desserts specifically concocted to go with coffee. Interesting idea. Not all of them of course, but maybe a few. Might start a menu trend. Different coffee blend depending on the dessert ordered.

What makes Lobel's steaks that much better than the steaks served at the best steakhouses? Flavor? Texture? Both? Cachet? Is the difference obvious at first bite?

The Pines Burger from the Pines (Glenwood Pines officially) just north of Ithaca: Good sized rectangular burger, rectangular roll, thousand island dressing, etc. Then again, if I'm there on Friday, I'm going for their foot long chili dog:

During a trip last June I ate my way through a number of fish and chipperies and the S&M* cafe. Any of those would fit your budget nicely. From my web site: London *Sausage and Mash

My understanding it was for heavy coffee drinkers - 6 cups a day or more.

La Colombe is far more enjoyable since the smoking ban. With the arrival of winter, one more ban is called for. Philadelphia's Artic cold spell has driven at the less hearty bike messengers from their usually corner hangout at 18th and Walnut to the warmth of La Colombe's table area. With the messengers come their walkie-talkies. Yesterday four messengers, their walkie-talkie's ablare with a jumble of static and screeching voices, were sitting next to me. Bedlam. Took me an extra 10 minutes to complete the Times crossword. Yesterday also, one of the morning baristas prepared a cappucino by pouring a portion of the steamed milk down a side of the cup, rotating it 90 degrees, pouring some more steamed milk and so on until a complete trip around the cup. The result a stylistic "X" of espresso decorating the white foam. Bravo.

And even better, a lot of people with kids, tourist and local alike, favor chains to independents. Kids in restaurants. Bah Humbug! I've also always maintained, perhaps even earlier on this thread, that chains keep suburbanites in the suburbs. At least the type of subarnite that should stay in the suburbs. Present company excluded of course

Talked about it yesterday with the owner of Monk's Cafe here in Philadelphia. Monk's usually ranks in the top two or three whenever anyone writes about best Philadelphia Burgers. He said that for the weekend following the Mad Cow announcement, he cut back on ground beef and pumped up his orders of chicken breasts and beefless burgers. Turned out his ground beef sales were up and have stayed up. Guess we live on the edge here in Philly.

So does Chef Boyardee.

McD biscuit breakfasts are ok. But Hardee's rules, biscuit wise. Especially their country ham. And a bunch of independents run cirlces around both.