chow guy

Reminds me of a sign I saw in the 60's near Woodstock NY. "Eat here get gas" We did. I read that the % of profit on gas is tiny. The money is made on the junk food, these days.

Thanks for the tip. I never search on the site because the "Site Search" is so inaffective. Now I can try another way of searching.

I had a conversation with my brother about that. In San Francisco, homeless people are happy to accept leftovers. In New York, I've found that they won't touch them. New Yorkers are more suspicious. ← Bingo! Years ago in NYC I had a horrible time trying to give homeless encaments the "high end" leftovers from catered gigs. "We don't want this crap", was the most common response. I promply stopped doing it and began donating the food to a free lunch program at a local church. These days, I'm part of a group called the kitchen yogi's. We serve dinner to seventy men at a homeless shelter the last Sunday of the month (a day when all the other soup kitchens are closed). It's been a real hit

Thanks for the link...Very funny! I've seen it somewhere (not on line) once before, has it been on TV?

Interesting, many of my Italian friends in New York, similarly call their tomato sauce gravy, instead of sauce.

Thanks for the links... especially Lori Midsen's. I think she's one of the best. I'm on the way to Denver later and will hopefully get to at least three on her list.

Wow! You took me back. I used to go to the Scandia back in the 60's when I lived in LA. I didn't even realize it was a chain. We also went to the Cock and Bull and Le Petite Jean for special ocassions. No Ruth Christ here, we're stuck with Chili's, Friday's, Papadeaux and the like. We do have lots of good shack type places including The Dog House, Sugars BBQ, and Callies Cajun who serves great cajun out the window of a blue RV on the side of the road in Santa Fe. Long live the little guy!

I also take flack from friends who think I'm being a snob for not wanting to go with them to overpriced chains. I'd much rather eat at a taqueria or whole in the wall, mom and pop place, than pay the price these chains charge for such crap. I will splurge big bucks at a place like Gary Danko or Gramercy Tavern where the bang is well worth the bucks and there is no sense of classism, just enjoyment of great food without pretence. On the other hand, when it comes to ulltra chic places that use chemistry sets, instead of sauce pans in their kitchens, I'm not impressed. I don't need to wrap my mind around food, I need to wrap my mouth around it. Long live "classicism" with creative flair!

Laurie, I wrote a garlic piece several years ago and found the Garlic Seed Foundation very helpful. Sorry I have no time to find contact info. Our local garlic god is Stan Crawford who wrote "The Garlic Testament". He's on the board of the Santa Fe Farmers Market and might know which local chefs are using the heirloons, their fax is: (505) 982- 3126. Good Luck!

Russ Parsons suggests in his book "How to Read a French Fry" that, cooking oil needs some milage on it, for french fries to get a color. I always reuse oil and my tempura usually browns nicely, so...Maybe it's the same with tempura. Also, ice cold water might make a difference as well.

I live in Albuquerque New Mexico and shop at many stores including: Trader Joes, Costso, health food stores, ethnic markets and large chains), these prices are from a small downtown local market with great prices. beef (chuck) $3.19/ lb bacon (Hormel) $4.69/lb chicken, whole $1.19/lb salmon (Atlantic farmed) $8.99/lb shrimp $4.99/lb 51/60 count cabbage $0.39/lb carrots $0.79/lb or $1.29/2 lb bag chiles (jalapenos) 2 lbs/ $1.00 corn (fresh) 3 for $1.00 mushrooms $2.99/lb onions 3 lbs/$1.00 potatoes (russet) 5lbs/$1.99 squash (zuck or yellow) 2lbs/ $1.00 apples (red delicious) 2 lbs/$1.00 bananas 2 lbs/$1.00 coconuts $.99/ea lemons 5 for $1.00 limes 4 for $1.00 mangoes 3 for $1.00 oranges (navel) 10 for $1.00 tomatoes (Roma) $.87 lb (hot house) $1.29lb flour (Gold Medal) $1.29/5 lb bag pasta/noodles (dried) $1.79/lb or10lbs for $10.00 rice 3 lbs for $1.00 sugar $1.79/5 lb bag cooking oil (Mazolaa $2.19/qt olive oil $6.99 for 17 fl ozs sesame oil * I buy the 56 fluid oz Kadoya Brand at the orietntal market for $9.99 soy sauce (Kikoman) $1.99 for 10 ozs vinegar (apple cider) $2.29/qt butter (Land o Lakes) $4.29/lb cream $4.89/qt eggs (XLrg) $1.39/doz (Jumbo) $1.59 doz yogurt 2 lb container $2.00 milk (2%) $2.99/ half gal cinnamon $1.19/oz paprika $1.29/oz pepper $1.00 for 4oz saffron $1.59/ 1/2 oz (labeled saffron... but I doubt it) vanilla $3.50/1 oz bread $1.50/24 oz loaf coffee (Folgers) $3.27/lb I'm going to also do a cost out for this list for organic items from my local Co-Op. I'm very curious to see how much more it will be.

I've been cooking for several Tibetan Lamas and their entourages lately and I need a really good Tibetan cookbook recommendation. Any ideas?

I loved, and miss: The Ideal...Yorkville 70's Princess Pamela's Soul Food Kitchen... Lower Eastside 70's Lutece...Eastside ... seems like forever Oh Ho So... SoHo 70's Chef Ma...Chinatown 70's Hung Fat...Chinatown 70's Le Champlain...Theatre district 60's Rincon d'Argentina...Theatre district 70's Munich Inn... Village 60's The Front Porch...Village 70's Hisae's... Village 70's Luna...Little Italy 60's Kiev..Lower East side 80's Chanterelle... Easide 80's etc. Mitali...Lower East side 70's

It could have been Dodin Bouffant or Quilted Girraffe...they were both very good and very pricey for the time.

I'm in the same boat, I budget the PITA "sourcing" section of catering and personal chef gigs into the price. But, even with a Sysco account (when I owned a restaurant) I had to "source" to avoid their often inferior and expensive "product". Thank Goddess! Trader Joe's opened here in Albuquerque last Friday. TJ's is going to be doing alot of my sourcing, in an amazingly cost effective way, something they do better than anyone else. I'm all for clear, concise language and have no "beef" with nouns to verbs. In fact, I can't think of another word for sourcing. Any ideas?

Truly trolling. So often, when the media is not instilling fear, they're instilling loathing ("I'm too fat, stupid, ugly or poor to be worthy"). I ran a senior citizen lunch program and weekly pot luck at a church in NYC years ago and we were inspected by the health department, like clockwork.

Easy as duck soup Salt of the earth You can't get blood from a turnip She's the apple of his eye These are your salad days The whole enchilada She's a hot tamale Cauliflower ear He turned red as a beet You little shrimp That was ducky

Your post has me salivating. Now, I've got to search these little treats out.Thanks fo the tip.

Ditto. Yum....I think I got the gene from my mother, who used to eat freshly ground round with salt and pepper, while watching the late show. My father and brothers thought we were sick. Truth is, I have never gotten sick from raw /rare beef. Seafood, is another story.

I often garnish the "sushi" plate with very thinly sliced candied ginger and white chocolate (dyed dark green) and made to look like leaves or those jagged edged plastic garnishes you often see at low end sushi places.

Rob, I just noticed you live in Silver City. I'm in Albuquerque. I've been out of town and out of touch....When is the competition? Is it still at the Museum? I live within walking distance but have not been in several years. If tickets haven't skyrocketed maybe we'll show up this year. Good Luck!

It's tricky and burns easily, but, I've cooked the rice in sweetenened coconut milk or fresh tropical juices like gaunamana, mamey, gauva etc. You just have to watch it like a hawk. I've also added the juice right after cooking the rice in water. If you're careful (and lucky) the rice will absorb the juice very nicely. I would stay away from candied ginger or dried fruit. It will be difficult to slice. Fresh mango is so much better anyway. I also partially freeze the rolls and then slice (in a gentle sawing action) with a serated knife. I'll try to figure out how to post a picture and post a shot of some of my rolls.

I'm curious, was " The making of Dixon Cider" about the apple orchard north of Santa Fe?

I use it in turkey brine, Pho and most often, in a wonderful vinagarette dressing that also includes a bit of grounnd Chimayo red chile.

I eat one thing at a time on the plate (ever since I was a kid). Use a large pocelain spoon for almost all soups. I use oversized bowls for soups and salads. Do not like salad forks for eating salad, or anything else for that matter. I require thin lipped mugs, cups and very thin glassware. I often mix and match dishes at the same meal using depression glass, family heirlooms and modern china. After reading this thread, I miss my grandmother"s Blue Willow pattern.