LaurieB

Kris, PM me and I'll give you a few of my favs. Are you going to be East or West Side? Laurie

Mmmmm, Cucumbers! Cut into sticks with dill dip Gazpacho Small pumpernickel slices smeared with dilled cream cheese, cracked black pepper and sliced cukes Thinly sliced, tossed with rice wine vinegar, pinch of sugar and some pepper flakes Thinly sliced, tossed with mayo and/or sour cream, salt and pepper, dill Cut into chunks with dead-ripe tomatoes, tossed with torn up day old pita, then tossed with a mix of EVOO and lemon juice, sumac to taste. Served on a bed of lettuce. LaurieB

Yes, thanks from me, too! I now have about 3 weeks to map out an eating plan! LaurieB

Beans, Where's your folks place? I'd love to try it. Laurie

Thank you all for your suggestions. I just realized that our trip is only a month away. I'm hoping by then that we'll have a digital camera, so perhaps I can do a mini Clevelander-goes-to-St. Louis Blog for you. Laurie

"I feel like I'm cheating on my Messermeister chef's knife, but I can't help it." Ahh, that just cracked me up. I have a reasonable collection of very good knives, and I know the feeling. You open the drawer, and hope the other knives are not looking when you make your selection. I thought it was just me.

Well, the lunches I packed for my son were so good, so tasty, that in the eighth grade he made (unbeknownst to me, of course) a small fortune by selling them to his teachers for $5 to $6 bucks a pop.

You can never have too many brie recipes. Or any kind of cheese recipes. Couple versions to add: 1) Split the brie in half, spread with apricot jam, top with slivered toasted almonds and dried cherries. Wrap in puff pastry, freeze and bake. 2) Take a hunk of Havarti cheese. Brush a couple of layers of phyllo with melted butter and wrap the Havarti up. Bake until the phyllo is golden. Laurie

Ok, the weather here is still not really "Spring" -- so to do the last of the "Winter" dishes: Sauerkraut (housemade, from Rita's at the West Side Market) baked with homemade kielbasa (courtesy of my friend, Mike Sokolowski, Polish chef extrordinaire) with my homemade spaetzle, sauteed in butter. No wine accompanied dinner, but later we enjoyed a pleasant merlot. Laurie

Definitely Lola Bistro!! Also, Theory and Sokolowski's University Inn. All are in Tremont. Battuto's in Little Italy is really good. If you have time, check out the West Side Market. Have a bratwurst sandwich from Frank's. Flying Fig and Great Lakes Brewing Co. are across the street. And if the weather cooperates, it's fun to sit on the deck at Shooter's and hope to see an ore boat come down the River. Laurie

Knives Pots/pans KitchenAid stand mixer And my Dansko clogs, most definitely

Okay, sheesh! Sorry about the title. It IS way corny. I know a fair amount about food, however, St. Louis didn't jump into mind when I found I would be going there. Just wanted to ask folks in the know. I do agree, the movie, and the play, are nothing to write home about. So, my apologies for the title. We're going to be spending a couple of nights in Fort Leonard Wood; I'm not thinking of places to eat there, since we'll try to spend as much free time as is allowed with our son, who will get a brief leave. We will be spending 2 nights in St. Louis, downtown, after that. I'm just looking for a couple of good places (not necessarily high-end, just really good) for lunch or dinner. As mentioned, all suggestions are welcome. Thanks again, LB

My DH and I will be spending a weekend in St. Louis in mid-July, following our son's graduation from Boot Camp in Fort Leonard Wood. I'm looking for suggestions on restaurants -- upscale, hidden gems, you name it, so your suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!! Laurie

Der Knust of a freshly baked loaf of bread. (My family is German, I would have to explain this deliccy to my friends with "The knust, you know, the end piece of bread"). If it's really good bread, you don't even need butter.

I, too, have dipped a million berries (as well as dried fruits). I've also stuffed them. Two good ones: whipped Boursin cheese; and whipped cream cheese containing honey and finely chopped nuts. Hey, maybe for my next party, I'll do a Strawberry Platter: Dipped Boursin Bleu's chocolate stuffed and honey nut. Thanks for the idea! Laurie

Hmmm, good question. (BTW, I love the phrase "easy, pleasy menu"; it's going into my vocabulary today. I like the menu, too. Don't know how many people you're doing this for, though. One suggestion (with a variation) that I did a couple of times last summer to raves: 1) Italian cherry tomatoes "BLT" Cherry tomatoes stuffed with a mix of diced proscuitto and basil pesto mayo. So, variation two: 2) Sliced roma tomatoes, on a grilled baguette slice, spread with said basil pesto mayo, topped with a shaving of prosciutto. Still kind of labor intensive, but not so much as #1. (I know you said no meat, but you still might want to do this some other time, cuz it's really good). Or just omit the prosciutto. Cous cous salad? Grilled potato salad? Laurie

Our "leftovers" turn into what Mario Batali giggled over in calling it "cream of walk-in soup". Word. I've had "cream of cooler" too. First place I worked: No staff meal. At the end of the night (or party, if it was a private function), at the chef's discretion, the staff was told what they might or might no be able to eat. Second place: Complete off premise catering co., not a restaurant. Again, no staff meal, but again, when all was said and done, the chef would make food available. Third place: As a manager, I was allowed to order whatever I wanted. On paper, this sounds great! But after awhile, you head to the little diner across the street, just for a break. Fourth place: Part time job for a very large company that provides corporate cafeteria services. We'd start at 6:00am and finish up around 2:00/2:30, at which point we were allowed to have whatever we wanted. For being a cafeteria, the food quality was not too bad, and since it was so large, the choices were extremely varied. We would all range around (and we were a pretty diverse group), picking what we wanted, and then sit down together and eat. Fifth place: This place was serious. There were two "Family Meals" a day, one about 10:00am and the second at 4:00. This was at a very upscale restaurant, where I was the catering manager. Part of my perks was that I was not supposed to get Family Meal, but instead was entitled to an entree a day (sometimes two, depending on how long I was there) but there were lots of times when I would opt for the Family Meal. The AM family meal was normally handled by one of the cooks, for whom it was a badge of honor to be able to turn scraps into incredibly tasty and innovative dishes. The PM family meal was a little more haphazard, until word got around that "am family meal was LOTS better that this". Then it became a contest. So I have the utmost respect for ANY cook to be able to turn leftovers and scraps into something really good. It's not that hard to learn to take an exceptional piece of meat, season and cook it properly. It IS hard to have to "make sumthin outta nuttin". Laurie

I haven't done an inventory in a while, but I'm going to say 325. Are we at Trio yet? Laurie

I think some conflicting advice that you're getting is to remove a kidney, or other vital bodily part, with the knife AFTER it's been reground. I would suggest removing that body part BEFORE. Then take it to the knife guy. In my opinion.

I've never been offended by the question. I've never seen my server check out how much cash I've placed in the check presenter before asking me the question. And, if I am paying with cash, lots of times I'll include the tip. Not so much as a time saving method for the server, but for me. But I'll add, I usually pay with a credit card and, if possible, will leave a cash tip. I've worked for places where, if you put your tip on your credit card bill, the waitstaff will not see it immediately. Laurie

My youngest son (now 22) used to love to go grocery shopping (he was about 4) because: "Mom! They got EXAMPLES!! And they're FREE!" He thought it was the coolest. My current favorite is a local grocery that gives examples (sorry, the word stuck) of wine on Saturdays. And, you know, I usually end up buying a bottle because what they're pouring is normally pretty good. So I guess it works.

I got y'all beat. About once every other year I get a hankering for cheese in a can. But I put it on whole wheat crackers -- that makes it healthier.

Wasabi Peas. They rock.

First post to here -- I have to add my beloved West Side Market here in Cleveland to the list!

First post to here -- I have to add my beloved West Side Market here in Cleveland to the list!