kiliki

Anything else you'd say they do better besides Ants (I've had 7SP Ants a number of times, so it would be an easy comparison)? Service isn't an issue for us-we go every weekend for crabs, beers and lots more, and so always get treated fabulously. Not that that makes it okay that you had bad service.

The reports I've heard so far indicate that Szechuan Chef is either exactly as good, or not quite as good, as 7 Stars. I'd love to hear other opinions-any dishes you think SC does better than 7SP? Anything they do that 7SP doesn't? I just don't want to make the drive to the Eastside unless I know it's worth it.

I think everyone's planting spinach for this reason-I got lettuce, chard and arugula starts today, but I couldn't find spinach.

Wow-the macarons I've had there were awful. Maybe someone new is making them, or they are using new recipes? (Mine, on two tries, had brittle, stale shells and chewy centers).

That's a good idea, and I think you talked me into it. Thanks.

I hoped to but I grossly miscalcuted how big my tomatoes would get (first time in this location-I am amazed at how big they get when not crammed into containers in less than ideal locations) and I have almost no room in my raised beds. So I have to decide whether to pull a couple tomato plants and get starts in asap or forego it and buy from the farmer's market. I've always heard to leave them alone-some will ripen, anyway-until our nighttime temps threaten to fall below 40 degrees-then bring in the green ones and let them ripen in paper bags indoors. I did pinch off the flowers on most of my plants so that they don't put energy into producing new fruit-instead hopefully it will force the existing fruits to ripen. The blossom end rot I had earlier never came back. I had pulled the affected fruit, and the rest of the crop was fine.

Cool! The Moab area is one of my favorites-I've taken 6 hiking/camping trips there. Even though I'm cooking most of my food at the campsite I have had good meals at the Slickrock Cafe and the Moab Diner. There was a pretty significant uranium mining boom in the mid-20th century there, too.

Thanks. The more I looked at their website the more I realized it would be perfect, so I made a reservation. One of the more entertaining things I saw on the site concerned the story of getting "the note" at Canlis-a note that says you didn't spend enough money, so please don't come back (I think all of us who are from here have heard this story). The owner says in the FAQ, where they say the story is a myth, that he'll give anyone who can actually produce the note $1000.

That's a beautiful picture C. Sapidus posted, and I used to make things like that (or ordered them at Thai restaurants), but I inevitably ended up picking the chicken out and eating all the rest. Now when I order Thai I get tofu instead of any meat-I'll happily eat fried tofu, which tastes so much better to me than BSCB.

Meat, vegetables and most woefully of all, pasta, since so many people don't know to salt the water. Pasta tastes awful if the water hasn't been salted.

I've read this thread with the various opinions of Canlis, but maybe someone can tell me if it's right for this situation: We're looking to have a small (4 person) celebratory dinner. Cost isn't really an issue (though we are treating, and we're off the Paris and Provence the next morning and the less we spend on dinner here, the more we can spend there...) We will be dressed up and definitely want this to feel like an event. One member of our group is a very fussy eater (the type of woman who lives on chicken breasts). The two men like all food but to quote one of them "I'm so over small plates." My own 1st choice might be Mistral-I haven't eaten there but have been tormented by Henry and Ling's posts, but maybe I should save that for a time when it's just me and the mr. and it's more about the food than the celebration. I'm thinking Canlis will make us all happy, and I did grow up here and have never been. Comments? Is Canlis our place?

I used to eat BSCB when I first started eating meat (years ago), but once I discovered the carnivorous joys of chicken cooked with skin, on the bone, I haven't been able to go back. This thread is making me wonder if it's possible, given good quality chicken and a good preparation, to enjoy BSCB. Will it ever be as good as a breast with skin, on the bone, though? People buy them not because they are more delicious than with skin/bone, but because they are more convenient, right?

I don't blame him for refusing the vanilla HD and B and J-both are awful. Too bad I never tried this brand-I'd given up thinking that you could buy a good vanilla ice cream. Though I have had Double Rainbow and it's not bad.

I seem to always have good luck just by looking at the silks and husks. I've never been chastized for pulling back the husks, but I don't like to do it because I always see so many perfectly good ears that have been peeled and left for seemingly no reason. I don't think anyone will buy an ear that has been partly peeled even if it is fine. We don't get to investigate the insides of other fruits and veggies when we buy them, so why should we get to do this with corn?

When I was vegetarian, I almost never cooked from veg cookbooks or magazines for the reasons discussed here. Deborah Madison's books are an exception-I still like those. Instead, I always found plenty to cook in cookbooks that focused on Italian, Mediterranean, and Asian cuisines. To me, it makes a lot more sense to cook from recipes that were developed because they taste good (ie from a good Italian cookbook), not recipes that were developed to exclude particular food items while mimicking others.

My new favorite salty snack: Garbonzo beans roasted in oil and salted.

I've had tile and if you actually spend a lot of time on your feet in the kitchen, it is cold, hard and uncomfortable (though it does look nice). One solution of course is to use area rugs where you stand most often, but those get kind of gross with dropped food, and what's the point of having a nice tile floor if you put worn out, food stained rugs over it. We installed Marmoleum-a brand of natural linoleum-and we LOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE. It's soft and warm, things don't usually break when we drop them, and it doesn't show dirt-at least our blue swirly pattern doesn't (you can go an embarassingly long time without mopping). It's also solid color throughout the tiles so if it gets scratched (dog nails or whatnot), the scratch doesn't show. But, nothing is "best"-it's all about what you like most.

To save myself the time of looking for the Holy Shit sign..exactly which stand did you get those peaches? I would like to see Sitka and Spruce. I think you're right. There are some day stalls that sell photos and crafts that clearly rely on tourists, and the market certainly is mobbed with tourists in summer. But, I can't imagine that tourists provide much of a clientel for the produce stands, butchers, ethnic grocers, etc. As for the prices...they do occupy some of the most valuable real estate in the city, but I've also always wondered if they charge more just because they can. It's great quality, there's no competition nearby, and there's people like me, who work downtown and find it convenient to buy groceries on their lunch break, who will fork over the extra $$.

I've only had oversalted dishes a handful of times in my life-I run into undersalting much more frequently. I eat lunch out most days, and we eat dinner out once or twice a week, at a wide range of places, but oversalting hasn't been a problem. I don't, however, eat at chains or fast food places, so I can't comment on those. I absolutely agree that home cooks are afraid to use salt-I too have had so many home cooked dishes that weren't salted properly while cooking.

I snack out of my counter jar when they are fermenting and I'll still alive. I don't actually get many bubbles when I make the pickles referenced in the linked thread. I do get a whitish scum-I guess it is sort of bubbly-that I skim off.

Rachel/Jason-What is the difference between your pickles, which keep for months, and the ones in the Zabar's thread, which only last a week or two? The salt content?

Well, the pickles don't really last any longer than they would if they were fresh cukes and weren't in the solution (a week or maybe two), so I guess not.

Peaches! It might help me use up the big bucket (literally) of peaches I bought for $4 near Mt. Rainier this weekend.

C. Sapidus-What a great remodel. Beautiful and just the right size, I think. I love the wall of cabinets/buffet at the end of the room.

I don't normally like a lot of ice in my beverages-I completely understand why some people find it odd that Americans do generally consume so much ice. BUT, when it's hot, I want a very cold, icy drink. I remember being so hot in Italy one June, looking everywhere for a truly cold drink (I couldn't find any granitas, even), and finally giving in and going into a McDonalds, sure that I'd get an icy coke. I got a room temperature coke with 2 ice cubes. Blech. I'm going to write down the phrase mentioned earlier so I know how to get ice when I truly crave it.