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kiliki

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Everything posted by kiliki

  1. I agree with Therese-it's a pain to try to cook and wash dishes. During our 2 month remodel, we had our fridge and the microwave in the living room (the mr. could reach from his chair straight into the fridge to get a beer-he was pretty happy). I thought I'd buy a hotplate and cook simple meals (like the poster above, I go backpacking and am pretty skilled in those kind of meals). But, I just got used to eating takeout and Trader Joe's frozen meals (not exactly the thrill of my life, and I can't even look at them now, but it worked) and so never needed one. We grilled sometimes and always used paper plates and plastic utensils. I felt bad about the waste but not bad enough to use real plates. Washing dishes in the bathtub is just gross, in my opinion-it's not like there is a disposal there to deal with the bits of food. I had actually been dreading this so much-I didn't see how I'd survive without cooking-that of course it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd figured. I also ate breakfast at work (I kept cereal, yogurt, fruit, etc there) and ate lunch out everyday, like I do anyway.
  2. Vietnamese is my favorite type of food to eat here (in Seattle), and we have a few very good Vietnamese restaurants in which I eat often. This thread has piqued my interest in trying it in Paris, but would this be a "wasted" meal? I mean, are Vietnamese restaurants in Paris going to be so similar to what I eat at home, that it would be a shame to forego a great meal at a Parisian restaurant for this?
  3. That would be my guess. I often squeeze mine dry, too, in a kitchen towel. If you are going to make the shredded kind, rinsing them well with cold water, to rinse off the starch, lessens the chance of sticking (and the need for a lot of oil). But if you are using a good heavy non stick pan, this isn't an essential step.
  4. I ordered a chicken salad sandwich at a deli near my work, and was told, "We make our chicken salad with turkey here." Which was fine with me, but why not just call it turkey salad?
  5. Wow! What a transformation.
  6. I enjoyed this article about heirloom tomatoes for the PNW. I've rarely grown an heirloom that was very productive, but I usually chose the varieties based on their tag description, not from any knowledge of how they might do in the NW. So, this year, armed with a list of what heirlooms might do allright here, I'm planning on planting a few more than I usually do, though I'll still have mostly proven NW varieties.
  7. Help! I've planted broccoli for the first time, from starts. 3 of the plants (which are now about 12"x12") have nice looking florets, but the other 3, which are the same size, have nothing. Are these duds I need to pull up? Why didn't the broccoli develop?
  8. Thanks for the tips, espeically about the patisseries! I loved the cheese store and La Maison du Jambon. I'm sorry to hear that Lenotre closed but relieved to know there is another close by.
  9. I loved that packet! I really enjoyed the honest reviews you wrote and I can't wait to try some of these places. We stayed in the 7th a couple of years ago and I am still dreaming of all of the food shops on Rue Cler.
  10. A good, HEAVY non-stick skillet (All Clad, for example-not a cheap, lightweight non-stick) is essential to fried potato dishes, in my opinion. I make a lot of shredded hash browns and I couldn't do it without this pan. For the cubes, I agree that starting with cooked potatoes is easiest. I don't think they end up tasting as good as when you start with raw potatoes, but when you start with raw, the outsides usually end up browning before the insides are done. I can do raw cubes in my non-stick all clad but the centers do stay a bit crunchy. If you are determined to use raw, rince the starch off them first-that will help with sticking. And like others said, don't mess with them-let them brown on one side completely before turning them (with a spatula).
  11. Therese-thanks for your link and sharing your confidence in Paris Perfect. I agree it is pricey but we have occasion to splurge, and that view...
  12. I was too daunted by the line to buy anything. I'd only planned to get a couple tomatoes this early, and I ended up getting them at the U District farmer's market instead.
  13. I do remember on Colonial House in particular, there was a lot of "they would not have done that in the 17th century." That group sometimes had a hard time conforming to their roles (the women went on strike, some of the people refused to attend church for personal reasons), but they still did all the work they needed to do. I think this type of thing CAN be one of the most interesting things about the show. But in the Cookes' case, it seemed as if their own agenda trumped the idea behind the show every time.
  14. I'd like to hear about them, too. We just rented an apartment in the 7th, near Rue Cler, for an October trip fromParis Perfect. They've been wonderful to deal with so far, and the apartment (Montrachet) looks very nice (it has a good sized kitchen, and a view of the Eiffel Tower from the bed!). I'm excited to be able to shop the markets and cook-we stayed in the same neighborhood last trip, and it killed me to see all that great produce, the butcher shops, the roast chicken place, etc etc. I remember loading up on wonderful foods at Lenotre, then spreading them all out on the bed (it wasn't picnic weather) because they wouldn't fit anywhere else in our tiny hotel room.
  15. I agree it does suck to sit away from the main floor at JG. But, if there is something you want to don't see on the card, just ask-they'll bring it if they have it.
  16. It seemed the families on the other house shows-particularly Frontier House-worked a lot harder storing food for winter.
  17. Nacho talks about the food and the show from his point of view in this online chat (on the bottom right on this page). Mrs. Cooke gets her say, too. Texas Ranch House chat
  18. Shaun was somehow positive through the whole thing! Maybe he impressed his family with his tortilla making, too-he got very good at it. It's hard to believe he ever wanted to have cornbread again, though. Anders, on the website, said he never wanted to see another bean in his life.
  19. We saw the garden more in the last few episodes, and there was so much great stuff that the family ignored or wasted. I wonder if Shaun was allowed to harvest, or if he had to rely on what the family gave him? The historical expert sent in to evaluate them was horrified-apparently she had trained them on how to water, harvest,l etc before the show started and they ignored her directions. One of the girls defended this by saying, "We don't eat many vegetables at home." I know this sounds a bit snarky, but all of the women, even the teenagers, were heavy, and I thought they would lose weight during the show. But, they went heavy on the lard and light on the vegetables, so nope.
  20. Actually, my favorite places-Vivace and Lighthouse Roasters (in Seattle) move very quickly. Those guys are pros and they handle busy times very well. I can't remember ever waiting more than 10 minutes (and that is when the lines have been very long). And for these places, I would wait no matter what-I'm not going to go someplace I don't like as well to save a couple minutes (it would require time to get to another place, anyway). You would have to have quite a few people ordering drip to make that kind of express line worthwhile.
  21. Oh my god. That is the best idea I've ever heard. The rest of your menu sounds fantastic too. At the moment we're so excited planning the honeymoon (Paris and somewhere else-French Alps? Provence?) that we've sort of forgotten about any party. In fact we even keep forgetting we should actually get married before the honeymoon. Clearly these things are less important that reading up on the best patisseries and markets in Paris.
  22. I just bought a Theo's bar that has salty french bread crumbs mixed in with the dark chocolate. It's pretty good-good enough to make me curious about their other products. The location I bought it at (PCC) only had their bars, no other type of chocolates.
  23. The best baby showers I've attended-the ones where everyone looked like they had a great time-were the ones that were just like parties. The included both men and women, had great cocktail party type food, and some have even had booze (after all, the guests aren't pregnant). The ones where everyone sat in a circle and tried to look like they had a good time were the ones with tea sandwiches and games. I would definitely check with the mom-to-be about games-maybe she enjoys them, or maybe, like my cousin who we had a shower for a few weeks ago, she will refuse to attend if anyone plans games.
  24. As long as you get decent sun, don't let this stop you! For years I had good success with veggies in container gardens, and I've got a lot crammed into my two raised beds on our small city lot right now. I tried sprouting my bean seeds to give them a head start, but I must have done it wrong because I got 3 sprouted seeds and a whole bunch of rotten ones. I did plant the 3 good ones-and unsprouted bean seeds-on Sunday. After reading your post, I think I'll get another packet as backup.
  25. Oh, if we're talking Italian now, I'll also recommend Osteria La Spiga. The owner is from Bologna and the food is of Emilia-Romagna. I ate there a month or so ago after not going for a while and it was so damn delicious. We had an antipasti of mortadella mousse with crostini, farro salad over arugula, and assorted cured meats and cheese, that was out of this world. And the tagliatelle with truffle oil knocks me out every time-the pastas are all homemade and fabulous. It's not expensive, it's not fine dining, but I think it has a great romantic vibe to it. They are moving to Union and either 12th or 15th in September, to a big new space with a full bar, in case anyone doesn't know.
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