kiliki

I love these PBS history reality shows. I'm an historian, though not of food (or the nineteenth century, though I do specialize in the West). I don't know how good a job Nacho (or anyone else) can do cleaning up. People routinely got sick (and died) from poor sanitation issues until the 20th century, especially in the summer. They often called food poisoning "the summer complaint" and it was a leading cause of death among kids, usually from spoiled milk. As for scurvy (I googled for this) it takes 3 months for symptoms to appear, and they're only there 2.5 months. Also, maybe they get just enough Vitamin C via onions, potatoes and the occasional garden vegetable. Well, they probably don't get enough, but maybe enough to not get scurvy in 2.5 months. Poor guys. I'd never sign up for one of those shows-I couldn't live on a nineteenth century (or seventeeth, as the case was in Colonial House) diet.

I agree with Ann-high heat does NOT make a bird tough (I roast between 425-450 and have never had a problem). My thoughts exactly.

If you can make it up to Capitol Hill for coffee, I'd highly recommend Vivace Roasteria on Denny and Broadway. Unfortunately, the high rents of Belltown and Downtown limit your non-chain coffee choices, and I'm not impressed by most of the indie places that are in those areas. Also, many downtown coffee places close early-they just serve the work crowd. I think Cafe Ladro, on Union between 1st and 2nd, is good but not stellar. Also unfortunately, most espresso places have only bad pastries, made elsewhere-if you want a great dessert, your best bet is at a good restaurant (e.g. at the bar).

*bumping for 2006* A very exciting weekend-I harvested my first spinach and radishes (from seeds) and lettuce (from starts). If anyone doesn't know about it, the big Seattle Tilth Plant Sale is this weekend, as is the Master Gardener sale at the Center for Urban Horticulture.

Doesn't that point to a food sensitivity, rather than an allergy to msg? You can develop sensitivities as you age, and Chinese food contains a number of potential culprits (shellfish, peanuts, etc). If you were able to drink the stuff straight, and it only happens occasionally, it seems likely that something else-not msg-is bothering you.

I cut them in half, just for ease of eating. Also, there's a nice looking recipe in Molto Mario for Polenta with ramps if you can get your hands on a copy of that.

Pie, assuming it's good pie, which is very hard to find unless you make it yourself. I've never liked cake and never understood why so many people love cake. Everytime I go to an event where cake is served, and I try to politely decline a piece, it always causes a scene. "You're not on a diet, are you?" "How can you not like cake?" "Don't you even like the frosting?" Etc etc.

I wonder if they were cooked to long in the soup? I like them best just sauteed for about 5 minutes-until tender. Even this might be too long for the tops-next time I might cut the ramps in half and add the greens after the bulbs. I had them just sauteed with garlic and olive oil as a side dish the other night (with bbqed chicken and cornbread), and last week I sauteed them with pancetta before tossing with spaghetti (topped with parm).

I rode the bus home from work the other day with 4 bunches of ramps in my bag. The smell was intense-it was oozing out of my bag despite my efforts-and my fellow passengers must have wondered what that smell was. My boyfriend looked very dubious when he smelled them and I informed him that would be in our dinner. In pasta with pancetta, however, he agreed they were very good. I only wish I had cooked them less-I found recipes with a wide range of cooking times and techniques (blanching was common), and next time I'll opt for just sauteeing them for a few minutes.

YES, yes, a thousands times yes, it makes us so happy. It was well worth the cost. The old kitchen, besides being small and dysfuntional, had 100 years of dirt and grime that would not come off no matter what we did-not exactly a place you want to be in, or have guests in, etc. I think my old kitchen can hang with the worst of them (notice the low cabinets didn't allow for any countertop appliances): And then it went away! And then we had a new one. It's been 7 months and the newness and joy still have not worn off. The mr. even likes cleaning it because he's so happy with it.

I saw local asparagus on Monday at Top Banana produce (65th and 15th in Ballard), with a 5 pound maximum purchase per person.

I think the ramps must be flying off the shelf at Franks...they only had a few bunches left when I was there at lunch today.

That walleye sounds good, and not so different that folks would be apprehensive about it. How cool there is a place along the way to buy local wild rice! I will definitely do that. I'd never actually cooked with wild rice, but I just made Pam R's recipe for wild rice and mushroom latkes, and they were quite good. The salmon-walleye recipe is fitting as I'm from Seattle and they are all from MN, though mixing the two fish and adding mayo sounds a bit...odd.

On your next trip you'll have to have cocktails at Zig Zag, on the Pike Place Market hillclimb. They have a quite a few house special drinks made with chartreuse (I want to say about half the drink menu is chartreuse cocktails, but since I don't like it, my memory of this may be exaggerated) .

!!!!!!!!!! I have not been but realize now I must go soon. Thanks!

Thanks for the ideas but... Le Fournil I do like. Le Panier, I've just had too many mediocre things (and a few downright bad things, like stale macarons) there. Greenwood Bakery is right by my house, but in general they are awful. Yes, they do have eclairs but other than that they are very much a standard American bakery-cookies (that taste like shortening, btw), etc. Someone told me they don't even do their own baking there, but I'm not sure if that's true. I haven't been to Boulangerie Nantaise, but if you tell me they have a great selection of pastries, tarts, etc-not just American baked goods-I will go asap. Since it's called a boulangerie I assumed that it would be mostly breads. To add to the list, Essential has some decent stuff but I've found they're often prettier than they taste. I am pickier than most in this department, I realize. On the bright side, I've gotten pretty good at making this stuff at home.

Okay, thanks. Judging by how hard it is to find real French pastry (even Cafe Besalu is heavy on the American baked goods) I must be the only person in the city who craves eclairs and tarts but doesn't like things like muffins and cupcakes. *sigh*

I will third the suggestion to brine. Use 1 cup kosher salt (you could use 1/2 c. of regular table salt) to 2 gallons water, and brine for 1 hour. Rinse the bird well and roast. I have roasted brined birds in all sorts of ways, at all different temperatures (though I usually do it fairly high, at 425 F or so, for crisp skin and faster roasting time), with all sorts of stuff inside (lemons or herbs, etc), and it always comes out perfectly. Always. I have never had dried out breasts. I don't have any sort of fancy roaster-I just use a plain old broiling pan. To check for doneness I just use a kitchen thermometer and take it out when it reaches 160-165 F (I think it cooks a bit more while it's resting before I carve it). I too like to butterfly the chicken, mostly to get all over crispy skin without having to fuss with turning the bird.

Skyflyer-what is the selection like at S and S? Is it eclairs, tarts, macarons, French patisserie type stuff?

This is the reason why I like to buy organic. There have been so many publicized episodes of pesticides poisoning groundwater, wetlands (Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge), streams and rivers (we hear lots about the effect of pesticide runoff and salmon here in the PNW) and workers (there's a ton of documentation about pesticide poisoning and farm workers). I'm certainly not perfect-there are times when it's just not economically feasible, and I'm not going to stop eating in restaurants that don't use organic products. I also buy from the small, non-organic farmers at the farmer's markets who tell me they practice sustainable farming, only spray when absolutely necessary, etc. But I really avoid buying the grocery store non-organic stuff from the big farms in the Central Valley, etc.

Check out our thread on Green Leaf for your Vietnamese option.

We went last night. The mussels were good but the much discussed fries just allright. The hutsepot-a stew with beef, pork sausage, bacon and vegetables tasted pretty good but the potatoes and carrots were really crunchy, and it arrived just barely warm enough, so then it got cold pretty quickly (I should have asked to have it warmed up). And, the crunchy carrots and potatoes made up most of the dish-there wasn't that much meat. I would probably try this place again for appetizers (the croquettes and the gratins looked good) and beer, but for dinner, probably not. It's a bar atmosphere anyway-loud music, dark interior, sports on the tv. And, the best part was the mussels, but mussels are so cheap and easy to make at home I usually hate paying $$ for the small servings you always get in a restaurant.

I usually see starts for sale at Swanson's (maybe Fremont Gardens, too), if you want to grow your own pot of it. It might be a bit early-nurseries don't have their full selection yet-but I'd give those guys a call.

We tried to go last night, and though their website says they are indeed open on Sundays, they were closed (for a private party, from the sound of it). It would have been nice had they mentioned this closure on their website, especially since they might expect a fair number of people to visit on the weekend of a good review in the Times.

It's great to know there has been a chef change since all the negative reviews were posted-I'll check it out.