kiliki

My reaction exactly! What did we get that cost so much?? Well, everything cost a lot, even dumplings and vegetable dishes. Instead of plates that were $2, $3, $4, they were ~$10 each. I'd read here about Koi Palace-it sounds great, but we didn't have a car. Yank Sing was within walking distance of our hotel.

Has anyone tried this place recently? I never went after reading this thread, but they got a great review in today's Times.

Not to worry, though they were sold last August the food (including the crab, which we cannot go a single week without) is as good as ever.

I actually rarely buy any fruit that is out of season locally, which, this time of year, means I don't really buy fresh fruit (citrus would be an exception-I can't forego lemons and limes). Most of the stuff in the supermarkets, which this time of year comes from at least a thousand miles away, tastes like nothing to me. I'll take locally grown frozen fruit over storage apples, peaches that have been shipped from South America, etc etc, anyday.

I had a botony professor who spent years employed by Smuckers, trying to breed a strawberry that tasted good AND shipped well. They were never successful. When they aren't in season, I find a good brand of frozen strawberries (like Cascadian Farm) is a better choice than the supermarket berries. You obviously can't use frozen in all the same ways, but if you've got the craving, a bowl of thawed frozen berries is way better than the styrofoam kind.

I think they're a bit overwhelmed by all the new business-our lunch on Saturday mid-afternoon took about 2 hours (that's long for a little place like that) and we had some pretty bad service. The very sweet pregnant waitress saw that things were not going well for us and she apologized profusely, saying they had new waitstaff who didn't have the routine down yet.

Speaking of food and architecture: Jeffrey Steingarten's article in the new Vogue is about the architecture of Morimoto's new place in NYC.

Thanks, I'll see if I can order a copy online (I doubt it's available on my local newsstand). I do know that going via the North Shore is not the fastest way but I am more interested in scenery and pie than speed. All of those parks are mentioned in my hiking book-I might take a day and go back and hike/see the sights of the North Shore (a hike up Eagle Mountain sounds especially nice).

We, on the other hand, went to Yank Sing a few weekends ago (I'd never had dim sum in SF but that sounded like a good choice) and were absolutey shocked when we got the bill-$82 before tip, for 2. Here in Seattle we almost never break $20. There were lots of items I'd never seen before, which was neat, and everything was pretty good, but nothing was truly delicious.

To add to Daddy-A's advice, if you really want to find out stats about remodeling payoffs, there's lots of info out there online (google!) and in remodeling books. I have seen stats that vary, but I've always read that kitchen remodels pay off most, then bathrooms. I've even seen stats specific to certain cities and what type of remodel (major/minor)-our local paper ran an article recently that said in Seattle, major kitchen remodels are paying off at 108% if sold within 3 years. These sources will offer lots of advice about what specific items in the kitchen will pay off most, too (ie high end ranges will not, mid range appliances will). But, as Daddy A pointed out, if you are going to be in the house for a while, none of that matters so much. I checked out probably 100 kitchen remodeling books from the Seattle Library system when I was planning (the Kitchen Redos, Revamps and Remodels book mentioned above was particularly helpful). Looking at books, magazines, etc (Fine Homebuilding's annual Kitchen and Bath issue is especially good) was really helpful to organizing my thoughts and answering a lot of basic questions. Can't you look at cabinets that aren't in a designers showroom? We went into a bunch of cabinet stores just in our neighborhood before using another local company and got brochures from each. We never saw huge catalogs, but the brochures they gave us showed everything we needed to know. For example, here is the website of the company we used (I'm not suggesting you use them-they are nowhere near you)-they show all the various styles, woods, etc. Are you looking for something more than this? If so, what exactly? cabinets

They were packed Sunday at 2 pm or so. First time I've seen it full.

I have already told the mr. that we will be taking the scenic North Shore drive both for the scenery and for the pie at Rustic Inn! That was on the top of my list after reading older threads, doing internet searches and seeing the cream pie list on their website. A "shore lunch" sounds good! Russ Kendall's sounds great, too. Thanks for all the latest posts. That's good advice about not messing with tradition, and I had thought about that. Absolutely I will not demand everyone eat my pecan crusted walleye, but the mr. thinks his family will be surprised and happy to see that there is some other way to eat it (none of them are cooks-even his mom hates to cook). Probably his mom will fry some and I'll do something else and everyone can choose what they'd like (there will be 10 or 11 or us). Or I'll run any new ideas by people first. Sparrowgrass, thanks for all the sightseeing tips (I did get a hiking book for the area-I like to fish, but not all day everyday). I will bring repellent as I've heard all about the skeeters AND the black flies.

Birch Lake, exactly. River Point Resort. That recipe sounds great-I'll definitely try something like that. Lol, I'll have to look at a map to see where Gilbert is, to see if it's out of the way or not-I've never been to the area. I am willing to go WAY out of my way for food, and maybe will try to recruit some of my boyfriend's family for this too, though much of the family is fishing obsessed and I won't be able to pry them away from the lake for anything. From other threads it looked like there were some good stops along the North Shore, on the drive up, too.

We found our designer (actually, a design/build firm) at our neighborhood center's home fair. Any type of home show will have lots of booths with designers, contractors, etc. Home tours (we went to the Seattle Master Builders Kitchen and Bath tour) are another great venue. We took a number of business cards and brochures, talked extensively to these guys/gals, looked at their portfolios, and then asked for their reference list. AND, we actually called a ton of their references. Maybe you can start with that link Melissa posted and ask your local designers for their references. You asked about budget and designing: After a bad experience with a designer/architect who drew up plans for an attic renovation that would have actually costed about $100,000 more than she figured, we went with a design/build firm, where the designers, architects and builders are all in the same firm. You tell them how much you want to spend-including design, tax, labor, materials, EVERYTHING-and they tell you what you get for that. It worked fantastically for us. They told us up front that they wouldn't be our cheapest option-they were a fairly big firm-but the fact that there were ZERO cost overruns, that they finished on schedule, and that they were pros every step of the way made it seem like a deal. I'm confused about your comments about not having access to catalogs, etc. We shopped only at small stores-no big boxes-and got great customer service and looked at tons of catalogs. These smaller stores had the kind of stylish items I think you are looking for, too, as opposed to so much of what you see at Home Depot, that looks like it belongs in cheap tract housing. The salespeople at the smaller stores knew lots about their products, and there are certainly online forums, like gardenweb, where you can ask about the long term quality or whatnot of any specific products you are thinking about.

Thank you SO much-That was incredibly helpful! Those places sound great and exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the links, too. Hopefully the fishing will be good so that we can have some walleye on the table as well. Speaking of which, if Minnesotans reading this want to share their favorite way to cook walleye, I'd love to hear it. The only way any of my boyfriend's family know how to make the fish they love so much is...fried. I did it muniere style once and it was quite nice. Maybe I should start a separate thread but I thought I'd throw this out there now.

I've already volunteered to do much of the cooking on a vacation we will be taking with some of my boyfriend's family at a resort south of Ely in late June. My boyfriend is already warning me that there might not be any good grocery stores (stores that would carry great produce, naturally raised meats, a good selection of cheeses, and as much locally produced items as possible) in Ely, and that it might be better to buy coolers and shop in Duluth, or even Minneapolis, on the way up (we fly to MSP from Seattle). I see that Ely has a couple of specialty food stores, which is nice, but can anyone advise me as to the best place to stock up for this trip? Are there any great groceries in Duluth? I see there is a Whole Foods in Minneapolis-would this be my best bet there, or are there other good high end stores? Is late June too early to hope for any locally grown produce in farmer's markets or farmstands on the drive up? I did read some threads about restaurants on the North Shore and elsewhere in the state, but if anyone wanted to recommend any restaurants in Ely or on the drive from MSP I'd love to hear it.

The ID=The International District, Seattle.

Has anyone tried Szechuan Chef in Bellevue, the place that Nancy Leson wrote about in today's Times? It sounds worth a trip across the bridge. I hadn't realized 7 Stars Pepper had been sold last year-there was no change in quality or waitstaff.

We went last weekend, too, and were also not terribly impressed. Nothing (ribs and shrimp po'boy) was bad, but nothing was great, either. My expectations had been higher after reading about the chef.

Yes. The recipe calls for NY Strip, my boyfriend's poker playing friends got sirloin.

In Chow Magazine last year, there was an article on "killer apps"-they asked caterers what their most popular items were. One, which I made and was a HUGE hit at a party, was just steak (they called for NY Strip but I was cooking for non-foodies and I used top sirloin) cut into cubes an inch or so square, marinated in a soy sauce mixture, then sauteed, rolled in red chile jelly and skewered. If you want the exact recipe let me know and I'll dig it out when I get home.

The music seems designed to keep you moving along at a good clip. Eat, pay the bill, get out. Not that the service gives you that impression. Have you ever noticed the music at 7 Stars Pepper? It's high pictched flute or whistling of 70s pop like the Carpenters.

I'm pretty sure that it is a rice paper wrapper rolled up and deep fried. TT has the same thing in theirs. Doesn't it make the rolls unbelievably good? I've tried to make these crunchy little things but I only fried, rather than deep fried (I didn't want to heat up a whole pot of oil for just a couple wrappers), and it didn't work.

We were there again on tuesday night and the place was practically empty. I guess I should appreciate that more since if this little place gets reviewed it will be hard to get a table without waiting. I didn't try anything that hasn't already been mentioned in this thread, but my friends RAVED about their duck salad.

It's been a few years since I've been there, but I used to like the 5 Spot's fried chicken dinner.