kiliki

You can grow Meyer lemons here if you have a little greenhouse or a good southern window in which to put it during winter (so Swanson's tells me, anyway).

The NY Times has had a number of travel articles about Seattle in the past few years (and this was a travel article, not a piece devoted to restaurants), so perhaps they have talked about those older restaurants. I've never been to Ibiza but think the others are good choices to write about.

I hope I didn't insinuate the green tea macarons were bad-I've never had a green tea dessert that I DID like, so that's just my own taste. The chocolate macarons were particularly good-they had an oozy ganache filling that was delicious.

I just stopped in at Fresh Flours. They make Parisian Macarons!! The chocolate and rasperry were good-much better than Essential's or Le Panier's-though the green tea flavor tasted like...green tea. They had some interesting looking cookies and pastries I will try next time. Perhaps because it was the first day, they didn't have that much in the case-they had one or two of a number of different things displayed, which is sort of an odd look for a bakery case.

Hungry Moose-That fish is exactly what I had that I like so much-I thought we ordered "whole fish with bb sauce" but come to think of it, my Taiwanese friend ordered it in Mandarin after a lengthy conversation with the waitress so maybe it is something else. FYI, every vegetable dish I've had there was fantastic. Garlic broccoli, the double mushroom dish, deep fried tofu with black mushroom, hot pepper shredded potatoes-all delicious. Wow! Iris can eat spicy food for a kid! I, too, love the Ants on a Tree.

I'm heading to the Big Island (mostly staying a bit south of Hilo) next week for work for almost two weeks, and this thread has been really helpful. Can anyone say any more about the various farmer's markets? I found this list: BI Farmer's Markets There are so many; are there any besides Hilo that are worth going out of my way for? Are there any particularly good grocery stores anyone can recommend in or near Hilo as well? I hoping there will be something other than a Safeway-type store.

How about Asian seafood? I just had a fantastic meal last night (already described in another post) of whole fish in black bean sauce and Szechuan crab at Seven Stars Pepper at 12th and Jackson. It would be an amazing treat on two levels for a midwesterner.

Thanks for the review. I also don't have high expectations but thought it might be allright as a place within walking distance while we have no kitchen this summer, but I hate to pay that much for mediocre pasta.

Everyone knows about Seven Stars Pepper, but I just had a stellar dish there I'd never tried and must tell you about-the whole fish in black bean sauce. It was outstanding and an terrific deal-$11.95 for enough fish for 4 (well, we had two crabs and other side dishes as well, but it WAS a lot of fish).

So no one ever has freshness issues with their favorite imported butters? After buying two slightly rancid Plugras in a row 5 or 6 years ago, I've stuck to the butters made (at least somewhat) locally. Europe seems like a long way for a fresh dairy product to come.

Amazing-I have a 36 y.o. girlfriend who is exactly the same way. She doesn't chalk it up to any childhood eating traumas, and I've always thought there was something different about the way she tastes food. After all, we know there are supertasters and that small children have different ways of tasting foods, so it's not unreasonable to think that some adults have something different about their physiology that makes them exceptionally picky. She would never allow someone to make something special for her at a dinner party, however. That's asking way to much of the host.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions-I would have liked to check out the scratch and dent room if we hadn't already purchased. The Albert Lee sale won't be until after our whole project is supposed to be done, it turns out, so we ended up getting the range and dishwasher at Sears after a series of negotiations. Home Depot had the range we wanted for a far lower price than anyone else, then Direct Buying Service told us they would beat that price by $60. We took that price to Sears and they told us they would beat it by $35, plus they alerted us to a sale last weekend where all appliances were 10% off. So we got the range, which we saw at Albert Lee and Sears (before the price matching and discounts) for over $2300, for $1800.

RE: Barking Dog: I go there when I want bar-type food-french dip, fried halibut sandwich, etc-and good beer (they have the Maredsous 8 I love). I've been a dozen times and it's always been good.

Karen-What do you get at Szechuan Bistro? I really WANT to like it (they deliver, and their menu has some interesting offerings) but everything I've ordered has been just allright. Yanni's is a neighborhood favorite, but on my only visit, I found it pretty mediocre. They are famous for being slow, so don't go if you're in a hurry.

Some of these places are a little further down toward Phinney but not an unreasonable walk. They're my favorites in the neighborhood. For casual/take out: Olive You, Mr. Gyros, Red Mill Burgers. Nicer places: Stumbling Goat, Carmeilta, Saltoro (at 145th, so not walking distance) Barking Dog at 70th and 7th NW is a little further but has a good selection of Belgian beers and much better than average bar food.

Mmm...you see pan-fried oysters where I live (Seattle) occasionally, but frying is kind of a mean thing to do to an oyster. I've never had the same kind of bbq oyster that they do in NoCal anywhere else (don't be afraid of oyster bbq sauce, btw), so definitely try those. If you are lucky enough to be in SF when they are having the farmer's market at Ferry Plaza, try the oysters at the Hog Island booth.

What a fabulous trip! On Hwy 1, right on Tomales Bay (it's on pilings), is a little funky place called the Marshall Store. They have a little deck right on the water and fabulous oysters, grown right in the bay (bbq-the best, rockafeller, or raw), as well as a few other things, like clam chowder. Since it's a store the kids could just grab chips and a soda (or whatever) if they don't want an oyster snack. Tomales Bay oysters are grown sexless-they don't spawn, so the old "r" rule doesn't apply. If the whole family likes oysters you can have a different kind of experience, a little further north on Tomales Bay on Hwy 1, at Hog Island Oyster Co.-you buy a sack, then shuck and grill your own on their grills along the bay. Just 20 minutes or so south in Point Reyes Station (right as hwy 1 bends left to turn into the town's main street, stay straight-it's just about 20 yards up on the right) is the Pine Cone Diner. It's my all time favorite diner-it's definitely a diner, but one that uses local free range eggs and pasture raised beef. Fabulous breakfasts, great lunches and milkshakes. If you just need a snack or picnic supplies as you pass through town right across the street from the diner is Tomales Bay foods, a groups of excellent food purveyors-cheeses, produce, deli, desserts, snacks.

I think I saw tiny Parisian macarons in that patisserie picture... I love that there is a dish that incorporates both "fried" and "salad." I don't think I've ever seen that.

Damn. Your food-every single picture-looks great.

Well, thank you.

Direct Buying Service is a family owned appliance store on 1st Ave S-I know the ads you are talking about but they are called something else (I can't remember what). Thanks for the Kent tip, and it's funny you should mention DBS (accidentally)-we bought a fridge and a washer there and they told us they would beat any other price we found for a range. Regarding the other place whose name we can't think of (Direct Buy Warehouse?): my neighbor remodels homes for a living, and she thinks that it's a good value if you do a LOT of remodeling. She told me the join fee is huge and they don't even let you in the place before you join-you can't even check it out first. Instead you go to a no-kids-allowed info session and have to decide then and there to join or not. She never would have done it-it seemed really shady-except that she had business associates who belonged and had told her good things.

I've done the research and initial Albert Lee visits (so I know what I want and can afford, as well as what I would like but can't afford) and the remodel starts soon. I was just wondering if it was worth waiting until the sale to see what they had before purchasing a range. I'll take that as two yes votes-thanks.

Someone told me that Albert Lee has an annual sale with prices so low people camp out to be first in line. I believe it's sometime in the fall. Has anyone been, and is it indeed as good as I heard?

At 78th and Greenwood (in the space formerly occupied by a short lived drumming studio) is a sign-"Coming Soon-Don Cordone Argentinian Panderia." I'm not sure what an Argentinan bakery is like but it sounds like a cool addition to the neighborhood. Also, at 61st and Phinney, on the ground floor of a yet to be finished condo complex, is (also not open yet) "Fresh Flours-Fine Pastries and Coffee." I'm trying not to get my hopes up that the place really will have fine pastries, but I am anxious to check it out.

I think in all the markets I shop in (in non-tomato season), we only have a choice of vine ripened, organic or roma (which are always rock hard and terrible, even if the occasion calls for a roma). So vine ripened isn't even the most expensive option-organic is. I can't even think of what they used to sell as "regular" tomatoes in the winter.