kiliki

Date shakes. Particularly coffee date shakes. Yum.

I have made them, both fruit and coffee, but it's the kind of thing I just want to get on a work break or a hot day without working for it. Today I got a slurpee for the first time since I was a kid.

This thread has made me REALLY crave a decent granita-frappaccinos taste like chemicals to me-so I asked at Bottega if they were ever going to crank up that empty second machine and make coffee granitas. They said they plan to have other flavors besides lemon "at some point in the future."

Those three are all good, but it is the Cook's Illustrated recipes that have made their way permanantly into my reportoire. Especially since you described yourself as not "gourmet or extreme," pick up a copy next time you're at the store, check it out and see what you think.

Today I lunch I spotted what looked to be a new Tacos Guyamas with a sunny patio on Harborsteps (downtown). I was initially excited, as there are not enough good inexpensive takeout places downtown (also, I like their salsa bar). Closer inspection revealed it is a Guyamas Cantina, part of the chain but will a full bar and sit down service only (well, they probably would do take out, but you don't just order at the counter like at the rest of the chain).

I suggest fritters as well. But, if you can't stand to eat any more zucchini in any form, why don't you drop them off at your local food bank? Fresh produce is probably especially appreciated.

Speaking of shakes, my quest for a really good granita in this town may be ending. Bottega has two granita machines, one of which has consistantly been filled with a nice lemon (a bit rind-y, though), the other of which sits empty to hopefully one day be filled with coffee granita (it's coming out of a machine, so it's not the real Italian deal, but I've given up on ever finding that here).

Theno's was a major destination when I was growing up in Woodinville. I wonder where they get their milk now that the cows have been replaced by tract housing...

I don't know of any stand alone store either. Whole Foods has a pretty good cheese selection (not even close to Cheeseboard, though), and the prices aren't bad (they have the best price on my favorite-the delicious Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam). I am not an expert on English cheese so I can't tell you how good the selection is, only that they carry Neal's Yard and I believe some others.

I was kicking myself last weekend for forgetting to bring a cooler with me in the car on the way back from a backpacking trip in the North Cascades. We stopped at the Cascadian Farms stand and I enjoyed a delicious raspberry chocolate chip cone but could not purchase pints or quarts of my other favorite flavors, blueberry and espresso, since they would have melted without my cooler.

I harvested my first (two) tomatoes yesterday.

And don't forget the huckleberry/wild blueberry bushes in the mountains...I have certain hikes I save for September just so I can eat my way up the trail.

I used to do U Pick all the time, thinking it was the way to get the best, freshest, cheapest produce (despite HATING the fact that my mother would drag us to U Pick places as kids. I got stung by a bee every time, I swear). Now that we have such great neighborhood farmer's markets, though, it doesn't seem worth the drive, time and effort. Many of these farms have farmstands, and I do still often stop when I'm coming back from a hike to buy already picked berries. Biringer Farms has a stand in the parking lot of the Sunset Bowl in Ballard (14th and Market) as well as the Pike Place Market, fyi.

I like the Metropolitan Grill's happy hour. It is fairly standard happy hour fare but done well, and the service and drinks are great. I especially like the bacon wrapped tenderloin skewers (2 for $4.95) and the peel and eat shrimp (3 for $1.50). The bar at Ray's Cafe (above Ray's Boathouse) offers a half off menu during happy hour. They don't let you sit outside, but you still get the great view out the window and the food is cheap and solid. They have smoked salmon skewers, steamed clams and mussels, caesers salads, salmon burgers, etc.

Fran's. For an out of town ice cream experience, my favorite is the raspberry and blueberry ice cream and shakes at the Cascadian Farm stand on Hwy 20 just east of Rockport. They make the ice cream from the organic fruit they grow right there and it is delicious.

Thanks for all the tips! So far I have eaten at Cheeseboard Pizza (where I had been before, but forgot all about), Cancun, Gelateria Naia and a Vietnamese place I remembered liking on my last visit here, Le Regal. I have a meeting in Oakland tomorrow and will try one of the Mexican places there if I have time. I also checked out the farmer's market and Berkeley Bowl. What I am REALLY excited about was the fact I made it up to Tomales Bay and had bbq oysters at the Marshall store.

I love Zigzag-it's one of my favorite places to drink. Luckily it doesn't seem to be too smoky when I go.

Ballard not only has the organic meat guy, but fresh oysters and clams. However, they don't have the variety or number of produce vendors that the U district market has. Besides the neighborhood markets, I really like the organic wednesdays and sundays at Pike Place when the vendors set up in the street. I am on a business trip in Berkeley right now, and I made a trip to their farmers market yesterday. I expected to be blown away with all the California produce that is in season already, but the market couldn't hold a candle to any of our neighborhood markets.

I don't know if everyone considers La Spiga an appropriate place for kids or not, but I have to give the place a hand for the way they dealt with a hyper little kid. My friends unexpectedly brought their squirmy toddler there for a dinner with me, and the staff was incredibly patient and gracious. This despite the fact that the kid shattered a saucer by throwing it on the floor and almost broke another small plate by tossing that as well.

In the Pike Place Market, besides the store next to Frank's, there is also The Mexican Grocery, a few doors north of Starbucks on Pike Place. I especially love their fresh salsas.

I am taking a research trip to Berkeley on Sunday and am looking for great Mexican food. It would be nice if it was within walking distance of the University but I will have a car and am willing to drive. If anyone wants to recommend any other good, inexpensive, casual restaurants in the area please do, although I know that is a very general question.

The poor guy. That must make him feel like shit-he can't even come near you in the kitchen? He has to observe silence while you cook, which is probably quite a chunk of time? Then he gets blamed for "ruining your day" when your eggs aren't perfect? My vote is yes, you are way too skittish. Cut the poor guy some slack.

That is MY trio of most feared and hated foods!

Matt's Famous is opening soon (maybe has already) in Ballard at Market and Shilshole, right on the corner across Market from the kitchen store. I don't like hot dogs, but I know people that follow the cart that sets up at the Ballard Sunday Market. I don't remember where he goes the rest of the week, though. I think one day he has a Market St. location.

Isn't fish fertilizer usually too high in nitrogen relative to its other nutrients? The kind I have is a 5-0-0, but for tomatoes you want something with a higher phosphorus content (the second number) than nitrogen. I use time release organic fertilizer (5-10-10) as a side dressing, twice per season. Here is something from the TImes that might be helpful: By Valerie Easton Special to The Seattle Times Q: I want to try growing tomatoes in pots on my deck, which is the only sunny place in my yard. Do I need to buy a special kind of tomato, and what about the dirt? A: Tomatoes will thrive in pots if you give them sunshine most of the day and plenty of water and fertilizer. Choose stocky plants, and don't put them outside until the nights warm to 55 degrees. If this spring is as chilly as last, that could be well into June. It is best to use large pots, at least five gallons, filled with rich potting mix to which a little granular time-release fertilizer has been added. A stake, cage or trellis should be stuck in the pot at planting time (tomatoes are vines, after all), and plant the tomato so far down in the soil that the lowest leaves are buried, thus encouraging more root development. Water deeply and daily, and use a complete liquid fertilizer every two weeks (yes, as well as the time-release in the soil — tomatoes are greedy and vigorous). You can grow any kind of tomato in a pot, but you'll make your life easier if you choose a determinate type, which stops growing at 2 to 3 feet high, and don't need any pinching during the season. They produce fruit earlier and over a shorter period of time than indeterminates, which bear fruit until frost. Oregon Spring, Tiny Tim, Viva Italia, Italian Gold and Celebrity are determinate types easily found in nurseries. You can grow popular, indeterminate types such as Sun Gold, Big Beef and Early Girl in pots, too, but be sure to use a large container and a sturdy staking system. And pinch out suckers all season long.