kiliki

So what do you recommend for a girl who has never been to the Iowa State Fair (or any midwestern fair at all)? I did click the link but how should I distinguish between bad fair food and good? We were coming to Iowa this month for a wedding but the wedding has been called off, leaving us to find other diversions (like the Butter Cow!).

I don't think anyone is asserting that people shouldn't dip bread into oil. This thread is about the practice at restaurants, and specifically about adding things to the oil. I don't think it's an inherently bad idea, but the places that do it always end up being subpar. I don't actually see this very often (I pick my Italian very carefully), but when I do, it's a red flag. This just happened to me in Boston-I thought I'd chosen an Italian place where I might get real Italian (as opposed to Italian-American) food, but as soon as the oil with the garlic and chile flakes hit the table, I knew I would be disappointed.

On Aurora at about 77th-a new grocery called Bravo that is advertising, in big letters, RUSSIAN PIROSHKY. There's an EU flag and signs that say salami, meats, cheeses, soda (???). They are still setting up-nothing is on the shelves yet.

I was very impressed by my visit to Made in Kitchen Bistro today. It's a new, big, bright and airy Vietnamese place at 8th and Lane in the ID. I had great service--fast, and a very motherly waitress who recommended lunch favorites like the imperial rolls, the lemongrass pork and the kitchen combo and who talked me out of ordering too much food for one person, because what I wanted wouldn't be good as leftovers, she said. So I only ended up ordering the glass noodles with dungeness crab; I could tell she didn't think I made the best choice, and while it was good it would have been better if I was with a group and that was a shared dish (it got kind of old eating just that after a while). I will definitely be back to try other things-I love Green Leaf but am so tired of always waiting for a table, and Made in Kitchen's menu has some delicous sounding items that I haven't seen elsewhere. Oh, and there's a coupon for a free papaya salad on the citysearch page.

Mora also has a location in Bellevue Square, and I've been meaning to try it, but there is the whole hurdle of not just going to the suburbs but going to a giant mall in the suburbs. On the occasions I do have dinner on the eastside the mall is closed by the time I am done. I think most of us just don't get to Bainbridge Island that often, either, which is why you don't hear about it as much as you might if it was in downtown Seattle.

Those large, new complexes almost always have terrible chains as tenants. There's an interesting thread somewhere else on this board about the link between new developments (though usually in the 'burbs) and these chains. I'm scared a Quiznos or something is going to appear in the condos they're building on Phinney by my house.

I think Matt's in the Market would fit the bill (see it's own thread for more info)-seafood, no heavy sauces or spicyness, and good service that would probably be as helpful as possible keeping onions and garlic away from you. Make a reservation.

Thank you so much. That is very helpful.

Thanks! I think I will experiment with the reduced sugar pectins next. So perhaps when I am reading not to reduce sugar they don't mean that anyone will get sick, but that it just might spoil after opening as you describe. That makes sense. So when you are making your jam, do you just taste it to make sure the level of sweetness is right? And that is consistant with how sweet it will taste once it's been canned and stored? And do you have any problems getting it to gel, or do you use pectin? Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply but the jam is almost inedible it is so sweet. The jam with the citrus had quite a lot of lemon juice in it as well. I can't tell you how many times I've read--on university extension sites, in cookbooks and this board--that you shouldn't alter the sugar, since that is part of what preserves the jam and otherwise you might encourage yeast and mold. Do you think that is overkill, then, and sugar IS something I can play with?

Help!! I've tried two of Christine Ferber's jam recipes-strawberry and apricot, raspberry and citrus zest. Both were sickeningly sweet but my understanding is I can't really alter the amount of sugar in the recipe, since this is what preserves it? Any thoughts? AND-I'm having a terrible time getting the jams to 221 degrees. They have needed at least 20 minutes at a boil before I can get that, and I'm worried I'm cooking the fruit to death. I'm using either a Le Creuset or an All Clad stainless saucepan-is that the problem? Today a batch actually scorched before it hit 221. so it is all ruined. I did not stir contantly but didn't know I would need to. ???

Never thought about this before but I understand-I bet portabella sandwiches got old 5 years ago. I wonder why a good place like this doesn't have something a little less generic.

The menu has changed-it's twice as big as it was! edited: okay, mushroom sandwich reference...are you vegetarian but wishing they had more veggie options? I always think of Matt's as a seafood place (I can't remember any non-seafood meat options, either, though I guess there's probably one or two)-I wouldn't take anyone there who didn't want seafood.

It's really nice to have Matt's open again-what a great new space they've created, and I love the new, longer menu. We had a fantastic lunch today-the oyster sandwich is finally back, and the seared scallops, with an orange/butter sauce, are still making my mouth water when I think about them. If only I got more than 2 scallops, and about 10 green beans, for $19. I didn't love paying twenty bucks for lunch and leaving still hungry. (This complaint isn't really Matt's specific-it's more about the cost of seared sea scallops anywhere. Why are scallops always so expensive at restaurants, anyway? They aren't THAT expensive to buy, and it's not like they are a labor intensive dish).

I had a botony professor that worked for Smucker's for 6 years, trying to develop a strawberry that shipped well AND tasted great. He couldn't do it. The poor guy can't even look at a strawberry now. The season is waning but I think I bought 6 flats at farmer's markets in the past month, mostly just to gorge on, but some made their way into tarts, jam and shortcakes. I'd highly recommend the Strawberry-Creme Fraiche Tart in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours, if anyone is looking for a somewhat different strawberry recipe.

If you've tried the tomatoes in a variety of mediums and use early tomatoes, I wonder if it's your waterfront location. I have one friend that lives on the water near Port Townsend, and another at Port Ludlow, and neither can grow tomatoes-they say it's just too cool. I have another friend that lives on the water in Seattle that swears by the "wall o' water" product that keeps her tomatoes warm, but I don't have any firsthand experience with this product. If I were you I'd start checking with my neighbors (can they grow them?), asking on Gardenweb, maybe writing to our local garden columnists (Marianne Binetti has a great website where she answers all questions), to see what can be done in your waterfront situation. Maybe some of the Russian or Northern European varieties? Or the ultra-early varieties? I've never been happy with yields from tomatoes in containers (I container gardened for years when I rented), but if that's the only thing you haven't tried, I would be trying it, too.

I'm so happy I found this thread. I just made my first jam this week (Apricot, from Susan Loomis' On Rue Tatin) and strawberry, Christine Ferber's recipe. I have a question about sugar amounts: I've read on this thread that people are using 80% sugar (to jam), whereas the recipes I've seen usually call for 100%. I'd like to use a little less, and I'm buying fantastic, very sweet berries right now. After I cook the fruit/sugar mix, can I taste for sweetness and decide if I am using the right sugar amount? Or does the taste change enough once it's canned so that this wouldn't be an accurate measure?

Thanks Jackal! I did buy the book (online) but it hasn't arrived yet. I'm really looking forward to it.

Would anyone be willing to pm me Christine Ferber's strawberry jam recipe? I just ordered her book but I have a flat of strawberries from the farmer's market today. Thanks!

Someone raved about this spicy dill pickle recipe in another thread, but it's a quick pickle, not canned. Does anyone know if I can preserve these pickles in jars, or is there something different about canned pickle recipes? epicurious spicy dills

Everything I read said ultrapasturized, or any sort of mass produced cream, will work, it just won't make great butter. I've already stumbled-after sitting out overnight and all day, my cream/creme fraiche mixture is bubbly and fermented-smelling, and my directions say to toss it if that happens.

I was very anxious to make butter after reading this sunday's NYT, too, but as I did a little more reading it seems like cultured butter is the way to go. Following a link from Michael Ruhlman's blog I found this blog on culturing butter, and when I get home from work tonight I'll see how my cream/creme fraiche mixture is coming along. I used the best quality locally produced cream I could find from my local natural foods co-op, and I'll be interested to see how subsequent batches, that I'll make with raw cream from the farmer's market, turn out. (I do think it's odd that Patterson never mentions the quality of the cream-I have a hard time believing that butter made from regular grocery store cream would be very special).

I don't think luck has much to do with it-maybe we can figure out what the problem is? First, don't get discouraged yet...tomatoes around here often don't really start growing until July (have you been seeing any progress these last couple weeks?). Second, you say they are on your deck...are you using varieties adapted for container gardening, and are you fertilizing? Some varieties do well in large pots but others do not. Third, are they getting at least 6 hours sun per day? Fourth, and very important, are you choosing varieties adapted for the PNW (most heirloom types are pretty iffy here since they take so long to ripen)? And if you live in a particularly cool part of the PNW (north of Seattle, on the islands), you should be even more careful when choosing types.

Also welcome to the Phinney farmer's market, in the lower parking lot of the Phinney Center, Fridays 3-7. It's smaller than Ballard or the U District, but has a lot of great vendors: La Pasta, Estrella Creamery, Woodring Orchards, the crepe people, the wood fired oven people, a new oyster/clam vendor I'm not familiar with, lots of berries, flowers and veggies...there is parking in both lots but it fills up quick. Also I poked my head in the little Mexican place I mentioned above and the owner gave me a menu-it looks like it's a torta place, and they have everything from head cheese to steak tortas.

Hopefully everyone won't hate me after this post, but I've actually had good remodeling experiences (and we've done major, down to studs remodels). I guess it's possible we've been lucky, but one thing we've always done, which I always wonder if everyone who has these horror stories has done, is interview these guys to death and call all of their references. I've haven't hired a single plumber, electrician, carpenter, tile layer, whatever, that hasn't been HIGHLY recommended, and I still ask for and call their references. And I grill their references, too-do they keep the worksite clean (real pros will seal the worksite with plastic and keep your house very clean)? Did they finish on time and on budget? Were they nice to your dog? etc. We have an old house and know that there will always be something that will complicate things, so we also always grill these guys on what they think they might find that could slow things down, ask how much extra they think that would cost, etc. The easiest remodel we ever did was when we hired a design/build firm. They do everything in house, from the architectural plans to the kitchen design to subcontracting the plumbing, electrical, etc, and they do it for a set amount, which is written into a contract. They can't go over budget except in the case of a very few well specified exceptions (in our case, they did not go over. Even though they didn't realize they couldn't buy narrow cedar siding commercially and they had to spend a week in our backyard making each piece of siding, they couldn't charge an extra penny). They are not the cheapest option but there was almost no stress with this type of company. Maybe this was just a case of poor planning? I don't think there's ever, in the history of remodeling, been a kitchen that was remodeled in a week. And how could you not know you needed new electric and plumbing? Whenever you buy new appliances this is something you check on first.