SaltySnack

Please explain more about steaming the bok choy in the microwave? Very curious as I love bok choy but rarely cook it.

I've pretty much given up gluten-free baking (for many, many reasons). I buy the Udi's bread for sandwiches and that's enough to tide me over. Check out the gluten-free girl's blog and cookbooks. She seems to be having success doing gluten-free baking. You should also join the silly-yaks list serve on yahoo. The celiacs on there have a number of books/ authors they recommend for first time gluten-free bakers. Again, no comment from me about the authors or quality of their baked goods. Good luck! Gluten-free baking has to be the hardest thing to do successfully.

ABC kitchen was a definite miss on my recent trip back to NYC before christmas. Granted it was the holidays, we didn't have a reservation and we waited about 45-1 hour for a table which actually was fine. It was when our order was lost and the food was merely mediocre that the experience became one I would not repeat. The manager was not at all apologetic and the service itself very poor aside from the over an hour wait for the food itself. If I'd known it was going to be such a disappointing experience, I would have taken my mom and sister anywhere else in the neighborhood. Sorry, Jean-George, that's it for me, two really bad experiences at one of your restaurants not counting one excellent meal at Jean-Georges itself does not make up for the poor management and food that seems to be my experience at your restaurants. I will be avoiding your restaurants in the future.

Bought the iGrill for all the men in my family for Christmas. Tried to hook up my dad's and he wasn't patient enough to figure it out, and I didn't care enough to try. Wish I could offer you a better review. Best Buy had one on sale about the same time for half the price. Don't know what the difference is/was.

I burned the hell out of my arm the other day reaching for a pot on the back of the stove that the handle just happened to be barely close to the burner in front of it that was going. I'd stay far far away from having to reach over a stove and pick something up especially something metal. In one of of my old apartments, the kitchen was small, storage was minimal and the cabinets must have been designed for some giant man. I baked something in a dish in the oven, got it out, set it on the stove top, reached above it to grab something out of the cabinet above, and my shirt lifted up and I burned my stomach! I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I like a cooktop with nothing above it that can potentially burn me. I have tumbled marble behind my stove with an iron decorative insert. I did not design or decorate the kitchen nor do I really fry anything close to the backsplash, My tile could stand a little scrubbing but that's mostly because of the pot filler which must have a bad connection because every time I turn it on the water is brown.

That's it. 26 seats. I don't remember it being that bad but its been a number of years.

Westville on West 10th is tiny with maybe 20 something seats. and i feel like I've been to a restaurant in the East Village that's named 16 seats.

I really, really enjoyed this blog. It definitely introduced me to some places in Dallas I've never been before. Next time I'm there, I will definitely have to check them out. Thanks so much for sharing your week with us.

Celery! blech! Celery in tuna salad is an abomination! Can't stand it. My parents housekeeper makes the best tuna salad. I don't know what she does but it is like crack. I will call her up and ask her to make me some or she'll just regularly think, I haven't made any in a while, it must be time. I think she uses, sweet pickles, usually gherkins and adds a little bit of pickle juice, mayo, usually apples, sometimes chopped up pickles, sometimes hard boiled eggs and I don't' know what else but it's the best. When she delivers it to me, I will live on it morning, noon and night until it's gone. I appalled my ex-boyfriend when I first met him when I told him that I didn't like fresh tuna only tuna salad.

I take medicine on an empty stomach every morning. The medicine hits my system in roughly half an hour. I feel a distinct reaction when the medicine kicks in. I can tell whether I've eaten too much the night before when I don't feel the medicine kick in or rather it takes longer for me to feel it. It's definitely very interesting. I typically make sure I feel the medicine kick in and then wait a little bit before eating.

The problem I see with chili is 1. the beans at altitude, not so good and cause mountain bloat. ugh. 2. chili is served for lunch everywhere on the mountains. The last thing I want after skiing all day is chili. But that's just me. What about some other different type of soup that could cook all day in the crackpot?

Not that I've seen; this is a smallish town, and I'm trying to think whether there's any speciality shop I've missed; I don't think so. So, I'm going to be making shrimp and quinoa. Shrimp and Quinoa?????? what sacrilege! Perhaps you will discover some new fantastic dish, but I just imagine the nutty taste of quinoa clashing with the shrimp. Grits are bland and generic that's why they are so great as a base especially for butter, salt and cheese. Quinoa has a definite flavor profile. I just don't think you are going to get the same results by using quinoa. but by all means please try it and report back.

I went to Rouge Tomate over a year ago as part of a group meal. I thought the whole concept was a little pushy and just a little too self-congratulatory. I also thought they were so caught up in what they were doing that they forgot that people want to enjoy their meal. To complicate matters, I'm gluten-free and they made no accommodations for me. This is not what I expect when I go to a restaurant of that caliber. I have eaten many places with chefs who get gluten-free, who understand that gluten free food can be just as wonderful and enjoyable as food that contains gluten. Perhaps too it was the fact that it was very germanic food which I am just not into. Really, I would have been happier with a salad rather than whatever they served us for the meal. I also thought the service was not the great, but that tends to happen when you are with a group and shut off in a room. I wanted more water, and there was a serving bar in the room and when I went up myself to get it, the jug/pitcher was so heavy, I could not lift it, so no more water for me. I think I had even asked for more water. Anyway, I was not impressed. But the restaurant was beautiful in a cold sort of way.

I was pretty much living on Tums there for a while with heartburn. I was never on prilosec long enough to give it a go. But all that changed when I went gluten-free. All symptoms gone. Now the only time I get hearburn/reflux is when I drink a lot of carbonated beverages or funnily enough a migraine as it is now a symptom of a migraine for me. I really suggest going gluten-free. it is amazing how many problems it cleared up for me and how I had no idea of how bad I was feeling before going gluten-free.

I typically don't eat citrus, but my brother gave me a subscription to the Fruit of the Month club from Harry and David. This month's selection is honeybell oranges which are indeed shaped like a bell. H&D claims they are so juicy, they include a bib in the box for when you eat them. My box arrived yesterday but I have yet to try any of the oranges.

No tears! I am so impressed you are attempting gluten free baking. I've tried it a time or two and it's always been a miserable failure. I don't miss bread that much so it doesn't really bother me to not eat it anymore, but kudos to you for attempting all this baking. I am very impressed.

Please tell more about your eggs en cocotte with grits. Do you cook the grits first and then bake them with the eggs? Any veggies in there? Could you prepare this in advance? This looks like my kind of breakfast.

There are lots of things I can't eat anymore and for the most part I've gotten over eating them, but I still miss fresh pineapple, I would love Reeses peanut butter cup but now I can't stand the smell of coffee so I don't miss that any more. For me the hardest part has been going gluten free and traveling. I was in Mexico recently and would have loved to have picked up some treats but with no ingredients listed on the package there was no way I was chancing getting sick. I don't mind anymore giving up certain foods if that means I am healthy and feel good. It's a tradeoff I will willingly make.

I absolutely hate 11 Madison Park. I find the room very cold. I can't speak to the food as I haven't been there in years but was severely underwhelmed the two times I have been there. I have however had a wonderful meal at Jean Georges. I would suggest you put that on your list if you haven't been there yet.

Gluten free girl and the chef is a great blog. and Gluten free girl better known as Shauna James Ahern, has just published a gluten-free cookbook named after the blog. However, I have really never checked out the recipes to see if they are also sugar-free.

I follow a blog Simply Sugar and Gluten, http://www.simplysugarandglutenfree.com/ you might check it out and see what's there.

May I suggest googling the blog Cold Antler Farm. The girl who is writing it (whose name escapes me) is a back to the land urban homesteader. i am sure if your friend got in touch with her, she would be happy to have her come to her farm and help slaughter a chicken.

I'm on a gluten-free diet, and dairy free goes along right with it. I belong to a yahoo chat group called sillyyaks. you might want to join the group and search and browse their archives and/or ask questions of the group. I find gluten-free baking to be very hard and most of the cakes I have made taste like pound cakes. There are some gluten free flour mixes out there that are supposed to be very good. I can't get any in my area so have no recommendations. I have also tried some gluten-free cake mixes like Pamela's which was good for gluten-free. Betty Crocker has gluten-free cake mix that you can find in your regular grocery store. If you choose to go the gluten-free cake mix route, be careful, because some of them like BC only make a single layer. there are also several gluten-free baking blogs out there. I think one of the best is gluten-free girl and the chef. The sillyyaks also recommend a number of gluten-free baking books, but I don't know the names of any of the authors because I haven't invested in any of them. Your best bet may be to get a premade gluten-free flour mix like BetterBatter and use it in your cake recipe just as you would use regular flour. And then perhaps substitute almond or rice milk for the diary portion. If using such a flour mix, you may have to add xanthum gum as well. Again, this is all out of my league as I have no been courageous enough to do any heavy duty gluten free baking. Please also be very careful of cross-contamination when baking your gluten-free cake. I would bake the cake first thing in the morning in a clean kitchen before you start using any of your other flours. Some of us can be extremely sensitive to cross-contamination. Good luck!

I am not too up on ethnic markets, but I'll try. On Youree Drive near Kings Highway there's an Vietnamese restaurant and I think they have an Asian Market attached. There might also be an Asian market on Kings Highway going towards the river. Gourmet markets, Maxwell's at Pierremont and Line, don't know what they have. Cuban liquor also nearby has a selection of cheeses. Cush's market and Grocery, south of town on Ellerbe road, has a great cafe and takeout market plus some specialty groceries. Drug Emporium on East Kings Highway has a great selection of natural foods and gluten free foods and some specialty items. Also, you might want to check Wal-Mart especially if there's a Super Wal-mart, Wal-Mart attracts a large hispanic crowd and a lot of times, it has specialty mexican items like crema fresca and chillies.

Glad you made it to some good places. Cush's skipped my mind, so I am glad you went there as well. I think my dad lives on their chicken salad.