Kim WB

Yes, they dol...it sells out quickly at the local Princeton WEgman's...It has good flavor, but the texture suffers. It's good served right out of the fridge, a bit of jarred sun dried tomatoes and a corner of whole wheat sahara bread...but no "meltability" ( is that a word??) and when it softens, it crumbles.

Ignatius Reilly is the totally self-absorbed lard ass (I'm thin) who thinks it's his god given right to pontificate on subjects that mean very little in the real world (I see a correlation to a lot of the posting here) from A Confederacy of Dunces. And Dennis Miller could take the word "the" and turn it into a four paragraph litany about the plight of the Shiites. Lest we forget, I'm not Michael Rhulman. Yes, and as I mentioned, Ignatious will never rise again, John Kennedy Toole is dead. And I guess the talents of Dennis are impressive to you..to me,that's why he's some obscure sportscaster now, but I guess to some his ability to ponificate are worthy of attention. Ah, it's neither here nor there...I'm just a regular reader, needed some clarification of your opinion on Alton...I suspect its just an exercise: if someone says black, CWS will reply white...that' s ok..it keeps some people interested..it just makes this old lady tired!

CWS, I read your replies again..and anyone that reads can see that you changed your tone in the middle..unless you call people names when you LIKE them?? Anyway, I had a wonderful mother's day today, and I suspect yours was hectic and unfulfilling... but the truth is, I read your responses, you seemed to go from offense to defense, and I was trying to figure out how you really felt about Alton Brown..who, incidently, I think adds a great voice to FN, and has a great book. edited, as it was pointed out that I was a bit rude.

mushrooms are the most important, after the cheese. If using goat or another non traditional cheese, make sure it is the full fat content cheese...I've been at Pizza parties where the hostess opted for Coach Farms lite goat cheese...and other assorted low fat toppings..you need twice as much, they don't have the same flavor, and they just don't melt!

umm...you do realize that Reilly's gone, and Dennis Miller is a sportscaster now? And the intellectually dysfunctional don't buy as many books as the "enjoy a coherent sentence" crowd, CWS. So, do you like Alton. or not? While working so hard to impress us all with your linguistic olympics, I kinda missed the point?...

pumpkiny, welcome. Add two more for me..Happy mother's day! Actually, just add one..I'll keep Blue Ginger. But Nigella is going back to Border's...just not a distinctive enough voice, IMHO ...I think I might use the credit for Sara Moulton, a gift for a friend who is becoming adventurous...

read my last post about Chicago and no, that's a word I coddle like an oxygen mask on a crashing jet The private sector gig, as you call it, is taking its toll on my life. Why do you think I started writing? I'm a cash house chef by nature.

I respect his bank account.

I think that when evaluating a product such as pb in a tube, or yogurt tubes, you need to acknowledge the convenience factor, and how that might tip the scales over the taste factor. Igf you're running from one activity to another with younger kids, the yogurt in a tube is great...in the car seat, pop open the tip, and they suck/squeeze happily away with minimum mess and fuss..plus, its relatively healthy. The PB gets a little glompy, but for a 6-8 year old looking to make a snack independently, its fairly easy to set them up with some crackers and let them squeeze. As close as I can tell, the yogurt tastes the same as any of those Dannon Animal yogurts/custard style yogurts, and the PB, not a favorite food of mine,seems its usual glompy self.

It's a wonderful article, indeed. In early 88, Edna Lewis was doing a brief consulting gig at her old place, Gage and Tollner. I went in for lunch one day, ( we lived right in Brooklyn Heights at the time) with a girlfriend and my infant son. I timed it for his nap, so that we could dine while he was sleeping away in the infant seat...well, Murphy's law, he got fussy, and I picked him out of the seat, and walked towards the back area of the restaurant, which was empty. He was not screaming, just general fussiness...and as the waiter carried my food past me, he realized the situation, and brought the food back into the kitchen. A minute later, Ms. Lewis came out, took that baby on her shoulder, and started this deep, baritone humming. She told me to "go sit on down, and eat", and five minutes later, she gently placed my sleeping son into his seat...I tried to thank her and engage her in conversation, but she did a little hand wave and went back into the kitchen...so, it is good to hear that a kind person is having kindness reciprocated. I like it when things come full circle..

yes, this is my complaint..it's become umbiquitous..."salt and pepper bird" "add salt and pepper to taste"...I don't like pepper in many foods, and so omit it regularly. I enjoy pepper on greens and most vegetables, but not in sauces, and I think too many home made stocks are dominated by pepper. Conversely, I enjoy dishes that are designed around pepper...salt and pepper shrimp, au poivre, pepper encrusted fish filets. But as an enhancement, I feel it is often relegated to a mandatory ingredinet aht really doesn't belong.

edited, because, well, life's too short to be negative.

Cool...Vetri called, we're in at 9pm tonight..any not to be missed reccomendations? Kim

thank you all again...I've printed out info on Frederick's DiPalma and panorama...I'm going to insist that my husband make the final decision..and our driver is from Philly, he moonlights for a limo company on days off, so he is also usually a good source of info. thank you, thank you!

Not being as knowledgeable in this as most, but often accompanying my serious wine enthusiast husband to various wine stores, I can tell you that he refers to some bottles as having a "Parker Price"...which sounds closely related to your 'Parker Factor".

what was interesting was mario's response that "people complain about anything..it only takes a minute to schuck those clams"..if the picture is indicitive of the real pizza served, it had lots of clams that, unless you wanted to submerge both hands agressively into the task, without a care for flying clam juice, would take longer than a minute to shuck.

Oh, true confessions! On a bag of Kraft Caramels, I got a recipe for an Oatmeal /Choc/ Caramel pie...the kind of thing where you lightly bake the oatmeal crust to set it, then pour in the melted caramels, chocolate chips..a bar cookie kind of thing in a pie crust. Anyway, I make it all the time for school events..its easy to make, easy to store, and holds up well in tupperware or foil. Remember the Friend episode when Monica is trying to create Phoebe's grandmohter's chocolate chip cookies, from Madame "Touluse"?

It seems strange to me, at least as a formal, invitation kind of party.. I've never even heard of it,to be honest. At the beach we might hook up wiht the neighbors late in the day..so the guests at my house might come along with me to my neighbors house, and I'll bring some food, wine, whatever. So I guess, in an informal way, I am a host in a house not my own. But certainly not a "Please be my guest for dinner on Monday, the 30th. RSVP to MRS. xyz. Dinner served 8pm sharp at Mrs. abc's house" kind of thing...I guess it makes sense in a place where space is a premium, or in Jaymes' case when its your turn to reciprocate...or in a close family or friend situation...but what would I know, I hang out with babystroller pushers. And enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars.

Michelle, I, too, have often had favorite, local places that were my "regular" spots...but never one that I was so committed to that I went there exclusively. Do you dine out every night, and just save Spago's for Friday, or is that your only meal out...just curious...from waht I recall, the menu was not that extensive to stay interested for such an extended period of time. PS, (and Roz DID say she'd be back. Great, well rounded review, Roz.)

LOL..to give you an idea, the client's wife's favorite Philly restaurant is Striped Bass..but her husband finds it too "modern". ??? Go figure. He likes quiet, white table clothed places with elegant place settings, dark panelled walls, rich fabrics, and unobtrusive waiters. Nothing funky, modern or casual. If I have to pick food over decor, for this guy, decor would win..that's why I was trying to find a restaurant that had great food, and this kind of elegance. I really appreciate your help. Kim

Katie, I hate to drive you crazy, or anyone else for that matter, and this will sound like a snobbish question...but if you knew our clients,a nd our limitations, you'd understand...Will there be a chance of anyone in jeans at Panorama? And are their tableclothes?

Inimitable, one-of-a-kind, an unicum. Nothing else quite like it ... in Philly (again, IMHO). There are many fine restaurants here, just that no one cooks quite like Marc Vetri (and soon, Bryan Sikora -- again, again IMHO). Wow, I'm glad I asked, a nd will persevere to get in there, eventually! Most likely not Thursday,, but hopefully soon!

Thanks, ther was a lot of helpful info in that post, and I'm getting a more clear idea of each place...but, umm.....what does sui generis mean? I'm guessing generic?

Katie, that is a very amusing description! So, I'm not hearing anything about DiPalma's...I'll assume Zagat's raves are misplaced. Frederick's sounds like the winner so far, although I was unable to find a review or website...

We have tix to the public tasting, but the private reception before hand. However, the clients we are bringing may not be able to leave Princeton earlier in the day to make it to the earlier reception, so we might just be at the general tasting. We will not stay long...and hour and a half, tops. The general admission tasting is so ridiculously crowded, in past expereince, so if its the same we won't linger. Il Portico is an option, but we've been before. Ideally, I'd like to stay int he Penn's landing area..thst's why I was looking for specific Dipalma info..but we've tried a few times to get into Vetri, and I put our name on the wait list just in case the opportunity arose. Cinghale, when you say " won't find much approaching Vetri here", do you mean DiPalma or Panorama? When I say high end, upscale, I mean men in jackets, quiet, grown up atmosphere, service oriented, well prepared food, strong wine list. Highend and upscale are such generic, subjective terms, I should not have (over!) used them! thanks all.