Kim WB

Rosie, you were about a mile from my house! Anyway, Bab and I have been there twice, and enjoyed the menu as well. We went witht eh kids when it frist oppened,a nd the service was terribble, but a return visit a few weeks later, with just the two of us, was much better. The pasta choice are a bit "fussy" for the kids, but they omitted a few ingredients for our fussy bunch, which is always appreciated.

Helena, Feel better..for years, Tre Piani has has a lightly battered, wonderful fried calamari...more like a tempura batter than the usual bread crust...with an awesome, but pungeant balsamic dipping sauce...try it,if its still on the menu. Iwas there over the summer, and it was on their lunch menu.

I know Rosie and the Perlows are headed to Blue Sky...I'm going to Rats.....I KNOW the old foodbytes folks and the other egullet Jersey Board members are going to be dining out on this important evening..WHERE are you going???

Hi, I have a recipe that calls for shitake dust, made from grinding dried shitakes in a spice grinder. The problem is, the dried shitakes I bought were not so much "dry" as , well, one could say, "dry-spongy". They did not grind, just kind of mushed and folded. To the experienced chefs, is it a poor quality dried mushroom, or is that their usual texture, and is the recipe one of those sadist selections of impossible to make dishes that sound great? I'd just try buying more mushrooms, from another source, but they're pricey and I'm trying to research first.

We enjoy Rats on a regular basis, and are going ont he 11th for the WOTW benefit/Dine OUt thing.

I must differ with your revelation..for those suburban moms , these cereals have never gone away. Stop by any central Jersey Foodtown,a nd you're talking every cereal..and many that you named now have generic equivilants...Lucky charms = "Horseshoes and O's" Richmond Foods brand, for example. At 5.99 a box, I have been know to buy generic, and refill the box. We go through 3-4 boxes per week, Honey nut Cheerios are a favorite, Fruit Loops for the youngest, and Fruity Pebbles or Trix for the 14 year old sugar freak. I like Honey bunces of Oats. The kids love those mini boxes, but only for vacations, or for school snacks. My one kid brings cocoa puffs in the mini box for snack time, with a pint of milk and orange slices. I figure the orange slices take me off the workld's worst mother list.

Ordering dessert is directly related to the value of the calories. Is a ho-hum flan worth an extra 20 minutes on the stairmaster? no. Is Craig Sheltons bread pudding worth another few minutes on the treadmill...yes indeed! I have a sweet tooth, so I need to be careful and moderate my choices...I will always order dessert in a restauranut where th meal has been wonderful so far, and I will ALWAYS order a dessert if it combines banana, chocolate and coffee flavors.

My house, NY Strip from McCaffreys's in Princeton, a bit of Cajun Rub ( Bob's secret recipe, we give it as gifts for Christmas and friends that run out mid October start to beg!) and serve it almost mooing. At a restauraunt, Diamonds in Trenton is great, IMHO, and Lorenzo's ios even better, but who can deal with all those cigars?

As the suburban mother of 3, I can assure you, Chain restaurants is a subject I know a lot about! 3 kids, two sports each= 6 visits for "baseball" parties, etc. Plus Christmas exhaustion at the mall, another few visits a year. Witing for " Bye Bye Birdie "Play practice to be over, the only place near is Chili's, so I spent many nights there when it was my turn to pick up. And McDonald's after football games, Burger King every Thursday night becasue its near my son's hip hop dance class and I have 20 minutes between that and my book club meeting to feed him....get the picture? Hands down, Chili's is the best..why? Dos Equis and Yuengling on tap. A pretty good Fajita Pita with a chili powder/mayo/sourcream concoction. For Fast Food, I think Wendy's has the best burger.

Dill, Cilantro..all delicious. I hate mint, especially spearmint. I don't like it as an ingredient in ANTYTHING..I buy kids flavored tooth paste in order to avoid it.

Yes, Iwas with David in the River Cafe Days, 1986-1991. He is a great friend, and the father of whom I love best, Connor and Dillon Burke, our sons. I am happily remarried to an attorney and live the soccer mom suburban life in Princeton,NJ...David is a great dad, great pal, and he makes reservations wherever Bob and I want to go..and usually sets up a great bottle and a word with the chef (Edited by Kim WB at 7:41 am on Aug. 29, 2001)

Many potatoe chip purists out there..not me! My favorite flavored chip, by far, is the Utz Chesapeake Crab chip, with the Old Bay seasoning. This is a superior food product. I am only a potato chip purist ( no flavoring)when it comes to a chip for dipping.. then I prefer my Breakstones Sour cream and Lipton's onion soup mix to grace a plain chip.

Great thread! I am not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination. But, I have perfected the grilled steak for my carnivore husband. As long as I have access to the quality meats ( and I order them from D'artagnan or equal sources), then I can sear, grill and serve a steak equal to any, and I've been to the best steakhouses in the country. All other preparations, besides my mom's marinara, cannot be duplicated in my kitchen, no matter how diligent I follow directions! And my ex-husband is David Burke, a NYC chef, so I even have a built in tutor at times! I yell to my son : "Call your father! Ask him why my salmon is not crusting! ( too much coating) Ask him if I really need to cool down the chicken broth and defat it, or can I just reduce it? (yes, but its not as clear) I had him walk me through a whole duck dish once, with my husband and I having him on speaker phone in the kitchen, and it was still too greasy! So, my vote is that dishes can be replicated at home, but certainly not by me! (Edited by Kim WB at 3:19 pm on Aug. 28, 2001)

Hong Kong, Noodles in a fish broth, with the pot of broth simmering there, watching them dump the entrails and bones of butchered fish into it...for a few extra cents, they'll take two fresh shrimp , heads and all, dip them in boiling water, and add it to your noodles. About Ū. US Also, at the 9th Avenue Food Fest in NYC, when they still called that area ####'s kitchen, about 15 years ago, I had my first Bean sprout pancake. Now,they are at every church carnival. but they were new to me then, and I still remember the taste...I've never found one so fresh, non greasy and filled witll scallion as that first one...with a sauce that ( here we go again about sweetness) was fruity sweet, not duck saucy orangy sweet like they serve with it now. Sorry for my ignorance.. these pancakes are Vietnamese, right?

I've actually spoken to my congressperson about this..while in CA, I had to get wines shipped back to my sister in Maryland! The Chamber of Commerce and similiar business organizations are strong lobbyist for keeping the law, and are joined by MADD and other groups who do not want any weakening of intrastate alcohol delivery. Every once in a while, a vineyard in CA will be willing to ship to NJ..and they disguise it as olive oil.

Yes, Speckle Red's is gone...hencethe "was the destination"qualification at the start of the post...I've never found a more "earthy" place, or more sincere......I would have to qualify between Southern and Soul...I hear good things about Delta's despite the review, but I also acknowledge that Delta;s is southern, Speckle Red's was soul/ I am a good 25 lbs overweight, and when Iwalked into his dive, Speckle Red would say.."Yo, you pretty white girl, what can we cook to fatten you up, sugar?" You gotta love a man that appreciates abit of "love" on his women! LOL<<this is a true story!!!

Speckle Red's in Trenton was the Soul Food destination for years..a little hole in the wall take out place with a few picnic tables. Collards with bacon grease, and catfish with some kind of spicy side sauce, tomato based ..also great fried okra. I hear good things about Ruby's , On route 27 i(Somerset Street)n New Brunswick and I have had some "Southern gone upscale" dishes at Maxine's in Trenton as well. Which, incidently, is a very cool art deco place with a lot of promise. Which also sums up the city of Trenton, as well!

I'm going to put in a vote for Szechuan Gourmet, in New Brunswick, next door and above Stage Left. Fresh, not over sauced, and yes, "americanized", but quite good. I've been to China...americanizing the food is not such a bad thing... I like the rice with my meal, and there is not a grain to be found in the southern provinces.