little ms foodie

I think your favorite is the chestnut, you had soooooo much fun with that!!! Hey I tried to kick Rocco at the charity event but he handed me a plate of braised short ribs on truffle scented polenta so I couldn't

I had an amazing meal at the restaurant on Sunday night. Luckily I was with another eGer who has some friends in the kitchen so our 12 course menu was expanded a bit. Wines were exceptional also. Spendy? yep! worth it? to me absolutely! our table display- honey comb Hot Potato, cold potato, black truffle, parmesan- loved this! Pine nut, radish, balsamic, Olive oil - excellent Lamb, akudjura, nicoise olive, eucalyptus veil- one of my favorites of the night Chestnut, too many garnishes to list- we had such a good time with this Salsify, parsely, smoked salmon, steelhead roe- again, excellent! Pear, celery leaf, and branch, curry- we thought this was very fun and there were no explosions, haha! I ate it before I remembered to take a photo. Dungeness Crab, mait, chanterelles, dried apricot- not my favorite but still good mussel, chamomile, cucumber,mint- I thought the mussel flavor got a bit lost but the other flavors were great! Pork, grapefruit, cornbread, ohio honeycomb- excellent! Sweet potato, bourbon, cinnamon fragrance- another of my favorites of the night! duck, persimmon, onion, pillow of mace air- this was sooooo RICH! and the pillow was fun! kobe beef, yogurt, squash, smoked paprika candy- although the flavors were great, this was a tad sweet to me. I liked the yougurt with the beef the best. Applewood muscovado sugar, fenugreek- eaten without the use of hands, FUN!! hazelnut carrot, raisin, melted butter- like the best carrot cake ever! and again, ate it before i shot it. Sable, jasmine, toffee, banana- yum! Chocolate, kola nut, chufa, date- this was good but really rich for me more chocolate, five aromatics- lavendar and licorice were the favs a little kitchen tour all courses came with expert pairings which I'm happy to name if someone wants to know a specific. thanks again to my very fun dining companion!!!

wrap proscuitto around breadsticks..... a stick you can eat

Chris that was quite an education! thank you!! Chowder night Seattle style! My in laws came over and everyone participated in the chopping. We did the recipe out of 'The Best Recipes' First we had kirs with proscuitto on bread sticks, blue from Spain and Salumi oregano salami Next up were crab cakes on greens with lemon vinaigrette. My first time making crab cakes from scratch- very tastey! and the main event....Chowder! the recipe called for 7 lbs of cherrystones, I used 4lbs and it was plenty. We also used a bit more bacon cause we love it! All was good. served with a rosemary herb bread also.

hmmm...now I'm actually thinking of crab cakes on a bed of greens....

looks great Susan, hmmmm.... a little sandwich might be fun!

Alright, chowder on the menu for tomorrow. The in laws are coming over so there won't be any left to freeze anyway!! What does everyone serve when chowder is the main part of the meal? We are warming up sourdough bread and making a nice big green salad.

congrats!!! my most successful wine tasting parties happen by getting people involved in a competition. I send guests what they are to bring- a varietal usually- and they can purchase anything they want that has that grape in it, at any price. then we taste them against each other, I usually do 3 varietals and 3 wines in each for 8 to 10 people. I print cards to take notes on and we all talk about the wines and then vote. the wines are brown bagged so no one knows. Winners get prizes and bragging rights. and they share info on the price and the wine after it's revealed.

oh man! johhnyd and jason, both of those look soooo good!!! so on the freezing of chowders, don't freeze if you have added your cream?

That brings up a good question- here in Seattle anytime shells are in the broth it is definately cioppino. Chowder being a thick and creamy base with chunks of veggies and seafood. Where is the rest of the world on this? (btw, I LIKE the Australian's defination! ) Can't wait to see the salmon chowder, yum!!!! I usually do a corn, crab and mushroom chowder in the late summer/early fall. I think I'll go perusing for a good old fashion clam chowder recipe to try.

my batter was touching the sides, but I only filled to 2/3rds full as the recipe stated

thanks all!! I'll try it next time cause the top hat effect is cute!!

I'd go for a Willamette Pinot Noir for the salmon for sure! The butter sauce and the mushrooms and cabbage will all really go nice with that style, also I think dinner parties are better with whites and reds making appearances. A natural progression. If your budget allows I'd look for a 1998 or a 2001; both were exceptional years. There are many wineries and I'm not sure what you have access to.....

eggs......beaten.....with cheese and bechemel in them.... I used Julia's recipe which I hadn't tried before. It was incredibly light!! I placed it on the bottom rack of my oven, even though the recipe said to use the middle. Not sure if this did anything or not. a few questions, I noticed some of you drew a circle in the top, this didn't call for that- what does the 'moat' do? This puffed nicely but it was very uneven. The goal is to get one big plateau??

lord I love those burgers! thanks Kathy!

Dumpling Girl they have some very nice cocktails at Zoe, if you want to go early and have a drink at the bar!

do you have a Whole Foods? mine carries it in their deli/cheese area

tonight was simple scoops of Hagen Daaz Dulce de Leche ice cream, the hubby had knee surgery so it was his 'good job' treat

Megan, Cute Feet! SB ← Thanks, Steve! Cute feet are one of the few good things about being 5'3". That and not having to duck under low-hanging branches. And, Rebecca, I always believed you were a woman of impeccable tastes, and my suspicions have now been confirmed. ← soooo funny, I have them too but mine are brown and orange. Excellent shoe tastes!

hey Megan, I am just now getting a chance to read your fabulous blog!! I'm not done yet but wanted to let you know that I think your writing and photography are tops! Thanks for working so hard on this, it's wonderful!

Well in Napa I think French Laundry goes without saying? And Bouchon for something a bit more casual? I loved it for lunch. I have also heard great reviews about Touque (is that the right name? maybe someone can chime in ) in Napa.

We went to Campagne last night for a $25 preview and I think we all thought it was just ok. We started with gnocchi which was excellent and pissalardiere which was good. Mains were coq au vin which again was just ok and ravioli stuffed with braised beef- tasted like an ok beef stew put into ravioli and served with beef jus, not even a real sauce Desserts were a creme brulee (very good) pistachio tart (great!) and chocolate gateau (very good) Last fall's food was much better IMO

We just put the ham on a crostini rubbed with a bit of garlic, then fry the quail eggs and put one on top of the ham, a little drizzle of good olive oil, a spinkle of chopped parsely and you are set. quail eggs are great conversation makers I've found.

this is funny to find today because last night I asked my husband why we refrigerate our mustard when I'd always heard that mustard and honey are the 2 foods that don't spoil. I'm pulling it out and sticking it in the cupboard! The japanese soy sauce I buy doesn't say refrigerate and in fact the fish sauce says not to or crystals could appear. I think the US is a little over the top when it comes to refrigeration!

If you have access to quail eggs we like the ham on crostini topped with a little fried egg- so cute!