little ms foodie

clafouti using WA grown cherries, I pitted them and also used kirsch not as pretty as Paula's but my husband had seconds!

We started with some crostini spread with local goat cheese and others spread with olive jam and topped with pecorino. montemarte in the glass for me Dinner was out of the Andrea Immer Everyday Cooking with Wine, mussels steamed with champagne, Schramsberg Mirabel in the glass dessert was clafouti with WA cherries, I pitted them

these are awesome suggestions!! thank you, and btw...via trib's room holds up to 16. minimum of 10 to make the reservation.

Everybody is making ice cream! Williams Sonoma Ice Cream Ideas

We've used a butter bell for a few years now and love it. We don't go thru butter that quickly so will usually put half a stick at a time in it. Change the water frequently and the butter is perfectly soft and ready to spread!

We also go to Barking Dog for pub grub and great ales. The food is average but the service and beer selection is great. I wouldn't say to avoid it! I like the neighborhoody aspect of this little place.

I stock up on Plugra when i find it at a good price, my freezer always has some in it. It is my staple now.

Kevin, this is our first book of Mario's. There was a book signing and tasting here in Seattle at his father's deli Salumi that we attended. All the food was great so we have been excited about doing things out of the book. We get our blossoms at our local farmer's market. They are picked that morning and are awesome! There is only one stand that usually has them and I buy from her weekly until the are gone. I love them!!

Wow you guys have tons of great info! Thank you! We are now looking into the wine table at Commanders Palace- anyone with experiences with this?

We've been cooking a bit out of the new book too, last night we made the stuffed and fried squash blossoms which were fantastic! We've also made his green pasta and used it both for ravioli as well as fettuccini amd the veal roll ups (can't find my picture).....so far so good! This is our first Mario book.

Welcome to eG!! We haven't been but the view is beautiful- lake Union. Also I recently read a wonderful article on their sommelier (sp), he is one of very few in the country to have Master status. And the place is PACKED nightly, we pass all the parking cars and limos.

after reading varmits blog I had to have biscuits!! bacon chedder biscuits and some watermelon

tonight was goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms with a tomato coulis from our Mario Batalli book, these were awesome! then we decided to try a grilled duck breast recipe from Andrea Immer's book, cherry pinot noir sauce. Also grilled some new potatoes and garlic scapes. I didn't like the duck done this was but hubby thought it was good. I REALLY want that tart for dessert!!!

Fellow eG'er Della and I (with SO's) are vacationing in NOLA this September. We will most likely be staying at the Hotel Monteleone in the french quarter. We are already researching restaurants as that is half the fun right?? Here's where we are starting from: breakfast: cafe du monde French Market lunch: Elizabeths Petunias Acme Oyster Central market Brunch or Dinner: Commanders Palace Dinner: NOLA Upperline Casa Mentos Jacques Imos Galatoires Bombay Club How are we doing, what should we cut? What are we missing?? Do any of the restaurants have a kitchen/chefs table option?? Thank you in advance for your advice!!!

mmm, thanks for sharing your pictures. You ate at 3 of the local favorites. We talk a lot about Zoe and Le Pichet, just not when the tourists are listening!! haha! If you are ever in town on a Monday Zoe has 1/2 price wine bottles on Monday.

Thanks so much for the great blog, I've definately picked up a few ideas. More about the boiled squash please? You cut it and then just pop it in the boiling water?? I'm trying that for sure. And I've got chedder bacon biscuits in the oven, my way of saying thanks!

we had left over anchovies from our salad last night so hubby made home made ceasar with homemade garlic croutons And while exploring our freezer we found a small lamb loin roast so we slathered it with oregano from a friends garden, EVOO and garlic and put it on the grill. Served with Israeli couscous finished in EVOO, garlic and parsley........ everyone has figured out the theme of tonights dinner yes??

Your cheesehead son deserves a trip to France!! I love the idea of gravy and cheese on fries, it makes them a bit soggy though right?

I would have never even thought of that, I always consider them dark and romantic. Do they have a seperate space or are they just able to put tables together?

We checked out Ysios which was amazing http://www.arcspace.com/architects/calatrava/wine/ and one of the last remaining underground cellars in LaGuardia owned by the fabalist, I'm not remembering. Also Ugarte and shopped at some wine shops.

Salad Nicoise ( you may notice we forgot tomatoes...oops!) served with a nice chardonnay from Sonoma

actually we've been schooled by the aussie that a true aussie burger has a fried egg, beet root (beet) and pinapple...... I'm going to pass on that!

We loved our tour of Riscal and the model of the new hotel. We actually bought a bit of 1996 Baron de Chirel Reserva- that's what we drank last night. Isn't LaGuardia beautiful?? we stayed in the castle, our room was up top in the turret. one thing I learned is that reds from rioja are a lot more food friendly than people think, did you find that as well?

try www.opentable.com

So we are looking for a restaurant for a group of about 16 or so. Preferably Italian, northwest with lots of seafood or the like. Moderate prices and good selections for vegetarians, etc. We have thought of: Via Trib (how many people does that back room hold?) Serafina Tulio Assagio Crow Palace Kitchen Where else???