little ms foodie

I have ordered turkeys from A&J Meats on QA in the past and thought it was good. Since I haven't ordered from anywhere else I was curious to know what others thought. Who has the best turkeys? What about the price? What else do you look for when buying a bird? Does anyone buy the frozen ones at the grocery store and if so how do they compare?

Little Ms Foodie, How did you prepare the onion confit? That looks great !! ← Well of course I had stumbled upon the onion confit thread on the site and it inspired me. The other night I had cut up half an onion to use as my rack for roasting my chicken. I was digging around for something to make for a pre dinner snack and was thinking about the thread....damn I'd like some onion confit spread with goat cheese on toast right now. So I thinly sliced the rest of the onion and put it in a small saucepan with about 2 TBS butter and some EVOO. Turned it down to low and stirred it every so often. It cooked for 3 hours as we ate dinner, watched tv, etc. I added a bit of pepper and some balsamic vinegar at the very end. put it in a ramikin, covered with a bit more EVOO and stuck it in the fridge. Then yesterday I popped it in the microwave just to get it to room temp and used it. Man it is good! Very easy, will do it often and serve with grilled meat.

Ron, I've read many of your posts and am excited to see your blog!! Do you always have Starbucks, is it your coffee house preference or is it just the most convienent?

Last year Wild Ginger got our top vote, the portions were not skimpy and the food was great! This year we will probably try to get to Oceanaire and Zoe as we haven't been to either. I am going to try to get my husband to Nell's too, I've been but he hasn't and it's very close to us. I'm interested in his opinion of the restaurant. I'd love to go out to Barking Frog but it is such a day trip for this west sider!!

Percyn....a cheese course!!! yeah!!!! Last night I made onion confit with the half of onion I had leftover from the chicken, first time making that....not the last! Spread crackers with locally made goat cheese and topped with the confit. Kir for me, G&T for the hubby! Garlic Shrimp served with a salad of mixed greens, spinach, bacon, scallions and balsamic vinigrette. Bread and Chardonnay on the side

I just found a recipe for apple pie with sharp cheddar in the crust! yum, anyone tried this? I plan to next weekend

Wow! I wish you did too! I would love to see that chicken~

I thought this site was helpful understanding more about eau de vie (and the pear in the bottle!) Article here

Damn I'm hungry for Waldorf Salad now!!! How do you serve it? On a bed of lettuce or by itself. As lunch or as a side for dinner?

We spent the day working on the house and doing a bit of cooking. I love Sundays! Friends of ours recently had a baby so I made some homemade mac n' cheese and we took it over for them to bake when they wanted. Of course I had to double the recipe and make some for us too, my husband would never let that leave the house without having his own! I use sharp white cheddar and gruyere. Was also roasting a chicken but by the time we got home from visiting our friends we were hungry so I made us some caprese on baguette to tie us over: The roast chicken before it's quartered, stuffed with some herbs, garlic and lemons. Rubbed generously with sage butter which was provided by a friend who is having us sample versions for a possible business: Is there anything better than crispy chicken skin??? mmmmmmmm! Complete Sunday dinner, roast chicken, mac n' cheese and Romanesco broccoli:

I live in Seattle in a neighborhood with a farmer's market from May to November. During those months I cook exclusively seasonally. Come winter I try to stay mainly with seasonal things but I get a craving for asparagus sometimes and have to have it!

Also picked up some romanesco broccoli today at UDist market. Wow! It's spendy!! Not sure if we will roast it or steam it..... Still a good selection of chanterelles. And squash everywhere!!! In every variety!!! Eggs, spinach, onions, carrots, leeks, potatoes.......mmmmmmmmm Has anyone tried Bella's Buns? We didn't today but MAN they looked good! Maybe next week.

My friend made me pumpkin shrimp bisque last night for dinner. It was soooooo good I woke up thinking about it! Recipe Here

When I ate at Aqua in LV Mina was in the kitchen, it was very good. We were treated a little better I think because Thierry Rautureau from Rover's in Seattle had told us he was friends with Mina and we relayed a hi to him. Anyway the meal was great. I specifically picked Aqua in SF because now Mina has left and Laurent Manrique has stepped up. The dinner was very different which was nice. Not like he was trying to imitate Mina IMO. No pictures at the nice restaurants as we forgot!!

I also really like the cool shaped dishes! Nice work Anna. I make hasselback potatoes by putting each potatoe in the bowl of a wooden spoon and slicing so that the cut doesn't go all the way through. I like the idea of the two chopsticks too! Mmmm, I love those potatoes!

Just a few shots from the Ferry Plaza! Hog Island Oysters in the Ferry Plaza Market, San Francisco chocolate and wine at the Ferry Plaza Market in San Francisco And we just polished off some Red Hawk we got at whole paycheck last night. thanks for that lead kiliki!

Next time you do this maybe you can post some photos of your prep here. I would love to see the step by step. sounds great!!! have you done this with fish?

I buy quince paste to go with my cheese, could they have just used that?? Whipped it up a bit?

It ALL looks delicious. Did you carry over the same wine into the cheese course? If so, how did it match up? Pinot Noir is a great wine for pairing with lots of foods, and I like being able to have one bottle of wine to carry through two or three courses. ← thanks Susan, We have cheese after dinner quite frequently so we always have the same wine, we aren't very picky about that if it's just the two of us. If it's a dinner party then I will specifically buy cheeses based on the wine I'm serving with the main course. We always have a collection of cheese in our fridge. I think that North Willamette (oregon) PN's go quite well with most food actually. They are generally more fruity and lighter than the CA styles. I don't think it stood up to the blue as well as another might but for the goat cheese in particular it is really good.

YUMMMMMMMMM! Man that looks soooo good! Since we only get to splurge with our breakfast on the weekends today was similar to other days.......... shot of espresso, 1 sugar cube, toast with chocolate pear jam (picked up in Barcelona recently, very good!)

One of my friends is experimenting with starting a flavored butter business. I slow roasted salmon using her rosemary lemon butter. If said friend is reading this it was fantastic!!!! Served crispy cheddar/bacon cakes on the side. Bottle of Belle Pent 2001 Pinot Noir. Cheese course after. This one is goat cheese, cashel blue and Cow Girl Creamery Red Hawk. honey and olive jam are also on the plate with crackers. (cheeses named are counter clockwise)

Just got a newsletter today stating that Fero's is open, maybe they have them? I'm really surprised that Don and Joes doesn't. "Fero's Meat Market Now Open For those who have missed having a meat market in the former Crystal Meats space in the Pike Place Market's Corner Market, here is good news! Fero's Meat Market is now open. Owner Semsi Fero and his son Gani promise 100% customer satisfaction, great prices, and a wide variety of meats. Semsi has 35 years' experience in the meatcutting business. Originally from Turkey, Semsi has managed the meat department at Larry's in Bellevue for the last 10 years. Among the meats you'll find at Fero's are Fero's Famous Blue Cheese Burger and Butcher Burger, beef patties mixed with green pepper, onion, spices and other "secret ingredients," says Gani. They also grind their own beef. Open 8am to 6pm daily, the Feros serve the highest quality USDA Prime and Choice beef. Prime cuts include Top Sirloin and New York steaks. Choice cuts of beef include Flank and T-Bone steaks and stew beef. There are also beef soup bones. The emphasis is on all-natural, grass-fed beef that haven't been given hormones or antibiotics. Right now, you'll find special savings on Fero's chicken: $1.99/lb. for ground chicken, $2.49/lb. for Southern-grown chicken breasts, and $1.69/lb. for Washington-grown drumsticks. Also look for 100% certified-organic, free-range, Rosie-brand chickens. A wide array of pork and lamb cuts can satisfy your cravings for wonderful entrees like tenderloin or roast, or leg of lamb. More exotic meats can be found, too, such as duck, rabbit and Halal meats such as goat. Marinated meats are ready to cook if you're dashing home from the office. Special orders are always welcome at Fero's. Call 206.262.0772."

one of our normal breakfasts..... shot of espresso with 1 cube sugar, hard boiled egg with salt

I would call and speak to Carol. If I owned a restaurant I'd want to know that this had happened. It's quite unlike the service I got but I will say that I called twice for reservations, once the girl was slightly cool. the second time the man I spoke to was really nice and helpful. Anyway by letting the owner know you are opening the door for them to make it up to you or prove you are right.

hmmm...I think we need more information? Seems a very wide open call for suggestions? I'll just throw a few fun suggestions out, things we love to serve... Ginger-ini's White Cosmo's Kir Royals with different exotic flavored liquors (even better if they were purchased in different countries!) Montmartre- 1/2 vodka 1/2 lillet blanc