Abra

I just stumbled over this thread and want to echo the previous sentiments. Although I've subscribed for several years, I'm considering dropping my subscription. The precious, pretentious tone, and the recipes that are less-than-awe-inspiring, are wearing out my patience. And their new effort sounds abominable - they call it country food, but what they've been hyping sounds like interstate exit chain diner food to me.

If it looks curly it must be quinoa, although I've never seen any in red. I love white quinoa - now I'll look for red too.

Mastic?

Therese, I have to break this to you. Those ginger candies are traditionally used as a remedy for nausea, specifically, sea sickness and morning sickness. Any chance you have either? I am forever looking for cidre de Normandie here and have yet to find a drop.

It looks like Valrhona makes a 56% Maitre Choclatier - you can buy it here .

Yes, please! Indian okra dishes totally rock.

Amy's Tamale Pie - an amazing 2 Weight Watcher points and really good. Boca burgers and breakfast patties. Muir Glen Tomato Basil Sauce. Trader Joe's pork and vegetable potstickers, in broth. Mario Batali's Finnochio sauce.

Is that mustard greens next to the gai lan? And as for sides, collards with cracklins jumped right out at me, and I'd like that with fried okra, squash souffle, and if it isn't too piggy of me, pot likker and cornbread, pretty please. Awesome toaster!

That basil seed tea sure looks like a science project! Have you ever churned butter in that churn? I wonder how much butter it makes in a batch.

But Therese, you know the only reason we're reading your blog is to see those pictures of you in your pajamas! Some of us Seattle eGers are going to a Korean women's spa and out for Korean dinner tomorrow, so your pictures really get me in the right mood. And my husband, native Atlantan that he is, will be enjoying your pajama pictures, er, blog, too. edited to add, now that I've gotten with the program and read the second page, what other uses for basil seed are there besides planting and the Thai drink? What do you make with them?

This blog is unbearably mouth-watering! Would you please share your parsnip soup recipe as well? I love parsnips, and spicy parsnip soup sounds heavenly.

Such a fun blog! It looks like Spring has already arrived in Amsterdam. And that spice store really had me drooling. I'm hoping you'll make some typical Dutch treats and give us the recipes. Rats drinking a smoothie. I'll show that to my husband the next time he accuses me of spoiling our pets!

Hakata in Silverdale is quite decent Japanese. Arroy Di in Poulsbo has some good dishes - it's a Thai place, but one of the chefs is Lao. If you ask, you can get more interesting stuff.

A wood-fired oven.

I do ask for chopsticks, and often use them at home as well. I also sometimes ask for a small rice bowl, so that I can hold it under a bite of food to catch drips. My understanding is that Thais only use chopsticks for noodles, and forks and spoons otherwise. Oh, and I've also been told that it's rude in a Korean restaurant to hold a bowl in your hand, which I tend to do with soup and rice. If this isn't correct, somebody please straighten me out! I like to know how to be polite, even if I don't always manage to do it.

Me too on adding the vodka. I usually use 1 tablespoon per quart of sorbet. Maybe it's different for a commercial batch - is there a need to avoid alcohol? Because that really does work.

It's pretty much all been said, except I wanted to add that I was lucky enough to eat that F&W chard dish Laurel made, and it's really delicious. That would be a great one to try. Oh, one thing I don't think has been mentioned, chard is great in a frittata. Just dice/shred and saute in olive oil with garlic, then proceed with your frittata.

So, ReallyNice!, I guess the real question should be "where can't you get those lentils?" Olivina - that sounds delicious. Maybe a little grilled fennel with that?

Anita - where did you get fresh bergamot? It's one of my favorite flavors.

Nobody's mentioned chestnut honey, which is one of my all-time favorites. Look for a nice Italian chestnut honey, which I think is more aromatic than the French version. That's the stuff to drizzle over cheese, preferably a Gorgonzola dolce.

And don't skip the Dan Dan noodles, which are hand-shaved. I could eat that every day of my life.

We went last night with SeaGal and Mr. SG, and had a wonderful dinner. The antipasto is as delicious as advertised above. The lasagne manages to be both lush and ethereal, which is quite a trick. The half salciccia, half roasted vegetable and goat cheese pizza was one of the best I've ever had in Seattle. The crust is super-thin, too thin for me actually, but it was so well-balanced with the utterly delicious toppings that I forgave it. The bite I had of eggplant and mint ravioli was scrumptious. The tiramisu with homemade mascarpone was very good, although I think we all wanted a bit higher cake to cheese ratio. We shared a bottle of Corino Barolo 2000, and we loved it. It was $46 at Lago, and I saw it on the web today from WineEx for $40, which, if I've got it all correct, makes this bottle a steal at Lago. It went perfectly with all of our food, and I highly recommend it. The service was excellent, attentive and knowledgable. Carla herself came to visit us, and later sent out glasses of port to accompany our dessert, which was totally unexpected and much appreciated. All in all, we had an excellent evening, and I'm just sorry that it's taken me so long to find this place!

Gorgeous, Eden! You can get a bean that looks just like your haricots de Soisson at PFI, called there Corona beans. I use them a lot now, since first having them at Salumi in a tuna salad.

I downloaded the book too, and can't wait to get started. Laurel - want to start a new thread?

Laurel, I LOVE this idea! But we've got to do it before the apples give way to summer fruits. I'm ready!