SMW

Oh no! Now I am going to be too scared to do this. Maybe it's time to move to a dish with a heavy lid, although the paper was great because if it did get hot, it cooled off quickly. I did a google search, and apparently the U.S.D.A. does not approve of this practice. However, they seem to be talking about grocery store bags, as opposed to brown paper lunch bags, which seem designed to have food in them!

I do this all the time and have never had a problem. I don't add butter til after it's popped. I thought brown paper bags were just paper - growing up we always put our chocolate cookies on paper bags laid flat. Should I be worried?

I agree with Chufi that cooking straight from recipes gets really expensive. If you go to the store, and see what vegetables are cheapest, they will generally be the most in season, and the freshest. You may not have known which ones they were before you got there, and they wouldn't be on your list. If you plan out only a couple of meal ideas before shopping, you can base more of your meals around things that are fresh and on sale, which will save you money. The other thing is that some things are just generally inexpensive - dried beans and cabbage come to mind. The more you buy and cook these things, the better you'll be able to cook them, and you'll save money there as well. If you buy meat for every meal, that's probably what you're generally good at cooking, if you start planning your meals around less expensive ingredients (like Carrot Top mentioned), you'll get better at cooking them, and find them more satisfying.

I'm really loving the modern feel to this blog - people all over the world reading about a Malaysian take on Dutch food and living. Only in the 21st century! Thanks for sharing!

Does it encourage anything else? I've been having gas of late... ← The soluble fiber in oatmeal does tend to promote gas in some people--ironically, it's that same soluble fiber that is supposed to be responsible for its cholesterol-lowering qualities. If you've just recently added it to your routine, your system may just need a few weeks to adjust to the change. ← A little late, but one way to make this mixture a bit easier to digest (and a more pleasant texture in my opinion) is to mix the oatmeal and the yogurt the night before and let it sit in the fridge (you may want to add a bit of water as well, it depends how runny your yogurt is) it's basically a Swiss Birchermuesli only with yogurt instead of cream. I eat this for breakfast all summer, and love it!

Yum. You're certainly hitting many of the top spots in Chicago! I can almost taste it! Was that chicken liver mouse with your sausage? How did you like it?

The Green City Market is pretty incredible but it is relatively new (I think maybe five years old), and was not anywhere close to where I was living (the South Side - Hyde Park). Chicago has always had some small neighborhood farmer's markets, but I grew up in a farming town and always found them dissappointing. I guess I was probably spoiled by the Madison, WI farmer's market and always wondered why Chicago didn't have anything as incredible, or why so many of the products there are not available in Chicago. Maybe it's the Wegman's advantage, but here in Rochester we have found local produce clearly marked at the grocery store (which is one place I rarely saw it in Chicago) as well as a much higher density of farmer's markets, open on all different days of the week! Chicago, does however, have loads of great local producers of all kinds of foodstuffs - I really miss El Milagro tortillas!!!! - and if you know where to go, you can also get plenty of local produce, I just think that it's easier here (but then again, in some ways, everything is!).

We were also members of Angelic Organics (Farmer John) for four years and absolutely loved it. They have drop-offs all over Chicago, so there's probably one near you. The produce is great, and they do a good job of keeping you up-to-date on the farm. We never made it to the farm, actually, but I am sure that would be fun with kids, they usually have at least two picnics a year.

It's going to be hard to read this blog, I've just left Chicago for Rochester, NY and the restaurant/food scene here is not nearly as good. However, the local products here are incredible, and way easier to find than in Chicago, where we were in a CSA but otherwise had to really go out of our way to get local produce and other products. I think the recommendations you've been getting are spot on. I'll add my two cents - a couple of places that are a bit below the radar, in my opinion. If you like Mexican food a great, very kid-friendly Mexican restaurant is Fernando's on Lincoln Avenue. They don't bat an eye at kids there, the food is quite respectable, and the margarita's are good. The pink flourescent lighting on the outside is a bit intimidating, but not representative, and you're probably pretty close! You're close to a lot of good Thai food, but one place that is often overlooked is Sweet Tamarind on Diversey and Southport. The portions are small, but the food is excellent.

Really impressive! I wish I would have gotten to taste the dishes, they of course look like things I am quite accustomed to eating, but I am sure I would have enjoyed experiencing some new (or I guess old) flavor combinations. What was your favorite dish?

Time Life Foods of the World and the Good Cook have their own shelf. They are approximately the same size. They are roughly organized by thematic clump. The rest are organized by size with a few thematic clumps. And, the large stack beside my bed has no order at all, except for what is necessary for balance!

I just moved to Rochester and haven't explored the local food scene much beyond Wegman's, but we did stumble across Seoul Garden and were very happy with our meal and the service. I'm looking forward to trying Korea House, I love Korean food!

Unwrapped, roast and peel after is how I love my beets. As far as I am concerned, there's just no other way !

I've always been very happy at La Petite Folie, I don't have time to check the Metromix reviews, but I'd be interested in what others don't like. I've actually only eaten there for dinner once, and probably about 6 times for lunch, but I think it delivers exactly what's expected. It's not cutting-edge, but it's quite good, and nicely presented.

Recently left Hyde Park for snowy Rochester but the Med now operates an excellent full-service bakery. I miss it already, right next door to their restaurant, the baked goods are excellent althought the coffee is only OK. I'm not sure of any good breakfast places out by Midway, I think it's too early for Bobak's all-you-can-eat Polish buffet, which is what I often like to visit when I would return to town. Maybe next time I'll try the Sandpiper! Seconding the votes of others, in Hyde Park, Valois (pronounced Val - oise) on 53rd Street provides an excellent greasy breakfast, and Salonika's on 57th also does quite well (their coffee always really hits the spot, for some inexplicable reason).