Eden

I do this all the time for really large meals, but my system is a little different. I have a column for each dish, and then color code based on when it is on the stove/oven etc. So red is always for the oven, yellow is the stove top, purple is the food processor etc. I also include a column for what serving dish I'll use for each recipe, and in the early planning stages I track colors tastes & consistencies to make sure I don't have a course that's all vinegary dishes or all brown foods etc.

Has anyone made the Artichokes sauteed with ham? I am having trouble finding baby artichokes locally, and wondering if this is really as good with full sized chokes, or if I should just make different dish. He says you can use either, but...

Did you happen to catch when the season changes over? (it doesn't say on their website) I was going to take a friend up to Victoria for a day next week, and do the whole tourist thing, but Oww!!! I've only gone off season, I had no idea they turned into Robber Barons in the summer!

Fran's sea salt caramels!

I help do this sort of thing for large camping events once or twice a year. I assume based on budget that you're not going for uber elegant, but nourishing. MizDucky is right that the easiest thing thing you could do (and probably the best for food safety) would be to make some kind of stew/glop (we like pomegranate chicken a lot) and put it in boil-n-bags and freeze it. (then just defrost that morning/afternoon & plop them in boiling water onsite to reheat) And even if you can't do that I'd still go with some kind of one-pot stew type option to work with the limitations of your burners. I'd also skip those potatoes (too uncontrolled) and do a couple big pots of couscous (very forgiving) for your starch. Carrots should hold up fairly well in a cooler for a day or two (so will bags o broccoli or cauliflower) if you want to do some kind of sauteed veg on the side. Untrained volunteers are great at chopping up carrots Get a bunch o watermelons to hack up, and just buy prepackaged cookies/brownies whatever you like that's shelf stable & affordable to serve them for dessert. oh and if people will have been out in the sun/running around before the dinner then pickles will go over well.

I was in several different plant stores today and they all still had Basil available. You should be fine.

Quick question for y'all: what grape varieties have you had success with in our cooler envirions? We're putting in a big trellis/pergola thing this summer/fall so next year we'll be planting grapes. (along with wisteria) I've had Interlaken reccomended highly, but would enjoy planting multiple varieties Our wonderful gardener just put in a whole new bed across the front of the house & along with some flowers we tucked in a bunch of killer-whale beans (aka ying yang beans) we'd been given. It's a bit late, but you never can tell...

Try the espresso shake at B&O on capitol hill

Thanks Adam for posting the link on Garum, I'd missed that article. In the spirit of finding the good in Roman and medieval recipes, here's a Roman recipe I was playing with a while back. The result was a sweet, but not too sweet biscuit, like italian wine cookies: Cato on Must and Must Cakes Flower & Rosenbaum translation: Cato: Sweet Wine cakes are made as follows: Moisten 1 peck of wheat flour with must. Add aniseed, cumin, 2 lb of fat, 1 lb of cheese, and some grated bark of a laurel twig; shape and place each cake on a bay-leaf; then bake. My rough interpretation (scaled down) 2 cups of AP flour 7/8 cup Must (used white grape juice concentrate*) a pinch of ground anise 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 lb. fat, (I used organic veg shortening) 1 oz. cheese, queso fresco, minced small 1/4 tsp grated bay 9 bay leaves, small or partial (plus another 1/4 c. flour for kneading) Cut lard into flour with a pastry cutter Mix in spices, then liquids, then cheese Place on a well floured board & knead briefly till good cookie texture. Roll to @ 1/2" thick & cut into 2" rounds. Place 1 bay leaf (or piece) under each roiund on a greased cookie sheet & bake at 425 for 10 minutes. remove from pan & serve warm (peel bayleaf off of bottom) made approx 1 dozen 2" cookies *When I first made this recipe Must was not easily available in the Seattle area, and I haven't revisited it since. I went with white grape juice for a prettier colored cookie...

I'll pass mine on to you next time I see you Eden! Cheers, ← Thank you Carolyn, you're a sweetheart as always! I was reading quickly & didn't even notice that message was from someone I knew Hey maybe what we need to do is actually host regional gadget swaps. I'm sure someone around here would want a ravioli maker oh and I remembered that I have the veggie slicing attachment for my Kitchen aid (it came in a set with the sausage stuffer & the pasta extruder) I tested it on a couple veggies when I first got it - horrible, just ripped em all to shreds. I suppose it could be user error - I didn't really experiment with it much, but I think it was just another mediocre slicing technology trying to improve on the knife and failing. I notice that a lot of the items mentioned in this thread are along those lines. (Though I adore my mandoline!)

My husband gets on my case regularly because of my love of "useless" kitchen gadgets. Most of them actually DO get used, but I have a few that have moved to the back of the closet: My electric deep fryer is the biggest. Used once, worked well, but I just hated dealing with all the oil afterwards... I also have a "ravioli maker" I was given, that's cute, but really I just like forming them by hand on the counter. Here's the one I haven't used, that I'd love suggestions to get me inspired: canape molds. I got them in a gift exchange & I think they're adorable, but haven't had the impetus to actually pull them out & use them... I've been trying to justify buying a spaetzle maker but I just got the mini cheesecake pan I've been eyeing for a while so it will have to wait

Just to put in a contrary opinion, I find the water here in seattle excellent, except in the summer, when they get a nasty algae bloom in the reservoir lake up in the mountains, and because they treat it, the water tastes & smells off for a month or two. That said, I use a Brita filter for my kitchen tap because the pipes in my upstairs are elderly & give off a lot of rust. Downstairs we drink it straight. And in case you're wondering, yes I'm fussy about my water. I remember when I was little if we were visiting friends in San Jose I would ask my mom to bring water with us from Berkeley The negative responses above really make me wonder if there's some variation by neighborhood. I've never noticed a problem at any friends houses, but if their water was funky they'd probably filter it & I just wouldn't have paid attention...

according to various of my dictionaries, limetta or lumia are limes, but then others translate those words back as "sweet lemons" or "a cross between a citron & a lemon"... now there's what I would kill to get here in the US - fresh citron - lucky Italians! and dry zolfini beans. You can occasionally get a small (insanely priced!) jar of them, but not the dry beans. I am growing Cardoons right now because they're still too rare in the markets. I do love the ease with which I can get most products these days though, from braesola to the wonderful pecorino with red peppers that I got addicted to on my visists to the Amalfi coast.

Goodness the heat must be making everyone cranky today! I think the answer to the original question is that coke & pepsi can pay to have little coolers by the checkout stands at the markets so when you're out running errands in the heat that chilled bottle of water looks mighty tempting. Yes other brands may be better, certainly filling a bottle from your own tap is more eco-friendly & financially savvy, but sometimes you don't get much choice: I dont like either company, but I grabbed a bottle of aquafina this afternoon because it was the only chilled water in the store and I was getting hot & dehydrated with at least another 30 minutes till I got home.

I had the nectarine danish at Besalu this morning, fresh out of the oven now THAT actually edges out the pain au chocolate for me. Nectarines are among my favorite fruit & fresh from the oven these are not to be beat. Tons of warm fruit not overly sweetened on that oh so perfect pastry...

From what I read in the PI, I'm looking forward to the new incarnation. Tilth ← Tilth sounds very cool, but Mandalay Cafe will be a real loss!

We are heading off for a picnic with friends this afternoon so I have to cook this morning. Cherry pie & either pasta or potatoe salad are in my near future. the pie will get cooked in the "Pie oven" but there's nothing I can do re the potatoes/pasta needing a big pot of boiling water Our friends are in charge of the fried chicken and deviled eggs so at least I'm only doing half the cooking. although I'm thinking right now of doing a cooking binge since I have to use the stove anyway & then not going near it again all weekend as the temperatures rise... That is just Heresy!!! of course Ice-cream cools you down. not only are you putting nice frozen bits on your insides, it also makes you happy so you don't mind the heat as much - very important!

I've seen a couple chinese restaurants in every large italian city I visited, but I confess that I was always afraid to try them. I remember on a visit to London many years ago trying a supposedly good chinese restaurant & it was terrible!!!! not even like bad chinese-american which I'm at least used to and certainly not like any authentic chinese I've come across. That scared me off eating chinese food outside the US (where I know what to expect, plus or minus) ever again... Of course I'm in italy for the Italian food anyway, so I'm not usually looking for Chinese food while I'm there, but I do think it would be a public service if you would post the names of the good places you tried

I was having fun rummaging through the recipes you've posted & came accross one of my favorites from Digby (1669): This recipe is one of the best "leftovers" dishes I know. Basically an early fondue, it's perfect for using up little bits of cheese that are lying around the house. You toss in some bacon, maybe a little sauteed spinach, whatever you've got & presto yummy cheesy goodness on toast. Here is just one possible variation: Digby's Savory Melted Cheese 1/2 lb Cheshire cheese sliced/crumbled into smaller bits for easy melting 7 tbsp. Butter 1 lb fresh asparagus - break off the woody bits at the bottom 1/4 c. chopped onion 1 pinch white pepper 1/2 loaf of crusty French bread -place half of the butter in your fondue pot, add the chopped onion followed a minute or two later by the asparagus. -sauté' the asparagus and onion for two more minutes (asparagus should not be too soggy) - pull out asparagus (not onion) & set aside* or eat now. -add the rest of the butter and the cheese, and stir constantly over a low heat, melting the cheese, until you reach a smooth consistency. -sprinkle on a pinch of white pepper. -meanwhile chop bread into either fondue sized chunks or into 1x1x4"ish strips (assuming 4" as the height of your bread) for hand dipping. -Dip the bread (with a fondue fork or by hand like nachos) into the cheese sauce & enjoy. Serves four. (Thin with more butter if you prefer a less thick cheese goo.) *dip in finished cheese goo - very tasty!

Per this article from MSNBC about 24000 of those folks are dual citizens, so "only" 5000 or so are likely to want evacuate. Hopefully they'll put Bourdain & crew on that first cruise ship out. Good luck to everyone over there!

Heads up that due to summer vacation Top Pot in wedgewood is not a very quiet place right now. On the other hand they were playing excellent music in the background when I was there last week, and a pink feather boa donut is never to be sneezed at... The "Wedgewood Grandma" environment at VanGogh will probably work well for my needs I was just hoping to find someplace I could bus to from Ballard rather than always driving....

Any nice (quiet) coffee shops in the wallingford/uDistrict areas? The Black Cat closed on me so I need a new place to get together with friends & chat... Any opinions on Cafe VanGogh up in Wedgewood?

I was under the impression that WalMart was getting it's organic dairy products from Horizon (who have a rep for being decidedly less organic than thou & thus cheaper). At least in that field I'd guess they're still getting the producs from Horizon & just rebranding...

If you can score a place in the U-district (univiersity district) that will be optimal transit wise, and will put you near the U-district Saturday morning farmer's market This is one of the best farmers markets in the city. Ballard has another great market, and ours runs all year round, which is a bonus. Most of the farmers markets will close for the winter since their customers usually want more variety of produce than they can provide and head for the grocery stores with their chillean imports instead... Cost of living is high here, housing prices are among the highest in the nation but quality of living is pretty high too. blue water to the left of us, snow capped mountains to the right (just ignore the traffic jam in the middle) tons of ethnic markets & good food. Start scrolling through the PacNW forum & you'll learn about tons of fab markets & restaurants in every price-range. There are also many kitchen supply stores & restaurant supply places to rummage about in, depending on what you're looking for. That spice shop you're thinking of is almost certainly World Spice Market. on western ave below PikePlace market. they rock! don't be fooled by places advertised as "close to transit" check them against Metro's website to see where those buses run to & when. Our transit system is great if you want to get in & out of the downtown, but moving across town between neighborhoods can be a challenge, especially outside commute hours. you're right that you will have trouble finding housing with a gas stove, but don't be knocking older houses, they have way more character than the modern edifices, and were designed with the assumption that someone would actually be cooking in the kitchen! If you plan to garden you will need to cope with a low-therm growing season that is not encouraging to tomatoes, squash etc, but mighty fine for berries, which are in season right now. Over the mountains in eastern washington they have much warmer conditions so much of our "local" produce comes across the pass to reach us. Oh and seattle has two seasons: the rainy season, and the construction season. We're in the construction season right now, which means there are tons of fresh fruits & veg available at the markets, and you just have to detour once or twice because of road work to get there Congrats on being accepted into grad school. Get a good rain-hat & come join the fun. Who needs luxuries when you can gorge on Rainier cherries for two months a year?

Our garden is providing tons of blackberries right now, so Bill on a whim yesterday afternoon decided to riff on peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. He made a fresh blackberry sorbet, whipped up some Dreyers Vanilla ice-cream with a bit of PB into a surprisingly good peanut butter ice-cream, and talked me into making him little bread shaped cookies. the result was incredibly tasty - great flavor & texture combinations, and you had to laugh while you ate them because they were SO adorable & goofy at the same time. the artist at work