Eden

Talk about synchronicity, I was driving through that area on the way home from the Costco just yesterday & wondering the same thing: where do people eat down there if they don't want to patronize Burger King, Jack in the Box or (God forbid!) Andy's Diner? I remember there used to be good Korean BBQ on 4th ave So in the little strip with the Copy King and the Donut shop. (just north of the West Seattle Fwy) sorry I don't recall the name, but I think it's still there...

although my favorite romantic place is done in light pastels I do generally prefer a darker set of shades, but not really vibrant primary colors or decor that is attention grabbing, actually I think this is maybe what it's all about - that the place, the music, the service etc should be a setting, but never intrusive, the point is to be in a place where you can actually pay attention to each other (while enjoying a lovely meal) because so much of life distracts us, romance is really about having a space to focus...

Now for me, this would come under the heading of violating my personal space. Pulling out my chair is nice, but getting close enough to place my napkin makes me uncomfortable, even when done by extremely competent & professional waitstaff. (perhaps also because it has connotations of being treated as a child?)I do agree that white linen is the ideal for fine dining, but am willing to negotiate color and content when dining at a more casual restaurant. And yes please keep the napkin out of my glassware!

Cool to know. I think my mom uses "a scosche". we use gobbet to indicate the size you should cut meat into for stew like dishes. and of course adding a glug of cream to a dish never hurt anything

Given that it's Autumn & the instinct to bake is pretty strong right now, perhaps you could consider exchanging the "pastry therapy" with whole grain bread baking therapy? For me it is not usually lunch but dinner that is a problem, as we do a lot of food related socializing, and not being a steak & salad girl, I found it difficult to dine out on this program... That said I have been meaning to come back to it as well, at least for my home dining... My mom developed diabetes recently, and apparently it's fairly common for the women in my family , so I want to be more aware of my glycemic intake, and try to avoid joining the ranks! edited for typo

If you find a source please post. I would make a special trip up to Vancouver for salsify

I have a LeC roaster pan, kind of like this one, that must be a good 30 years old now, which is enameled on the bottom and have never had any problems with it. It's been heated over direct flame to make gravy, it's been in the oven, the fridge etc. all fine. I also have a cheap LeC knock off gratin pan that I've been reasonably happy with for about 2 years now, so yes if your budget won't go for the real thing, by all means try the one from Target. You may not be able to hand it on to another generation like a real LeC (my first set I inhereted from my husband's Aunt, and have since passed on myself) and it probably doesn't distribute heat/clean up quite as fabulously, but it will still be a good sturdy pot, and the enameled bottom should make no significant difference.

I agree about the stand mixer, but if you have one already, then a good mandoline.

Interesting, a chef recently told me the opposite - I had mentioned that lately it seems the lamb I've been buying has been less & less lamb-y and he said that most of the NZ lamb is butchered younger so it tastes "milder", and that if you want that really lamb-y taste you should buy US meat. It's sad to me how many people don't like lamb. I've known solid carnivores opt for the vegetarian dinner rather than eat lamb

not me. I understand clearly where my food comes from, but I'm a big softy when it comes to animals, so only naked (head free) meat enters my kitchen. I don't however need it to arrive in shapeless blobs on packets of styrofoam, and I frequently gross out my wussier friends by cooking with feet, or referring to the "cooking juices" as blood edited to add that I think it's fascinating that they're still serving this well known medieval dish in modern France!

I think these folks recently shut their brick & mortar & went Web only.

Mine did. It reheated beautifully and filled the kitchen with that inimitable gumbo smell

That sounds & looks like a wonderful combo! any speacial seasonings?Wow everybody's dinners today are really inspiring - I have to go get some of that truffled cheese!

beautiful pie chufi. Apprently yesterday was my turn in the pot pie department Organic chicken, taters, lightly caramelized carrots & onions, peas, and zucchini, all in a very nice gravy if I do say so myself (we had a fresh batch of chicken stock yesterday that had particularly rich flavor...) under puff pastry (pepperidge farms), and since it was made in a round dutch oven, I baked the little puff trimmings on the side & we used them as extra dipping bits in our pot pie - yumm! followed by home-made chocolate and coconut ice creams

Thanks for the info. I will have to go in for a plate lunch fix one of these days

So I have two questions I'm hoping those of you who've done this before can answer: 1) should the olives have completely changed color by the end of the initial 10 day rinsing period? I'm on day 9 and they're nowhere near done transitioning from bright green to olive drab... 2) there are some reddish orange spots on a few of them. is this anything to worry about? I'm feeling all paranoid today for some reason, that I've messed up somehow... for more olive pictures see My Olive Album

My turn: lucques? I'm sitting here curing olives I'm not sure how to pronounce, it seems wrong...

For anyone who hasn't tried it, chefpeon's recipe is a winner. It had minimal shrinkage, no collapsing, popped out of the tart wells like a dream once cooked, and was not too sweet lke some pate sucree recipes I've known. (though you can still eat the raw crust like cookie dough) I like them not too sweet so the focus is more on the filling, but the crust still complements. Also this is a nicely sturdy crust - good for transporting. The only note I'd add to the recipe is to have plenty of flour on hand for your board and rolling pin as it's a really sticky dough (but nicely forgiving about rerolling the scraps) I'm guesstimating that the micro batch will make ninety 1-3/4" tartlettes. "Mice" ate some of the dough in advance , so I can't be certain on that.

yumm! So who else in town is making their own dougnuts, that's actually good? I've done my croissant crawl with definitive results (besalu!), maybe it's time for a Doughnut crawl? And for that matter what do we judge them on? I'm of the opinion that a perfect buttermilk is the peak of the doughnut makers art, but a really good clasic cake style with chocolate icing & cocount flakes is not to be sneezed at....

The following quote surprised me In contrast, I heard a few years back, that a large percentage of americans (40%?) had never even tried mexican or chinese food, and considered those both "exotic" foods, much less anything as outlandish as french, japanese or persian... (sorry I cant cite better or recall where this came from!) This makes me feel so grateful to have had a mom who fostered an interest in other cuisines from the start!I'm also fortunate enough to have travelled a bit & experienced cuisines from other countries first hand. For me travel is a priority - the 30 year old siding on our house may be ugly, but it's durable, and the re-siding $$ was much better spent on travelling to France and Italy! And my travel has affected not only my own dining habits but also those of my friends to whom I bring home new foods, new recipes etc from every trip. bresaola & arugula salad is every-day food for us now, but I still remember the first time I had it in Positano on totally different point Actually a passport IS needed for travel to & from Canada these days. (at least crossing the border north of Seattle.) It maybe not technically required yet, but just you try getting back into the US without one & see how the border guards treat you. (and as Holly Moore pointed out above, it will be legally required starting in 2008.)

thanks to inspiration from this & a few other eG threads I ordered fresh olives to try curing them myself for the first time. The boxes arrived this afternoon (10 lbs lucques, 10 lbs manzanillas) and I'm really looking forward to playing with them! The lucques will get a mix of herbs de provence type flavorings, and the manzanillas a simple lemon and oregano mix. Keeping my fingers crossed that they turn out well!

Tonight we started with a sherry tasting at the local wine shop then brought friends home for the following meal: Sgroppinos while they waited for the soup to heat Starter: Asparagus soup and Desem wheat bread Main: Roast duck legs with a chantrelle sauce and a side of fresh green-beans all accompanied by the remaining prosecco For dessert: Mini sock-it-to-me bundt cakes Peach and Rose-geranium sorbet impromptu dessert drink: "kir italien" (creme de cassis and another bottle of prosecco) and of course, pleasant company to add savor to the meal

it depends on what you were going to do with the chantrelles. Each Fall, when they get cheap enough, I always sautee up a batch of chantrelles in butter & toss them in the freezer to pull out & make sauce/soup with later in the winter. It makes little significant difference to the end product as the cellular damage of the freezer is masked by being cooked down for sauce/soup later, both of which should go well against a pinot.

I'm pretty sure my black mustard seeds came from World Spice, down on Western Ave at the Market.

to some degree that's the nature of the mandoline. I do use my fingers (very carefully!) which makes far more of my veggies usable, and I think gives me more control for prettier slicing, but there is still a bit of waste at the end. oh and mandolines are awesome for slicing lemons paper thin for garnish, salads, tarts etc. Gotta get me one of those gloves! If nothing else for grating carrots, I'm always afraid I'm going to "add some extra protein" to my Turkish carrot salad.