moosnsqrl

Congratulations to her [them] for beating the odds! I may have to stop in on my next visit.

I like Rancho Gordo's labels and visitors to my home who see them always comment on them. And I have a certain, inexplicable fondness for La Vache qui Rit as well (the graphics, not the product).

Slight preference for 8-10 but can make either work. And, Ronnie, let me know if I can help from afar. I know this doesn't just happen automagically.

Great news, indeed! And thanks, too, for serving as a reminder to live life to its fullest. After we heard about his diagnosis, we finally decided that all of the things preventing us from getting back to Italy were just "things" that would be here when we got back. Grant was the inspiration we needed and we owe him gratitude for a wonderful, life-affirming trip of culinary delights.

I love the name. After 14 years as a vegetarian (although not vegan), I think I can shed some light on the menu offerings. I think most people are capable of turning out good roasted vegetables, lentil dishes, etc. at home. It's the more "normal restaurant" kind of offerings that I missed - like what they're doing at Vegeterranean. Some vegans find meat analogs disturbing but some of us enjoyed old favorites made sans flesh. Add to that the relative difficulty in sourcing high-quality meat analogs (in domestic quantities) in many areas and it really is nice to be able to go to a restaurant and get comfort food like your risotto, Tino. While your crowd is adventuresome enough to wish for lentils and roasted parsnips, most carnivores would be less-excited about accompanying a vegan to dinner if that were the bill of fare, since that's the stereotype of such a restaurant - lentils and brown rice or maybe a veg burger with visible oats in it. My favorite restaurant during my veg-hood was Native Foods in Palm Springs. And it was because they made their own fabulous seitan and served it bbq'd, on a bun, with carmelized onions. Living in the epicenter of bbq, I missed being able to go to a restaurant and order something like that. And Tanya's was so good, I started making my own seitan using her recipe, just so I could enjoy it without flying to the desert.

How about contacting the Denver Johnson & Wales - I'm sure there are students who would be happy to earn some extra money, get some practice and might enjoy their company as well.

They're called pulmonias and they're a great, if not particularly cheap, way to get around without the hassle of parking or worrying.

I'm with kiliki on this. Part of it is they now have a whole hour to fill, whereas CT was only a half-hour. It still seems like they struggle for content to fill up that time. I liked the part with Ariane Daguin, and the segment on foie gras. Loved the opening of the champagne! ← Me too. the bratty niece and nephew were trite from the onset and only grew staler. It does seem they over-script to over-compensate for a perceived lack of edginess when taking the road more traveled.

Take a ferry across to Isla de la Piedra (Stone Island) and go to Victor's Viento Viejo. Whatever can be picked or pulled from the water, very informal, fantastic people. Spend the day. Heck, spend the whole time you're there!

while hardly a resounding endorsement . . . we ate at Phillips Famous Seafood on the way through and the Tequileria on the way back and, bearing in mind it *is* airport food, they weren't bad at all. What we enjoyed more, though, was sampling regional wines at the Yadkin Valley Wine Bar. We were warned not to go for the cheese & cracker plate (apparently bad and a bad value to boot). Take advantage of the rockers - they really do knock down the stress level of delays, etc. If we'd had an overnight layover, I would have probably tried to escape the airport, though.

Even in The Hill area? I'm stunned!

I'll let you know . . .

Jen, Congratulations, belatedly! I didn't know you had been a "lady who lunches" or I would've rung you up. Condolences on rejoining the workforce, but all good things must come to an end. You *are* the freezer queen (as we got a glimpse of in your blog week) but a couple of things I love finding in my freezer that aren't on your list: tamales stuffed pasta (ravioli, tortellini and the like) bierochs pizza crust All of the above can result in what, in my world, passes as a great dinner (not just, ugh, it's easy) and all can be done on a semi-energetic Sunday afternoon. I've been thinking of having a "tamal fest" for the season. Many hands make light work and putting a few gross of them in the freezer would make winter less daunting. PM me if you have the time/inclination.

Done yet, Judy? Whatcha reading next? ← That's cruel - but not unusual. I'm working my way back through Le Cordon Bleu's "The Professional Cook," certain I will find more chinks in Elements' armor.

Well, I have my copy, I have read it, and I find most of the criticisms above disingenuous and, frankly, [it is starting to appear] premeditatedly (is that even a word?) snarky. Based on some of the comments above, anything short of a weighty, all-encompassing tome, will fall short of the mark and that is completely out of the scope of, and missing the point of, this book. I think we all know the author's formal training is CIA which is, largely, French-based, as is all 'formal' (note indirect quotes) culinary training. Hence the baseline. On what other basis would you suggest he lay the foundation for this book?

Likewise, two of my childhood favorites (just after moveable type was invented ) were A Kettle Named Maude and Smiling Hill Farm. When I finally found and re-read them as an adult, I had to laugh at the discovery of why they had planted themselves in my memory - they were 85% about farming, harvesting, cooking, curing and putting food by.

This is a very interesting suggestion... ← Indeed. Many of my go-to items go straight from the dishwasher back into use. I could almost consider it storage in addition to its cleaning properties. BTW, inspired by this thread (thanks again, Doc) I purchased a Bosch on Sunday. Sadly, I have to wait for it to arrive - not in stock. Patience, grasshopper, patience. Is it just me or has the old one become even louder in the last 24 hours?

I love those chilaquiles, too. I'm sure there are more authentic to be had, but those had served me well on many a blustry morning at the Ferry Plaza. I just tried to look for the name, assuming it would be on the FP website, but it's not. Hmmm. I guess you have to pay to be linked to that - surprising considering what the rent must be on the space. Oh well. Sounds like you had a great trip!

If you want a 'big name' place there are plenty of recs on other threads. My out-of-towner recs for something other than the usual (PerSe, Babbo, WD-50, etc) or ethnic standouts are: Prune or Red Cat There is no shortage of opinion on the "one meal in NYC" question and I'm sure you'll get a lot. That's just my 2 cents.

Symon won with a score of something like 51 to 43. shel ← Sometimes I think it's unfair to even comment/judge based on a 2-D observation with no olfactory or gustatory input. Last night, Symon's food was so obviously superior to Moore's, unless there was a giant coating of umami on the latter's and the former's was poisonous, there should have been no doubt. I just don't think the challenger had the chops - not to take away from Michael's food, mind you - just a clear-cut victory if ever there were one. Symon didn't laugh enough to suit me, though. I know he was taking it all seriously, not wanting to start out with an "L" but I do love his almost-maniacal cackle.

'zactly. And if (in all modesty ) the Kansas Jayhawks ever lose a game in any major sport, giving me time to read, I look forward to finishing it. Actually I'm thinking of having the moos (to my squirrel) who, while a fairly accomplished bbq-er, knows not the first thing about Cooking (with a capital "C") read it as a better barometer to test the 'everything you really need to know' theory.

Seattle/Washington State?

I couldn't decide which post to reply to here, but I chose Jane Die's because it struck me the most. I have not finished Elements yet but, at approximately the half-way point, am enjoying it. To think that one bad review would prevent someone from reading it makes me sad. To focus on the 5-tool count is to miss the point - I don't think it was intended to be a hard-and-fast limit. Taken in the most literal sense, not only was the stock pot left out of the count but so were the oven, the cooktop and the kitchen and house! The point of the 5 tools, to me, is to encourage people to cook even if they can't afford all of the bell-and-whistle equipment being foisted on us by Madison Avenue and TFN; a secondary take-away is to buy fewer but higher-quality tools and add to them over time. Think loaves and fishes. As I left the essay portion of the book and entered into the glossary part, I did find some of the information redundant (although "squandered word count" is a bit harsh). But then I realized, when I'm going back to it as a reference (not having just finished the essays) it will be more useful that way. I'm curious to hear some examples of self-contradiction. Perhaps I wasn't parsing it as carefully as Dave the Cook. In summary, while we all find such dialog useful on these forums, I hope you'll give this a read and judge for yourself, much as you might be inspired to try durian by Fat Guy's writings rather than listen to the legion of those who despise it. [Apologies to the author for comparing his writing to something so, um, pungent.]

Thanks for bringing this up, Doc. I am in the market myself and have been leaning toward a Bosch but suffering a bit from paralysis of analysis. This was the little push I needed. As soon as the ringing in my ears stops from having just run what must surely be the loudest freaking dishwasher in the western world (except perhaps for Margo's husband), I'm going to go pick one up. To paraphrase Mr. Bubble: it will make getting dishes clean as much fun as getting them dirty.

Personally I wish they would start banning Bluetooths (Blueteeth?) from bars and restaurants. If I wanted to eat/drink at a Star Trek convention, I would go to one! Seriously.