LainerX

I literally watched it for about 10 minutes and changed the channel when Mrs. Neely proclaimed that she wished she was the rack of ribs her husband had "rub[bed] down and flipped over". I'm no prude, but the humor was just...off. And, it was not really very interesting from a culinary standpoint. But maybe all the bumpin' and grindin' was distracting me?

Dinner ended up being warmed leftovers at home due to the fact that my boyfriend got home so late. Now I'm back in Michigan, so another outing will be a while. I will be back in July and we *WILL* hit Lucky Palace then.

ew.

At the VA, you can get milk and the individual serving cereals in the nutrition room. Munch on that while you type notes. Also, saltine crackers and graham crackers are standard in nutrition rooms at the VA. If you're lucky, you'll also find some individual cheeses and some peanut butters to go with'em. Oh God... I'm remembering now that when it got really nuts on call, I would drink a NutraRenal shake or a Boost for a liquid meal. Ugh. Not delicious, but really fast. I would put it over ice in one of those individual patient "water pitchers" and stick a straw in it. I could pound that in the time it took me to go the 2 flights of stairs to the ICU. On one particularly foul night, I also drank "nectar-thick instant coffee". A packet from the dysphagia diet tray. At work now, I usually pack a couple of Pria bars, some carrots/sliced veggies, and some popcorn/pretzels and some tuna in a foil pack when I'm on call... Unfortunately [or fortunately] , you will find that nurses' stations are inevitably full of cookies, cakes, chocolates, chips, candy. Usually gifts from patients and their families, or showers for babies and weddings. Nurses know how to party at work. Be careful about these snacks - you will eat more than you realize and still be hungry because you ate on the run. Think about it, if you go to the chart rack 10 times in a morning and have 10 handfuls, you shouldn't need lunch. In residency I really got into drinking slightly sweetened Earl Grey tea when I was sleepy at night because the bergamot aroma, sugar, and caffeine was a great pick me up. Also because hot water and cups are easily found in all the nutrition rooms, so it didn't take any effort to make it and it is easier on the stomach at 3am than super acidic coffee. I still do keep a tea bag in my breast pocket behind my ancient pocket guide. Eat healthfully, wash your hands often, and take the stairs everywhere and you'll keep from getting sick. Also, post-call you'll find that you're STARVING but no matter what you eat, you're never full. What you really need is sleep. Eat a little something healthy before you crash, then wake up and make a decent dinner. I swear I eat 2000 calories more when I try to eat a regular-sized meal post-call because no matter what I still feel jacked after I'm done eating it, so I eat more! Good luck!

Yup, I just mowed down 3 Southern Maid donuts. Yummy. Actually, I took them in a bag to go, and then sat outside Starbucks with a decent cup of coffee to drink with them. Deeeelish. I agree that the regular old glazed one was the best. We also did the Mudbug festival this weekend. The crawdads from Shavers were fantastic. And, well, I had much beer. Tonight we will either go to Herbie K's or to the Lucky Palace. I'm rooting for Lucky Palace.

Hi All, bumping this up again to see if info is still current and to see if anyone had more recs. I am in Shreveport a lot these days as my boyfriend has moved here. We are always interested in trying new places. We have eaten at Bella Fresca and it was fantastic (thanks, Dave!). We look forward to trying Lucky Palace tonight. Anyway, any new recs? I've heard something about a house-turned-soul food joint somewheres in the area? Anyone familliar with this?

Did anyone watch?! I did and enjoyed myself although I found whoever that commentator was to be VERY annoying. He never introduced himself. I really want the cookbook but don't want to spend $100 bucks. Hmmm...

Some friends and I want to take a trip to some Washington wineries, sort of like what can be done down in Napa Valley. I've not known anyone to take a make a weekend of Washington wineries so I don't know where to start getting ideas of where to go or stay, or even what tasting rooms would be open in this, the off season of Eastern Washington travel. Can any of you think of any ideas for me?

My current PMS recipe goes suchly: Take waffle-weave pretzels and lay on cookie sheet. Place a carmel Hersey's kiss atop each one. Place in 325* oven for 3 minutes. Then, remove from oven and cram a peanut butter M&M into the kiss. Allow this gooey mess to cool and then eat by the bucket full. Salty, sweet, creamy, crunchy. Mmmmm...

Maybe this was mentioned previously, but the Scarlett Tree on Roosevelt is closed. Sucks, because you couldn't beat their massive Early Bird Breakfast with bottomless coffee for $4.95. I'm sad this place is closed, I have many memories of last-minute cramming for medical school exams over that breakfast.

I just wanted to pop in here and tell you that I took a class at the new Eastside Culinary Communion site. It was excellent. Chef Katie was a wealth of knowledge and the class was the perfect blend of formal teaching and hands on (which for me means mostly the latter). It was fun and I'll definately go back. I totally recommend this experience to anyone looking to take a class. Thanks for the tips!

My own homemade meatloaf, if I do say so myself.

Well, to be fair, I didn't complain to anyone. And, by not doing so, I didn't really give anyone a chance to make it right. Perhaps I will contact the restaurant and let them know of my poor experience there. Judging by my entrees, I would be happy to return and give them another try.

After hearing so many good things about Cascadia, my college roommate and I decided to give them a try on the last day of their 25 for $25 promotion. Reservations were hard to come by, so we decided on an early dinner at 5pm. (My neighbor who saw us leaving my apartment asked where we were going, and when we replied, "dinner", he asked if we were trying to hit the Early Bird Special at the Royal Fork Buffet! ) In any case, we were seated in the dining room. Our server asked if we wanted a cocktail and I wanted to try one of these Alpine Martinis you folks are always talking about. She said, in the most condescending tone, "You know, we don't do happy hour pricing in the dining room, right?" Uh, yeah. I proceeded to order my cocktail and my friend ordered a glass of wine. Later, we had decided to do the wine pairings with our meal, but only wanted one flight to split between the two of us (my friend is an extreme lightweight, and I was driving that night). When I told her of our plan, she offered to either split the wine between two glasses or bring out an extra glass for us to split it ourselves. I told her either would be fine (I'm not a high maintenance diner, really!) Strangely, she brought out only one full glass for us to share between the two of us throughout the entire meal. I ordered the roasted squash with hanger steak for an appetizer which was excellent. My friend ordered the tuna appetizer which was HORRIBLE. After 2 bites, she does the "here try this, does it taste wrong to you?". It seriously tasted like it had gone bad, the paper thin strips of tuna had this weird fish-leather texture (like it hadn't been wrapped well for overnight – or longer? - storage in the fridge) and a flavor more like Mackerel than tuna. So fishy. Unfortunately, my friend was a little intimidated by the snotty server so didn't want to complain. I would have sent it back, but didn't want to get in the middle so I said nothing. On to the main course, I got the osso bucco which was again, excellent. My friend ordered the turkey tenderloin, but was so weirded-out by the tuna experience that she was unable to eat except for a few green beans. I ate all of mine. When the waitress finally returned to clear plates she said, again, in that tone, “Well, I really don’t know what to do here, I’ve never seen anyone not eat before.” My friend politely asked for a box and explained that the tuna didn’t sit well with her, that it had tasted spoiled. Our server replied with a flip, “sorry”. We were served dessert and the check at the same time, but never asked if we would like coffee, which I did. Perhaps I would have told her, except that I couldn’t catch her anywhere near our table. It was like she couldn’t wait for us to get out of there. I keep reflecting on last night and feeling like it was a huge waste of time and money. Too bad, as it was an $100 meal, which for me as a student is quite a splurge and I was looking forward to a nice relaxed dinner with an old friend.

Wow, Scarlett! Thanks for that awesome review of classes. Thanks to your replty, I'm now looking into taking some classes at Culinary Communion - maybe I'll see you there?

I've found myself with a little more time on my hands and am interested in taking a few cooking classes if possible. A Google search brought up a number of options, however, I was wondering if any of you had taken classes that you could recommend. Ideally, I'd take a few single classes and explore a few different cuisines. Any thoughts?

I took a group about that size to Crave last year for my birthday, and we had a great time. Took up almost the entire restaurant, though. :)

I'm from Chicago, too, and I also thought the same thing. Turns out you're right... kind of. Fredrick and Nelson was owned by the same company as Marshall Fields so the Frangos followed. I got a 1lb box of the mints every year for Xmas throughout my entire childhood. I wonder if the name will be changing in Chicago, too? Seems the name "Fredrick and Nelson" would mean nothing to people in the windy city.

Hey All, I'm currently doing my pediatrics rotation at Mary Bridge Hospital in Tacoma and they've provided me with an apartment in the area. I'm wondering if any of you have a list of Tacoma Faves for me to try while I'm livin' down South. Thanks!

I've enjoyed hot chocolate at Zoka. They apparently make their own chocolate syrup.

For Indian food, I reccomend Tandoor - on University Way and 50th. Kai's on 43's and University Way has a fun little happy hour and drink specials. To round out your UW visit, you really do need to get drunk at Earl's or have one too many beers at the Big Time brewery... not that I've ever done either of those things.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. I know I've been vague, as I don't have many firm RSVP's yet. People have said they're coming, but I am waiting on calls/emails from most of the list. I'm guessing dinner will be about 10-15 people. Most are graduate students or young professionals, so anything over $20/plate is probably out. Sadly, student loans don't always allow for extra fine dining!

I'm planning a casual birthday gathering for this Saturday evening and we will end up at the Vodka bar at Barca on Capitol Hill. We are looking for a not-too-expensive, good-for-groups restaurant in the neighborhood so that people will only have to worry about finding parking once. Any favorites, suggestions? I plan to drive up there tonight with a friend to look around, but I'm really having a total brain-blank on what's in the 'hood, restaurant-wise.

I'd like to attend either (or both) as well, however I'm hard to plan with these days as I don't know my call schedule at the hospital this far out from the date. I'll know if I'm taking call those evenings about a week or so before, would it too difficult to tentatively include me until I'm sure of my schedule?

A bit late, but I wanted to add that I had a really fun tasting experience with a well-informed worker at the Olives & Co. store in Pacific Place.