CaliPoutine

I always thought Shalmanese was a girl too!! I don't know why though, I just did.

FYI 3 1/2 quart saucepan for $61.80 during the Friday Sale at Amazon. Le Creuset

FYI Le Creuset 3 1/2 -Quart Saucepan on the friday sale at Amazon. $61.80 Le creuset 3 1/2 quart saucepan

Any news on the Friday night dinner? Menu? Cost? Just curious!!

A friend of mine has made this one from Giada De Laurentis and she said it was very good. clicky

I'm originally from California, so any humidity really really bothers me. Yesterday it was over 105f( with the humidex). To make matters worse, last night was our Community Kitchen planning meeting. I'm the coordinator so I plan what we will cook on Thursday night. Who could even think of cooking stews, lasagnas, etc in this heat. But, you can't freeze salads so we had to come up with something, but I said if less than 5ppl show, I'm cancelling this months kitchen. No go as 5 ppl showed up. so, we're cooking on Thursday, thankfully only 2 things need to be oven baked. Oh and for dinner I had subway( gross I know, but it was either than or Mcdonald's or KFC). I wasnt cooking and the pickings are slim here in small town Ontario.

There is another thread floating around for a cookbook exchange. I can't seem to find it at the moment, but recently posted a book and it was snapped up quickly.

Is it worth 10 bucks for a jar of marinara? I picked up a jar last time I was in S. Florida. I couldnt find a price anywhere so I asked the cashier to tell me how much it was. I don't care how good it is, its not worth 10 bucks.

Funny though, Hunt's organic tomatoes are a product of Isreal. They arent even grown in the US. Who is regulating that?

As an aside, we have Jersey Blueberries up here in Ontario. They were on sale last week. 1 quart for 3.99. That's cheap and they were very good.

It's Mama Mia. IMO the place is not much more than a descent neighborhood Italian restaurant. They have a good sized menu and years ago I also had a very large stuffed lobster there which was tasty and a good value. They do a big business here during the Winter tourist months. It's an okay place but I don't think it is what you are looking for. and BTW, the Mexican place is called Cancun I think...never eaten there. For a small, grubby seafood shack check out Tarks. Their steamer clams arrive bubbling and the chicken wings are very good. I have yet to find a place down here that sells fresh florida shrimp. We live in a world of farm raised. Tarks http://members.aol.com/__121b_HTjl9XXQT5p0...gZx5d14vHAVhdo= http://www.southflorida.com/dining/25541,0...ws.venue?page=1 ← I believe they have changed their name to Mia Grill. At least that is what the sign said when I was there in December. Mia Grill

how do you pronounce raclette? As in the grill and the cheese by the same name?

and whats with Head Cheese? It's not even cheese. It's vile looking.

I think there are many jew's that can't stand the stuff either. Count me as one of them. I ran far away when that came out at passover.

ahhh... bless eGullet! thanks for that heads up K8memphis. I didn't realize... ← I didnt know that either. thanks.

My sister and Mother live in Hollywood so I make frequent trips there. I grew up in the area as well. My favorite restaurant is Mia Grill. It's in Young circle. It is Italian, but they do have fabulous seafood. I had a stuffed lobster there that was divine. There is also a really good Mexican restaurant in the Circle( can't remember the name of it). I know you don't want Italian, but Mia Grill is soooo good.

Just an FYI. I just booked a room using Priceline. I "won" the Hampton Inn South which is right off of exit 177( State Street). It's 7 miles from Tammy's house. I got the room for $38.00 a night plus tax's and fee's. This is a great deal as Robin and I just stayed here a couple of weeks ago. The bed's have pillow top's, there is a deluxe breakfast( yogurt, fruit, some hot items that I wouldnt touch with a 10 foot pole) pool, WIFI and workout room. The staff is very nice as well. Randi edited to add: This particular Hampton is rated a 2 star according to Priceline. It's a lot nicer than the other 2 star in the area( Studio Plus). It has one of the most comfortable hotel beds I've ever slept in. Since we wont be spending too much time there, its an awesome deal!!

The friend I'm bringing from Ontario will be helping me so we can take another course. I'd like to do a salad as well, or a pasta.

Ok, here is our meal from the Common Grill. I can't wait to eat there again, it was sooo good. My friends live in Chelsea, and I've visited them numerous times, but never ate there( don't ask me why, I have no clue). Btw, our first choice was Eve or Logan. I wanted to eat at Common grill on Monday but they were closed. So I arranged vinology for Monday and Common Grill for Tuesday. I'm so glad we ate there. First off, I didnt take a picture of the bread, but it was the best restaurant bread I've ever had. Omg, yum, I want the recipe. ( I heard they make it from scratch). First up apps. Robin had calamari(9.00) once again. It was served with an asian slaw, a mango vinaigrette and a wasabi aioli. I had the lump crab cakes. Very good. There was hardly any filler. It was served with a red chili mayo. This was $11.00 For mains, I had the scallops( since I didnt get them the previous night at Vinology) and Robin had the paella. I asked for white cheddar mashers instead of the rice, but they ended up giving me both starches. The server though I said Both. I tasted the mashers, but they were just ok. The rice was actually better with the scallops. The server brought me a side of the veggies. Haricot Verte and baby carrots( with tops). These were served with a honey-key lime butter and the scallops were macadamia crusted. They were very good. The paella(26.00) was freaking awesome and the portion was huge. It was so flavorful. It had a lobster tail, mussles, clams, salmon, chicken, halibut, shrimp and chorizo We also had salads that came with each main. Dessert was a sunken chocolate cake with some kind of caramel sauce and ice cream. We shared this. It was really good too. The entire meal was just so good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I hope you go, I think you'd really enjoy it.

As I said before, I love cake, but this pie was pretty darn good.

Robin and I went to Vinology on our Anniversary, June 19th. It wasn't my first choice, but since it was a Monday, my first choice was closed. I started with the spoon flight. This was 6 dollars. There was a fingerling saffron potato salad( I could have eaten 10 more bites of this), some kind of tuna( passed off to Robin), a stuffed squash blossom( bland) and some itsy bitsy morel's with haricot verte( no flavor what so ever). Robin had the calamari with a papya slaw. She enjoyed it. For our main, I wanted to scallops and Robin wanted the char. They were out of both. Sooo, I had the pork loin chop, with shiitake orzo and a fruit mostada. Robin chose the duck. It came with a boinito custard and bok choy(?). Forgive me if I forget, I didnt write it down and this was a few weeks ago. The flavor of both entrees were really good, however mine was too rare for my liking. There was actually blood coming out of it. I sent it back and about 10 minutes later it was returned to me with a huge chunk cut off. I mentioned that to Robin, and she agreed. I cut into it again and it still wasnt cooked enough. I called the server over and told her that I didnt feel comfortable eating it( due to some health reasons) and she said No problem. The manager came over and said he would take it off the bill. He asked if I wanted anything else and I said No, Thanks. Since it was our Anniversary, they wanted to send us a dessert. I chose the beniegts with rubarb sorbet( although I subbed an orange ice cream). I took a bite of one and when I bit into it, batter came spilling out. I tried the other 2 and they were raw inside too. I called the server again and she was really embarrased. The manager came over and wanted to send another dessert. I chose the fruit crisp. I'm sad to say that this was raw as well. The topping underneath the obvious cooked part was floury and gummy. I never mentioned this though because we had asked for our bill and the manager came over to say that he was comping the entire meal. He also gave us a 20 dollar gift certificate which I thought was really nice. Aside from the obvious undercooking problems, the service was fantastic. We werent that upset but the manager and server were totally embarrased. They apologized over and over again. Anyway, I will go back at lunchtime because I do have my eye on the lobster sandwich. The next night we went to Common Grill in Chelsea and we had the best meal I've had since moving to Canada. I have pictures of that as well that I can post if anyone is interested.

I'll bring a jar of my fig jam to go with your cheese tray. Fruits, crackers, chutney's, nuts etc are what I usually think of with cheese tastings.

I agree. It was fantastic. (Pictures in my blog)

phatj, how long was your butt on the grill? What temp did you cook the pork?

Here are the pics of the cherry crumb pie I made yesterday. This was made with bing cherries.