Jaymes

You got that right - I was reading this thread and thinking, "but all the Chinese like Koi Palace best - will no one mention that?" And so here you come... I have two dear friends that live in SF. Both Chinese. One is Chinese-American, but his father came to the US in his 20's to work in a Chinese restaurant, which he's done for the next 40 years, and is a master chef. And my other friend has only been in the US from China for about four years. Both of them know from Chinese food. And both of them have tried Chinese restaurants all over the Bay Area and they each agree that nothing else comes close to Koi Palace. "And that's what all my Chinese friends say, too," says the one that just got here from China. In fact, she says that her mother and father have been to visit her three times from China, and Koi Palace is the first place they go - from the airport! "My mom just LOVES that place," she adds.

Made me feel just like I was sitting back at the big table in my grandmother's country kitchen. Oh my. I miss you, Sugar Mama.

One more time, SALT AND LIME!!! Lime's the winner-gar Better than vinegar.

Or maybe you could fire up the barbie and do a grilled guajolote, como no? Actually, that is one of my personal favorite summertime menus. When turkeys are cheap - at thanksgiving or christmas - a loss leader at 99c a pound, I usually get one extra, and have the butcher saw it in half for me. Then, in the summertime, I grill the half, and serve it with good summertime veggies, and a nice cold crunchy cranberry & apple salad. Entonces, quizas guajolote, Guajolote.

In the sumertime, I like Mexican shrimp cocktails, or seafood cocktails Campechana. It always blows everyone away. So good, so cool, so pretty with the slices of avocado on top. And so unlike anything most Gringos have ever had. Of course, I serve "los cocteles camarones" or "cocteles Campechana" Mexican-style, in copas, with saltines and an assortment of hot sauces that I pass around in a cute little basket.

Well, I always WAS a fun gal. (I get it from my grandmother. )

Varmint - I'd love to - and it'd be a smash hit, I'll tell you - it always is! Except that I'm gonna be on the road, so it'd be difficult for me to tote frozen ingredients. I'm bringing beans and salsa and an egg dish, but I've got that worked out. I'm just not sure how to manage the frozen slush. Why don't you give it a try now and see if you like it. Which you will of course. That slush keeps in your freezer for a long time, so you can have a little drink each evening for a while after you make it. It's nice and handy! And - Since you're in Bourbon country - here are two more for you to try: Bourbon Fog: 1 qt strong coffee, chilled; 1 qt Bourbon, chilled; 1 qt vanilla ice cream. Combine all and serve. And then there's my grandmothers punch recipe: Sugar's Bourbon Punch: 1 "Fifth" of good-quality Bourbon; 1 12-oz can frozen lemonade concentrate; 2 qts club soda, chilled. Put the bourbon in the freezer to get it really cold. Then combine all ingredients in punchbowl. Serve over ice cubes. This is pretty strong - Grammy never DID like a lot of fruit in her punch.

The best refreshing summer drinks: Peach Sangria (recipe in archives) Lemonade with Amaretto "Red & White," - 1 part red vermouth; 1 part white vermouth, shaken with ice, strained into martini glass, one slice of lemon dropped in. Bourbon Slush - 5 regular-size teabags; 1 12-oz can frozen lemonade; 2 C boiling water, 1 6-oz can frozen OJ; 1 C sugar; 2 C bourbon; 5 C water. Let tea steep in boiling water until good and strong. Add all remaining ingredients and freeze for at least 24 hours, stirring as often as is practical. To serve, fill glasses half-full with slush and top off with Squirt. (You can use 7Up or Sprite or ginger ale, but Squirt is best.) Mint Juleps. Served in frosted silver julep cups.

She was quite enjoyable in "Out of Sight" with George Clooney and also in "Selena," although other actresses vying for Oscars probably don't need to stay up nights worrying about her talents. And as for Ben Affleck's take on why there is such a media frenzy about them, he said that it's because they are an interracial couple, "I am white and she is Puerto Rican and 'white America' can't get beyond that."

Exceedingly well done, Trish. You're pretty darn "professional and plucky" your own self. I hope we see more articles from you!

The traditional: Homemade ice cream - peppermint is a good choice - made in the backyard in an old-fashioned ice cream maker so the kids can lick the paddle when it's done. Peach Cobbler with ice cream - vanilla or caramel or peach Banana Pudding Sweet Potato Pie Cold slices of watermelon "Y'all come back now, y'hear?"

Okay - so here's my "secret ingredient." Consider yourself honored. I NEVER tell my guests what it is that adds that tangy little "zip" to my fresh tomato sauce. It's just a pinch of mustard. Dijon, preferably, although I have experimented with others. Dijon. Give it a try. But don't tell my friends.

Never stayed in the Galvez, but when I lived in Galveston my duplicate bridge group met there once a week. Interesting stately old place. My parents stayed there on their honeymoon in 1941. Not familiar with the Italian restaurant. I really like Clary's. I DO hope you can wangle a way into the Pelican Club. Chat up the concierge at the Galvez. Maybe they can get you in. If so, will you please order a Crabmeat au Gratin to go? Pour moi?

Well then he's got to be upset that the editing implies that he left because Rocco didn't offer him a Vespa, doesn't he? That wasn't the feeling I got. It seemed to me more that the Vespa incident was the last straw. Here he'd been working hard and putting up with shit coming and going, but still trying to be a team player and giving it his best. And in the meantime, someone else gives up and quits and she gets a big fat bonus. While those that had been slogging it out in misery were repaid for their loyalty and steadfastness with, instead of a Vespa, MORE misery. I don't blame him. I'd have walked, too.

Huh? Do "they" HAVE a "bad rep"?

I'd start by trying to find ingredients that taste pretty good on their own or with just a little salt. In other words, really fresh stuff right from a farmer's market or fishmonger. And tell her you're going to fix it like she likes it, but with the cheese, mayo, whatever "on the side." See if you can't get her to take just a few bites before she smooshes the cheese back over onto it all. Find whatever few things she already eats without cheese or mayo, and expand upon them. Offer her little bonuses or treats for at least trying stuff that is not normally on her "acceptable" radar. Well, after that reprimand, I decided to repeat my own post, which I stand by. Go to the fishmonger and get some really good fresh fish. Bake it with a little wine or lemon or parsley (not too exotic). Make a mild cheese sauce or tartar sauce or whatever it is that she likes, and put it on the side, and encourage her to try a bite or two before she puts on the sauce. Go to a farmer's market or somewhere else and get really good fresh non-pesticide-pumped chicken and roast it beautifully, and serve it with whatever sort of cheese or mayo-based sauce she likes, on the side. Get some great fresh squash and cut it up and simmer it very, very slowly (no water added) with some butter and onion slices in the bottom of a covered saucepan. Just as it's done, add a beaten egg and stir til egg is set. Sprinkle a LITTLE cheese over it and serve it with some good tomatoes on the side. Encourage her to try just a few bites of your meals BEFORE she adds the sauce. You can do that in a non-judgmental manner. Instead of "why can't you eat anything without pouring that fattening, yucky glop all over it," say, "I got these chickens from a farmer's market. I think they're really good. Why don't you try a bite or two just plain and tell me if you think they're any better than usual?" Or just as you take it from the oven, cut off an unadorned slice and say, "Yum, here try this," and hand her a forkfull. Find stuff she likes without cheese or mayo and build on that. For example, if she likes fruit and she likes ice cream, then serve her ice cream with a little fruit on it. Then fruit with a little ice cream on it. Then just fruit. Keep these efforts lowkey. Don't badger her or berate her or lecture her or attempt to make her look foolish. I honestly meant these suggestions to be helpful and I think they'll work. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon - and for the rest of your lives. And good luck.

Excellent idea. I'd suggest you go at once to your closest farming equipment store and invest in a cattle prod. That should do the trick in no time.

I'd start by trying to find ingredients that taste pretty good on their own or with just a little salt. In other words, really fresh stuff right from a farmer's market or fishmonger. And tell her you're going to fix it like she likes it, but with the cheese, mayo, whatever "on the side." See if you can't get her to take just a few bites before she smooshes the cheese back over onto it all. Find whatever few things she already eats without cheese or mayo, and expand upon them. Offer her little bonuses or treats for at least trying stuff that is not normally on her "acceptable" radar. (Boy, does this sound a lot like raising kids. )

I used to live in Nebraska. The farmer next door to us had a couple acres of field corn. He told us that we could have as much as we wanted, so 'round 'bout dinnertime, my mother would get the pot boiling and us kids would go pick several young ears which we'd race back to the house and then drop into the pot. We loved this stuff. It was a constant summertime treat. But our other neighbors "down the way," said that they weren't interested in any because it was just "that old field corn, and not much good." You never could have convinced us of that.

EeGee's in Arizona. Jason's Deli in Texas. Oh, and I love the Pollo Loco locations out west. They take chicken and marinate it in a citrus-chile pepper mixture, then grill it over an open flame. You buy it in halves or quarters. It comes with several kinds of salsa and fresh hot tortillas. What you do is to pull off a piece of the tender meat, then put it in your tortilla, then pour some salsa over it and eat. The BEST. Especially good to take as a picnic to those "concert in the park" type evenings.

And another problem with most Stateside taboule is that here it is a bulghar salad with oil, a little parsley and lemon, among other things. In the mid-east, it is strongly-lemon-dressed parsley salad with oil and bulghar, among other things. There have been several previous discussions about this. For one thing, Tommy served it once at some sort of "do" and there was at least one thread (and I think there have been more, actually) devoted to it: Taboule

Thanks, G (if I may call you that). I'm gonna be making this tomorrow. And I can hardly wait!

Braised flank steak is fine. I really like it in Ropa Viaja too. I don't think there's enough fat in it for grilling, though. As my butcher says, "I can't see why anybody would want to eat that stuff." It's what I use for my bulgogi. Of course I heavily score it, and then slice it across the grain into strips about 3/4 inch wide, and then marinate it before throwing it on the barbie. It's great that way. My former husband lived in Korea for a year, and this recipe is one he brought back from his favorite restaurant. Darn tasty.

Whether he wants the gazpacho recipe or not, I do. Will you please post it in the archives? And now - About those vodka cherry tomatoes. Do you do anything to them? Just dump them into some vodka and stick them in the freezer? How long do you leave them there? I know the vodka won't freeze, but do the tomatoes? Do you serve them frozen? Cold? Room temp? Absolutely fascinating.

Understood but I believe we are being somewhat naive believing it is about the employees as opposed to a convenient way for the government to impose itself on our lives. And here we go again. Rather than believe the stated reasons - other people don't want to breathe in smoke and employees shouldn't be forced to - you say that you don't believe it's about that at all. Instead, it's about a prudish, busybody, judgmental government trying to interfere in your life because they think they know what's better for you more than you do. Why can't you just accept that perhaps the employees have a point, and deal with it from THAT aspect. And try to help find a solution to that legitimate concern. THAT might be constructive. But saying "you're lying about your motivation and true intent" isn't at all.