jennahan

What about the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station. They do old fashioned sorts of cocktails in an environment that recalls the days of the Robber Barons.

It definitely does. At my supermarket, they sell turkey breast joints injected with butter throughout. It was arguably the best supermarket turkey I've ever had.

My husband definitely is a believer in more is better. His idea of hot chocolate: melt valrhona cooking chocolate, add whole milk (pref unpasteurized), add one large tablespoon of nutella, stir.

Soon dubu jigae is really easy to make. I posted a basic recipe this thread. Btw, I think your mom is faking it to get your dad to make the rice. ← Thanks for the recipe. I'll be in the Oxford street area tomorrow and will stop by the Korean grocery near there to pick up the ingredients. I hope I can get soon dubu! Hey, I never thought about if my mom was faking it. Clever gal! Kind of like me telling my hubby I can't iron...hee hee!

Mine is soon dubu jigae. Unfortunately, I'm in central London with really bad Korean Restaurants. Guess I'll have to wait until the next time I'm back home. (BTW, not my mom's...she's notoriously a terrible cook. I don't know how to cook Korean food because she can't really make any dishes herself. My father had to teach her how to cook rice when after they got married. To this day, he's the one who cooks the rice. How difficult is it to learn how to use a rice cooker?)

Toljabi is a ceremony where you set a bunch of stuff in front of your 1-year old and you let the child pick an item. Usually the parents will put out a caligraphy brush, a sword (a pretend one for a baby), money, rice cakes, and some other stuff, I can't remember what else. Whatever the baby picks is supposed to predict her/his future occupation. The caligraphy brush means s/he'll become a scholar, sword - a soldier, money - wealth, I can't remember what everything else meant. Anyone else? ← Bowl of uncooked rice- Treasure/ wealth Thick string (the kind used to sew the covers on traditional Korean blankets)- long life Spoon- A life of good eating Caligraphy brush- Scholar I've never heard of the sword though. Maybe regional. ← I had a highly unorthodox one for my son. As we come from a long line of doctors, my mother also placed a stethoscope on the tray...he picked the stethoscope, which made my mother quite happy. I picked the spoon at mine. You?

I'm an anesthesiologist and have a glass syringe and very large bore needle (for epidurals), so I will definitely try this. Two questions: 1: if marinating meat in advance, should one reinject the meat (like turning it in the marinade every so often)? 2: In your recipies, do you only inject the alcohol last minute and why?

I just googled the Princess up, and found this link which has further links to maps and parking info. http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformatio...Princess./57c2/

You are joking...I hope. Well, if they have a rotten egg flavour, i guess they would have a vomit flavoured one (who is thinking up of these new flavours?) With all of these new flavours, one could have a three course meal simply made out of Jelly Belly's...salad, main course, dessert. That would be something. What would one drink with this meal?

I've made a reservation at WD-50 for July 1st for 2 (anniversary and hubby's b-day) plus sleeping baby, and can not wait. It seems as if the restaruant has become more consistent with time (the early posts had mixed reviews) and the food seems to be really interesting. I'd really like to try the tasting menu, but am concerned about the amount of food (i.e., don't want gourmand hubby to be complaining about being hungry after the meal). Do any of you think that this will be a problem?

Thanks for all the suggestions regarding California wine. I'll try Berry Brothers in person. On another wine related subject, I was skimming over past Champagne topics (OK, I'm a lady-who-lunches and when the Girls get together, only Bubbly will staisfy!) and am curious to try Jacques Solesse. I googled it up specifying UK and London, but can't find a supplier. I also checked out the Berry Brothers and the Bibendum wine sites and they don't stock it (ditto Majestic and Oddbins). Where, oh where can I easily purchase just one or two bottles of it (Don't wan't to commit to a case yet)? Thanks.

sashimi nuts...particularly macadamia and almonds cheese

This is more of a question...I'm from California and have been in London for 2 years and haven't been able to find anyplace that sells a good selection of California wines. As I live in Canary Wharf, don't know the UK internet wine sites, and don't have a car, I'm looking for places in London where I can find a good selection easily. Many thanks in advance for your responses.

I often begin my evening as a wine lover. But, if there are others who are as passionate as I, I/we can slide into winesnob/ boardering on winegeek. But by the end of the night as I drunkenly weave my bike through darken carless streets, I more than likely become the Wino/Drunk. That's cool. As long as it doesn't happen too often I can live with it. ← Sounds like me!

Things that really irk me: 1. The appaling state of pre-packaged food for children...starting from the bland jarred stuff (including the organic ranges) to the fake cheeses, battered rubber blobs of reconstituted "chicken" and "fish", and mushy, overly-sweet tinned pasta monstrosities. I'm not even going to get started on kids menus in restaurants. 2. The impossibility of getting a decent scone in the States 3. The appalling quality of croissants everywhere (yes, even now in France) 4. Paying outrageous prices for average food 5. Deep dish pizza, stuffed-crust pizza, and the cardboard texture of the pizza dough in most pizzarias 6. The fact that it is considered to be a luxury to have chicken, eggs, dairy products, vegetables and fruit which are fresh, flavourful, and not pumped with chemicals.

I'd love to live with many of you who ae able to cook such gorgeous breakfasts! I usually can't wait for holidays because I am able to indulge my inner glutton. Unfortunately, my work entailed me getting up at 5 and being at work by 6am (latest), so some toast and a very small amount of coffee (was not able to go to the toilet until relieved for lunch) was it. I've stopped working, but now I'm taking care of a toddler who gets up between 6:30am-7am. I should go to bed at a sensible hour, but after putting baby to sleep at 7pm, I still have tidying up and cooking dinner to do. After this, I just crash in front of the computer and/or tele until 11:30-12:00. The baby's schedule has made me get up between 5:00-6am automatically, even though I'm exhausted. As I am NOT a natural morning person, I get baby's breakfast and my breakfast ready the night before. Baby gets 3 teaspoons of organic baby muesli, 1/2 a grated organic apple, and organic soya milk (he has a cow's milk intolerance). Also, he usually takes 3-4 of my mini shreaded wheat. I get a mixture of 1/2 shreaded wheat, 1/4 no-sugar Alpen muesli, and 1/4 grape nuts. I drink a tankard of instant coffee (I know, travesty. I'm just too tired/lazy to use my French press and make a decent cup of coffee!) Not exciting, and believe me I'm so envious of the great things some of you are able to make. Sigh.

I think that basics should be both essential techniques which are a foundation for cooking the simplest to the most complicated dishes, and every-day things that most people cook, but for some reason, are never properly taught how to make the most of. How to roast a chicken AND make decent gravy from the drippings Basic egg technique (omlette, poaching, scrambled, hard boiled, soft boiled, separating, whipping) How to properly dress a salad (i.e., make a good vinagrette and how and when to add to the salad leaves) Basic potato techniques: roasting, dauphinoise, properly making fries

I love toast. Crispy toast. This means that either I wolf down hot toast, or I just let the toast stay in the toaster until I am ready to eat it (doesn't steam that way). If I have hot toast, I put cold butter on it...immediately. If lukewarm toast, I put on soft butter. The most disgusting is cold, soggy toast. Inedible.

I can't say that my earliest memories are technically indicative that I would be a foodie, but it's really interesting that my earliest memories are all about eating food. I remember being about 2 years old (no joke) and eating udon noodles at my grandmother's house. This is actually the earliest memory I have. The second earliest memory I have is just about the same time...I was on a bus with my mother and nanny and the bus conductor gave me a piece of mint (I can't remember which kind) gum, which my mother let me eat. I swallowed it. My next memory is when I was between 3-4 and eating my mother's bizzare pa-jun. Perhaps it's telling that the things that struck me most to stick around is tasting and eating food.

I've eaten at Plateau and had quite a nice meal (excellent grilled prawns). For Canary Wharf, it is pricy, but it's nice to have as an option. Another place not mentioned is just down the street from the Grapes called The Narrow Street Dining Room. As i live on Narrow Street, we go there quite frequently. The food is great (simple, well prepared, and interesting) and they have a decent selection of New World Wine. Hey, even my French in-laws really liked the place.

Rice Pudding (sweet mushy milky rice) - yuck. Cold rice pudding - bletch Mashed potato - mushy milky creamy but dry squidge Lobster - over-rated rubbery blah crustacean Braised beef = taste of death Doughnuts - cloyingly sweet, sometimes greasy, definitely stodgy masses of simple carbs Flan - sweet eggy mush Creme brulee - more custardy flan with a crunch Cookie dough - why would anyone want to eat uncooked flour and eggs?

Opening Jars: Spank the jar hard a couple times on the bottom prior to opening the lid. If this doesn't work (usually does), I slide the tip of a beer-can opener under the lid until I hear a hisss. General All-Purpose: Ziplock style bags for everything...Marinating, freezing egg whites, storing and organizing papers/bills/photos, protecting sweaters Baking Soda is a great cleaner for mildly tarnished silver The best way to remove baked-on/burnt on food from pots/pans is to fill with water and a couple drops of detergent and place over low heat. Allow the water to simmer for 5 minutes, then the food will just melt away from the pot/pan Tomato sauce stained plasticwear: soak in water with a small amount of bleach

Salmon works really well with Miso Glaze. Also works well being miso marinated. Try Black Cod (Nobu's signature), but it's difficult to find.

I was in NYC for two weeks in April with my 17 month old baby (from London). I would probably advise you to stay closer to Central Park (i.e., Midtown). OK, so it isn't as cool and Soho, but it is really handy with baby...the reason is transportation. Getting around NYC with baby on public transport is a nightmare. There aren't lifts in the subway system, and cabs are the obvious answer, but cabbies are notoriously bad drivers. I stayed in Midtown and walked most places with Baby. In order to entertain baby (he needs to run around every day, or else he goes berzerk), I would take him to Central Park (brilliant petting zoo, and many playgrounds), Bryant Park, the Met (lots of areas for kids to run around...believe it or not!). The Fitzpatrick is really comfortable and conveniently located, has a separate room for baby, and has a great babysitting service (we used the same babysitter several times.) The only thing is that, as to expected, you pay a premium. Babysitter was$25/hr with a 4 hour minimum. I took baby to the cafe at Jean Georges for lunch (they have highchairs, and were sweet in bearing with a tired, screaming toddler), drinks at 57 57 (if you are there early, it's pretty empty and they didn't seem to mind the baby), Burger Heaven (they have several in the area), Artisanal (several times), and Pastis for brunch (they have crayons and paper to entertain). For nicer meals, I wasn't brave enough to include Baby.

Along the subject of Dim Sum, you mentioned above that Royal China uses quite a bit of MSG in theirs. Can you recommend a good dim sum place where I can safely take my toddler? He is quite adventurous in his eating, and I want to keep encouraging it while I still can. He loves potstickers, sushi (veg and cooked), ravioli, and anything he can eat with his hands. I thought that taking him for dim sum would be great, but I'm worried about salt and additive content (he pretty much only eats organic, and usually home-cooked or good quality outside food). Do you know anyplace which would fit the bill?