Suzanne F

Oh, I know Ellen is as natural as they come (in a very good way). But Julianne would need a perm. Steven, did you know that any of that awful stuff was happening at the time? Or did you only find out once your fine lady was home safe? Well, at least you had Momo to hug in times of fear. Edited to add: Thank you, Ellen, for sizing the photos the way you did!!! Makes it so much easier to follow the whole saga.

We ate at Yummy Noodles this morning -- I guess it was between 10:30 and 11 -- and it was indeed yummy. We had congee with chicken and Chinese mushrooms, and roast duck noodle soup. Hey, it was breakfast! Although other people were getting the rice casseroles and other dishes, which looked great. The congee started out medium thickness, and thinned as it sat. The porridge itself was very plain, as though just rice cooked in water, no broth. But: lots of slivered ginger and fairly thick slices of scallion, and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top. The chicken pieces were hacked up fairly small, with lots of bits of bone and integument, and they were absolutely delicious. I wish I know how the chicken had been cooked first -- really yummy. The Chinese mushrooms were good-sized slices of fresh shiitake. Because of the starting blandness, I added a little soy sauce -- there are 2 kinds on the table, Kikkoman and one beginning with a Y, a little milder and sweeter, which is the one I used. HWOE added a touch of chili sauce, which he said was not as good as the chili/garlic at Congee, but still a helpful addition. The roast duck noodle soup suffered from not being hot enough. Otherwise, it was excellent: very well-flavored broth, not greasy, with lots of chew noodles, 10 (!) slices of duck, and some sort of light green leaves, plus sliced scallion garnish. The duck was one of the best we've had: very, very meaty, not very fatty, with a good hint of 5-spice flavor, a bit on the salty side. Definitely a place to try more. Thanks, Pan, for bringing it to our attention.

Definitely Julianne Moore, with a perm.

WARNING!!!!!! Bloviatrix, read THE FISH SKIN THREAD at your own risk; you will definitely be freaked out. Your friend, Suzanne F

I used to make 8 liters of batter at a time (enough for 64 individual cakes), bake off as many as we estimated would be needed that day for service. The rest of the batter would stay in the pastry kitchen lowboy. Then the gm would unmold them as needed and pop them in the kitchen oven on a sizzler to reheat for a couple of minutes. I suppose if we'd been able to nuke them it would have been even faster. But NO NUKES.

Ah, cannoli! Just remember, mama24: make the shells, make the filling (basically just sweetened ricotta, chopped candied fruit, and chopped chocolate) BUT DON'T FILL THE SHELLS UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE YOU SERVE THEM!! and Welcome Sounds like you might have some very interesting experience with cooking and eating!

Steven, dear, you should have.

Oven-Roasted Rabbit with Herbs, out of D'Artagnan's Glorious Game Cookbook, with Greenmarket bunny and herbs Grits Salad of Red Oak Leaf, Arugula, Tomato, Cucumber, and Red Pepper (all Greenmarket) with White Balsamic Vinaigrette Rancho Zabaco 2001 Zinfandel

Wow. When the book comes out, can we get autographed copies? And whom do you want to play you in the movie? I'm thinking either Julianne Moore or Tilda Swinton.

Jinmyo -- not recently, thank goodness. By the way, how's your foot?

So the generic definition of Jewish holidays is linguistically accurate? They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat.

Welcome AuntieEm. Yummy list indeed. I look at it a little differently, though. What can I always get, whenever I want it? Chicken. Roast first, then fried, stewed -- even skinless boneless breasts, in a pinch. Eggs. They always taste good, however they are cooked. Ah, but which should come first???

Yeah, I know. But I thought they were a GOOD chain. I liked their coffee, and I was sorry they were put out of business by that awful burnt-tasting stuff.

Ruth is spot on. I've got the Blood Orange version of O -- it is wonderful as a drizzle on grilled fish or chicken. I figure O is worth it the same way truffle oil is; I don't have access to the kind of oil and lemons they use (they press the oil, after all). Remember, there's a difference between O olive oils with citrus, and pure citrus oils such as Boyajian makes. The pure oils are more for flavoring recipes where extracts won't work, while the flavored olive oil is a condiment. (Mottmott, welcome to the club; one can't have too many condiments, only too little room. )

Yup. On both counts. (Sanelli slicer, ouch)

Chicken-filled tortellini (bought) in brodo (homemade chix stock) Braised Belgian endive wrapped in ham and gratinee with crumbs and cheese Red Boston and romain with olive oil and herb vinegar (I forget which one of the 5 I used) Paumanok Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay

Hey, what's wrong with sardines? I never thought of them as something to be embarrassed about. We have several kinds on hand - our fave is the kind packed with chilies. Of course we eat them on Saltines...are those embarrassing too? Thanks for the broiling tip - sounds GOOD. DITTO. I love canned sardines! Of course they're not as wonderful as grilled fresh sardines served with a salad of puntarelle . . . but what is???

There IS a Starbucks at Astor Place; and another where once there was a Pasqua right by Cooper Union. But the Mud Truck is still out there every day too. And I DID try the Quizno's on Chambers Street. I'll say this for it: it's better than Blimpies or Subway. But not much. I just think it's hysterical that those stores will end up filled with tattooed, chain-wearing, multi-color-hair goths. Or whatever the current conformist non-conformist fads are.

On my way to Crif Dogs today, I noticed that franchises of both Chipotle and Quizno's Subs are going in to a renovated building on St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Le Bernardin

My dream kitchen makeover would have a grill, not a griddle, because that's what I use more. And a continuous grid over the widely-spaced burners -- I hate having the pans bump up against each other. And yes, it would have a cooktop separate from the oven(s?), because I want gas burners but electric baking. Yeah, I know there are dual-fuel ranges, but I want them separated.

Just thought I'd share some recipes from a friend on another board. Scroll down to the one she calls Agent Orange! WOW!!!!!

Hot dogs being one of the major food groups (along with steak, bacon, kimchi, and Mrs. Dash), we've had many discussions of their relative merits. One you might want to look at is this one on Supermarket Hot Dogs. Or just do a search on "hot dogs;" you'll only get 15 pages of results .

I also like Hallo Berlin a lot. But somehow, wursts seem such a small part of the greater German cuisine. Well, maybe only 50%?

Do you know how early they open? Sounds like that's our next destination after an invigorating early morning walk. Or midday walk, maybe.