SuzySushi

Day 2 (Saturday, July 8th) Still exhausted from jet-lag and our red-eye flight, we slept in Saturday morning. When we got up, Marc made us an extensive brunch: Scrambled eggs (yes, he eats eggs--though, by command of his 9 year old daughter [my 9 year old daughter's niece!], only from chickens that have not had their beaks clipped) with caramelized onions. An assortment of vegetarian sausages and vegetarian bacon. Sliced fresh heirloom tomatoes. Various dips left over from the night before. The rye bread. Cheese -- ours, and several additional varieties he had in the fridge. Two types of organic iced teas -- my favorite was Clipper White Tea with Peppermint. Lots of conversation, then over with Marc to Rainbow Grocery, an natural and organic foods co-op, for some serious shopping. Marc needed to stock up on the week's supplies, and prepare for his son's 6th birthday party the following day. We were happy to come along for the ride as we're inverterate grocery shoppers. When Marc had first told us about Rainbow Grocery several years ago, saying he preferred it to Whole Foods Market, we resisted going there, thinking it would be like the dinky food co-ops we have in Hawaii. We couldn't have been more wrong. Rainbow easily rivals a conventional market in size, with virtually every department except for meat, poultry, and fish. Michael went wild buying teas, then hit the cheese department (some of their cheeses are made with animal rennet), where he found his French Müenster, a Bleu d'Auvergne, and half a dozen other cheeses we bought. Wendy found flavored lip gloss. Me, a set of grapefruit spoons. All the while, Marc was doing his normal shopping. Then it was time to drive us and the groceries home, and for Marc to pick up his kids for the rest of the weekend. For dinner, we'd requested "something we can't get in Hawaii," so we went with Marc and the three kids (his and ours) to Old Krakow Polish Restaurant & Art Cafe in West Portal. Fantastic cream of mushroom soup--even Wendy, not normally a cream soup fan--loved it. Beet salad. Cucumber salad in dill. Pierogi filled with cabbage & mushrooms. Potato-filled pierogi. Wendy ordered the palasniki (crepes) stuffed with cheese. (We had to return the order apologetically because it came topped with whipped cream and liberally sprinkled with confectioners' sugar like a dessert, although it's listed under entrees, and Wendy has diabetes--the kitchen quickly prepared another order minus the toppings.) Michael, with Marc's blessing, ordered the homemade kielbasa. We were so stuffed that we couldn't possibly finish everything, and ended up taking some of the pierogi and the crepes home. Fresh fruit at home for dessert. Pims in our room. [Edited for typo -- it doesn't do to misspell my husband's name in print!]

We are recently back from a 10-day trip to California, and I thought I'd write up our culinary excursions. No food photos, but plenty of details from notes and memory. The background: We live in the 'burbs in Oahu, Hawaii and this was our first trip off-island in 5 years. "We" (at least the "we" on this trip, a grown stepson remained on Oahu) are my foodie husband Michael, me, and our sometimes foodie/sometimes picky 9 year old daughter Wendy. The primary purpose of our trip was to visit family and friends in the Bay area. Our secondary purpose was to eat and go food-shopping, focusing on foods and cuisines that we can't easily get in Hawaii. While in the Bay area, we stayed at my stepson's house in San Francisco: he recently moved to the Potrero Hill neighborhood. We also visited the Napa and Sonoma valleys, with a two-night stay in Calistoga. We missed most of the California heat wave, thank goodness! Day 1 (Friday, July 7th): Arrived in San Francisco about 6:15 a.m., courtesy of the red-eye. No food on the flight except for a few snacks we brought with us. Grabbed some coffee and breakfast of sorts at the airport (my husband, a couple of biscotti; daughter, a banana; me, a not-very-good piece of poundcake). It took nearly 2 hours to pick up our rental car and get to Marc's house--a 15 minute drive from the airport. After being shown the layout of the house--a very nice renovated condo with a huge open kitchen and stunning views of the Bay Bridge--we fell into bed for a few hours' nap. First stop, very much planned, was Ferry Building Marketplace, which had opened since we were last in the city. There was a long a wait at our first choice of restaurants, the Hog Island Oyster Company, so we decided to dine next door at Ferry Plaza Seafood. Michael and I lunched on an assortment of raw oysters, a bowl of their fabulous New England clam chowder, and a humongous steamed artichoke with a seductive mustard & white wine-enhanced aioli; Wendy chose the smoked salmon plate (featuring two types of smoked salmon) accompanied by Acme bread and an enormous portion of vinaigrette-dressed baby field greens (which she didn't touch but we enjoyed). We were quite pleased with the food, but the service was… exceptional… not in a good way. Our waiter, at least the person we thought was our waiter, disappeared from the restaurant halfway through the service (off-duty? fired? quit?) and we had to flag down an assortment of other staff members to receive our order and subsequently our check. Of course, the main draw at the Ferry Building Marketplace is the markets, and they did not disappoint. We began with a "destination," Cowgirl Creamery, where my husband was quickly identified as a serious buyer and we got to taste a dozen or more different cheeses before purchasing three: a mild, fresh domestic goat cheese whose name I've forgotten (from a farm I'd never heard of before); a strong "smelly" French or Italian cheese whose name I never got (Michael was seeking a ripe French Müenster, which they didn't have in stock), and Peña Azul, a Cabrales-like Spanish blue aged in maple leaves. Our second destination was Acme Bread Company, where we watched the breadmaking process--a baker was removing loaves of proofed breads from floured baskets to leave the distinctive impressions on the surface--and purchased two loaves of their dense New York Rye, the best rye bread this native New Yorker has ever eaten. We then stopped for dessert. Michael and I chose a lime meringue tart and some rose macarons from Miette, a French patisserie, while Wendy, after tasting several other flavors, opted for a scoop of the green tea gelato from Ciao Bella Gelato. We wended our way through the marketplace to Sur La Table, where I was so overwhelmed by the selection of kitchenware that I purchased… nothing! We were also drawn in by the beautiful display of organic produce at Farm Fresh to You and purchased a basket of luscious fresh Mission figs as a housegift for Marc. He had also requested that we pick up some oyster mushrooms for dinner, so we stopped at an impressive mushroom boutique, Far West Fungi. Then we headed back to Marc's house for dinner with Marc and his girlfriend. On the way back, we stopped at the local Safeway (Potrero Hill), which is considerably larger than our local Safeway, to buy milk (organic), Cheerios, and bananas (organic) for Wendy's breakfast, as well as the serendipitous find of two flavors of Pims cookies. Did I mention that Marc is a vegetarian of long standing, and buys "green" and organic products whenever possible, right down to the hand soap and dishwashing detergent in the house? We were careful to check with him before heading out for the day to make sure we could bring cheese made with rennet into his home. Marc is also a darn good cook. Dinner consisted of: Three appetizer dips—tofu "egg salad" (storebought), avocado-and-chickpea hummus, and a ful bean dip. A vegetable salad of immaculately fresh cucumbers, jicama, and heirloom tomatoes. Two types of baked tofu (prepared in a winey herb marinade, and barbecue-flavored). Indonesian-style tempeh sautéed in EVOO. Quorn "chicken" nuggets. Sautéed oyster mushrooms. The bread and cheese we'd bought. The fresh figs for dessert. Several cups of excellent espresso brewed by Marc's girlfriend. Pims scarfed in our room as a late-night snack. And so to bed. [Edited because I forgot the Quorn.]

Or just chiffonade and use them in a salad or as a finishing herb, just as you would basil. You could also tempura the shiso. ← Good ideas! Or sliver and stir into hot rice.

Lucky you!!! Freeze the pandan, curry leaves, lime leaves, and galangal (the latter, think of ginger). No to the shiso leaves. Enjoy them now! (Some uses include serving with sashimi, wrapping cubes of meat or chicken and grilling on skewers and -- so I'm told by a Japanese acquaintance -- making into tea.) You *might* be able to make excess shiso leaves into a paste and freeze that, but it'll lose a lot of fragrance. Kin gioi is Vietnamese mint; I don't think it would freeze well, either.

Good point.

I assume by "make your own" you're referring to mixing AP flour with cornstarch? Actually, what you're making is a substitute for cake flour or pastry flour. And neither of them contains baking powder. Maybe you're thinking of self-rising/self-raising flour?

Maybe it's just me, but being in the writing biz for over 25 years, I've always assumed that all celebrity books are ghostwritten, unless the celebrity is a journalist/novelist, etc. and was known for his or her writing before becoming famous. Most magazine articles by celebrities are ghostwritten as well, even those in trade publications. I wouldn't mind doing a bit of ghostwriting. I hear it can be quite lucrative, because celebrities often are less concerned with making money off the book or article than with the fame it produces so the contract's financial terms can be favorable to the ghostwriter.

Well, it was Dorothy Parker who quipped, "Eternity is two people and a ham." I'm constantly overestimating the amount of potato salad I need to bring to picnics and BBQs (but it looks so skimpy if I make just half the amount), and pea soup (made to use up the hame bone) and barley soup (made to use up the turkey carcass) regularly grows past our freezer capacity. Our latest leftovers are cantaloupe, which I swear has become twice as much cut into cubes as it was whole.

With two people in my family with Type 1 diabetes, I am an avid label-reader, paying particular attention to calories, carbs, and fat content and secondarily to what types of sweeteners (if any) are used. In general, I'm less concerned with whether products are "all natural" or contain artificial ingredients, although I sometimes reject products that have a laundry-list of unpronouncable chemical ingredients rather than the names of basic food ingredients.

Hmmmnnnn... is the aversion just to raw eggs, milk, and chicken/turkey, or does it include other animal protein? In 19th and early 20th century Japan, there was the phenomenon of bata-kusai ("butter stink"), a term used to describe the foul odor of Westerners -- which the Japanese attributed to their eating butter and other animal proteins. Article Even today, vegetarians claim that non-vegetarians have a stronger body odor. I haven't read any particular references to whether vegetarians, as a class, are more sensitive to the odors of raw animal protein sources than non-vegetarians.

Got the message? Or is trying to save face.

No parsley! Yecccchhh!!! Blechhhhh!!! Taste your basil leaves. Do they taste like basil, or do they have a licorice note (Thai basil, which is the wrong kind for pesto). Make sure they're washed thoroughly to remove any grit. (But it's entirely possible the grittiness came from the parsley, which is inherently a grittier herb than basil.) Taste the garlic and walnuts to make sure they don't taste bitter or rancid. Quite frankly, I wouldn't use walnuts at all. And, as my daughter is allergic to pine nuts, my pesto consists of basil, evoo, salt, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Oh, God. Not family, but I once (and only once) had dinner at a dear friend's house. Her mother was one of the best cooks in creation, but this friend hadn't learned the first thing about food safety. She had prepared a pot roast the night before and -- because her refrigerator space was not large enough to hold it -- had left it sitting out in a Dutch oven on the (turned off) stove until it was time to reheat it for dinner. I was horrified, but decided I'd rather risk food poisoning than refuse to eat my friend's food. Luckily, no one got sick. Thereafter, I always suggested we eat out for dinner.

Oooh... oooh... cosmic leap to Sweeney Todd, "the demon barber of Fleet Street." I can visualize Angela Lansbury now.

There's always Oliver Twist and his "Please, sir, I want some more"...

Sigh. My mother was one of the worst cooks in creation. My sister and I used to look forward to TV dinners because the food was so good! My mother's hamburgers were like hockey pucks. (She cooked them till they were "well done" -- charred on the outside and completely grey inside.) But her real piece de resistance (sorry... can't type the accents) was spaghetti with ketchup, which I ate (and hated) all throughout childhood. Once, after I was an adult, I happened to mention to her that everyone else serves spaghetti with pasta sauce. She looked at me incredulously and asked, "But what do they do with the rest of the can?"

Deviled Eggs Provencal -- add chopped kalamata olives, capers, and a bit of Dijon mustard along with the mayonnaise. Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon -- add chopped smoked salmon, snipped fresh dill, Dijon mustard, and a dab of sour cream with the mayonnaise.

On that note, this joke just came in via email. It sounds pretty close to the truth to me: A man bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: "Free to good home. You want it, you take it." For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too un-trusting of this deal. It looked too good to be true, so he changed the sign to read: "Fridge for sale $50." The next day someone stole it.

Here's an older thread on making Soy Milk.

History of Sandwiches and Types of Sandwiches Too many to choose from! I love a good banh mie. A shawarma sandwich on French bread bought from a sandwich stand in Paris. While I'm there, an open-face croque monsieur on pain Poilane.

Traditional Breton Buckwheat Crêpes (Crêpes Sarrasin) Serves 4 as Main Dishor 6 as Appetizer. Traditional Breton Buckwheat Crêpes (Crêpes Sarrasin) 1-1/4 cups milk 3 eggs 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 1/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons melted butter Combine all ingredients except butter and whisk well. Pour into a bowl. Let stand 1 hour. Whisk in butter. Heat a lightly oiled 10" crêpe pan over medium-high heat. Pour in a scant 1/4 cup batter and tilt pan quickly to cover the bottom. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom is golden brown. Turn and cook the other side about 15 seconds. Makes about 12 crêpes. Notes: The first crêpe is invariably a soggy mess and traditionally gets thrown to the dog. You should not need to re-oil the pan between crêpes. I freeze any leftovers in a plastic zipperlock bag for future use. I've read that you should stack crêpes between sheets of wax paper, but I've never had any problems with them sticking together so I don't bother. You can enjoy these au nature (fold in quarters without any topping whatsoever), spread lightly with salted (always salted, in Brittany!) butter -- traditionally, a plain or buttered crêpe is eaten before filled crêpes to start the meal, or filled with your favorite savory filling. For an easy filling, simply top each crêpe with a thin slice of ham and/or cheese and roll up. Another of my favorite fillings is seafood in cream sauce (roll up the crêpes, top with more sauce, and heat in the oven). Another traditional way of folding the crêpes in Brittany is to place the filling in the center of the crêpe while still in the pan, then fold up four sides almost to the center to make a square packet. In Brittany, buckwheat crêpes traditionally are filled with savory--not dessert--fillings, but they're also good filled with sauteed apples, or sliced strawberries and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Keywords: Main Dish, Appetizer, Easy, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, French ( RG1742 )

It sounds like the beer did the trick!

They look great! As you've found, you can make buckwheat crepes from just buckwheat flour--this is how the most traditional ones are made in Brittany. It takes more dexterity than the ones that combine buckwheat with wheat flour because the buckweheat doesn't have gluten.

Just spotted this thread... missed the earlier question about keeping sushi rice overnight. DO NOT. The warm rice is just the right growing medium for bacteria. Also, ideally, sushi rice should be freshly prepared because it tastes best that way. (I've frozen leftover sushi rice--both seasoned and unseasoned. When ready to use again, sprinkle with a few drops of water and reheat, lightly covered, in the microwave. This loses the fragrance of the original rice, however). Again, best to make the rice just before you use it. My standard recipe is to cook the rice, then let it cool about 10 minutes before adding the sushi-zu (vinegar/sugar/salt seasoning). Mix in the sushi-zu with a paddle while fanning the rice to cool it and produce a sheen. It's then ready for use immediately. It should be warmer than room temperature. Sriracha sauce (Huy Fong "Rooster" brand)., or sriracha mixed with mayonnaise to taste. Forever. (Or it seems that way.) As long as you don't contaminate it with fingers, dirty utensils, etc., it will keep for months and months in the refrigerator. That's about it. I have a bunch of convenient plastic molds for making nigiri and fancy shaped rice. I bought them in a Japanese-owned 99 cent store; the same type of things are available online at about 8X the price! But they're not really necessary. I'm not sure as I've never seen those! Maybe the sushi we get in Hawaii is less "Americanized." I would imagine they're made from drops of tempura batter that are deep-fried (or left over from making tempura). I never use crab sticks, so I don't know. Whatever is available in your area. Louis Kemp? Most of the ones sold in Hawaii are local brands. Try different brands of nori to find the ones you like and are easiest to handle. Even here the same brands are not always available on a day-to-day basis, so I often switch brands. I don't remember names, anyway; I recognize the packages! The half-sheets are easier to work with than the full sheets. Also, if you get "toasted" nori, you don't need to toast it over an open flame before using it. Have fun!