Babe Ruthless

I'm on the cold sunny Alberta prairies so the only thing I am doing in my garden right now is cleaning out the dead stuff and admiring the peonies poking up from the dry dirt. The blueberries, saskatoon and double flowering plum have tiny green buds on them. The only thing I'm eating from the garden is the 4 inch long chives... which is really when they are the best!

Funny you should mention it - I remember my uncle taking me to the Beacon Drive in for a soft cone when I was 12 years old. He was a cab driver in Victoria at the time and I had come out to visit him with my mom and grandmother. Now he is a restaurant manager in Victoria and I don't think they serve soft ice cream there!

I guess Mexican food is hardly unique but Las Margarita's on West 4th is one of my destination restaurants when I vist Vancouver 3-4x per year. The food is really really really good - that is, if you like Mexican.

Do you mean the Oak Bay Marina Restaurant? I'm just curious because I have had Sushi there and found it enjoyable, and plus, my uncle is the manager.

Arggghhh. Our Urban Fare closed a couple of months ago so it makes me sad when I think that Vancouver has both Urban Fare and Meinhardt's! Sorry, I don't have anything useful to contribute - I'm just on an "I Love Meinhardt's" kick.

I love Meinhardts but only get to go there on my visits to Vancouver. I am eternally fascinated by the ornate deserts and food presentation at Picnic. And I love the long picnic table in the middle of the very small restaurant.

I know its mean to say so but... any meal eaten at my mothers house is likely to be full of cat and/or dog hair. I guess I'm kind of anal about this stuff but I have a pretty strong gag reflex when I see a pet hair in my food. Remember that part in SupersizeMe when Morgan Spurlock finds the hair in his parfait? I almost lost my dinner. I get queezy just thinking about it. A kitchen counter that has been walked all over by cats and not cleaned is not a suitable food preparation surface! And then there is the time we went to my SIL's house for lunch and we were served Gazpacho (sp?). Which was a lovely thought but for the fact that we are BOTH intolerant to peppers and would have been ill had we eaten it. The hostess was very annoyed that we did not touch the soup and made a point of whining to the entire family about it. She would prefer we get sick all over the dining room?

MMMMMM. Tabasco pickles! I'll have to watch for those in the store. And now I have to rummage in the fridge to see if I have any pickles left in the back. I might have some Kalamata olives too...

A pickle just is - it doesn't need to have a reason to exist. Its crunchy and garlicky and pungent and sharp and tangy and just plain good. I find a pickle to be a suitable substitute for the fat laden potatoe chip - all the crunch and salt without the fat. You can't go wrong with a baby dill... or a bread and butter, gherkin or sweet bread and butter. I do love a pickle!

IMHO any grilled sandwhich (Rueben, cheese, etc) needs to come with a nice crisp pickle... But I also like to dip my sandwhich (which is why the beef dip is my favorite) so a side of soup is nice too. I think you need to ask your customers what they want. I ordered a lovely sandwhich at the Gourmet Shoppe in Columbia, SC on Wednesday and had a choice of differant sides - potatoe salad, cole slaw, fruit salad, etc and it was nice to choose what I wanted. I'm not suggesting that you offer all those choices at any one time, but try a few differant sides and ask your customers what they prefer! Too bad I've already started Souvlaki for dinner because this thread has got me craving a nice grilled cheese on hallah!

This is similar to my favorite (but not so heart healthy) sandwhich of liverwurst, Imperial cold pack cheddar, and hot mustard on rye bread. Doesn't seem all that weird to me, but it seems to gross some folks out. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! My mom puts salt on watermelon and mayo on french fries - to me these things are odd!