Poffertjes

Oh.....dear......lord. I need to get back home to Iowa. I think the Checkboard Restaurant in Pleasantville is calling my name. That and their awesome onion rings.... OMG.

Milenesa Nepolitana from Argentina. A nice good piece of beef schnizle/milenesa/milenese/what have you with a thin slice of ham with melted swiss cheese on top. Of course, I could eat my weight in Milenesa in Argentina. Actually I think I have. Milenesa y papas fritas. Little bit of red wine from Mendoza, oh, it was the good life!

What makes a "Gaucho Scallop" ?

The Silver Spoon cookbook said to use All Purpose Unbleached Flour in the United States, as 00 Flour is so difficult to find. I've used the King Arthur AP Unbleached with spectacular results. Also, I use a pasta roller. Good luck with the rolling pin!

As an Iowa Girl Born and Raised, and a former political hack. If you want to see all the journalists and big money donors/vips in town head to 801. For campaign hacks, the Dem's usually start the evening at Centro, 43, or the Brewing Company right there (since they try to stay at Hotel Fort Des Moines), Court Avenue Brewing Company is popular as well. Towards the end of the night, they head up Ingersoll to a couple of bars there, topping off the night at Big Tomato. There's also a dive up in Sherman Hill were you can find them playing pool. Oh, the good ol'days of working campaigns. Eating in your car, drinking too much coffee and booze and working 20 hours a day. I found a lot of good places through out the state in the 6 years I worked politics in the state of Iowa. The Diner on the northside of the square in Marshalltown has the best Sour Cream and Raisin pie in the world. The day of the election I picked up a whole pie to bring back with me while I hid out and slept for the week after election day.

Nothing is worse than when planning a dinner party and everyone saying, they are fine, no allergies or aversions, and then when dinner is practically on the table, someone (or 5) coming into the kitchen with demands, requests, aversions, etc. No, they are not invited back.

For olive oil, the Washington Post did a blind taste test of various oils with chefs from around the city a couple years ago. The winner? Goya olive oil. It was also one of the cheapest one's they tasted. I'm sure they still have the article on the post site. I like its, its nice a fruity, good flavor for cooking, dressings and dipping. If you can't find it in the oil section, look in the hispanic food sections. Don't know why but sometimes it doesn't make the trip over to the rest of the condiments.

Saw that a while ago on Nigella's show, back when it was on the style network. Works great. Takes a bit, but your fingers will thank you.

And swallowed it? Wow. Never estimate grodiness of teenage boys.

I got a bunch of them in my CSA delivery last week. Still haven't done anything with them, but George, the friendly owner of August, a Grocery store, down the street my my house told me that I could make sauce out of them, a la apple sauce. Peel'em, core'em, cook them down and the run it through a mill.

I thought the story was going to go in a different direction.... My son opened the fridge door, grabbed a bottle of what he thought was apple juice and started glugging it down. At which point he spewed said oil all over the refrigerator, the floor, the cabinets, the windows, etc. Poor thing. I had used that oil to fry fish. Not that your story isn't funny Lior, but I was just expecting it to go in a different direction.

If you get a job as Schwa could you get me a reservation? I live around the corner and I've never been!

A slice of german chocolate cake I picked up from Whole Foods on my birthday. My husband and best friends were out of town, so I didn't have a very festive birthday. Didn't figure out until I got back to my office that it was a vegan german chocolate cake.... Nothing against vegans, but there are eggs in cake and butter in frosting that I like for a reason.

You've gotten a lot of press this past week, week and a half. How's business? Can a girl still get a seat at the bar on a weekday night?

In college years ago, I went to a BBQ place in Des Moines with a friend and her boyfriend. He was one of those manly types, who likes to proclaim his manliness to anyone who would listen. This bbq had several sauces, one of them super hot, that was quite famous. I think they had a shirt you could buy if you actually managed to eat something with the sauce on it. Anyways, manly-man proceeded to put a whole lot on his sandwich and sides, all the whole talking about how tough he is, how he loves spicy food, how he and his brothers and father love to eat jalepenos by the bushel full. So as he's shaking the sauce onto his sandwich, a bit flies on his face, after a couple seconds his eyes start watering and he rubs the sauce into his eyes. Commence screaming He goes into the bathroom to wash his face, evidently he didn't wash his hands and thought, what the hell, while I'm in here I'll go to the bathroom. I've never quite heard a man scream at such a high pitch. After a little while he comes out, tears in his eyes and says "its time to go" I think he had enough when I asked "do you want to take your food for later?" We were poor college students after all.

The movie "Thank You for Smoking" needs to add a couple new lobbyists... One for Trans Fat and another for HFCS. Between PHARMA and AgriIndustry Lobbying, they'll have the entire American public doped up on drugs and chemicals and family farmers out of business faster than you can say New York Trans Fat Ban.

So impressed with everyone's photos. I'm not much of a baker, never seem able to stay to a recipe exactly, to the annoyance of my husband. But since he's a stickler to a recipe, this technique is great for us. Yesterday we baked a raisin cinnimon loaf, which tasted fantastic, but wasn't the prettiest thing in the world. Fine by us, we scarfed it down and chalked it up to experience. Our oven spring has been on and off. Any advice would be great from the more experienced bakers out there. Now go bake some bread!

Trader Joe's carmels covered with dark chocolate with one hand, brie with crackers in the other.

I think my bread is stuck in my pan. Right now the pan is resting upside down on a cooling rack. Its stuck. 5qt enamel cast iron pot. 450 degrees took it out when it sustained 210 degrees. Its stuck. I've tried a spatula and a filet knife. Don't know what to do. Help! . . . . . Okay, so I got it out. They bottom is a little soggy. But its on the rack hanging out, sans pan. So oil next time?

I'm going home to my first batch tonight after work. Any word how a 20 hour rise affects it? I just couldn't stay up any later last night, and I have to work a little late tonight.

Remembering longingly my year in Argentina as a foreign exchange student and my host mom and I testing every brand of Dulce de Leche in the supermarket over that year, I recommend testing on thinly sliced baguette, toasted in the oven.

A bad uni. I tried to be brave. It haunted me for quite a few hours.

There was an article about Jerusalem Artichokes in this month's Saveur, don't remember if there was a soup recipe among all the others, but it may be a good start. Good luck!

The Washington Post Food Section did a blind testing a year or two ago with several chefs from the area. The winner was Goya. At trader joes there is a Kalamata olive oil that I really like, it has a nice flavor for dipping, salads, etc. But isn't too strong.

Just moved to Wicker Park as well. Thanks for all the suggestions. FYI- Hillary's Urban Eatery has closed. Sometime this past spring. Also, whats up with the Bongo Room, I've gotten recommendations to go there, but everytime I do, it sucks, but theres always a line. Bad taste in others or my own bad luck?