monkeymay

You're welcome. I hope they have what you need - they also carry an extensive line of pig too - all parts. A little different from Whole Foods, which tends to ignore the more 'obvious' parts of the animal in favor of the higher end, pricier cut loin and chops. Be sure to check out Jon's selection of packaged spices and grains - you can pick up zatar, sumac, fennel seeds, wheat berries, etc. inexpensively as well. Good hunting!

Don't know where one is in WLA, but Jon's markets carry a lot of lamb product. One of the ones I shop at (La Brea and Fountain) has a large Russian/Armenian/Latin community, so they tend to carry everything from shanks to whole legs, shoulder chops, tongues, neck bones and testicles. Occasionally I've purchased a sheep's head there. It might be worth a visit if you're cruising that side of town. Also check out their selection of olives, feta cheeses and cured meats, along with their produce. They usually carry great eggplant, persian cucumbers, peppers and copious amounts of fresh mint and dill for really reasonable prices. You may have to beat your way around the store agaist a tide of babushka clad old ladies, but it's well worth it.

Yea Russ, excellent suggestions! A number of my favorite places are on your list. If I can include two more... DAIKOKUYA 327 E. First St. LA 90012 323-626-1680 Recent fav over Mr. Ramen, I am currently addicted to their very intense pork flavored broth. The vibe is Tokyo hipster from the staff to the clientele. ( Think Lost in Translation.) You can get a bowl of ramen with a side dish of fish and rice that's a great deal. Highly recommended. KOKEKOKKO 203 S. CENTRAL AVE. LA 90012 213-687-0690 Yakitori restaurant just south of the corner of 2nd and Central. All chicken all the time - when you walk in they will always ask if you know this is yakitori, not sushi bar. You have a minimum order of 5 skewers - be sure to try the grilled chicken livers, or quail eggs. You can also get a nice bowl of chasuke (broith with rice that's absolutley delicious). Order it with a cold beer, or better yet a Japanese Arnie Palmer - green tea mixed with lemon soujou. Watch the chefs sweat with grace over the open grill and buy them a beer. It's a very cool scene. Edited to add: When you're through with dinner or just looking for drinks, swing by my husband's new bar The Golden Gopher. Great drinks, beautiful room (if I'm allowed to say so myself ) and a rocking jukebox. Doors open at 4 pm, and there's even a liquor store (designed by yours truly) inside in case you need a bottle to go. Golden Gopher Bar 417 W. Eighth St. LA 90012 231-614-8001 Golden Gopher Bar Enjoy your stay!

It's funny you say that about pot. A few years back I was a private chef to a very well known actor who smoked pot constantly. He used to hang out in the kitchen and get high while I cooked, always offering me a hit of this intense, mind blowing dope. Now, I am not a big pot smoker - everything else I can do till the cows come home, but pot makes me nuts. And I used to jokingly say to him all the time - "I would love to be able to get high with you. But I can't - because then I don't know if the food tastes good because it tastes good, or it's just that I'm stoned." And even though he usually was high when he ate, (and liked his food hot and spicy), it was important for me to know that it tasted right in the first place. The one time I did smoke his dope (at home, by myself) it rendered me so completely catatonic I couldn't move, much less get up and navigate knives and pans and fire. I know that's why God invented take-out, and actors with lots of money hire their own chefs.

I think Ecstasy along with a couple of hits of Viagra replaced the dear old acid test these days, I'm afraid to tell ya... although I have a certain nostalgia for old school. Hence I would do it Stones style, a la Marianne Faithfull - a bottle of Jack and a Mars Bar

I just heard the news driving in my car and burst into tears. I feel like my grandmother died. Thank you Julia, for teaching me so much. Dinner will be good tonite in heaven.

There all ALL SORTS of superstitions regarding women baking and cooking during their periods. Everything done during "this time of the month" is supposed to go HORRIBLY wrong. Bread will not rise. Don't even try it!! And if you like shark....jump in the ocean!! You'll attract, and catch a tasty one during your menses!!

"Enjoy Life, Eat Out More Often" and my personal fav: "Let's Eat and Be Forever Happy" ( courtesy of the Madonna Inn)

This is how it works for me... I know that gin makes me mean and tequila turns me into Kali, the multi-armed , sword wielding goddess of destruction. But I can drink whiskey till the cows come home and I'm fine. This conclusion has come from years of hard learning along with some sage advice from my acupuncturist. When I first went to see him, he ran a number of tests determining my system's strengths and weakness, and I had to confess all the bad things I do to my body. He concluded I have a lot of heat and energy, so that when I drink gin, vodka and tequila, for me it was like throwing '"gasoline on the fire". He told me the reason I was able to handle bourbon and whiskey was because of the cooling effect it had on my system. He also told me to stay away from the cocaine, but if I must do these things then I was better off with the vicodin. Mind you, he wasn't encouraging my misbehavior, but as the pragmatic Indian man that he is, thought he would give me very sensible advice on how my body reacts to different stimuli and the best way to approach it. Interestingly, as I've grown older and he continues to balance my system, I can now drink tequila and vodka without causing too much bodily injury and embarrassment to my friends. Thank god for alternative medicine!

I never had a problem with people bringing in cakes, so long as we knew about it and they knew they would be charged a cutting fee (similar to what Steve Klc suggested above as to a corkage fee for outside wine). What I resented was people's attempts to get the fee waived - one party brought in their own paper plates and plastic forks! Another insisted I just give them a big knife and they would do it themselves... people are fucking clueless... btw I live in L.A., not that it's any excuse, just it's own messed up mindset..

Also from Annie Hall, and used constantly in our household: " How am I a paranoid-? Well, I pick up on those kind o' things. You know, I was having lunch with some guys from NBC, so I said ... uh, "Did you eat yet or what?" and Tom Christie said, "No, didchoo?" Not, did you, didchoo eat? Jew? No, not did you eat, but Jew eat? Jew. You get it? Jew eat?" And I thought I'd add one more... J.J. Hunseker to Sidney Falco in "Sweet Smell of Success" - "I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie filled with arsenic."

And then the other great lines... Paul Cicero: You know anything about this fucking restaurant business? [Talking to Henry] Sonny Bunz: He knows everything about it. I mean he's in the joint 24 hours a day. I mean another fucking few minutes he could be a stool that's how often he's in there. "Dinner was always a very big thing. We had a pasta course and then a meat or a fish. Paulie did the prep work. He was doing a year for contempt and he had a system for doing the garlic. He used a razor and he sliced it so thin it used to liquify in the oil. Vinnie was in charge of the tomato sauce. I felt he put in too many onions, but it was a good sauce anyway." Henry, Jimmy and Tommy are digging with shovels to find Batts' corpse. Henry is sickened by the stench, but the others don't appear to be bothered] Tommy DeVito: Hey Henry, Henry, hurry up will you? My mother's gonna make some fried peppers and sausage for us. Oh hey, Henry, Henry. Here's an arm. Henry Hill: Very funny, guys. Tommy DeVito: Hey, here's a leg. Here's a wing. [He laughs] Hey, what do you like, the leg or the wing, Henry? Or do you still go for the old hearts and lungs? [Henry vomits]

From one of my favorites... "I was cooking dinner that night. I had to start braising the beef, pork butt and veal shanks for the tomato sauce. It's Michael's favorite. I was making ziti with the meat gravy, and I'm planning to roast some peppers over the flames, and I was putting on some string beans with the olive oil and garlic, and I had some beautiful cutlets, cut just right, that I was going to fry up before dinner just as an appetizer. I was home for about an hour. My plan was to start dinner early, so Karen and I could unload the guns that Jimmy didn't want, and get the package for Judy to take to Atlanta later that night. I kept looking out the window and the helicopter was gone. I asked Michael to stir the sauce, and Karen and I started out. GOODFELLAS

Wrapping made out of hundred dollar bills please

I love eating at Teresa's whenever I'm in New York - it always feels like coming home. When my kids were babies, and you had to step over the broken needles and crack pipes in Tompkins Square to get to the swings, Teresa's was the favorite for pierogis and pancakes, which was perfect little kid food, and endless cups of black coffee for me. When Veselka opened my MIL always insisted on going there, and denigrated my fondness for Teresa's as some romantic shiksa notion of what Polish food should be - what did I know? I just liked the food, they were nice to my kids and the vibe was better. Haven't been there in quite some time - I'm glad to know it's still a solid neighborhood place. And I'm thinking I need some mushroom pierogis now!

mmm, I like the idea of a Pleasure Chest/Fetish shop for cooks... Ultimately, I know what you mean - I feel the same about couture and designer shoes with impossibly high heels - totally impractical, ridiculously overpriced, but the stuff makes me tingle with pleasure I'll stop in next time I'm Westside - maybe Hollywood would come and we could pretend to buy each other presents. I think Chef Shogun is referring to Le Sanctuaire's website - it doesn't show any items, just implies them.

From their web site: "PERENNIAL PRODUCTS We complement our sumptuous edible offerings with highest-end kitchenware sanctioned by professional chefs and restaurants, and acquired for their proven performance. Together with chef apparel and unique cookbooks, we ensure that every single one of our items may only be obtained through the most diligent pursuance, now conveniently available at your fingertips." So Foodzealot, how does this compare to Surfas, which bills itself as a "chef's paradise" but whose prices are rather reasonable, especially if you're in the business and you get the discount? What are the "items only obtained through the most diligent pursuance"? Foie gras? truffles? Note to Hollywood -my birthday's coming up- I'm soliciting for presents- so find out when that sale starts...

Yes, I believe Fred Eric is no longer involved in Air Stream, hence the name change. In regards to the Hillmont/Cobras change, Steven Arroyo owns both, along with Malo.

Remember - you can't be righteous or condemn other people for what they're doing just because you think YOU'RE doing the right thing. You can only do the best you can and hope others will follow by example. I learned that lesson at my kid's preschool when I was in charge of snacks. It's a hard lesson but a very useful one.

"May 26th. Four o'clock p.m. I took Betsy to Charles Coffee Shop on Columbus Circle. I had black coffee and apple pie with a slice of melted yellow cheese. I think that was a good selection. Betsy had coffee and a fruit salad dish. She could have had anything she wanted." Travis Bickle likes it.

Oooh, Trillium, then this is for you... I bought a lot of ceramics from them - they're based in Taormina and they ship! Sicilian ceramics ( I have the Rosso pattern and a couple of Turks heads) Enjoy! Monica mmm, how could I forget pistachios from Bronte - a must! These poor people are going to need trunks to bring back all this stuff

'Strattu (double concentrated tomato paste) and wild mountain fennel seeds from the Vucciria in Palermo. Definitely salted capers! Sea salt from Trapani. Frutta di Martorana (marzipan fruit) In Palermo, they should go I Peccatucci di Mamma Andrea to located at Via Principe di Scordia 67. It's a beautifully elegant shop shop filled with peccatucci ("little sins") -- amazing candies, sweets and a wide variety of cordials and liqueurs. Andrea and her staff are very gracious and helpful, and will ship anywhere (always good for not having to lug the stuff back through customs). I have a bottle of a bay leaf liqueur (alloro) from her shop that I guard jealously. Along with Malvasia, Idromele (honey wine) is another fanatastic item. I need to go back very soon!

It's late, a long day spent in the kitchen, and I'm speed reading thru this blog trying to catch up when I *see* Kitchen CATAMITE And I think "wow, THAT"S fabulous, what O'Brian book is that in?" I wish I were a gay man... It would definitely be my new tattoo

You're kidding. Really? Where???? Really the same, completely flat, with the angled edge? I haven't seen a new one like that in at least 10 years. Lots of things that came close, but no actual cigar. Well, maybe not with the same patina that yours has acquired, but certainly shape wise, pretty goddam close. I live in Los Angeles - Surfas restaurant supply in Culver City usually has a bain marie with one or two lurking about. The next time I go I'll look for one for you. They have an on-line catalog here but doesn't have a complete list of all their items. I don't see any exactly like yours listed, but like I said, I've seen them around. I'll keep an eye out.

Try stuffing cooked artichokes with a mixture of garlicy mashed potato, pesto and parmesan.... Put the mix in a piping bag, and spread a little in-between the leaves and then fill the center. Place artichoke with a little braising liquid in a roasting pan, cover with foil and roast in a hot oven till heated through. Top the artichoke with seasoned bread crumbs, a little more cheese and run under a broiler till nicely toasted. Pour a little of the braising liquid over and around, finish with the dish with some good olive oil. Stuffing stays on and leaves make good scoops too.