Sue Flay

Oh that's good to hear--it's one of the places I'd been thinking about. Do you know if they take reservations?

Thanks tsquare, and good questions. Pre-baby we loved Zoe and Union. In September we had a a great meal at the Corson Building. In the past we've liked Pair and Stumbling Goat but are most recent meals at both weren't great.

I've got a two year old, so I've been out of the restaurant scene for almost 3 years. Are there great places that have opened in that time you'd recommend for a birthday dinner? This is for this coming Sunday, for three (my husband and me and a friend--the two year old's not invited).

The Zingermans new baby package is great, and comes with a really useful bib (strong velcro and unstainable): http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=G-BBY

I really like the Whole Foods angel food cake. It has a very distinct orange flavor, so you should try it before you buy 100 servings, but I think it's delicious. I get it at the Whole Foods at 65th and 12th NE.

Specifically: Any idea why subbing soy milk for real milk in Jiffy cornbread mix would prevent the cornbread from browning AND rising? I've made it in the past with skim milk and haven't had problems with browning, so I don't think it's a fat thing. Why would the soy curtail the rising? Generally: for dairy-free (not vegan, eggs are OK) baking, if soymilk doesn't work, what does? I'm off dairy because it gives my breastfeeding daughter rashes. I've got soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk in the house and have preferred the soy in my coffee. This no dairy business is no fun, but it will be easier if I can figure out how to make passable baked goods. Thanks!

I'm all for the simple preparations, but this is incredibly delicious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231591 I've done this with both orange and lemon and both are wonderful. I start with purchased, cooked crabs.

As a currently pregnant person, I have to respectfully disagree with Soupcon. It's very thoughtful of you to consider her diet. Mostly, I wouldn't serve rare meat, unpasturized cheeses, dressings or desserts with raw eggs, and seafood on the forbidden list (esp. tuna, swordfish, and anything raw). It's frustrating to be a dinner guest at the home of a wonderful cook, and to be served (and then have to avoid) foods you can't eat.

Haroset.

I made scones this morning from Ann T's recipe--using red and golden raspberries from our yard. I had to use 1% instead of the cream (not for diet reasons, just didn't have any cream) and they were wonderful. Thanks so much, Ann T!

I really like the Green Line cocktail at Zoe, which is pear-flavored (from Clear Creek pear brandy) and slightly pink, but not particularly sweet.

We went to Zoe tonight for the 25-for-25, and I thought it was wonderful. The ricotta gnudi were amazing--I've had gnudi that were crude hand shaped dumplings but these were tiny (probably 1 inch) spheres of ricotta that seemed to be surrounded by very soft pasta and served with fried sage leaves and pea sprouts. The lavendar panna cotta was lovely too.

My husband's having dinner with an visiting friend who's asked my husband to get a reservation somewhere that's quiet (he says he's going deaf) and where the food will come quickly (they're eating after the friend reads at a local bookstore, and the friend expects to be hungry and wanting wine). Past experience with this friend suggests the food should be quite good too. Any suggestions? They'll be in Pioneer Square and could take a cab to somewhere nearby, but they'll be heading out around 9:00 and don't want to end up in a closing restaurant. Friends have recommended Il Terrazo Carmine, Andaluca, Place Pigale, and Chez Shea. I've only been to Il Terrazo of those (we moved here in September) and don't remember it being particularly quiet. We tried out Zoe, one of our favorite places, last night, but it was pretty noisy. Thanks for any recommendations. [sorry for the awkward header--I'm a new poster]

We had a lousy meal there too, last Tuesday, and definitely won't go back (we've just moved to Seattle). We were there for a birthday party and the woman who organized it said the restaurant was very unhelpful--cancelling her original time because it claimed she hadn't confirmed, refusing to have a birthday cake available, calling her the night before the party, after she'd called everyone with the new time, and telling her she was scheduled for the original time, etc. etc. I did the Flying Fish $12.50 lunch the next day though and that was spectacular.

For Christmas dinner we're having venison pie (much to my young cousins', and perhaps my husband's, horror; there may be a pinch-hitter turkey). It's my mother's recipe and is basically a venison daube with a little gin for the juniper flavor and a tablespoon of red current jelly, prepared a few days ahead and then baked with pearl onions under a pate brisee crust.

Thanks fifi. The recipe's for the "Perfect Roast Turkey" on p. 200 of the November Martha Stewart Living. I think I'll stick with a simple 1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water recipe.

I know this is an old topic--please redirect me if there's something more recent. I'm completely new to brining. I've cooked four turkeys in as many years with very uneven results and hope brining will at least give me some consistency. The recipes here and elsewhere on egullet suggest that a standard brine is a cup of kosher salt to a gallon of water. There's a recipe in one of my magazines, however, that calls for 3 cups of coarse salt, and 5 cups of sugar (along with assorted vegetables and spices), to 10 cups of water. Is this crazy? The recipe also calls for brining the bird for 24 hours, where I'd planned to brine for about 12 hours. Any thoughts? A second question: some recipes call for air-drying the brined turkey for several hours before roasting. Does anyone have experience with this method?

We're moving to Seattle, so there will certainly be good food there.

We're moving away in the middle of September and have funds for one more snazzy meal in the Bay Area. Where should we go? We've been to Chez Panisse, Manka's, Quince, various other places--but we're looking for a last hurrah. What's the one place we shouldn't miss?

Is a hood (or downward ventilation) really necessary for a gas stove? We're about to move into a rental house that currently has an electric stove but has a gas furnace right below the stove. The owner's agreed to pay for the gas piping and installation and we'll pay for the stove which we'll take with us (or sell to him) when we leave. The problem is that the ventilation from the kitchen, in the form of a seemingly powerful 60s style fan that blows to the outside, is diagnonally across from where the stove would be. It's not a huge kitchen, about 14 by 11 I think, and the stove sits half way across one wall. Any thoughts? I don't want to (nor know that we'd be allowed to) chop up the walls of a rental to install more ventilation, but we'd love to have a new stove. Edited to add: there's also a door from the kitchen to the outside that we could always open if we're doing something heavy-duty.

Okay--we've revised the plan for the lamb. It's pretty rare, so we're going to slice it thin, sear the slices in a really hot pan, and serve them in pitas with tzatziki like shwarma. I just can't get into cold meat.

I've got half of a lamb roast (boneless leg, coated with mint-almond pesto) in the fridge and have the same question. I was planning to wrap it in foil and put in in a 350 oven for twenty minutes or so, but I'm interested to see if there are better ideas out there.

We cooked this exact dish yesterday--I'll post a picture if I can! My husband got a spatzle maker (a little square dish that goes back and forth on a track over a sort of grater) before we met, and I took it as a good sign for our relationship. I dream about my mom's baked macaroni and cheese with dry mustard in the sauce and lots of crunchy buttered crumbs on top. She also made a venison pie with red current jelly and pearl onions that was amazing.

There's a Wonka product called the Nerds Rope which is absolutely wonderful. Admittedly if you don't like Nerds it won't float your boat, but it's a long (1 ft+) strip of gummy candy coated with Nerds of many flavors and the crunch, chew and melange of artificial fruit flavors is really great.

We made this recipe for mojito sorbet yesterday and it was just incredible. We used about 1/4 cup of rum but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. My husband served it with a little extra (liquid) mojito around it, which gave it a little fizz. I've got some pictures and will add them once I figure out how to add images (this is my first post). It was a gorgeous pale green color. Thanks for the recipe, Erik!