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That restaurant is owned by the same people who own Chiang Mai in Conshohocken, which is also a nice thai restaurant, although my experience at both places is that if you seriously want spicy, you need to be clear about it I also really like Tamarindo's in Blue Bell/Broad Axe - I don't think I've seen anyone mention that yet, only El Serape, and I think Tamarindo's is WAY BETTER than El Serape. Someone mentioned the Caspian Grille in Lafayette Hill. Ali makes kick-ass cucumber-yogurt dip, and his chicken couscous, when made with the pomegranate sauce, is to die for. -h.

Hello! I apologize for my lengthy absence - the nifty login thingy tells me I last posted in September 2005. Oops. I guess I got really really busy. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone (Katie?) could describe for me, in understandable terms, the L'Aire du Rossignol Cotes de Provence 2005 which is currently available in the PA State Stores. You probably do not remember that I was on a seemingly impossible mission last year to find some decent rose wines in the state stores.... there is a vastly increased selection this year! My husband and I were sent to the state store by my mother this past Sunday (Sunday! woo hoo!) to pick up some chardonnay for her and while we were there we picked up some of the Fireblock dry rose 2005 (Australian) that my husband likes, and this LAire du Rossignol, just to try. So we opened it the other day and my husband said "wow, that's a bad wine." He can't explain to me what he thinks is so terrible about it. Thoughts?

We schlepped the kids downtown Saturday night to go to capogiro for the first time. My son (4.5 yrs) was extremely disappointed that they did not have vanilla. I tried to tell him that the Fior di Latte was vanilla, but he said it did not taste like vanilla. My 2 yr old was happy as a clam with the chocolate. I tasted almost everything and eventually settled down to the grapefruit and campari and the - oh, I'm having one of those moments, I can not remember. Well, I remember tasting the champagne and mango and being underwhelmed - I love champagne, mango, and gelato, but apparently I do NOT love champagne mango gelato. Go figure. I also greatly enjoyed my tastes of cilantro and lime, mexican chocolate (which was called something else but I forget what it was called - chocolate flavored with chile peppers), and the rosemary, honey, and goat's milk - oh. my. gosh. The rosemary, honey, and goat's milk was a big surprise to me - I hadn't expected to enjoy it THAT much. My husband had a cappucino gelato and was underwhelmed. I tasted his and loved it. He just isn't so much a gelato fan, I think. Oh well. More for me!

You guys just HAVE to start talking about an ice cream place when I'm trying to lose those last ten pounds from the baby, huh? Thanks a LOT. /me grumbles off to the Fountain...

I'm disappointed to hear of this. I really like his restaurant; I tried to have a big birthday bash there (two years ago? three?) but we got snowed out by some monster blizzard - he called us personally to let us know he just couldn't open that day and sadly it was next to impossible to reschedule with all the out of town guests and so on :( And Holly, since an amah is a wet nurse (at least, that's one of the definitions) my question is: if the milk is not given directly "from the tap," is one still considered an amah? (hey, this sort of involves food...)

Big Sigh. I like Buddakan, but hardly ever get to go. The last time I went was some time last winter, before the baby was born so maybe in December or January, with (this is so embarrassing) the rest of the classroom moms from my son's preschool class. I'm sure we were the Table From Hell, 8 or 9 women blabbing about their kids. As usual, I enjoyed the food. We were seated at a decent table (I haven't had the "shoved to the side" experience there yet) and shared everything around and I wouldn't call anything "bad" although certainly not everything was necessarily "OMGTHEBEST!!!1!" either. I guess I've been there five or six times and never had a "bad" meal. I would certainly go back any time, if I could get over the mommy-guilt :) Fork I have only been to twice. One of the times I was there we were kept waiting a terribly long time before being seated, finally, much later than promised, but then the meal was great and the service was fine. The other time, the service itself sucked which is one of my HUGE restaurant peeves. I also love Tangerine. The first time I was there, they had some kind of MAJOR timing problem in the kitchen and our food was so delayed, well - for a while we thought maybe they were bringing it in from Morocco. To make it up to us, they gave us a huge platter of desserts, including some of everything. THAT was fabulous, and much appreciated. The next time I went there was for some kind of party of some kind, I don't remember exactly, it was a while ago, but I had two kids with me and *shudder* that was not my best restaurant experience. Not that the kids weren't well behaved, but the level of effort required to ensure that they were behaving, and eating, and not an embarrassment to me or anyone else, just kind of sucked the life out of the rest of the experience for me. Now I have to figure out where to go this Thursday, early (home for bedtime!), where I won't be out of place if I dress up a little bit (I have a new skirt!) and they won't hate me for bringing my 5 month old. Hmmm.

Someone asked how fenugreek is used by nursing moms. Speaking as a nursing mom and lay breastfeeding counselor, I can tell you that (in the USA) lots of moms take herbal supplements, such as Motherlove's "More Milk Plus" blend, which contains (among other things) 130 mg/capsule of "certified organic herb extract of fenugreek seed." There are a large number of similar galactagogue blends on the market, I just happened to mention this one because it is sitting next to my keyboard right now. This particular blend also contains blessed thistle, nettle leaf and fennel seed. Nursing moms also certainly use fenugreek in their cooking if they have the time or inclination to cook :) Fennel seed, too. Oatmeal is also a galactagogue, so if there is a nursing mom in your life, hey - make her some oatmeal cookies! :) I have heard that the Sumatran 'Torbangun' plant is used there as a soup for postpartum women, and published data prove that plant is also a galactagogue. I have no idea of that plant is available in the west, though.

Hi Katie, I was hoping you'd reply to me :) Thank you for your detailed list. I'm not sure I'd be a fan of the Big House Pink based on the description the winery gives for that vs the Vin Gris de Cigare (although then again, I haven't disliked any of Bonny Doon's wines yet!) but I could give it a try. You have me very much interested in your favorite, though. I think I'll ask my mom if she wants to split a case with me :) Now I have to go find that thread I saw before about how to do the special ordering thing (that's what SLO is, right?), and maybe send it to a different place than Conshy... thanks very much! And if you do find out where they have that by the glass, I'd be interested. -hillary

Hi. I couldn't decide if this belonged in Pennsylvania, or Wine, or if there was already someplace that discussed it (I am having a very hard time with the search function - I do not like this 40 second rule!), so I'm just jumping in here. My big issue in the summer is not being able to find any nice pink wines. I live near the Conshohocken LCB store on Ridge Pike - there is as far as I can tell NO ONE on staff there with half a clue (the one time I tried to order stuff, have it delivered there, and pick it up, it was a complete nightmare with the staff people having no clue what was going on, telling me it wasn't there, calling me back that it was there, not being able to find it... gaaaaah). But anyway, I liked the Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare that I tried last year, but haven't seen it anywhere... and I like to try other blush wines during the summer months, I just find that many of them go well with our casual summertime meals - but I decidedly am not a fan of Sutter Home White Zinfandel or the clones of it which I seem to see in the "pink section" of the state store. So, does anyone have any recommendations of something likely to be in stock at the Conshy store - or heck, I could go to Ardmore, I work in Ardmore, so it's not a stretch :) Thanks! -h.

Lee's on Butler Pike in Conshohocken (across the street from Wawa) is great. The Giant in Plymouth Meeting has a reasonably good produce section - at least, it's massively improved in the past few years. It's still a supermarket, of course. I sometimes find good stuff at the Flourtown farmer's market - hardly ever at the Chestnut Hill one, though. Where exactly in the suburbs ARE you, though? It's kind of a huge area :)

Tonight was leftovers so let me start with the previous night. Filet mignon done on the grill to a perfect medium rare. I'd rubbed it with a dry rub, some olive oil, and put it in a ziploc bag to hang out for a while with some rosemary clippings prior to the grilling. A veritable rainbow of bell peppers (green, red, yellow, and orange) tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh oregano and thyme, roasted until charred and delicious. grilled scallions brushed with olive oil, tossed with salt and pepper mixed green salad with herb vinaigrette lime popsicles limoncello/pomegranate cocktails That went over pretty well :) Then tonight, well - sliced filet mignon, sliced fresh bell pepper (we ate all the roasted ones!), and some leftover tomatillo sauce I made last week, wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla. We STILL have meat left over! (My husband is in the meat business; a supplier accidentally delivered them a case of filet mignon and told them to keep it. Okaaaaay!) -hillary

How did I not know the Trolley Car does breakfast? We occasionally have dinner there and yes, the kids do love the decor and the ice cream trolley car. As far as Country Club goes... I wonder if they would remember me there from when i was little? I'm told I haven't changed much. Heh. I haven't been there in FOREVER. Maybe we'll do a blast from the past weekend and check it out! Thanks.

The really sad thing is that as I read this, all I can think of is "oh no, fresh squeezed juice - am I going to have to bring cheesecloth, or will they also have some pulpless flavorless juice that my kids will be willing to drink?" It's funny. I remember seeing Paul Roller's kids in restaurants and thinking "My kids will be like THOSE kids. Those kids appreciate food." This was when I saw them ordering decaf espresso, and a burger with gorgonzola, among other things. But my kids won't eat ANYTHING. It's enough to make me crazy. :) /h.

(like I said, I'm reading back, catching up, and so on... ) As it happens, I have been to Manayunk twice in the past week or ten days. This is SO atypical for me, it's not even funny. My husband and I used to try new restaurants and hit old favorites all the time, but man, these kids, they suck the life out of me sometimes (not that i'd trade them in for anything!). But I can offer some commentary. So. First stop: Chabaa Thai. We'd heard good things from our neighbors about it, and decided in honor of our having selected a new au pair from Thailand (she says she cooks!), we'd give it a try. It was just us plus the baby - and she was sleeping when we got there. As we walked in, I was a little concerned that it might not be a good place for a baby - the downstairs had that silk-throw-pillow black-furniture cocktail-hour vibe. But they took us directly upstairs to a nicely outfitted dining area which was much more relaxed. There was some very nice photography hanging on the walls, as well as some really cool lighting. My husband immediately commented that it was sweltering in there, though - I had honestly not really noticed. The baby was still sleeping so she didn't seem to care either. We hadn't been sitting there for more than two or three minutes when the server came over and asked "uh, is it just me, or is it really hot in here?" Ok, ok, I conceded the point to my husband. It was hot in there. They turned up (or down?) the upstairs a/c immediately, while we perused the menu. The menu is online, so I won't go into detail about what's on it. We had the thai spring rolls (which to me were more like vietnamese summer rolls, not thai, but in any case I liked them very much, very fresh and light), the tom yum with shrimp "medium spicy" - which was, in fact, moderately spicy. Looking back, I'd have ordered it spicier, but I've been (ahem) burned in thai restaurants before - usually when they say "a little spicy," they mean "blistering your tongue." Not so Chabaa Thai. When they say medium, well, it's medium. I mean, I'm someone who will pick and eat jalapenos out of her garden, and cook with her home-grown habaneros, so I'm not anti-spicy by any stretch. In any case, the soup was very good, with a perfect amount of sour for me. Then for entrees we got the green curry with shrimp, and the pad thai with chicken. The pad thai is kind of our benchmark dish for thai restaurants - I've found that if they screw that up, it's not generally worth coming back. They didn't screw it up. It was very full-flavored, with a variety of herbal notes coming through. The green curry - let me back up. When I ordered it, the server asked me if I'd had green curry before. "Yes, I've had a whole rainbow of curries before," I replied. He told me he just wanted to make sure I understood you could NOT order the dish "not spicy," because the green is from the chiles. I said I understood and was more than happy with that, I wouldn't dream of trying to order it not spicy. When it came, it was in my opinion not really that spicy. Now I never SAID I wanted spicy in particular but I'd have thought it was obvious. It was about the same level of spicy to slightly less spicy than the soup. I had expected it to be spicier, by default. Oh well. He did offer to bring me some extra chile for it but at that point I wasn't interested. The flavor was very good, especially some kind of purple root vegetable cut with some kind of pinking-shear type blade which I could not identify. We didn't stay for dessert, despite the mango sticky rice making eyes at me from the menu. We headed to Ben and Jerry's instead ;). Oh, and I had a thai iced coffee too, before we left. The baby woke up and the three of us enjoyed our walk over to B&Js and a leisurely stroll back to the car (which we'd parked on the street!). But I promised you two restaurants. Friday night we hit an old favorite - Il Tartufo. We sat at an outside table so we could leave the (again sleeping) baby in the stroller without being in someone's way. I had never sat on a sidewalk in Manayunk before - I like it! We ordered - ooh, I think it was a valpolicella but don't hold me to it, and started scarfing down their matzah like it was going out of style. The food was very good as usual there. We split a special - asparagus salad, with some kind of cheese I don't remember, arugula, and a lovely vinaigrette, and we split an order of the vegetable risotto which I know is salty there, but I love salty, and it's not a very heavy creamy risotto which I wouldn't have been able to stomach on a balmy summer night, but more springy and light. Then I had a special - striped bass in a spicy white wine marinara sauce with a couple of shrimp and something else that I don't remember (which was very good! I'm not usually into striped bass so much, but I was in a fishy mood and thought I'd give it a whirl). My husband had his "usual" there - the name of which escapes me. It's some kind of chicken thing that they do which he loves. We finished the meal with the tiramisu, which the server couldn't classify as being either more cakelike or more puddinglike when I asked which it was :). After it arrived I decided it was definitely more cakelike, but I could understand the confusion because it was definitely a very WET tiramisu. I found it perfect but boy, I was sloshed by then :) The funny thing was that while we sat there, we saw some people who had been at the thai place come into the restaurant and sit down. Also, the guy who was our server at the thai place walked past us while we were sitting there, and smiled at us. So that was kind of funny. When we were done we walked over to the Manayunk Design Group gallery (either next door or one storefront over, I don't recall) and checked out the Joe Barker show. We ended up buying a watercolor of Rittenhouse Square to add to our "Philadelphia scenes" artwork collection :) So, you know, I know a lot of people think Manayunk is dead, but for a couple of married-with-kids, don't-get-back-to-the-city-much suburbanites, it's doing damn well lately. But that may be just me, I don't know. OK, I'll shut up now. I don't want to overwhelm those of you who aren't used to me yet. -h.

Isn't it considered uncivilized here, too? I mean, at the very least, I have always thought it was pretty rude! And, I know when I used to work at Pollo Rosso in Chestnut Hill, Jon Myerow would have had a stroke if a server put the check down before the customer wanted it! :)