Schielke

I think I smell what he is cookin' Ben

Hey PacNWers, My girlfriend and I will be going down to the Oregon Coast later this summer for a vacation. We want to camp one night and stay at a hotel/B&B for two others in a nice seaside town on the northern half of the coast. Do any of these towns stand out to you? Do any of them have great food? Any other can't miss activities? Also, on our way back to Seattle, we are planning on stoppping in Portland for a nice dinner. Suggestions for this are appreciated as well. I will, however, go check out the many reviews of P-Town restaurants on the site. Thanks for the help! Ben

Dude, I am opening in the AOL building.

We need the scoop from the sponge!

At the ones I have been to, they will sing you a song if you give them a tip. This is a great way to embarrass other people you are with. Ben

Pay parking for everybody at St. Edwards. I went hiking there the other weekend. They do, however, have a pretty sweet playground you can take the little tykes to now. I am planning on taking my neice to it when she comes up. It is way cool. Ben

Yeah, the way some people talk it wold seem as if they are up to their neck in foam. I have yet to even see a foam on a menu here in Seattle. CWS is going to have a shit-fit in 20 years when foams are part of "the classics".

Ritz crackers have two uses in my book: Ritz, peanut butter, honey and Ritz, hard salami, parmesan I hear mock apple pies are good...

I have always pictured it is like a giant corn on the cob made of pork. I could be wrong though. Ben p.s. good question.

But how else do you know you are better than any other slob off the street forking out 100 bucks for dinner?

I have been meaning to hit La Spiga for a while now since I hear it is top drawer. This only makes me want to go more. Ben

Has anybody here ever been to The Ruins? I guess it is a private club, and is supposed to be great. Have you heard anything about it? Do you know any members? Check out This and This

Bobby Flay just exudes "prick" to me. On his cooking show he treats everybody else like an idiot and acts like a frat boy. The thing that did it for me though was his behavior on Iron Chef. He accused them of cheating when he lost and at the end of both episodes he acted like a fool and embarrased himself by standing on the cutting board or throwing it to the ground and then raising the roof. His food might ceartinly be good though and he might be a very nice person off air.

So far each product in the Partners Crackers line has been great. They are by far my favorite. Partners Web site As a kid I was a huge Vegetable Thin and Chicken in a Biscut fan.

Cool, DrinkBoy's Web site has a section on The key ingredient in the Flaming Orange Gully!

Let me say first off, my trip to Kansas City was fantastic. I had an amazing time. The family I stayed with were excelent hosts and displayed incredible hospitality. My friend's graduation was very nice and everybody was so proud of him, which was well deserved. I stayed for 5 days and went to about 6 parties. Between the parties and the bounty of food offered to me at my friend's home, I was stuffed the entire duration of my stay. I had a sheet of paper where I tried to write down everything I ate that week, but I seem to have misplaced it. The following is from memory. I hope to have some pictures soon, but I have to go scan them first. All of these items were homemade and vegetarian. Unfourtanetly I was not able to witness all of the cooking or get many notes on each dish. I might be able to request recipies, but they are mostly from the cook's memory and with indian terms for ingredients. Mutter Paneer- This was so good, it had a nice warming spicyness to it and everything good about an indian gravy type dish. The paneer as well was homemade and did not have the harsh vinegar taste that commercial paneer does. It was rich and milky. A favorite of mine. Dosas- The dosas were filled with a potato/onion mixture and served with sambal and a yoghurt based dipping sauce. I practiced making my own dosa and it turned out pretty good. I do have a long way to go before I reach expert status though. I think I ate about 5 dosas that night...I did not regret it one bit. Vegetable Medley- I dont remember the name of this so i am making one up. It was a mix of vegetables such as carrots, eggplants, potatoes and onion. Perhaps some more. They were stewed lightly with spices. Very good. Black eyed peas- The black eyed peas were of a smaller indian variety. They were soaked and then stewed with spices. Chapatis- Ate with most meals. They were used as the utinsels. Much thinner and more delicate than my own chapatis, but I am getting better. Poori- A group of about 10 women were involved in the process of making these (among other dishes), but I was fortunate to be able to watch the process. They divided the dough up in to golf ball (slightly smaller) balls and went to task rolling them out. They used small wooden rolling boards and little rolling sticks that had a taper in them. Each poori was perfectly round. The dough had a bit more oil and a bit less water than chapati dough. The rolled dough was then deep fried until the poori puffed. I really enjoyed eating pooris. Crispy Goodness- Again, I dont konw the name. This was a 'bread' that looked like a chapati, but it had the texture of a potato chip. Very crispy and flaky. We usualy ate them for breakfast. They were so good, I looked forward to them every morning. Aakash's Grandmother makes them and they are supposedly very labor intensive. Believe me, they are worth it and I appreciate her efforts immenseley. Breakfast Crunch- Deep fried shredded potatoes mixed with golden raisins and nuts. Very crispy, crunchy, slightly spicy, sweet, and salty. This was not a hot dish. It is made ahead of time and kept in a tin. Various mysore pak varieties- I think they had a different term for these, and I know the base flour changed in some of them. All of them were amazing though. One was topped with pistachiaos, one had coconut in it, and another was topped with a silver leaf foil. Baklava- One sheet pan type variety and one individually rolled variety. Some of the best baklava I have ever had. Even though this is not realy an indian dish, they did an amazing job with it. I can still taste it. Falafel- Another non-indian dish, but great nonetheless. They were topped with a yoghurt/red pepper sauce. Stuffed Okra- Raw okra was stuffed with a mixture of ginger, onions, and a multitude of spices. The okra was then baked in an oven. These were so addictive. I was always kind of neutral on okra, but these turned me around. Stuffed Potatoes- The same stuffing was done with potatoes. The potatoes were boiled lightly and then cut from one tip down 3/4 of the way twice in an X pattern. The stuffing is placed down in these cuts. After this, the potatoes were oven roasted. Raw Mango Chutney- This was a very interesting one and I am going to request the recipe. It is a mixture of raw (unripe) mango, chilis, and sugar. The mixture is cooked in the sun instead of on the stove. I was told that it tastes completely different if you do it on the stove. This was very delicious. Chai Tea- They made chai tea every morning for the adults. Aparently I was a very unique young person since I liked chai. My friend and his younger sister cannot stand the stuff and I even got a lecture from his sister about how chai is for old people who have creaky joints and stuff. I must be getting ancient, since I loved this stuff. They made it fresh each day from a Chai Masala. Amazing. Holy Food- All of the following food was considered holy food since it was offered during a Hindu prayer I was fortunate to attend at the home. All of the food had to be eaten and none could be thrown away. Cream of Wheat mixture- Cream of wheat cooked with coconut shavings, sugar,nuts, and perhaps some ghee. Nicely sweet, yet light. Fruit Salad- Oranges, grapes, mango, pear, cantelope, and bananna. Raw Coconut- Split open and removed from the shell. Coconut milk liquid- Coconut milk mixed with ghee and perhaps something else. Sipped out of the open hand. Cardamom water- Water infused with cardamom sipped out of the open hand.

I would liken it to drinking a cocktail that includes simple syrup and another kind of flavor. All I know is that the drink I had tasted nice and everybody enjoyed them. At the same time, it would be a waste to do that to a nice bottle of vodka.

Jin, you are making Nightscotsman cry. Last night I took some red curry paste diluted with a bit of water and smeared it on some tri-tip strips. After that I took the leftover curry mixture and mixed some natural peanut butter in with some sweet soy sauce and smeared it on some chicken breast strips. All of these went on the grill. They were a good snack last night and will make an even better lunch today. Ben

Braaaains!

How long until we get wasabi enhanced tuna cans?

I think it is full, but try calling to make sure.

I agree with the jolly rancher rec. Some friends of mine used to do Watermellon vodka with them and had great success. I recall them using the base Stoli for the experiment. I think a cherry infused vodka could make some bitchin' cocktails. Ben

That communial table dinner sounds awesome! I wish I could go, I have family in town on that day. : At least one of us should attend this event.

I know that Jeffery Steingarten gave a recipe for marinated flank steak in "It must have been something I ate". The recipe is used for his favorite tacos in the world. I don't have the book, but perhaps somebody else would PM you the recipe. Ben

We just need to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and chip in to make this stuff happen!