Arianna

Dick's Restaurant Supply is on 1st avenue south of the Stadiums a little bit. . .they have tons of stuff, maybe they would have that.

Chicken Paprikash is super easy. I make this with the Quorn fake chicken tenders- they take absolutely no prep. You can make it with real chicken, too- i brown the fake chicken and fry the mushrooms at the same time- you could put the chicken in a few minutes earlier to brown it and then add the mushrooms. So here goes: About tbsp of butter in the pan with the mushrooms and fake chicken and a clove of garlic and half an onion, until the mushrooms cook and the garlic and onion are softened. In goes about a cup and a half of your favorite broth, chicken or veggie. Two teaspoons of good paprika, salt and pepper, and cover and simmer. Make some egg noodles, or if you are feeling fancy some spaetzle. When the liquid is about half reduced, add another half tbsp of butter to thicken it a bit, and then add the noodles or dumplings. Down home and delicious! I also like the simplest and most elegant of meals- bread and cheese and olives and other marinated and pickled vegetable. We call it meal from a jar. Arianna

I kind of like when things are weird colors. . . For instance, I had never even wanted to eat curry until I saw some yellow curry and it was very turmeric-y and bright. I still only really like yellow curry. And I like blue M&Ms. And I LOVE Cheetos, but I specifically don't even walk through that aisle in the supermarket so I won't be tempted to buy any of that crap and eat veggies instead.

I would most definately go to Japan, specifically rural Japan, and visit Bhuddist tea houses, tofu making shops, and farms. Age dashi tofu, here I come!

The pirogie place! Except no one in Bellingham knows that they are pierogies, everyone just calls it the Dumpling store! That place does rule.

the Safeway near me carries a Safeway select cereal that is kind of like Raisin Bran, but way better. They have coated the bran flakes with honey to make them crunchier and replaced the raisins with dried cranberries. They also add almonds. Even better, it's almost always on sale!

Those look amazing, Jason! I would love to see a recipe. I am a vegetarian as well, but I LOVE dumplings!!!!!

I think it's actually mid-level restaurants that suffer from menu-bloating. A tiny restaurant probably sells only a few things- think taqueria, pho shop, burger joint. A nicer restaurant has an abbreviated menu because of art and taste composition and the complexity of the dishes. It's more the middle sized places that want to have something to please absolutely everyone, like maybe a local steakhouse serving spaghetti and meatballs. Just another symptom of suburban sprawl, maybe?

If you live in Seattle, you definitely know about Little Saigon and Columbia City...but if you are a tourist, you sadly never get beyond Belltown, which has some fancy nice spots but is mostly mediocre-land. Little Saigon is an eastern area of the International District. Tourists make their way to the ID, but they rarely get past 7th Avenue, and east of there is where a lot of the good stuff is. Cheap, too! You could live off of $20 a week eating out every day. Columbia City is a new rising district with all sorts of yummy eateries and the best bread in town.

What about "East Indies"? Reflects the location, and the fact that the food isn't confined to one country, but a region. Or something like that, that has more of a ring, maybe.

I never get the water out of tofu the right way. I just towell it off, unless I am deep-frying it.

you can hold them for a little while in the water, but it's way easier to par-fry them first and hold them half cooked. Also, they will get shocked a little in the fridge, and you can serve them quicker and they will be crispier.

For the Spitfire- what I hear is that they are having trouble getting their building permit, and they are unsure of actually finishing it...as it is a marcus charles bar I wouldn't look forward to the food. . .

tonight I made a black bean, corn, and rice soup for dinner. It was easy, my only regret is that I didn't make enough for leftovers tomorrow!

here's an online cookbook posted by the chef of Lampreia in Seattle. The entire thing is about apples. I haven't made any of it, but it all looks good! http://www.tastingmenu.com/allaboutapples/default.htm Check it out!