Kouign Aman

I dont get the In ' n ' Out Burger cult. The burgers are ok, the shakes are pretty good and the fries are dreadful. 'Course, I never tried ordering 'animal style'.

Wow, Vallejo had to wait til 03 for a Carls?! There was an old-looking one in San Diego that I first noticed in 1980. Vallejo is not overrun with dining options. There must have been a fair amount of traffic thru that branch when it first opened.

SD seems to be consistent, across the years, and the posters. Trattoria Acqua still considered good eats. Georges has slipped.

As noted with balsamic, I can totally understand a scam using young cheap vinegar and trying to pass it off as an aged product. I can also see how some nasty things could get introduced as part of the fakery. I just had this image of my gallon jug of white vinegar, which has to be the cheapest thing on the planet to produce, and couldnt see the benefit in faking it. Costs more to buy other souring agents. Ah me. Fake food. God bless the FDA.......

?Fake vinegar? Vinegar is cheap and easy to make - unless you are talking aged balsamic, what's to fake? Do the markets let you taste before you buy, so you can at least determine if the stuff meets your flavor requirements? Do you drink much domestic wine, or is it necessary and / or preferable to focus on the imports, due to your business? If memory serves, there were three domestic wine (grape) producers when I visited China, and one could buy red or white. As I recall, that was the sum of differentiation. No choice of varietal etc. I cant find my notes on what the wineries were named. I remember one drinkable red table wine, dont remember the rest too clearly after all this time (~ 8 years). The squid dinner looked wonderful.

Deja vu... mostly the same list you'd get now, from different posters. I think Bertram's at Mr A's is worth a visit. Good if not innovative food, unbeatable view. We really need to start tracking chefs out here. They move around a lot within the area.

Sinus, bingo! Dont be so quick to dismiss sense of smell as a driver of sense of taste. They are clearly separate but very tightly interrelated. Much of sense of smell goes on in the mouth, up the back entrance to the nose, rather than thru the front door. Thru many a cold & completely stuffed nose, I've retained much of my sense of taste. But a sinus infection took it completely away for a month. Nothing tasted of anything except sweet or salt, and then only if grossly overseasoned. Horrible time period. Some sinus problems run long term and are essentially asymptomatic, but apparently have this effect on taste. So, if your sense of taste doesnt come back soon, might want to get your sinuses checked. If there's no treatable infection, Neti pots are all the rage, and from what I am hearing from friends, for very good reason.

Oh mommy! Dat's purty. I liked being able to buy roast chestnuts hither thither and yon on my [winter] trip to China. I'm thinking they're not available in spring, except perhaps still in the vacuum packs. Wine & China - rock on! Name names and brands, please!

Thank you!

Pi Day, made pie - dented ground almond stash. Took a tart to an Easter party yesterday - using up the canned apricots and more of the jam (as glaze). Turned out very well indeed. Slowly slowly slowly. I'm still twitching to make that chicken dish! Was given a jar of lemon curd... a different kind of tart is in the offing, tho I think I will wait til July 4th. I love lemon desserts in summer.

Dunno. Used to enjoy a nice local northern italian place, but the coffee... gah! I think they made a pot when they came in at the start of the shift, and served it all night long. After two tries, I gave up. Grey burnt and nasty.

I love this place. Its next to an Albertson's, a Starbucks, and a cleaners, at Pomerado and Rancho Bernardo Rd, in RB. Big arched windows, a fireplace. Staff who've been there thru two remodels. The currently in-vogue odd shaped white plates etc. French in style if not necessarily classic french recipes. Last night was one more happy memory in the meal archives. Wild mushroom ravioli in a sauce to embarrass oneself for. Lobster bisque - very well done. Cauliflower bisque - very well done too. Still, head to head, lobster trumps cauliflower. venison for one of us, beef for the other. Rare to med rare. Tender. Delicious. Complemented by the sauces. I really should take pix of the menu. I cant remember the details (nice wine too). All sauces were worthy of mopping up.

I have wanted to put an espaliered fruit tree on our south fence since we moved in. I got trumped and there will be a nonedible going there instead. Trained trees are such a treat!

I've got two tomato plants in the ground now that made it thru the winter, and are starting to leaf out. I'll let 'em give it their best shot. We started seeds for currant (thanks Toliver and Toliver's mom!), Early Girl and some brown tomato this weekend. The seeds for the brown one came from a grocery store tomato purchased at the end of last year. :fingers crossed: Also seeds for yard long beans, sunflowers, and corn. The bellpeppers are starting to bush out again and look nice. We're also seeing a very healthy crop of "eating flowers" as the munchkin terms them (nasturtiums). Spent the morning mooning over the plant catalog... red and blue potatoes, purple beans, more tomatoes, chard and rhubarb....

I like to order things I dont see often - last night it was venison. Very happy to see it on the menu, and even happier while eating it. "Idaho Bambi", it was. Didnt get species info.

Amen sister! I'm looking forward to more of this blog, thank you much! You're the second person I've heard mention avocado as toxic to parrots. Do you know what the toxic component is? I knew chocolate was toxic to dogs, but hadnt heard that about parrots either. Live and learn. So far the only thing we dont allow ours is cheese which can ball up in their crop. Caffeine -hadnt heard it was toxic, but the thought of a wired parrot brings fear to my heart!

Friday was pi day (3.14). We celebrated by making and consuming a dutch apple pie.

Its time, and past, to start the garden. Yesterday we picked two red bell peppers that spent the entire mild winter very slowly ripening. This year, the challenge is to prepare a patch for corn and those big sunflowers, up the tomato crop, and find some red carrots to plant and some that look like these:carrots of my dreams It looks to be a weekend of digging and plant/seed acquisition.

Oh Rachel! UGH! Its Pi day today. I have frozen wheatgerm (I think I still have it.... never used it. Might have composted it) that shall finally get used, to make a crumb topping for a dutch apple pie. (If its not rancid when I taste it.)

djyee 100, that is absolutely gorgeous chicken! Right... who to invite to dinner and how soon can I get them here? Buying supplies is not falling off the wagon. Using up "gonna go stale" and "what was I thinking" stuff is a victory. Flour is a staple. Plus, stolen uses a lot of flour and there may be a few of us copying andiesenji soon. Or if you feel really guilty, go join the party on the 5 min bread thread. I've been inactive. But the weekend approacheth, perhaps I shall be inspired!

Chicken soup, doctored with tobasco and lemon juice. Sort of a spicy mock avgolimino (sp?). Chicken rice works best to my tastes, but when ya gotta cold, anything will work.

If this turns out as delicious as it sounds, would you please provide the recipe? I made a quart of preserved lemons some time ago and have not gotten 'round to using them. On another subject: ham ends - chop, put into quiche. make deviled ham spread

If I'm hosting a potluck or a barbecue, then bring away and we'll be happy to put your offerings out. If we've planned a menu with the appropriate wine, then thank you kindly for your gift. Really, you didnt have to bring anything. You are our guests. I'm sure we'll enjoy it greatly another time. We really want to end this meal with chocolate, and can hardly wait for our breakfast of toasted lemon poundcake tomorrow morning.

Thanks for blogging! I am amazed at how small Japanese kitchens are, with the variety of expected foods and tableware for each day. I'm impressed. Therese beat me to the suggestion of an above-sink drainrack - built a bit elevated so it doesnt eliminate sink use at same time, and designed to flip out of the way. I also wonder about getting a cutting board cut to fit snugly across the sink, increasing counterspace that way. Thanks again, in case I dont make it back in time at the end.

They are gorgeous! I just called someone over to see all the vibrant color on the plate: golden, orange, purple, green... We grow the purple spuds and are always looking for ways to serve them that showcase the color. Mashed potatoes go a lovely lilac, but if the lamps are yellow at all, it looks NASTY grey instead. Roasting them overrides the color. Potato salad and boiled new potatoes is fun, but this looks like even more fun.