SJ Shappee

I am a private chef - I cook almost three meals a day seven days a week for an elderly gent - do this in exchange for room and groceries... I do wish I had someone else to cook once in a while - I get too much enjoyment from it to give up the fun on a daily basis!

I love my Kyocera knife - it screams through loads of veggies - but I've had to send it back to the factory to re-grind the edge after it was dropped on the edge of the sink by one of my 'helpers' (I cried, no kidding!). I used to work for a high-end culinary store and loved to have the various sales reps come to visit - usually to sit through their demo and then you get some sort of 'thank you' gift - always a knife...this is how I got my initial Kyocera and my Global. T'was the hardest part about quitting that job! Sara

Have you considered Tadich Grill? It is such a San Francisco type place - I love to eat at the counter where you can watch the kitchen staff fly around and the waiters and bar keepers as well.. I love the sand dabs and they also fix a killer lobster bisque. They don't take reservatons, however - one drawback. I like Yank Sing and I've eaten at Zuni many times, but not in the past three years or so (since I moved from the area). I always try to get over to the little restaurants i the Belden Place alley - Cafe Bastille is an always favorite but I also like the mussles at Plouf, too. Have a great trip! Sara

Maybe they're using the infamous Manitoba Hog Barn Lobsters here. Yummy. ← LOBSTER ROLLS! Gawd - I'm moving!! We have the Hebrew Nationals here in the Monterey, CA store, the polish dogs and the churros, too. The dogs are in the soggy bun (we call them 'soft' because that sounds sooo much better....) but we rarely get any of these items because we are total slaves to the Costo Roasted Chicken which, I'm convinced, is brined with some hugely addictive additive. Thank goodness they are packed in a little case, and just to messy to open in the car, or we'd never, ever get home with a whole bird. Juciest thing I've ever tasted and the sole inspiration to every item I've ever brined.... My companion (I'm in a home-share program and live with a 92-year old) gets in the motorized cart and enjoys a lot of the samples...it's better than a cafeteria for him...he loves them all and we never buy a single item...I've thought about going to work for the sample folks - they pay $15 per hour for you if you own your own electric fry pay...to think "I spent 40k at cooking school to be a sample chef at Costo..."

Oh, the memories this brought back! We had a family style dinner every evening and those roasts my mother cooked have to be among my most treasured memories. She would stuff a pork roast with cloves of garlic, coat the exterior with coarse ground black pepper and salt...the outside was crispy and the inside sooo tender. Served with the pan-roasted potatoes that had soaked up the juices....I'm drooling just remembering the contrast of flavors and tastes. And yes, applesauce - usually with horseradish or garlic in it just for good measure. She passed on a Friday of Memorial day weekend in 1984 - and I still miss her and her cooking. Strange note, by the way - she died after spending the night in my little brother's brand new apartment (she and my father were planning to leave Boston for Northern California the next afternoon). First night in the apartment and she dies. But she had cooked and stocked his fridge and as we all arrived to attend to the funeral details, we still had her cooking (as well as a fresh-brewed pot of tea on the counter) to sustain us - how strange is that? I think I may just have to stop by the butcher's and have a look at a pork roast tonite for Sunday's dinner....Thank you for a wonderful piece!

I've never tried making ice cream with a sugar substitute, but I know that I'd probably prefer a homemade sugar free ice cream to a store bought one, what with the control over the ingredients and the lack of additional preservatives, etc. But then I am someone who struggles with weight and portion control (if one's good, ten's better!)--for ice cream there is not 2-3 tablespoons, only cups or none at all. ←

Would you make a custard based ice cream? I think the alcohol based stevia would cook off and the consistancy would be better. I don't know about the glycerine based product - I am tempted to think it would assist with the consistancy and freezing. Do you have a copy of Harold Magee's book ON FOOD AND COOKING ? I think he talks about the chemistry of icecream and troubleshooting....my copy is at home but, alas, I'm here at the office without it... Sara

I have a product that I use to make Compari wine-coolers - it's Stevia and I buy it in the helath food stores. It is sold as a suppliment and not as a food product. It comes in an alcohol base and in a glycerine base.. The alcohol based product works best in my drinks. It has no caloric content and no carbs. I have been tempted to experiment with a custard based ice cream, but have not. I like it's flavor - but it does have a slight flavor which I'm hard-pressed to describe. I use a vanilla bean paste (bourbon based) and thought it might work well with this in vanilla ice cream. Sara in Carmel, CA

Isn't it a toaster? Lay the slices of bread against the holes, put the thingy over a heat source and flip the slices of bread over when it's done on one side....I think we had one of these years ago when I went camping...

The 'low cost' items add up to $100 in no time ! (Worth it.......) Just got some Lemon Balsamic vinegar and some Stilton w/ ginger and mango (for $4 less a lb than my local cheese shop), herb salad mix (so easy) and the yummy Mediterranean Greek Yogurt (Cheese style) to have with fruit.......and the crunchy little Savory Rounds....... ← I love TJ's - and have been to the stores in Concord, Ca, SF, Sacto, and now here in Pacific Grove, Ca. We are getting a new TJ's in downtown Monterey - they are replacing a Safeway that refused to upgrade their store. I love the products - especially the fresh whole wheat pizza dough, the wide varieties of cheese and wines, frozen foods - like the slender green beans and the 'chokes. While I live only a few miles from Castroville, artichoke center of the universe, they aren't always in season - and the frozen TJ's are there for me anytime I need them. And the frozen blueberrys are GREAT! Half the fun of shopping at TJ's involves interacting with the other customers....I'll find new different products that other shoppers are crazy about - and, sure I do end up actually buying some of these items even tho I don't really need them and didn't come in just to buy them. I sometimes find IQF slipper lobster in the shell - which is great to quick thaw and add to other dishes, or just steam and add to pasta. I love their diary products - milk and cream are always significantly less expensive than other brands. We get fresh meats here and I don't think I could live too far from a TJ's and still enjoy grocery shopping. We don't have something special like Eli's or Zabars here - and I love to visit them when I'm in NYC - but we do have TJ's.

I have problems with peppers, too...and raw onions. I love peppers, but my tummy just doesn't like them. Need to inflate a zeplin? Feed me stuffed bell peppers! Very uncomfortable! But...I love peppers. I pick them out of salads, and if I do cook a sauce with them, I have to pull them out after a spell simmering...to get some of the flavor without the agony. For onions, I've discovered that if I rinse them under cold water (chopped or sliced) for about 10 minutes, I can tolerate them better. Don't ask about the incident with the French onion soup...

Sometimes it is more of a texture thing rather than a taste issue. I never liked asparagus as a child - but then we only had that awful stuff out of a can. The flavor was ok, but I couldn't stand the texture. I won't re-try canned asparagus - ever! The first time I had crisp-cooked asparagus - I was hooked - and will have fresh asparagus in just about anything now. As someone who cooks for others as a private chef, I find people do use the allergy bit when they really just don't care for something. I find that people who don't like or care for some food item get questioned (and needled) for their dis-like more than those who have a genuine allergy and cannot consume without serious health side-effects. I have one person I cook for who will only eat 'natural' sugars. So...isn't sugar a natural substance? He won't eat CANE sugar - only honey - because it's 'natural'. I asked him about beet sugar - and nope, he won't eat that either - not natural. To be honest, now when he says he is allergic, I ask questions about the physical reaction or health-related problem he experiences when he consumes said product - saying I want to be aware in case he suddenly experiences symptoms in front of me...he gets all tied up in his lies and isn't too imaginative in making up his reactions sometimes.

I have to admit, I got excited over the bacon taste tests - and even ordered two pounds of great bacon as a result....but a side by side of nibbs would be a GREAT idea! Are the Felchlin good for eating? I only use nibbs for cooking; they're just a little too bitter (don't know if that's the best description of how they taste, but it's close) for snacking...