MRE

I've got two racks of spareribs in the smoker. I prepped early this morning. Applied my homemade rub. They've gotten a good dose of smoke from apple and hickory chunks and are getting an occasional spritz of Jack Daniels and apple cider to keep them moist. They've been cooking about 4 hours now. Once the temp drops in the smoker I'll bring them in and let them finish in the oven where I'll slather on the Bourbon BBQ glaze. I made potato and egg salad this morning, and also coleslaw. There will be Bush's baked beans (rather than homemade) because my 15 year old expects them. I'll also make some cornbread, and serve it all with plenty of cold beer. I'm kicking myself for not having picked up some jalapeños at the market yesterday. I really like then stuffed with chevre, wrapped in bacon, and then smoked. Maybe I'll mess around with some nacho sliced mixed with cheese and put it bell pepper sections.

Mine have done double duty inverted as cookie sheets, and for baking flat breads. I also use them right side up on my cooktop to cover two burners when my family craves a White Castle style slider. I load in the very wet onions and can lay out a dozen sliders at a time. I put another sheet on top to trap in the steam. Works great.

There are several places in town to stay. The Garden Inn is just a few blocks from both Manressa, and a nice breakfast spot, The Southern Kitchen, across the street. The motel is nice, clean, and it's rates are reasonable for the area ($100-$150). You may even be able to get the Marilyn Monroe room. She and Joe honeymooned there. A friend of mine rents the room every year in order to see the Los Gatos Children's Christmas Parade and host a party for friends and family. The Toll House is another popular place to stay in town, visiting celebrities often stay there, but I don't know it as well. I think that you'd be fine with any of the places in town.

Carmel is really nice, but I think that you'd feel very time pressured to manage it all in one day. It's easily 2-1/2 hours from SF by freeway to Carmel, and even longer following the coast. You could drive down to Carmel by freeway, spend the day, drive up the coast to Santa Cruz, and from there follow another freeway directly into Los Gatos for dinner, and then more freeway back to SF. It would be a long day, but doable.

Manresa shouldn't be too much of an ordeal for public transit. From SF you could take the Cal Train to San Jose, and a cab to Los Gatos. Unless you're traveling alone though, it may be cheaper, and more entertaining (very scenic, and many nice wineries between SC and LG), to rent a car for the day. You could drive down the coast to Santa Cruz, loop up to Los Gatos for dinner, and drive more directly via the freeway to San Francisco in under an hour. LG is a nice town to visit, and I'm sure that you would enjoy your time checking out the shops. It's a great walking town. (I used to live there)

I've always made mine with water, but I may need to try milk to see what a difference it may make. I go with 2 cups AP flour, 2 eggs, 2/3 cup water, nutmeg, salt, and 1 tbsn melted butter. I often vary the flavor by soaking saffron threads in the recipe water, strain out the threads and toss them in the cooking water. I've also used paprika, cumin, carraway seeds, ground pepper, and curry powder. The saffron is definitely my favorite though. I have a feeling that I'm going to be trying bacon dust sometime very soon. I have one of those spaetlze makers. I couldn't stand the top part that you had to fill and them slide back and forth. It was a pain to use, so I threw away the top part and just push the batter through the perforated part and am much happier for it.

Capers are a staple in my house. I use them in all sorts of dishes; including sauces, pasta salads, tuna salad, compound cream cheese spreads, egg salad along with the more common lemon caper for for fish and piccatas. My favorite way to use them is in a quick pasta sauce made with canned tuna, onions, garlic, parsley, white pepper, mashed anchovies, capers, and dry white wine. I slightly caramelize the onions, garlic and tuna in olive oil, and then add in the other ingredients. Toss the sauce with angel hair and it's a done deal. No more than 15 minutes start to finish.

Hi everyone this my first post, although I've been reading eGullet for a couple of years now. I just finally took the time to completely fill out the membership application. Potstickers are one of my favorite subjects. I've made untold thousands of these things over the years and I just love creating new ones. Since you're asking for something Western here's a few ideas: 1. Fill them with a fish mouseline. You can either boil cook them in a fish stock or cook in the more usual fashion, but use olive oil instead of peanut. Any light red, basil cream, or lemon caper cream sauce would go nicely. You could also add chunks of shrimp, lobster, scallop, or crab meat to the filling for added texture and flavor. You could make a saffron flavored soup and serve them in that. (That was a hit last Christmas) 2. Use a filling similar that of dolmas (use some ground lamb or beef). Cook in chicken stock or pan cook as normal using olive oil. Serve warm rather than hot and toss with olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh herbs. 3. Beef taco (pico de gallo) filling with cheese. Serve pan-fried or even deep-fried. No need for a sauce. Serve with a nice Tex-Mex green salad and good salsa for dipping. 4. Philly style cheesesteak. Make a blend of cooked meat, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Add cheese to cooled blend and fill. Serve with ketchup and cherry peppers. 5. Italian meatball filling. Serve with your favorite red sauce. 6. How about shaved ham, cheese, & roasted red peppers. Serve with a good mustard and pickled red onions. You also substitute prociutto for the ham and serve them in an alfredo or light red sauce. 7. Any curried meat & veggies. Serve with a coconut curry cream sauce. 8. Corned beef and cabbage. Cook in a flavorful broth and serve as a soup. 9. Ricotta, ham, pepperoni, & mozzarella. Pan-fried or deep-fried. Serve with an italian red sauce. 10. Fill with a very stiff creamed spinach, mushroom duxelles, or creamed corn. Use a side or a vegetarian entree. 11. In keeping with the corned beef idea. Corned beef hash sounds pretty good. Pan-fry them and serve them with poached eggs and toast.