zoe b

fistfullaroux said-- don't think the issue applies to tasting what's on your husband's plate. The main thing is hogging a 4 top for two entrees only. I'm sure if they were ordering booze or desserts, it wouldn't be such a big deal. If you can feed them and hustle them out the door in 20 minutes, it sort of saves the night for that table. I know, i was kinda kidding--but i did just remember there's a restaurant on the Eastern Shore of MD--I think it's called Latitudes--we go there when we visit friends who live nearby. They do some really clever things. They offer half orders of dinner--I usually get that because i can't eat a whole portion, and since i'm away i can't get a doggy bag. They also have a really cheap nightly special--it's like $5.99--if you eat at the bar. Now this is an excellent restaurant with a wealthy clientele--and--the kicker is--and the reason this pricing works--I think they make it all up on the bar bills--the customers can really suck the booze up from what I've observed. Zoe

Great! I just had to go order this book on Amazon after reading your post! And I'm trying to downsize on cookbooks.... But it does sound good--she's a wonderful cookbook writer. And the fact that used copies are not much less than new shows that it's asought after book. Zoe

I like the move em out fast technique! Then you have the table for a walk in party. (Now I'm feeling guilty--on Fri night the hub gave me some of his Caesar salad on my bread plate--I hope no one spit on my entree!!!)

I agree about cream cheese--ick. now my local sushi place has a roll that sounds gross and is actually good--manhattan roll--apple, smoked salmon and tuna.

I didn't post about this in the Japan section because I wonder if it's really Japanese or more American Japanese-- but I was out for sushi last night with friends and we were discussing how you make this--my guess is that it's just mayo with some asian chili saice in it--anyone have a recipe for it? Zoe

hehehe--I just had a super score at Marshall's--two 7 oz boxes of Lazzaretti Amoretti--on clearance--for $3 each!!! That's way cheaper than Pepperidge Farm!!! I told myself i was buying them for that amoretti cake, but i just finished eating the first box and opened the second one...... and i agree about there being some not so good food items at these stores--but you can usually tell whether they are just packaged to look good or are actually good. I sell a lot of gift baskets at Christmas and buy all the special items at marshall's. Cali--those honey preserves look delish0--I'll have to look for them. Zoe

nizza said-- We all love the food at Viva Mexico. It seems the link in your message goes to Amazon.com. I didn't put that link in--it appeared on its own--is there something I should do to get rid of it? and let me know what you think when you go there--maybe we should have ordered one of the stir fries or curries--but there was no care put into the salads so I can't imagine anything else being good. And yeah, Viva Mexico is the greatest--makes me feel like I'm on vacation when we go there!

I don't think so, but maybe someone else knows whether or not there's a connection. Z

Hey, congrats, Larry--it should be a fun jaunt--it wouldn't be too hard to eat a lot of Middle Eastern food--unlike some of the other categories in the past. Look forward to your report. And Eric--read the report of the kick off party--it sounds as though your dogs were a big hit!

another food aspect of last week was AJ's pained response when Meadow told him he needed to move out and try living on his own-- "But I need Mom's food!"

Fusion has just opened--read an article (not a review) about it in the local rag and it sounded worth trying out--the owners are Indian, the chef from Nepal--and I thought it might be sophisticated food. It's very pretty--a big shady porch out front -- a wooden victorian that's been redone, and I think also has offices and condos. The inside is all dark wood and the walls were dark cinnamon with some subdued gold notes--we ate outside so I just peeked in the window. Nice black iron tables, orange cloth napkins, fancy silverware and rectangular white plates, wait staff in vests and bow ties--all signs that they are going for an upscale ambience. The first sign that this maybe wasn't to be was the huge Sysco truck that blocked the whole parking lot so that we had to find parking on the street. I said to myself that all restaurants need their basic staples and why not get them from Sysco? Right? The lunch menu is prix fixe--$12 for soup and entree. There must be more than 30 choices--all varieties of asian--chinese, thai,--there was even American chop suey which could be a retro fun thing--didn't order it so i don't know if it is. The soups were corn and hot and sour--I asked the waiter what was in the corn soup, he said, "It's corn soup". We both got this--it was not a good choice--the broth was the bright yellow of Campbell's chicken noodle, the soup was bland--a kind of egg drop soup--no interesting seasonings whatsoever. My local Chinese restaurant's egg drop soup is much better. I got smoked duck breast on greens, the hub got grilled tuna on greens. Both had about 1/2 tsp of dressing--we had to ask for more. The dressing was bland, again--I'm sure it was out of a bottle--maybe labelled gourmet something, but of no distinction whatsoever. The greens were the standard spring mix out of a bag--my salad had some grape tomatoes, a sliver of avocado and a fan of cucumber, the hub's had edamame instead of the avocado. There were no herbs, no garlic, no shallots, no ginger, no contrast of texture and flavor--nothing. My duck--all 4 slices of it -looked weird--like cold cuts, and it tasted like pastrami--I would guess it's something that comes sealed in plastic, ready to serve. The waiter asked my husband if he wanted his tuna medium rare and he said yes--we wondered later what they would have done in the kitchen if he asked for well done as the tuna also most likely came sealed in plastic, ready to plate--it had no flavor at all, and the texture was cottony. It sounds weird to complain about portion size after trashing the food, but I'm only 5'2", and not a huge eater, and i was not full after my meal--the hub was ready to go to the Mexican restaurant(Viva Mexico) he'd wanted to go to in the first place for lunch! A nice basket of rolls would have cheered us up .... so nothing French OR Asian happening here--and no translation of subtle Indian cuisine into a new arena--quelle dommage!! Zoe

hmmm...I've always done it as mentioned above--but why don't you try doing a stalk of it like asparagus--coat it with oil and bake it at 410 or so and see what happens--let us know if it works... Zoe

my friend Carolyn grew up on the Eastern Shore and makes the best soft shells of anyone--no flour--she just puts them in big saute pan with tons of butter and garlic, covers the pan, and cooks them til they are done-- she then deglazes the pan with white vermouth and serves them with lemon wedges--someday if i get tired of her method i'll try another way, but I think that's a long time in the future.

Lucyinaustin--I love your chocolate caramels--I've been wanting to try them--and lavender caramels as well. I'm such a novice I didn't even know that the "foot" wasn't a good thing--but really the only thing i dip is the occasional strawberry, and pretzel logs --where i encourage the foot as it means more chocolate in each bite!! Zoe

check this company out for strange fragrances http://www.demeterfragrance.com/ they don't have bacon, but do have mushroom, poison ivy, funeral home and many other oddities--I'm sure bacon will be a scent sometime not too far in the furure. Zoe

I just noticed Restaurant Depot --it was off of 287 I think--is it only open to people who have restaurants? That's what it looked like from what i saw online.

yeah, Kerry, that's what this fudge recipe was--you used sweetened condensed milk--I thought it was worth trying as I haven't much luck with regular fudge, but now i'll take Desiderio's advice and attend your fudge class!! And this is really an amzing Forum--I'm sure you all have been at forums where newbies are promply jumped on and made to feel small. Zoe

ok, I'm game--and i promise not to refer to my wormlike status again, gfron 1. The crunch is in Houston so i can just show the fudge--you can see that it's more like ganache in texture than fudge.

ohhh, duck fat in a dough--that would be fabulous!!!

I remember an article i read a few years ago that was about the little bars along 95 that had a tradition of serving Blue Crabs--the story was that due to the proximity of 95 it was easy for them to pick up crabs, or maybe have them delivered--I did save the article, but it must have gotten recycled at some point--does anyone know who wrote it--I think it was in a newspaper, but I'm not sure which one. Zoe

I realize that I'm only in kindergarten in terms of candy making compared to the beautiful things you all are showing, but I did make candy for the Mothers for Mother's Day. I made Butter Nut Crunch for my Mom--a standard that i can make in my sleep, and it was fine as usual, but my mother in law likes fudge, so I made her some--now my luck at fudge making is pretty non-existant, so i decided to try the Cook's Illustrated no fail fudge--well, it's easy enough, but I don't think it tastes like fudge--it doesn't have that slightly grainy texture that fudge should have--it's more like icing--she liked it and the hub likes it, but i'm not pleased. Has anyone else made this? and what did you think? Zoe

thanks, Glori--I can't decide whether to start a batch now or wait for your verdict--such fun--silly and useless Kool aid pickles!!

The hub adores these cherry sundaes--last year for his birthday I bought two pints of the cherry sauce from the manager of the local DQ--he charged me $5 a pint, which considering how expensive cherries are, I thought was reasonable. If you've never had the sundae--it's dark cherries in a syrup--the manager said DQ has their own cherries which come in a giant can, and they make up the sauce--I guess by combining with a syrup or making one. I've been trying to find a source for a giant can of cherries online--using the little cans from the supermarket would cost more than the $5--plus I think it's fun to replicate things sometimes--does anyone have any ideas on sources for canned cherries? Zoe

good point--I think the 50-50 was perfect in terms of taste/flakiness what %s do you like? I would guess that any less than 20% butter and you wouldn't get the butter flav. Z and i forgot to ask--leaf lard? I think that's the lard around the organs? I just get a tub of lard when i get my meat--don't know the specific make up of it--but it's lovely stuff--creamy and no odor at all.

I am dying to try this--I love weird food--but the recipe was unclear--you steep the pickles in just the Kool aid mixture--the brine is discarded, right? I'm wondering if there's enough sugar to keep this safe--or maybe the pickles are preserved enough from the brining--anyone thinking about this?