lemniscate

I remember making my Dad's 7 & 7's Christmas Eve at Grandma's house, basement bar, early 70's. Huge Polish family, lots of libations. After a while, the adults were a little too "happy" to make their refills, so the kids were called in. I remember (I think I was about 6 or 7) him showing me on the glass where to fill for Seagram's, how far to go with the 7up and how many ice cubes. But I never, ever in my life saw my Dad drunk. All the uncles, aunts, and cousins, yep, but not Dad. Of course I would taste the 7 & 7 before serving. Probably why I don't touch whiskey today. Now, vodka and tequila are another story............

I was in SLC for business in January. I was not having a great visit but the highlight of my trip was an accidental right turn into the parking lot of the Wild Grape Bistro. Just east of downtown on Temple. Very comfortably hip place with what I thought was great food. I unfortunately was not in a foodie mood that night and played it safe with a local sourced lamb burger on focaccia and their cauliflower bisque. Had a glass of a nice pinot. The menu looks very nice, changes daily I'm told. Highly recommended by me. I believe it's quite new to the SLC restaurant scene. The Wild Grape Bistro website

I have half a bottle of Damiana left and just tasted it to remind myself what it's like. I don't get any orange flavor, it's more of a light honey mixed with tequila flavor. I have been struggling to use it in drinks, but it's just kind of a sweet taste, nothing out of the ordinary. The bottle is great, Goddess shaped; but I didn't find the licor anything special, nor do I remember any "special" effects after drinking.

My husband and I tried this in the coffee this morning (I read the ideas in food blog yesterday, heh). We found it did not add an appreciable improvement in flavor, maybe added a little weird flavor to it. We won't be doing salt in coffee again. I'd be interested if someone did a blind taste test with this. I knew the salt had been added and that could have affected my expectations.

We always shot the big ones, but I really don't know how the sucklings were slaughtered. We never ate suckling pig, but sold them. Mostly Italian families bought them and took them away live. My Deputy Sheriff uncle always wanted to shoot the pigs. He was stationed at a Courthouse (60's and 70's) and pig killing season was the only time he ever got to draw his service revolver. We nicknamed him Barney Fife, which he really didn't care for. In fact, my father would hand him the ceremonial first bullet out of his shirt pocket.

My local Costco has been carrying these lately and they are very good. Kind of a crackery-chip consistency, nicely salted and a really good pistachio flavor. True North Pistachio Chips <click blue words for chip homepage>

I've had my Big Berkey for 4 years now and LOVE it. The Brita is just nothing compared to a Berkey. Phoenix tap water gets murky/smelly during the summer months (I think it's algae residue from the canals maybe that just doesn't get worked out by the municipal treatment). When I was in Tasmania, one museum there actually had a colonial sand-filter Berkey. I was excited to take a picture of it, my husband just rolled his eyes. He thinks I am unnaturally attached to the Berkey. But he does admit the water out of it is the best for coffee and tea. I don't understand California's ban on Berkeys either.

I have This Book and *someday* intend to put an earth oven in the backyard. It really doesn't look too hard to do, if you don't mind working with sand and clay. You can actually get quite sculptural with them.

I love Earl's at Frank Lloyd Wright and the 101. Very lounge-y, cool, hip but casual, and we had no issues with a group of 10 there. They have a very flexible seating arrangement in the dining area. Close to your resort too. Earl's Pima . In the same shopping area is a Four Peaks Brewery. Four Peaks Brewery. Love Kiltlifter!! Some of my Scottsdale relatives give high marks to the Skeptical Chymist. Skepical Chymist. I haven't been yet, but they seemed to really enjoy it. I have eaten several times at Fibber McGee's, the sister restaurant, and enjoy it very much. My mantra for those visiting Scottsdale is a night at Greasewood Flat. Greasewood Flat. Outdoor bar with great burgers. It's at an elevation that when the sun goes down, it gets nice and cool. I don't consider this place a tourist trap. Very relaxing and very Arizona. Thursday thru Sundays they usually have live music outside. Lots of room for large groups. Did I mention the great burgers? If you want good ethnic eats, Sabuddy's, an Israeli restaurant, is up on Shea and 70th St. They recently moved from Tempe to Scottsdale, which broke my heart, but the food and service has always been wonderful. Try the lentil soup! SABUDDY'S!!

Sure. The Marketside looks to be a few weeks from opening, so when it's ready I'll make the "sacrifice" and give my report. There's a new Fresh N Easy a couple miles away that looks like it may open nearly at the same time. Looks like the roller-derby of competing Specialty Markets openings will soon commence. Let's see who offers the best "get me in the door" incentives.

Here in Phoenix Metro we have the Fresh N Easy and Marketside going in old Osco Drugstores. I have not been in a Fresh N Easy, but have gotten lukewarm reviews from my friends who have. When I googled Fresh N Easy, it looks like they are not performing up to Tesco's expectations. I wonder if Marketside will be equally disappointing for WalMart. It seems Trader Joe's is the chief competition for them, but I think TJ shoppers are very loyal. I know I am a loyal TJ shopper so I probably won't entering a Marketside. I have a Marketside and a TJ's equidistant from me.

I was so disappointed in the SW episode also. I only got halfway thru it, lost interest. zzzzzz.

I'm trying to remember the popular food styles of the 80's. Didn't the whole "blackened" fish/chicken phenomena start then? Asian fusion? Did it begin that far back? I seem to recall sushi bars were the exotic new things that you had to travel to LA to experience. Maybe those braincells are long deceased though....................

When I visited Austin Tx and vicinity, there seemed to all kinds of German, Czech and Polish foods around. (oops, boy, this is an old thread, didn't notice the original poster date, 2004!!??. Welcome to Phx. belatedly.)

x2 on DeFalco's in Scottsdale for Italian deli meats and groceries. There's a couple small Indian markets in Tempe and Chandler. Don't forget the Super Mercado and Food City's for the Latino foods, but that is hardly a niche market in Phx Metro. I frequent LeeLee's a lot. Stanley's on McDowell is a proper Eastern European deli. Sausages, breads, lunchmeats, pierogis, cabbage rolls, etc. They have a few groceries and what I consider the best natural casing hotdogs in Az. (edited to add Stanley's)

I've bought the frozen marinated crayfish at my local Ikea and winged it myself on how to eat the bugs. Great fun and a wonderful mess. The brined crayfish are tasty, though we were woefully missing the aquavit. I think you have to be a little bit drunk to try your first crayfish.....

I *finally* got around to getting the jerky. Wow, very tasty, sweet, salty and a little spicy. I really like the sesame seeds on it. But very, very, sticky. Not something you can eat while driving nor posting on eGullet, lest you have keyboard and mouse cleaner handy. A wet papertowel is needed to enjoy this stuff. Trick, the cat, did not get to sample it but was very interested in the ingredients listed on the bag. This jerky was made in California. This is the original flavor, there is a bbQ and a curry flavor that I will be trying next.

I enjoyed the meal (STEAK!!) and atmosphere at The Butcher Shop. The Butcher Shop website. . It is located away from the tourist areas.

The Beef and Green Chile burritos are making me very happy. Good balance of meat to green chile. The chile is in strips, not diced.

I would recommend Killer Shrimp. I like the one in Marina del Rey, but there are other locations around the LA area.

I did a google for recipes before I posted. Many of the recipes out there just say use storebought "Archway" or others. Others just give a standard cookie recipe and say slap some ice cream in between and put in freezer. The brownie type recipes are on the right track, soft and pliable right from the freezer. I wonder if slightly undercooking the peanut butter chunk cookies would help keep them pliable in the freezer? Or increase the fat in the cookies to increase pliability? This seems to be a cookie science scenario. Good point about the ice cream keeping the cookies moist.

Trader Joe's had some awesome chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. The cookies are soft and toothy right out of the freezer and match the texture of the ice cream so there's no fighting to get a bite. I thought I could replicate them at home using peanut butter chunk cookies. I bought a bag of the Sutter's Gold peanut butter cookies and tossed them in the freezer in a plastic bag to check their texture when frozen. Hard, brittle, dry. Not a smooth bite. They were soft and fresh when purchased. How do they make the cookies on ice cream sandwiches not freeze altogether? Anyone have a recipe? I am looking for that smooth bite and no crumbling.

I have always loved my Jet Stream convection Oven. It roasts a chicken perfectly, juicy, with paper thin crispy skin. It bakes biscuits fast and they puff up more. This is a throwback to the late 80's. I love it so much I scope out ebay for units for replacement/backup parts. Stay away from the one with the digital controls, terrible quality machine. Go for the vintage analog control models.

Last night my husband and I had dinner and drinks at the Lounge at the TCA. Click for TCA homepage.. It's situated in the TCA with a glass wall facing west up Tempe Lake, overlooking the bridges and the new lakefront buildings. A negative edge pool is just outside the Lounge which blends visually with Tempe Lake. There is a floating fireplace in the glass wall which is a very cool design element. There are maybe 8-10 tables in the lounge plus a small bar. The view after dark was spectacular with the lights on the bridges and the buildings reflecting in the water. We went on Thursday because the art gallery in the TCA is open until 9pm and I wanted to show my husband a very nice Trompe l'oeil show that's currently installed. The food was very, very good and I thought the prices were very reasonable. Husband had the flat iron steak frites and I had the watermelon nicoise salad. His steak was done to his liking and tender and the frites were nice and crispy with a garlicy demiglace drizzled over them. The watermelon nicoise was a very pleasing sweet, tangy, salty taste. The salty olives with the sweet watermelon and feta cheese and fennel was just a very good combo I would have never thought of. But of course, like a total noob, I didn't take any pics of the food or the scenery even though I had my camera in my purse. The bartender and young chef were very friendly. The bartender made my G&T's just right. This place needs and deserves more recognition. If you are anywhere in the the area, stop by for a drink or a meal and just enjoy this place. It's quite a breathtaking building.

Holbrook? I assume you are going there for the Petrified Forest. Don't get your hopes up on food there. You are going to do LOTS of driving with that schedule. Tortilla Flats in about as far out of Phoenix as you can get and still be technically near the Valley. The 88 Apache Trail gets very twisty turny near Canyon Lake and can be scary for flatlanders not used to hairpin turns and sheer dropoffs. It's a very kitschy, goofy kind of place. They serve prickly pear ice cream, which is pretty good. I can recommend Carlsbad Tavern in Scottsdale instead of Richardson's for a "New Mexican" inspired meal that would be much closer to Sun Devil Stadium. I really, really like this restaurant. Recommending other restaurants kind of depends on what part of the Valley you may be staying in. I'm in the East Valley so that's what I know best. I *think* Cyclo is closed on Mondays. If I'm passing by it, I'll try to remember to check the hours. The BevMo at Tempe Marketplace is east of the airport just off the 202, not quite on the way to the Grand Canyon, but close enough to get what you want and get back going the right direction. There's construction on the I-17, so that will affect travel time going north.