KarenSherwood

As a long-away soon-to-be visitor, I'd LOVE to see an approximate definition of 'inexpensive' relative to this thread. I got to sneak out maybe once every month for a splurge dinner (over $50 per person) in 1984. How would that figure in today's NYC scene, at maybe $75 per person? (excluding wine & tip)

I'm intrigued, please tell me more about Jean Georges. I'm budgeting $30-40 per day for lunch. Luckily all of my other meals (except one dinner which we've already decided on) are paid for. And, a shopping question....if you could only visit one, would you go to Balducci's or Zabars?

LOL I live 'way down there!' Actually, 1/4 mile further down. I pass Dual every day and have never managed to try it. This part of the East Valley is a bit of genuine desert in terms of great food, but I'll toss out a few recommendations. Awesome breakfast: The Farmhouse 228 N Gilbert Rd Get the green chili omelet, it's incredible. Great service, cozy and friendly. Wonderful burger lunch: Joe's Farm Grill 3000 E Ray Rd (just west of Higley) Great burgers, delicious garlic fries, beautiful farm setting. The coffee shop is good, too. Terrific Italian dinner: Baci Italian Bistro (NW corner of Ray & Williams Field) The owners (a family) are from Calabria. This is the real deal. Great seafood dishes, excellent veal marsala, tasty pizza and heavenly tiramisu. The place doesn't look like much (we thought it was closed the first 3 months we lived up the street), but the food shines.

I hijacked another thread to find a quick/good dinner in Times Square, but that's not my only question. I'll be in NYC in 3 weeks, accompanying my daughter and her high school concert choir (who are singing at Carnegie Hall on 3/19!!!). While they're in rehearsal on Fri/Sat/Sun I'll have about 7 hours each day of free time. Now, I lived and worked in NYC 20+ years ago, so I at least know my way around and I have a few haunts I'd like to revisit. I plan to be in the Village and Soho one day, the Met Museum for one day, and, probably midtown on Sunday to do some shopping. Our whole group has dinner plans those days, but I'm on my own for lunch and would like to spoil myself at least a little. So, what's wonderful for lunch with a $30-40 daily budget? Not sure I'll get there, but is East 6th St in the east Village (between 1st & 2nd) still a row of Indian restaurants? I discovered Indian on that block in the 80s. Oh, preferences: sushi, northern Italian, Indian or Thai would be cool. And since I'm a Tony Bourdain fan, would either Les Halles be good for lunch? Thanks! It will be good to 'come home' for a week.

My apologies for hijacking, but I'm looking for a non-bar recommendation, for me and my teenage daughter. We need someplace that serves early (5:00) and reasonably quick because we only have an hour (my baby is singing at Carnegie Hall!) I was doing some surfing and noticed that there's Becco. I'm a Lidia Bastianich fan so I'm hoping this is even half as good as it sounds. Thoughts? Oh, we certainly wouldn't turn down reasonably priced sushi, either.

Woohoo! Thank you SO MUCH!

Cool, another old thread to play catch-up with! My long-time loves are Zagnut (erratically available) and Turkish Taffy (haven't seen that in years). My new love is Take 5...that caramel-pretzel-chocolate thing is perfect. A happy new-old find was Adams sour gum...I've seen it in cherry and green apple. When will they bring back orange? I miss Zotz. I know there are other fizzy-centered candies around but they're not sour enough.

I know these don't qualify as 'bars' but has anyone else had the coffee-flavored dark chocolate kisses? They're wonderful! I like pairing them with the orange-flavored ones. Oh, and the Dagoba Chai bar is delicious!!!

I'm starting my first serious raised-bed garden in my new home. Last year we got the beds in and I did some half-hearted gardening cuz we got started too late. Today is Jan 27. I have my seeds ordered, my beds cleared and turned, and we've had our hard freeze. I'm ready! Now to read back and take lots of notes. P.S. Dunno of anyone else is a fan, but I love Cook's Garden seeds and their catalog. So glad Shepherd's has been revived!

Our Phoenix affiliate isn't running it. In fact, their recent changes to the Sat afternoon Foodie lineup pretty much suck. For a little while Rick Bayless was back, but they've throttled him again. <sigh> I was going to post the current schedule but their begging (again) this weekend so everything's a wash. Thanks for the website link. At least I can press my nose to the glass.

I'm a cheater! One of my favorite kitchen appliances is my venerable Salton Egg Cooker. It does 8 HB eggs at a time or 4 poached eggs. Either version comes out perfect every time, no big pots of water (with or without vinegar), little mess, and fast, lovely-shaped poached eggs.

A recent (the last few years) disappearance which I'm mourning is Presidio in Tucson. I'd only been twice, and the industrial ambiance wasn't my favorite, but I thought the food was very good for a 'dress up & splurge' place (I went with friends for a birthday and a bead show business celebration). Anyone know if the chef landed elsewhere?

Just wanted to second El Corral! DH and I have eaten there several times thanks to a friend's recommendation, and we love it. I'm stupidly fond of the Silver Saddle, too...it's awfully touristy, but the steaks are terrific. Speaking of touristy, La Parilla Suiza isn't bad for Mexican, either. I have better favorites in Phoenix, though. (Blue Adobe Grill in Mesa or Richardson's in Phoenix are our two faves.)

While I do a lot of 'on the fly' cooking, I treasure my cookbook collection, too. Recently the whole 'collection' thing became an issue with my DH (heathen!) and we made a deal...if I don't use a cookbook for 6 months, it comes off the shelf (my one, single, meager shelf-allowance <sob>) and gets boxed up. Needless to say, I'm working very hard to prove him wrong AND use all of my collection more often. Along the way, I've discovered that I have a treasured few that I turn to more often than others. These are my core cookbooks and are officially untouchable (not that I'd leave them alone for 6 months, anyway). Amish Cooking - Ruth Good This is my cultural heritage foundation, all in one nifty book. My Mom gave me a copy several years ago, annotated with comments and adjustments. I love it! Soup & Bread - Crescent Dragonwagon First, what a cool author's name! Second, it's an enormous collection of excellent soups and a great resource for making a variety of stocks. The bread section is a little meager, but it's quite sufficient to go with the wonderful soups. (My favorite, the creamy garlic soup with tiny croutons. Good for what ails ya!) Vegetarian Epicure - Anna Thomas I'm a dedicated carnivore, but in an effort to eat more healthily, I went on a quest for a good veggie cookbook. I have quite a few, actually (love almost every Moosewood book f'rinstance) but the one I tend to grab the most is this gem. Printed proof that veggies alone can be tasty and indulgent. The Kitchen Garden Cookbook - Sylvia Thompson If you have a kitchen garden, you need this book! It's that simple. One more, part of a good/bad, thing: I love the Gourmet collection cookbook, but did the titles HAVE to be in yellow???? Bad choice, visually. I almost wish this could be broken up into smaller pieces, as well, cuz it's so darned unwieldy.

For those intrepid souls willing to trek to the western 'burbs, I highly recommend Civera's in Drexel Hill (at State Rd & Lansdowne). Their roast pork sandwich is wonderful, especially with smoked provolone. I got my happy fix last weekend. Yup, I'm good for another 6 months! Nifty Fifty's has a great chicken florentine sandwich, too. Mmmmmmm!

I just found this, late to the party as usual. (I'm still learning my way around here.) I agree on the Wensleydale! My favorite cheesemonger offers Wensleydale with cranberries or Wenslydale with apricots on a fairly regular basis. If that's too overtly sweet, one of my other favorite treats is a thin piece of Iberico or an aged sharp cheddar with a tiny spoonful of quince paste. Sweet and creamy-tangy all at the same time.

Oh that's easy! I'm obsessed with garlic. It ends up in almost everything I make (except cookies). I believe, with almost religious fervor, that there's NO main or side dish that wouldn't benefit from a little garlic. Basil and dill would be a close second, but garlic is the theme that holds my culinary symphony together.

I always browse the media reviews for something interesting, and was happy to find this item so close to home (from the 12/1 AZ reviews): Joe's Farm Grill...Michele makes the trek out to Gilbert and loves Joe Johnson's new offering Joe's Farm Grill. For those of you are familiar with Taylor's Automatic Refresher in Napa and SF then you will notice touches of Taylor's at the Farm Grill. It's not much of a trek for us...a mere 2-1/2 miles. I've been meaning to stop by since the neon signs on windmill footings went up a few months ago. Friday nights I'm shutting my son back & forth from downtown Gilbert and always notice that they're doing a brisk business. Tuesday, while running errands, I convinced DH that we should check it out. I'm so glad we did! We're long-time fans of Joe's Real BBQ in downtown Gilbert, so I knew it was going to be good. The restaurant itself is different and interesting. You order from the center, a covered outdoor portico, and get a beeper to summon you when everything is ready. There's a toasty dining room opposite, and plenty of outside tables when the weather is good. The have heaters installed over many tables, which would've been perfect had we not had a chilly breeze. Luckily there were plenty of tables inside. DH ordered the BBQ Blue Cheese Bacon Burger (B4) and I ordered the fontina and mushroom burger (after a LOT of dithering), and we ordered garlic fries to share. The burgers are some of the BEST I've ever had! I like mine medium, and it was perfect....well grilled on the outside with a generous bit of pink inside. The fontina was creamy and the mushrooms were excellent. DH kindly gave me a bite of his...the BBQ sauce was tangy-sweet and smoky, the onion ring nice and crunchy. His only complaint was that the pickles were sweet-ish instead of a sour dill. The garlic fries....OMG were they good! Garlic, cheese, herbs and olive oil, and amazingly not terribly messy, but definitely worth a finger licking or two. I want to go back and work my way through the menu. There are so many possibilities! Something that wasn't mentioned in Michelle's review was the cafe and bakery next door. I try not to use cliche's like 'charming' very often but that's the BEST word for this lovely, cozy place. The main room is open and airy and reminds me of a country garden or a Parisian cafe. There's a patio space overlooking the farm and a snug back room with leather chairs and plenty of table space for your treats. My daughter and I have a tradition of going to Starbucks on the one morning when she has a late school start because of finals. Yesterday was THE day, but instead of heading to Starbucks I took her to Joe's. Good move, mom! We got gingerbread latte's and then struggled to choose a goodie. We finally decided to compromise and ordered a peppermint & white chocolate scone and a cheddar chive scone, for each of us to share. The very attentive gal who took our orders split the scones and gave each of us a plate with half & half. The peppermint scone was light and crisp with nice melty chocolate spots and crunchy peppermint pieces. The cheddar scone was savory and just plain wonderful. I'll choose the cafe over Starbucks any day! One more place that's worth the drive, even if it's only 2-1/2 miles.

Thanks for the great suggestions. We hit the friendly skies tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a little food adventure after Christmas dinner. The tapas bar sounds intriguing, maybe DH and I will need to sneak out on our own. Thanks again and happy holidays!

Thanks for some wonderful suggestions!!!! I'm a cheesesteak purist, it's Pat's or nothing for me (brainwashed as a kid). But I have a mean craving for a good pork sandwich, so I think DiNic's will be the place for us!

I'm planning to meet up with friends in Philly next weekend and one is in a wheelchair. Does anyone have any suggestions for tasty places near the Reading Terminal market? (Or IN the market, if we can get in and around easily.) Thanks!

I'll always love cream cheese and lox (preferably on an onion bagel), but I'm also fond of an egg bagel with apricot preserves (cream cheese entirely optional).

Call it marketing if you must BUT I'm a happy girl! First, I grew up less than 10 miles from the Hershey factories, and grew up allergic to milk chocolate. BUT as a kid Semi-Dark was my salvation. The new bars are winners with me...they don't make me hive-out or throw up, and they're darned tasty. My personal True Love is the orange-flavored dark chocolate kisses, though. Mmmmmmmm! I'm a happy stockholder, too. Ya want a really good time, buy a share or two (it's relatively cheap right now) and hit the stockholder's meeting.....Freebies galore!

Just quickies here: pesto (my basil garden exploded), pasta (thank you KA attachment!), sausage, chorizo, tamales (you do NOT have to make 100 and it's still fun even if you only make 12), dinner rolls, and soup.

Harrisburg is my home turf. DH, kids and I are flying in on Christmas Eve and staying with my Mom until Jan 3. We have some plans when we head to Philly (kids going to their Dad's for most of a week) but I was thinking I'd like to treat my Mom to a special dinner out after Xmas. (Mainly as an apology cuz we usually arrive sooner so I can help with cooking, but it just wasn't in the cards...or my daughter's final schedule...this year). My Mom is rather conservative in her food tastes, very meat & potatoes and light on seasoning (she has some digestive issues) but likes interesting/pretty places. She likes the Country Oven, Coakley's and Tavern on the Hill, if that helps. Classic American, I guess. I haven't lived in Harrisburg for 20 years, so while I know basic geography, I also realized that a LOT has changed. Hopefully for the better.