nightscotsman

By "this country" do you mean the US? If so, I've seen it in every supermarket here in Seattle that sells the white (which they pretty much all do).

I visited several bakeware shops when I was in Paris last year. My favorite was MORA at 13, Rue Montmartre in the 1st. Great selection and prices. You might also check out Partricia Wells' "Food Lover's Guide to Paris". She has an entire chapter on kitchen and tableware shops.

So Ben and I stopped off at Cafe Besalu before the Mistral Cooking class this morning to sample the croisants. I had a ham and cheese, a pain au chocolat and a plain croisant. I don't know if they were just having an off day or my expectations were too high, but I have to say I was not very impressed. The interior of both the pain au chocolat and the plain were heavy and doughy and the exterior was not as crisp/flaky as I would have liked. The pain did have a nice amount of melty chocolate in the center and the ham and cheese had good flavor, but the pastry, while not bad, was certianly not the best I've ever had. The plain was also surprisingly salty.

I love these Almonds! Someone brought them to my last two cocktail parties and I was lucky enough to have leftovers the next day. It's very hard to stop eating them once you start.

let me be the first to say: "I'm not lovin' it".

Haven't been assimilated by the Borg. Resistance is NOT futile.

I got my knife sharpened at Seattle Cutlery last week. Now I'm afraid of it.

I just got notice that the last buffet of the quarter at Seattle Central is TODAY, June 13th (oooh, it's Friday the 13th)! Since it is the end of the quarter it's the Grand Buffet with more choices than usual. Service starts at 11:15 and it costs $7.35 plus tax. The dining rooms will be open this summer starting Monday July 7th, but with a much changed schedule and offerings. On Mondays and Wednesdays they will have soup and "specialty sandwiches", and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they will offer an "international buffet".

I would agree. I think the majority of people will find the website to be more than acceptable. I might agree also, but since the site is blocking my browser from actually entering the site, I really couldn't say. This is sort of the equivalent of a diner finding the door locked at the restaurant because they arrived in a Mercedes rather than a Lexus.

Here are a couple threads that might answer your question: Thread 1 Thread 2

Add a spash of soda for me, please.

Yep, completely non-functional in Mozilla, too. Inexcusable for such an otherwise technically simple site. Of course I blame the developers for not testing in multiple browsers and platforms, but it reflects badly on Trotter's in general.

This is great and inspirational advice (and a philosophy I aspire to), but please remember that DWT is looking to get into the management side of food service and not cooking. Yes, I'm sure he wants to be involved and associated with the best chefs doing the best work, but I think professionalism, quality customer service, and solid business practices will be at least as important as what goes on the plate. A couple people mentioned the importance of going to school for management training. How important is choosing the right school? Which schools have the best reputation and network of contacts in the hospitality industry?

I've never had them in the US, but the cannele I had in Paris - from several well respected patisseries - were not crisp on the outside. They were very dark brown and beautifully formed, but the crust was more chewy than crunchy.

Welcome D! (psst: it's Neil) Spencer speaks truth, but you should usually take what he says with a grain of salt. He may be pretty, but he likes to talk trash.

I would say the cost of living (excluding housing) is about the same is both cities. True, Oregon has no sales tax, but Washington has no income tax, so that mostly evens out. Taking the bus in Seattle costs $1.25 during non-peak hours and $1.50 (I think) on-peak. Ferries to the islands and across the bay are getting kind of expensive for commuting with a car, but that's only if you end up living across the water. It is nice to be able hop on a ferry from downtown or West Seattle and take a mini-vacation for the day. I think I could get by OK on about $30,000 a year in Seattle (with benefits), but I would be much more comfortable making $40,000 or more. In my last job I made a little over $55,000 and was able to save more than enough for a down payment on my condo. It depends on how much you want to travel, eat out, and save for retirement, or if you have to have a really nice new car. Damn, I do miss Powell's though. But on-line book shopping mostly makes up for it. The public library system in Seattle is quite good. Construction is underway on a huge (and controversial) new main branch downtown, and it's very easy to reserve a book, video, or CD online and have it delivered to your local branch. And if the city library doesn't have what you want, you can get an inter-library loan from any of surounding cities and counties.

Yay! Works for me.

Ah-ha! tricky. Thanks for the tip.

Oh, wait - my one exception to the small town/no restaurant rant is Ashland Oregon south of Eugene. Not only is it a very liberal college town, but it's main claim to fame is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. A charming little town with some beautiful B&B's and several outstanding restaurants catering to the sophisticated theater crowd. If I had to live in a small town, Ashland would be near the top of the list.

I'd love to. When do you want to pick me up?

The big downside of living in any Washington city other than Seattle is the extreme lack of worthwhile restaurants. Unless you like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. True, there are some funky family-run places here and there that serve good food, but don't even think about Fine Dining outside the city. The same is doubly true for Portland and Oregon.

One thing I would like to mention - and get other Northwesterner's opinions on - is the "Seattle Nice" phenomenon. In my experience (warning: gross generalization), many people I met in Seattle tended to be very "nice" on the surface but not actually friendly, and it was much easier to meet people and make friends in Portland. From talking to others who have moved here I know I'm not the only one who's had this experience. Of course the great Seattle folks I've me throuch eGullet are the exception to this rule, but we're not really the norm, are we?

Does that mean that anything between the coast and the mountain range is trapped in gloom? Or are there pockets without it? (Would my eyeglasses always be fogged up/misted over if I move to Seattle or Portland?) Yes, both states feature lush, wet, rainforests on the ocean side of their coastal mountain ranges. But this means that rainfall is reduced in the areas inland from the mountians, becuase they fall in the "rain-shadow". People talk about all the rain in the Nortwest, but like schielke said - it doesn't rain buckets all winter here. more like intermittent drizzle for days or weeks broken up my some sun and blue sky. And summers can be gorgeous, but not sweltering and humid like NY. Depending on the neighborhood, view, parking and size, a one bedroom in Seattle will run you between $700 - $1200. I plan on renting out my 2 bedroom condo (with a pool and parking on Capitol Hill) for $1200-$1300 starting in the middle of October (after a condo repair project is completed) If you mean the Pike Place Market, yes it does count (and is great), but not terribly convenient if you don't live or work downtown. There are also smaller farmers markets in a few other neighborhoods in both cities during the summer. I think both cities are big on bicycling, though Seattle is very hilly (like San Francisco) making it more strenuous to get around. I also think both cities are good for walking, though mostly within discreet neighborhoods - you would probably want to bike or bus to an area and then walk around rather than walking from say Downtown Seattle to Freemont.

Great, another recipe I have to try. Just kidding . Thanks for the great article, Paula. The recipe sounds very good and I appreciate all the details. One question: is there a reason the milk must be heated to exactly 183 F? Would it ruin the recipe if I were just to bring the milk to a boil and let it cool for a few minutes before adding it to the rest of the ingredients as Nancy Silverton directs?

You're forgetting the Olympic Mountains between Seattle and the coast. Similar effect. I stand by my earlier statement, though I'm one of those people who don't mind the gray, so I may not notice it as much as others.