agalarneau

Looking for a table for 12 for a wedding dinner. Left it too late for comfort and hoping for suggestions to save the day. Problem is, it's July 29, the last Friday in July. Gay marriage season will probably just be starting. Mazel tov, one and all, but there will obviously be a lot of bookings and we were caught behind in our planning. We're looking for a classy place, excellent food with some kid accessibility, as 5 diners will be from 9-14. Excellent service, as this is a special dinner. To give you a sense of the kind of place I dreamed about: I tried Nougatine, but they don't take reservations for more than 8. From descriptions, I would probably like the food at Kefi but fear the room might be a bit rough around the edges for a wedding dinner. Is a table for 12 ridiculous? Never tried to make a reservation like this before, I'm not a NYC person. So. Suggestions? Call me dumb if you like, I'm already feeling it, just throw me an idea. (Extra points for places close to Central Park, where the (short, simple) wedding will happen.)

Near Albany, Jumpin Jacks in Scotia is a decent riverside drive-in for a burger and a shake. A Jackburger comes topped with coleslaw, and if you ask they'll grill in some barbecue sauce. They make a big deal about the rings but they're nothing special. (518) 393-6101 5 Schonowee Ave Scotia, NY 12302 If solid Greek diner sounds good, you want the Colonie Diner, in Colonie. (518) 456-1550 1890 Central Ave Albany, NY 12205

Oh my heart. (Thump.)

Should have refreshed. Thanks, mummer.

For sure I've had my eyes on Tony Luke's, but I think I'll be there Saturday night, in fact. I've also planned to do the South Philly cheesesteak taste-off. What would be your next choice? The reason I'm looking for something nearer the I-476 is that I gotta get out of town by 1 pm and I bet there's nothing better along the rest of my drive. I appreciate your help. Hungry already.

I'm going to be leaving a friend's house in Wilmington, Del. Sunday noonish and driving home, north on I-476. I hate that feeling late in a long drive that I need something to eat but have to resort to roadside plastic McGarbage. My travel route skirts Philadelphia, but there must be a good sandwich place or three in there close by (up to 10-15 minutes from the highway) that will come in handy up around Binghamton, where Friendly's starts looking good. I've read so much here about the Philly sandwich experience, not just cheesesteaks but other varieties. Please give me directions to your recommendation within 15 minutes of I-476 - or just a street address, I can Mapquest it easily enough. It'll be a Sunday, as I said, if that matters. Oh, and please recommend precisely what you'd get at the place. If this works, I'll be blogging it on Buffalo Buffet and here. Thanks so much for your help.

A dinner to remember: Starting from a Washington Post recipe for marinated swordfish stew, my wife came home with the biggest piece of fish I've ever been responsible for - a 3.5 pound slab of swordfish. Here it is under its blanket of fresh basil, crushed garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil, bay leaves and fresh rosemary: How'd it turn out? Let's just say my brother and his family are visiting for the weekend - and I know what's for dinner.

You can have your Easter ham. What I want is a little further down the pig. Pork belly. That's right; unsmoked bacon. Rub it with salt and five-spice powder, roast it until it's juicy and crispy, and ummmmm.... I call it "Poor man's foie gras." Get in mah belly!

meredith la, I don't have that cookbook. Where's the "smoky" come from? Chipotle? Did you use canned chipotle? Any other standout flavorings in the braise? Thanks - I'm trying to expand my taco repertoire.

After going through the trouble of making red chile sauce in the Great White North, it's time for carne adovada tacos. Once you've got the chile sauce in your freezer, the distance between you and sorta-authentic-tacos just narrowed considerably. Click here for the details.

Ham, of course. Basted with brown sugar and mustard - simple, and sublime. It helps that this is a ham from the pig raised for us at a local farmer's and smoked to order. Never better.

I learned my lessons about chiles the hard way. I was making red chile sauce and I didn't think the New Mexico chiles were all that dangerous. Until I went to rub my eye. The next time I made red chile sauce, I wore gloves, as you can see. I also sent my family to the mall while I toasted the chiles and fried the paste. So that's where tear gas comes from!

The big girl (10) complains about having dirty hands and has recently proclaimed that even peeling carrots is too much trouble. So far, it hasn't seemed worth the fight. But the younger girl (7) and boy (5) love helping. Recently they learned how to peel shrimp: ... for their favorite coconut-milk grilled shrimp. They love getting their aprons on, too. It's going to be a little while before they're knife-capable, but when we have a prep army, look out!

Simple coconut milk marinade makes for some tasty grilled shrimp - even kids will eat it. Well, my kids, anyways. The hows and whys are here.

I'm new at foodblogging, but I've been a professional writer who loves to cook for almost 20 years. I decided to go forward despite the plethora of amazing, better-than-I-will-ever-be blogs because there is no one doing it where I am, in and around Buffalo, N.Y. We do love to eat, though, and since I am a reporter I believe there will be value to gathering an audience to see what's out there. Say, interviewing the one guy who brings sheep's milk yogurt to the farmer's market and posting an edited interview. I'm going to be going and finding the best stuff within an hour's drive and Toronto anyway. I might as well shoot it and share it.

Viva Le Creuset!

Potato gratin with Locatelli Romano. For all the details click here.

I triangulated between FoodMan and ChefCrash to come up with these beauties: Here's the whole story of how I got here. Four teaspoons of baking powder left the falafel tasting of it, in my opinion. FoodMan used one, and the falafel puffed a little. Perhaps next time I'll add a half tsp of baking soda as well. I brought these to work, and served them with Frank's Hot Sauce (the classic cayenne sauce for Buffalo style chicken wings) tarator, chopped dill pickles and sprigs of cilantro. People went nuts.

How long is long enough? 12 hours?

philadining, I just wanted to add - those pictures are outstanding. Would you mind mentioning what model camera you used?

Rachachow ... outstanding blog name. Thanks for those.

I do have to concede that the LaNova BBQ wing is an innovation, parcooked wings finished on the grill and slathered in KC Masterpiece-style BBQ sauce. Not really my cup of tea, but hats off to them.

Thanks for the Rochester suggestions. Have you been to the Ethiopian places in town? Is there one that's better?

Thank you for your extraordinary report. I especially enjoyed the sections on the market. Do you know where I can get a decent recipe for "Korean fried chicken"?

Here's a lesson on how to make salad rolls, also known as summer rolls. They're the rolls of fresh herbs, rice noodle and shrimp, pork or other protein, rolled in soft rice paper. http://buffalobuffet.wordpress.com/2007/03...lling-your-own/