KarenS

mangos, cheese, cioppino, ripe tomatoes, guacamole, good fresh salsa, seared scallops, dungeness crab, rice pudding, fresh corn, ripe berries, peaches, good melon, brioche

I really like Total (greek) yogurt. I also enjoy lemon Yoplait.

I like Wusthoff Trident. I have a nine inch that they have replaced twice! (gotta love that lifetime guarantee). I also have a few Sabatier that I really like. It seems to me that men are often happier with Global knives then women. Knives are a totally personal thing; it is how they feel in your hand.

Ingridsf, i totally agree with you! I know where Wolfgang Puck used to eat before he opened Spago- Chez Pannise. I grew up in Berkeley; CP was where we went for special occasions (or Narsais). I have had the opportunity to work in the pastry kitchen (I used to fill in when people got sick). Everything was organic; items used in season and when they were good. I attended a lecture a couple of years ago when Alice was talking about "the edible schoolyard"- where previously there had been only fast food carts, a cement playground, and no cafeteria. Her passion almost brought me to tears. She is not the Chef of her restaurant (and has not been for years). CP hires good Chefs. One more time- Chez Pannise has been open for 30 years, and in that has helped educate the country to the point of having quality to choose from.

I like the bread at Ganachaud. Bay Bread in SF (on Pine) is a great bakery. Excellent bread and pastries (they even sell canelles).

Brown Rice White Rice 1 cup 1 cup Calories 232 223 Protein 4.88 g 4.10 g Carbohydrate 49.7 g 49.6 g Fat 1.17 g 0.205 g Dietary Fiber 3.32 g 0.74 g Thiamin (B1) 0.223 mg 0.176 mg Riboflavin (B2) 0.039 mg 0.021 mg Niacin (B3) 2.730 mg 2.050 mg Vitamin B6 0.294 mg 0.103 mg Folacin 10 mcg 4.1 mcg Vitamin E 1.4 mg 0.462 mg Magnesium 72.2 mg 22.6 mg Phosphorus 142 mg 57.4 mg Potassium 137 mg 57.4 mg Selenium 26 mg 19 mg Zinc 1.05 mg 0.841 mg Bran contains several things of major importance - two major ones are fiber and essential oils. Fiber is not only filling, but is implicated in prevention of major diseases in this country such as certain gastrointestinal diseases and heart disease. The National Cancer Institute recommends 25 grams of fiber a day, a cup of brown rice adds nearly 3.5 g, while an equal amount of white rice not even 1 g. Also, components of the oils present in rice bran have been shown in numerous studies to decrease serum cholesterol, a major risk factor in heart disease. According to the USDA's new food guide pyramid with six major food groups (fats, dairy, protein, vegetables, fruits, and starches), starches should comprise the major portion of the diet - about 58% - which translates into 6-11 servings of carbohydrate a day. Whole grains such as brown rice figure prominently in this group. A one cup serving of brown rice yields about 50 grams of carbohydrate. In addition, it has been shown that diet rich in carbohydrates can be useful in weight control. Studies show that diets with identical caloric loads but one richer in fats and protein versus a diet rich in carbohydrate tends to contribute to weight gain. Dietary fat tends to go to body fat stores whereas dietary carbohydrate tends to be utilized or held in muscle stores for a period of time. We are much better off, then, to eat a well balanced diet low in fat and rich in complex carbohdrates. Brown rice rounds out the diet in a way white rice cannot begin to approach. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jimnyo, About white rice. That is the point! It is absorbed very quickly into your body as sugar because it is a simple carbohydrate (like sugar). Brown rice is still a carbohydrate but it possesses fiber (plus the nutrients of the grain). Fiber helps move excess fat through your body (because there is something for the fat to hold on to). White rice may taste good, but it is not good for you- it only gives you calories. There are calories in cake too. We need calories to live. White rice is empty calories.

Thank's Gordon, I have never been very good at typing (or spelling)

Rachel, Since you have never eaten at Chez Pannise I thought that you might be interested to learn that pieces of fresh fruit are for sale in the Cafe (upstairs) not in the downstairs dining room. The dining room is the place where you are offered a prix fixe menu. The menus for the dining room come out for each week the previous Thursday. If you are curious about the menus you can go to their web page at chezpannise.com . The menus are updated every week.

You can modernise red velvet cake by adding grated raw red beets to the batter instead of red dye- plus use a really good cocoa (Valrhona or Cocoa Barry are good choices).

Jimyo, I know that you like white rice a lot. There are your empty calories; it is just like eating a bowl of sugar. Everyone learns to balance their choices!

I was just up there- we stayed at the Pitt River Lodge. Their food was good. We also had Chinese food in Burney that was good. There was also a decent Mexican restaurant in Fall River Mills. It was so beautiful up there! The hiking and rafting was great.

I lost friends over the comment that food wasn't an art.I dissagred. i guess that I should just place it as that. I was so horrified at the response that it changed my life! They just wanted to eat crap- and then invite me to dinner-but do nothing. Each person would be still working on whatever "project" they would continue to work on while I was present. I was barely ackknowledged as a human body. What I got from the conversation- if you pay for it food is not great. If you can harvest (endangered) then, you rule. Food is the greatest art. I am ready to argue now. I am so tired of expensive fast food places. (Cooking at home is much cheaper). -Karen

The best market I have ever been to is The Berkeley Bowl (on Shattuck in Berkeley,CA). The produce section will blow you away! Unlike Whole Foods, you can exit Berkeley Bowl with a full bag costing you$20! Their seafood is always amazing and fresh. I go to markets everywhere I visit, and have lived in France. I tell everyone to go to the Marin County Farmers Market- at the Civic Center in San Rafeal. Thursdays and Sundays. This is a market that will make you really smile.. It is the biggest that I have ben at (plus most of the farmers and staff are on hand to chat). The good news for Honolulu is that we are just starting a big market at kcc (the community college at Diamond Head). I'll check back to you on that!

Trader Joes has very good orange juice (and the price is very good too). This is the "fresh" in the qt/half gallon thing. I used to love a pretzel they carried that had sunflower seeds in them. I don't remember the name or manufactuer. Hawaii really could use a Trader Joes!

Oh yah, by the way weight watchers worked for me. I am still doing it on my own (could not stand the recipes or products). I have lost 35# since June. I could never do atkins because I am too much a vegetable eater. Bacon? steak? pork chops? yuck!! Even eggs- I think that I eat one to two a week! Beef jerky reminds me of a bad car ride in high school. A very windy road a car full of teenagers. One person eating oil canned tuna (cheap), one person eating beef jerky, one person eating a hard boiled egg. I feel like I can still smell it (and I got Oh! so sick!) I have also made it in my wilderness days. (along with acorn bread and steamed nettles). The netting over the jerky was covered with flies. No thanks, I don't do jerky anymore!

You need to cream the cheese and the sugar first! Your cake souffled and fell because you incorporated a lot of air into the batter by mixing them with the cheese first. Add your eggs last, and then whatever flavoring. How much you work your cheese (how high of speed or for how long) can also result in a cheesecake that will souffle and fall.

Blanching vegetables before your meal (and shocking in an ice bath). Just heat when you need them- prettier and cooked just right! Thickening soups with cold potatoes or cooked rice (instead of roux). The best oils and vinegars. Paying extra for free range poultry and beef (it tastes so much better!) Buying organic produce whenever possible. Microplanes are very cool. Freshly ground pepper only!

During my work week I just have (black) coffee and some fruit later, sometimes oatmeal. My favorite breakfast on weekends is a poached egg on an english muffin with salt and pepper (and butter). A real "breakfast" something I think of as a treat (pancakes, omlettes, waffles etc..) - maybe a couple of times a year. There are some freak times that I HAVE to have huevos rancheros (and very spicy). Huevos rancheros, along with pho are two excellent hangover breakfasts. I start work so early (5:30am), that I just bolt out the door and brew coffee at work!

I was with a group of friends out for sushi. I was wearing a white shirt. Here is the good part; I dropped a piece of sushi from about a foot up in the air- directly into the soy sauce. Everyone at the table got soy sauce on them except me! This was over ten years ago and my friends still remember it! I also have a tendency to spill red wine or coffee on everything that I own.

My opinion- Paris Brest, boring- St Honore, boring. Charlottes with striped cake sides, gelatinized- frozen puree mousse with a gelatin/ frozen puree mirror-boring. I love French technique in Pastry and many French things (and I love France). There is also room for American pastry and creativity in this field. All French pastry is not sacred. Pierre Herme understands this (rice krispies, humor).All fine dining does not bow to France. I really don't care for genoise either. Brownies? That is not logic is it? (or what was being discussed).

Nancy Silverton's Desserts is a book I tell all beginners to purchase. Chez Panisse Desserts is also a great book. I don't recommend French books for beginners- they are often confused by the measurements. Many French desserts are very one dimensional (and pretty boring to a modern palate). I always try to establish some sort of tie to a persons life (what your mother or grandmother may have baked). Fine dining relates to such few people. America has a huge baking past. This is not France- though I did go to school there. Learning to make a good pie is a good first step. Learning to make a chiffon cake is another step. I would much rather use chiffon then genoise (though eventually you should know the difference). Claudia Fleming's book is good; I think of it as Nancy Silverton 2002. New York was finally ready for the kind of desserts that Nancy had been doing for years.

I like to thicken fruit desserts (cobbler, pie , crisp, buckle) with tapioca starch. It thickens clear and is not "tight" like cornstarch. My greatgrandmother taught me that! We agreed to disagree on lard in pie dough!

I don't poke them. We hold them in an altosham (never for too long, as they are in constant production from 8:30am to 3:pm).

I worked at Postrio many years ago. The creme brulee was made stovetop and poured into puff pastry shells over berries. It was a Puck "signature" dessert for years. I still do prefer to make creme brulee stovetop (more control, all portions the same texture-plus stirring a custard while it cooks makes it creamier). You also end up with fresh fruit underneath insted of cooked.