Blue Heron

Well, so how did you 2 end up on Fox News debating cell phones in restaurants? Did you just call them up and ask to be on??

When you have extra celery, or other fresh items you can present them to your neighbor (preferably in some type of container). Then of course they will return your container filled with some goodies of their own. (this method also works without a container, as they will just remember you when they run into the same situation).

Steven & food4thought.... did you run into Bill O'Reilly by chance when you were there? It would be interesting to see you debate on 'his' show sometime. I thought both Steven and food4thought presented great arguments and ideas. I agree in theory with both of you (except slightly more with food4thought). I also like Terry Keenan. (I also remember when she used to be on CNBC). It would be great to see her post here!

Nice job Steven and food4thought!

Fox News just announced the cell phone debate is coming up next.... (Channel 48 in seattle).

Yes, we like the Trader Joes raclette, as do our Swiss friends (good price, too). (Trader Joes also has the cheapest prices on Emmenthaler, Gruyer and Appenzeller). To our knowledge, raclette cheese is never served as anthing other than the dish "Raclette", but swissmiss may be able to weigh in on this, too.

One possible source might be a grocery store in chinatown (where most everything is cheaper..or maybe they could special order it for you)..ie. Uwajimaya at the top end, and cheaper grocers like Viet Wah, etc. Brisket is a component in Pho, as well as some chinese soups, too, so you could always stop by and ask them where they get their brisket? If you find something reasonable, please let us know. Thanks!

And the Dutch have Hutspot. Cataplana - a Portuguese seafood dish and also the name of the copper pot it is cooked in. My neighbor brought me some yummy mussels served in one... it makes a nice presentation, but they are tricky. Click here to see one. Would raclette qualify? We have a tabletop raclette machine which includes individual serving/cooking trays for melting a slice of raclette to be served over potatoes.

Hi Leslie, Not having written a book before, I am curious about what your working day is like? If you could address any of these particular questions I would be grateful... Do you systematically set aside a certain number of hours a day to write or do research, to where you commit yourself to your project, or is your day fairly flexible (and you can wait for inspiration to strike)? Are there certain times of the day, or certain settings you feel you are more creative in your writing? Do you ever find yourself writing for hours on end without break, and other times perhaps find yourself in a dry spell where you can't think of what to write (ie. writer's block)? Do you find each book successively easier to write than the last, and, approximately, how long did it take to write The Fourth Star? Thanks!

I remembered I've had breakfast a couple of times within the last couple of years at Chinooks at Fisherman's terminal at Salmon Bay (part of the Anthony's Homeport chain). That is a place I enjoy going to. (and is one of my brother's favorite places too). It carries the flavor of a working man's type of environment, with lots of fishing boat and fishermen pictures on the walls. I had a Joe's Special one time, and a crab omelette another time. They were both good (although kind of rich and more than I normally eat for b-fast). They only do breakfasts on the weekends. Their view of the water and fishing fleet is also very nice, and there is a nice memorial outside to honor all the local fishermen lost at sea. It gets a little emotional if one is prone to that sort of thing, as I am....it lists the names & dates of the fishermen lost at sea, and there are usually flowers, notes from children, etc, too). There is a good fish store next door, too. ps.. hi Mark...nice to see you on the PNW board. You are welcome over here anytime!

uh oh... Salty's screwed up on the crab legs, too? In that case, there is little hope for them. I always order their Blackened Caesar when I'm there, which is pretty nice. We've taken guests there for dinner, one of which was not pleased with their salmon dish. I had a couple of bites and had to agree... the sauce they paired it with was not a good match. Great tips on the Madison Park Cafe. Thanks! Ben, regarding The Salish Lodge Brunch... I asked egullet member chopjwu12 (in NY) specifically about the famous breakfast at The Salish (as well as about staying there) since he said he & his girlfriend did their internship as chefs there, and he said "Ok i dont think i would go for the breakfast because its like massed produced food and i dont think its that good. Its good but not great. As far as staying there i would do it. I stayed a night and it was really good. Very cozy i thought. Plus i got the massage and just got to relax. Dinner is very good there. When i was there it was great and i think its gotten better. They used to have a superstar chef there for a while. One of his men is the sous chef presently at the french laundry. But i think they both left at the same time. Then they went through one or two chefs and i heard they found a good one. " Anyway, I have not had the Salish b-fast, but that was the view from someone who cooked there... has anyone else been?

Speaking of avatars, ... spqr, your avatar is intriguing. The eyes are so human like, yet the ears so puppy like. Is there a story there?

That was disappointing to read that Salty's doesn't do a better job with their brunch. Their setting is ideal, if only they could get their food quality & service up to snuff. It really is a pity that our waterfront restaurants (in general) don't do a better job with food (a rant of mine). I still might take visitors to Salty's though for the view and crab legs.

Perfect! Thanks...Exactly what I was looking for. I hope I'll get a chance to make it this week. ..."cubes of cake"... nightscotsman, you gave me another idea... sliced angel food cake toped with sliced peaches & whipped cream (or maybe creme anglais?)...Yum!

I bought a couple of pounds of Pence peaches at Admiral Thriftway on Saturday. They are GOOD! I asked the produce fellow which ones he thought were tasting better that day, the Pence or Frog Hollow, and he said the Pence were better, as in sweeter and the skin not quite as thick at Frog Hollow's. Of course Frog Hollow's peaches will blow the socks off any peach in a regular store...so it really is just duel of the cream of the crop so to speak at Thriftway. The Pence are from Wapato, WA and the Frog Hollow from CA (I think). I didn't bother to peel them, but just sliced them and ate as is. Has anyone tried making peach shortcake, and if so, how did it turn out? Any tricks to it, or special recipes? Which type of shortcake would work best to show off the peaches? Thanks for the tip on the price break for a box of peaches, Laurie.

Although it's been awhile, I had a memorable seafood brunch at The Lobster Shop on Ruston Way in Tacoma. They also have a great view. They served steamed clams & mussels in a couple of different styles, smoked salmon, poached salmon, chilled prawns, as well as all the other traditional brunch type items. For a regular breakfast, I usually head down to Pepperdock on Alki beach, which is in my neighborhood. (I've had breakfast at the Alki Cafe on Alki beach, too, but was not impressed). Actually, I'd have to say that I don't go out for breakfast or brunch all that often. Has anyone tried Salty's seafood brunch?

For me it also depends if I'm making a salad as a starter for part of a bigger meal, in which case a simple salad is perfect, or if the salad is the meal itself, in which case I like lots of goodies in it, as I described above. I often will make just a salad for lunch or dinner with maybe a slice of bread or a roll. I also love spinach salads...and like Nina, I love mache salads, too, and grow mache (nussli) in my garden. Steven, what do you put in your vinaigrette and in what proportions?

Lettuce Salad garnished with hard boiled egg wedges, asparagus, olives, tomato wedges, sliced cucumber, green onions, avocado, and topped with fresh Dungeness Crab or Oregon baby shrimp. Additional things I sometimes like to throw on a salad are sliced mushrooms, sliced radishes, finely shredded mozzarella cheese, or parmesan, croutons. I also like to top a Caesar Salad with Blackened Salmon or Grilled Prawns. Cobb Salads are terrific, too.

It seems like since they being held in the same general location one can sneak back and forth to both!

Yummy menu they served at Grillfest, and a good cause, too. Was it a good turnout (I hope)? Thanks for the heads up about Northwest Bookfest, too. Have you heard of any other chef's yet besides Alton Brown who will be there? That same weekend (Oct. 19-20) is also when The Seattle Mycological Society is holding their big yearly Fall Mushroom show at Sandpoint Magnuson Park... also with cooking demos. Mr. Heron is volunteering at that show in some capacity this year. Admission is $7, and $5 for students & seniors.

tighe, I have not heard of the SUPER Viet Wah on MLK...thanks for the tip! A quick google search reveals they are at: Viet Wah Super Food;6040 M L King Way S. And I was just in that neighborhood over the weekend to see the Blue Angels and a bit of the boat races... oh well, I just have to go back and check them out! Thanks!

No cold cereal since childhood. Favorites then were Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, Rice Krispies, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Puffs. My husband likes cold cereal with buttermilk.

That's the brand I have at home too that was touted by my gourmet grocery store as being the best (in their particular store). Over the weekend I used some to make curried deviled eggs, and also some curried egg salad (in Martha Stewart's cookbook). It was pretty yummy, and I even toasted the curry powder first, as recommended by Suvir. Tomorrow my plan is to make a curried chicken rice salad made with a recipe from the book that bellaSF recommended in the Chicken Curry Salad thread. The author of the cookbook (Joyce Goldstein, chef of Square One in SF) includes about 1/2 doz. recipes in her book that call for curry powder.

hahaha, yes that was a silly question I asked! (don't worry, I got a million of them) ... Fortunately Uwajimaya seems to carry quite a few different asian products, however I tend to go to Viet Wah more often (maybe sentimental reasons). Are there some brands of chinese sausage better than others? I only bought it once, and it was pretty awful (don't remember the brand), but if there is a good brand, I would like to buy some. Also, I forgot where I read which is the best brand of fish sauce to buy...anybody remember?

Last week with some mint in my garden, I made a fruit salad with cantaloupe (and one can also add watermelon & honeydew). I marinated the melon in a little orange juice w/some fresh squeezed lime juice, then topped it with crumbled feta cheese and a chiffonade of mint. edit: I forgot to mention, to also add a little pinch of salt before serving.