Blue Heron

Saigon Bistro is up the hill in "Little Saigon" on Jackson St, next to Viet Wah, where I get some of my asian groceries. Pho Bac is also up there, and I like their pho. I like trying new places, though, so I'll probably get to Saigon Bistro one of these days and I'll let you know how it was. I also haven't been to the Great Wall or even the Super Mall yet...I need to take a trip there sometime, I've heard the Imperial Garden is good. I've also heard Top Gun is good in the ID, and is another place I still need to try. For chinese barbeque (take out), I can recommend the Kau Kau. It's one of those places with ducks in the window. Delicious barbeque duck, pork and chicken. One can eat there, but I always order at the take out window. Their lunch chicken special (chicken, broccoli, rice) is a good deal, and the chicken has a most wonderful flavor (maybe 5 spice, but I haven't been able to duplicate it). I keep hearing Noble Court in Bellevue has the best dim sum in our area...so perhaps I'll just have to get over that way sometime, too.

The last couple of years we have celebrated new year's day with going out for dim sum in the International District. Honey Court used to be our favorite place, but I no longer recommend that place. Does any one have any other suggestions or favorites? Dim sum would be nice, but if we don't find a good place, we'll probably head out for some Pho instead. I've been wanting to try Saigon Bistro, anybody been there?

I came across this site this morning while looking for a new place to try in the International District. It's basically a Tokyo gal (Noriko) who has moved to Seattle, and her 4 friends reviewing Japanese Restaurants/Sushi Bars in Seattle, complete with comments. I thought I'd pass it along for y'all to see... http://noriko.trd.or.jp/seattlee.html

John, I printed a couple of things from a google search I did, but thanks for the offer. I have just one more queston though... is this whiskey traditionally enjoyed with a little water, or alone?

John, thanks for the help. They had it at our liquor store, and I purchased 2 bottles for gifts. It's even on sale thru Dec. at ฯ (reg. price ั, in Seattle). It comes nicely presented with a small blue ribbon and gold medallion stating that it's the Spirit of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine. Also a nice little card with a picture of the Knappogue Castle and history. Many thanks. Also, frohliche Weihnachten und ein gutes neues jahr!

John, I'm very intrigued by the Knappogue Castle 1992 Irish single malt. I did a quick google search and it sounds lovely and might be just perfect for my dad. Do you think one can find this in Seattle (I guess I could just call some liquor stores and ask), or would I need to mail order it?

We often buy Ed Hume seeds http://www.humeseeds.com/. I think they are at Home Depot and Bartells. Also Territorial Seeds http://www.territorial-seed.com/ most likely from PCC or W. Seattle nursery, or Molbak's, but are probably at any reputable nursery. The few packets that are marked or advertised 'All American Winner' at the bottom are a good bet in any northwest brand...and I just look on the pkg to see where they are produced. I also buy Shepherd's lettuce seeds http://www.shepherdseeds.com/, and they should be in most nursery's. It's fun to order the free catalogs when you're first starting out to see what all is available. Then you sit around the table with your spouse and plan your garden and make a trip to the nursery to buy your seeds. For some veggies, you'll want to buy starts/seedlings to get ahead start in the spring. You'll want to make sure the date on your seed packets is 2002.

If anyone is interested in the Rabbit corkscrew, Costco has them for ุ (Amazon's price is ๠). I got one for hubby's x-mas gift, and one for my dad. I haven't used this type before, but I've heard they are good.

I learned a new word, achiote. (I had to look it up, though, as I was confusing it with chayote). IMHO Ming Tsai has the best show(s) & personality on FoodTV. I used to dislike Emeril until I read that in real life he is very shy and charming...so I can overlook his tv persona and that distractive band, and actually he turns out some pretty good looking food. I agree with comments about Bobby Flay...but his food is also pretty good looking. I also like his red hair for some reason. I never seem to catch Good Eats, guess I'll have to check the schedule to see when it's on. I'm slow to like these shows, though. For months I couldn't see why people like Iron Chef, but now I've seen a couple, and I'm getting to like them.

The beer method didn't work for us...maybe they didn't like our beer. Must have been pretty bad, even a slug wouldn't drink it, ha. If you get a chance, ask your neighbors what kind of container they used for the beer, or other details and let us know. It sure sounds better than picking them off.

I should have mentioned that in the spring, the slugs you will most find in the garden are teeny weeny, the toddlers and youths of the slug world, and not too unpleasant to pick up with kleenex/paper towel. It's rare to see a big daddy or grand-daddy slug. Also some people, rather than going out at night, put a few boards in the garden and then during the day when the slugs are under the boards, they are easy to find. I don't recommend slug bait, because birds, dogs and children might get into the garden and accidentally ingest it.

This is a continutation of a thread started on Community Supported Agriculture farms that has veered more towards home vegetable and tomato gardening. One book that I can recommend is Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon (Sasquatch Books Publishing). Good to read now, before the planting season begins in Spring. They have a lot of good tips for us northwesterners...ie don't try to plant beefsteak tomatoes, they'll never ripen in time, how to deal with slugs, etc. Speaking of slugs, that is basically the only impediment to growing good lettuce in the northwest. When our lettuce starts to come up, or after planting starts, we go out everynight after dark with our flashlights (sometimes twice a night, plus in morning before work), w/ kleenex and baggies and pick the slugs out of our raised bed. The beginning nights will yield maybe 20+ slugs. Then as the lettuce gets bigger, you still need to go out at night sometimes or when it rains to pick them off your lettuce. You'll also sometimes find them hiding underneath the lettuce, too, munching away. I hope I haven't turned you off from planting lettuce. It really is worth it, and after the first few nights, there aren't as many slugs to find. One lettuce that the slugs don't bother as much is the wonderful cut and come again Mesclun lettuce. I always plant a row or 2 of this. When it gets a few inches high, cut for salad leaving about an inch at the bottom, and it grows again. Swiss chard also does that. Lettuce grows in the (cool) spring months, and by summer is over with. We like buttercrunch, a tender and sweet bibb lettuce, but they're all pretty good. Best seeds for all veggies are those made for the northwest, or one that says "all american winner" at the bottom. I'd love to hear any other gardner's ideas or tips (actually it's my husband who is the gardener, I'm just the helper)...please feel free to chime in!

Enjoyed the article. Tomatoes are pretty easy to grow, and the flavor is so much better. If anyone is interested, I'd be glad to share a few tomato growing tips sometime, maybe in the spring would be a good time. We always put ringed tomato cages around ours, which helps with keeping dogs and neighbor children's toys from plowing over them, in addition to supporting the branches. Also I forgot to mention my favorite tomato in my last posting, it's the Sungold. It is similar to the sweet 100 cherry tomato, but even sweeter and has a nice yellow gold color. The starts are hard to find, but sometimes at PCC or W. Seattle nursery. By the way, what is CSA?

It was not a banner year for tomatoes at all. They were very late coming. We were lucky we tried an early tomato called 'Stupice' so that kept us in ripe tomatoes until the Early Girls, Champions, Sweet 100's and various Roma's came along. I'll be glad to share our tomatoes with you anytime next Sept-Oct. Our veggie garden is mostly raised beds, and they work very well. We also do green beans on a trellis on the back of the garage, along with various squash, onions, salads, herbs, spinach, chard, etc. in the raised beds. We also tried artichoke for the first time and it was fun, but we got only 2. It's a perrenial, though, so the plant is already growing again for next year.

mamster... "Never mind" (as Gilda Radner used to say). I was definitely not at the 727 Pine. I did check out the menu from the link you provided...yum...sounds delicious, especially what you're having.

This doesn't truly count, as we didn't dine in the main dining room, but hubby's office christmas party was held at the new Elliott Hotel. It was nice to see the inside, but basically most people were a little underwhelmed with the design. Security is very tight in the lobby, with lots of fellows wearing those fbi type ear pieces. Anyway, getting back to the party. I guess at these things the food is catered? At anyrate, the salmon was very dry, which is often a problem with salmon for 100+. The vegetables, however were fantastic. There are so many other interesting places to try, though, I can't imagine I will be back anytime soon.

I haven't heard of this before, but it sounds interesting. As far as produce goes, we always have a big veggie garden every year with more produce than I can even get around to picking. Right now in the garden I still have New Zealand spinach, lambs lettuce (maiche) and swiss chard that needs picking before frost. I don't know why I find it so much easier to buy a bag of convenient already picked lettuce, spinach...it does drive my hubby crazy. He also plants about 30 tomato plants each spring, and there is nothing better than garden fresh tomatoes, but those are long gone now.

girl chow, you are absolutely right. I just checked my Jan. issue of Bon Appetit and sure enough on P. 64 is a glowing review of Blue Onion Bistro (courtesy of Nancy Leson of Seattle Times). Congratulatoins Papa Chef!!

I second La Rustica in W. Seattle on Beach Drive. I also really like gourmet dining at Tosoni's in Bellevue, although it's more 'continental', than traditional Italian. The ambiance is also nice, once you get inside. Il Terrazo Carmine was great the last time I was there. For casual spicy full flavored (garlicky) Italian fare, we had a good meal at The Beach House Cafe on Alki Beach in W. Seattle.

Yes, Mr. Vigs...that goes ditto for me...Welcome! After reading the review you referenced, my mouth is watering. I love kebobs. Please let us know some of your favorite restaurants/bites when you get a chance. GC, I haven't been to Todai yet either. I had sushi in W. Seattle last week, though. Good, but it's expensive for just a few bites...that's why Todai sounds so appealing. By the way, what are your favorite sushi 's? I always like magura, and fresh salmon. Yellow tail is pretty good, too. Have you tried eel?

Thanks Adam and Wilfred for the wonderful info & article . Just by chance, last night I happened to see Emeril do a show on scotch. It was very informative as he had a couple of members of the Scotch Malt Society explaining the differences between single malt, blended, different tastes/peatiness of single malts, etc....I learned a lot. The single malts they were tasting were (17 yr old) Glengoyne (apple, heather, no peatiness, honey sweet notes); One that sounded like Inverlene that is no longer produced (made in 1 cask, pepper notes and over 100 proof); Macallan (spice, cloves, light peatiness, sweet and smoothest long lasting finish, aged in sherry casks); and Ardbeg (smokey and heavy peaty). They explained that they always add a bit of water to the shot for the reasons that DB and PB mentioned. With no water the alcohol sort of numbs the nose, or tongue, so by adding the water it reduces the alcohol, but not the flavor (in their words), plus some being 100+ proof are not advised without water. The cutest explanation was that while aging in the cask, they lose about 2-3% each year (through the pores), but they called that the angels share. I found it so interesting (a novice), that when I happened upon the same show a few hrs later, I watched some of it again. The dishes they made w/scotch were Drunken Shrimp, Scotch Broth with Blue Cheese, and Roast Pheasand w/, Whiskey-Cumberland Sauce, and they were very liberal with the scotch (you know Emeril, and the Glengoyne rep was just as liberal with his scotch, too).

I'm thinking of getting my dad a bottle of single scotch malt whiskey. I've gotten him a sampler of the good ones before, but neglected to ask him which ones he liked. My dilema is do I take a chance on getting one bottle of something popular that I think he might like, or should I just stick with something I know he likes, like a 12 yr old Jamieson Irish whiskey. They did the scotch malt trail in Scotland a couple or years back, so the Scotch idea is appealing, but I could go either way. What would you do? And not knowing much about single malts, which one is universally loved?

I wasn't bored at all to hear about you guys music abilities...I'm just envious. I used to play the piano when I was growing up. Now I have mom's old piano, but it needs tuning (and so do I). I'll email mamster for the mp3 info. My curiosity is piqued. Le Pichet sounds good to me also for after the holidays.

I also haven't been to Le Pichet, but would love to go. Please give us a date, and hubby & I will meet you all there. Happy B-day girchow! Hope you have a wonderful day and meal tonight. As tempting as Todai is, I would hate it if you went and had a bad meal on your b-day, so I would pick one of the other 2 places if I were you. I have been doing more research on Todai, and it seems people either love it or hate it (see citysearch for Houston and Portland). Some people complain of warm sushi. Where ever you go, please give us a review.

It looks like a good place to go for a birthday (if I can wait that long), as the birthday diner's meal is free. Their prices are advertised... ฝ-ฟ for lunch and ฦ-ว for dinner. Seems expensive for buffet, but heh I guess when you're talking lobster, sushi, etc.... I happened to find their webpage, which is www.todai.com which includes their huge menu.