Big Mike

I was at Geno's this past weekend, my kids wanted to see what the fuss is all about. Plus the Italian Market is right there which is nice walk. Since we were talking about it here I listened closely to the ordering system. The guy yelling the order didn't say Wit, he said With. They sure do crank out the product there, three bus loads of tourists came minutes after we started eating and the line wrapped around the building but they still got the steaks out fast. I think I like Jim's Steaks the best, maybe Tony Luke's. Where's Delassandro's?

I hate when anyone says Ice Tea. It's Iced Tea or Iced Coffee. Also, as someone who's worked as a musician in hundreds of bars and restaurants, hear's a list of stuff that drives me crazy enough to kill or at least seriously maim: Leaving the house music on in the bar while the band is playing in the restaurant Leaving the house music on but just lowering it Having 100 televisions tuned to 30 different channels. Stay home and watch Law and Order or don't have a band at your bar. Sports Bars are the exception, good luck competing with the 50 foot Wall of Distraction. Karaoke machines. 'Nuff said Guitar players...oops, that wasn't really germane to this discussion was it. Oh well, it's true. Tune up and turn down please, my tinnitus thanks you. I have a hundred more but you'll all just think I'm bitter

I've always had luck making starters by leaving the mixture close to a basket of fruit between feedings. Works every time, I have very active starter in three or four days. I tried earlier this year to make a new one in a different part of my kitchen and didn't get the nearly the same results. There, scientific proof

I've ordered from Geno's dozens of times and seldom used the codewords. I certainly have never said "wit", but I will say "with" to indicate that I would like fried onions. But I'm from South Jersey, maybe that makes a difference. I do think it's a little bit of a play up on being "in-the-know", kind of like ordering an animal style burger at In-and-Out. The only time the guys behind the counter get annoyed with you is if you walk up to order and still don't know what you want. That annoys the crap out them.

I did get the feeling that LaBan was getting some digs in on La Colombe in a backhanded way. Who cares though, competition is good. Every good producer needs to stay true to its roots while still adapting to changing tastes and challenges from young upstarts. That said I still think La Colombe is one of the best things about Philly, and I don't see any of these other upstarts roasting their own coffee or developing interesting blends. I could give a rat's ass about a perfect fleur-de-lis design on top of my latte, so much style over substance. Dn't get me wrong, these "Third Wave" coffee houses hand Starbucks its head in a bucket and I would cross the street to get a drink there but let's not get all crazy just yet. La Colombe is the good stuff and should be celebrated as one of the city's finest locally created products, I still consider them as my favorite.

The Manhattan is my standard winter drink, except I use Canadian Club (don't judge). I love Rye but it's still hard to find around my way and pricey as well. Sometimes I'll rinse the glass with Absinthe and turn it into a pseudo Sazerac. Summer's goto drink is a Negroni or a real Daiquiri, not the frozen gross sugar bomb that's spinning behind every bad college bar.

Tonight was Italian family night...antipasto and homemade pasta with red sauce and sausage. Had panna cotta and zabiglione for dessert

Nutmeg, the sawdust in the little supermarket spice jar is just hideous.

Braised Beef Shanks. Cheap and easy, yet people love it. I get big meaty shanks at my favorite butcher for $2.50 a pound. Add a healthy sprig of thyme from the backyard, a couple of onions, and a few cloves of crushed garlic and whatever liquid is around...stock, wine, water even. Low and slow for a few hours, love it. Feeds a voracious family of 5 with leftovers for under $10. Add a nice base of polenta and some greens, I'm a happy man. Even cheaper is homemade pasta and sauce. I can bring that in for about $5 total, around $9 if you include a small wedge of pecorino. Two eggs and three cups of flour costs what, 75 cents?

My toaster has a setting for "bagel" which only toasts the cut side of the bagel. How weird is that?

So wrong...

Unfortunately that math only works if you never bought the books you mentioned. The real formula is Divide by number of volumes, pages, words or any other metric PLUS whatever you already spent on the multiple volumes of cookbooks. So the question is, does this volume provide enough extra value to justify the added expense to an already expansive library. That's where I'm at, justification.

I'm literally pulling my hair out trying to decide if I can drop $500 on the book without risking divorce court.

Almost forgot, if you're anywhere close to farmer's markets buy locally grown produce and save the seeds of the heirloom varieties. The farmers have done the work of selective seed saving to get the varieties that grow well in your area. Last year I saved seeds from eggplants, squashes, tomatoes, peppers and garlic. The garlic was planted in the fall, the others will get started in another month.

I've read that unless you save the seeds year to year the pepper flavors and heat scale won't be affected by proximity to one another. If you plant the seeds and grow them as an annual you should be fine.

I'm really turned off to Burpee these days. Service is iffy and results to follow. I got fantabulous seeds from the Seed Savers catalog, they rocked. Also got some great stuff from Johnny's and Baker's Creek. Last year was a struggle, I was infested with every pest you can name. Cabbage loopers, squash bugs, horn worms, slugs, flea beetles, groundhogs, deer and squirrels. This year I'm taking serious measures. Floating row covers are A number 1, next are collars around the squash. Even with all the critters working against me, I'll still plant a ton of stuff. First up is lettuces, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, kohlrahbi, onions, spinach and peas. I'm going to wait a little while longer to start my tomatoes and peppers. Last year I got spring fever and started them too early.

Excellent, the Ferry Building was on my list. I need to go to Boccalone and get about 50 pounds of charcuterie. La Mar sounds like a the perfect choice, thanks!

I was iffy on McCormicl and Kuletos but the wife read about it on some travel website and she has to go. I had to research the other places, are any of them close to Fisherman's Wharf? I'm a bigger fan of Tartine Bakery actually, the plan was to get there around 5:00 when the bread comes out. Think the restaurant we end up eating at will care if we bring our own bread?

Sold, Ad-Hoc it is. I'm thinking dinner at Saison to put the exclamation point on the trip. That's the one place that keeps cropping up in this thread.

Thanks for the suggestions, sorry if I didn't give enough detail. It's mostly a chill couple of days full of good food and good wine so I think atmosphere and proximity to Napa are key. Hess was already on my short list, as is Silver Oak. My number one fear is that I get lumped into a crowded bus full of jerky tourists, that would ruin the experience for me. One reason I'm ruling out the wine train, I don't want to sit prisoner for half a day with a train full of knobs. I wish I had more time to explore El Dorado county, that sounds like more my speed. I don't think I can give up 5 hours of drive time though considering I only have a few days.

The wife and I are headed out to wine country this May to celebrate my 40th birthday. The rough plan is to drive up the coast to Sonoma on Thursday, hit some places on the way heading East to Napa where we're staying a few days. So, anyone have any favorites or suggestions?

This was helpful, I'm headed to wine country for a few days in mid May. So far the plan is go to to Bar Tartine, McCormick and Kuleto's, French Laundry, Buchon and Chez Panisse. What's the deal with Bottega? Is it just pricey celebrity place or what? Nobody has mentioned it so far.

Old cookbooks rock, love this one... Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus by Rufus Estes Every recipe is the essence only, barely any measures at all...it's like you're reading his notes.

That's where I first saw him live and in person. He's the consummate showman, I remember him chopping at finger defying speeds while looking up at the audience and cracking jokes. Yan rocks, wish he had a show on Cooking Channel, bring the cred up a little to offset some of the other knuckleheads on there.

I think saying "breaking down" has a much different meaning than "cutting up", since breaking down means taking it apart in a specific way. Cutting up a chicken could mean a few things...taking the breasts off, grilling the breasts and slicing them, taking leftover meat off the bone for chicken salad, etc. Now, if you were in the backyard and said "fire one medium" instead of "Hey Mike, throw a steak on the grill for me" you would be a knob.