weinoo

Exactly. We frequent a local restaurant. A lot. I like their burger, don't like their bun. You know what? They put it on toasted rye for me. They leave off the cheese, which it comes with. They put the tomato jam on the side. Significant Eater doesn't really enjoy the blue it comes with - they put a different cheese on for her. They are in the business to make customers happy.

Me too. I only avoid cottage cheese because it's sodium loaded; and I've tried the low-sodium stuff - that's gross.

I'm easy.

I probably have 4 or 5 kinds/brands of butter on hand most of the time. It's fun.

Maybe I used the wrong words when I say they're my employees. I take it back. Anyone who dines out with me knows that I make it very pleasant for the people who are working there; I try to make them have a good time, and we the diners have a good time. It's a team effort; but if it's not a set menu place, I find no issue with asking for an ingredient to be left off a sandwich, the same way I ask for meat to be cooked to a certain doneness. As for Margaret's point above: I disagree - I think most young cooks/chefs (i.e. at the places you and I frequent) did nowhere near the brutal apprenticeships that once were de rigueur in the industry. And the less said about April and Spotted Pig, the better.

To put it another way, I go to museums and galleries and theatre and concerts for "art." I go to restaurants to eat and have a good time and not have to shop, cook and clean up; they're my employees for the duration of the meal.

Special requests can be a pain. But at this point in my life, so are tasting menus.

Now at JB Prince - only $3799! Pacojet Junior with 4 Beakers

Now that I think about it - I'm wondering if, counter-intuitively, the grind should be a little more along the lines of the grind for French press - where the coffee is steeped in the hot water before removing the grounds. Wouldn't this allow the water to get into all the nooks and crannies more easily? That's gonna be my next experiment.

I was invited to the book release party earlier this week and was fortunate enough to receive one of these: I was also lucky enough to have a few of the selected, delicious cocktails. Leo's cocktails are so good, as were the cocktails served created by others. Most are not simple, 3 ingredient drinks. But they are well worth the effort. Or, worth the effort to get to NoMad and have someone else make them for you!

I'm pretty sure I'm using a fine enough grind. These are the same people who package for Counter Culture.

Kinda hard to take a Keurig along on a trip, though. Anyway, I received the empty tea bags, and they are large enough to hold 4 grams easily. My first experiment, however, was quickly poured down the drain.

So in my most recent shipment from Counter Culture, I was sent a sample. This has beans roasted darker than the single origins I get from CC. It's got the right amount of coffee for an 8 oz. cup - right around 14 grams. And I'm drinking it as I'm writing this post - not something I'd go out of my way for, but somewhat better than quite a few pour overs I've had at shops. At $2 per, I won't be buying them, but I've been thinking about making my own version using empty tea bags, which are inexpensive. But nitrogen flushing and vacuum sealing them individually is beyond my current capabilities. I also now realize that a normal size tea bag probably won't hold 14 grams of coffee. If you can see the small print, they're being packaged in Scotts Valley, CA - which is on the road to Santa Cruz from San Jose, so a long way from Counter Culture's home. Especially if the coffee itself is coming from NC and then going back that way!

But only before 11 AM!!

How much do you spend on milk or cream for your tea, @Kerry Beal?!

While the cheese looks fine, and that's quite a nice hand/arm as well, the crudité platter with raw broccoli, cauliflower and carrots is the bane of every buffet and dinner party since the first one was put out sometime early in the 1960s! Blanch the stuff, willya?!

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Ha! By the time I saw it, there was barely enough time to get an order in!

@gfweb this was online, a couple of nights ago.

Appetizers before a clean out the leftovers for dinner last night... Assorted crostini. Toasted the slices, rubbed with cut garlic, sprinkled with olive oil. Tomato, feta cheese, anchovy and tomato, anchovy and house-roasted peppers, plain, and house-roasted peppers.

Flash sale (40% Off!) from like 9 PM - midnight, two nights ago, netted me this:

I have searched my collection, high and low, for two of my older Oz Clarke books; one specifically focused on Italian wines, the other more of a general wine book. They were great and I CAN'T FIND THEM! Also, Kevin Zraly's Windows on the World Wine Course was a nice intro book. I just got one of these; The New Wine Rules I've had for a while - it's fun, and a very easy read, and he's a great writer. I'm enjoying the other and it's done in an interesting way. These I've had for a while; much more like textbooks, as I try to delve into one of my favorite grapes...

Yeah, but think of all the money you'll save by not going to Portland! Abraco now is nice and roomy, with seats and tables. And well-made cocktails in the eve. Agree about the issue with espresso and milk drinks , which no self-respecting Italian would be caught dead consuming after, say, 11 AM. They might as well use Folger's for those milky things.

This is the start (middle?) of a New Mexico Hatch Chile Verde, using some boneless shoulder (for she) and some neck (for me). Served with Rancho Gordo's black beans, white rice, avocado, tomato, lime, cilantro, etc. Never got around to a picture of the finished dish.

Last night... Miso butter glazed haricots. Four mushroom sauté. Ginger rice donabe made. Night before last... Greek salad, with red and yellow tomatoes (still decent), cucumbers, scallions, feta, Kalamata olives, house roasted red and green peppers, etc. Minestra.