afoodnut

Mongo, I have a hard time comparing the two. I enjoy them both, but think they're very different types of restaurants, although they both have good, well prepared food. Atmosphere at the two is very different; Carelli's has a buzzy warmth with a central fireplace with glowing copper hood, lots of brick, a brick wall behind the bar. Full Moon atmosphere is understated, quiet. Carelli's has a large menu, including all the standards such as pizza, calzone, antipasto, pastas, veal, chicken, shrimp, risotto; a broad range of American/Italian, done well. Full Moon has a small limited menu, it's more chef Brad Heap's interpretations with a trendy emphasis on contemporary twists, and named, sourced ingredients.

Thank you Gidon and Anil. We're so looking forward to our trip. Have you any suggestions as to "don't miss" experiences, food or otherwise?

Thanks so much for your reply Gidon. Your recommendations are exactly the kind I was hoping for. Your recommendations for Fries with mayonnaise, liquorice, and herring without onions will certainly lead us to food very different from what we eat at home (and that's precisely what we're looking for.) Your list is a great help, and I hope you will be able to come back with more info as well. How far in advance do I need to make a reservation for Tempo Doeloe in the Utrechtsestraat?

I want to reopen this topic since I'm going to Amsterdam with my daughter for a week and would appreciate recent recommendations and suggestions for where to eat. I'm not looking for expensive or elegant, rather for a slice of "typical Dutch," what people who live there might eat, including ethnic restaurants and street food. (We will be staying at a B&B near Rembrandtplein. Breakfast is included so I don't need breakfast suggestions.) I've read through the thread, and know one of the places we'll try based on recommendations here is Kantjil en de Tijger for rijsttafel. Does anybody have current recommendations? I'd appreciate any other hints/tips you might have for enjoying our stay. (I was last in Amsterdam in the early '70s and this will be the first time for my food loving adventurous 17 year old daughter) Thanks.

Perhaps the explanation is that Jews used the local ingredients available. They weren't necessarily imitating or trying to create the dishes that the gentiles were eating, rather they were creating their own (kosher) style of food from ingredients available. So we have such dishes as Italian caponata ebraica (hebrew style caponata) and Carciofi alla Giudia (Jewish style artichokes); cuban black beans as Cuban Jews prepared them, cuisine of the Baghdad Jews in Calcutta; (maybe even eating bagels and lox was a contribution of Jews to NYC generations ago, developing a cuisine that was doable using ingredients they could get, not an attempt to imitate what others around them were eating.)

C'mon guys. Recognize Chipotle for what it is. It *is* authentic contemporary Colorado Southwest American fast food. It was born in Colorado, grew to a local chain, was acquired by McDonalds. It's a good concept, features high quality food, good value, and it's authentic regional southwest American, not Mexican.

I thought the article showed that he doesn't understand or respect the spirituality and sensuality bound up in food. I guess I'm baffled that a purported foodie would even think of using fake crab in paella and then complain about the results. (Crab? Needed in paella?) After all, he could make a perfectly wonderful Spanish arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) with saffron and have a delicious meal. Why focus on what you can't have? Why worry about ersatz foods like Better than Butter? There's butter, there's olive oil, there's schmaltz, there's mayonnaise, there's cream cheese; All kosher, you just have to use them in the right time and place. There's a world of food out there... He raves on about the foods he cooked in the past. Every one of the foods he talks about in these paragraphs can be kosher. Chili? No problem. Chicken cacciatore? No problem. Roast garlic? Mangia. Sauce of pureed onions, garlic, ginger? Fine. Biryani rice with chunks of lamb? Kosher. Disclosure: I grew up in what was a not very unusual arrangement in NYC in the '50's. My parents kept a kosher home, but were not kosher outside. (My grandparents were all strictly kosher, and my parents would never have a home where their parents couldn't eat or be comfortable, *and* they wanted us, their children, to understand, know and respect what kashruth was all about.) We ate and enjoyed non kosher food in restaurants and other people's homes. I am not kosher, and never have been, but my reasons for not keeping kosher have nothing to do with a sense that I'd not be able to pursue an intense passion for food, cooking, and eating.

Not terribly important, but Bellagio's policy is not a blanket prohibition. Children may stay there with adults, and children between 5 and 18 with adults may enter for some other reasons, including for reservations at the restaurants. Go to Bellagio and then click on under 18 policy. edit for clarity

You're welcome. Oddly enough, in the same edition of the Boulder Daily Camera, an op-ed article Starve a prisoner, feed the budget appears, detailing a different approach.

In today's Boulder Daily Camera, an article headlined Jails aim to soothe via food, about jails in El Paso County (Colorado Springs). A few relevant comments:

i find that if you chop in a well ventillated kitchen, and if you have a sharp enough knife and zip through it fast enough, you wont cry from chopping onions. Not true, AzRaeL. No matter how well ventilated the kitchen is, no matter how sharp the knife is, and no matter how quickly I'm chopping, if I'm chopping my fingers, not the onions, because I can't see because I'm wearing neither glasses nor contact lenses, I'll be crying.

I've worn contact lenses for more than 40 years. When I'm wearing my lenses, sometimes I cry when I chop onions, sometimes I don't. On those few occasions that I'm wearing glasses and chopping onions, sometimes I cry, sometimes I don't. The variable seems to be the onions, not the lenses or glasses. When I worked in my catering business, our motto was always "When you need to cry, volunteer to chop the onions." Edit to add: I never chop onions wearing neither contacts nor glasses. If I did, I would cry because I chopped my fingers instead of the onions.

Actually a whole book: Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak

Pacific Mercantile at 19th and Larimer in downtown Denver, now almost 60 years old, is still a phenomenal resource for Asian ingredients of all kinds. In Boulder, the Asian Deli/Seafood/International Market on 28th just south of Valmont is okay for basic Asian ingredients (I don't trust it for seafood or fresh foods though). Marczyk (spelling?) at 17th and Clarkson in Denver is good for upscale ingredients, including aged beef etc. edit to add: Marczyk is not an inexpensive ethnic source, but a source for high end ingredients. East Side Kosher Deli (499 S. Elm Denver) for kosher meats (again, not cheap).

I'm so pleased you enjoyed it:biggrin: And I'll bet your reputation as favorite babysitter will be absolute if you try.

I'm delighted you enjoyed this. Cooking with my daughter over the years has been a grand and gratifying adventure.

9, 8, 4, and 3. Part of the issue is maintaining my own sanity and sense of order while they run amock! That's it exactly. Chaos in the kitchen doesn't work, and it's dangerous. It's a bit easier in the school setting, because they know it's a "class" and they're supposed to listen. When you're starting a cooking project with your four, try approaching it in that more formal way. Baking chocolate chip cookies with 4 L'il Varmints, ages 9, 8, 4, and 3 (from the recipe in the eGCI) (Note: with 4 kids baking cookies, If I could I would have 4 cookie sheets available. Take the eggs and butter out of the refrigerator so they'll be at room temperature when you need them. I'm also assuming you're using a stand mixer; make any adjustments you need if you're using a hand held mixer.) First, print out or write the recipe. Before starting, go over "rules for baking cookies." We wash our hands before we touch food; we get everything we need before we start; we don't turn on the mixer without permission; we don't touch the mixer with wet hands, we don't put our hand in the mixer while it's on. If anyone is wearing long sleeves, roll their sleeves up or change to short sleeves, and long hair should be tied back or clipped up. Everone should be wearing shoes. Ask the 9 and 8 year olds to read the recipe out loud to everyone, taking turns reading, i.e. have the 9 year old to read the equipment list, then have the 8 year old read the ingredients list, etc. (Of course, make any adjustments as you need for reading ability.) You should then review the recipe, and describe step be step what you will be doing. Discuss the recipe with them; ask all four of them to talk about the recipe and what you will be doing. Tell them they will each have tasks to do, and tell them what each will be responsible for (as described below). Turn the oven on to 375º Ask the 8 or 9 year old to read the equipment list out loud. Assign jobs; i.e. the 3 year old should get the mixing bowl, the 4 year old the wooden spoon and rubber spatula, etc. Have the 8 or 9 year old check off all the equipment on the list. Ask the 8 or 9 year old to read the ingredient list. Assign jobs for getting ingredients, and checking off the list. Remind everyone to wash their hands. Ask the 3 & 4 year olds to grease the cookie sheets. (The 8 & 9 year olds can demonstrate how to do it, and finish the job if needed.) Have the 8 year old measure the white sugar. Let the 3 year old pour it into the bowl of the mixer. (If you use a 1/4 cup measure three times, you can have a fractions math lesson, as well as more for everyone to do.) Have the 9 year old measure the brown sugar. (If the 9 year old already knows how to measure brown sugar with packing it down, let the 9 year old show and tell the others how to do it. If you need to, demonstrate how to do it.) Have the 4 year old add the sugar to the bowl of the mixer. Either the 8 or 9 year old can measure the butter, and the 3 or 4 year old add it to the mixer bowl. Have the 8 year old measure the flour. Have the 3 year old add it to a mixing bowl. Have the 9 year old measure the baking soda and salt and add it to the mixing bowl. Have the 4 year old stir with a wooden spoon. Ask the 8 and 9 year olds to each crack an egg into a small bowl (so any pieces of shell can be removed before actually adding it to the butter/sugar mixture). Have the 8 year old measure the vanilla and add it to the eggs. Ask the 8 year old to measure the chocolate chips, then have the 3 year old pour them into a bowl. Put the bowl with the butter and sugar on the mixer stand. Have the 4 year old turn the mixer on. (If the mixer speed settings are tricky, you or one of the older kids will have to do this step.) Cream the butter and sugar. Stop the mixer, then have the 3 year old scrape the sides with a rubber spatula. Have the 8 or 9 year old finish the job. Have the 4 year old add the eggs and vanilla. Have the 9 year old turn the mixer on, and mix at medium speed. Stop the mixer. Have the 4 year old scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and the 8 year old finish the job. Either the 8 or 9 year old can finish mixing until the mixture is smooth and well blended. With the mixer off, ask the 3 year old to add 2-3 spoonfuls of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs. Mix at slow speed; then the 4 year old can add a few spoonfuls, etc. Remove the bowl from the mixer. The 3 year old can add the chocolate chips. The 4 year old can stir with a wooden spoon. The 8 year old can finish incorporating the chips. Give each of the kids a cookie sheet, and have them use a teaspoon to put the cookies on the cookie sheet. (Demonstrate the size and spacing for the cookies.) The 8 and 9 year olds will do a reasonable job with it. You or the older kids will finish up the job for the younger kids. (Could also have the younger kids make just a few bigger, misshapen cookies.) Have the 9 year old open the oven, reminding him to stand off to the side to do it. Put however many cookie sheets as fit into the oven. Show them how to set the timer, and have the 8 or 9 year old do it. While you're waiting for the cookies, organize your cleanup! When the cookies are done, open the oven and remove the cookies. Remind the kids that you're using a dry (never damp or wet) potholder to do it. Put more cookies in the oven, have the 8 or 9 year old set the timer. When the cookies are slightly cooled, so the cookie sheets won't burn, all of the kids can remove the cookies from the sheets, (the 3 and 4 year olds may or may not be able to do it) and put them on a brown paper bag or rack to cool. If you use parchment, removal is foolproof, but you miss the early step of needing to grease the cookie sheets. When cookies are cool enough, you all do a taste test.

Glad you liked it. I've often worked with multi-age/multi skill groups, frequently in a school setting. I've found organization and task "assignment" to be the key. How old are each of the 4 L'il Varmints? I'll walk through the cookie recipe as I would do it with a group of their ages and skills.

Could someone post a picture of dried posole? Here's a link to CooksThesaurus. Scroll down the page about halfway to find a picture of "nixtamal = uncooked posole."

Holy mackeral. Reely now, watch what you're seining, before the ofishal lox this thread.

Yes, in the Denver Airport (and other locations in Colorado) See'sWebsite reports shops in: Alaska, Arizona, California - Northern, California - Southern, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington

Welcome Fred I've been to Adega and enjoyed it, but not so recently (not since the Beard recognition) that I can discuss the menu with any specificity. edit to add: I'm in Boulder.

Their green beans are also great.

In Colorado markets now, from the western slope: Palisades Peaches, Olathe Corn, Rocky Ford Cantaloupe.

Great lesson Zilla. I found myself running into the kitchen to pick up a knife to see how I hold it after reading the descriptions. I saw that I hold my knife as Zilla describes. Then I tried holding the knife as Kate describes; Using that grip, the knife handle would hit the underside of my arm as I chop. That made me realize that the grip that works best might depend on the combination of individual anatomy and the specific knife itself (size of knife, length of handle, etc.)