Food is my Love Language

Our home is in the NW part of Tucson, and our favorite place is Wildflower at Oracle and Ina, a Fox restaurant. Whether it's a farmer's market salad with quinoa, calamari, or a burger, I've always been very pleased with the food and the service. I only know the Oracle location, but I also love guero canelo!

Wow, this is really an old thread, but I'll throw in my two cents. I'm living in Poland, and yes, it was a a lovely surprise to have my hand kissed. Things that will now always make me think of Polish cuisine: fresh dill, mushrooms, beets, cabbage, soup, and cheesecake (that tastes like rationing is still on).

Pierogi Ruski (potato cheese) are my favorite. After they're boiled, I like to fry them with a little bacon and onion. My husband's favorite is a creamed spinach, and speaking of spinach, one restaurant here in Poznan serves a meat pierogi (just boiled), with a drizzle of beef gravy over a mound of creamed spinach. You could certainly throw them in soup.

We've been living in Poznan, Poland for several years, We are more likely to go to Berlin than Warsaw, but I do have a couple of suggestions. The night my husband arrived in the country, his contact at the embassy took him to Restauracja Esplanada. It's nothing fancy, but generous portions of traditional food very reasonably priced. We've also eaten at the Esplanada in Lodz; they always seem to have a big crowd of locals. As I recall, they don't take credit cards for bring your zloty. We were in Warsaw last Friday and ate at Atelier Amaro. They just got their first Michelin star this year, the only one in Poland. By Polish standards, it was very expensive, so it was a splurge, but what fun! We had the 8 course tasting menu and loved it. The menu changes weekly. I cook a lot of Polish food at home, so eating it when we go out isn't always a priority. We had a great meal at a restaurant in the shopping mall near the Central train station. Sorry, I don't remember which one, just that the decor was very red. I must confess, we also eat at the Hard Rock Cafe when we're by that mall because sometimes you just need a good burger.

Growing up, my parents insisted that we drink milk with every meal. Our daughters were not big fans of milk, so I didn't push it as much as my parents. Now, water is what I want with meals. I attended a formal ball last year in Poland. The meal with went on for hours with only bottles of vodka and pitchers of fruit juice on the tables. I thought I would die of dehydration. In my husband's family, kids drank milk. Adults had coffee with every meal. I've recently noticed that dairy brings on sneezing spells for me and is probably a big factor is the cough I've had for years. I'm not willing to give it up totally, but I avoid it most of the time now.

My daughter introduced me to Trentadue Chocolate Amore when she was working at Total Wine. It's a big seller on Valentine's Day. She, my mother and I polished off a bottle one evening; they're very small bottles. It's port-like and great for sipping. My husband preferred the less expensive ChocoVine which has a cream base.

1 cup water 1 cup honey 1 cup sugar 2 cinnamon sticks 1 small whole nutmeg 12 whole cloves 2 juniper berries 750 ml vodka Combine everything but the vodka, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Removed from heat, add vodka, filter. Na zdrowie!