Pumpkin Lover

Is the top picture kinako mochi? I love that stuff! And I think the picture's kinda cute, too.

Oh bilrus, I think your shrimp look great! How'd it taste?

My parents would put potato chips or Hot Mix on top of their rice and curry when I was growing up--not so much now because of the salt content, I think. It's all about the textural contrast. If I ate junk food, I'd do it too.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, and happy foodblogging!

bergeka, I was going to say: I forgot to mention Crif Dogs in my first post, but again for sentimental reasons Crif Dogs is my fav of the non-papaya places. Those chili dogs, mmmm. And it's good to know that I can get a Gray's Papaya dog well-done. I'm getting confused as to the locations of all these places, so I'm gonna list 'em here for reference: Papaya King: 14th and 7th 86th and 3rd 125th btw. 7th and Lenox Gray's Papaya: 8th and 6th 72nd and Amsterdam Any other locations? Crif Dogs St. Marks btw. 1st and A

While reading the Shake Shack thread, I noticed a few mentions of Papaya King. I've never been there--the only hot dog/papaya places I've been to have been Gray's and Chelsea Papaya. I love Gray's Papaya for sentimental reasons, but I'm curious as to why Papaya King was mentioned so much. What hot dog joints do you guys prefer and why? Do the hot dogs really differ from one place to another?

Hey, it's a free country. My mother would always employ us to make meatballs while my siblings and I were growing up. Since you're doing Italian already, how about a Middle Eastern dish like kefta? Hummus? Cous-cous? Or something that involves a lot of stirring, like a lamb stew? I always loved stirring things in pots when I was growing up--made me feel like my mom!

I don't have a recipe, but I saw my first swizzle stick at Pegu Club on Monday night, while the 'tenders were making a Ti Punch for me (hoooo-weeee was it good). You've probably already had that, though, slkinsey. The stick reminded me of the small wooden whisk used to whip matcha during Japanese tea ceremonies. Wonder what the history is behind swizzle sticks and drinks...

Cupcakes! Or is that too young for a tweener?

Ribs! Mmmmmm, oink, oink. Changes: Instead of 1 tsp. ground cumin as the only spice, I used 1/2 tsp. ground cumin, 1/2 tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. Mom's garam masala, and 1/2 tsp. chile powder (the nice, hot Indian kind). Used country-style ribs instead of baby-backs. The sauce didn't thicken up in the oven, so I de-fatted it, added some mirin and rice vinegar, and boiled it down to a glaze. Shredded the ribs in the meantime (there were only five, and I wanted to stretch this out), poured the glaze over the shreds, and we had some pulled oink. Served with rice and my sister's sambar (lentils)--rice and sambar is usually how we stretch meat in our house. This time it was ribs, but when I was growing up, my mother would use leftover KFC (!!!--I know, I know, but that skin tasted soooo good with sambar). Now, we use pollo a la brasa from our local Dominican restaurants--perfect, long-lasting, and pretty healthy! Next up, buffalo wings and sambar.

I've been thinking about having healthier snacks in the fridge for those post-partying moments before I crash in bed, so I made hummus last week. There was only Joyva tahini at my local C-Town--I had no idea that tahini was so high in fat, so I declined to buy it, but I'm pretty happy with the way my dip came out. I caramelized an onion, quickly sauteed three cloves of garlic at the end, chucked the mess in the blender with water, oil, and the onion juices, and let it rip. I was *very* happy with the way the water helped with the blending--I like my hummus super-smooth, so I ended up using about a cup of water to two cans of chickpeas. And I didn't have to add oil and feel guilty about using more fat. Goya chickpeas, mmmmm. Oh! And I used lime juice instead of lemon--limes are much cheaper in my 'nabe than lemons, and we always have them on hand for our Corona and guacamole nights. The lime juice really lifted the heavy onion flavor. I used the hummus as a salad dressing mixed with a little salsa--it sounds like a PMS-style snack, but it's high in fiber and makes me feel good. Can't go wrong with that!

This picture reminds me of seeing cherry and plum blossoms in Japan, but it's the furthest thing from a Japanese dish, LOL. I think it must be the brightness of the pink against the white. Gorgeous, gorgeous photo!

DAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNG! Day 11 is killing me with its goodness. Already said it once before, but Daniel, this is super-impressive. You're so lucky to have seen so much.

I love mustard on my grilled cheese sandwiches! Sometimes I just skip the butter and slather mustard on both slices of bread. Mmmmmmm.

Daniel, it makes me feel so proud that a New Yorker eats his way across the country like you do! And I love that you're eating the kind of comfortable food that I relate to--tacos, burgers, BBQ (and wings--there's a picture of jalapeno wings from one of your other travelogues that STILL makes my mouth water). Big ups, man--this shiz is awesome! And I think I am going to borrow "Jack in the crack" as a signature, if ya don't mind.

What's the difference between the two?

The last time I was at Pam Real, they had stopped their BYOB policy due to a violation of some health regulation (there were letters from various city departments in the menus). Daniel, do you know if that's still the case there?

lperry, I kind of made it up as I went along. I had been re-reading little ms. foodie's Foodblog (one of my faves), as well as a recent post on the Gothamist blog. I liked the idea of making a ginger simple syrup for cocktails and plain ginger ale, and I wanted to use vodka instead of gin for the concoctions--I was originally making these cocktails for a party, and my friends don't like gin. So I made the ginger simple syrup from the Gothamist blog (it makes a LOT of syrup, and you get this great candied ginger after cooking it down--looks so nice topped on the cocktails!), and I chucked plain ginger slices in 2 cups of vodka, a la little ms. foodie. To make the cocktails, I just put some ice cubes in glasses (my friend Katherine was moving out of her apartment, so we were drinking out of old salsa jars, ghetto-style ), put about 2 1/2 teaspoons of syrup in each glass, threw some vodka in, and topped it with seltzer. What's so nice about this drink is that you can sweeten it accordingly. I love simple syrup, it's so versatile! And slkinsey, you're right about the zing factor. The vodka was much more snappy two weeks ago. Now, there's a mellow, rounder ginger flavor, which is also nice, but I miss the original spiciness. I'm drinking the vodka right now, so if I don't post again here, let's assume that food science got the better of me.

About a week-and-a-half ago, I prepared some vodka for ginger-flavored cocktails: I sliced about an inch of ginger and chucked it into a plastic container with the vodka to macerate. I still have some of the vodka left and would love to get into it, but I'm wondering if it's safe to drink. Should I worry about any bacteria growing on the ginger, or is the alcohol strong enough to keep botulism buggers from growing? I'm a journalism school graduate, I know nothing about food science. Please let me know if this post belongs here or in General Food Topics/Cooking...

Died. And. Gone. To. Heaven. Salmon roe is my favorite kind of caviar--this is a great idea, I can't wait to try it.

Right on it, sir.

Michael, it's still loud as hell there. I usually sit in the back, though, at one of those long tables--the speakers aren't as loud there, and my girls and I can hear each other pretty well. I'm going tonight, so I can report more fully if y'all would like.

I see I posted here over a year ago about Dougie's BBQ--I must revise my opinion a la Fat Guy, and state that I have fallen in love with Atomic Wings, specifically those at Down the Hatch on West 4th. Those wings, when they're fried perfectly, are heaven--and they're not always fried to perfection, unfortunately. Combine that with some beer pong and cute dudes, and I'm a happy camper.

Here's a veal dish with morbier that nessa made in her foodblog: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=623899

This is another relatively recent closing, but I loved Cafe Lebowitz (now Barmarché) down on Elizabeth and Spring. That was my ex-boyfriend's and my "spot" right until it closed--Mike knew David, the chef there. We both knew when David was in a bad mood, we could taste it in the pea soup. What I loved about the place was: 1) the garlic fries 2) the rigatoni with sausage, tomatoes and cream--it was so easy and simple, and it made me feel like I was at home 3) the feeling that I was at home. I love restaurants where one can become a regular in the same way that one can be so at a bar--walking into a place where everyone smiles at you in recognizition is such a nice little moment during the day. I miss that a lot--not the relationship, but the restaurant for sure.