Hest88

You're not alone. I've been trying oysters for the last 15 years and I still don't like them---unless they're fried.

Okay people, how far in advance are reservations taken? Open Table says 31 days. Does that differ at all from phone reservations? And are they so popular yet that I'd have to take the speed-dialing approach?

We had an older thread about chicken feet but I can't seem to find it! I like the nice, brown braised chicken feet at dim sum, but not the white ones. I also love the chicken feet my mom throws into her chicken soup. The bones get slightly soft and the cartilage is just delectable. I don't understand the purpose of boned chicken feet; why would I want to eat chicken feet without the bones?

This reminds of of the time I tried to eat ice cream in a HK summer. As soon as I stepped out the shop door the top layer of my ice cream instantly melted!

Yeah, but the Taquitos people seem to turn up their noses at all exotic flavors. What's not to like about cuttlefish or seaweed chips?

Damn! My DH had foie gras this weekend and I told him to enjoy it because we might have to go to NYC to get it next time! Guess I should bag that idea.

I vaguely remember some of the rip-off comments from last year as well and would love to hear from people which restaurants were actually worth going to.

Mmmmm! I wonder if they're available here in the Bay Area! Most packaged pork rinds are too hard, so I suspect chicken skin wouldn't have that problem.

Another incredible entry in the Ellen canon. Thank you!

Cool! Thanks, Really Nice!

Really Nice you have no idea what the Bay Area schedule is, do you? I can't seem to find it on the Bamboo Garden website at all. I have such fond memories of Dragon Beard candy!

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section - Wednesday December 8, 2004 'Tis the season for...cookies! The lead story, Sugar & Spice by noted baker Flo Braker, gives the lowdown on special holiday cookies, including baking tips. Frying for Hanukkah? Miriam Morgan hands out some frying advice in At Hanukkah, get ready for frying and more frying! We know shopping can really drag you down, so how about some tea for a classic pick-me-up? Loree Dowse suggests a few places for a bite and a cuppa, including the St. Francis, the Palace Hotel, the Ritz, Neiman Marcus, and others in Tea soothes the harried shopper. What's New - New restaurants in Walnut Creek, Larkspur Landing, Los Gatos, and Montclair. - Is fresh olive oil the latest craze? - Market Watch - bergamot, Satsumas, and tomatos Taster's Choice Bottled lemon curd just doesn't cut it, with top choice going to Bella Cucina with a measly 50 points out of 100. The Working Cook This week features braised meat, for a rich, warming meal. Dining Out, Amanda Berne Exceptional Korean in the Richmond. Cook's Books, Kate Benfield The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook This week's recipes: Potato Latkes Apple Fritters Pork Chops Braised in White Wine With Brussels Sprouts Red Wine Braised Lamb Shanks Peppermint Spiral Cookies Jeweled Thumbprints Bite-Size Chocolate Fruitcakes Snow-Covered Coconut Cookies Maple-Pecan Medjool Date Rugalach The Classic Martini Almond Mocha Martini Fuziotini Dirty Martini Soft Gorgonzola-Topped Polenta Monkey Gland Cocktail

You're talking about Manresa, right?My experience in traffic is very different than yours, I guess. I go to and from San Francisco once or twice a month, and I rarely encounter traffic. I avoid the South Bay between 3:30 and 6:30 and seem to do fine. ← Avoiding South Bay traffic between those hours would pretty much be an impossibility if I were trying to get to Manresa for dinner. Which is why I think it I would have to make it an entire South Bay extravaganza!

Hm. After hearing about it for so long, I think I must make the trip down. Methinks I'd have to make a whole afternoon/evening thing, though, since it takes an hour even if there's no traffic, and there's *always* traffic when traversing the South Bay.

I love Gary Danko. It's our go-to SF special occasion restaurant and we'll be there again next week. Hopefully it still lives up to our expectations, but so far we've never been disappointed. It's not as quiet and sedate as some other restaurants in its tier, but I kinda like that. Makes it much less stuffy.

Oh, I just meant expensive in terms of a gadget I'd only pull out once a year, not in absolute terms!

That Chestnutter is a bit pricey but I'm rather tempted. The scoring is so tedious. I've developed a method there I place the chestnuts hump side up and whack the X into them with a Chinese cleaver. It's much faster than scoring on the flat side, especially since I don't need them to look pretty, but means I often whack into the nut as much as the shell--making it somewhat harder to peel.

Damn, I'm impressed!

7 of out 11, and yes, ethnically Chinese but got that one wrong too. I would never take the last bit of food from the communal dish, but I don't know anyone who deliberately leaves food on their *own* plate. And, of course, I eat every grain of rice in my bowl!

If you hop on BART, you can get to downtown SF just as easily as Rockridge. In fact, given that you'll need to make a transfer to get to Rockridge, downtown SF might even be a faster trip altogether. There are sooo many options around the Embarcadero and Montgomery St. stations that I'm blanking!!!! (Plus I was in jury duty all day today and my mind is really fuzzy.) Someone help!

Okay, here's my report. I ended up with a simple brine this year because I really wanted to see if the heritage turkey tastes significantly different. So, instead of my usual where I throw in a ton of star anise, 5 spice powder, and ginger in an attempt to conform to Chinese tastes, I did a cup of salt, a cup of brown sugar, and some bay leaves. The nearly 17lb turkey looked longer and leaner than the usual, but not significantly so. Before roasting I rubbed butter and pepper in and out. I also found that it was more the skin was very tight, but finally managed to pry it from the flesh to get under. I started the oven at 425 for half an hour, then switched to 350 for the remaining time. I also had it breast side down for the first hour, then flipped up for the remaining. It took, almost to the minute, 3 hours total in the oven. I didn't bother to tuck the wings under and they didn't even burn! The turkey was a resounding success, with a nice crispy skin. The dark meat was much darker than my usual free-range turkey. I'd expected, from other reports, that the breast meat would be whiter than expected, but I was surprised that it was only faintly more ivory than the regular turkey. My dad and my DH thought the turkey tasted significantly more "bird-like" than prior years, as opposed to what they thought of as that bland turkey taste. (I only eat the skin and wings off of all poultry, so it was hard for me to judge.) My aunt thought the breast meat was also more flavorful. The brine was perfect. It added just enough salt to give it flavour but not enough to overwhelm the meat. In fact, I tasted the drippings and this year they were actually not so salty that they would be unusable. I think I'll stick to 1 cup of salt from now on. Anyway, so it looks my family thinks the heritage turkey is worth the extra money and it will be what we order next year too. Edited to add: Oh, I noticed that I got a huge amount of liquid draining from the turkey after it was done. I can't figure out if it's because I rubbed too much butter on it this year and it liquidified or the bird was juicier or what!

I'm not a dunker, but my sister's Australian friend just introduced us to Tim Tams and "Tim Tam Slam." Quite addictive, I must say. Tim Tam Slam

I'll let you know. We have a Mary's heritage this year as well and I was tempted not to brine it but my Chinese relatives have enjoyed the (free-range/organic) turkeys so much more after I started brining. However, they don't like gravy so we never make it. The pan juices are always too salty to be used, but since we've just tossed them it's never been an issue.

We were just at Grasshopper last night and they've gone seriously downhill. I live in the area so it's not an infrequent haunt and I was first there not long after they opened. I've watched their quality drop over the last year or so. The time before last night I was very disappointed in their supposedly sauteed (more like boiled) greens, soggy calamari, and my usual---the 5-spice pork ribs. Last night the pork ribs had passed the line from "meh" to inedible. Salty and with no five-spice flavor at all. The portions have gotten ridiculously small, even at the small plate cost. The only redeeming thing last night was the salad. Maybe it was just a pre-holiday slump, but I think it's going to be awhile before I venture into Grasshopper again.

I loved Fast Food Nation, but I think it has the greatest impact on people who are already pre-disposed to ponder food issues. A person who is not already aware of the issues probably wouldn't be picking up such a book by his own volition anyway.