eG Foodblog: mizducky - The Tightwad Gourmand turns pro

[christine007]

Mizducky, I love your tips, and want to thank you for sharing them.

My current diet is the pyramid ( I eat most of my calories before noon, hence the pyramid shape) and I have dropped forty pounds since last july. In fact, I'm currently on the verge of being a tad underweight for my height ( damn, typing that felt good!)

My roadblock with asian food is the fact that I have a violent shellfish allergy, and in addition, cannot have fish sauce/paste, oyster sauces, etc. But I cannot agree more about the vegetable thing, how healthy and tasty all veggies are, and how you can cook/eat them in ways that make them seem 'meaty".

Mushrooms especially, are an excellent meat substitute.

major, huge congrats on your weight loss, to lose that amount of weight without surgery is amazing, you should be very proud of yourself! I know how hard it was for me to lose forty pounds, you are a true inspiration.

thanks for the fun blog!

[Margo]

And speaking of history: remember yesterday when I talked about the Coronado Bridge? When it was first constructed, a bunch of the support structure on its mainland end obliterated several blocks of a Mexican-American neighborhood known as Barrio Logan. The residents protested, and the eventual upshot was that they claimed the land under the bridge as a people's park. Chicano Park is now a well-loved neighborhood park sporting some gorgeous mural art, mainly on themes of politics and cultural identity:

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Cool! I didn't dare ask, because it isn't food related, but I hoped you'd show us Chicano Park. There's an inspiring documentary about it that I show my class on multiculturalism and art.

So, um, on topic. Fish tacos?

And as long as I'm here, congratulations on your weight loss achievement, Miz Ducky. As inspiring as Chicano Park.

Edited: spell-check.

Edited March 22, 2007 by Margo (log)

[rooftop1000]

Ellen

in regard to the crystal light...

try mixing the pink lemondade and the iced tea together....

Yummy and I find that you can add 1/3 more water without it tasting funny

tracey

oh yeah and congrats

[Megan Blocker]

Go, MizDucky! This is fantastic - congrats on the writing and the weight loss...I'm so happy for you on both fronts!

All this Asian food is making my mouth water...

[Milagai]

MizDucky: I loved your tips and am going to save them to look at when

my Lizard Brain starts issuing orders.

I especially applaud what you say

about delicious food can be healthy and weight friendly;

and the related advice to party on vegetables.

The only reason I am not a total balloon today is because I was

raised with a food culture that had tasty AND healthy food

and I love to snack on veggies as a result.

Having been skinny all my pre-40's life, I never developed

self control around food.

The trouble is, post 40's, I've significantly expanded, and my prior

healthy habit of several small meals turned into

a habit of several big meals, that I'm trying to break myself of.

Sigh....

At least I don't have to learn to love healthy and veggie rich food.....

But boy, the rest of it is hard.

Thanks for your inspirational words...

Milagai

[kalypso]

It does look like a repurposed building, doesn't it? A preliminary poking about the web turns up that the previous market in this space was another indie known as Stump's (after the owner's last name); was unable to find out who owned the building before them. Windmill Farms' website, while very nice, is not particularly informative on the matter.

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Windmill Farms started life as an Alpha Beta nearly 50 years ago. Alpha Beta was acquired by Lucky's which in turn was eventually acquired by Albertson's. Back in the day Alpha Beta was a competitor to Safeway.

[mizducky]

Good morning, world! Actually, I've been up for a while already, loading the dishwasher and making coffee. Breakfast was another cup each of plain yogurt and of coffee--when I'm not going out for bun bo hue, my breakfasts tend to be pretty utilitarian.

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. It really helps me tremendously--positive feedback is great fuel for the healthy-eating motivation. Plus, hey, it feels goooooood.

A few responses to various posts:

Mizducky, I love your tips, and want to thank you for sharing them.

My current diet is the pyramid ( I eat most of my calories before noon, hence the pyramid shape) and I have dropped forty pounds since last july. In fact, I'm currently on the verge of being a tad underweight for my height ( damn, typing that felt good!)

My roadblock with asian food is the fact that I have a violent shellfish allergy, and in addition, cannot have fish sauce/paste, oyster sauces, etc.

←

Congrats on your weight loss! And on finding a food plan that works great for your situation. A piece of advice I forgot to mention previously is that it's crucial to find a food plan that fits well with one's personal habits and preferences. Technically, I guess I too am usually eating the bulk of my calories early on in my day--it's just that, night owl that I am, my "day" both starts and ends later. For that matter, many diet pundits discourage eating/snacking while doing work, but computer geek that I am, I usually find myself eating while at the keyboard late into the night--but I make those snacks vegetables and fruit and similar low-impact items, so it works for me. The bottom line is: do what works.

Bummer about the shellfish allergy! That can definitely be tricky with many Asian cuisines. However, since a lot of those cuisines have Buddhist-inspired vegetarian cookery traditions, it's often possible to find vegetarian (i.e. shellfish-free) versions of many ingredients--and because these food traditions have had centuries over which to perfect their techniques, their vegetarian substitute ingredients are a helluva lot more tasty and satisfying than some modern Western mock-meat products I've sampled.

And speaking of history: remember yesterday when I talked about the Coronado Bridge? When it was first constructed, a bunch of the support structure on its mainland end obliterated several blocks of a Mexican-American neighborhood known as Barrio Logan. The residents protested, and the eventual upshot was that they claimed the land under the bridge as a people's park. Chicano Park is now a well-loved neighborhood park sporting some gorgeous mural art, mainly on themes of politics and cultural identity:

Cool! I didn't dare ask, because it isn't food related, but I hoped you'd show us Chicano Park. There's an inspiring documentary about it that I show my class on multiculturalism and art.

So, um, on topic. Fish tacos?

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I adore Barrio Logan/Logan Heights--its culture, its history, and last but far from least, its food! Time and my energy level willing, I want to make another visit to that neighborhood; if I don't find a decent fish taco, I'll at least show y'all some other local eats from there, plus more slices of local culture. (For the time being, I'll leave aside the often-lively discussion as to the level of authenticity of the San Diego fish taco, partly because I don't know enough to comment intelligently, and partly because I confess I tend to like offal tacos--tripas, lengua, cabeza, etc.--more.)

Playing amateur armchair cultural/culinary anthropologist is another hobby/obsession of mine, right along with all the food-geekery. Getting this part-time gig as a food writer has been a marvelous justification/excuse for me to amplify my practice of gallivanting around town, exploring neighborhoods and scoping likely eateries to check out. Food is a fabulous tool by which to understand a community--it's a microcosm of that community's history, culture, and values, and a mirror of the politics and economics that influence that community. To quote one of my favorite musicals, "the history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!" (six points for anyone who guesses the reference )

The only reason I am not a total balloon today is because I was

raised with a food culture that had tasty AND healthy food

and I love to snack on veggies as a result.

Having  been skinny all my pre-40's life, I never developed

self control around food.

The trouble is, post 40's, I've significantly expanded, and my prior

healthy habit of several small meals turned into

a habit of several big meals, that I'm trying to break myself of.

←

Yeah, confronting that midlife weight gain is its own unique challenge, especially for those people with no prior history of overweight issues. Those of us who have been fighting it all our lives at least have some experience with how damn difficult it can be. Whereas folks in your situation often struggle with "how come the way I've been eating my entire life so far used to work just fine, but is suddenly not working for me anymore?" Alas, the human metabolism does seem to shift gears somewhere in our forties, and for a whole lot of us it's a gearshift down. It helps to attack the problem at both ends--both managing the food intake (calories in) and revving the metabolism back up a few gears by increasing physical activity (calories out). And I think it does also help simply to be aware of the metabolism shift--there's a reason things that used to work don't work anymore.

[Toliver]

It does look like a repurposed building, doesn't it? A preliminary poking about the web turns up that the previous market in this space was another indie known as Stump's (after the owner's last name); was unable to find out who owned the building before them. Windmill Farms' website, while very nice, is not particularly informative on the matter.

←

Windmill Farms started life as an Alpha Beta nearly 50 years ago. Alpha Beta was acquired by Lucky's which in turn was eventually acquired by Albertson's. Back in the day Alpha Beta was a competitor to Safeway.

←

You mean the specific building in question.

I think that Windmill Farms itself was another store that was born from the Boney's dissolution (from which the Henry's chain was started).

edited to add: Thanks, Ellen, for the trip to National City. My brother's in-laws are Filipino so I look forward to our large family gatherings for the Filipino food they bring...and to see them, as well, of course.

Edited March 22, 2007 by Toliver (log)

[mizducky]

As I think I said earlier, the main thing on tap for today is dinner at The Linkery. While this is a place where it is indeed possible to put together a light and healthy meal (Jay has some excellent vegetarian and vegetable offerings on his menu), I do want to allow for at least a little splurge to enjoy some of this place's great sausages and other meat offerings, as well as a pint of one of their cask-conditioned beers on tap. Fortunately, I'll be dining with several friends, so it'll be possible to do a shared plate or two so I don't have to tempt the Lizard Brain with a whole meat entree to myself! Plus, I'm aiming to make the rest of today's food intake real low-impact, so as to save calories for the evening. That doesn't mean fasting all day, though--now that would really set up a Lizard Brain disaster! No, instead I'll be partying on the vegetables again, plus some other items I turn to at times like this. Stay tuned for further info ...

[SuzySushi]

To quote one of my favorite musicals, "the history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!" (six points for anyone who guesses the reference )

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If memory serves, that would be from Sweeney Todd. Sure sounds like a Sondheim lyric.

[mizducky]

To quote one of my favorite musicals, "the history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!" (six points for anyone who guesses the reference )

←

If memory serves, that would be from Sweeney Todd. Sure sounds like a Sondheim lyric.

←

You got it! A wonderful musical, especially for anyone with food-geek tendencies (not to mention a warped sense of humor). And yeah, Sondheim got off some memorable lines in that one. That whole "song" (given the almost operatic format of that musical, it's kind of hard to call them songs, but I don't know what else to call them) from which the quote comes is a riot of dark humor. I can still hear Angela Lansbury in my head singing "Have a little priest ..."

Len Cariou: "Is it very fat?"

Angela: "Only where it sat!"

Or something like that--quoting from memory here...

[SuzySushi]

To quote one of my favorite musicals, "the history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!" (six points for anyone who guesses the reference )

←

If memory serves, that would be from Sweeney Todd. Sure sounds like a Sondheim lyric.

←

You got it! A wonderful musical, especially for anyone with food-geek tendencies (not to mention a warped sense of humor). And yeah, Sondheim got off some memorable lines in that one. That whole "song" (given the almost operatic format of that musical, it's kind of hard to call them songs, but I don't know what else to call them) from which the quote comes is a riot of dark humor. I can still hear Angela Lansbury in my head singing "Have a little priest ..."

Len Cariou: "Is it very fat?"

Angela: "Only where it sat!"

Or something like that--quoting from memory here...

←

You realize that song's gonna be stuck in my head for days now... gee, thanks!

[mizducky]

To quote one of my favorite musicals, "the history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!" (six points for anyone who guesses the reference

←

If memory serves, that would be from Sweeney Todd. Sure sounds like a Sondheim lyric.

←

You got it! A wonderful musical, especially for anyone with food-geek tendencies (not to mention a warped sense of humor). And yeah, Sondheim got off some memorable lines in that one. That whole "song" (given the almost operatic format of that musical, it's kind of hard to call them songs, but I don't know what else to call them) from which the quote comes is a riot of dark humor. I can still hear Angela Lansbury in my head singing "Have a little priest ..."

Len Cariou: "Is it very fat?"

Angela: "Only where it sat!"

Or something like that--quoting from memory here...

←

You realize that song's gonna be stuck in my head for days now... gee, thanks!

←

Oh dear! I seem to be batting a thousand with the earworms, huh? Guess I'll have to quote some more obscure songs!

Speaking of which, I just pitched a vegetable-cooking frenzy in the kitchen in the past hour that had me singing "Call Any Vegetable" under my breath ad nauseum. I do have photos--even though my camera batteries attempted to die in mid-frenzy--but they'll have to wait until this evening, as now I have to rush to get ready for our early dinner date. Plus now I have to stop for batteries en route (why the hell I didn't stop to buy batteries yesterday--or for that matter, stock up before the blog started--I have no idea ...). Anyway, I'll try to stick my head in here before I head out. Keep those comments and questions coming!

Edited March 23, 2007 by mizducky (log)

[mizducky]

Okay, I'm off again! (Like that's any big secret. ) See you all later this evening!

[dockhl]

Windmill Farms started life as an Alpha Beta nearly 50 years ago.  Alpha Beta was acquired by Lucky's which in turn was eventually acquired by Albertson's.  Back in the day Alpha Beta was a competitor to Safeway.

Wow. Yes. I had forgotten all of this........how the SoCal grocery scene has changed over the past 20 years. Is everywhere like this?

Geez, ducky, your blog almost makes me wanna come back to SD. I love living in Central CA but had kinda forgotten the untold riches of the city.........especially 99 Ranch and the like. No one here seems to get asian cuisine, no ingredients other than those at Vons.

I look forward to your adventures......blog on !

(Best to the B. Tedde and the Rockola guys )

[christine007]

Thanks for replying!

I have found that eating whatever I want in the morning works for me, because if I'm hungry at night I just remind myself that I can eat what I want when I get up. I agree about the night munchies hitting, but I can usually put myself in bed.

again, I say you're the only person I "know" who lost that kind of weight without surgery.

Treat yourself to a burger,you deserve it!

[Smithy]

Great blog, MizDucky!!

I'm late to the party. You've heard it already, many times, but congrats on the weight loss. More power to you! Here's to your continuing improved health!

I didn't get the Sondheim reference. I've still got "Fish Heads" stuck in my brain... the version Dr. Dimento used to play. Was that Zappa? Anyway - play something else, please. Anything except "Oh My Darling Clementine", which has to be the world's most persistent song.

I didn't know that about the Alpha Beta chain. Does that mean they're all bought up? Gone, no more to be seen?

Thanks for all the great photos of SD and its environs. I'll have to be peeking in and out - without much in the way of questions - but I'm enjoying the trip. It's funny, San Diego and Ontario both have major boulevards named Euclid. What gives with that? Were they so fascinated with geometry?

My request is for as much fish as possible. I dunno much about Asian cookery, but the fish business is seriously interesting. We don't get much in the way of good seafood here in northern Minnesota. At least there's some, thanks to the wonders of good flash freezing, but it isn't anything like you have. The more you show us, the better I'll like it!

Mm. One question occurs to me. How have your shopping patterns changed (if at all) with the improved discipline on what and when you eat? Your refrigerator bears a strong resemblance to mine (I feel so much better) and I'm a frightful impulse buyer.

Oh, and congrats on your new job!

Blog on! Onward and inward!

[mizducky]

Hello! I'm back ... and I'm a bit buzzed! And I only had a pint of beer and a small glass of port, too, along with a reasonably-sized dinner, yet. Just another wrinkle to this whole weight-loss business ... time was when I could drink guys twice my size under the table without blinking an eye. But now that I have a lot less mass to soak up the alcohol, I've become a much cheaper date.

Once again, I've got some photos to upload, but before I scurry away to do that, let me respond to a couple more posts:

Windmill Farms started life as an Alpha Beta nearly 50 years ago.  Alpha Beta was acquired by Lucky's which in turn was eventually acquired by Albertson's.  Back in the day Alpha Beta was a competitor to Safeway.

Wow. Yes. I had forgotten all of this........how the SoCal grocery scene has changed over the past 20 years. Is everywhere like this?

(Best to the B. Tedde and the Rockola guys )

←

I only have anecdotal bits and pieces, but my sense is that there's been a bunch of supermarket comings and goings all over in the past few decades. Reading this Wikipedia article on the once-dominating A&P supermarket chain gives me further glimpses of the ever-changing fortunes, closeouts, and consolidations that have been going on in the supermarket biz.

(I may yet wind up giving your regards to the Rockola guys in person before this blog is over ... stay tuned for further developments! )

I didn't get the Sondheim reference.  I've still got "Fish Heads" stuck in my brain... the version Dr. Dimento used to play.  Was that Zappa?  Anyway - play something else, please.  Anything except "Oh My Darling Clementine", which has to be the world's most persistent song.

Thanks for all the great photos of SD and its environs.  I'll have to be peeking in and out - without much in the way of questions - but I'm enjoying the trip.  It's funny, San Diego and Ontario both have major boulevards named Euclid.  What gives with that?  Were they so fascinated with geometry?

My request is for as much fish as possible.  I dunno much about Asian cookery, but the fish business is seriously interesting.  We don't get much in the way of good seafood here in northern Minnesota.  At least there's some, thanks to the wonders of good flash freezing, but it isn't anything like you have.  The more you show us, the better I'll like it!

Mm.  One question occurs to me.  How have your shopping patterns changed (if at all) with the improved discipline on what and when you eat?  Your refrigerator bears a strong resemblance to mine (I feel so much better) and I'm a frightful impulse buyer. 

←

Ahhhh ... at the risk of really getting "Fish Heads" stuck in your head, let me point you to yet another Wikipedia article, this one about the creators of "Fish Heads," a duo known as Barnes and Barnes (one of whom was Bill Mumy, of "Lost in Space" fame). And to really grind it into everyone's brain, here is a YouTube clip of the video for "Fish Heads," a truly bizarre piece of film.

Heh. I was going to suggest some other song to get "Fish Heads" out of your head, but I can't think of any at the moment because now the Fish Heads are stuck in my head too.

I too have wondered about the popularity of naming urban streets after Euclid. There's one in Brooklyn too, if memory serves. Anybody got a clue about this?

Show and eat more fish, check. I'm working on it.

Re: my shopping patterns--because I eat a whole lot more produce than I used to, I've had to learn how to pace myself--I've discovered to my chagrin that if I, cooking just for myself, buy a whole bunch of veggies, I have to really watch it or I'll wind up throwing out veg that I just wasn't able to get to before they spoiled. Fortunately, with my freelancer's schedule it's fairly easy to work in a shopping trip every couple of days or so. (When I used to put in 60-hour work weeks for large corporations, I'd wind up grocery shopping once a week, usually late at night, buying lots of frozen stuff ... or just saying hell with it and eating fast food crap.)

[MarketStEl]

Last things first:

The two things I know about Alpha Beta are:

--The chain's name came from its unique method of organizing the merchandise: Products in its stores were originally shelved in alphabetical order.

--From the 1960s until its demise, it was a unit of American Stores, parent company of Acme Markets, Philadelphia's dominant supermarket chain. (I remember visiting an Alpha Beta store in LA in 1965 and noting the sign with a farm boy named "Alphy" bearing a blue ribbon reading "ACME" on it.)

There must be bazillions of taco stands all over San Diego that look something like this--I think of them as being equivalent to that really "sincere" pumpkin patch that Linus was always waiting for the Great Pumpkin in. This taco stand looked especially "sincere" to me--I need to check it out one of these days.

Many of the Mexican grocery/variety stores that have opened in the "Italian" Market recently incorporate the colors red, white and green in their decor or signage. (The green is the dark green shade found in the Mexican flag, not the lime green of this building.) I guess that with San Diego being right next door to Mexico, these displays of national heritage are unnecessary?

Ditto this barbeque joint. Especially since it also advertises soul food. My buddy David hails from Texas, and while he doesn't feel qualified to judge soul food, he felt this place had the right look to possibly be a great BBQ joint. "What makes it look right?" I asked. "It's grundgy enough!" he answered.

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I'm sure that cell-phone tower disguised as a palm tree added to the effect too!

Look! Pocky!

Never mind the Pocky -- I want to know about those Cheese and Tomato Pretz!

National City has a long and fascinating history, including a period in the late 1800s when it was bidding to be, and lost out on being, the major railroad terminus of Southern California. There are some lovely examples of 19th century architecture left, including this carefully preserved block of brick rowhouses that look like they'd been dropped in from some East Coast city:

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Perhaps National Park, N.J.?

(This community, founded as a Methodist retreat, is directly across the Delaware River from the foot of Broad Street at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.)

I would be curious to know how National City got its name.

[MarketStEl]

Windmill Farms started life as an Alpha Beta nearly 50 years ago.  Alpha Beta was acquired by Lucky's which in turn was eventually acquired by Albertson's.  Back in the day Alpha Beta was a competitor to Safeway.

Wow. Yes. I had forgotten all of this........how the SoCal grocery scene has changed over the past 20 years. Is everywhere like this?

(Best to the B. Tedde and the Rockola guys )

←

I only have anecdotal bits and pieces, but my sense is that there's been a bunch of supermarket comings and goings all over in the past few decades. Reading this Wikipedia article on the once-dominating A&P supermarket chain gives me further glimpses of the ever-changing fortunes, closeouts, and consolidations that have been going on in the supermarket biz.

←

If you're interested at all in supermarket history, there's a Web site called Groceteria that you might want to check out. The site has a good capsule history of the rise and fall of the chain that could once have, but never did, call itself "America's Grocer" (the way the Hudson's Bay Company calls itself "Canada's Merchants Since 1670").

[Kim Shook]

Oh, Miz D! So glad to see you blogging again! I am late to the party, but enjoying it so much! I have been out of town and have a billion things to do this weekend - big party tomorrow night, out of town guests and work tomorrow morning at 7:30am and here I am avidly gobbling your blog at 2:23am!

As someone who hasn't yet reached the 100 lb. mark in weight loss after having a gastric bypass, I am in awe of your achievement! I can see that I really need to get on the fish, soup and veg bandwagon!

I am enjoying this so much!

Kim

[mizducky]

So--here I am, doing my big "reveal" in front of the entrance to The Linkery:

You will notice that, at 220 pounds on a 5'3" frame, I'm still definitely on the Rubenesque side. But I'm definitely a helluva lot better off than I was before! (Hmmmm ... full-length "before" pictures seem to be a bit scarce, somehow. I'll have to do a little digging...)

I already knew what today's specials were because I'm on The Linkery's email list. I had my eye on that mushroom pie ... though the terrine also sounded really tempting ...

There were a total of five of us at dinner--I was joined by Doug, proprietor of SanDiego.Eats.It, plus fellow Eats.It writers Candice and Rebecca, and Rebecca's boyfriend Ken. Dedicated foodies all, we were inclined to make sure we each ordered something different so we could get a taste of as many items as possible.

We started with the three-link sampler plate:

As I think I mentioned before, The Linkery makes all their own sausages. The varieties du jour: a very hot and spicy Italian; a mild Polish; and an even milder Chicken Provencal (which several in the party thought a little too mild and dry, but which I really liked).

The mushroom pie:

A little mountain of delicious shrooms of all different sorts, piled on a square of puff pastry that had been slathered with a jam whose slight sweetness played well with the savory shrooms.

The pressed pork terrine:

I believe the consensus was that this dish was the winner of the evening. The smoky flavor of the bacon pervaded the whole slab of porky goodness.

Salad of grilled asparagus, frisee, and house-made lardons:

Smoked kasekraner sandwich:

Yes, witticisms about "food porn" were made.

Sausage tacos:

One of The Linkery's signature dishes, and a great light meal in which to sample one of the sausages of the day.

The roast lamb:

I loved the wonderful gamey flavor of this lamb. And the potato gratin almost upstaged the meat, it was so good.

To drink with my mushroom pie, I had the Alpine Beer Co. Captain Stout, which was on tap. Candice had a bottle of Stone Brewing's Old Guardian. Rebecca and Ken split a bottle of Coppola "Director's Cut" Pinot Noir. Oy--I forgot to write down what Doug was drinking! I'll have to follow up on that ...

Desserts:

Going clockwise from high noon we have carrot cake from Bread on Market in downtown San Diego; house-made grilled pound cake; strawberry/rhubarb soup with house-made olive oil gelato; and house-made Oaxacan chocolate ice cream with cacao nibs. We voted the carrot cake respectable, the other desserts flat-out outstanding. With dessert, Ken and I each had a glass of a Broadbent port.

What a fun, inventive meal! (Full details of all these dishes can be found on The Linkery's very detailed website.)

Edited to add: Doug informs me that he had their cask beer-- the Port Brewing Company Palapa Pale Ale. (He usually gets whatever they have on cask.)

Edited March 23, 2007 by mizducky (log)

[SuzySushi]

So--here I am, doing my big "reveal" in front of the entrance to The Linkery:

You will notice that, at 220 pounds on a 5'3" frame, I'm still definitely on the Rubenesque side. But I'm definitely a helluva lot better off than I was before! (Hmmmm ... full-length "before" pictures seem to be a bit scarce, somehow. I'll have to do a little digging...)

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Mizducky, you are looking positively svelte!

[petite tête de chou]

And she's wearing two of my favorite colors!

Mizducky, are those kumquats with that pork terrine? Do you know if they were pickled?

edited to add a Whoops! I didn't notice your link to "their very detailed website." So, what did you think of the kumquats? I find them pretty bitter when eaten from hand but I bet they make nice preserves.

Edited March 23, 2007 by petite tête de chou (log)

[Pan]

So--here I am, doing my big "reveal" in front of the entrance to The Linkery:

[...]

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You look great! (And just for everyone's information, I met Ellen 100+ lbs. ago in the summer of 2005, when she took me to a very good Afghan restaurant and gave me a little tour of some nice parts of the city that I wouldn't have seen on public transportation.)