So, while reading through the Chowhound topics, the phone rang and I let it go to our answer machine. It was a call from Costco alerting that the Townsend Farms Organic Anti-oxidant Blend Frozen Berry Mix, a frozen berry and pomegranate seed mix I had purchased between 2/15-5/30 was connected with a recent outbreak of Hepatitis A. They recommended discontinuing use of the product and to return any remaining product you may have for a refund. They also recommend a visit to your healthcare provider if you are feeling any ill-effects.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/na...

Talia, here are a couple of photos for ideas. They are both antipasto platters I did for a party. In arranging the ingredients, I alternated the meat with veggies, cheese, whatever. I also tend to "stack" the meats, on top of one another.

In using something like mortadella, I would cut the slice in half or quarters, then fold into thirds or fourths. Things like salami would be slices cut 1/4" thick and laid out on top of each other. If you are using cheese, cubes can be easier than slices. I also like to put things like olives or marinated artichoke hearts in small dishes and have them sit in the middle of the platter. The different shapes kind of give you visual "texture". I often serve sliced baguettes in a separate basket lined with a cloth napkin.

The round platter is about 15" diameter, the rectangular platter was maybe 9"x15" (it's disappeared from my serving platter collection, so I'm not sure).

Get creative and have fun with it!

For a six month period, a group of us provided food for a friend and his family, five people altogether. At first I transported everything in resealable casserole dishes but switched to aluminum steam trays. I did this so the family did not have to wash and hold my dishes until I came to pick them up again. Since I was not the only person bringing food, they were having to wash and store everyone's containers until they were retrieved by their owners.

I would transport soup in quart-sized mason jars, entrees in the half-sized steam trays, veggies or smashed potatoes in super-sized loaf pans.

If you are in contact with others in the group who are providing food, it would be helpful to know what everyone else is bringing. No matter how many ways each of you might prepare chicken, it is still chicken.

As I got to know the family's likes/dislikes, it became easier to cook for them. Sadly, he passed almost two months ago. I recently made one of his favorite meals (braised lamb shanks) for my own family, and remembered him fondly.

D-oh, you're right! I get it mixed up. But does boiling at a lower temperature makes the cooking process (in general) longer?

I bought 2 dozen crayfish today, came out to just under a pound. I chose ones that vigorously greeted me with open arms and claws as if to say "pick me!"

They're in the sink snow, just waiting for the water to boil ...

I've found that water will boil faster if I cover the pot with a lid when initially heating it. Otherwise it takes forever to bring to a rolling boil.

Do you live at sea level or somewhere with some altitude? My SIL lives in Tahoe and it seems to take forever to boil water for a cup of tea.

Have you checked with Crate and Barrel's website?

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/search....

They have an outlet down on Fourth Street, so it's possible they have them there as well.

You might also check with Sur la Table while you're down there.

vegetarian split pea soup

Breakfast Plate at Ikea. 99 cents.

I only make chicken soup when one of us is under the weather. For a single serving I use one chicken thigh into a one quart pot. Cover with water, add a bay leaf, a couple of black pepper corns, some kosher salt, 1/4 of a whole onion, and one jalapeno slit lengthwise about 3/4 of the way up, and a couple of sprigs of cilantro. Then simmer until the meat is tender. When it's ready, I'll through in a couple spoonfuls of cooked rice into the pot.

If I'm feeling better, I might stick a clove into the onion and add a couple of baby carrots, a couple of cloves of garlic, and maybe a small fresh tomato cut into quarters. Instead of rice I'll add alphabet pasta cooked separately.

If you are using canned coconut milk, you can add the thin, watery part to cook with and then stir in the thick, coconut cream toward the end. But I usually use frozen milk and simmer without having the sauce separate.

We stopped in yesterday for a late lunch. Wow, what a nice change from the previous restaurant. As The Boilerhouse it really left me wanting, but in the short time as Assemble, it has really come together. They've rearranged the space so the bar is toward the front where you enter and a beverage staging area where the bar used to be. There is a huge flat-screen TV mounted high on the south wall (fortunately it was not turned on) so unless you are sitting directly beneath the screen, just about every seat in the restaurant and has perfect viewing point if there is something worth watching.

Hubby ordered a cup of clam chowder and the fish & chips. The chowder had chunks of potato, clams meat, red bell pepper, onion, celery and corn that filled the bowl and was very well seasoned. Slightly reminiscent of a white Boston clam chowder, but not as thick. I stole a couple of bites - it had a slight kick to it thanks to a bit of pepper - cayenne, perhaps? Absolutely delicious.

Fish & chips. Okay, I picked at this too - so sue me. Three good sized pieces of battered rock cod were deep fried to perfection. The fish was white, flaky and perfectly cooked, the batter crisp and crunchy, but a tad salty for my taste. The chips were thick cut wedges, similar to the papas fritas served at Cesar's (Gourmet Ghetto). The potatoes were fluffy inside and nice and crisp outside, but I thought they were baked rather than fried. However, I didn't confirm so I can't answer for sure. Their cole slaw is okay, a little to heavy on the celery salt. A small cup of tartar sauce and a bottle of malt vinegar rounded out the condiments.

I ordered their five-bean vegetarian chili. Black beans. Pinto beans. White Beans. Red beans. Garbanzo beans. It was accompanied with two side cups filled with diced red onion and jalapeno so you can adjust to your liking. A garnish of cilantro and a bit cheddar cheese finished it off. It was one of the best I've had (outside of my own). It came with a wedge of corn bread that was delicious, but a touch dry. To be fair, my personal experience with baking cornbread is that it becomes "stale" within an hour or so of coming out of the oven.

Dessert was offered but we were quite full, so we passed. Hoping to give them a try next time.

Service was excellent, staff was friendly and efficient. Dinner service is coming soon (Wednesday through Saturday to start) as is Sunday brunch. The owners have fun plans for the future - outdoor seating, barbeque patio, a "dining stage" in the Craneway Pavilion (the ultimate in bay views!) and a vegetable garden.

Don't forget to take a short walk along the waterfront before heading back to you car!

Just a little story I heard ... a neighbor always managed to drop by just as dinner was being served. Too polite to send him away, he was often the recipient to a free meal.

One evening he stayed later than usual. The wife collected the plates and set them on the floor, leaving them for the dog to have at it. When the dog was through, she calmly stacked the "clean" dishes back in the cabinet and shut the door, all under the watchful eye of the neighbor.

He never dropped by for dinner again.

Well, the party was tons of fun. We ended up with three variations of chili and one 3 bean salad - a last minute sub because her chili didn't turn out (she said she cooked tomatillos in an aluminum pot and her chili tasted bitter).

For my fish chili I sauteed diced an onion, 2 ribs of celery, a red and green bell pepper, lots of minced garlic, four serranos and two jalapenos, seeded and finely diced. I added a couple of chopped fresh tomatoes and cooked them down a bit, then a couple of good squeezes from my tube of tomato paste, a pinch or two of salt and fresh ground cumin to taste.

I had some beans I had soaked overnight and cooked separately until almost done. I added them to the veggies, covered with water and stirred in some fish stock base to taste and let them all simmer until the beans were fully tender.

I cut up a mix of ling cod, rock cod and sea bass and added them to the pot toward the end. I minced some cilantro leaves and corrected the seasoning. When the fish was cooked I turned off the heat.

After I transferred it to the gift pot, I garnished it with a little more minced cilantro then put the pot back in the box and gave it to them that way. They were totally stoked and loved the color (I chose the latest color available at Sur la Table - Soleil - a cheery, sunny gradient yellow.

The other two dishes - a delicious sweet potato chili (I'm going to ask for the recipe). The other was more traditional looking (meat and beans) chili that had the mouth-feel of ground meat with a hint of smokiness, but hers was totally vegan. Her secret - BacOs Bits!

Aha, I didn't think about including a gift tag! Everyone is supposed to bring their best version of chili. They are not meat eaters but they do eat fish, so I am looking at recipes for fish chili. Thanks Pinehurst and Wyogal!

A couple I know are hosting an "apartment-warming" chili cook off. I'd like to give them a Le Creuset french oven and bring the chili in it, but not necessarily cook in it.

Is that too weird, or should I just cook and serve the chili in my own pot and give them the french oven as a gift.

Thoughts, please, the party is tomorrow. Thanks!

I read a press release that said "in late January 2013", but we're there already ... might do a drive by and see if there's a sign in the window with more detail.

I used to have a Flama grill that I loved. The plates were removable - flat on one side, ribbed on the other. The top was on a hinge so it would float over whatever you were cooking. I kept it at work and would make sandwiches, chicken breasts, whatever - for lunch. You could set the temperature to low/medium/high and an indicator light telling you when it was ready to use. I think it had a timer so I could walk away from it if I needed to. It had 1650 watts of power so it browned everything nicely.

Over the years of abuse by me and the 8-10 employees who also used it, it got pretty beat up so I ended up "donating" it when I left. I bought a Breville Panini Duo for home use which I'm not as happy about. It doesn't have removable plates, bottom is flat, top plate is ribbed. There is no switch, it turns on when you plug it in. An indicator light tells you when it is ready, but you have no control over the temperature. It only has 1500 watts of power.

Edited to add: I am looking into the Breville Smart Grill. It has more of the features I am looking for other than just their panini grill.

I usually use fresh frozen coconut milk. If I want to reduce the fat content, I let it thaw out and pour it into a cup or bowl and let the cream rise, then skim the cream off.

Another product I like is Coconut manna by Nutiva. It's delicious and made from organic whole coconut. I like to dig out a spoonful or so and stir it into my curries for flavor.

Occasionally I will use a coconut cream powder. It comes in a package and you can add hot water to reconstitute it, but I just sprinkle it into my sauces as I'm cooking. It contains coconut extract, hydrolysed starch, milk protein and tricalcium phosphate. Product of Indonesia.

My point is that you don't have to use a lot of either the manna or coconut cream powder, thus reducing the fat level and still getting maximum flavor.

Nutiva sells their organic 78-oz contain of extra virgin coconut oil at Costco. I bought one a month or so ago for something like 21.99$ at the Richmond, CA location.

Because DH is working out of the country, I made dinner for one. Started with an arugula and microgreens salad dressed in a hazelnut, lemon-balsamic vinaigrette. The main was a wild mushroom risotto with prawns poached in a lobster broth, drizzled with a touch of imported white truffle oil and a side of sauteed greens. For dessert I poached a bosc pear in a zinfandel wine sauce spiced with fresh ginger, cinnamon and a splash of vanilla. Finished with a delicious hot buttered rum before calling it a night.

DH was jealous, I think he said they had fried chicken for mid-rats. I don't have to cook today, getting together with family and friends.

Gaaah, you are absolutely right! I should be flogged :-P

I like that you can easily link to the latest post instead of having to hunt for it. I also kind of liked the preview of the posts and being able to expand them if I want to continue reading. It would be nice though, to be able to collapse any particular post as well.

I thought the same at first, but considering the changes that they're making, I don't think it will hurt them to be closed over the holidays. I think the management team made a smart decision in this location. It has historic value and the Craneway Pavilion next door, a great venue with wonderful view of the bay.

The Boilerhouse is serving their last lunch on Friday, December 12. It is reopening in mid-January under the management of Richard Mazzera, Chez Panisse alum and co-founder of Berkeley's Cesar, and his wife, former Corso GM, Terumi Shibata. It sounds like they have some great ideas for the space and a New American menu that I am sure will be well executed.

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/...

Here are the ingredients for JOC's basic, buttermilk, cornmeal and Belgian waffles, and the method for mixing ingredients. I'll leave it up to you how to best cook them in your particular iron.

JOC's Basic Waffle Recipe
1-3/4 c AP flour
1 tblsp baking powder
1 tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs, well beaten
1/2-2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1-1/2 cups milk

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together in a second bowl. (I like to add about a teaspoon of vanilla extract as well.) Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, then quickly whisk the ingredients together until it looks a little like a muffin batter. If you like, feel free to fold in 1/2 cup of raisins or other finely diced soft fruit, fresh or frozen berries, finely chopped nuts, thinly sliced banana, crumbled cooked bacon, shredded cheese, shredded dried coconut, grated semisweet or milk chocolate.

Buttermilk Waffles. I've obviously not paid attention when making this. The instructions for buttermilk waffles says to substitute buttermilk for the milk and calls for an additional 1/4 tsp more BAKING SODA. The original recipe calls for baking powder, not baking soda. Has anyone else noticed this?

JOC's Cornmeal Waffles
1 c AP flour
1 c stoneground cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c buttermilk
1/4 c pure maple syrup
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 large egg yolks at room temperature
2 large egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl and the wet ingredients in a second bowl. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently whisk until combined, then fold in the beaten egg whites.

Belgian Waffles
2-1/4 tsp or 1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 c warm milk (105-115 degrees F)
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lukewarm milk
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 c sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
4 c AP flour
2-1/2 cups warm milk
3 large egg whites beaten to soft peaks

Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm milk and let sit for five minutes.

Whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup lukewarm milk and melted butter, then add the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla.

Add the flour in three parts and remaining milk in two parts, alternating the ingredients. Lastly, fold in the egg whites. Cover the bowl with plastic film and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk, about an hour or so. When you're ready to cook, stir the batter first to deflate.

I am also a fan of the JOC's waffle recipes. There's the basic, the basic with buttermilk, cornmeal and Belgian waffle (yeast risen).`

The basic calls for 1/2 to 2 sticks of butter. After some experimenting, I liked it best using one stick. I also some vanilla extract to the batter. The buttermilk version is also delicious, are are the cornmeal waffle recipe and Belgian waffle recipe.

If you have The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum lying around, the recipes for the buttermilk waffles and Marion Cunningham's raised waffles are also good.

Forgot to mention, there is a little place called Botto's Italian Bistro off the Marina Bay Parkway exit. They're located in the same strip mall as the CVS. Because I don't get there until almost closing time, I'll order to take home. They are pretty fast, maybe 10-15 minute wait.

I love their super thin crust pizzas. The pere e gorgonzola is delicious, as is their ortolana (spinach, fresh tomato, olives, feta cheese). Their entree specials change all the time. I had their pork chop special - I think it was a double cut chop with a porcini mushroom gravy and sauteed garlic spinach. Another time it was homemade chanterelle ravioli with a wine cream sauce. I also had their cioppino with crab, mussels, prawns and fish in a lobster broth. Delicious as it was, it didn't travel well. It was packed in an environmentally-friendly takeaway container and all the broth had soaked into the three slices of toasted italian bread. My mistake, it is obviously one of the dishes to eat there!

In all fairness, I usually have a glass of wine while I'm waiting. I take longer to drink a glass of wine than it takes for their chef to prepare my meal. I usually ask if they could wait 10-15 minutes or so before starting my food so I don't have to swill down the wine when my order is ready. It doesn't always work, and my food will sit for 10 minutes or so before I head home. The only entree that "suffered" was the cioppino.

Portions are very generous, and pricing may be a tad high for the location, but the food is quite delicious.

http://www.bottobistro.com/index.html

Botto's Bistro
2171 Meeker Avenue, Richmond CA 94804

Hours:
Monday-Friday, 11am - 8pm
Saturday-Sunday, 4pm - 8pm

According to an email I received a few moments ago from the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, they are serving lunch only 11am-2:30pm, Monday through Friday until December 7. They will be closed this coming Saturday and Sunday, and will be closed for renovation starting December 12 through late January.

Look for a heritage turkey vendor in your area (I'm in the SF Bay Area). The birds are active, they run and fly. They're built like ballet dancers - big thighs, small breasts. They have a deep, rich turkey flavor. I cooked one last year to compare, and the breast meat of the heritage bird was darker than the dark meat of the domesticated variety.

http://www.marysturkeys.com/turkeyher...
The turkeys in the video on the website look a lot like the ones who roam up and down my street every morning and evening. They were a novelty a few years back but their numbers have grown so much, it's kind of spooky. They have captured my dog's interest, though.