Thanks! I'll have to report back on where we end up. :-)

Really? Huh, that's something I wouldn't have guessed! I don't know where he's staying except that it is downtown. I'll find out. Between you, me, and the fly on the wall, I'd love it to be Purple Pig as dinner is my treat and I've had a PP gift card burning a hole in a drawer for two years now. Heh.

Thank you! Festive evenings can turn cranky quickly when faced with such long waits. I'll look at all of those!

I've been wanting to go to Purple Pig and as a friend is in town this weekend, thought it would be perfect. I'm getting freaked by the possibility of a three hour wait on a Saturday though. I looked at Longman & Eagle, but again with the waiting. What other places have similar small plates menus, oh and a great beer lineup? I don't want a standard Spanish tapas and wine place. Briefly considered Quartino but am meh on it. And if it takes reservations, all the better!

Thanks!

Did you read all the way to the end where I thought manners were about making people feel comfortable and welcome? The examples I gave are extreme.

If seeing someone simply butter a full slice of bread makes a person uncomfortable enough to deem them "lower class" well, I say that person's priorities are skewed.

Damn. I can already tell this is going to be a thread I'll end up avoiding till it falls to the bottom and I don't see it anymore. Blurgh.

I'm sorry but I take exception to any sort of "rules" or "manners" that can distinguish a person as lower class by how they butter their darn bread! Are they chewing with their mouth open and spitting food while talking? Do they butter the bread with their fingers? Do they dig the roll itself into the dish of butter and dig out a big portion?

No? They just quietly and peacefully buttered a full slice of bread but are now deemed "lower class."

Well, that can suck it. Maybe I'm no "lady" but manners, to me, seem to be about everyone feeling comfortable and welcome in a group and not some set of artificial rules about forks on the left or pairs of condiments and whatnot that seem to exist only to distinguish between "classes."

Rant over. I mean, for whom were these rules established for anyway?

Heh. I'm sure I break some rule or other at least once daily!

I would find it odd if someone passed me salt *and* pepper if I just asked for salt!

As for bread, now that I think on it, when I do eat rolls (which isn't often so I really do have to think about it!) I think I butter it bite by bite, *without* tearing any off, which is probably gross and horribly rude or something, I don't know. Of course, that's when I have my own butter pats. I don't spread communal butter on something I just bit into.

a POUND of grated parm?

HA!

At that point, why bother with the sprouts at all? And, agreed, this sounds like the perfect recipe for them. :-)

Bitter Little Hell-Pellets would be a good band name.

Yeah, it does, but my inability to make a decent pie crust in and of itself is a different story. Ha!

I get by with cream and custard pies (and various cookie and cracker style crusts) for my pie repertoire. :-)

The odd thing is that I have no trouble with something like pate sucree. Weird.

I think maybe your mom pranked you. :-)

And, I feel your pain. I've never been able to master pie crust and fruit pies. As in, even if I use supermarket pie crust, my fruit pies always flop.

Oh, oops - now I see you were asking for a quick cook time. At about 3 hours or so, a tagine probably won't work!

I don't have a recipe, but what about a tagine? I know it calls for a pretty long cook time.

That's just cause you haven't tasted mine yet!!

;-)

There are a bunch of places right on West Portal for food. Market & Rye is a newer place that I haven't been to but their stock in trade is salads and sandwiches and things like housemade twinkies. On Taraval, there's Guerra Meat Market & Deli and kitty corner from that (well, pretty much) the Parkside Market, which I absolutely love. Cheap produce and lots of middle-eastern options: breads, meats, cheeses, olives. There's also a Safeway across the street. It's one of the smaller Safeways but fine for necessities.

Another plus for Stern Grove (from the point of view of your child) is that they have a giant dog park and the little lake has some great ducks and other water fowl. Lots to look at and want to chase but be held back by you! :-)

I wouldn't be surprised if he franchised himself ages ago.

Oh, but it smells so, so bad!!

But, I have a grudge against the Wharf. Everytime I've gone, the Bush Man gets me. Every time!

Ha!

The only park I can think of with easy parking and not kinda scary (McLaren) is Stern Grove but that's probably a little too far out from city center and doesn't have an awesome swing set!

Alta Plaza is a great park for kids. You're right; that playground is terrific and the views are lovely. I've never tried to park around there so am not sure of the situation - if there's a garage or something.

That Bi_Rite has been there for years; you may be thinking of the new, big one in Nopa that just opened.

Between the two, it makes for a lovely, lovely afternoon!

If budget is not an issue, you can get whatever you need at Bi-Rite market just down the street.

There's also a Whole Foods on 24th, a Molly Stone on 18th & Castro (well, a block up from Castro), and a Safeway on Market & Church.

Oh, and there's Rhea's on Valencia or Ike's, of course for sandwiches.

I've never had it but now am intrigued. And, fwiw, I've seen it for way cheaper than that at the markets in the Inner Richmond and I'm pretty sure I've seen it at the market on the corner of 18th and Mission in the Mission in SF.

By the way, mayo mixed with some Sriracha is amazing on sandwiches.

A spoonful of Veganaise would do the trick.

A all the way.

Arugula has the same bitterness to my palate but they're not the same family, so that's odd. But either one is like eating a plate of weeds to me.

Huh. I googled and it seems I was wrong. Arugula IS in the same family!

So I have that gene, too? Huh. Yes, they are really bitter to me. And I like cabbage and broccoli, so am not averse to the whole family. But brussels are not for me.

Trader Joe's sells frozen bags of pregrilled eggplant and zucchini slices. Perfect for a low carb vegetarian lasagna!

Ah, weekend has come and gone. Oh, well - the TJ veggies are still really good.

I just realized that I missed a point which is that I really don't like fish tacos on flour tortillas.