I sorta figured that with the lack of replies. A picnic lunch is a great idea! Thanks.

We will be in this area for lunch on July 4th. We are looking for something upscale, not too much so, but after being in a campground for 3 nights, we will be looking for something less rustic.

OR

We could just do a quick lunch and have a nice meal in Spokane, WA.

So, I guess we are looking for either upscale or a quick, good, non-chain restaurant.

Any help is a appreciated!

AZGrandpa-thanks! This is exactly what I'm looking for. Believe it or not, my son's favorite fish is walleye. For his birthday dinner one year at his request, we did a taste-testing meal of fish. We grilled it at the table on the top portion of a raclette machine. Walleye was the favorite - more than the fresh, local whitefish. This was several years ago. He just turned 16 last week, so you can see he is a foodie.

We will definitely plan on Stub's. Sounds like a perfect place! Again thank you for your suggestions. That's why I love this site.

We will be leaving Milwaukee driving to Seattle around the end of June. This trip will be planned around food and friends and the July 4th holiday. Currently the schedule is to take seven days to reach Seattle.

We are looking for suggestions for restaurants, primarily lunch spots focusing on flavor over location. I'm not sure there is a cuisine or food that we don't love. We are not looking for upscale restaurants as much as great finds for a restaurant. Having said that, upscale isn't out of the question.

At home we typically eat out once a week as I use these driving trips to help me come up with recipes to cook at home. These restaurants will be much of my inspiration for the rest of the year.

We will be taking 90 west, but returning on 94 in order to see different scenery and restaurants. Yes, we've done this drive before. I guess we are lucky that we like to travel by car.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty new here as far as postings go, so I can use all the help I can get. I will post in the other forums as well with a better title! Thanks again.

We will be leaving Milwaukee driving to Seattle around the end of June. This trip will be planned around food and friends and the July 4th holiday. Currently the schedule is to take seven days to reach Seattle.

We are looking for suggestions for restaurants, primarily lunch spots focusing on flavor over location. I'm not sure there is a cuisine or food that we don't love. We are not looking for upscale restaurants as much as great finds for a restaurant. Having said that, upscale isn't out of the question.

At home we typically eat out once a week as I use these driving trips to help me come up with recipes to cook at home. These restaurants will be much of my inspiration for the rest of the year.

We will be taking 90 west, but returning on 94 in order to see different scenery and restaurants. Yes, we've done this drive before. I guess we are lucky that we like to travel by car.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I will post this in the Great Lakes forum as well.

We will be leaving Milwaukee driving to Seattle around the end of June. This trip will be planned around food and friends and the July 4th holiday. Currently the schedule is to take seven days to reach Seattle.

We are looking for suggestions for restaurants, primarily lunch spots focusing on flavor over location. I'm not sure there is a cuisine or food that we don't love. We are not looking for upscale restaurants as much as great finds for a restaurant. Having said that, upscale isn't out of the question.

At home we typically eat out once a week as I use these driving trips to help me come up with recipes to cook at home. These restaurants will be much of my inspiration for the rest of the year.

We will be taking 90 west, but returning on 94 in order to see different scenery and restaurants. Yes, we've done this drive before. I guess we are lucky that we like to travel by car.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I will post this in the Great Plains forum as well.

I am starting to plan a road trip from Milwaukee to Washington state for this summer with my family. I would really like feedback from Chow on restaurants to seek out. We are all about food, so I am willing to go off the beaten track to find great food. I've already started a list of Mexican restaurants from here to there, but want a more well-rounded plan. We did a driving trip to Maine last year and found some wonderful places, but we used Trip Advisor on the road. I'd like to plan ahead this year.

I just don't know where to post. Since this trip spans multiple categories, I'm unsure where to post. Should I post in multiple categories - Great Plains, Minneapolis, Pacific Northwest, Portland, and Seattle? I don't like to double post, so I'm asking for suggestions of what to do.

Thanks in advance!

We are in the process of moving. We are going to be out of the house in 7 weeks, and I have a freezer full of food - large brisket, sweetbreads, tongue, etc. My goal is to finish them before we move because I'm not throwing them out!!! Cook the shanks and refreeze them if you have to, but don't let them go to waste!! Happy cooking.

We too are thrilled PizzaMan is coming back. We loved the ambiance, food, and wine. I've heard that they will have again a spectacular wine list. Can't wait for them to open!

It's been snowing here almost all day. It's really coming down now.

I've been cooking all day. Steak and kidney pie for dinner. Just happened to have some in the freezer. Chicken noodle soup for a sick friend.

I just love all-day cooking!

I marinate my own olives. Buy jarred/canned (there are some good canned ones if you really look) olives, rinse them, and then marinate them. There are tons of recipes out there. It's fun to experiment. I just had a party, where I served three different kinds of my own marinated olives. Some of the recipes call for multiple types of olives. I use some with pits and others without.

Having said that, buy good quality olives not the horrid black ones that plwakawaka referred to.

I'm so glad you found olives! Happy eating.

Another vote for Zabar's.

I made the Almond Dacquoise from Bottega Favorita for my New Year's Day party. It can be made in stages and frozen until you slice it. I've never had so many compliments. It's a lot of work, but well worth it. I will definitely make it again. Good luck!

I absolutely love Carnivore. My vote is for it!

I couldn't agree more. Love my Griswolds and my LC. I thank my MIL for introducing me to both.

French onion soup and escargots.

Coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon come to mind. Personally I would only use these wines for cooking, but you could always try serving them. If someone doesn't drink them for Christmas, then use them for cooking.

We really enjoyed Maharani Soho. We ate there twice and really enjoyed it. They are open 12/27-31. Enjoy! London and Indian are a perfect match. I wouldn't think of visiting London without an Indian meal.

Mine are organized alphabetically by author's last name. I too use EYB. Once I found a recipe that I wanted to use through a search on EYB, then I couldn't find the cookbook. So, I reorganized everything. It was a lot of work, but now it's so much easier.

I always serve roasted potatoes and Yorkshire pudding with gravy. This is a very British menu. My MIL also serves peas, but I draw the line there.

Personally, I would add one lighter nibble. I also like to offer foods in groups of threes. I do like the idea of smoked fish. Maybe that could be your third.

I start my chickens in a 425º oven for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375. I cook two at once and put them on a rack in a roasting pan. My chickens are usually 4.5 pounds each. After 45 minutes of roasting, I start basting them every 20 minutes or so.

Also, I start with my chickens at room temperature. In the winter, I will prep my chickens at 12:30pm for a 6 pm dinner. I put the chickens in the oven at 4 pm and pull them out between 5:35 and 5:45 to rest before carving. I rotate the chickens once during cooking.

Good luck to you!

+1

I would strain it before boiling so that you don't overcook everything else. Reduce the liquid then add everything back in. Add more chicken if you think it needs it.

Maybe add some pasta, which would soak up some of the liquid.

I roast them before freezing them. I always have a bag in my freezer. Great to add to guacamole.

I make a gingerbread house every year. Each year it's different. I have a big board that I use so I am able to create an entire scene. I've created large houses, neighborhoods, downtown scenes. I've done a single home. It's so fun to use your imagination. There are a books with different gingerbread house ideas/scenes, but it's easy enough to come up with your own. I've already planned next year's scene. My ILs lake cottage and surrounding area. I'm going to see how closely I can replicate the entire area.

Here's a picture of this year's scene. Good luck and let your imagination run wild!! Mostly have fun. I do this with my kids each year. It's a great tradition.

Thank you! I can't wait to try these.

I learned this technique from an Italian chef and have used it ever since with wonderful results.

Shell and devein the shrimp. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil with high heat. Add the shrimp and cover the pot. As soon as the water returns to a boil, drain the shrimp and rinse with cold water. Watch carefully as the water will boil over quickly.

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for the inspiration!

We stopped in Ashtabula, OH and ate at Brickettes Smokehouse. It was delicious and plan to stop there the next time we drive that way.