polish_girl's Profile
Palo Alto- looking for a restaurant open on Sunday early pm....
Wow! this is great...I will definitely pick something...The only option we brainstormed at work was Il Fornaio, but this info gives me a lot more choices. Thanks!
Palo Alto- looking for a restaurant open on Sunday early pm....
Does anybody know of a good restaurant in Palo Alto (preferably American or Mediterranean) open on Sunday - around 3PM? I can't find anything- can't change it either....it's part of my daughter's graduation....I .everywhere I look they are either closed or open at 5Pm.....Help!
Luxemburg, Brussels, Amsterdam-local foods!
So, what's not to miss in these 3 places? We only have a day in each, so not much time , but I am sure we will manage somehow (as we always do).
Never been to Luxembourg - but heard they have nice white wine and famous Ardennes ham. Where do we go to get this or some other specialties?
Brussels- french fries with mayo we shall try, but what else? Also, please suggest a special beer for my hubby (do they have local wines?)
Amsterdam- last time I was there it was about 8yrs ago and don't remember much. But I do recall looking for a local restaurant, which we finally found after walking miles and miles. Don't remember the name, but it had a magnificent ceiling, all carved out of wood, and it was located on a wide boulevard type of street. They served us a plate of a little bit of everything including blood pudding. It was great! Anybody knows what I am taking about? Also, where do you get these famous young herrings that you eat whole (yum)-will they be available in June?
Poppy Seed pastries
Polish version of that cake is called a "makowiec". I think there are recipes online, mine is in Polish, but I rarely make it, because I am the only one in the family wholikes poppy seeds!
I usually buy them in a Russian deli , but it's more of a single serving bun, not a cake like I am used to eating in Poland (BTW it's a must for Xmas)
do you eat American style or European style?
Since I was raised in Europe, I use the European style. I didn't even know about the American style until one day, many years ago I checked out an etiquette book from a local library... What a shocker! That's where I found out about the different style of eating, as well as other things that where completely different from what I was tought were "good manners".
In general, the major problem with the American style that Europeans despise (because they do, you can hear comments in restaurants) is pre- cutting the food, as well as eating with just fork, no knife. That's a big no-no. You eat everything with fork and knife, unless it's soup of course :-)))
And yes, I brought to the US a special fish fork and knife set because you are not supposed to touch fish with a sharp knife. It especially applies to the bone in fish.
There are even jokes about it....( the king is taking a swim in the ocean and shark attacks him . He yells for help to his servant to come and kill the shark with the knife he is holding. And the servant yells back- but sir... kill a fish with a knife? )
Best hot dog in LA?
Just came back from LA - went to have Pink's hot dogs on Sunday for the first time and was not impressed. I had the Long Island (the STRETCH 10" was tiny! ), my daughter had a Today show (double hot-dog) , and hubby a polish mild ( I think the best from all our sandwiches ). As we were on a college tour of LA/SD I thought it would be a nice place for my daughter to go sometime...but she decided not to come back.
it's really not worth it to stand in line for over an hour and get a mediocre hot dog. I think Costco's dogs are a lot better:-))))
What do you love and collect?
My former boss would save corks all year and for Xmas she would make those cute cork reindeer for everybody in the office. I still have some, even though it was 15 years ago....
My hubby also saves corks-has a full wooden wine box in our wine cellar in Krakow, and an almost full one in our California house. I am not sure what he is planning to do with them, maybe sell them by a pound :-))))
I personally collect china dish sets. Have 7 at the moment, and I better stop, because my other half is losing his patience (and if he does, his cork collection will suffer as well) !
What's the name for this type of party?
I am throwing one in December And it will be called an open house. It's what most people call it when they ask me when I will do it....And I will welcome wine, but not gifts. Thanks Val for the suggestion to let people know about the kind of food that will be served (in my case-appetizers only plus drinks).
The best thing your school cafeteria served
I remember good food in my 1970's Polish grammar/middle school combo (1-8grade), no cafeteria in HS-you brought your own sandwiches.
I remember several big, scary looking ladies,dressed in white cotton uniforms. But boy, did they cook well. They made homemade soups (sour pickle and tomato were the best), pierogi, various noodles, roasted chickens, to die for goulash and one of our favorites-hard boiled eggs in sweet and sour dill gravy with mashed potatoes. But what really stands out in my memory is a plate of mashed potatoes with kidneys in gravy. The best I would ever have in my life so far....
air drying kielbasa
I see kielbasa drying at Polish grocery stores and they don't have green color or mold.
3 weeks seems like a long time, I sometimes buy kabanosy (thin, long type of a Polish sausage) and hang them for a few days in the kitchen, so they get dry (sort of a Polish jerky).
After drying for 4-5 days I put them in the fridge.But I never did it with a regular, thick kielbasa. I think you may want to go a Polish deli and ask, they should know if it is still edible.
what i crave when i come back home to states
I didn't mean to cause trouble, but that's what the Europeans are saying themselves . If you want to have a good steak pretty much anywhere in Europe, they will offer you Argentinian beef, 3xthe price, but quite good. I heard from a lot of people from various European countries that beef there is not tender and not flavorful. Don't know why, maybe it's the variety they grow?
I remember my mom trying to make beef bullion- she would cook the meat for hours and it would never get tender. All you could make from it was goulash and such.
Also, I had a lot of visitors from Europe over the last 20 years, and all they ever craved in the US was a good steak or tri tip.
What is a good buy in the U.S.?
All my Polish /other European friends simply MUST have a Kitchen Aid food processor, with all possible attachments. They keep buying them like hot cakes (while in the US or order on e-bay).
Has Viking improved its low-flame capability?
No, I only have it between off and hi. Actually, here are all of them, from left to right-
off-simmer-hi-medhi-med-medlow-low
what i crave when i come back home to states
I have to say, a good steak. They just don't have good beef in Europe.
Raising a non-picky eater
My daughter is almost 17 and will eat just about anything (especially seafood). Here are some examples of how we created a food enthusiast-
-Now that I look back at how I raised her (I never approved of the US custom of leaving small children with teenagers as babysitters) so we always took her with us to parties. And she ate whatever was served....
-We traveled with her extensively and to exotic destinations since she was a toddler and we all ate only local food.
-We stared her with solid foods at 3months, with home cooked soups (usually chicken or veal), never anything from a jar.
-We also never buy fast food, which I think is the worst sin of our society.
-Oh, and I never said in front of her when she was young (as did many parents I know) -"I hate fish". And the child wouldn't touch fish for years, because mom didn't like it. Just a sad example, but so true.
Has Viking improved its low-flame capability?
I got a Viking 6 burner range -started using it in March 2009- and yes, it does have a simmer option....but...it is located between off and hi , so I never remember to use it! Why couldn't they put it next to low???? And yes, i just checked, and a simmer can have a very small flame. I will definitely use it more in the future.
Beef Liver - Do you choose to eat it?
I practically grew up on beef liver...Always fried till pink inside (otherwise it gets too hard), with some onions on a side-mmmmm!!!! I ahd some good liver last month in Berlin, at a hotel restaurant (Mercure hotel by Tegel Airport))
No Reservations NYC outer boroughs episode tonight
It was ok, but for me they showed too much Asian food. In Brooklyn for example, they should have concentrated on something eastern European (Jewish? Russian?Polish?)
Pictures From Chowland!
Do you REALLY want to drool? Here are a couple of pictures from a wedding I attended in July in Poland-
1. sausage rack
2. roasted wild boar, turkey and ham
3. real country butter
Krakow!
Went to Miod Malina yesterday- had a wonderful carpaccio. Very nice place, have to come back for more . I also had some nice and very refreshing Tokay from a barrel at the Camelot-still my favorite hang-out place in Krakow after all these years...I always come back for some tokay, sometimes also a salad at lunchtime or a nice piece of szarlotka
with ice cream (apple tart).
Also discovered a new med style restaurant called Mezze. Nice concept - you choose a few mezze (4zl each) quite a few choices, you pick, they bring to the table. After that I ordered fresh, grilled sardines-very nice, just like in pain just olive oil and lemon juice. Nice short menu, the place is located on Sw. Tomasza st, corner od Sw. Krzyza (Old Town).
Nassau
Wow, I will have to print this post again.... thanks for all the great info! We are leaving this Friday, coming back Monday so we won't have much time but I am sure we will still have a chance to enjoy some good food. My foodie daughter (16) is already talking about a conch salad and a Bahama Mama(virgin of course). Husband will eat anything, but prefers simple local food.
I feel pretty ready for this quick trip, just have one , not really food related question-is it legal to bring one of these beautiful conch shells back to the US?
Krakow!
Euro is coming in the next year or so...Can't wait to try Wesele, or Miod Malina as it turns out we will be in Krakow in July!!!!! Happy, happy....
Can you use a lavender bush for cooking?
Thanks, I thought something didn't make sense. Why would I need to start with a tiny plant from the herb section, when I can get a big one from the landscaping area for almost the same price? Great, I will be buying them this weekend....
Can you use a lavender bush for cooking?
What I mean is the lavender people plant in front of their homes....same thing goes for rosemary-you see the beautiful, big bushes here in CA. But can you cook with them? Somebody told me once that for eating plants need to be grown a certain way, without the chemicals...Do I need to stick to the smaller version that you can find in an herb area of the nursery?
What do you eat too much of?
CHEESE! I always have 4-5 different kinds in my fridge...And I really should lose a few pounds, but how can I with all the fat in cheese (and don't tell me that the light version tastes as good because it doesn't!)
Where do you keep the Kitchen Aid mixer?
I took out a shelf (because it's so tall!) from one of my bottom cupboards and it resides there, right next to the blender, food processor, etc. I actually built a couple of those so called appliance garages thinking about storing my KA there, but it turned out it was too high....
The Accidental Mushroom Forager
I love your story! We had a couple of similar situations- once (we used to have several pine tress on our property) we saw 3 familiar looking mushrooms (slippery jacks). Before we decided that they in fact were edible, the squirrels were faster.....and ate them.
Second time we were having dinner at the Samoa House in Eureka, Ca, and just before dinner we took a quick stroll around the grounds- found a little grassy and pine tree area full of porcinis! It was like Xmas, we gathered a couple of hundred of them. Barely could wait to come back home (4hrs drive) to marinate them, dry some and also make a wonderful sauce. We have been back there several times, but we never saw any mushrooms again....
Seriously Now -- Which countertop appliances do you leave out on your counter?
I am in the minimalist camp. I leave none of my appliances out. Actually, 2 - electric water kettle and a toaster, but they are both hidden behind these "appliance garage" doors built between the cupboard and the counter in 2 corners of my kitchen.
What Did Your Mom Cook You When You Were Sick?
To cure colds, it was a glass of hot milk with honey and garlic...What can I say, I still have nightmares about it :-)))
She also made us a wonderful soup called"rosol" -basically half and half chicken and beef boullion, served with homemade egg pasta. Now that was good!
Do you eat goat?
I had a goat tagine once, while in Morocco. It was good, but I really haven't seen much goat around NorCal....
