Cachetes's Profile
Do you have family/friends who don't appreciate good home cooking?
I agree, ttoommyy, this was my thought as well. To be sure, there are ungracious people, and yes, those who asked for CC cookies were rude. But their rudeness is a different issue from whether they appreciate the food.
To give another example, I could have a friend who loves country music who wants to share that passion with me and play it for me all of the time and wants to take me to concerts, etc. It is great, admirable, and respectable that they have this passionate interest (like one might characterize the OP's passion for food), but I will never share it with them because I'm just not interested, and I have other things that inspire me. I'll thank them for exposing me to their passion, but it will never be even close to what they may be expecting from me.
If you give a gift, even a well-cooked meal, with an expectation of some sort of passionate return beyond a cordial thank you, then you are setting yourself up for dejection. I am on the other side of the coin here, I have a family member who has to turn every event into a festival (food, decorations, drinks, etc.), and then she gets resentful b/c she feels people don't appreciate it. She has a problem with expectations, and then blames others for her own internal dynamics.
There is no black and white here, and families and people are diverse enough to conclude that the reasons these situations evolve in this way are manifold. But while sometimes people are ingrates, sometimes they are just simply....people..
9+ days in Mexico City: The Trip Report
Excellent report, thank you! This will be a go-to read before my next trip to Mexico City.
Restaurants currently serving shad roe?
My husband had it at Bondir a bit over a week ago.
ya think CH moderators are harsh? here's a frame of reference/perspective
If the FB user has "liked" a lot of different FB pages, they are going to get a steady stream of junk, content produced by those pages. So, for example, I will click 'like' on a page for a certain political group, and when they update their status, I will see it on my newsfeed. But I only get the updates from the pages that I have selected to receive them from. It's all up to the user.
As for privacy, you can be as private, or not, as you wish. One even has the option of choosing to hide their profile completely except for friends. If one chose that option, that person's profile would not even turn up in a search on the FB site itself (even if the person searching is logged in), let alone in a google search. It's all about the user.
If you are not logged in, you can only see significant content from users who leave it public.
ya think CH moderators are harsh? here's a frame of reference/perspective
I had Google + also, but almost never used it because most of my friends hadn't migrated there yet. But the idea of different circles is pretty great; I guess in a way, CH could argue that the different content boards is their version of 'circles', though it's content driven, not user-driven. I also wasn't thrilled when Google linked Google + to my email, and that's when I killed the account. If there were a way to break that link, I'd be interested. Thanks for the offer!
ya think CH moderators are harsh? here's a frame of reference/perspective
Maybe it works for me b/c I keep my friends circle tight (well, to about 150 people!). I am in a professional field where I am informally affiliated with people who have similar interests across the country, and FB has become a great place for a subset of us to share articles of interest, ask for advice, and even share a personal thing or two. Beyond that, it's a way to share things with family and friends scattered across the country.
But I also know people who have 1000s of friends, and who post everything, and that's when I think you can run in to trouble. Maybe I'm just an old fuddy duddy (though I have been nabbed by the CH moderators a few times now!).
ya think CH moderators are harsh? here's a frame of reference/perspective
A key difference is that FB allows for self-moderation in a way that Chowhound does not. The first layer occurs when you choose to accept or deny a friend request. From the outset, this allows you to tailor the experience to your own desires. Then, when a friend does get problematic, it is phenomenally simple to de-friend or hide them. It's only after all of that when FB moderators get involved. They seem much less intrusive than CH (in fact, I've never had any run-ins with FB moderation, and I've been on it for years now), in my experience, but that's likely because I've tailored my experience there to fit my own expectations. It is in no way a free-for-all on FB (even less so than on CH!), unless you are a promiscuous befriender. I'm not criticizing CH's moderation - it's a tough job; I'm just saying that going in, it's different, in that I can't control the users I'm exposed to here.
great meal at Bondir
Thanks to all who recommended Bondir! My husband and I finally made it last night (to celebrate our 10th anniversary!), and agreed that the food and ambiance were wonderful. I've seen others on CH complain about reservations, and we had no problems. A few weeks out, I made a call, and they returned it promptly to confirm. Excellent, all systems go.
The night started a bit slowly, since our table wasn't ready until 1/2 hour after our reservation. But, they were appropriately apologetic (not too much, but a cordial acknowledgment of the wait, and an offer to top off our drinks - perfect). But the food was worth the wait. The highlights were a garlic and almond soup - a dish that could easily fall victim to either big flavor, but it was perfectly flavorful and balanced. We also really enjoyed the rabbit with fava leaf papardelle - who knew it was possible to eat rabbit ribs? But that tiny little bite was one of the most flavorful and exciting bites of food that I've had in a long time. The multitude of different flavors in that dish, again, worked very well together (as they did in my beet salad). My husband also really liked his Tamworth hot and cold, especially the head/neck meat (I think that's what was in it). We had some other dishes as well, the shad roe (which my husband adored as well) and I had the cod, which was perfectly cooked and delicious (in duck fat, did I hear the waiter say?? when he said that, I had to try it and it was delicious, though not as unique a flavor experience as the rabbit dish). We skipped dessert because I think we must have overordered.
Someone mentioned small portions and high prices. I can respect that someone might leave there and not feel satisfied - we all have different appetites. I thought the prices and sizes were perfect. The half portions we ordered were really generous (as half-portions go). As for prices, it must take an enormous amount of time to hand peel the blood oranges, crisp the individual leaves of arugula, gently dollop the tiny little caviar eggs into the soup, and properly prepare multiple portions of tiny little rabbit ribs. Moreover, each of the dishes must take quite of bit of forethought, as the chef considers the multitude of different flavors and thinks of how they might go together (I know, I sound like a food novice right now, which for this type of cuisine I am; I can also understand how being bold and inventive can lead to some flops, though none of our dishes fell into that category). I guess I just don't think it's a place you judge value by portion size, but rather by inventiveness, ingredients, skills, and sheer hard work.
Thanks for a great recommendation!
Dining Alone at Home - Plating
It really depends on what I'm eating. If I'm alone and decide on a bowl of cereal, I'm not so concerned. But typically, yes, I like to arrange a nice plate of food before I eat a meal. Oddly enough, my son (6yo) has gotten in to this, and he's become very particular about making what he calls "a king's plate", where in arranges a well-designed and elaborate array of foods on his plate. I'm big on presentation when I bring foods to other's homes also - I love to make a beautiful cheese platter, bed of lettuce, dried nuts and fruits over the top, etc.
Pink Slime (UGH!) - What are the safe brands?
Personally, I love to mix tan slime and dark brown slime, though it's not good for the waistline. I guess I should just stick to slimier white slime and the other tan slime. :-)
I'm with you; knowing what's in one's food and responding in a reasonable and consistent way (and not in a way driven by media hysteria) seems...not stupid.
Pink Slime (UGH!) - What are the safe brands?
Ha, that reminds me of the Samuel Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction discussing why he doesn't eat pig. To paraphrase, 'That would have to be one charming MF cow!'
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
We live very close to eachother. I'm about 5 minutes from that Trader Joes, 7 from Stop and Shop, 10 from both Star Market (small one) and Brighton Whole Foods. Russian Bazaar is a 1 minute walk, and of course, the beloved (though expensive) farmers market!
I grew up in an area where the nearest small grocery store was a 20 minute drive away, so this is all very new for me!
Is cashiering wimmen's work at TJ's?
It might just be your location. I'm in the Boston area, and the cashiers at my local TJs are a mix of men and women. There are also enough people from various backgrounds and age groups so that the kewl kid vibe doesn't dominate, at least in my opinion. If anything, there's a dork factor hanging in the air, which is just fine with me.
Do you cook/eat differently when it's only yourself?
I can't remember the last time I had a meal alone at home, but if the occasion ever arises, I would definitely cook more vegetarian. MY husband loves vegetables, but he has to have some sort of meat product at every meal as well. I am perfectly happy without it, and in fact I get tired of it. The only time I ever cooked a meat product for just me was when I was pregnant (lots of chicken, and which I guess may have the last time I cooked a meal for just me!), but other than that it's salads, stirfrys, pasta, rice and beans. Simple.
What goes good with chili?
Okay, I have to ask: where did you get this idea?? I have never heard of this, and it sounds really strange. I'm not saying it wouldn't be good (especially b/c I think peanut butter makes pretty much everything better), but i have just never heard of this.
Is there such a thing as a "bad" banana; or to put it another way, is there such a thing as a "really good" banana?
I agree, though with a bit of poking it's possible to find some of that variety in bananas in the area where I live. While the Cavendish is still the main one available, I'll occasionally find the small Red bananas. I'm not sure I've ever found the small yellows here though. Both of the latter I like better than the Cavendish b/c of the texture.
Does anyone here remember the Gros Michel bananas of the 1950s and early 1960s? I'm too young to have tried one, but I wonder how different they are from the Cavendish in terms of taste and texture.
At Titanic Themed Dinner Club - Bad Taste?
You make a great point. It could probably be said of a lot of celebrations. Great point.
At Titanic Themed Dinner Club - Bad Taste?
Not all tragedy is created equal.
Moreover, OP is not celebrating the tragedy of the Titanic. As OP says, they are honoring those lost. If the Titanic is too much of a powderkeg, I give OP permission to have a traditional German feast in honor of my great-great grandfather who died in a tragic sheepherding accident in the hills of southern Germany almost 100 years ago. I don't give a hoot.
Humiliating experience at Dettera
That doesn't seem obvious at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Cheap groceries? Moving to Brookline area,,..from out of state
I echo most of what's been said here. We focus on cheap also, and find Market Basket in Chelsea to be among the best options. But, if you go when there's traffic, it will take twice as long. We go late at night, early morning.
Russo's: I like better than MB, much better, and prices are great also. I shop there right when they open on Sundays - traffic, again, is the issue. This is my favorite store in the area. This store is very heavy on produce, with a small meat selection, a sizable cheese selection, bakery, homemade pasta, deli, some prepared foods. You won't find many canned goods here, though, if that's what you are looking for.
Russian Bazaar: We enjoy this store. Interesting items for a fair price. When we don't feel like cooking, we like to stop by and pick up some prepared foods also - great deal.
Locally, Trader Joe's is where we stop to stock up on things we run out of - milk, eggs, etc.
The other local chains, Shaws and Stop N Shop, are on a need-to-buy basis only. They make me sad.
As for the Brookline farmer's market, it's fun to visit, and I long for all of the produce, but there is very little there that seems affordable to me. I generally skip it (though I got a dozen eggs there this fall that were wonderful, and not too pricey).
The cost of living here is high, but oddly enough, we did not find the cost of eating out much higher than when we lived in rural NY. The selection here is obviously much bigger, and there is a range of cheap eats that are much better while the same price as what we could get in and around our small NY town. We were shocked by how reasonable it seemed.
Enjoy!
Zwiebaqck? Where?
Wow, it's been that long since I made a cheesecake with zwieback??? I guess middle age is leading the years (or my mind) to go faster than I wish.
That's a shame - I think the last cheesecake or two that I made was with graham crackers, but I did it b/c I had them on hand and was too lazy to go to the store. I didn't like it as much as zwieback. Maybe there are other brands the OP could seek.
Thanks for letting me know!
Zwiebaqck? Where?
Agreed, I've found it in recent years, but always in the baby food aisle. Like the OP, it's the only thing I'll use for cheesecake!
Open on Christmas Eve in Albany NY?
Just a quick update to let you know that Christmas eve was salvaged with a quick trip to Schenectady, where we stopped by Capiellos (sausage, meatballs, octopus salad, olives) and Villa Italia. My Dad had some frozen sauce. It wasn't 7 fishes, but we pulled it off at the last minute and had a relaxing evening. Thanks for helping out!
p.s. Vans will have to be my next trip!
Open on Christmas Eve in Albany NY?
I didn't know about Ala Shanghai, and the link is great! Thanks - if our plans send us to a restaurant, I'll be sure to report back.
How to "split" a check equitably?
Either this, or ask the server for separate checks when he/she comes to take the order.
My Aplogies, but I Need to Vent About America's Test Kitchen
I really like Cooks Illustrated, but had to cut my subscription off a few years ago (I can't remember why now). For the past two years, I look fondly at my mags from the old days, which I saved. But I resist signing up for a new subscription b/c I don't want to get caught in that crazy web again. It's a shame.
