I remember Joy of Cooking's version to be a good stand by

I inherited a Cuisinart, it must be over 20 years old. It is wonderful. 7 cups is fine for ricotta pie, pestos, strawberry shortcake dough etc. I love it so much, when I saw one a garage sale recently I purchased it for $15. Not that I needed 2.

throwing a cork in the pot w/ the octopus to make it tender

thanks teezeetoo, I was wondering about their sit down. I go in for meats/cheeses, but haven't lingered. I have always liked the detailed descriptions of everything.

I have purchased (infrequently) oyster at Whole Foods Newton on Washington and found they have never compared with New Deal's. For the .20 or .30 more you are guaranteed fresh oysters. Also Carl @ New Deal was extremely helpful with shucking technique/advise. I recommend New Deal to anyone interested in attempting to eat oysters at home.

We ate at Blue Room last night and left pleased. I had strategically invited 2 dinning companions in the hopes of covering the whole menu, my efforts thwarted by the pork slider appetizer. This was a comforting dish. Mildly seasoned pork brisket on an iggy's mini brioche roll with a pickle chip center. The cabbage was just crunchy window dressing and the bottom half of the brioche melted away. I added some salt myself and was content. To follow was the beef brisket with pickled cabbage and mashed potatoes. This was a large dish, and nicely cooked. I also sampled the haddock which was nestled in a lovely, rich tomato sauce, also comforting. The desserts were all great. We pondered how the crunchy top was achieved on the bread pudding, it seemed oily, but not in a bad way. The rhubarb sauce was tart and the cake beneath it was moist and simple. The chocolate cake with chili chocolate sauce was perfectly cooked, dense and had the slightest hint of heat. Overall, a pleasant experience. Note; I had not eaten at the Blue Room prior to last night.

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The Blue Room
Hampshire and Portland streets, Cambridge, MA 02139

thanks, I must now change my vacation plans.

don't do it, they are addictive. but if you must, Marty's in Newton. There you may acquire olives stuffed with just about everything.

After my Arax trip, I finally made it over to Coolidge Deli on Bigelow in Watertown. The counter display was not impressive. Noticing my befuddlement the butcher asked if I wanted lamb. "Sure," I say. He proceeds to pull out lamb carcass sections, the shoulder the ribs the neck. I see a lamb begin to form on the cutting board. I see that all the action is in the meat locker behind the counter. He describes the different pieces, how they get trimmed, cost and origin (Colorado). I walked out with meaty lamb chops which are resting on the counter now as my braising juice separates. It was such a pleasant shopping experience.

There's Stellina's in Watertown Sq. Easy parking in back, probably 10 minutes away. Reliable and comfortable.

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Stellina Restaurant
47 Main St, Watertown, MA 02472

In all my research, there seemed two basic approaches, stewing (sometimes followed by grilling) or the dutch oven method of cooking it in it's own juices. That's what I'll be trying next.

and the hypodermic needles lap up onto the shore. I get the love, however complicated. Great news, going through the Kelly's drive-through in Natick just seemed... isolating.

Gran Gusto. I had family-in-law visiting with nephew in-law in tow, every single one of them demanding in different ways. It was a HUGE success (thanks chowhounders). Very pleasant service, attentive to the kid, no bother at all. Oh, and great food, with options like those you specified. Can't recommend it highly enough.

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Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140

I headed way over to East Cambridge this afternoon and was rewarded with fresh Octopus (it was cleaned on site) and blue tip Oysters from CO. Is fresh octopus as rare as I was lead to believe?

SuzieCK is right, I got that same style there on Sunday.

Russo's has several local products on the shelves below the produce when you first walk in (to the right), I have purchased local cranberry honey for gift giving. They also have a nice selection of the Stonewall kitchen jams, not local but new england. I suggest Marty's for the Taza, last time I was in I recall an end-cap dedicated to it. I've been in a similar situation, only I was going to Hong Kong. I got maple candy in addition to other things.

thanks Joanie, I walked by Mooo last night and was wondering.

given your reference to No 9, I would second Campania. I would also recommend a reservation.

good one.

Scollay Square?

The drive heading downtown via Memorial is my favorite view of the city, from there you could cross over the longfellow and drive down charles then beacon then either park at the common or in the garage above the old cheri on dalton off boylston. Both are cheap parking options and are close-ish to good dinning. You could even take a rickshaw directly to the restaurant if you are comfortable doing so. That way your friend sees a lot of the city.

If you don't fell like going through the hassle, cambridge is great too. You could pick her up and park easily off brattle and walk briefly before dinner, then taxi back to the car?

Other option is post office square park, which would get you close to the harbor and downtown chow. that garage is less than 10 after 3 I believe.

costco, my bag seems to be endless, which is good because I seem to burn them often.

Try arax for saffron (when I've compared they are the best for prices) Try Massis for the pomegranate paste. Easy meter parking, which takes dimes and nickels.
What is Angelica powder used for?

I really like the mushroom ravioli and purity ricotta cheese. I can't offer much help with the prepared foods but the Rugula pastry is very nice as is their rustic bread. Try to go on a weekday it will be easier for the counter staff to help you try the different cheeses.

I wish the SO had selected the flounder yesterday. I do find it easier to fillet than the cod (albeit a significantly smaller result)

Just an FYI, and not to alarm anyone, our whole cod had little round worms. Apparently these are common and not harmful. They can be spotted easily using a light then plucked out. They are killed during cooking, but I have seen different recommendations for time and temp, so do your best to pull them out. They surprised me a little, but I was glad I was the one doing the filleting because the SO is very sheepish and probably would have fainted and I can't pick him up. Not sure how we are going to cook this one.

A brilliant success!!!
Our waiter was very accommodating, he suggested pasta and red sauce for the bambino. Which was eaten! (This kid has been on a peanut butter sandwich diet for 2 years).
The table shared calamari, fried very delicately w/little pepper and the goat cheese app special. The cheese was incredible. We has the rib eye special, nice cut. Frittturina del Gulfo, a huge beautiful platter of fried fish. Artichoke ravioli, tangy perfect texture. Also, fettuccini w/lobster was ordered (did not try, looked o.k.) And the vegetarian?.. she order the lamb chops!! WT_!? These too I did not try. Our only dud was the veal scalopine, it tasted like wet flour sadly. Poor hubby got that one. This after he tried to re park the car and was thwarted in his efforts by a woman standing in front of the open space holding it for a car that did not appear for another 5 minutes. (the lot had been repaved earlier that day). The other patio dinners saw this move and started offering their spots as they left.
For dessert, we shared the strawberry sponge cake and the ricotta pie. The pie was stellar. It was moist, not too sweet and had a faint taste of liquor, maybe anisette. My god I wanted another. The bambino finished with ice cream and strawberries. The waiter was so gregarious with the kid (that was a major factor in getting this kid to sit down and eat). There were no sudden escapes or major fussing, everyone was utterly stunned. Wish I had gotten our servers name, major tip. Oh, and the mother in law got to speak Italian to her heart's delight, bonus!
I have you chowhounders to thank. Grazie!

They're here...
We are going to Gran Gusto, my apologies in advance to tonight's diners. CocoDan, I think you are on to a new restaurant theme.
Thanks again all.

Marty's on Washington St in Newton.

You all have been such a help. Agreed it's about space when it comes to a busy kid who hasn't had a lot of practice sitting through a meal. Gran Gusto sounds great, noted issue about timing. If the mother in law has an opportunity to speak Italian bonus! Henrietta's seems to make the grade. I thought of Summer Shack too, it would definitely be entertaing for the kid, but mother in law may have allergic reaction to plastic baskets. I'll have too look into Sabur, it was off my radar. Much obliged all! I'll be stressing on this until Saturday if there are any more ideas, keep them coming.

I really love their chicken, I rarely order chicken when dinning out but at Amigo I can't seem not to! It is nicely seasoned.