Dill for me as well.

I generally avoid anything with dill, except I recently made a wonderful potato salad from Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/0...) and it may have been my favorite potato salad, ever. I used much less dill than called for, though.

My other spice would be black pepper; I find it overpowering and think it's almost always overdone.

A close friend of mine recently discovered a gluten intolerance and has decided that she now needs to learn to cook. I am a decent cook and know my way around my own kitchen and food preferences, and she has asked me to teach her how to cook so she can live a healthier, GF life. The problem is, I've never taught anyone to cook, much less teaching someone to cook GF.

My first instinct is to help her master some basic techniques and go-to recipes based in items that are naturally gluten free. If anyone has recommendations for simple prep, gluten free dishes, that would be much appreciated! One of her requests is not for things that require her to stand over a stovetop for very long -- she is impatient and hates cooking already, so we're going to avoid those recipes altogether for now.

Oh man, Thrifty's chocolate malted crunch! This was my fave as a kid, when I had a Thrifty's within walking distance! A great summertime treat and they use those old school ice cream scoops in the cylindrical shape. Haven't had this in a long time.

I wouldn't say I never consume these, but in general they are on hand for guests: diet soda (specifically diet colas or 'cola zero') and beer.

I'm a west coaster and corned beef hash is one of my all-time fave breakfast/brunch dishes -- but I'll eat it anytime!

What, pray tell, are mega stuffed oreos? Is that like a triple or quadruple stuffed oreo?

I just tried Salt & Straw last month and am obsessed. I have been raving about it since then. The Olive Oil flavor was incredible! Best new ice cream place I've tried in a really long time. Blows Molly Moon's (in Seattle) out of the water -- I find Molly Moon to be completely overrated but Seattle-ites and visitors love it.

Last week I was in PDX and tried Ruby Jewel. Pretty decent, but nowhere near as good as Salt & Straw and not really worth the 20-ish minute wait.

Haagen Dazs is what I usually have in my own freezer. I think it's the best 'premium', widely available grocery store ice cream and the flavors are the best, even the plain ones. Haagen Dazs coffee and pistachio are two longtime faves, plus some of the limited edition, reserve, and 'five' flavors.

I somehow found myself with an almost-empty bag (not a box, sadly) of Cracker Jack.

Great to hear! I'm glad you enjoyed the suggestions. I will take a look at Marche the next time I'm looking for a nicer dinner spot -- thanks!

I get to visit Portland occasionally and happened to drop by the pod of food carts on SE Belmont and SE 43rd (called Good Food Here). With my travel partner, I sampled a few different items from several food carts there. It was around noon on a Sunday and not all the carts were open.

Malasadas from Namu, a Korean/Hawaiian place (1/2 dozen for $4) -- we both liked them, they were fresh and soft, a little oily.

Chicken and waffles from Cackalack's Hot Chicken Shack. I really liked the chicken on this, but the waffle was not impressive. It came with a side of fries, which made it a good deal for $8.50, but far too much food. I wouldn't mind trying a fried chicken sandwich next time.

Lefse with butter and honey from Viking Soul Food ($2.50). I didn't have the stomach to get one of the lefse wraps, but I took a butter and honey one to go and it was lovely. I would go back to this pod just for the lefse. Next time I would try the savory #1, and their seasonal sweet wrap was rhubarb and chevre. Although as a disclaimer, I've never had lefse anywhere else so I have no frame of reference. I thought they were delicious here. Their lingonberry iced tea was very tasty and not too sweet, according to my dining partner (he ordered a second cup!).

My companion got chicken wings from Cackalack's to go and tried them later -- he approved. He got a biscuit sandwich from Blue City Biscuits(?) and the biscuit was really good, but didn't contain enough ham to balance it out.

http://www.goodfoodherebelmont.com/

Jay, did you ever discover anything more about the Haagen Dazs raspberry chocolate limited edition? I just saw this thread and was thinking about the HD pomegranate chip flavor, which was my fave a few years back. It was also a limited edition in the purple containers, but I'd love to know if you got anywhere in your communication with the company.

vichyssoise, pea mint, and cauliflower are all good chilled.

You know, I just bought it a few hours ago and don't recall the price. More than $3... I remember thinking it was a bit pricey for the amount you get, since the loaf is really small. I probably won't get it every time I shop, but once in a while.

Yay: European style bread -- thanks to schrutefarms for suggesting this. I would have never tried it (nor, probably, seen it in the store) if not for the suggestion. I toasted a slice and spread with TJ's coconut oil. The description as a "damp, nutty pumpernickel" is quite accurate and the texture is great. Flavorful and the edges got crisp and crunchy under the broiler.

Yay: garlic marinated mushrooms in a jar. These were tasty and garlicky. I would buy these again for an antipasto platter or to have on hand to serve with olives, cheese, and crackers.

Meh: dried mandarin oranges. I know many others have loved these but I wasn't super impressed. Very sugary and the flavor and texture were decent, but nothing special to me.

Meh: bool kogi -- I tried this sampled at the store and thought it was a little bland, but not awful.

I don't think these are bad, and I'll finish the bag, but I also won't buy again. They were just okay.

Chana masala (from the Smitten Kitchen recipe) -- the ingredients list looks long, but once you have all the spices, this is so easy and fast to prepare when you cheat by using canned garbanzos like I do.

Madhur Jaffrey's lentil and onions recipe.

Quinoa with black beans and corn, with a red wine vinegar sauce, or quinoa with toasted nori and other lightly sauteed veggies, drizzled with some sesame oil and ponzu, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

I seem to like legumes and grains...

When I really do not want to make any effort, sometimes a light, relatively healthy meal will be brown rice with a fried egg and some steamed veggies. Or cereal with milk and an apple/orange on the side.

hmm, i wonder if olive juice would taste good in this preparation too. i don't go through pickles as quickly as i go through jars of olives, but i do hate dumping all the lovely juice. i'd never thought about mixing with tomato juice and hot sauce but i just might...

haribo happy cola gummies!

never thought about doing this but it makes so much delicious sense. thanks for the tip... i'll try to remember it for the next fried chicken run.

I'm a fan of the crumpets as well. Toasted with Kerrygold butter is good. I also like toasted with fresh ricotta and honey, or a thin spread of butter + marmite.

wow, I haven't been to TJs in a while but might go to try these. They sound wonderful!

I tried the frozen Thai shrimp gyoza on another past CH rec, and I thought it was just mediocre. I think I've had better frozen potstickers from Costco, but maybe I've just gotten used to that style of potsticker because I grew up eating the Costco ones.

I don't have a good way... not yet, at least. I have actually only made ricotta once, using a microwave method for a tiny amount of milk and yield.

This time, I was planning to use the method outlined on the Serious Eats Food Lab ricotta post here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/02/how-to-make-fresh-ricotta-fast-easy-homemade-cheese-the-food-lab.html, and considering what Deb from Smitten Kitchen wrote here: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/0....

If you try a good way, let me know! I'll report back if I figure it out but I've been lazy lately and haven't bothered with cooking or experimenting much of anything.

I'd love to try Blue Star! I just posted in the PDX board about my visit yesterday to Sesame Donuts. So, so good...

Yay for the 1000 day aged gouda! I actually bought a chunk of this a while back, and liked it then, but rediscovered it in my fridge drawer today and have been nibbling at it for snacking today. I've been storing it wrapped loosely in parchment paper and in a ziploc baggie in the fridge cheese drawer. Seems to be a bit drier and more crumbly, but equally delish. Paired with water crackers that were left over from wine and cheese tasting last week.

I had the good fortune yesterday to spend a very enjoyable day in Portland with my brother and his friend. I just thought I'd stop by to leave a few comments from the places I tried!

His friend was set on going to Stepping Stone Cafe for the mancakes, so we had a late brunch there. Fortunately, there was zero wait time and we got seated in a roomy booth. The pancake special was blueberries and white chocolate chip. My brother had a full stack of mancakes with strawberries on the side, while his friend had a full stack of the blueberry white chocolate chip mancakes. I wasn't overly hungry, so I had a side order of the chicken fried steak with gravy (no eggs). The mancakes weren't memorable, other than their size -- they tasted fine, but I'm not a huge pancake fan to begin with. The blueberry white chocolate chip was a good flavor combo and really helped add some interest to the blandness of the pancake itself. I thought the chicken fried steak was very well fried, and the gravy had good flavor. It was incredibly rich and the two together were a bit heavier than I really wanted. I ended up scraping a lot of the gravy off and ate most of the steak. My brother and his friend used some of the gravy to make some pancake bites a little more savory when they got tired of the sweet syrup and fruit. I don't know if I'd go back to Stepping Stone unless it were pretty convenient (I were already in the neighborhood and hungry for breakfast) -- if I did, I probably would never order a mancake.

After wandering around a bit, I found the Salt and Straw storefront in the neighborhood and insisted that we go in, even though I was the only one with enough room in my stomach for dessert. The line was pretty long and I didn't want to hold things up too much, so I only requested a few samples, although I would have liked to try them all! I tried the sea salt with caramel, arbequina olive oil, and marmalade and peaches -- I ordered a small scoop of 1/2 sea salt caramel, 1/2 olive oil. After ordering, I noticed another seasonal flavor, the lotus seed matcha -- she was kind enough to let me sample that as well. I will say that this was some of my favorite ice cream ever. I liked the flavors and mouthfeel of this ice cream much more than Molly Moon's in Seattle. I would order any of the flavors I sampled again, and next time I'll try some new ones. I plan to visit Salt and Straw every time I'm in town, if at all possible :)

On my way out of the city, I dropped by Sesame Donuts in Tigard to order a half dozen, which I shared with two friends when I got back home. I tried the sesame donut, apple fritter, blueberry crumble (filled with blueberry jam), chocolate honey, chocolate old fashioned, and blueberry cake. I'd never been to Sesame Donuts, and all my friends only want to try Voodoo when we're in PDX -- they are pretty unwilling to sample new places, for whatever reason. I enjoyed all of the Sesame Donut offerings so much more than anything I've had at Voodoo. I think the blueberry cake and sesame donut were my favorites, with the apple fritter coming in close behind. The donuts were all fried very well and didn't feel too oily, but they had a crisp outer edge. I usually prefer raised yeast donuts to cake donuts, but these cake donuts were wonderful. I would definitely go back here again!

Hmm, I'll have to try the granola recipe. I have tried too many times to get clumpy granola with little to no success. Hopefully egg white will do the trick for my next batch!

I've never bought gnocchi at the store myself, but have eaten plenty of non-handmade gnocchi at my workplace dining center. I don't know what kind it is (likely from Sodexo or Food Services of America), but I actually think it's tasty. It tastes nothing like freshly made gnocchi, though. Like others have said, they were entirely different dishes.

I have made ricotta gnocchi and found it to be a fairly simple process. I have never tried making any other type of gnocchi.

I use as lip balm. It can also be used to make deodorant.

Foodwise, I use it for the roasting and pan-frying for many of the veggies that NuMystic listed above. I blob it onto sweet potatoes, no matter how they are prepared.

I forget to try it in place of butter on toast and similar. I'll have to get to that next.

I don't know how other 'hounds feel about it, but I was a fan of 'In the Bowl' bistro the few times I've been there. There's an appetizer called 'melting culture' that I thought was great. The roti that comes with is addicting. I could make a meal of it!