vsoy's Profile
Anyone going to Frida's? - KC
It's in the same mall as the Burnett Automotive and Coach's. There's a coupon for Frida's that came in the MoneyMailer mail this past week, $5 off $20 order and $10 off $35 order. I will have to try it soon.
KC - Best Italian Sausage?
Another vote for Scimeca's! I am very curious about this Paola Roots Festival, I'll have to check it out this year and stock on sausage! Besides the festival, are there other places that sell larger quantities of Scimeca's? I am often frustrated to find only 2-3 packages of sausage at Pricechopper.
Mendolia is not bad, but given a choice, I'd rather have Scimeca. I recently purchased store made Italian sausage from either Pricechopper or HenHouse and I was pleasantly surprised. I wish i remembered which one.
Buy bento boxes in St. Louis?
This blog has a bento box locator and it lists many of the stores mentioned in this thread. It's also a great blog on everything about packing bento boxes.
http://lunchinabox.net/bento-store-locator/
Healthy Options (KC,MO and JoCo suburbs)
Are gluten free foods low in carbs? I came across this article about a gluten free bakery in Lee Summit that is soy free. It's kind of far for you and I am not sure if it is bean free, but you might want to shoot them an email or phone call. Their products might be available in some local supermarkets and Nature's Pantry.
http://www.lsjournal.com/100/story/36956.html
Moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival [Kansas City or St. Louis]
In the past, I've gotten Fu Xiang Yuan brand moon cakes from 888 Supermarket. The box comes with 4 small metal boxes inside with paintings of Chinese women in traditional garb. The moon cakes are some of the best I've had and the boxes are beautiful for personal use or gifts. Most moon cakes are made months in advance in Hong Kong, China or Taiwan but in some cities like SF, you can get fresh mooncakes. My sister in SF was sending me this brand of mooncakes from her local store until I discovered the same brand at 888.
Tell me about your CSA, please....
Stellamystar, I've been doing the same grocery store CSA for the 3rd year in a row and I would have to say this year's weekly offerings have not been very interesting to me either. In previous years, I would only have to exchange 1 or 2 items and this year, there were so many things I was not interested in, I chose not to pick up. It is surprising they are not letting you swap out anymore, especially since you swap it out.In the past, you would have to tell them what you wanted to swap out and I felt a little funny about it and sometimes they gave bad product, Now that they let you do the swapping, I feel I can be more leisurely (as much one could be with a fidgety toddler) in picking out substitutions.
While it seems my relationship with this grocery store CSA is running its course and I'm probably not going to renew next year, there were a couple of things I liked about it. I liked how easy it was to eat/buy local. I didn't have to go out to some dirt road in the middle of nowhere at 2pm on a Wednesday or get up early on Saturday and have cash on me. I liked many of the products they offered (though there were a couple of duds) and I would have not tried if they were not in the bag. I liked that this CSA offered milk, meat and eggs. Picking up a bag with all these food groups made food shopping a lot easier and it was fun trying to make meals out of what was in the bag.
But I agree, some of the produce is not terribly local. I bought corn off a truck this week that was much closer and cheaper and it was delicious. When we first had the Nebraska candy corn from the CSA we were amazed by the taste. But having the truck corn this week was another revelation that I shouldn't wait for my csa to eat yummy corn.
As for Jitterbug's comment on what is really a CSA. From what I understand, the Good Natured Family Farms (GNFF) brand was established to help brand small farmers and help them sell products to the supermarkets. The grocery store is the middleman but they are facilitating the farmers distribute and market their produce and making it easy for customers to purchase their foods. As a consumer, sometimes I am too busy to research and try different farms but seeing a GNFF product, I may be more likely to try it because of my past experience with other products under that brand.
I think there are more local food enterprises in KC now making eating local easier. There's one that delivers a box to your door but I can't recall the name, but in my quest to simplify my life, I may try it next year.
Dining recomendations for Mall of America (MSP)?
My husband, my 19month son and I were planning to stay overnight in the Minneapolis area to check out our fascination with the abomination, the Mall of America. Sea Salt sounded good until you mentioned long wait which doesn't mix with a toddler.
Is Crave or any other places kid friendly? Slow/lousy service is a no go. My son is pretty good for 30-45 minutes and then he'll want to get down and explore.
Help finding ingredients in KC
I believe i've gotten Amore tomato paste from one of the more upscale PriceChopper supermarkets. HenHouse may carry it too, not sure about Hyvee.
I was pretty happy with the smoked salmon from Costco (they keep it in the refridgerated areas with cheese, chicken, etc) but I am not sure if you'd consider it "outstanding" or the best smoked salmon ever.
Greek Orthodox Festival at St. Dionysios (OP, KS)
I think this year was the first time in many years, the festival had really lovely weather. It seems in the past, it fell on rainy or wet weekends. We got to the festival around 6:30 and did not finish paying until 7:30pm. I think more people came out this year because of the nice weather. My husband and I took separate cars and he opted to park in the Catholic school across the street while I parked way in the back of the Greek church lot.
A new item on the menu was rack of lamb for $10. You got 3 pieces of lamb, rice and green beans in a tomato sauce. Some of the lamb chops were a little on the dry/over done side and the green beans were cooked a little too long but it was all very tasty. We also got the souvlaki and a couple of dolmathes.
Having gone to both St. Dionysius and Annunciation (the fall Greek festival in south OP) for several years, it seems to me that the portions at St. Dionysius this year were exceptionally small. We paid $1.50 for one very small dolmathe! On the one hand, we recognize this is the big fundraiser for the church but we were both struck how small the portions were this year. The dancing and music was a lot of fun this year and I remember last year before dietary restrictions, the desserts at St. Dionysius was a little bit better (more variety and new ones I had never seen in previous festivals) than Annuniciation's.
Kid Friendly restaurants in Northern MN/Heartland Trail area?
My husband, my 18 month old son and I are planning to take a vacation in northern MN near Lake Itasca in mid-August. There are a few small towns nearby, Park Rapids, Nevis and Dorset. While Dorset is touted on a few sites as "restaurant capital of the world", we'll be missing the Taste of Dorset festival. The place we're staying at didn't seem too keen on Dorset, so I was wondering if there was anything chowish in that area of MN?
My son has milk, egg and nut allergies but he likes all sorts of foods. We'll be hitting the Carter's Red Wagon farmers' market for most of our home cooked meals. Any other suggestions for food shopping like supermarket, butcher shops? TIA for suggestions!
Ethnic Groceries in KC Metro
Actually, I was in Oriental Market today around 4-5pm and there was a woman making kimbap in that new section of the store. She was setting up and probably making some for the dinner rush.
I also make a trip around the corner to the Super India Emporium and they had a wide selection of frozen and ready to eat, easy to mix meals. People were super nice.
Ethnic Groceries in KC Metro
I think I got kimbap from Joong-Ang Oriental Market at 7800 Shawnee Mission Parkway. They had it up front near the register. They may very well have the spinach side dish and others, but I don't remember.
Pizza Fusion- Leawood, KS
Their pizzas are pricey, even the regular ones off the menu but they are a very good if you want organic or vegan pizza. I've been on an elimination diet for my son who has food allergies to milk, egg and nuts. Pizza is one of many foods I miss a lot and so when I found out they had soy mozzarella, I had to try it out.
I've been sampling different soy/rice cheese at the supermarket and many are pretty awful.The soy mozzarella Pizza Fusion is actually pretty good. We were surprised how tasty the pizza was. My husband got the regular mozzarella cheese pizza another time and he enjoyed it. Their pizzas are rectangular which irritates me, but they have a tasty thin crust. I was a little worried that some uppity, vegan nazi staff might raise an eyebrow with a vegan pizza order with sausage but they were very friendly. The two times we ordered pizza, there were wide variation in the toppings. The first time we had eggplant and sausage toppings, they were these itty bitty pieces. When my husband ordered a regular sausage pizza another time, the pieces were much bigger. I think they were trying to work out the kinks. The salad (pear and gorganzola along with fusion) was was kind of ok. It was when they first opened up in March or April and the tomato and pear was pretty hard and tasteless. Probably with summer, the salad will be better. Not sure how much emphasis is on obtaining local produce when the main focus is environment and sustainability.
We'll most likely go to Pizza Fusion again because it is hard to eat out with diet restrictions but it is rather expensive.
KC- Which restaurants serve regular sized portions?
I found the portions at Jen Jen's, a Chinese restaurant at 9066 Metcalf in OP to be very reasonable.
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Jen Jen's Chinese Restaurant
9066 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66212
Kansas City - What should a Foodie not miss in 2008?
You can do a CSA subscription where you get bundles of different meats or you can just show up and buy whatever she has. The meat is frozen, so keep that in mind when you go.
Kansas City - What should a Foodie not miss in 2008?
Hey Jenny, thanks for the info on the Parker Farms. I am finishing up a 6 month subscription with Amy's Meats. She's also year round and now offers fresh eggs from her dad's farm in addition to beef and pork. There's some talk of goose being offered for the holidays at the end of the year.
She's by the CVS at the Corinth shopping center in Prairie Village every other Saturday (this week) from 2:30-3:30pm. We've had very good meals with some of the cuts we've gotten from her. The not so good ones were because of cooking errors.
KC- P&L District Chef Burger?
This article in the Pitch about Dalzell mentions that he doesn't use recipes which would explain the inconsistencies:
http://pitch.com/2008-03-13/news/kc-s-ironchef/2
Most authentic Chinese in KC?
IIRC, JenJen doesn't do lunch. They do take the last dinner order at 12:30am.
Kansas City - What should a Foodie not miss in 2008?
I always look forward to going to the 2 Greek Orthodox festivals hosted by the Annunciation (June) and St. Dionysios(September). Their websites haven't been updated yet, but it's usually the first or second weekend of those months. The desserts are the best, diabetics beware!
I also like to eat my way through the Brookside and Plaza Artfairs in May and September. This year I hope to make it out to the Ethnic Enrichment fair but it often falls on a bad weekend for me.
I was noticing in the February issue of Tastebud, an ad for a meat CSA/subscription for Amy's Meats. After getting my feet wet for the first time with the HenHouse CSA last summer, I am considering doing a meat subscription. Doesn't that sound funny? Subscribing for meat? Has anyone had Amy's meats before or is a subscriber? I just hope she has KC pickup locations.
KC Area- Cajun/Creole Food?
There's Jazz on 39 st by KUMed, but I haven't eaten there nor am I an expert on Cajun food.
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Jazz
39th St, Kansas City, MO 64111
Kansas City shopping trip.
Artisan Francaise has great crusty bread.If they sell out before you get there, Farm to Market bread is pretty good and you can get it at any Hen House supermarket. I haven't tried them personally, but I would think the baguettes at Vietnamese markets like Kim Long or the new catty corner from Chinatown Market on Grand would be a good (and inexpensive) substitute also.
KC Farmer's Market
Does anyone know if the OP farmer's market is still running this year? and if so, if any of them are selling pears?
Wild Oats is closing! Where will I get yogurt now?
Just like to mention that the Hen House GNFF fresh whole chicken (not the Henhouse brand fresh chicken) is some of the best chicken I've had in a long time. It's a bit on the pricey side but very forgiving especially when you can't remember when you the bird in the oven. A couple of times I've roasted the chicken a little on the long side, but it was still much better than factory birds. The times I've taken the bird out at the right time, it was unbelievably good with very little seasoning/prep.
The HenHouse local milk comes in these compostable plastic bottles made of corn, so there's no deposit and dealing with glass bottles. They're supposed to turn to compost in 100 days, and while I can't remember when I put the first bottle in, they look no different in my informal compost pile so far. I do get a kick out of the bottles; I'm sure I'm pissing off my uptight neighbors with my ghetto garden.
But overall, I agree HenHouse is pretty white bread in every other aspect with the exception of some of the GNFF products. I wasn't too crazy about the Weibe cheese, but I got some pretty boring cheeses (mild cheddar, jalapeno, colby) the HenHouse CSA. They should try to find some local person to supply yogurt.
Any good sushi recommendations in KC area?
Does Kaiyo have the sushi on little plates on the little conveyor belt? I have a family friend visiting who does not read English. He can identify the fish on the plates, bypassing the need to read the menu. Or does anyone know if Kaiyo have a menu in Chinese or Japanese? I am not too crazy about the idea of going all the way to Sakura just for so-so sushi on a conveyor belt.
The last time my mom visited KC, she was CONVINCED that I took her to a buffet type restaurant with some kind of all you can eat sushi bar in the back. I have no idea what restaurant she is talking. The only restaurant I can think of that might come close is one in Lawrence, some kind of BD Mongolian BBQ. Could this be the one? I can't imagine going all the way to Lawrence to take my mom to a place like that. Does anyone have any ideas for all you can eat sushi?
special birthday dinner in KC - 40 Sardines or 1924 Main?
Bluestem is a white linen tablecloth kind of a place but there's a bit of an ecelectic feel. The one curious thing about the decor was the numerous Kevin Sink photos of prairie fires. They're cool pictures, but there were like 3-5 of these giagantic photos in the dining room. They're not cheap and it's as if whoever decorated the room, really, really, really liked the photos. Maybe they got a really good deal, buy 2 get 1 free?
special birthday dinner in KC - 40 Sardines or 1924 Main?
I went to the American for my birthday earlier this year and I found it extremely formal, though others didn't find that uber formal. This is just my opinion.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/420651
Well, maybe if one finds it stuffy, then one could find solace that you're not getting *that* old but don't you know, 40 is the new 30 and 30 is the new 20?
40 Sardines and 1924 are on my list of restaurants to try, but if you've been to 1924 and didn't like the decor, why not try something new like 40 Sardines or Bluestem?
Pizza Bella in KC?
I'm really sorry to hear so many people had problems with burnt crusts, I was really worried about getting one. We went to Pizza Bella the other night for a very late dinner. We got there at 9:30pm and they were really nice even though they close at 10pm. It was completely dead so we got our food really fast and no burnt crusts. We got the calamari salad (I was pleasantly surprised that it was a warm salad, yum), a sausage and the leek pizza. We were starving and throughly enjoyed the food and service at Pizza Bella, though I'm sure it's a complete zoo scene at lunch.
The one complaint was that it was hard to tell if it was open, we drove right by it and the sign was hard to read at night.The Art of Pizza across the street had a neon "Open" sign but it looked like it was closed/abandoned with the large plastic bottle in the window. What is the deal with that place? It is really weird to have 2 pizza places right across the street, though I'm guessing Art of Pizza is more like NYC style and Pizza Bella more like artisan pizza.
All the places I don't get to go because I'm working? (KC)
Grandstand Burger info:
http://www.chow.com/places/1658
Hawaiian/Polynesian shopping in KC
I was just in Chinatown Market this afternoon and in the "Japanese" aisle, I noticed they had a couple of bottles of Aloha brand sauces (soy sauce, huli huli, guava, etc).
Dining in JoCo, OP?
Goodness, I believe there's a Wai Wai Thai Place Express down on 8351 West 135th Street too, I keep seeing coupons and ads for it, but haven't made it down there yet:
http://www.waiwaithai.com/menu.html
