Sushiqueen36's Profile
Anniversary Dinner in Cannon Beach, Oregon
We enjoyed that view for a few minutes before dinner but we were lucky enough to be staying in an oceanfront room next door at Ocean Lodge so we had a great view from our room. The prix fixe dinner was so good at Stephanie Inn - I'm ready to go back!
Anniversary Dinner in Cannon Beach, Oregon
I agree with Syrahgirl. We had a wonderful dinner at Stephanie Inn a couple of weeks ago. Great service and food. I think it would make a very nice 30th anniversary spot... With a romantic walk on the beach afterwords maybe...
Cooking Fat
Just read that you're in Hawaii so that would probably explain the shortage of harder to find ingredients... at least hispanic ones. Maybe they can order lard for you? It really does make an amazing pie crust...
Bosnian restaurant in Astoria!
Their lamb is amazing. And as syrahgirl implied - the baklava is darned good too.
Pie dough with cheese
Yep - going to have to try that with my tomato pie. The shell is pre-baked but if I don't drain the tomatoes long enough, it still gets a little soggy. I love the idea of the crisp, cheesy shell against the soft tomatoes and basil. I'm not one to wish the days away but I can't wait for tomato season!
Server leaving a pitcher of water at your table without your asking...
Yep - I'll bet that's what she did. I'm glad gryphonskeeper went back. We all have our moments where we just aren't ourselves for whatever-reason.
Pie dough with cheese
Someone filled a raspberry with blue cheese?! Holy cow you'd have to be patient for that! I'm sure it was tasty though!
Server leaving a pitcher of water at your table without your asking...
Me neither.
I'm with all of the others. She probably genuinely thought you'd appreciate not having to wait for her to refill your glass. Maybe they were short-staffed that day and she knew she would not have time to come around as often. Just a thought.
Pie dough with cheese
Thinking of fruits that are nice toppings to cheese, I think a fig or quince pie/tart would be nice. I also love tart cherry preserves on my cheese so I can see where a not-so-sweet cherry pie could be good too. Maybe even apricot?
Does the cheese in the dough get crusty... you know, like the toasted cheese that slips out of a grilled cheese sandwich? I make a tomato pie in the summer and have thought about adding cheese to my rustic crust but have been too lazy to try.
The nectar of the Gods, tuna noodle casserole....
Won't help you at all at this point but my favorite recipe I made last September using oil canned albacore we had canned ourselves, cream of mushroom soup I had made using Chanterelles we had foraged ourselves and really great Italian pasta (http://www.ritrovo.com/i-14800cas-pannocchie-pasta.php). It was probably the most expensive tuna casserole ever but oh man was it good.
I still use the pasta and our tuna when I make the casserole now (I froze some of the soup but I'm out). I like to add a little celery for texture and just a little lemon zest as well. I use campbells cream of mushroom and a little dijon - sometimes a spoonful of mayo. I top it with French's fried onions - that's our favorite topping by far but I'm sure potato chips would be great too.
Your Favorite Weight Loss Tricks and Recipes
I lost 35 pounds on the SBD 7 years ago. Have gained 20 back due to my laziness and not sticking with a healthier diet. What's stuck with me the most and is the easiest to incorporate into a daily meal plan is 1/2 cup of veggies for breakfast, 2 cups for lunch and 2 cups for dinner. I find that if I make an effort to include those amounts into my meals, I naturally eat better and less of the things I shouldn't be eating. I've also gone through my favorite cookbooks and flagged the recipes that are SBD safe - thankfully there are a lot out there and it's easy to make slight modifications to those that aren't.
You're right though - I never felt better when I was on that diet and I did keep off the majority of the weight for 4 years.
Things you want to try making
Report back! I love gravlax to the point that I can eat the whole fillet over the course of 3 days. If I make a whole fish I make sure and give away half to save myself from my gluttony.
Joel Palmer House - Dayton, OR
And now I guess the name change for Farm to Fork is Paulee...
Things you want to try making
Do you have a pull-out cutting board? That's the only place where my clamp will fit. It's not an ideal work surface but it works!
Things you want to try making
The recipe I use - that I know I tweak but can't find the notes - calls for 1/3 cup kosher salt (that would be important.. .you're not using table salt, right?) and 2/3 cup sugar with 1/4 cup gin. That's for a full 3# fillet and I don't increase the amount of salt/sugar/gin when I sandwich the dill and juniper between two 3# fillets. I wrap the whole thing tightly with plastic wrap and put in a glass casserole then weight with a second casserole filled with canned beans. Flip every 12 hours. I have also used 1/2 cup kosher salt and 1/2 cup sugar but I remember liking the mixture heavier on the sugar - it doesn't come out sweet but I think it's harder to come out overly salty that way.
Roast chicken had pool of bloody liquid inside
If you had veggies under the bird then the steam from them would prevent the bird from browning underneath. A rack (or not) instead of veggies would help browning as would the vertical technique mentioned here. It's also pretty likely that the chicken you bought from WinCo was injected with brine - I think those can give off the extra liquid that can steam the chicken a little more in the pan and keep it from browning on the bottom.
Things you want to try making
I cure my gravlax for 3 days - might be your ratio of salt/sugar/fish is off rather than the number of days. Maybe look up a few more recipes and work on it until you get the result you like. I always use a recipe that has a bit of gin in it along with juniper berries and dill. I am also lucky enough to have a husband that catches salmon so I usually only make it in the summer when we've got the freshest fish. I love that stuff!
Pepperplate menu planning app
Many recipes published in magazines are available online through the magazine's site - I think (like liligi said) your best bet is to find the recipe online and then cut and paste if it isn't one of PP's supported sites. Still easy.
I love the app but I am overwhelmed by all of the recipes I've accumulated and have yet to try in all of their various forms (cookbooks, scraps of paper, recipe cards, magazines, fabulous apps). I do find myself trying more recipes using PP just because I can access them from my phone and am only saving the ones I really want to try.
Willamette Valley Wineries
You should probably try and narrow your list down to 3 if possible - 5 is stretching it. Unless you rent a limo... even then once you hit that many, your tastebuds will be dead if you don't spit. Carlton Winemakers Studio alone has how many wineries each making how many wines? Memorial Day weekend is a great time to explore the smaller winemakers who aren't open regular hours. A good website for research is willamettewines.com. They mail a nice map for Memorial Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend which would help you narrow your focus a bit.
Personally, I love Cana's Feast - they always have a nice food spread as well.
Willamette Valley Area Restaurants
I think when I suggested La Rambla I was salivating over that sandwich. They put lemon aioli and a roasted tomato slice on it with nice, chewy bread (which is great so the cake doesn't fly onto your dining companion's plate). I just had dinner and it still sounds good to me. And I do love the atmosphere there - that will keep me coming back.
Willamette Valley Area Restaurants
I did read your reviews - you did such a great job of representing the restaurants. I just went back and re-read your La Rambla review. One of my biggest frustrations with restaurants is consistency - if you are consistently mediocre or awful or great, I can deal with that. It's so irritating to have a great meal one day and an awful experience the next. Personally, I haven't eaten any of the dishes you mentioned in your review. I've had very good meals at dinner and disappointing ones - most often it's basic seasoning that is off. I've not yet been disappointed at lunch - I usually have the crab/shrimp cake sandwich but have also enjoyed the hamburger. I love their house salad also. Cocktails seem to be consistently good (haven't tried ordering sherry though). Recently with friends we had their goat cheese tapas, fried potatoes and fried green beans. The potatoes and goat cheese were great but the green beans should have been sent back; they were soggy. The drinks I had were excellent.
Looking back at my comments - I probably shouldn't have said "very good". La Rambla can be very good but you're right - it's not reliably consistent. I do think it's a good option for those with kids...
I am standing by my "very good" of Kame though.
Willamette Valley Area Restaurants
Nightshade is right about Thistle - definitely not kid friendly. Nick's will be more appropriate for a lunch date with the kids - dinner might be a little tricky as they can be pretty crowded and they tend to have a more relaxed attitude so meals can take a couple of hours.
You might consider La Rambla or Kame in addition to Bistro Maison. Both are very good - La Rambla is Spanish tapas and can be bustling enough to drown out a baby (if needed), Kame is our local Japanese restaurant serving very authentic Japanese food - sushi included- there shouldn't be a problem with a child there. Both Kame and La Rambla are open for lunch (I love LR's crab and shrimp cake sandwich for lunch...).
What food find still haunts you - that you had once and haven't found since?
I remember french fries that came in a sort of frozen sheet that you plopped into the toaster and then broke apart the individual fries. I loved those things but they weren't around for long. Early 1980's I'm thinking...
Joel Palmer House - Dayton, OR
Farm to Fork is closed. They have new owners who are making a name change to Harvest Inn; the windows are papered for now.
Willamette Valley Area Restaurants
Excellent detailed trip report! My two favorite in McMinnville are Nick's and Thistle. Nick's is open for lunch with a limited selection of some of their dinner favorites (like the crab and pine nut lasagne) as well as some wonderful panini and pizza from their wood-fired oven. The porchetta panini is amazing.
If you're in Newberg, Jory is a great choice as is The Painted Lady.
Essentials for a wine and cheese party
I would really take Maestro's cheese shop suggestions to heart. I know a lot of other posters are touting Trader Joe's but if you want something special - and if you're featuring cheese- head for the counters where they cut the wheels right there. The cheeses at TJ's have been cut weeks and months ago and cryo-vac'd. Freshly cut cheese is worth seeking and though it may cost a little more, you will taste the difference. If you can find something in its whole form at TJ's (like a 7-16oz round of cheese) or Costco, those are usually in fine form.
Do I double the yeast?
I am making an overnight yeasted waffle recipe for a group tomorrow and am wondering when I triple the recipe do I also triple the yeast? For some reason I'm thinking that you don't necessarily double all ingredients when multiplying yeast recipes. At this point I'm thinking of making three separate batches so that I don't have to think about it...
Essentials for a wine and cheese party
Deluca - Wheat Thins?!! Really?! They are great if you're serving, say, cream cheese with onion jam dumped over the top but the sweetness interferes with the flavor of a good cheese. A plain (not sourdough) baguette mixed with some neutral crackers - Croccantini, 34 Degrees, Bremner wafers and maybe a few nut/cheese crackers like Dahlia's or Raincoast Crisps wouldn't affect the flavor of the cheese being paired. Better yet, skip the cracker all together and just eat the cheese on its own- use the cracker as a "palate cleanser".
I love your suggestion to do 3 cheeses but divide each portion so that you can put out a fresh piece after the others are hacked up. Hadn't thought of doing that before. Also making suggestive cuts in the cheeses is a great idea- my husband always cuts the nose off the wedge even when I've "started" it for us. While it makes me crazy, no one else ever notices.
I don't think anyone's mentioned to make sure your cheeses are at room temperature for best flavor - that will make a big difference.
