Erin11

Welcome back and thanks for the report. You have no idea how jealous I am after seeing the photo of the crate (!) of Westvleteren. Fitting as I am planning on drinking my last bottle on my birthday tomorrow. Off to look into airfares to Belgium...

I made this Tomato Pie recipe from Leite's Culinaria last night. It's really easy to put together. A couple modifications on my part: used fresh mozzarella instead of cheddar cheese and did not peel the tomatoes.

I have been to Scylla and really enjoyed my meal. Unfortunately, they are closing later this month (8/26/07 is the date I read on another forum). What types of food are you interested in during your visit? That would help narrow some suggestions...

I'm resurrecting this thread as my sister and I are headed to the Big Island at the end of May and I wanted to see if anyone had recent updates? So far, we have a reservation at Pahui'a for our big "splash out" dinner. My sister and I are spending two nights in Volcano and three nights in Kona. Other than Pahui'a, places on my list to try are Tex Drive-In (for malasadas) and Bamboo. The folks who run the b&b we're staying at in Volcano recommended Shacka Restaurant in Na'alehu for a lunch stop (we're taking the southern route from the Kona airport to Volcano). Anyone have experience with this place?

Pork tenderloin w/ teriyaki-style sauce Citrus couscous with golden raisins, dried cherries, walnuts Roasted asparagus Lemon square for dessert

This weekend I made a recipe for a carrot salad I saw on the food blog Chocolate & Zucchini. Basically it consists of shredded carrot, diced avocado and either chicken or tofu tossed in a dressing made from orange or lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and mustard. I thought it was delicious and a great way to get in some veggies! Grated Carrot Salad with Avocado

I haven't been to Spring or Scylla so I can't comment there. If you're not limited to the Bucktown/Wicker Park area, I would suggest heading north to Lincoln Square. In particular, two of my favorite places are Bistro Campagne and Sola. Bistro is more cozy and has a great seasonal menu. Sola emphasizes seafood on their menu, but can be a bit noisy - not recommended if you're looking for an intimate dining room. On a Saturday night, reservations recommended for both. Bistro Campagne website 4518 N Lincoln Ave Sola website 3868 N Lincoln Ave

Interesting topic. I don't like stewed/braised beef - it's a texture thing. Have tried it repeatedly throughout the years, but cannot get over the texture. I also don't like the flavor of licorice. I'll eat fennel, but only in small doses. I also had a childhood vomiting incident that put me off tomato sauce for years. I followed a spaghetti dinner with several spoonfuls of nestle quik powder (I was an idiot chocoholic child). For years the smell of tomato sauce made me queasy - however, I never had issues with chocolate from that incident.

Salmon and spinach in mustard cream sauce (heavy cream, Boetje's mustard, mayo and white wine vinegar) Diced potatoes (sauteed in olive oil, finished with salt and pepper) Pinot noir to drink

This brings to mind something I read in Bill Buford's book Heat. While working as a "kitchen slave" at Babbo he comments on all the "extra" touches/additions done in the restaurant kitchen that aren't revealed in cookbooks. He was noting the addition of a special sauce under an entree that isn't mentioned in the official Babbo cookbook.

If you think that you should see the postings at the Self magazine forums. One entry after another of Kashi bars and fat free pre-packaged food. I really appreciate you (and the other Fit for Summer participants) taking the time to journal your meals. It serves as a good source of inspiration for those of us who like to cook and want to eat healthier.

Westvleteren - get thee to Westvleteren! Home of (in my opinion) the best beer. I discovered their trappist beer here in Chicago a few years ago only to discover that the monks who brew it do so only on a limited basis. The result meaning that once hooked, I am now forced to suffer through the fact that there is currently no Westvleteren to be had in the city of Chicago. During my last trip to Belgium a couple years ago I made a special trip to the brewery at Westvleteren (on my birthday so my family had to agree to the side trip). In addition to a store where you can buy their beer (for about 1/6th the price it's sold for in the US), they have a cafe serving food including ice cream made from the beer. Best birthday ever. Official Website - Abbay of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren

I put together a hodge-podge salad for lunch today to use up some produce and ended up with a pretty tasty lunch. I started with hearts of romaine and added roasted beets, orange segments, walnuts and some crumbled gorgonzola. Finished it off with some crab meat and a couple dashes of pepper.

Some of the responses have touched on this but let me also chime in that you should consider the following when making your decision: going to work as a line cook not only means giving up your current salary, it can also mean giving up benefits (company-paid insurance), paid vacation time and holidays with friends/family. When I was in culinary school, I was among a large group of "career-changers" - folks with day jobs in an office going to school nights/weekends with dreams of cooking for a living. Only one of us made the leap to cooking full-time and he had prepared by saving a year's worth of living expenses before going to work as a line cook for $10/hour. Even though I'm not cooking for a living (YET!), I don't regret going to culinary school (ok - maybe there's a little regret when I write my student loan check each month). It was a great experience and still the only time I've gone home exhausted yet stupidly happy despite spending 14 hours on my feet in a hot kitchen and getting burns on my arms/hands.

I find that one or two slices of whole wheat toast with peanut butter keep me full until lunchtime. Be sure to go easy on the peanut butter, though. Sometimes I'll also add some sliced banana to the PB toast. I've seen recipes for making "egg muffins" ahead and freezing them for quick on-the-go breakfasts - just reheat in the microwave. Variations I've read include adding lean meat and veggies to muffin tins, adding egg and baking to create the muffins. Then freeze and reheat as needed.

How about lasagne? I've also done shrimp etouffe for a fairly large crowd with good results.

Pork tenderloin stuffed with gorgonzola/dried cherry mixture and topped with onion/port/quince paste sauce Couscous with dried cherries, walnuts and golden raisins Roasted cauliflower The inspiration for the stuffed pork loin came from a recipe I saw on Epicurious, I substituted the dried cherries for figs as that's what I had on hand. Initially, I was just going to heat the quince paste on its own to make a glaze, but got the idea for the onions and port from an episode of America's Test Kitchen I happened to catch over the weekend. And am I glad I saw that episode - loved the sauce!

One thing that I'm doing to help with portion control is to pack my leftovers in single-portion containers rather than all in one large container. It also makes it easier when packing my lunch to take to work - I just grab and go. My staple "good-for-me" food this winter has been vegetable soups. Last night I made roasted butternut squash soup. Roasted the squash for an hour at 375 and scooped flesh from peel. Sweated an onion and three cloves garlic (minced) in 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil and less than a tablespoon of butter. Added cumin and coriander (approx 1.5 teaspoons of each) and about 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves. To that mix I added the roasted squash and covered with a quart of chicken broth (I've been getting the Trader Joe's low sodium - the sodium per serving is super low). Brought everything to a simmer for a bit and then pureed it with my immersion blender. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

The return of cold weather made me hungry for my go-to comfort food of this season - my take on "mexican" mac & cheese. I used a mix of cheddar, monterey jack and chihuahua cheeses in the sauce and also added in crumbled chorizo sausage. Add a side of steamed broccoli to make myself feel healthy!

I did the same thing for my brother and sister-in-law when they had their first baby a couple years back. It was winter as well, so I made and froze the following: Shrimp etouffe Chicken enchiladas (chicken filling frozen in one container; sauce in another) Lasagnas I cut back on the normal spice level for the etouffe and enchilada sauce to make it nursing-mom friendly.

Thanks to this thread for inspiration. I cooked my first rib roast for New Year's Eve dinner and it was delicious! I bought a 4 pound roast with the bones trimmed and tied back on (Choice roast was $13.50/pound at my local meat market). I went very simple with the prep - seasoned with pepper and salt mixed with rosemary and sage. I started the roast in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes and then lowered the oven temp to 350 degrees. I cooked the roast to 120 degrees and then let it rest for 20 minutes (final temp when we carved was 134 degrees - and the meat was perfect). I used a sauce recipe from Martha Stewart's website because I wanted a sauce I could make ahead (the dinner was not at my home and I wanted to do as much prep in my own kitchen as possible) - simple sauce of mushrooms and garlic sauteed in olive oil, then deglazed with red wine and veal demi glace, reduced until thick enough to cover spoon. Thanks again for the inspiration!

How about Cafe Spiaggia? Less formal sister to Spiaggia. 980 North Michigan Avenue, Level 2 Chicago, Illinois 60611

My brainstorm came a couple months ago when I saw a recipe for marshmallows posted on Slashfood. I found the vanilla powder at a local spice store called the Spice House (I'm in Chicago). I believe they have a website that you can check out. My initial idea was to get a couple vanilla beans and infuse them a la vanilla sugar, but I saw the powder in the store and thought it would work better. As for presentation: I bought empty quart-size paint cans (with tops) from Home Depot (under $2 each) and I plan on putting the cocoa mix in sealable plastic bags and then fitting the bags into the cans. Even though the cans are plastic on the inside, I'm not sure how food safe they are and I figured the bags will be more airtight. I'm planning on cutting the marshmallows into snowflake shapes (with a cookie cutter) and will probably just put a few in cellophane and attach the cellophane to the cans. To finish, I've got some shipping labels that can be printed via laser printer so I'll just make up a cute label with directions and attach it directly to the cans.

zoramargolis Thanks for the suggestion. I do have some cinnamon in the mix - forgot to mention it in my initial post.

This year, I plan on giving homemade marshmallows and hot cocoa mix. I'm looking for some ideas on sprucing up the hot cocoa mix to make it a little more special. I started with an Alton Brown recipe that called for dutch processed cocoa, powdered sugar, powdered milk and a little salt. To this I have added chipotle powder (decided to go a little spicy rather than minty) and additional dutch process cocoa. The mix is decent - but not "special". So I headed to my local spice store and picked up some non-dutch processed cocoa with 25% butterfat and vanilla powder to add to the mix. Just curious if anyone else has made their own mix in the past and has suggestions?