Hi All! Are there any farmer's markets you'd recommend in the Sonoma area that are open between Saturday at 4 p.m. and Wednesday morning? I was super-psyched to see this post, and am going to Sonoma for the first time next week, but we'll miss both the Sat a.m. Healdsburg market and the Wed afternoon/evening market . . . we'll be driving up from SF, leaving the bay area around 1 p.m. on Saturday, and will be returning to the bay area on Wednesday. We'll be staying in Kenwood, in a place with a nice kitchen. I'm super-excited to check out the summer offerings from the local farmers! Point me in the right direction. Mahalo!

So sorry to hear it! I went to Jacopo's first around 1980, when I was an 8th grader at El Rodeo. we'd go after school for a slice, at the location on little SM. My grandmother lives in BH, and over the years since then, I've been an irregular patron (I never lived in the neighborhood, but patronized it when visiting), but I always loved the pizza. I'm visiting LA now, and my brother just told me that the S. Beverly location had closed. I'll really miss the chopped salads!

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El Rodeo Restaurant
700 E Arrow Hwy, Pomona, CA 91767

God yes! I've actually been boycotting all food magazines this past year in mourning. Reading anything other than Gourmet makes me sad. :-(

That being said, I'm ready to get back on the food magazine train . . . I recently got a job cooking and I need a steady stream of ideas and inspiration. Are there any worth subscribing to these days? I'm NOT a fan of the Cooks Illustrated familiy of magazines and I've always found Bon Appetit too dumbed-down. Used to get Saveur years ago, but haven't looked at it recently -- is it still any good? How about Fine Cooking? Any smaller magazines out there that people find inspiration in? Thanks all!

with cranberries and cashes in the mix, it might have had curry in it. This recipe from Epicurious for curried turkey salad is TO DIE FOR. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

Other than that, for a basic chicken salad, I agree with those who think you may have under-seasoned your salad at home. Don't skimp on the good mayo. My basic recipe is really basic: minced scallion, diced celery, a grating of dill pickle or a sprinkle of dill, mayo, chicken and salt and freshly ground pepper. Maybe a touch of lemon juice if it needs a little brightness. Check for seasoning, and if it's bland, try a bit more salt and pepper.

Several people have noted this already, but the freezer is your friend. I live alone, and almost everything I cook, I'm going to have leftovers that I'm going to be tired of long before the number of days it takes to eat it all fresh.

So, if I make a roast for dinner, the next night I'll have a french dip sandwich for dinner, and then the rest I'll make into a stew and freeze in meal-sized containers. If I make a bolognese sauce, after the first day, I'll portion it into containers, some for the next day in the fridge, and the rest in the freezer. If I make a roast chicken, I'll eat it for dinner one night, use some sliced breast for a sandwich or a chicken salad the next, and the rest I'll make into a chicken soup or stew and freeze in portioned containers.

Your leftovers in the freezer, if organized into serving-sized portions, are much more likely to get eaten, than a giant container of who-knows-what that gets buried in the back of the freezer. I have about a dozen of the same sized plastic containers, about 2-cup size, and they stack well in the freezer. when I don't have time to cook, I always know I'll find something good in the freezer. Right now I've got containers of spaghetti sauce with meat, beef stew and pork chili in there.

I also freeze english muffins, bread and corn tortillas. The muffins/bread keep great in the freezer, especially if you are going to toast them, and the tortillas keep perfectly -- just heat them over a burner on the stove.

I also tend to keep on hand mainly veggies that don't go bad quickly. Romaine lettuce keeps a long time, as do those butter lettuces you can now buy with the roots on. Cherry tomatoes keep well, as do celery, carrots, onions, etc. Unless I'm cooking it that day, I try to stay away from things that perish quickly, for I find that's my biggest source of waste. Get creative with what you can keep on hand. Roasted root veggies are a treat anytime, and carrots, potatoes, turnips, parsnips keep practically forever in the fridge or a root cellar. If you are out of lettuce, slice celery at a diagonal, mix with halved cherry tomatoes, scallions and a vinaigrette, and you've got a refreshing salad. Serve that salad with an omlette made with a little cheese (also keeps a long time), a slice of toast from your freezer, and you've got a satifying dinner made of whole foods that is also economical, unwasteful and ready in minutes, whether you've been able to get to the market or not.

I do the same thing. Hellman's/Best Food's mayo mixed with dijon mustard, a bit of lemon juice, salt and freshly ground pepper. This sauce is amazing with chilled cracked crab as well. My all time favorite dinner when both are in season is a whole cracked crab and a steamed artichoke. Takes a bit of time to eat, but oh so delicious :-).

By the way, this sauce resembles the dijon mustard sauce in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, although that one is made with an oil emulsion in the mustard. The recipe is for "Sauce Moutarde" on page 95 of my edition. It's great with many green vegetables in addition to as a dipping sauce for artichokes, in particular over blanched green beens or asparagus, especially if it's for room-temp service.

I came to this board tonight wondering if there were any posts on English-style curry, and came across your's. My mom used to make "curry" for us as kids (in the 1970s), and her version was basically a chicken stew seasoned with curry, and served over rice with condiments such as golden raisens, chopped apple, minced onion, diced hard-cooked eggs, Major Gray's chutney, and crumbled bacon. We loved it as kids, and I still make it every once in a while for nostalgia's sake (and also because it's pretty darn tasty). Certainly not authentic, but I don't mind.

I usually start with a leftover roast chicken. Stew the chicken in water/broth, and when chicken is tender/falling off bone, remove the chicken and strain the broth back into the pot., Pick out the meat from the bones and set aside. To the broth, add onion and/or garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes and/or cauliflower. Once veggies are cooked, make a roux and thicken the stew. Return chicken to the pot, and add curry powder to taste (make sure you leave time for the curry to mellow/blend it. Best made the day before). Serve over white rice, and provide a variety of sweet, tart, savory and salty toppings, as noted above.

I'm guessing that Natalie Portman's food restrictions went beyond the common term of vegetarian, as none of the chefs used eggs, cream, cheese or wheat. Perhaps there were publicity reservations on Portman's part why they didn't broadcast further the restrictions on their cooking, but I'm guessing the challenge was actually closer to vegan and gluten free than straight vegetarian.

If it had been ovo-lacto vegetarian, with no gluten/wheat restrictions, somebody would have made pasta, for sure (that was my first thought, had I been faced with this challenge, I would have made a fresh pasta based lasagne, using the Marcella Hazan tomato sauce with butter). However, the starches used were very limited. One person used lentils, but other than that, it was all vegetables, which seems much closer to vegan and gluten-free than anything else.

Joe's in Venice is going to be above your price point. For under $15 a person, you are likely going to have to go ethnic or casual. I'll leave the ethnic suggestions to others (or you can search this board for your favorite kind of cuisine -- you could do a dim sum brunch, or thai, or any of a variety of other options for $15 a person).

For casual with a decent party atmosphere and generally good food:

You could do a shower for brunch on the patio at Cha Cha Cha in Silverlake for $15 per person for food. Price point is higher for dinner, but their brunch is good and affordable.

http://theoriginalchachacha.com/about...

Luna Park (on La Brea near Wilshire) is known for their affordability. Brunch and lunch menu items are generally under the $15 price point.

http://www.lunaparkla.com/index.asp?p...

Edited to add: Just checked the brunch menu at Joe's and while it is over $15 a person, it's not significantly higher. It *would* be a great spot for a shower.

http://www.joesrestaurant.com/menu_br...

Another thought on the Westside would be Hal's Bar & Grill in Venice, also for brunch. It's prices are a little lower than Joe's, but still with tip would be more like $20 a person for food depending on what you ordered.

http://www.halsbarandgrill.com/pages/...

I don't want to hurt Conde Naste per se, but I do want to send them a message that they made a bad decision. It was an ignorant, ill advised decision to kill Gourmet magazine for 6 months worth of bad ad revenues, when its circulation numbers are strong and recessions only last so long. I guess the current recession hasn't taught companies ANYTHING, if they make decisions like this. It is a decision that panders to a lack of vision, and a lack of faith in the readership, the demographic and the hope for civilized dialogue in America. Fine, if you are the National Inquirer. Not good, if you are Conde Naste, which publishes some of the better magazines in the world. I want to send them a message that I DON'T LIKE THEIR DECISION. Period. If they don't want my money, fine, let them pander to the lowest common denomenator, but it's an absolutely perfect consumer response for people who liked Gourmet but don't like Bon Appetite to not allow that to be a default substitute for them, to cancel their subscriptions and let the company know they are not happy. If it hurts the company, good. Then they will know they made a mistake.