Let's introduce ourselves and get to know one another better

Prunefeet · October 11, 2015, 3:04am

Too trendy, too expensive and time for a change. Flushing sounds great!

rwcfoodie · October 11, 2015, 5:39am

Hey Souperman, good to see you here!

Presunto · October 11, 2015, 11:26am

Pata Negra has arrived. “Presunto” is Portuguese for Jamón/ham.

Nice to see many familiar names here. I’ve been travelling and wifi has been shite but here I am, finally.

Posting from Thessaloniki, Greece’s greatest gastronomic city!

Oink Oink

PS: is Harters with us yet?

ETA: I see Harters is indeed here

Gio · October 11, 2015, 2:25pm

Hey there Presunto! Welcome. So happy you have arrived…

Presunto · October 11, 2015, 2:30pm

Thanks, Gio! Also happy to see you here!

Babette · October 11, 2015, 3:33pm

I live in Seattle.

I don’t think there’s anything I can’t stop talking about, being the quiet type, but my area of expertise is pastry. I’ve been a professional baker and restaurant pastry chef for about 18 years.

Trips through SE Asia yielded some incredible deliciousness, as did living in the Himalayas eating momos and shakam ezay. Babi guling in Bali, dinner at el Bulli, and taco excursions in the SF Bay area were also highlights.

I’m currently an independent chocolatier, too broke building my business to go out to restaurants anymore. It’s been an interesting learning experience so far. I hope to have my own retail shop within the next year or two.

coll · October 12, 2015, 12:46am

My Mom said the mass exodus out of the city was in 1960, at least for her friends…she said it was really weird, no one really discussed it, just all of a sudden everyone moved out of the city. Oh well, it obviously wasn’t over the food ;-0

suburban_mom · October 12, 2015, 1:52am

Where am I? I’m in a Minneapolis suburb

What food topic am I passionate about? I get most of my meat from my “meat guy”. Beef, pork, chicken. The pork and chicken are heritage breeds that taste nothing like you get in the store. The beef is grass fed. The eggs make everything you use them in a lovely orange color.

Great food experience? Last Spring, I introduced my 20 year old son to foie gras. It was great being with him when he experienced something so amazing. He is a convert.

Tidbit? Even though I’ve spent more time of my life in Minnesota, I’m a Texan. I get to Austin and Houston several times a year each.

mariacarmen · October 12, 2015, 7:01am

Pata! Bienvenidos! Hope to see you on the WFD thread, your posts have been sorely missed.

Harters has been here intermittently - notably on WFD. i hope he makes it a regular haunt.

Boyzoma · October 12, 2015, 3:41pm

Where are you?
Portland, Oregon area of the great PNW

What food-related topic are you most passionate about, that you want people to ask you about and you can’t stop talking about it?
Food, Food and more Food. All kinds.

What’s a great food experience you have had?
Being able to try foods around the world.

A little tidbit about you
Retired Sr. IT Engineer. Now I just love to cook.

DoobieWah · October 12, 2015, 5:21pm

Where are you? Houston
What food-related topic are you most passionate about, that you want people to ask you about and you can’t stop talking about it? Great Mom and Pop restaurants Close to Home
What’s a great food experience you have had? Rijsttafel at a little Indonesian place in Edam, Netherlands. Our friend’s daughter was waitressing, we had just gotten in to the country and it was magnificent.
A little tidbit about you? I’ve been a single dad for twenty years.

Gostopgo · October 13, 2015, 4:57pm

Location - I live in Portland, Oregon

Passion - Passionate about cooking everything from scratch - sprouting and grinding the grains for my bread, butchering my own meat, having a connection to where my food comes from - stuff like that.

Top food experience - My first great food experience was when I was 12 visiting family at their cabin on a lake in Montana. My uncle got up at the crack of dawn to catch trout, while my aunt got the wood stove going. We had fresh trout and hot cakes for breakfast and I’d never tasted anything so good.
Most recent great food experience was a couple weeks ago in Edinburgh, Scotland. Had the surprise tasting menu at Castle Terrace and was blown away. Beautiful, delicious and whimsical food with outstanding service.

Tidbit - I’ve been a serious student of food for 25 years, working as a chef as well as all other aspects of food service. One of my instructors in culinary school told me many years ago the the day I will stop learning about food will be the day I die. He was right - I learn something new every day.

digga · October 13, 2015, 5:55pm

@Gourmanda Apologies. When you specified “Northern Ohio,” I just assumed Akron-ish. Why not just say “Cleveland Rocks” instead of hiding behind “Northern Ohio?” I agree, on my one visit to Cleveland a few years ago, I loved the local food scene. We didn’t have much time, but had a great evening downstairs at Great Lakes Brewing Co after a Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame visit. We’re usually “stuck” at MIL’s in Akron.

(I am just seeing this now, not ignoring you!)

Gourmanda · October 13, 2015, 6:39pm

Digga, no worries. I’m glad you have gotten up to Northern Ohio/Cleveland at least once. We’ve got some pretty happenin’ hot spots going on!

I know some people lump Akron into “Northern Ohio”, but I’m not one of them. I don’t recall ever being in Bath Township but I’m guessing there is a reason your DH insists he is from there and not Akron

Justlauralibrarian · October 13, 2015, 9:18pm

Hi Digga, former Akronite here! If you like divey type hot dog joints, the next time you are stuck at your MIL’s, take a trip to Dan’s Dogs in Medina. It’s tiny, it’s cash only, but I always loved it. (And now I’m feeling sad we didn’t take one last trip over there before we moved). The orange soda floats are my favorite and I don’t think I had a hot dog with toppings that I didn’t like. I just gasped a little when I looked it up online and they actually have a fancy website now. http://www.eatdansdogs.com/ . While it’s true that Cleveland has the better food scene, the Akron-ish area has some gems too.

Vvvindaloo · October 14, 2015, 2:40pm

Hi, everybody!

I’m in lower Westchester County, NY. About 5 miles north of the Bronx and 10 miles north of Manhattan. I lived in Manhattan on and off in the '90s and '00s and did stints in Rome and Gothenburg.
It’s hard to pick one. I guess I’m most thrilled by preparing a dish or meal that wows. It’s a satisfying feeling, to welcome others and feed them and really enjoy what you made together. My favorite cuisine to cook for a group is Italian. But Christmas Cookies are close second in the thrill department
Every time I tried something new, or off the beaten path, and it inspired me to explore that cuisine or neighborhood to the point of obsession. I am told that I had one particularly great food experience at the age of 4… I was taken to the movies and dinner by a relative. I ordered for myself: shrimp cocktail, veal marsala and a hot fudge sundae. I ate it all, then proceeded to lie down on the leather banquette and snore loudly.
I have an album on FB devoted solely to photos of my annual batches of Easter Bread.

Edit: I have no idea why HO insists on changing my paragraph numbering. I tried to fix it twice… It probably has something to do with the way I typed it, but I’ll be damned if I can figure it out!

marlingardener · October 14, 2015, 3:26pm

I just joined, so I’d best introduce myself.
We are on a small farm in Central Texas, growing vegetables in four large gardens; have two hives of honeybees and some really great honey; and a small flock of hens. We also have two herb gardens and flower beds.
I’m passionate about baking bread, and can bore the heck out of anyone silly enough to ask me about baking or for a recipe.
Great food experience? Accompanying my husband on a business trip to Toronto, and finding a small French restaurant, Le Auberge Gavrouche (forgive the spelling) and finding out about simple, but delicious food. I nearly swooned over the duck confit, and when we got home, I was trying out new recipes and learning new techniques every chance I got.
A tidbit about me–retired children’s librarian, have gardened most of my life, eat almost anything (except parsnips), and have a husband that is intelligent, funny, and handy.

Thimes · October 14, 2015, 3:27pm

Now living in the greater Boston area - been here for 3 months
I love all things food, and I have a hard time not talking in general - but I’m not a writer so only chime in from time to time.
most recently was a fantastic meal on a remote farm in Provence - completely thanks to the folks over on the “site that won’t be named” (glad to see many of them here)
I love going to markets and grocery stores on every vacation (and just for fun locally). I think how people eat at home and with friends/family speaks more about them than anything else.

Souperman · October 14, 2015, 4:06pm

Penis plant? I see a vagina.

truman · October 14, 2015, 4:07pm

Hi! I’m still truman from CH.

Now in the Boston 'burbs (as of June 2015), after 10 years in the Philly area, 10 years in RTP, originally from Pittsburgh.
Hard shell crabs are totally worth the effort.
A great appetizer on a solo trip to London: grilled radicchio and artichoke heart with balsamic drizzle. Eating cherry tomatoes I’d grown myself on the patio of my first (owned) home. Eating a cheeseburger on the sofa while holding my newborn son and watching ketchup drip onto his head (tee hee!).
I am 5 degrees from Kevin Bacon. My family is not adventurous eaters, so I don’t often get to cook the way I want to. I let my now-5-year-old use a sharp knife for the first time last week, and he still has all his fingers.