meganificent's Profile

Pop your berries into the microwave for 30 seconds or so, enough to soften them up. That always helps me when I'm making smoothies.

Is this true for other herbs as well? I've got some sage with little flowers on it.

The Alameda Antiques Fair has a lot of this stuff. They're only once a month, but might be worth it if you want to bargain some cool chairs down to lower than $35 a pop. I've also seen similar chairs and sets pop up on SF Craigslist, but you have to search often and be pretty specific with your searching. And be willing to spray your finds down with a can of Rustoleum. :)

A peanut butter and lingonberry jam sandwich is pretty great. I've also used it as a filling in those litte round filled pancakes, ebelskivers.

AT, can you do smething to stop these spam posters? Can we flag them?

I'm 30, none of my local friends have kids, and we have dinner parties all the time. Sometimes casual, sometimes more formal or themed, sometimes people chip in money, sometimes it's potluck and most times the host cooks something. But I'm pretty fortunate to have a group of friends who love to cook, eat, drink and socialize -- this makes for frequent dinner party gatherings. There are a few people who just can't host anything due to the size of their apartments, but those who can do it pretty often. I had one a few months ago where I served grilled cheese & tomato soup - sounds simple, but I made a giant pot of soup from scratch and had two kinds of gourmet-ish grilled cheese sandwiches (caramelized onion/gruyere and fig/cheddar, both on artisan breads). Guests brought wine and caesar salad. We had a great time - I wholeheartedly suggest unfancy easy-to-prepare food and a few bottles of wine. :)

To answer a few questions, yes it's a wrought iron piece, pretty heavy and probably about 15 inches tall by itself. Currently just hanging by a ceiling hook. I think I'll probably get a black chain and try lowering it a few feet (our ceilings are probably 11 ft I think?). Maybe I'll get some extra chain and see how it looks swagged over to the side of the wall? trying to use those plastic cord coverup things could get a bit weird unless they're bendy, since our ceiling is curved.

I just found this and saw your pic of the fireplace with your solution to cover up the gas heater. I have the same exact heater situation in my new place and have been trying to figure out an elegant way to camouflage. Thanks for the inspiration!

Make sure you're letting it simmer/cook down long enough. The longer it cooks, the richer and thicker it will taste. I also recommend throwing 2 full sprigs of fresh basil in there, and then removing it when you're done. Really really adds a flavor dimension similar to what you might get in a restaurant-quality sauce.

Argh, why are there no Saturday or Sunday classes anywhere in SF?