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Her khao man gai recipe is the closest I've found to Nong's Khao Man Gai food truck in Portland, OR. I triple the amount of fresh ginger and everyone has clamored for seconds (or thirds!)

Hello, any chance to check my order? I'm all the way across the country in Idaho..

Red Chile stew!

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and milk gravy made from the fried chicken drippings. Alas, my husband dislikes all three of those things! Our one-year anniversary is this weekend, so I'll probably make a huge chile stew (New Mexico chile pods pureed with onions and garlic for the sauce, plus steak, green Hatch chiles from my freezer, chopped onion, more garlic, potatoes, corn, black beans, kidney beans, diced canned tomatoes -- topped with sour cream, cheese, avocado and tortilla chips. )

Baileys With a Touch of Caramel -- it's Baileys. It's caramel. It's all in a bottle. What could be better?

McCormick & Schmick's, Seattle -- some piece of metal in my cheesecake. It could have been foil from a wine bottle, but it completely grossed me out. They were horrible to us. I barely got the dessert comped.

Burlap in homestyle mashed potatoes - in Idaho. First I thought it was hair, then maybe stuff in just my dish. Ultimately, the restaurant had to throw out the entire giant stockpot full of mashed potatoes. We speculated that the potatoes were cut too close to the burlap sack. Since I was a once-or-twice-a-week regular, I got my entire meal free.

A one inch by two inch plastic recipe card in a nice Italian restaurant in Boise. Apparently, it came in the container of dried wild mushrooms. I got my meal free there, too.

Josh at The Keg in Vancouver, BC.

We were in Vancouver in May for a half marathon and Josh was our dinner waiter. He was attentive, fun and friendly. He suggested a "Forbidden Fruit" martini ("Named after ME!" he told us) and gave great menu tips.

He left us a funny thank you note with our bill and, of course, we tipped him well.

We'd walked about two blocks from the restaurant when he came running up to us. My eyeshadow had fallen out of my purse, and as Josh said when he returned it, "Honey, Bobbi Brown's not cheap."

What a sweet waiter!

In Vancouver, on Davie Street is Cafe Luxy. Giant plates of fresh pasta for $14.95 for dinner. I had three meals off of one plate.

Wish I would have posted a similar query for my trip in May. The other restaurants I visited in Vancouver weren't quite as memorable!

The pommes frites at Quinn's in Capitol Hill (10th and Pike) and their rhubarb-based martini. The frites are drizzled with a fontina fondue and foie gras gravy so you'll want to share with friends. (I don't see them on this menu - quinnspubseattle.com - but I was just there in May).

Maneki in Japantown/International District. Nothing snobby here, just solid food. I always get the salt-broiled mackerel dinner with sashimi, tempura, salad and melon for dessert all included for less than $20. They're working on their website (www.manekirestaurant.com) so you can't see a full menu yet. It's harder to get in since the James Beard "American Classics" award but I love this place. Dinner service only.

My friends who live there take me to all kinds of places, I'm just horrible with names.