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mcnormal- i think her and alice should egg his house with factory farmed eggs!

maybe its an LA thing but i can name off at least 3 restaurants (ammo, father's office and yours truly gjelina) with a strict no substitution policy. i certainly don't agree with it but is it a poplar policy with most restaurants in other cities. i know it certainly is here....and they seem to be very proud of it.

i've been pregnant with gestation diabetes and have food allergies. my son has multiple food allergies and we can only eat out at a handful of places or otherwise risk his life. coming from this perspective i say you can't go into a restaurant that has a no modification policy and demand it. vickie wanted more than no dressing. if the dish doesn't suit you then you gotta pick something else or go somewhere else. period. maybe we've been thru the school of hard knocks with all of our food related issues but a restaurant is a private business and they can operate however they want. we've learned the hard way.

although i find the no sub/mod policy a bit uptight having worked in a restaurant i know subbing can really screw the flow. gjelina is a pretty popular restaurant here. sounds like most people here haven't been to father's office either. talk about no substitutions!

rice stir fry. i always use day old rice. start with oil (i use olive) and fry up some onion. then i add in whatever i have in the fridge. sometimes it's sausage, spinach, and zucchini. once browned add in the rice and some tamari and a dash of mirin. you can use whatever meat/vegetable combo you have on hand.

dijon mustard. blah! perhaps i haven't had good dijon but too spicy in the nose. love brown mustard and some yellow. don't get me wrong, i love spicy foods like curries and all hot sauces but something about dijon doesn't do it for me. however, i enjoy dijon mixed into vinaigrette or other sauces...

my son who is almost 2 does pretty well. but i come armed with crayons, a book, a snack, and some toy cars. we always eat early and never go to a white table cloth type of place. we go to ramen or the any place with a kids menu even though he ends up eating off the adult menu. he's more of a grilled sea bass guy and not so much of a chicken nuggets and burger person. i feel that eventually we'll go to a white table cloth type of place so i'm not in a rush. beside those are the places i rather enjoy with my husband alone.

anyway, a few days ago he was really tired but we went out to ramen. when we first sat down he started to sort of act out but then a few minutes later a family of 4 sat right next to us with a son around his age and a girl about 4 or 5. they were quite loud and all over the place. the mom kept trying to quiet them down but the more she tried the more they rebelled.

immediately my little mouse started to act all mature and quieted down. it was quite impressive but also very interesting to see how he reacted to the situation!

Angelo and Angelo. Spike, Marcel, Amanda and Hosea and the girl Hosea was getting it on with (blocked her name out) bothered me but not in the same way Angelo bothers me. He's gross and annoying and frankly difficult on the eyes b/c he says silly things. that guy who supposedly stole the pea puree (i blocked his name out too) bothered me as well. Hung was annoying but had the skills to back it up. Voltaggio (the one that one) was super cocky but also had the chops to back it up. Angelo seems makes overly sweet Asian food that caters to a PF changs crowd. Please go home next episode. thanks.

would purslane taste good if cooked? wonder what that would do to it's nutrient content? also wondering where i can find it. looks familiar but probably confusing it with clover sprouts.

for the lactose intolerant- i wonder if this would work using coconut milk? as in the kind in the cartons and not in cans.

to zack and izzy's mama,

it's the mommy and me movie concept that people don't understand until you have a baby. also to add, when our little guy was 3 months old he was very picky and would only allow my sister to babysit. once we tried a regular babysitter we ended up coming home b/c he was crying the whole time. now that he's 6 months old he's worse when left with others b/c he is so much more aware. of course this dining out experience depends on the child and how much s/he can handle. but as a person who values food and the experience of dining i would like to share this my little guy. we're not talking prefix meals @french laundry but the neighborhood restaurants where we can push the stroller to.