Alex

Today's word is... Collins online defines it as "a person with an extreme enthusiasm for a particular food." The online OED requires a subscription.

Ditto

I have family in Philly and get there regularly. My reaction pretty much matched those above. Allow me to add Vedge and My Loup to gfweb's list.

Full story

There was a ceramicist in Dearborn, just outside Detroit, whose work I really liked. We still have many of her pieces, from a tiny vase to a huge serving platter. Most of what we have dates from the mid-80s to 2000. Here's a large mug (on the R), accompanied by another favorite, which reminded me of one C. Sapidus posted. (The mugs aren't tilted; I am. ) Here's the large serving platter. She also did one like this but with a nesting place in the center for a bowl holding chip dip. And here's a set of serving bowls plus a spoon rest.

We have that one, too -- along with four other plain red Waechtersbach mugs, two of which are so old they were made in West Germany.

Hey, I also used to have a Taylor & Ng mug (or maybe two or three)! I wish I still did—even though for the life of me I can't remember which ones.

As much as I like cats (most of them, anyway), I'm unpleasantly allergic, and Ms Alex has been very kind about not insisting we get one. (When we met, Katie the Cross-Eyed Kitty was her companion.) We also both like dogs (ditto), but neither of us is willing to dog-walk no matter what our Michigan weather throws at us. However, we've compensated by collecting, and being given, a menagerie of stuffed and otherwise inanimate animals—including some of our very favorite mugs. So, before I post the pics, I'll ask: What are your favorite mugs? (Photos, please, if you can.) Is there a story, even a short one, behind any of them? Weird Kitty and Silent Kitty Atomic Kitty and Jiji (from Kiki's Delivery Service) Wistful Kitty So they don't get bored, they can chase birds and fish. Action Kitty, Pusheen, and Hello Kitty (yes, I know she's a little girl) approve

A further reply:

He replied this morning: I sent an appreciative reply.

I also read this today. I promptly sent a message to our local fish and seafood wholesaler; they supply our major supermarkets: Their marketing manager promptly replied: I then replied with the URL from the Guardian, and asked: That was about 1:30 this afternoon. No response yet.

FWIW, here's the Washington Post's top 14 cookbooks of 2025.

$6 at the Little Italy Mercato in San Diego

Welcome, Michael. As you can see, we're only a few hours' drive from Chicago. It's been a long, long time since we've had actively participating members from there. I think a couple of them are still active on LTH. We used to have "Heartland Gatherings" that members would host and/or coordinate. They were in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor multiple times, Chicago/Evanston, Cleveland, and Kansas City. Please forgive me if I've forgotten any. Just to give you an idea of what they were like, here's the eG forum about the Chicago gathering. And if you're up for it, you could read all 33 pages of the planning forum.

At that price, I decided to take one for the team. It was, shall we say, interesting -- although I picked up more funky herbal notes than the WE reviewer noted. It paired surprisingly well with a Niman Ranch apple-gouda sausage. Also, I felt buzzed after only about 5 ounces, which led me to accurately predict that it was 15% alcohol. I'll stay out of that issue for now.