Alex

And here's another example, related to the above, from this morning's Washington Post.

I know we're not supposed to discuss politics here, so I won't, sort of, but the first three pages of the full report are a perfect illustration of how politics (and economics) and food are inseparable.

Zingerman's annual "Balsamic Blowout" is back.

Nobody Likes Me

Ah, this one isn't soggy at all.

If by some twist of fate you find yourself in Chicago, Kristoffer's makes the best tres leches cake in the known universe.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Ms. Alex is out of town), to accompany g-f penne with a simple ragu. (Yes, all three days for that, too. I made a lot.) Also nibbled on a little Parm-Reg before the pasta. ETA: The 2020 vintage was Wine Spectator's #9 wine of the year. This 2021 is one of Binny's (Chicago mega-retailer) Top 50 Under $50.

Picking up Real Food, Fake Food from the library next week. Currently making do with Invitation to a Banquet, by Fuchsia Dunlop.

A.Word.A.Day sends a compendium each Sunday that features selected feedback from its readers. Today, a physician wrote, "In medicine, an opsonin is a protein (like antibodies or complement proteins) that coats pathogens or debris, marking them for destruction (phagocytosis) by immune cells, essentially making them 'tastier' for engulfment."

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.