Alex

Ms. Alex and I will be visiting our cousins in DC over New Year's; the four of us have planned an eagerly anticipated dinner at Black Salt on Jan. 1 (7 p.m. rez, if any other eG'ers are there and would like to say hi). We're also picking up a market order the previous day -- Scott the manager was extremely helpful and accommodating, even over the phone from 800 miles away.

:jealous: Here in West Michigan there's a winter storm warning for tonight. Otherwise we'd break out a bottle of Steele Shooting Star Pinot Noir.

Their web site has no price info. Can someone who's been there write a post about approximate dinner prices, especially the mussels and the sweetbreads? Thanks.

I've been using this machine (Melitta Fast Brew 12-cup, $39.99 at Amazon) for the past year and have been reasonably satisfied. It brews hot (~200°F) and fast. Melitta recommends making a minimum of 4 cups, although I've pushed it to 3 with no loss of quality. There's a little bit of dripping if you remove the carafe before brewing has ended. It works fine with the gold filter that I have, even though the top won't quite close all the way. The only other drawbacks are that the display is hard to see unless viewed straight on, I need to pull it completely out from under the cabinet in order to have enough room to fill it with water and ground coffee, and auto-shutoff is operative only in the timer mode. Still, for $40 including shipping, I think it's a good deal.

The Heartland Chicken Liver Society

It actually was my cousins, and they wound up at Esca (and did get a Fri night rez!). Her verdict: "...we went to Esca and, frankly, were disappointed. The pasta was great but all else was just okay and waaaay too pricey." She had the whole wheat pasta with sardines and walnuts.

MatthewB's sidecar, from last year's Heartland Gathering thread: 1.5 ounces decent cognac (I like DeLuze VS. It's really Remy under a secondary label!) .75 ounce Cointreau (or triple sec) .75 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice Shake vigorously until your hands are cold. Strain into a chilled stemmed cocktail glass that's been *half* rimmed with fine sugar. (Allows the drinker to choose sugar/no sugar rim or to move back & forth between the two.) Garnish with a lemon twist. Serve.

My cousins will be in NYC over Thanksgiving weekend and asked for assistance choosing a place to eat on Friday night, preferably Italian. She has a number of dietary restrictions, primarily meat/poultry, dairy, and sugar. Fish and seafood are ok. They've narrowed their choices to Il Buco, Esca, Fiamma Osteria, I Trulli, and Gennaro. They're also considering Nougatine and Heartbeat. Any thoughts about these?

LOL! I also won something at a local store for guessing the weight of some monster wheel of cheese. I don't remember the prize, but I'm sure it wasn't anything as cool as a watch. I won my first contest in the late 70s or early 80s, when I was living in the Detroit area. It was an omelette contest sponsored by The Pointe Peddlar, a charming kitchen store in Grosse Pointe. (I retain no memory of why they chose omelettes.) It was a cold and blustery mid-winter Saturday, and as things turned out I was the only contestant to show up. I made an omelette anyway -- shrimp, water chestnuts, and garlic, if I recall correctly, and perfectly baveuse. My prize was a beautiful Simac ice cream machine, the original one with the self-contained freezing unit and non-removable bowl. I wound up giving it as a Christmas present to a lifelong friend. I asked him about it last year -- he thinks it's sitting in the basement of one of his rental houses. I've also won and placed at a few recipe/cooking contests, sponsored by our local newspapers, that had some pretty good prizes (gift certificates, tuition for cooking classes, etc.). It was a great time, plus we got to cook in the gorgeous kitchens normally used by the culinary program at Grand Rapids Community College. My favorite creation, and my first local winner, was a butternut squash soup drizzled with cranberry puree and maple-flavored cream. Unfortunately, the contests were discontinued several years ago. I occasionally have entered a recipe in one of the major national contests (Pillsbury, Build A Better Burger, etc.), but nothing doing, for the most part. I did receive Honorable Mention in a Sargento Cheese contest, for my Two-Cheese Roasted-Garlic Caesar Salad. They awarded me a Sargento Cheese recipe booklet. It had nothing to do with cooking, but I thought I'd let drop that Ms. Alex was the winner of Michigan's 1972 Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow contest

Not the same place, not in the same compound. Zingerman's Delicatessen Zingerman's Roadhouse If you're in the mood for high-class, high-quality deli, with an addictive retail store, the Delicatessen is The Place. I used to like The Earle a lot but I haven't been there in years and years. People seem to like Cafe Zola. A favorite of mine (and a lot of other people) is Common Grill in Chelsea, about 15 min. west of A². Also here. Here's Eve.

Does anyone have an opinion on Pepin's Fast Food My Way? I'm hearing it pushed a lot this week as a premium on my public radio station's fund drive. I already pledged and claimed Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but for a bit more (far more than the book costs, of course) I could get both. ←

It might have a little texture, but nothing objectionable. I use mine primarily as a last-second sprinkle over fish or scallops. Occasionally I combine it with herbes de Provence and salt to coat some pork before roasting. Sometimes I just open the container and smell it.

LOL, Suzanne~ I thought that was a myth! If I'd posted what the area looked like just prior to the "crash of '03" (as we call it), you'd have seen my laptop sitting there which is where I usually am when I'm on the computer Believe me, I almost brought up Alkan when I called the development company...but was afraid it was a little too melodramatic (and I didnt' want to confuse them ). Don't dishes weigh more than books??? ← Yep, it's a myth, but a good one. As for me, I keep all my cookbooks on the lower shelves, next to the Talmud.

Interesting timing. Just yesterday, my trusted local wine retailer recommended the 1975 Gran Reserva from Toro Albalá ($26US, 375ml). We'll probably drink it next weekend -- I'll post again after we do. Here's their web site (in Spanish).

Living roughly equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, patiently awaiting a Tigers-Cubs World Series, I empathize. But if that ever happens -- Chicago dogs and Coney Islands, diplomatically washed down with Bell's Amber Ale!

One more fun one from Bargain Books: amuse-bouche, by Rick Tramonto with Mary Goodbody.

At Erika's Delicatessen in Grand Rapids, MI (quoted from their web site): September 15th, 2004. Our 3rd annual OKTOBERFEST @ the Airport Hilton from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. We will feature 45 beers, serve 15 kinds of brats with 16 mustards plus other great German foods and cheeses. The cost: $15 per person. Also at Erika's, btw: October 6th, 2004. Pinot Noirs of the World @ the Airport Hilton from 7 pm to 9 pm. We will offer New and Old World Pinot Noirs and have some excellent food parings to make the evening complete. The cost: $15 per person.

Bargain Books strikes again! Los Barrios Family Cookbook: Tex-Mex Recipes from the Heart of San Antonio Down to Earth: Great Recipes for Root Vegetables

Oh MAN, I want this book! Do you mind saying where you found it, and how much (yikes!) you had to pay for it? Thanks, Squeat Well, I really shouldn't say, but, um...dark alley....midnight...unmarked bills.... Or, eBay, $76 (+ shipping). Earlier this year I made it one of my Favorite Searches, with e-mail notification. I entered the $76 proxy bid four days before the auction's end, and fortunately it held up. Someone else wanted it, too, but ended his/her bidding a few hours before the end at $75 (whew!). There's one available right now from alibris, through Amazon, for 99.80 + shipping.

Two more: Classical Southern Cooking, Damon Lee Fowler Out of print, but I really wanted it. The Artist's Table, A Cookbook by Master Chefs Inspired by Paintings in the National Gallery of Art This is a fun book — great art, with great recipes by Bayless, Child, Cunningham, Madison, Miliken & Feniger, de'Medici, Robuchon & Wells, Silverton, Tower, Waters, and Wolfert. It's available for a song through Amazon's booksellers.

Deal. FedEx overnight?

Rye toast; crunchy natural pb; bacon; sliced tomato in season; pinch of salt; rye toast. If no pb is available (horrors!), cream cheese is a fine substitute.

I am doing a roast chicken with buttered green beans and French bread slathered with butter in honor of Julia. I'll take a photo and post it on your thread. Don, I'll be making the very same dinner tomorrow night — I'll be picking up the green beans at the farmer's market in the morning and the just-killed free-range chickens that afternoon.

There are nine eGullet members viewing this thread as I write this, more than I've seen on any other thread since joining eGullet one year ago. That says something about her, yes? Edited to say: After I posted, there were *seventeen*.

Dark chocolate-covered dried Michigan cherries: Raisinettes® for grown-ups. Grand Marnier ganache filling isn't bad, either.