Alex

Welcome to eGullet, Shannon_Elise! Seventy-six cookbooks by age 21 and not yet in your own place? Now that's impressive. Think of all the room you'll eventually have to acquire and store hundreds (thousands?) more. In my first year living apart from my family I acquired three cookbooks, having owned exactly none when I moved out (also at 21): Fannie Farmer, The Joy of Cooking, and The New York Times International Cookbook.

Even an extravert like myself (ENTP, if you must know) enjoys solitary dining at home from time to time. I talk and listen for a living, so a short stretch of relative silence and a magazine for company often is most welcome. I'll usually make something quick -- perhaps steak and asparagus, or penne w/goats cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, or even a veggie burger smothered in onions and mushrooms -- accompanied by a beer or a glass or two of wine. MFK Fisher wrote a succinct essay about dining alone, in An Alphabet for Gourmets, collected in The Art of Eating. Edited for wording.

I recommend the National Cherry Festival, in Traverse City, Michigan. The northwest Lower Peninsula is beautiful, Lake Michigan and its dunes are spectacular, and the area is home to some excellent restaurants, including Tapawingo, one of the best in the Midwest.

...or how about the Yellow Line to Archives-Navy Memorial and walk a couple of blocks to Cafe Atlantico. Not Cuban per se, but Pan-American/Nuevo Latino and a real treat. Web site here.

On eGullet, about two years ago, Michael Laiskonis said, "Eric Villegas of Restaurant Villegas in Okemos, near Lansing, is one of the most passionate chefs I know, and he may just be more of a food geek than I!" High praise indeed from one of the top pastry chefs in the country. As of two months ago, eG member terrarich was in his second year of apprenticeship there; you might want to try a PM. It's been a long time since I've been to RV so unfortunately I can't supply the specifics you're looking for. It's considered the top restaurant in the Lansing area, though.

What an incredible heritage! Welcome to eGullet, Redtressed. Oh, and one more for me: The Balthazar Cookbook.

For Passover I grated some fresh horseradish using the food processor, then switched to the steel blade and processed it with lime peel and juice. It added a nice dimension to the gefilte fish. I've made a sauce from pureed tomatoes, sour cream or creme fraiche, and freshly grated horseradish; it worked especially well with lamb.

I gravitate to red, Ms. Alex to white. Sometimes that helps, sometimes not.

"OK, ma'am. Just drop that second sample, put your hands in the air, and slowly back away from the table."

Thanks to all for the recommendations. I CTA'ed up to Evanston mid-morning Monday and just strolled around the Davis downtown. I was so sated by the previous three days' eating and drinking that I couldn't even bring myself to eat so much as a bowl of soup for lunch. I did, however, stop for a while at Dream About Tea and enjoyed a very pleasant hour or so of reading and green tea. Next visit I think I'd like to do a Baha'i Temple/lakefront stroll/Trio lunch combo.

I've always liked Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe, right on Dupont Circle.

For the past month or so I've been using what I assume is the same setup as Mayhaw Man. It makes for a very smooth cup of coffee that I like very much. Mostly, I use a very dark roast, then dilute the concentrate with milk instead of water for a quick iced or hot latte. There are some posts about the toddy method on this old thread.

Several years ago I began using a recipe from Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking In America -- "Elegant and Easy Gourmet Gefilte Fish Pâté." Everyone, including the skeptics, has loved it. It's baked in a bundt pan (I imagine you could use a ring mold) in a water bath. As she says in the introduction to the recipe, you get the traditional gefilte fish taste, but with a smoother texture and almost none of the hassle. Whitefish has always worked fine for me. I like serving it with a fresh horseradish-lime sauce. 1. Grind 3# fish fillets in a food processor or meat grinder. Grind fine, but don't puree. 2. Sauté 2# diced onion in 3T veg oil until soft and transparent. Cool. 3. Peel and grate 2 large carrots. 3. (A KitchenAid or equivalent mixer really helps for this step.) Beat at medium speed for 15 minutes: the fish, the onions, 4 large eggs, 2c cold water, 1T salt or to taste, 2t white pepper, 2T sugar. At the end, mix in the carrots thoroughly. 4. Pour into a greased 12-cup bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake in a preheated 325°F oven for one hour in a larger pan filled with 2" of water. 5. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour more or until the center is solid. Cool for 5 minutes then invert onto a serving plate. Refrigerate for at least several hours.

Will the madness never end? Four more, courtesy of Bargain Books' 25%-off sale: 50 Chowders, Jasper White Monday to Friday Cookbook, Michele Urvater The Livebait Cookbook The Artist's Table

There's a thread here. I tend to agree with the poster who opined, "Eh." I'd add, "Overpriced." (Not that the CC in my city cares all that much about my opinion -- they're doing a landslide business, situated next to a multi-screen movie theater that allows CC products to be brought in.)

Skip them all & Evanston, seriously, unless you are in Evanston for a reason. It is not that Evanston is bad, there is just better to be had. Go to the Rogers Park area of Chicago (just south of Evanston). More interesting shops AND restaurants.i.e. the Argyle Street Vietnam section (there is thread in the Heartland forum) What shops or attractions (and on what streets other than Argyle) would you recommend, other than a visit to guajolote's house? BTW, I discovered your first eG post in the "Chinatown in Chicago" thread. P.S. Hope you had a good meal and a good time at La Shish or wherever you wound up.

We've never been to Evanston, so for our Chicagoland visit next weekend I was thinking it might be fun to spend the day there. We'll probably focus on the downtown area. On Metromix I saw five likely lunch candidates: Joy Yee's Noodles, Lulu's, Mt. Everest, Noodle Garden, and Potbelly Sandwich Works. I'd appreciate any opinions about these, or about any others I've overlooked. Also, any suggestions about interesting places, stores, etc. would be greatly appreciated as well.

That's almost happened to me on more than one occasion. Good taste is timeless, I guess. Three more books, courtesy of eBay and Amazon. (And yes, I traveled there by way of eGullet. :$$$: ) How to Read a French Fry The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen Cooking at Home with the CIA

Ms. Alex enjoyed Café Lebanon when she stayed at the Marriott.

Here in the Heartland the ad goes, "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno." Highly obnoxious -- especially the one with Dick Vitale, who is barely tolerable under the best of circumstances.

Page 3 of the travel section in today's Grand Rapids Press features an article entitled "Fulfill food fantasies in Ann Arbor." Unfortunately, it's not very useful (or fantasy-related, for that matter). Most of the article is devoted to Zingerman's (Deli+Bakehouse+ Roadhouse) and Whole Foods Market, with smaller blurbs about Firefly and Fleetwood Diner, and brief mentions of Old Town Tavern, West End Grill, Bella Ciao, and Pacific Rim ("...mid-priced but great Asian food in a minimalist atmosphere.")

OH NO! I have these same knives! But I didn't buy them - they were given to me and I keep two of them handy because I can put an edge on them with my ceramic "steel" and I don't really care what happens to them so they are used for "rough cuts" -- anything I think might damage a better knife. They are strange knives and yet.......... I think I have the knock-off of the knock-off of them - the so-called Dione Lucas version (which I can't believe ever had even nodding acquaintance with the lady herself); trapezoidal shape, molybdenum composition. And I use and use and use and use them, and they hold an edge better than I deserve. They aren't for everything or everyone, but they are indispensable for all those miscellaneous items, all those unclassifiable odds and ends, all those unauthorized pass-through-the-kitchen-and-grab-a-hunk-of-cheese-on-the-fly moments. It can't always be haute cuisine! Confession #2: Several months ago, in a fit of delayed grieving for the two knives I sold, I picked up on eBay an unused 9" Dione Lucas slicer but with a Benihana of Tokyo logo. Ah, yes. I know them well.

In a few weeks, Ms. Alex and I will attend a six-course prix fixe "East Meets West" dinner at Friendship in Chicago. It's BYO, and we certainly could use some wine suggstions. At this point I don't know if it'll be just the two of us or if other eG'ers will be joining. Let's say two bottles for now, and I'm less concerned about a wine for the dessert course. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Here's the menu: I. Panko Crusted Crab Cake on Watercress with Szechwan Chili Aioli II. Seafood Cream of Corn Soup with Lobster Broth III. Peking Duck Wrap and Duck Confit in Taro Root Basket with Mandarin Orange Grand Marnier Sauce IV. Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass on Seaweed Salad with Gingered Sweet Soy and Chili Oil V. Wok Roasted Mushroom Caps on Chicken Flavored Sticky Rice VI. Ginger-Scented Tofu Cheese Cake and Sweet Purple Yam Ice Cream with Raspberry Coulis

OK, knife confession time: When I first set up housekeeping on my own, 30+ years ago, I redeemed most of my family's accumulated S&H Green Stamps and equipped my kitchen with red Club Aluminum cookware (one covered saucepan still remains, primarily for its nostalgia value), green and white Pyrex mixing bowls (two remain), and two Pyrex baking dishes (gone but not forgotten). I also purchased (via an ad in Parade magazine, if very hazy memory serves) a set of four Japanese-made stainless steel + molybdenum knives. The blades were trapezoidal, the handles were rosewood with about a 2/3-length riveted tang, and they sported an unusual circular fish logo. I hardly ever used the slicer and the quasi-cleaver, so they departed at one of my yard sales. I used the larger chef's knife until it literally broke in two, about five years ago. I continue to use (and abuse) the 5" chef's knife. It sharpens beautifully on the unfinished (underside) rim of a salad plate. It's the perfect size for mushrooms, shallots, garlic, cheese, etc. The tip is handy for tightening the often-loose handles of my Farberware. I remind myself from time to time to use my Kyocera Ming Tsai so it won't feel neglected.

Bargain Books to the rescue! Desserts by Pierre Hermé, by Dorie Greenspan (hardcover) Pasta, by Julia Della Croce