Alex

Renowned chef, restaurateur, and author Michel Richard died yesterday, due to complications from a stroke -- twelve years to the day after Julia Child. When I followed the main link in today's Julia Child: Cooking with Master Chefs topic, before I knew about Richard's passing, I noticed that he was one of her master chefs. Weird. Richard was best known for his Washington, DC, restaurants Citronelle and, later, Central Michel Richard. In fact, former eG'er Mark Sommelier was, of course, the sommelier at Citronelle. (Last I saw him, he was at Pennsylvania 6, also in DC.)

I saw the splash screen for the episode with a very young Lagasse, but then I got a message, "PBS.org is currently experiencing connectivity issues." EG'ers must be crashing the site! I reloaded, and now it's back. I clicked on "see all episodes" and now have links to all sixteen. Very cool. Thanks, Shel.

Beautiful plate underneath #4, btw.

As JAZ asked above, are we talking about lox-style salmon or true smoked salmon?

I have a smart fridge. When I open the door, the light goes on. When I close the door, the light goes off, I think. Whenever I want something to eat, it's right there -- exactly where it was the last time!

Yes! Especially the three from Ecuador by Elizabeth Campbell (Panaderia Candiense): 2011 2012 2016

Kerry, what a great idea for a topic! It was fun, too, seeing the names and avatars of all those former, and wise, eG'ers, and wondering what they're up to nowadays. What immediately came to mind wasn't a post or topic per se -- it was anything Paula Wolfert wrote. As you might know, about three years ago Paula was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment, an early stage of the Alzheimer's form of dementia. Here's a 2013 article from the Washington Post about that. And here are last year's articles from Bon Appétit, The Wall Street Journal, and kitchn about the Kickstarter campaign for her biographical cookbook, now scheduled for publication next spring. This is one of many favorite posts: stratification. I had been making sauces like this for some time without truly knowing exactly what I was doing, or why. And this is a favorite topic: Cooking with "The Cooking of Southwest France". I'm proud to say I was one of those eG'ers who did recipe-testing for the 2nd edition of the book. I still have the email I sent back to her with my feedback, almost exactly twelve years ago.

Still there!

FritoLay speaks! So, no artificial flavors (or flavours).

In addition to the three squares, we have Your Daily Sweets and What Are You Preserving

I'm sure I'll forget some of the little details of most of the courses we had Saturday night, so please feel free to add or correct anything I mention. I'm pretty sure I remember what I made, but of course I don't have any pictures of it. I think other folks do, so let's hope they post here. We started with my amuse, served on a Chinese soup spoon: sautéed potato cylinder (white pepper, dill) topped with homemade crème fraîche and golden char roe from BLiS. I also made a dessert: ricotta from Fluffy Bottom Farm (made that morning), mixed with more of the crème fraîche, half-and-half, vanilla and almond extracts, and confectioner's sugar -- layered parfait-ish with crumbled windmill cookies and macerated (Tammy's Luxardo maraschino and vanilla extract) Balaton cherries. In between those two were a superb gazpacho, a composed caprese-ratatouille dish (see below), a pasta course (also below), "pork and stuff" (e.g., grilled peaches, poblanos, green onions, fennel), There also was a piece of perfectly ripe canteloupe (before my dessert) and a perfectly wonderful chocolate chip cookie (after my dessert), accompanied by a bit of salted caramel liqueur. Speaking of alcohol, we certainly had sufficient wine, donated by several attendees. Tammy also made a cocktail, which I'll let her describe. Here are a few pictures. The order is all screwed up from what I originally had intended to post, but oh, well. Cherry tomatoes halved, ready for Tammy's caprese-ratatouille combo (with her just-made mozzarella!): The cherry tomatoes, before meeting the knife: Duck bacon, ready for the oven: Edsel, in his element: Fennel and lemon, ready for grilling (sorry, no "after" picture): The duck bacon, accompanying Liam's fettuccine carbonara with shiitake mushrooms: Peaches, halved and pitted and ready for the grill (to accompany the grilled pork flatiron steaks): The gorgeous, delicious, uncut peaches (with the cherry tomatoes photobombing the picture): The guys' corner (Steve, Farshid, Tom):

And we, you. Looks like you're still in Cali. I still remember your deconstructed niçcoise salad in Chicago.

We already have a couple of commitments that afternoon, so we won't be able to. Has Tammy sent you an invitation to join the Facebook event group? You could post the question there. (I'll PM her contact email to you.) By the time people respond, though, it might be too late, so I suspect you're better off going this evening.

Cheers back at you. I thought you might like to see this: White Lotus Farms, in Ann Arbor.

I just received a confirmation email from my local library system: "Thank you for recommending Acorns & Cattails: A Modern Foraging Cookbook of Forest, Farm & Field...I have ordered it and placed a hold for you. You will be notified when it is ready to pick up at your home library."

We're confirmed for 6 p.m. Friday at The Last Word. Saturday's shopping logistics will be discussed there. We're looking to have the actual eating part of Saturday's dinner start at about 6 p.m. Prepping, cooking, and, most likely, noshing before that, of course. Sunday brunch at Grange at 10:30 a.m. -- awaiting reservation confirmation.

Just in case anyone was interested, I thought I'd mention the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

I think there was at least one topic about this a while back, but I'll leave it to more ambitious members to locate it. IIRC, a commonly expressed feeling was that getting rid of cookbooks was like kicking your children out of the house, then grieving the loss. You certainly have memories of them, and they might come back for a visit every once in a while, but although you know it's for their (and your) own good, it's still not quite the same as when they were living with you. Eventually, though, you move on. (Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if all of that last paragraph was in the old topic, but whatever.) Mark, what makes you think it might have been the wrong thing to do? Do you worry about needing information that you wouldn't be able to answer in any other way -- including by getting that book from your library. I don't know how you disposed of them, but I assume it was in a way that eventually will bring joy, help, or at least a little information to others. That's something to feel good about.

OK, let's say 11:45 a.m. at El Harissa. We can eat lots of zaalouk and chicken chermoula and gelato, then have plenty of time to get hungry (and thirsty) for The Last Word. (Tammy's working on a 6 p.m. reservation, but that hasn't yet been confirmed by the place.)

Wonderful (for both coming to A2 and having a new life partner)! I also remember your tea.

Sounds like it was good times. Yes, the farmers market will be running on Saturday; shopping there is part of the plan. In fact, here are some pictures of the market from our 2006 gathering, ten years to the day before we're there again!

Same opinion here. Tammy told me she's never been to El Harissa (some of her friends have), so how about we go there? Chris (and Tammy), do you have a time preference? Ms. Alex and I probably can be there by 11:45; later would be OK, too. ETA: Nancy, does it look like you'll be there in time for lunch on Friday?

For those who'll be driving in, around, and toward Ann Arbor, be aware that there may be significant construction delays or detours. On the 'net, MiDrive is a good resource for construction details. I also like Sigalert for traffic speed info. Unfortunately for our drive from GR to A2, the biggest, baddest construction issue is the complete closure of M-14 between the Main St and Miller/Maple interchanges. If, like cdh, you'll be in A2 on Thursday, there'll be single lane closures, with traffic shifts, on Huron between State and 5th, until 3 p.m.

cdh also is in for Friday lunch. As Tammy mentioned earlier, Spencer looks good. I've also been wanting to go to El Harissa Cafe for some time now. Any thoughts, Chris?

The two of us will already be in town, so any time works for us; we'll defer to those who have time constraints. I'm going to start arranging Friday lunch very soon, like later today. Are you able to be there? I'm also starting to plan what to make for Saturday. I've listed ten people here, including you and the five former eG'ers. How many more do you think there'll be? Could you post the event's Facebook page URL, in case anyone wants to keep in touch that way?