Alex

Yeah, but those free-range, pastured vegetables are expensive. I mean, they roam far and wide and don't take kindly to being herded. it takes several farmhands all day to wrangle enough for just one day's worth of noodle production.

Oops. I just read their latest coupon -- it's not valid for Breville. Foo.

You'll also now start getting those coupons regularly via email, if you stay on the list. Some are for the store, some are online only. I also occasionally get them (or one for $5 off a $15 purchase) in the USPS-delivered advertising flyers. The ones in the flyer, but not the emailed ones, usually are accepted past their expiration date. I hang on to them, just in case I want to buy more than one item at the store.

CI on food processors CI on the Robot Coupe CR top rated (by far) the 16-cup Breville (not the 12-cup reviewed by CI), $280 at BB&B after the 20% discount

A Few Questions About the Specials

Welcome, Orientalschool. "Food and drinks" is pretty much what this place is all about. Do you have more specific interests, like a particular type of cuisine? A particular cooking method? A particular category of drinks? Etc., etc.

Thanks, b_d. I searched their website for the recipe but didn't see it. Maybe it's time I got on their email list...

Tell us more, please, Steve. How long did you soak the beans (if at all)? Did you cook them separately from the rice? (I assume you did, but one never knows, do one?) How long was the cooking time for the beans. Did you cook both the rice and the beans in coconut milk, or just the rice? Did you use just coconut milk or did you dilute it with some water? Etc., etc. As a side note, I've used Massa Organics brown rice exclusively for the past seven years or so. Given a choice, I wouldn't use anything else now.

Deryn, you might want to check out this topic on LTH Forum. For some odd reason, the last post is from December, 2014, but you'll still get a good idea what the place is like.

Ms. Alex and I collect amusing typos from our students' papers and online discussion posts -- especially when it's clear the student relied solely on spell-check or auto-correct and didn't actually proofread carefully. We'll sometimes use them (anonymously, of course) to illustrate the risks inherent in such behavior. For example (to keep it food-related), students have written about eating "porn & beans" and "crap cakes." They've also "asked my pears for emotional support" and "conducted taste testes." Of course, such mistakes also occur outside of academia. I recently was doing a little online research about a wine -- a lovely 2007 Domaine Serene Yamhill Cuvée Pinot Noir -- that I was planning to take to a BYOB restaurant. K&L Wine Merchants (they often show up on a Google search) still had it on their website, complete with excerpts from the usual reviewers, along with their own description. In it, they wrote,

Interesting question, Doug. I decided to investigate, and what should I discover but the Latibah Collard Green Museum. It's about more than just collard greens, but they do have some relevant information:

One more: Chicago is known for, among other things, its Mexican restaurants, both traditional and progressive. Near 90 Miles and Bang Bang is the progressive, relatively new, dos Urban Cantina. Check out its topic on LTH, which includes a post by occasional eG contributor nsxtasy.

I'm probably missing something obvious, but could you explain that comment to me?

Unless you know something about their itinerary that I don't, they'll be nowhere near Detroit; assuming they'll be on 30 by then, they'll cross 75 near Lima, OH.

If you're a pie fan, there's also Hoosier Mama Pie Company, on W Chicago Ave.

Here's a list of LTHForum's Great Neighborhood Restaurants. Some are high-end, like El Ideas and Elizabeth, and some are very well known, but there are plenty of lesser known, and less expensive, gems in the list. I and/or Ms. Alex can personally attest to these: Anteprima, avec, BIG & little's, Big Jones, Delightful Pastries, Floriole Café & Bakery (my favorite bakery in Chicago), probably Hopleaf (going there for the first time next week), Mixteco Grill, Purple Pig, Smoque BBQ, Vera, Violet Hour, Xoco, Vie.

OK, let's get this party started. If you're taking US-30 then US-41 into Chicago, and if you're beer drinkers, you owe yourselves a stop at Three Floyds Brewpub. In Chicago, 90 Miles Cuban Cafe and Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits More suggestions to follow...

Ah. Perhaps you could ask him, and also where he plans to first pick up 30, then post here.

How will you be detouring between 30 and Chicago? Are you planning to stay in or near Chicago for one or more nights? Do I assume correctly that the don't-miss places you're asking about are the kind that are locally famous but perhaps off-beat and off-the-beaten-track?

I always knew it as b'stilla. In fact, there was a restaurant of that name near me when I lived in Detroit, way too many years ago. Here's a good recipe from Saveur. (Use the chicken thighs )

Kugel! It's simple, and you can make it savory, sweet, or combo. Recipes (and opinions) abound. For example: Savory potato kugel from Francis Lam (!) Sweet noodle (lokshen) kugel from Dave Lieberman Jerusalem kugel (peppery sweet) from food dot com

Semi-echoing my previous comment, you're going into a metro area in which you, I assume, will be the first to use this sort of reservation system -- which means that you're going to have a whole lot of convincing to do. I'd be tempted to start with, say, half the seats on pre-pay, with a modest discount for doing so. Many hotels and car rental companies are doing this now. I'd also have people prepay the entire amount rather than half, with a modest penalty -- maybe $25 per seat -- for cancelling within 48 or 72 hours, and only if the seats aren't re-filled. You can always evaluate how your policy is working, and adjust it if needed.

Are you still looking at St. Louis or environs? If so, do you think a system like this would fly there?

I strongly agree with Anna N and Tere: Forget the eggs, etc. -- tea (or coffee or other beverage of their choice) and a very modest pastry or cookie would be perfect. (When I was a kid, it would have been Entenmann's. Or Stella D'Oro.) Remember, they'll be eating lunch in two hours.

Excellent article in the Feb 18 Washington Post about this topic.