Alex

He ate there three times over a number of months with, apparently, consistent experiences. However, it sounds like you think he was either exaggerating or being purposely selective in his examples, and that he felt a need to "go for the press.". Can you support those opinions in a way more substantial that simply stating your history of disagreeing with him?

Or you could wait for coffee flour to come on the market.

The New York Times gets in on the action, except this time they're roasting the head intact (minus the leaves and part of the core, of course).

Yes, she and her now-late husband owned Dairy Hollow House.

Thanks, KQ. I just placed an order: a Shun "Try Me" 4" paring knife for 39.95 and a Scanpan CSX 9½" covered fry pan for 49.95 (plus tax, free shipping).

You're welcome. Did you also read his feature story about The Great Zucchini ("The Peekaboo Paradox")? It's a good one.

New Year's Eve: We're going out for dinner, but later that evening, while watching the Cotton Bowl (Go Green! Go White!) with some friends, I'll make this roasted pears recipe from Gourmet/Epicurious. It's one of our very favorite desserts, especially with locally produced goat cheese. I'll probably also bring over a Caroline Cellars (Niagara Peninsula) ice wine. New Year's Day: In a recent shipment from Rancho Gordo was a recipe for Yellow Eye Bean, Smoked Chicken, and Sweet Potato Chowder. I'll sub black-eyed peas for the yellow eyes, and locally raised smoked turkey for the chicken. To start the day we'll probably hold our annual Mimosapalooza, then eat eggs and Canadian bacon from the aforementioned farm, with challah.

Ooh, I'm envious. Our RG bean order (not a present) arrived today!

We received this lovely inlaid bamboo salad/fruit/popcorn/whatever bowl, with matching salad "hands." Ms. Alex also scored a Vosges Milk Chocolate Mo's Bacon Bar.

The bowl is $149.95, shipped, at Chef's Catalog's going-out-of-business sale. (The site is very slow at the moment.)

I just got into the site. I was hoping to find a KitchenAid spiralizer attachment, but no such luck. They do have the Precise Heat Mixing Bowl for $149.95, which is tempting, but not quite tempting enough.

Here's the story. Like KQ, I couldn't get in to either website.

Here?

If it's literally a few seconds, I wonder if your wok is too hot. I'd lower the heat for that step -- and in any event, you probably wouldn't stir-fry them w/o other ingredients for more then 15-20 seconds, yes? In some recipes, like this one, you add the garlic/ginger then immediately add some sauce and liquid. Sometimes you might even mix them together ahead of time, like here. And yes, I'm pointing you in the direction of hzrt8w's wonderful pictorials on eG.

I agree with Chris about Quartino, and have a similar reaction to FoT. If you're looking for Italian food, I can't speak highly enough about Anteprima -- and it's an amazing bargain to boot. It's in Andersonville, which is nowhere near Old Town, but it's a straight shot on the #22 Clark bus (or via taxi, of course). Plus Andersonville is a fun place for shopping. We also have had excellent meals at Piccolo Sogno Due and "uno." Regarding Little Italy, it's not Italian, but Three Aces is one of the more interesting places: one two Chicago has tremendous Mexican food, both in and beyond Pilsen. Here's a 2008 Time Out article about Rick Bayless's favorite places. Note his mention of the tres leches cake at Kristoffer's Cafe and Bakery. Yes, it's that good. If I'm driving, sometimes I'll buy one to take home. (However, it looks like their website no longer exists, and I got their voice mail during working hours, so I'm not sure what's going on with that.) Here's a 2013 article about Pilsen from Saveur; it also mentions the non-Mexican Nightwood, which is no longer in business. Outside of Pilsen, Mexique offers an interesting (and excellent) fusion of Mexican and French cuisines. Three Dots is a hoot. And very crowded. No idea about Lost Lake or Green River (or any other place in Chicago that's named after a body of water, except for North Pond, which is wonderful). If you want to go upscale on cocktails, of course there's The Aviary and The Violet Hour. Sable, in River North (we've been there multiple times), also is known for their cocktails (and small plates). I'm glad to see that someone besides us obsesses (and plans) about vacation food months in advance.

Bars w/food: Check out this article from Thrillist (Reload the page, but stop the reload immediately after the article appears; that'll help to avoid the annoying "join us to see the article" box.) Also Rootstock,

I almost forgot another prix fixe: the amazing GT Fish & Oyster All the ones I've mentioned so far are between $25 and $27.

Prix fixe lunch: definitely Naha and Blackbird What are those "few favorites" of yours?

Summary via podcast and transcript, in Scientific American Full journal article in Scientific Reports (via Nature.com)

How about the one I suspect that many of us started with: Simple French Food (now in a 40th Anniversary Edition), by Richard Olney?

Three questions: Could you be much more specific about how you were "a big part of making sure that the two stayed on track and that they were moving forward with their plans"? You wrote, "We are planning on opening...", but I don't see anything that justifies a "we," except perhaps some sort of verbal discussion about your being a chef there. Could you elaborate in much greater detail on that "we"? Are we all assuming correctly that there's nothing in writing (i.e., something that could be construed as a legal document) about your participation in this venture?

Another salad with an acidic base, to cut through all the richness of most of the other dishes. Maybe a "coarse cut" non-creamy slaw with red and green cabbage, apple, jicama, and sweet onion.

You're welcome, TftC. I apologize for the delayed reply. One of the folks behind Barney & Clyde is Gene Weingarten, of the Washington Post, who's one of my favorite writers. (One of my signature lines comes from one of his columns.) He doesn't write all that often about food, although a recent column touched on both Rice Krispies and butter, and this Barney & Clyde is sort of peripherally related. Here's a page with links to his Sunday columns for the past year and his Tuesday ones for the past eight months. It also has links to his longer articles, two of which (this one and this one) won Pulitzer prizes.

A friend of mine, who occasionally posts here and on other food-related web sites, and who knows what he's talking about (at least when it comes to food ), liked Victoria & Albert's very much, iirc.

I like "cooking local." So, living in West Michigan, I like to use products grown or raised around here: chestnuts (yes, we grow them here: one two three four), dried cherries, onion, celery, morels (dried, of course), eggs, turkey or chicken stock, and bread (challah this year).