Alex

Earthy Delights here in Michigan is a reliable, if occasionally expensive, source. They're selling fresh West Coast morels now for $49-54/pound. I get my dried (and sometimes fresh) morels from a very reliable guy "up north." Send me a PM and I'll reply with his contact info.

I've used these (four of them) for a while, albeit with the pita lids. One slides on and off very easily, one is passable, two are pains. I put up with them because they do a great job of keeping freezer odor away from the cubes. Straight out of a zero-degree freezer, it does take a bit of a twist to dislodge the cubes. I guess it depends on how bad Roberta's arthritis is. I imagine, though, that a brief dip in hot water would allow the cubes to slide right out.

There's the classic Brandy Alexander (note my screen name): equal parts Cognac or brandy, dark c de c, and half-and-half or cream, shaken with ice, garnished with a bit of grated nutmeg. My dad used to make a variation for my mom and her friends when they visited. He used ice cream--coffee, I believe--as the dairy, and give it a quick whirl in the blender instead. It went down *real* easy, providing my dad and me some amusement as we watched them get tipsy.

Great question. My omelette request: Please don't brown it or turn it into a Frisbee®-like substance. Years (decades?) ago, when I regularly visited Toronto, I discovered this wonderful civilized restaurant that specialized in omelettes. (Does anyone remember its name?) The waiter actually knew the term baveuse. Sigh.

Are you talking about Oakland on the Southside? If so, that's quite a distance between there and Lincoln Park, so it would help if you narrowed things down: driving or public transportation? food and cost preferences? how casual (or not)? Etc...

Yeah, West Michigan is always a decade or two behind NYC.

For at least the past couple of years, in both West Michigan (where Ms. Alex and live) and Chicagoland (where we visit regularly), and even in North Carolina (where Ms. Alex goes to visit her mom), we've noticed that our server's departing comment after delivering our food has usually been, "Enjoy!" We've been eating out for decades, and this is the first time we've noticed this trend. We're now mildly amused by it--probably because each instance confirms our observation--but it's certainly not an inappropriate thing to say, and far preferable to the usually-pretentious (imho) "Bon appétit!" However, we were wondering if others have noticed this trend elsewhere in the country/continent/world. And if so, how long has it been going on by you (are we just late to the party?) and do you have any clue how it started?

Actually, it's been mentioned in five posts (#s 20, 47, 52, 54, 55). Ctrl-F (assuming a PC) also is your friend. I second the banana bread toast w/Nutella (or, as I mentioned earlier, pb + Nutella).

Well, I haven't had any distinguished guests in a long time and, when I did, it was because of my husband's job, and not because we were all chummy with them. Maggie - this is my number one "I can't stand it any more diet be damned I have to have something decadent right now" dish. I've seen lots of similar versions, but usually come back to this one: Chocolate Mousse 1 6-oz pkg good quality 100% chocolate semi-sweet chips 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 T Creme de Cacao, Khalua, Xanath, Creme of Tequila, Bailey's, or other favorite liqueur dash salt 1 C heavy whipping cream Put everything into a blender EXCEPT for the cream. Fasten the top onto the blender, minus that little plastic thing in the middle. Heat the cream to scalding. Just before the boil, turn on the blender and slowly pour the hot cream through the hole in the blender lid while the blender is running. Continue blending until the mixture is smooth. Pour the hot mousse into individual ramekins. Put them into the fridge to cool. They're like chocolate pots de creme - very rich. When cold, serve them with a dollop of whipped cream on top. You can dust it with a little powdered instant coffee, or cinnamon, or nutmeg. I liked to serve them with one of those Pepperidge Farm rolled cookies alongside. Maggie - obviously the idea is for them to chill. But when I just have to have what I have to have, I don't wait for them to completely chill and congeal. I just happily slurp away. Oh, and KayB - I never told those distinguished guests how I made that delightful cobbler. Wanted them to think I'd really gone to a lot of trouble just for them. And I also never told them that I had made this mousse from chocolate chips in the blender before I served it in tiny elegant demitasse cups, complete with demitasse spoons, doilies in the saucers, and little embroidered napkins pulled through the cup handles. As I said, it was "Competitive Entertaining." For better or worse, that's how it was. Careers hung in the balance. Wow, I've been making this for decades now. Good to see it here on eG. It's indeed exactly like a traditional pôts de crème and very rich, easily serving 4 as a meal-ending dessert. I've changed the proportions a bit over the years, now using an 85 or 100g bar of good 70% chocolate, 3/4 cup of cream, and occasionally 1 T of very strong espresso instead of a liqueur (Cointreau is my favorite here), or sometimes no liquid at all. The only drawback, as Jaymes mentioned, is that it takes a while to set up properly--usually at least eight hours for me--and so I've never gone the slurping route.

Congrats, Alex, I've enjoyed every one of them. I've never really liked peanut butter but I agree that with a Nutella chaser I might be persuaded. Thank you so much. I'm a lifelong pb fan. I graduated from Skippy Crunchy to bulk food store fresh ground to my own food processor-ground Planters unsalted. Just made some more today, in fact. Sometimes a piece of toast with pb and Nutella (or American Spoon Foods or Food for Thought preserves) will be dessert. Oh--I almost forgot--a spoonful of homemade dulce de leche can be a dessert, as it was about a minute ago. This thread is such a conditioned stimulus.

I'm with Beebs. A spoonful of Nutella, even if I'm not desperate. If I'm feeling particularly energetic, I'll take another spoonful of homemade peanut butter. Nutella. PB. Rinse (with milk). Repeat. EDA: This is my 2,000th post!

If you haven't decided yet, W-S has free shipping on everything until 11:59 p.m. PST tonight. If you can't decide tonight and you're leaning toward a cutting board, they have free shipping until the 26th on Boos end-grain cherry boards. I'd be glad to send you the free shipping code they sent me for that offer.

Lula Cafe

My main question is: What would you do with the under-stovetop space? If it's a specialty storage cabinet that you'd love to have but won't be able to put anywhere else, then get the stovetop. If it's general storage, then get the range and use the oven for storage, as you said. It would help the place's resale-ability (assuming the unit is still working then), and the oven would be there just in case you need it (which you said you occasionally do). I'd also get the under-counter microwave, again just in case (and for the convenience). IMHO, the "hood" feature is pretty much useless unless it vents to the outside, but no matter. You might want to consider upgrading to the full-sized Breville "Smart Oven" (eG thread here).

Come to the next Heartland Gathering if tino27 will be there -- like this one in 2010. (Actually, come to the next one anyway.)

It sounds like you're considering a pressure cooker as a time-saving measure. Have you read through forums, recipes, etc? Given what you like to cook for dinner, do you think you'd use it semi-regularly? If so, go for it. Boos blocks are really nice, but the larger boards on the W-S web site are edge grain vs. the generally more desirable end grain. There also are alternatives to Boos, for example, this.

I'm with you. I've been winding down for a long time. However, Ms. Alex likes to borrow cookbooks from the library, so perhaps once or twice a year I'll see one that speaks to me (figuratively, not literally, although sometines I wonder...). When I do buy one, it's usually as much for its cultural/historical/literary virtues as its recipes.

Pistoles, I assume? Put 'em in zip-top bags to give away at Halloween. Or you could make one of David Lebovitz's milk chocolate ice creams, like this one. Or combine it with bittersweet chocolate to do the homemade version of Nutella, like here.

I like how this discussion has evolved from a question about a commercial food product to embrace a wider sociological perspective: refrigeration, TV (especially advertising), supermarkets, technology, post-WWII, etc. I suspect that all of those play a part. I also think that the rise of the supermarket, as Toby said above, correlates with the rise of the suburbs, especially post-WWII.

One more: The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends

Here's the full story.

I asked this same question last year, though I really, *really* appreciate your attitude. Myself? I'm unapologetically anti-kid. Don't want 'em, don't need 'em, *certainly* don't want to hear them or be around them when they're bored/tired/misbehaving/squealing/yelling/crying/existing. That being said, my impression of The Gathering was that it's an Adults Only thing, but I was told that my impression was incorrect, that kids were welcome. This caused me to withdraw from The Gathering, as the risk is just not worth it to me...I'm there, I've booked the hotel, I've paid for the events scheduled, and someone brings along their kids, who inevitably get bored (justifiably!) or misbehave in some way, making life generally lousy for everyone, and migrane-inducing for people like me. I greatly appreciate your willingness to (GASP! Such a novel idea!) get a babysitter. It's practically unheard of in this area, apparently. So do as you like. It's nice to see, even just the idea of it, the idea that kids are not, and should not, be included in everything. Well, here we go again. Your anti-kid bias is well known. However, the larger issue, as I see it, is that you don't trust the kind of people who *might* bring a child to such an event (the Saturday meal) to: 1) have sufficient judgment to bring their child only if the child's temperament, etc., suits the venue, and 2) have a management plan in place in case of potentially disruptive behavior. Anti-kid, well, I can accept, and I certainly know that rude parental behavior does occur in restaurants, but in this case I believe your attitude is ultimately anti-eGullet parent. Frankly, I would much rather you not attend the Saturday meal than have a parent not attend because they need (or want (gasp!)) to bring their child. FWIW, I've been at every Gathering except KC and Cleveland--including the first one in GR, where we had a three-year-old-ish child in attendance. To the best of my recollection, not once was there any child-related disruption, even a minor one.

Yes! It's in the Introduction. I thank you. My friend thanks you in absentia.

Despite my prowess at trivia games and the like, I was unable to come up with an answer, or even an inkling of an answer, to a friend's inquiry. Can anyone help? Here's what he wrote to me:

I can't speak to burgers in The Loop, but in River North (as it says, just north over the river from The Loop) there's a really good high-end version at Naha: I've heard that the burger at Keefer's, also in River North, is good, but I haven't personally experienced it.