Alex

After I eat shiitake mushrooms, my urine has a skunk-like odor. Does anyone else experience this?

No.

Thanks for the shout-out to your community college culinary program. I suspect that lots of people, even those into fine dining, don't realize how good CC programs can be. Our CC here in Grand Rapids also runs a first-class program (and a terrific restaurant). Schoolcraft College, in suburban Detroit, also is top notch. P.S. Like everyone else here, I'm enjoying your forum immensely. An old acquaintance of mine was a CIA grad and worked at Caesar's in LV. He had lots of stories to tell about both places.

Hey, it worked for Julie/Julia. You're right, though: posting one recipe is fair use; posting all of them is not. Describing them should be fine. I agree with Mjx, though: play safe and ask the authors.

Yes, it's definitely the season. In fact, this coming weekend is the eighth anniversary of the first Heartland Gathering, which inspired this thread.

Ditto. Except maybe Postum over instant coffee.

Cheetos and a Bloody Mary! Tomato, "cheese," and a little savory heat. Brilliant!!

Cheetos do indeed look very weird and therefore should be consumed with beer. But not yogurt. (Would that be sort of like eating fish fingers and custard?) I, too, think that yogurt could work with peanut butter, especially the "natural" or homemade variety. I make a spicy groundnut stew that I suspect wouldn't be harmed, and might be enhanced, by the addition of a little yogurt.

Hey, c'mon over to Grand Rapids for a weekend. There's an interesting food culture growing here. And Meijer Gardens.

Lunch: Big & little's; Naha (Th/Fr); Purple Pig Dinner: Piccolo Sogno (under-the-radar Italian, great patio) It sounds like you've done your Detroit-area research, but you might also want to start a new thread here; I'm sure boagman and others could offer some useful information. And you've gotta know about Zingerman's, right?

I generally don't pay attention to how other people eat their pizza, so no, I can't top it. However... Maybe that's his way of rationalizing to himself that he's on a low-carb diet. Or he could be crust-phobic (it does happen) and wanted his mouth to stay a safe distance away.

Excellent report (imho) in today's The New York Times by Sam Sifton

I don't believe so == can any long-time Heartlanders recall? (For historical and sentimental reasons, is there a way the photos can be restored?) No 2004 Gathering. I guess the GR one was so wonderful, it took two years to work up to the next one. (It actually was indeed highly wonderful, from the smoked prime rib to the incredible array of liquors and wine to my (and many others') first experience with roasted cauliflower.) Unfortunately, I think that most of the pictures (and good ones at that) got trashed when eG switched to a new server or new software or something like that. Pity. Perhaps the Wayback Machine?

Socca is very good, and has the advantage of being walking distance from Wrigley. (Warning: their web site has music; hit the mute button before you click.)

Alex, Have you made the Nutella ice cream from Chocolate & Zucchini before? I tried it a couple of years ago and had disastrous results - a very dense mass that never really froze (no wonder - it's almost 1/2 Nutella by weight!), like a solid version of Nutella. As for the taste, it was so rich that nobody cared for it. Definitely not recommended. On the other hand, my experience so far with all of David Lebovitz's ice cream recipes has been fantastic! Interesting. No, I haven't done a practice batch yet, although I certainly planned to do so before making it part of the trio. Adam Roberts (aka The Amateur Gourmet) also endorsed Clotilde's recipe, so I figured it was OK. Giada D (Hmm, sounds like a rap star) has a more traditional, custard-based recipe on foodnetwork.com. Maybe I should just make a big batch of base and use that for all three.

My latest idea: Tiramisu (David Lebovitz), Nutella (from Chocolate & Zucchini), and Goat Cheese (Lebovitz or Charlie Trotter). It's not as colorful as many of the other combinations in this forum, but I'll bet the flavors will go together spectacularly well.

Las Vegas Sun story What's even sadder is that Ms. Alex is in LV for a conference and had a reservation for tonight (+3 friends). Maybe the rep didn't say anything to the Sun, but the cancellation voice mail message said that they wouldn't be open tonight (nor, apparently, any other night) becaue of the economy.

So, as you know, traveling via Metro is easy. I second what Busboy and weinoo have said. I'll be going to America Eats and Graffiato the first week in August, but of course that's after your trip. Near Union Station, as Busboy said, you can go to Bistro Bis and maybe see Paul Ryan order another $350 bottle of wine. (At least he tips decently.) Here are a few more ideas: I'm a huge fan of the three-course pre-theater menu at Tosca. Bibiana is excellent, too. La Chaumiere, in Georgetown, is a good classic French restaurant for lunch or dinner. The $12 bar menu lunch at Proof is a terrific deal. On the Mall, you ought to check out Mitsitam, although it can get pretty crowded at peak lunch time. The $19.90 three-course lunch at Vidalia is excellent and a great deal. Dinner ain't bad there, either. If you're needing seafood, skip Legal and go to BlackSalt (bus or cab needed).

Lukestar, your request is a rather tall order. As you probably know, DC has become quite a good restaurant city. Please be much more specific about your preferred price range, preferred type(s) of cuisine, what you like to drink with your dinner (and how much you want to spend), willingness to walk or take public transportation vs. taking a cab, etc., etc. Is this your first trip to DC? If not, where have you eaten and how much did you like it?

I have one. Beats the heck out of a similar Krups I used to own. Does a great job with roasting vegetables, baking a potato, top browning/broiling an open-face sandwich, cooking an Amy's frozen pizza, and toasting frozen (or fresh) bagels. Good for warming plates, too. Regular toast is OK -- perfect on one side but striped on the other because of the grates. Worth the money. Buy it and don't look back.

Hmm. I just drank an Argentinian Malbec -- a Clos De Los Siete -- with a burger tonight. That would have been fine with a filet mignon, especially if he ground a little fresh pepper on it. With his filet not being all that assertive or "beefy", I think an Oregon Pinot Noir would have been a good match.

That video is great! It's like giving birth to a hard-boiled egg.

This is a great pictorial with lots of comments - worth checking Thanks for the link, Heidi. This is the one I use. I cut back a little bit on the Szechuan peppercorn, but otherwise I do it exactly as written. As my fellow Michigander Tony the Tiger would say, "It's Grrreat!"

I believe that "grace" ultimately stems from the Latin gratia -- the same root as for "gratitude." And the name Jesus isn't a mistranslation, it's a transliteration of the Latin (Iesus), which itself was a transliteration of the similar-sounding Greek transliteration of Y'shuah.

Ooh, I want to shop at your market.