Alex

I use a slightly tweaked, jammy-leaning recipe out of the Cooks' Illustrated Sept/Oct 2001 issue. I've yet to eat a tastier version. Make it even better by plopping it on some crispy fried polenta and topping it with some goats cheese.

I'd love to post a few pictures I took at TVH, but ImageGullet is not cooperating with the upload. Oh, well.

I'm also having a bit of a hassle uploading the two decent pictures I took at TVH , so I'll do that when I get home. It's been a good time so far. There was a surfeit of wonderful food and beverages at the group dinner last night, of course, especially, imo, the desserts. A big thank you again to elfin and Lady T for their contributions of wonderful after-diner potables. It's 11:30 a.m. and I'm finally able to think about food without feeling woozy.

If you're planning on using CTA trains (aka "The El" or "The L") over the weekend, especially the Red Line, it would be good to read this construction information first.

Kerry, I checked and I unfortunately do not have 6 or 7" cake pans. Sorry. ← Ok then, I guess Alex is still hauling them along. Thanks Alex! ← You're welcome. No problem at all. Ronnie mentioned that there's a stand mixer at the church, so whipped cream certainly is an option. Kerry, is one blowtorch enough or should I bring mine, too? Randi, as Grace mentioned, Whole Foods undoubtedly will have an extensive selection of ice creams and gelati.

Is that the upgrade from the 39¢ pork?

I've been looking forward to a BBQed or smoked meat (or salmon) product from you for the past five years, ever since the first Gathering. This one'll be barely worth attending otherwise.

That's great, Tammy. We'll still need a way of knowing if the train is simply too late, even with a ride from the hotel. Perhaps you and Kerry could decide on the absolute latest possible arrival time, then the participants could call Amtrak (1-800-USA-RAIL, train #365) to check. ← Totally OT, but how can a train be 2.5 hrs late??? Its not like there is traffic. Oy, its going to be a long day ← The most consistent contributor is that Amtrak doesn't own the track in Michigan, so freight trains get priority. Sometimes the train has to travel slower than anticipated or simply stop for a while. There also can be mechanical problems with crossing gates, track-switching mechanisms, control lights, etc. Remind me to tell you the story of when the crew hit their limit about ten minutes out of New Buffalo, and we had to wait on the train for a new crew to arrive from Chicago.

That's great, Tammy. We'll still need a way of knowing if the train is simply too late, even with a ride from the hotel. Perhaps you and Kerry could decide on the absolute latest possible arrival time, then the participants could call Amtrak (1-800-USA-RAIL, train #365) to check.

Here's a chocolate workshop thought or two. I know we were aiming for a ~3-hour workshop, starting at about 2:00. However, there are a couple of potential flies in the ointment (or the ganache). As I mentioned upthread, Kerry Beal's train, scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 11:14 a.m. often is significantly late. For example, over the past six days it was late by 1 hr, 34 min; 11 min; 1 hr 58 min; 2 hr 30 min; 42 min; 1 hr 4 min. There also are the variables of 1) whether Kerry needs to check in to the hotel first or is willing take the train directly from Union Station to Beth's house, if necessary, and/or 2) whether Kerry can get a ride with someone from the hotel or if she'll need to make her way back to Union Station or the Green Line. It's not far from Union Station to the Hyatt, but it's about an $8-10 cab ride each way. Kerry, if you take the Metra commuter train from Union Station without first going to the hotel (and Randi is willing to take your luggage to the hotel), you can arrive up to about 2 hrs, 10 min late and still make the 1:40 Metra, arriving Mont Clare at 2:00, then about a 10-minute walk to Beth's. If you need to go to the hotel first, you probably can arrive up to about an hour and a half late. If you're willing to perhaps do some last-minute rushing, it would be appreciated, of course, but I for one would understand if there's too much risk and you thought it best to postpone the workshop for another Gathering. If you're willing to give it a shot, the other issue is how do we know if the workshop is still on or if it's canceled because the train was just too late? My thought is that by the time the train is scheduled to depart Niles -- the last station before Chicago -- at 9:25 CDT, the conductor should have a reasonably good idea of the arrival time into Chicago. If it's going to be too late, perhaps you could call Beth, then whoever's attending could call and check. Beth, would that be OK by you? The other potential fly is that with our starting the workshop at about 2:15, the most likely return train departs Mont Clare at 5:05, which means leaving the house no later than 5:50, which means it'll be about a 2½-hour workshop. Kerry, is that enough time? I hope this all made sense. Please add your own thoughts and ideas.

Thanks, Grace. That would be extremely helpful. We'll need to be extremely diligent about locking the car after we drop off the produce. If we leave it open, when we return it's likely we'd find it filled to the roof with zucchini.

Some folks might have discussed this privately, but there's been no public discussion of a post-shopping rendezvous or a lunch venue. Based on history, this probably won't be decided until we meet at the market at 9, or perhaps the night before at LSC if all of the shoppers are there. If you like, we can get your phone number and call you when we decide. However, given the variety of easily accessible restaurants in Evanston (see posts 451 and 585), my guess is that we may or may not meet up after shopping, but may well follow diverse paths for coffee/lunch. In a related issue, I certainly don't plan on schlepping a couple of watermelons and a peck or two of tomatoes around Evanston. The market closes at 1:00, so my first thought is to ask the vendors if they can hold onto my purchases until 12:30-12:45, if they're not leaving early. Any other thoughts?

I'll be shopping at the Farmers' Market. I'll also be the Evanston coordinator for whatever isn't taken care of at LSC the night before.

I have two 5", one 6", and one 7" springform pans. If someone local could provide the pans, that would be easier, of course, but otherwise I'd be willing to bring mine. Lemme know...

I have strainers, 4 sizes. Medium colander ( size of a cabbage ). I'll bring my Cuisineart. Mandoline, whisks, spatulas. A tool chest of items, peelers, thread, string, scissors, poultry pins, cutting boards. Any idea of the recipes??? - Out of towners - Chefs - pm me if you need something specific. ← Thanks, Karen. I'll need the strainer/colander for seeding tomatoes, to catch the seeds and allow the liquid to pass through to the bowl below. Either a blender or a food processor would do for making the soup, but the blender tends to do a more thorough job of pureeing.

I have a small one (~6½" high) I could pack; it wouldn't take up much room in my suitcase. I'm also bringing some sel gris for the soup I plan to make. If someone(s) wants to prune back their peppermint, I can use all you're willing to bring.

I remember that somewhere upthread someone (Ronnie?) mentioned the possibility of bringing small appliances or other equipment that the church kitchen might not have. I'll be in need of one or two large strainers or colanders (medium to fine mesh), and one or, preferably, two, blenders. Would a Chicagoland someone be able to bring any of these? Thanks!

Thanks, Toby. Those of us who are relatively neophyte cocktail drinkers should be recovered from Thursday night by then.

You're probably referring to Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti (pronounced ip-sih-LAN-tee). Unfortunately, I'm not terribly familiar with Ypsi (IP-see) restaurants. Near campus there's an ostensibly good Chinese/Vietnamese place, Golden Wall, plus a well received Vietnamese restaurant, Dalat. As Randi mentioned, there are numerous good choices in Ann Arbor, but one needs to drive there from EMU.

Of course there's still room for more cooks and helpers, but one thing you don't see on the list above is that there are lots of people who've volunteered to help with cleanup and set-up - they're not in the list I'm posting, but it's a selection you can make when you buy your ticket. As a cook who hates to clean, I appreciate those people a lot! I think we'll find that most everyone will be participating in one way or another in the creation of the feast, don't worry. ← From what I can gather about the church's kitchen, that sounds like the right number, even if we cook in shifts. Plus, if I remember correctly, we had only about a dozen in-kitchen cooks in Ann Arbor a few years ago, plus some helpers. Granted it was a smaller gathering, but I think we're doing fine so far. I also suspect that there will be some unplanned dishes, inspired by the day's offerings at the Farmers' Market.

If it's the Marriott, you're extremely well located, right on Michigan Ave. on the Magnificent Mile. I don't know of any coffee shop per se, but Bin 36 is very close to the hotel and is open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Its cousin and next-door neighbor, A Mano, doesn't list a specific closing time but I assume it's also open late. If you're up for splurging and are sorely in need of chocolate, you can do "Chocolate at the Pen" (PDF file), at the Peninsula Chicago hotel (Fri and Sat, 8:00-11:30), also close to the Marriott.

That was my first thought -- there's a travel Screwpull in both our cars. But then I remembered being at a friends' place when their lever-type corkscrew, the only one in the house, gave up the ghost. If I hadn't kept the Screwpull in my car, it would have been time for Plan B (a difficult choice between pushing in the cork or a trip to the 24-hour Meijer).

That's not quite right. A cash fare on a bus indeed doesn't get you a transfer. However, one cannot pay cash for the El, but every station has vending machines at which you can purchase a paper transit card, which does allow transfers -- $2 gets you three rides within two hours of the first boarding. CTA fare and purchasing info is here. As Rona said, a visitor's pass can be a good deal IF you plan on using the CTA regularly, i.e., averaging the equivalent of two or more round trips per day. You can get one from a machine at the airports or at Union Station near the Metra ticket windows. Also, there's still time to order one online. Mine's always arrived in a week or less. The fare link in the previous paragraph also has information about purchasing visitor passes in town. Please note, too, that Metra commuter rail is independent of the CTA, so if you're going that way to Evanston, you'll need to buy a ticket at Ogilvie Transportation Center, from which the train leaves. The $5 unlimited weekend pass would be your best deal.

Of course, this depends on where you are. I think Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is the one "do not miss" local specialty, although there are others (e.g. Italian beef sandwiches). As previously noted, it takes 30-45 minutes for a deep-dish pizza to bake, so consider calling ahead with your pizza order to avoid waiting for it to bake while you're seated. I think Giordano's is a great choice. Not exactly adjacent, but walkable; the nearest location is on Belmont, half a mile south of the ballpark. 1040 W Belmont Ave, (773) 327-1200. ← Oops, good catch -- I reversed the locations of Giordano's and Tuscany. I'll fix that right now.

To help narrow down our suggestions, what does "out and about" mean? Friday or Sunday? Do you have any plans to be at a particular place (e.g., Art Institute) or in a particular area? If your weekend is the one of August 8-10, you could join the eGullet Heartland Gathering's tour of Maxwell Street Market. By the way, the food at Wrigley is execrable. I suggest getting to the area very early and eating lunch elsewhere. I'm sure that other recommendations are forthcoming, but two reasonable choices are Tuscany (northern Italian), adjacent to the ballpark, and Giordano's (stuffed pizza), about a half-mile away.