Alex

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.

Damn, I was just reading this and thinking - I hope Randi is paying attention to all this - so I can just follow! ← And I was thinking..... I'm sure Kerry is good with directions. Maybe we can just follow Alex and Rona..... ← I, too, am freaking out about these directions. Maybe we can all shell out a couple extra bucks and squeeze into a taxi? I am really bad about directions and especially bad with trains. I also have an irrational fear of buses but if I am with others it may be OK. Is there anything to do around Union Station for a couple hours Friday morning? I am arriving at 5am and since the bread class isn't starting until noon I have quite a bit of time to kill.Anyone else going from this area to the bread class? ← Hi, Kris. Here's my post about Lou Mitchell's, near Union Station. You also might want to seriously consider taking a taxi straight over to the Hyatt rather than hanging around the station and schlepping your bag all over Chicagoland. There's really not much going on around there, anyway. The taxi stand is on Jackson at Canal, right by Union Station, diagonally across Canal from where the MegaBus stop is now. It's only about $7 + tip. Randi told me she has to do the actual check-in, but there's a dedicated place in the hotel where you can leave your bag with them until later. You don't even have to deal with the check-in counter to do that. There's also an information desk across from the check-in counter that should be able to tell you which breakfast places are open nearby. If you don't feel like wandering out, the Bistro at 151 restaurant at the hotel opens at 6. Public transportation in Chicago isn't as daunting as it might appear. The System Maps page on the CTA web site is very clear and useful. For example, if you look at the downtown map, the Hyatt is at the corner of Wacker and Stetson, near where the Chicago River comes off Lake Michigan. You can easily see how to get to the CTA from there. It looks like you have a might have a ride in someone's car to the Ethnic Shopping Tour on Saturday. (I don't know if LAZ's post referred to getting a ride *to* the Tour or if you'd still need to get there on your own.) If not, you'd just walk to the Red Line and follow her directions from there. However, if you're anxious about getting there via public transportation, then sharing a cab wouldn't be a bad idea. It looks like there are at least a couple other Hyatt residents going to the Tour. I almost certainly will be going to Lao Sze Chuan from the hotel, so I'd be glad to lead the public transportation crew. (It's not too a long cab ride, for those who prefer that method.) I also can lead folks back from Evanston on Saturday night. Edited to add: REB made an interesting suggestion of C-House for breakfast; it's about a brisk 10-minute walk from the hotel. However, the prices are outrageous, imho: an omelet with a side of bacon will set you back $20. For that price, there better be egg-laying chickens back in the kitchen. The café at Fox & Obel, also about a 10-minute walk, is just as good, I'm sure, for half the price.

I want to make bark with lots of nuts, but I guess that's just tempering chocolate and mixing nuts in? I'd really like to see some dipping, too. Will there be dipping? But I'm just happy with anything, as long as we get to eat some of them! ← I'd vote for dipping, too. Truffles would be great, if possible, especially how best to make liqueur-flavored ones, and perhaps a discussion of unusual flavors, à la Vosges. ← If someone can bring along some thinly sliced really crispy cooked bacon, I'll bring some smoked salt and we can make bark with that. ← If you want to also make a more traditional bark, I can bring some Marcona almonds.

I want to make bark with lots of nuts, but I guess that's just tempering chocolate and mixing nuts in? I'd really like to see some dipping, too. Will there be dipping? But I'm just happy with anything, as long as we get to eat some of them! ← I'd vote for dipping, too. Truffles would be great, if possible, especially how best to make liqueur-flavored ones, and perhaps a discussion of unusual flavors, à la Vosges.

The menu looks very, very appetizing. I might have to go there a couple of times while I'm in town for the Heartland Gathering. I certainly have my eye on that "Lobster Infused Tagliatelle, Peeky Toe Crab, Fennel & Tarragon, Meyer Lemon Butter" and the "Pan Seared Skate Wing, Summer Peas & Orzo, Salsa Verde." Have you been there for the "Traditional Italian Lunch Buffet" (Pranzo in Piedi)?

← Great! Thanks, Marmish (and Kerry). So our job between now and then is to think good thoughts about Amtrak?

You should also take into account that Amtrak frequently runs an hour late. ← Yes -- this past week your train arrived anywhere between 21 minutes and 2½ hours late. I'd love to attend a chocolate workshop, but allowing for train lateness, transportation to the hotel, checking in, and transportation to the venue (assuming we can locate one), it looks like 2:00 - 2:30 would be the very earliest semi-reasonable time to schedule it. How long do you think the workshop would be? Should we proceed with the venue search or simply table it until next year? ← I'd love it if you keep looking. I can do a workshop in 3 hours, so that still leaves time to get to dinner. ← I didn't know that Alex was also looking for a venue for these events but that's good to know. There are a couple other folks helping, as well. Alex, please keep us updated on your efforts. =R= ← Well, I wasn't yet. That was the general "we," although I do have some ideas. Perhaps I can email/PM them to you, or is there someone else who can be the chocovenue coordinator? I'm not in Chicagoland, as you know, but I'd be willing to make some phone calls.

You should also take into account that Amtrak frequently runs an hour late. ← Yes -- this past week your train arrived anywhere between 21 minutes and 2½ hours late. I'd love to attend a chocolate workshop, but allowing for train lateness, transportation to the hotel, checking in, and transportation to the venue (assuming we can locate one), it looks like 2:00 - 2:30 would be the very earliest semi-reasonable time to schedule it. How long do you think the workshop would be? Should we proceed with the venue search or simply table it until next year?

You're not nuts at all. Can you think of any better use for the $600 or so in your new house? And as Carolyn said, it's not an uncommon occurrence, especially with large families or folks who do a lot of entertaining.

It's still close to the station -- not directly across, but only about one block south of the former stop. I'm getting together with a friend for dinner at 7:00 that night, but I'm sure I could meet you after that, either at the stop or perhaps your hotel, depending on where you're staying.

For Saturday, there's Dream About Tea in Evanston, close to the Davis train station and our dinner venue.

If the Sunday is July 13, you can hit the special garlic dinner at Harvest. On Tuesday you might consider the special prix fixe dinner at L'Etoile. (As you know, I don't live in Madison, but Ms. Alex has been there for conferences and I'm her restaurant researcher.)

The best I was able to do was add the list of events (with the nice links you provided) to Alex's very first post in this thread. So all anyone needs to do is check post #1 and all the information is there. I am more than happy to help out in any prep, I'm not sure that I want the responsibility of a dish though... and I absolutely put my foot down on deep frying for 90 people! I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts? ← There's Lou Mitchell's, open at 5:30. The little map on their web site doesn't show it, but Canal, where the MegaBus stop is, runs between Union Station and the river. The stop is between Jackson and Adams

Yes, the excitement has started in Michigan! Thanks, Ronnie and nr706. Here's a good pdf document that can supplement the Google map. The first 15 pages (there are 48 total) cover Evanston restaurants and coffee houses. There's also some information later on about bakeries, liquor stores, etc.

Unfortunately, no. With the exchange rate and a couple of other things going on, we decided to skip our usual Memorial Day weekend visit. I'm really, really sad to read about the Globe's closing. After our visit last year, when I learned they had to revamp their menu because the 100%-small-plates approach wasn't catching on, I had a feeling that that might happen.