Rachel Perlow

There used to be a funky coffee house in Madison on Lincoln PL, near the train station. yp.yahoo only lists "Madison Coffee Shop" on Lincoln, so I'm not sure if it's the same place or not.

Things you commonly get for free from all sorts of businesses that would equate (not necessarily monetarily, but in good will towards customers) to a complimentary amuse bouche, drink or dessert from a restaurant: - Dentists: toothbrushes, toy chest items for kids - Banks: Lollypops, free toasters or other items for opening an account - Shoe Stores: Balloons for kids, shoe horns for adults (the tongue like thing to help you slide on loafers, is that what they're called?) - Art Gallery: we bought some artwork and were given an autographed copy of a book about the artist's work - Car Dealer: last time we leased a car there was a stuffed animal and a bottle of champagne (decent, not great) inside the car upon delivery - Hair Salons: frequently offer a beverage, like coffee or a glass of wine - Realtors: my mother always gives customers a very nice housewarming present You get the idea. I was going to say Department Store Makeup Counters, since they frequently throw in a free lipstick or something like that when you buy something. But the idea of this list is that these are things that these industries do to instill good will in their customers, so coupons and advertised specials don't count. Oh, I just thought of another example: Mechanics. My mechanic usually does some aspect of the job on my car gratis. Last time we blew the fuse on the radio, needed an oil change and a headlight replaced. We paid for the oil change, the fuse and the bulb, but no additional labor. It's stuff like this which makes me trust him to handle the more expensive repairs. So, while I don't think that Glenn should demand or even expect a comp, it isn't unreasonable to think that as a regular the restaurant should acknowledge his business. However, the Murphy's Law of goodwill comping is that if you do expect it, you'll never get it. It only comes to those who are innocent that it is even a possibility.

As long as we're talking wood floors (but not specifically in reference to MM's floor), I've recently fell in love with Bamboo wood flooring. It's a shade similar to maple, but with more grain, and an interesting grain to boot. Check it out if you're shopping for wood floors.

I don't even know if he'd travel that far, but if you want something off the beaten path, Fink's Funky Chicken & Ribs (in Bergen County NJ) just changed exclusively to catering. His food is great, you could do a whole pig roast picnic type thing, although he also does more elegant food (link to menu, but I'm sure the one that isn't online is more extensive). Worth a call at least, because his food is excellent and his catering prices are reasonable.

BTW - The stuff that looks like bay leaves should be Kaffir Lime leaves.

I guess I didn't go over the shrimp thing before. Boil the shrimp (with peel on) until just cooked. Plunge into ice water bath. Lay a shrimp on a cutting board. Cut clean in half so you end up with two C-shaped pieces -- don't butterfly them. The idea is that it will look like a whole shrimp showing through the wrapper, but it is half, so it is much thinner. Then peel each half.

I fixed the topic title, sorry I didn't notice it earlier. Hmm, 80's food? Tofutti. Decorate with or play Trivial Pursuit.

We went to River Kwai in Totowa, posted about it in that thread.

We happen to be going with some friends. My note was just a general reminder, but some people complained when we talked about going after the fact a couple weeks ago (Curlz! )

Sunday Brunch at China 46 reminder. Mmm.

What he said. Very good to excellent food, small portions, forgetful but very friendly service. I'm sure I'll be taking my mom there after our next trip to Fortunoff.

If any wine store carries these wines, I'd bet it is Wines for All in Tappan, NY. They emphasize American and NY wines.

For those that can't get to Target, or just want the convenience of free shipping, here's a link to Senseo products on Amazon. BTW, there are now 100% pure Kona pods available.

I've edited the above link to give eGullet a commission if anyone buys it. Click here for instructions on creating eGullet commissioned Amazon.com links.

That is precisely why, when about to buy a bunch of flowers for our friend's mother, whom we were meeting for the first time, I opted for the bunch already in a vase. It is obviously a cheap glass vase, as the bouquet only cost about $4 more, but when I got to the house, all they had to do was plop it down as a centerpiece, no futzing necessary.

Real Greek Food by Theodore Kyriakou

How about Vietnamese Summer Rolls? You could bring all the ingredients, prepped, and just assemble them there. Click here

What ideas did you particularly like? If you want more ideas, we need to know what you are now thinking of making. Add to my list -- chopped liver. Jewish pate, mmm. Buy Tam Tam matzo crackers to serve it on or next to. If you want to make it, I'll post a recipe. Or, country pate -- make a meatloaf. Make it highly seasoned. Bake it in a loafpan or pate terrine and chill it, bring whole. On Saturday, slice it thinly (about 1/4 inch) (if made in a large loaf pan, cut each slice into quarters), serve cold with crosini (not rubbed with garlic through).

Things you could do ahead (assuming we're talking this Saturday, and you want to do most of the work today, driving up Friday): Crudite and dip: Cut the veg today, just do three or four kinds. Cut them up into sticks and store individually in an airtight bag (really important not to mix the veg). Carrots, celery, radish, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower florets, all work well for this. Cut up cucumbers at the last minute, garnish the plate with cherry or grape tomatoes. Thankfully, most dips benefit from being made ahead of time. Prepare hot d'oeuvres today, just until the baking point, then freeze them on sheet pans. Individually frozen, then transfer to plastic containers or ziploc bags for the trip. You only have to add a minute or two to the baking time to cook from frozen. Things that work well for this: spanikopita (greek spinach and feta phillo pies, make mini triangles), a mushroom duxelle also works well as a phillo filling; pigs in a blanket (use good quality hot dogs, cut into 4-6 pieces, wrap in Pillsbury buiscuit or crescent dough). Puff pastry can be filled with all sorts of things, or cut into strips and rolled with any kind of firm cheese for cheese straws. Buy a baguette or three tomorrow before the trip (in case you can't find any locally). If they go a little stale, you can still make crostini with them. Slice on the diagonal, toast in the oven, rub with raw garlic (pack a head of garlic) and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with a tomato salad (diced tomatoes, olive oil, herbs (basil, parsley), salt & pepper) and marinated white beans (cook today, toss with evoo, herbs, a splash of vinegar). You can either make canapes with them, or just put out a pile of crostini with bowls of toppings on the side, for "make your own bruscetta." A cheese plate (more bread, or crackers) is always welcome. Mixed nuts (they last longer if you put them out in the shell, if people have to crack them themselves, they don't eat them by the handfuls), bring the nut cracker (get a cheap one (they sell them with nut picks too) at the store, so you don't leave your good one (if you have a good one) from home there. While you are at the store, get some gel freezer packs, or better yet, do you have cardboard juice or milk containers? Finish off the product (or put into an alternate container. Fill them most of the way with water (not full), freeze with the lid off (the water expands), cap and use as an ice pack. If you don't have a cooler, buy one or more inexpensive stryofoam ones at the grocery store (seriously, these cost like $3 each for large ones). You want to do all your prep today so that stuff has time to chill in the fridge or freeze overnight so everything is cold when you pack tomorrow. Place the non-frozen stuff at the bottom. Lay a towel over that, then layer the frozen stuff on top of that (you don't want to freeze your vegetables). Top the cooler with ice packs or frozen ice containers. Don't use bags of ice, it melts too quickly.

Yes, no holding for more than a few hours. Well, you could make them for dinner and have a couple for lunch the next day, but they won't be as good. I think part of the problem may be the cabbage (I just reread your original thread). I use lettuce as the greens (besides the herbs). OK try this next time: briefly (2 minutes or so) boiled or steamed vietnamese angel hair noodles (rinse and toss with a tiny bit of neutral oil to keep from sticking together) shredded (with a knife) red or green leaf lettuce shredded or grated carrots (not julienned) julienned or small batons of pickled red bell pepper, carrots, jicama, daikon radish (use any or all, at least the carrots, you want a little pickled veg in there) julienned cucumber (this I don't like pickled) bean sprouts (trim into 1 inch pieces, trim off large bean ends) herbs: cilantro, thai basil, mint, parsley, chives, scallions (cut into long thin strips) (both whole and torn) (pick two or three) meat: warm or cold grilled chicken, duck, pork or beef cut into thin strips; or shrimp, boiled or steamed, then peel and cut in half lengthwise (not just butterflied); you can also use cooked vegetables, warm or cold, instead of meat. The link msphoebe provided above has good instructions, but I don't think you need to use boiling water to soak the wrappers, just hot. Here's my method: Do the soak and rest between paper towels thing with 3 wrappers. Turn them over and start with the first wrapper. Lay it out on the counter, on top of a damp paper towel. Lay two or three shrimp halves (if using other meat, they go in the middle), pretty side down in the middle of the wrapper. Place a small handful of noodles on top of the shrimp, then the lettuce, other vegetables and a sprinkling of torn herbs. Roll up the bottom and tuck in the sides. Lay a whole herb across so that the ends stick out just a bit from the sides. Finish rolling up the top. Either eat as you go, immediately, or if you need to store them for a few hours, lay them on a paper towel lined plate, cover with a damp cloth. For just an hour they should be fine at room temp. Fo longer, place in the fridge. For overnight, wrap individually in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for no more than 1 day. Do not use warm meat in any roll that will not be consumed immediately. In addition to nuoc cham as a dipping sauce, I like nuoc leo as well. This is a peanut hoisin sauce. Most recipes are very complicated, but I've made a shortcut version, (I think I found it in The Foods of Vietnam by Nicole Routhier), using equal parts hoisin and peanut butter, a bit of chili sauce and a sprinking of chopped peanuts (or use chunky peanut butter).

I made enchiladas for the first time last night. I had made chicken mole last week, and had a lot of pulled chicken left over from the carcass. Inspired by this thread, I used a pint of leftover roasted eggplant tomato sauce with a pint of leftover mole sauce and a chipoltle pepper (combined in the blender) as the enchilada sauce (excellent). I grated some cheddar cheese and combined it about 50-50 with some Mexican white cheese. I used the dipping method described by Jaymes: It worked really well. I never thought about enchiladas being something so flexible before. I had a dozen corn tortillas and plenty of meat (what should I do with the other pint of pulled mole chicken I still have in the fridge?), so I just used them all up, the extra rolls I put 2 at a time into 3 individual aluminum loaf pans, added sauce and cheese on top and put into the freezer w/out baking for an easy lunch in the future.

Thanks for the update, Mike.

Well, the link doesn't work anymore and the discussion of the article is no longer on the nj.com restaurant forum. If anyone wants to see the article, I can PM them the scanned images.

If you look at the pictures above, you will notice a difference between Saigon R and Mo' Pho with the summer rolls. At Saigon R, you get two rolls for $6.50, at Mo' Pho you get one for $3.50. On the face of it, it is more expensive for the one roll, however, not everyone wants to get two rolls, or you may want to order a variety of flavors. My fish dish, pictured above, was salmon (but that can vary depending if there is a fish of the day). On the dinner menu (page 2, linked above), it is listed under Noodles, as "Cellophane Noodles, steamed with fish and bok choy in an oyster, ginger, scallion, and sesame oil sauce." It is one of my favorite ways KT prepares fish.

OK then, nothing at TMASH or Hilton. How far are you willing to drive? Any preference as to cuisine? Off the top of my head*: La Foccacia, Summit Capo Vaticano, Florham Park Trattoria Toscana, Whippany Cinque Figlie, Whippany (definitely not BYOB, but so good) Il Mondo Vecchio, Madison Scalini Fedeli, Chatham (they have a reasonable corkage if I recall) Restaurant Serenade, Chatham New Main Taste (Thai), Chatham * I'm not sure which are BYOB and which aren't. Someone will correct me, I'm sure. If not, when you make a reservation, inquire as to their corkage policy.