Malawry

Around DC, I thought Charlie Palmer Steak's menus were outrageously annoying. They're very large cards stuck upright in metal holders at each place setting. When Edemuth and I were seated we couldn't see one another over the menus, so I started playing peek-a-boo around the edges of the damn things.

Linguine with garlic, evoo, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, red bell pepper, and shrimp A big tossed salad Pineapple for dessert.

Hey, I thought that was chump-ass Tommy on the left!

I don't think A-1 is a gastrique, but it's been a long long time since I sampled it. Last night: vegetarian taco salads, with a tasty pinto bean-tomato mix and plenty of veggies. Some cut-up pineapple for dessert. I'm still doing penance for last weekend's meat blitz.

I don't really have an overstock of anything. It's been a long process of winnowing down my supplies to what I really use and then learning how much to buy so I use it before it turns. I do have more types of flour than I would ordinarily use up right now, but that's ok, it's just about that baking season of the year and it'll get zipped into cakes, breads and pizzas in short order. I do have stocks of things I am less interested in eating these days, like canned artichoke hearts, but I'll eventually use them up (I bet there's a party coming up where hot artichoke dip would be welcome). OK, I do have an overstock of frozen puff pastry, which is in a huge box in my chest freezer, but I expect to be making plenty of turnovers, palmiers and such for holiday parties so no big deal. It helps that our old housemate moved out recently. She took a lot of stuff with her. As well she should, seeing as how she'd paid for a third of it!

Wade Cole was himself inspiring. I spent a little while chatting with him over by the puppy station. He was very kind and seemed bemused by all these enthusiastic food nerds. He appreciated all the pig-farming questions I asked him and struck me as a genuine gentleman of the sort rarely seen these days. He won me over right away. Varm, thanks for the additional background, it raises my esteem even more.

I try to stick to a small budget for my household, and I usually succeed. It helps that I have the time to make good food, and a chest freezer for storing it. I buy dried beans in bulk and cook them and package them in Ziplocs for the freezer. Cheaper than canned and just as convenient. I make vegetable stock, buying large quantities of onions, carrots and celery and cooking them down. I buy fish and veg from Asian markets. I save fish bones and make stock out of them. Knowing how to fabricate your own fish can save you a ton of money since you can buy the great stuff at the Asian markets. Asian markets are incredibly cheap on veggies and some fruits. I buy frozen shrimp and fresh salmon from Costco. Also canned tomatoes, pasta, tuna, large blocks of cheddar and mozz that I can cut up and freeze, unsalted butter and a $2.50 quart of cream ($6 at a regular supermarket!). I stretch that salmon a million ways...make gravlox, cut some sandwich steaks for the freezer, and roast or grill some for dinner...leftover salmon is good in salmon cakes. The frozen cheese makes baked pastas, homemade pizzas, etc simple, quick and cheap. Not for cheese trays or when you want to impress, but good for family eating. I shop my farm market weekly and plan meals based around what's available and cheap. Most of the food is costlier than the supermarket but also far better quality. Farmers let me buy in bulk for discounts so I put by my own jams from flats of fruit, and I get large quantities of tomatoes and apples for tomato sauce and applesauce far better and cheaper than anything available in the store. We don't eat any meat or fowl at home. I have learned over time that it takes a while to learn how to stock my larders, and how to optimize my planning so food rotates in and out of the freezer and such without turning. I've gotten pretty good at it. I think it's a lot harder to eat on the cheap when you don't have time to plan though, it's the time I have for jobs like cooking beans and stocks that frees me up to combine in easy cheap meals on a weeknight.

Maggie, sweetie, I hope your dishpan hands have started to heal. I can't believe how much time you spent at that sink. It was such a privilege to meet you, and I'm so in love with the apron you gave me. As well as the Dark Lady who made it.

I wonder: does it feel any better than poking your eye?

Yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't there for the TMBG sing-a-long. Their music is de rigeur in my household, we especially like singing their music to lighten the mood when we go for hikes or rake leaves together. And Varmint, see? You're already forgetting the pain of having to pressure-wash the tennis court. You're gonna host another one eventually aren't you? Aurora, say the word and I'll make you pups anytime. It was great to meet you and hang out together. Without you I might never have known about Bobbi-Q (sp?), and my life would have been the poorer for it. Dave, you rock too. I'm so glad you were there. The stew was just a bonus to having you there. The stew was so so good, it says a lot that my regard for you is even higher than my regard for your food.

That map needs little moving dots that read "Dave the Cook," "Maggiethecat," "Edemuth," "Guajolote," "Aurora," "L'il Varmints" and of course "Malawry." At least one of these dots should be brushing against another at any given time for accuracy.

This event was so large that it was physically impossible for any one eGulleteer to have been everywhere cool stuff happened, or to see everything. There has been some discussion among a few attendees of collaborating on a writeup so we can get many perspectives and a lens into all of the happenings. I hope this comes together but it will take some time if it does, so have patience. Some people don't even seem to be home yet, or if they have arrived at home they haven't had time to check in here.

Marlene, thanks for telling us what happened. We were all concerned that you hadn't come back, and nobody had any way to reach you. What a shame to have come so far and then to be unable to attend the main event. I am glad you are both safe and I hope you feel better soon. And I'm glad we had a chance to meet, even if only for one night!

Here's the last of the images I took over the weekend. These are all from Sunday, when we eGulleteers took the party over to the fabulous home of Mrs. Dr. Varmint's parents for lunch. Varmint reheats BBQ for lunch sammiches. The completed VD Stew gets warmed up on the stove. This stuff is incredible, and it's even better after sitting overnight. (I had to have a little on Saturday night after smelling it every time I stopped by the kitchen.) Dave the Cook finally slurps back the fruits of his long, tedious labors. It doesn't suck. I picked up some buns from a nearby supermarket and we made sandwiches of leftover pork bbq with leftover slaw. I wish all leftovers were this good! Guajolote's pickles made a nice contrast with the sammiches. Hjshorter and Maggiethecat fix them some sammiches. I ate two they were so good! Varmint is trying to say, "Please, sir, may I have some more VD Stew?" I suspect Aurora's going to have her bowl snatched out from under her if we refuse to refill Varmint's bowl.

Hey, was that before or after "Shaky Elephant"??

A gastrique is a sweet-tart mixture you add to certain dishes to "correct" the balance of flavors. A classic gastrique is made with red wine vinegar and sugar, but you can make one with any number of other flavors. When we made gastrique at my culinary school we were supposed to add it to tomato soup, but I accidentially deglazed a pan with it (causing all my lovely fond to burn). Balsamic vinegar is so good partly because it's gastrique-like in its flavors. Your roasted lemons in balsamic sound terrific and like they might make for an interesting roasted chicken dish to me. Dave the Cook's LSD (liquid seasoning decoction) that "corrected" the flavors of the VD Stew seemed to me very much like a gastrique, like what a classic gastrique wishes it could become when it grows up.

Katie, I really liked the dark and stormys, too. You were our beverage goddess this weekend, thanks so much for keeping the booze flowing. I look forward to your recipes, and plan to make some limoncello this winter for decanting when I need a sip of sunshine. Varmint, you oughta post your "sweet tea" rum infusion technique too. That was some good stuff. (Varmint kept pushing liquor on me Friday night, and it was really easy to oblige when the alcohol was as tasty as the food!)

I see from your bio that you spent time in Albuquerque. What was the food scene like there when you lived there? Have you been back, and if so how has it evolved? What sorts of things did you write about while living there?

That's awful! I mean you probably have way too many other leftovers, but that still sucks. Well, that does it. Dave, you better get cracking on another batch. D'you want me to come down and cut more lemons for ya?

Braised rice Steamed broccoli Pan-fried tofu cutlets with mustard sauce A big salad. Ahhh, comfort food.

This stuff is why the phrase "It doesn't suck" was invented. Especially the LSD. Which delivers a real stiff uppercut wallop. YES. Thank you Dave for making it. Wish I could have brought some home with me. I never really liked Brunswick stew as a kid but now I have seen what VD Stew is s'posed to be all about.

More photographic hijinks: We ate a lot besides straightforward pig, and the amount of prep work that went into these other dishes was substantial. Here, Guajolote spatches some birds for the smoker. And there they are, cooking away. We got some pork butts going too. Everybody needs more butt in their lives. Maggiethecat and Aurora work on peeling and cutting some North Carolina BBQ potatoes. I didn't see what-all Varmint threw into the pot but I know a large quantity of Texas Pete was involved. Another snapshot of the hardworking sous-chef L'il Varmint crew, going bananas on the pudding. They're so dedicated, they came directly to the kitchen in the morning without bothering to change out of their PJs. Dave the Cook patiently washing yet another bird for the VD Stew. This guy is my hero. He spent the entire day Saturday making the VD Stew, coming outside only briefly to regard the picking before getting back to work. By the way, Maggiethecat made the wonderful aprons you see in some of these images. Dave has one on in this image, Maggie's wearing one in the American Gothic image, and she gave me a little piggy one that you can see in the pic where I'm frying hush puppies. A lot of people thought my apron was a skirt because it was a little longer than the skirt I was wearing. Awesome aprons, thanks Maggie! *mwah* Varmint got most of the pig off the smoker and started chopping it. Enterprising individuals (myself included) snuck behind him to pick at the carcass directly. Why wait? And there he goes, whaling on the meat with the cleaver. I was busy with the hush puppies at this point, so Guajolote brought me a piece of the crispy crispy skin. I crunched out and christened this treat "Pork Brittle." I sent Varmint some puppies in thanks. I didn't get to the buffet until a lot of it had been picked over. Here's some of the smoky chicken and BBQ. There was a lot more where these came from! Mmm, dessert. The banana pudding is front and center. Most of the cakes and pies came from members of the extended Varmint clan. My favorite was the caramel cake. The desserts looked good enough for two images. That's all I have from Friday and Saturday. Sunday pics to come soon...

I just halfheartedly ate some corn flakes with skim milk. The house is empty of food and I'm not really that hungry after all the food this weekend.

Those kids can school me any time. I'm a big fan of the L'il Varmints. Not to mention their dad and especially their mom. What a cool family.