Varmint

I'll be honest: I have absolutely no clue about good, authentic Mexican food. I'm a bit too Eurocentric, perhaps. Phlawless, care to steer us on this? I do have 2 Rick Bayless cookbooks! (although I hate to cook out of cookbooks!)

Ah, but the 21st is World Television Day. Let's just eat TV dinners!!! Oh, wait, mac n' cheese, franks n' beans, . . . . you already suggested that!

Pressure washer. Although it stained the concrete pretty badly. I need to add some detergent to the water next time I wash off the court (likely some time in June).

I've taken a pig or two home after a party. More frequent is when I took them home from a bar.

Who's making the burek???

Al only hangs out with people who can roast a pig.

I bought a couple of cases of this and popped open the first bottle last night with a rich and meaty pasta. The wine was quite tight at first with a bit or oak. However, after letting it sit for not much more than 10 or 15 minutes, I realized I had a keeper. Tons of powerful fruit and fairly full body. Worked well with the pasta. Very clean finish. At $9 a bottle, I'll be drinking a fair amount of this for awhile.

From the latest email by Carolina Wine Company:

I often drink wine and can only exclaim, "Damn, I really like that." I'm usually unable to put into words why I like a particular wine -- is it the fruit, the acidity, the finish, the tannins? I'm sure that if I spent some time with those who did wax eloquently about the characteristics, I might be able to do so as well. But I just don't worry about it, and I enjoy it when I read others' notes.

A discussion that went nowhere on the Southeast board made me think of what are the essential elements in a French-like bistro? I'm not talking about the ones actually in France, but the successful bistros in the US. Of course, service and quality food are essential, but are there certain aspects or dishes that distinguish the successful ones from those that fail? We seem to have lots of middling bistros in our neck of the woods, and I can't explain why.

I don't think I'm spilling the beans on this, but soupkitchen's talking about Fins and its owner-chef, William D'Auvray. As I've said many times previously, Fins is my favorite restaurant in Raleigh. With the exception of the desserts, everything that comes from that kitchen excites me. Sometimes, it challenges me. He occasionally makes dishes that are almost cloying, but many times, that's to offset some of the heat he adds. This dishes this kitchen puts out have gobs of flavor, but every once in awhile, they'll come up with an extraordinarily subtle dish. It's a great contrast. Too bad it's stuck in a nasty North Raleigh strip mall. Isn't William considering doing something downtown???

OK, A.D., your idea didn't totally suck, and more importantly, you're coming up with ideas, unlike me. So far, though, we have a whopping group of 3 (not counting dates, spouses, etc.). Phlawless, you coming alone? AD, I know your situation, and Zeb, as usual, can't make it. What about the rest of the NC crew???? Joler, Weka, Ditsy, timothycdavis, kpurvis, Random Alias, Florida Jim, soupkitchen???

Go to bed, man. You're deranged.

Steve, it was for "big and tall people." You only meet one of the criteria.

Phlawless, do you know the best place in the area for Latino supplies? Northern Mexican is not something I'm overly familiar with, but it could be a hoot. Let's keep discussing ideas, and then we'll decide by the end of the week. So, who else is in????

Don't let this guy fool you. I am sure this was his master plan all along. He'd rather stay at his home than go out any day of the week. Last time I saw him out, you should have seen what he . . . (nah, nevermind). Not this time. I would have gladly gone out, but as Zeb knows, having 4 kids puts a crimp on our eating out abilities -- something he's soon to learn with his impending fatherhood.

Hmmmm. That would take a shitload of work. Lemmethinkaboutit. Hence the Perhaps something more focused like an all ravioli dinner? Someone could crank out fresh pasta, a few folks working on fillings and sauces(some could be made ahead, I imagine), and someone who can boil water and keep time. All ravioli is a bit, well, um, too ravioli-ish. A pasta tasting a la Babbo would work, however. I'll start working on the short ribs pasta right now.

and this is worse than spreading your legs and having pictures taken how? Oh, no, people take pictures of me all the time like that.

Hmmmm. That would take a shitload of work. Lemmethinkaboutit.

I second Matthew's opinion. When I was in Chicago back in October, I was very lucky to have some! Yup. He brought down (and left me) lots of his coffee when he came down for the pig pickin'. Fat Guy's coffee is pretty good, too -- particularly when he just throws 8 different varieties of leftover green beans into his roaster.

Do the women have labels on them: "Sealed for your Protection"? Sorry. This is a new low in the objectification of women, and I find it remarkably sad that women would do this. Men, on the other hand would do it out of sheer stupidity.

Well, since no one is speaking out, I'm making an "executive" decision -- we'll have the get together at my house on Saturday, November 22. Time to be determined. What I need: Commitment from those who are to attend. Ideas for a quasi-theme. Do we want to cook together, or shall I be in charge of the bulk of cooking and sourcing? We'll want a per person budget. I'm thinking $30-$40 a head will result in a pretty damn fine meal, and we could splurge for some exotic ingredients. Maine lobster and urchin risotto, anyone? Truffles involve a $40 supplement, of course!

I think that anywhere in the Triangle, lunch is a risky proposition. It's pretty much that way anywhere across the country, too, as we all too often have time constraints that limit anything for lunch. Bistro 607 is an interesting choice, because I've never been a big fan of theirs. To me, they made decisions from the get go that I thought were compromising -- just the thing that we've complained about on this thread. Had they gone all out, it would have been more successful in my opinion. Their cheese selection is a joke. If this place took only a few more chances, they'd do better. I really, really have wanted to love Bistro 607, and I've eaten there half a dozen times in the past several years, but I always leave feeling that they don't quite "get it."

I almost want to go just to see if I'll get groped. If tommy's there, you very well might!

My God, I'd fly my 9 year old son and I up to Chicago to do that, as the eldest L'il Varmint is a huge potato freak!