Behemoth

Ruth, I think it may be a midwestern thing. I have no idea why, but I'd say a good 3 out of 5 dinners we get invited to end up being lasagna. My theory is that it is a gussied up version of "hotdish". edit: Real from-scratch lasagna bolognese is a transcendent experience. Lasagna made with kraft singles is um -- not so much (Having said that, I like pasta, tomatoes and cheese well enough that it would be really hard to make a version I would absolutely hate. Which come to think of it, is probably the point. Meh, I've had worse things.)

Chufi, I made an endive gratin with prosciutto a few months back but felt it was missing something -- mustard sauce, obviously! Sounds great. I have been really bad about cooking dinner since A is out of town. I tend to make things for my own entertainment rather than for nutrition. First day I made multigrain bread, so dinner was toast with an omelette. Not too bad. Yesterday I made fresh pasta (ate half with just butter and parm, stored the rest) and today I made this eggplant tomato pasta stew my grandmother used to make when I was a kid (giant vat in the fridge for the next couple of days, reasonably healthy) and: Strawberry rhubarb tart experiment. It is the first pie I've made out of Rose Levy Berenbaum's book. It is really good but I need to start eating salads or none of my clothes are going to fit in a month! (Sorry about the fuzzy photo, my regular photo editing software is off with A's laptop.)

Speaking of, erm, interesting botany...many of our friends in the Bekaa valley plant hashish around the perimeter of their garden because it supposedly keeps away mosquitoes. The vast expanses of the plant we saw as we drove over the mountain, however, were probably not just for pest-abatement purposes. (I'm just guessing.) Still, this was about 15 years ago; it's probably different now.

Oh wow, I definitely need to try the honeysuckle sorbet. The flowers are in full bloom behind my house, the smell makes it hard to focus on my work. (Yeah, that's the reason...) This reminds me of when I was a kid in Lebanon. I went foraging with my grandmother all the time. I still pick mullberries, purslane and dandelion greens around here when I get out of town limits on my bike. But there is nothing like the variety of stuff you'd find on a rocky Lebanese hillside. Wild fennel, asparagus, oregano, sumac, onions, chicories...sigh. Looks like you are enjoying your D70 -- beautiful photos! jackal: Would post the recipe for the woodruff cordial? My mom grows tons of the stuff and never knows what to do with it. Aside: Once in Germany I asked what the green stuff was that they were putting in the beer. Trying to come up with a translation of "Waldmeister", woodruff will forever in our household be known as "Forest-Master" Could the cordial be used as a beer "Schuss"?

One more question. What are the local "events" magazines -- i.e., local mags that list events and restaurant reviews. Toytown seems to be a great online resource, but I'd like to see some German stuff too. (e.g., in Hamburg we had Oxmox and Prinz.) Also, how does the nightlife in München compare to that of Hamburg- I know the bars shut down a lot earlier...anything else I need to know? Right now the plan is to be there in June for a couple of days to scope out neighborhoods, again over Thanksgiving to look for an apartment (ugh) and well, we think we'll be calling it home sometime in January. Well, half of us will be, I need to commute for a year to finish my degree Looking forward to finally seeing the city. A. was there again a couple of days ago -- he tells me I'm going to love it I'm planning on saving Tantris for when I am gainfully employed edit: oops, I should really do my own research first -- apparently there is a Prinz edition for München.

Wow, that is definitely next on the list then.

Alright, now it is time for specifics Where is Abu Fadi's? A rough description would do, I am somewhat familiar with El Mina. Also, roughly where in Beirut is "Jabbour"? And, any particularly nice place in Beirut for a late meal or drink, with a view of the beach? (A's birthday dinner.)

I've found that the best way to deal with kids is to invite everyone over for brunch. It's early in the day so the kids won't be tired and cranky for a while. They like most brunch food (eggs, waffles, fruit) and these types of things are really easy to prepare. And then once the meal is over you can take a walk to the park and the kids can blow off steam on the monkey bars while the adults get some conversation in. Maybe we've just been lucky, our friends by and large seem to have really fun, well behaved kids.

In my experience this type of behavior really seems to be an American thing. Am I wrong? And if it is an American thing, why do you think that is? This may sound nuts but, a large part of our decision to move right now is that we really miss having dinner parties.

Gah. Almost every one of the things she's mentioned has happened to us since we moved out here. The weird thing is, it never happened to me among my little social circle of easygoing artist/musician/student types in Philly. As informal as that group is, they are very good at returning invites and showing up with stuff in hand and just being generally easygoing, pleasant guests. Lots of vegetarians, but apart from that never any dietary restrictions. And it certainly never happened when we hosted meals in Germany. But since we moved to the midwest, it is the supposedly grown-up more formal crowd that has not shown up/dictated the menu/etc. Luckily no-one has ever tried to take their wine back, though in a couple of cases I sort of wish they had We've gotten invited to restaurants in reciprocation for meals. I don't mind it but I would really hate to give up on hosting people in my home. I love the slower, more intimate pace of dinner at home, you just can't get that at a restaurant.

Is it me or is each month looking more and more like something a professional kitchen would turn out? You started out on a pretty high level, but there is really a sense of increasing confidence in how it's all laid out and photographed as you go through the pages. It's really fun watching it develop... Also, now I am REALLY hungry.

I made the multigrain bread last night. Wow, that stuff smells great coming out of the oven. I liked it a lot, and (as PR says) it makes great toast. But I would like a recipe for something a little more "whole grain" -- sort of like those 9-grain breads you get at health food stores. I really love how they go with tomato sandwiches and BLTs -- I found this loaf a little too sweet for that kind of use.

As in "all vinyards are not wineries"?

I'm really astonished someone was able to smuggle a ham in their suitcase. Those beagles zeroed in on the meat products like sharks on a flailing swimmer in a summer blockbuster movie. I was very glad it wasn't my würstchen on the line! I wouldn't risk losing a beautiful $$ slab of ham -- better stick with the canned stuff.

I cook from scratch at home, I don't see why I should start buying crappy macaroni salad when we're invited somewhere. If it makes someone feel inadequate then it's their problem, not mine. Having said that, I occasionally have avoided a certain ingredient because it was featured in a guests' menu when we were at their home. Mainly because I know my version is better and I don't want to come off as being too obnoxious... Erm, humility seems not to be one of my stronger qualities today.

Chufi, they look great! And seeing legourmet's link, it seems I may be able to bypass culinary homesickness in my future, after all

I don't know about PC -- most of our ancestors were migrant workers at one point or another. I always admired Bourdin for giving props to how much of our food economy runs thanks to migrant workers' hard labor. On a much more shallow level, I'm just grateful for my local carnicerias and taquerias. So much more fun to shop and eat at than the chains. I've had a few different versions of mole poblano. While they can vary widely, one thing they have in common is that it is really hard to pick apart any individual ingredient. I'd say it's fine to drop the cloves but chances are it won't be that overpowering in the end product anyway.

See, to me the math is easy. It's the guesstimating that's the hard part Well, OK some math is not so easy...

I'm okay with the math, but what do you do about baking times?

We call 'em chiles. But, you know, in Arabic. Sounds like you're all set then! Actually, any sort of dried chiles would probably be close enough. If you can find canned tomatillos you might be able to find canned chipotles, which while not used in my particular recipe would probably add a little of that "authentic" earthiness.

A lot of the corn around here goes into ethanol production. These lands shall henceforth be known as "gas fields".

I dunno, middle eastern chiles may occasionally come close to anchos, but not to mulatos and pasillas. (To say nothing of chipotles). My recipe also calls for tomates verdes. What would you guys suggest to our poor bodega-deprived euro friends as a sub on that one? Those are hard to mail. Sort of a mix between a green tomato and a green plum, sort of. Plus they sorta look like gooseberries

I thought it all came from grape mines.

Middle of the US is a lot of farmland. A lot of the farmworkers are Mexican. Many occasionally eat, I am told. Hence, very good access to Mexican groceries. You New York types really need to drive a little farther west every once in a while, you know Sorry, but I was once a similarly misinformed east-coaster. Hell, even the local wall-mart carries pozole and salt cod. But I found it very hard to find decent Mexican groceries in Europe. What you can get really depends on the immigrant mix, obviously. But Mexican stuff in the midwest? Never a problem.

Then I guess I'm in