Carrot Top

One group that I've noticed as having some sort of social significance in DC are the Congressman's Wives. Are they generally too busy in their days divided between doing good acts and studying Macchiavelli to "lunch" I wonder? Or is there some special place they have their own indulgements as ladies who lunch? Edit note: I've been reminded by a friend that not all members of Congress are men and not all spouses of Congress members function in the traditional sense of supportive "seconds" to the major, but instead have their own independent careers. This is of course, completely true. My use of the term "Congressmen's Wives" was meant in a way that would be inclusive of all those who would fit the general concept of that term as it has been traditionally understood in times throughout history - it could even include men if it were a man in the role. If the term offended anyone, my apologies. To me, though, the group that I speak of does seem to exist and to be of a definite shape. What it should be called I can not imagine - new terms for old things that will redefine our society is a mindbendingly awesome task.

Thanks for that fun link, Oceangroveguy! I meant to thank you yesterday, but got carried away with all the stories and had to spend all night checking my wardrobe to see if indeed, I "had anything to wear" or not. For any purpose. I think the article that was in my mind was more recent, but you've provided us with yet another example of the classic piece of journalism that tells of an end of a restaurant and hints at the end of a fabulous era because of it.

Well, I am not so sure I am a foodie. Not that there is anything wrong with being a foodie, at all. I remember two foods distinctly that made me swoon in my youth to the point of feeling as if I were falling in love. Lustful love. One was a big twist of pink cotton candy, when I was seven. I think I moaned in ecstasy through the whole fluffy thing of it, and literally felt as if I were somehow being brought close to God. The other was the first loaf of freshly baked bread I'd ever tasted, a big round loaf, torn into pieces with my hands, with a chunk of cheddar cheese to go along with it, when I was thirteen years old. I sort of gobbled at it as if to eat it would be to save my life. It felt as if I needed it, needed it badly. Then of course that Chateau Latour of some good vintage in later years and those silver salvers of caviar at Petrossian were pretty damn good, too. Yeah. Can't stand cotton candy anymore. I wonder if this has some religious significance for me.

And other than the salad salad salad and broiled fish and bottled water lunch, there seems to be a theme of some comfort foods of sorts on the menus. Elegant comfort foods of course - let's rule out meatloaf and mashed potatoes I think but perhaps a bit of Shrafft's nonetheless in style. Small dishes with some sense of style? I wonder if ice cream in all its ways is consumed at the same rate as it used to be.

Yeah. Absolutely. I wonder what the percentage is though of high-heelers to low-heelers. Sorry. Can't help myself. It's a fashion thang. Ivana I would imagine wears heels. I also think that some cities might be prone to higher-heels than others in this atmosphere. Paris - high heeled. New York - more low heeled I think. I wonder about other places. How about colors? Is classic black still "in"? Any other fashion notes from around the world scene of Ladies Who Lunch?

This sounds absolutely lovely. Do you think the older ladies who lunch might still do so at Browns or The Savoy or have those places become overrun with tourists rather than locals?

Can't think of a better reason to re-build, myself. Why, really. . .if it were the only reason it would be enough to inspire. And it is a good reason to get old, too.

Wow. I am surprised at the places everywhere with ladies all lunching! (No - actually I *never* get out, so you all will have to tell me all about it. . . ) The Ur-Place of Ladies Who Lunch, to me, is The Colony Club. In season, of course. Interesting about that definition of the style of the younger set, Megan. I admit I am curious about the shoes. Do tell. Does the height of the heel define a woman?

Really - the horror that is pot-luck. (Sorry, I keep waiting to be shown differently but it hasn't happened yet. ) It almost has a science-fiction aura to me by this point, the idea of pot-lucks. The last one I went to was at some church thing. Regular suburban-type church, upper-middle class, good variety of people from all over the country and all over the world go to this church. We were there because my daughter used to go to some children's group thing with a friend of hers who belonged to the church. Christmas-time Pot-Luck. In one of the seemingly hundreds of rooms they have that extended from the church proper in gleeful little rows. There apparently were more choices of rooms in the church than there were in the choices of things that people had brought to the pot-luck. Every. Single. Table. Had some sort of tortilla chip thing with salsa and cheese on it, or beans, or meat and beans and salsa. Some glopped up sour cream here and there. Twenty dishes made from packaged tortilla chips with glop. Nothing else. Oh. But for the five trays of homemade brownies that all looked and tasted exactly as if they came from the same recipe (box?), too. (Where's that Twilight Zone music?) Edited to add: There was actually one of those cheese and port ball thingies with crackers. I stood next to it and nibbled at it while staring at all the tortilla chip thingies, and when a woman came near I happened to make the comment, "Nice port and cheese ball - I just wish she'd left the bottle". Not the right thing to say at a church, apparently, from the look she gave me. Oh, yeah. I also forgot to add that when I asked (when invited) if I could "bring anything" I was told "No, no, no! Please don't! We've got plenty of food!"

In Manhattan and perhaps in other large cities (San Francisco? London?) there used to be a social contingent of those who were described as "Ladies Who Lunch". Ladies who lunch have their own style, generally, in clothing and deportment, and they have a somewhat predictable pattern in the places they choose to dine. I remember reading of when the doors finally closed on one of New York's fine old establishments that was a gathering place for ladies who lunch. A new era was heralded and along with that new era, a new fashion sense was being developed. Babe Paley's Hermes scarf tied ever-so-casually yet perfectly on a strap of her handbag, that subtle accesory that defined her style, her era, was denounced as passe. Try that look and oops! The Fashion Police might not come to your door, but indeed you might be marked by Those in the Know as. . .well. Rather passe yourself, darling. Do ladies who lunch still exist in the numbers they used to? Where do they gather in your city, if you have space for these rare birds with their defining feathers of finery? What sort of dining establishment draws ladies who lunch - what are the things inherent in the ways the restaurant is run that makes it comfortable for them? What defines their new style - are there any focal points in their fashion displays that have become a mark of who they are in this era? Or have ladies who lunch blended into the environment so as not to be noticed today?

Well - the beauty of the thing aside (as if one could or would want to do that ). . .I am still wondering what it IS, you know! Fruit salad? Stunning! What sort of "delicious sauce"? I've never seen a fruit salad look like that! I wait to hear that with anticipation. Edited to add: I have found the description, above, in the thread now. Must. remember. to. have. coffee. before. reading. eG in the morning.

There is a fantastic herbed chicken salad in the "Good Cook" series book on salads. Almost totally green with herbs. Served on bibb lettuce with black bread to go with it? Yum. The linzertorte and the dobostorte recipes in the "Foods of the World" series from "Viennas Empire" are also excellent.

Yes, that's the one. Great book! (Said almost twenty years after I first read it )

Erotica is a higher accolade than porn. These photos are not porn. They are erotica. Heh.

You are very lucky! My particular favorites in that series are the one on Vienna's Empire and the one on Russia and the one that combines four countries in an unusual grouping (my own books are in an unpacked box at the moment so can not exactly remember) that might be Switzerland, Turkey, Armenia and another. Very lucky. There are forty weekends there in that box, I think.

There is an interesting dish called "Buttermilk Cakes with Chicken, Ham and Walnuts" that comes from the early 1900's in my collection. Rich, hearty, sort of awe-inspiring in the sense of simplistic luxury it has. (Yes, of course I was there when it was being used at the turn of the century - I don't know why people even bother to ask this anymore.) Of course if you want something quick and more easily prepared there is nothing wrong with a big tub of salmon caviar, lots of sour cream, and a bowl of chives in the middle of the table to ladle and scoop and sprinkle onto the pancakes. Pernods with water as beverage.

Please don't encourage her. Malaysia. And its foods. And way of life look like a paradise of sorts. (though of course nothing is a complete and utter paradise) But my goodness she does make it look close to it.

From everything that I know of Abra, I would not have a problem calling her "chef" any day. The parameters of the word, which used to be strictly formal, a term of some detailed entitlement, may have stretched to include other concepts that did not exist in the same ways in previous times in the ways that they do now. Just my opinion.

On a more serious tack, it would be interesting to see some current accurate statistics on these sorts of things (stalking or harrassment or whatever) that are directly linked to anonymity on these sorts of boards or on the internet in general. And to see comparison statistics in terms of those sorts of things that happen in "real life". Not that one single case is to be disregarded in the least sense. But it would be interesting to know these things.

Eh. Personally I think Culinary Bear's luxury of advantage is in that he is six foot four inches and carries a knife.

Taking the question of anonymity a bit further afield but still on-topic, I hope (please delete if it is not), I would like to raise the question of how the anonymity in general that exists on the internet affects the larger public's final perception of its credibility as information source. I have heard that in academic circles, internet sources (unless linked to some other form of journalistic endeavor where different sorts of controls are in place) are not allowable as an outside source when being used in a scholarly paper that does have an annotated bibliography of research notes and sources. Is this true?

It is always a surprise to discover how very much of "nothing" there is in the cupboard. Today was the day to sort out the fridge. I didn't think there was anything in there. But your idea gave me hope. A whole lotta nothing was there. Some bacon and a chunk of parmesan with a bit of parsley, eggs, and some pasta = pasta carbonara. Pork ribs that had been slow cooked then frozen because of something or other, plus half a head of cabbage and a knob of ginger, some garlic, soy sauce, etc. = potstickers. Two lone carrots, some frozen peas, half a green and half a red pepper and the end bit of a head of celery with one chicken breast and some rice and spices = curried chicken and veggies (with rice). Sweet "nothings". (No, won't eat them all at once.)

It isn't my sense that most of the people on this thread are speaking about any one person in particular - seems to me that in general the discussion has a good full range of concerns within the topic. Most of the posts have been oriented towards attempting to define what anonymity "means" to the person posting - and whether it is something meaningful in their own lives as tool of whatever shape. Personally I don't care about the specific individual case that has popped up here and there for discussion. My concerns are more broad-based. It *does* worry me that my concern for the more global concept *was* at one point assumed to be "incident-specific". It can be worrisome to be gathered into a grouping of people without having made specific claim to *be* part of that grouping. Part of the problem within this media is that assumptions can be quickly made without the more accurate information that *is* provided in the more traditional method of communication that is person-to-person. Again - yet another reason that I, personally, am *for* the idea of creating a place where accountability of source could be called upon in matters of conflict where reputation is involved. Of course that is only my opinion and it certainly is not in any way my call, anywhere except the places that I am responsible for within my own scope of administration.

It occurs quite often in organizations that members of the organization are not fully informed as to "what is going on" by management. This provides the opportunity that management desires to *be* management. The ultimate question that arises to those who are *not* management in each case where this happens is: Do I trust this management? If so, if the trust is there, there should be no worries.

Hey. All I know is what they teach in Communications Theory 101. What anyone wants to do with it is up to them.