janeer

They might be interested if it is August. It's very quiet in August on the weekend; one of the few times you can walk into the BYOBs without a long wait. Matyson gets my vote.

I have not been to one of these but might be able to make it if in Philly. Personally, I wouldn't want to leave town--and see little reason too. But willing. Seems like if in Philly something should involve a BYOB, for which Philly is a famous. A BYOB crawl might be too hard, but...an iconic one, maybe (though hard to agree on). I am all for the sandwich survey. And a stop in at DiBruno's would seem to be in order, and some coffee places (La Colombe....)

I actually make these more than I should admit. Vanilla ice cream only, good root beer. Hires, A&W for commercial ones, local when they are available. I've noticed that some restaurants now offer this on their dessert menu. Me, I sometimes have them for lunch.

Very nice, David, wonderful story with a lovely connection between your childhood and historical context--bet everyone in Oregon didn't know the roots of the cakewalk.

Butter and pure maple syrup, which is so nice with the bacon, sausage, or ham. But when I was little I often had jam, or sugar, or all three.

I just use the broiler as in this post: My link

Just a guess that it came from a menu item at one of the large resorts that used to be at Montauk Point in the Hamptons

Good heavens, I've never heard of any of these things.

I have the original edition of this book. It's nice.

Not to sound too corny, but I like the idea of trying to "marry" your very different tastes--using the Jack and then some element of what you like. Which actually does imply a sour of some kind, my personal favorite drink. I make a sour with maple syrup and lime that is very good. You could write up a little card for the bar that tells the story of your "marriage cocktail." Actually, I think if you have a "signature" cocktail, other liquor drinks detracts from that special item. I'd stick with beer, wine, and the sig cocktail.

Thank you; loved the photos of the discada, the disco is amazing. Very interesting idea for the steamed veggies and coconut milk "sauce" with pasta. A definite try. Thanks.

This is exactly what I do. I have never had to use a scouring powder, but if I did, I would use Bon Ami.

Upthread I mentioned that I use a glass bell on a plate for when I have company. It is a smaller version of a cheese bell. Surely you can find something out of the 6 pages of cheese bells herethat would work. Some of them are large, but there are some smaller ones, and some quite nice etched glass vintage ones. I personally would go for the one on p. 4 marked "Family brand" that comes with a cinnamon candle--all for $6.50.

The intentionally noisy trend started in the 1980s and I have hated it for the entire time. It is bad enough that some restaurants are designed to have the noise bounce off the walls, but some add insult to injury by having intolerable techno music blaring. To me it is the opposite of cool. I just don't go. But I bet it turns the tables over fast.

My favorite is the same as yours. I love, love, love that whisk. I also like my little standard (3"?) sauce whisk. I've got maybe 10 whisks total, a couple of them are vintage-y things with flexible heads. I rarely use my big balloon whisk (that;s what the KA is for...)

Just saw this, too. I had forgotten about this--bad winter and wet spring, late planting

Ah, yes, the BLT, how could I have forgotten that one, just as you describe. All the rest of yours, too. And a good hot oven grinder, crisped in the pizza oven, with olive oil, now that you've mentioned meatball sandwiches.

Yes! The leftovers get made into eggs on toast and French toast (Mrs. Meshugana). Absolutely the best french toast ever. You should give it a whirl, it's really quite easy. In fact, this is the only bread I've ever made. The only hard part is the braiding, but there's so many designs (like the pull apart loaf you see there) that are much easier. I also highly recommend this book, very easy to follow for a 'non-recipe' guy like myself. Beautiful challah. But if that is the only bread you've ever made from your favorite book--it is a favorite of mine as well--you should try some others. the book IS wonderful. I picked up some El Pato yesterday at the new El Super in Tucson. Made a quick salsa with one little can for a quick snack with chips.

Part of it is very likely due to transportation costs to get that butter or whatever across the country at higher fuel prices, as well as general energy costs to run farm machinery and processing plants--very huge part of farming. But also likely, as store increasingly push their own brands, is payments for shelf space. It costs money to get space in stores; it's very competitive.

When I think of concept (vs. theatrical-type) restaurants, I think of the Stephen Starr empire in Philadelphia--Budakan, Alma de Cuba, Pod, Morimoto, etc. Very focused around a theme, tightly managed environment and tightly managed experience.

I immediately thought of the nostalgic sandwiches of my childhood. One is a home-grown tomato sandwich(without the lettuce Holly adds), mayo, s+p on Arnold or Pepp Farm white bread. Similarly, a thin-sliced fresh onion sandwich on white with mayo and s+p; this was my father's and my favorite to make and eat together. I still make this every year when the Vidalias are new. Then, in imitation of Pal's Jr's in NJ, a "sloppy joe" consisting of ham, turkey, swiss, onion, and coleslaw made with 1000 island dressing on good rye. God, that was good.

I do think the most eggy thing you can do for dessert is a dessert omelet. I love them. Fill with jam (apricot is good)and dust with 10x. Of course, custard pie as Andiesenjie says (I just made one last week) is good; also lemon meringue pie uses the whole egg in two parts; and the ile flottante is another good idea.

You have a fascinating culinary heritage and I hope to see how/if they combine somehow--although very happy to see "single origin" dishes like the beautiful huevos rancheros and pork sandwiches. I laughed when you said Lubbock was the big city--a great way to communicate how REALLY rural you are. And yo certainly convinced me that you are in a food wasteland--a kind of Bermuda Triangle of ingredients (although pecans are always special). Power to you for doing this blog, and doing it so well.

Perugia. University town, good food, friendly, easy access to Rome for weekends. I like Lucca a lot, too, but not as convenient for getting around.

When I was a sophomore in high school, many, many moons ago, my biology teacher had us sample (voluntarily, sort of) a range of wild critters: rattlesnake, chocolate covered ants, grasshoppers, etc. I have a distinct recollection of the grasshoppers tasting like tea. I don't think I'd voluntarily eat them now. I know that many insects and worms are eaten in Mexico. I would, of course, eat them if a matter of survival.