I_call_the_duck

Megan, This is a great blog. I’m glad your sense of smell is returning. A great chocolate tour. The hot chocolate at Chocolate Bar looks incredible, as does the rest of the merchandise there. I must go there the next time I'm in that neck of the woods. And we're also just about due for a trip to Chelsea Market. The marzipan seafood platter was amazing. I love that store. Thanks for making the carbonara. Oh, that bacon!! The salad looked good too. Cool coffee cup. Do they actually enforce the no-coffee-on-subway rule?

Love the soup at Sang Kee, Nan Zhou, and pho at Xe Lua. For non-Asian soup, I love the split pea at Pumpernick's, a breakfast/lunch place on Arch and 17th. It's made with turkey instead of ham, but I don't miss the ham at all. It's only about $3.50 for a bowl, and they only have it on Mondays.

you ever quit smoking? you know how right before the date you set for yourself, you get like a full pack or two and just smoke the shit out of it? that's kind of what philadining is doing with SK, before shola goes away for a while. ← Actually I think he once did three in six days. At this point, I don't blame him. Between the truffle jus and maple vinaigrette, I see Shola is getting good use of that giant needle. I'm lovin' it. I wouldn't mind a shot of that cider of a few dinners ago, or maple vinaigrette right about now. Jeff, those pictures brought tears to my eyes. Really. I'm a bit shy about hovering around Shola while he's plating the dishes, so it was great to see you document the process.

^^I'm afraid to ask, but what exactly does toe jam taste/smell like?

A great line from the USA series Monk. When the title character, who has severe OCD, realizes that his favorite wine is made the traditional way (think I Love Lucy), exclaims, "it's foot wine!"

The first part of the review is reminiscent of Amanda Hesser's columns in the NYT Magazine, when she and her (now) husband, aka Mr. Latte, were courting. It gets only a little more interesting once Ms. Lucey finally gets to the food. Although she liked Ansill, had I not read posts from trusted eGers, this would not be a place I’d run to in the near future.

Loved Holy Cannoli. Also loved Apple Pie and Peanuts Popcorn. Cool Britannia was great too. One of my favorites was Coconut Almond Fudge, which tasted just like an Almond Joy. I made the equivilent this summer, but also added bananas that I found hiding in my freezer. I'm thinking Mallomar ice cream. We have a bakery here that uses chocolate wafers instead of a vanilla cookie, and they're so good! So maybe a dark, dark chocolate ice cream with chunks of marshmallow and chocolate wafers. Probably too similar to their S'mores or Marsha Marsha Marshmallow though. Or Studio Kitchen's cauliflower ice cream? Now that may be interesting. eta: and look very carefully at my avatar. That's my face in an ice cream box.

If you think ramps smell like feet, try ramps with Chinese salted shrimp paste. Gotta say I love 'em.

Speaking of set decoration, have you noticed that in almost every single movie or TV show there is this tea kettle on the stove? I think it’s interesting that the set designers choose this model regardless of the owner's economic status, because this baby costs around $100. Update: my tea kettle is still on the stove. I know I have more, but speaking of OCD, here’s another one…I have a little date stamp and ink pad to stamp all cans with the purchase date. My husband loves to take advantage of 2-for-1 sales. As a result, we may have several cans of tuna or tomatoes, for example, that was purchased at various times. Before I put the cans away, I date-stamp them (and also try putting the older cans in the front. When reaching for a can of _____, I know which one to use first. It comes in handy during my futile attempts to clean out my pantry. Even if some cans now have a “use by” date on them, I still stamp all my cans…

Me too. We actually use our teapot about 2-3 times a week, and every now and then I think to myself, "why can't it just live with the rest of my pots and pans?"

Megan, I'm loving your blog so far. That soup looks sooo good. I'm sorry you can't taste it. Have you visited the Central Park Conservancy at 105th & 5th? It's a little off the beaten path for tourists and New Yorkers alike, but it's a genuine oasis within the oasis of Central Park, and I'd like to see what it looks like this time of year. The more I read this, I'm getting more ideas for you. Can you show us Kitchen Arts & Letters at 93rd & Lex? Admittedly, I've never been, but I hear it's a great bookstore devoted to food books.

After all, we left there 11 hours ago. Was somebody taking notes? ← Can't blame a girl for being impatient. Now that I think about it, I'm one to talk. About one month after my last SK dinner, and I have yet to post the wine notes.

Megan, Another vote for the madelines, and your carbonara. Can't wait to see NY through your eyes.

Thanks for the update, philadining. All the dishes look great, but I'm especially intrigued by the pulled skate wings and the hot spring egg.

Beautiful pics as usual, philadining. And what looked like an amazing dinner once again. You guys are starting to get a little lax...where are the descriptions and wine notes?

Missed this thread the first time around. I loved watching him while growing up. He and Julia rivaled for my affection back then.

I call the niece!

I'm starting to get curmudgeonly about RW too. Still a good deal in some places, but my enthusiasm is beginning to wane. When we went to LaCroix for RW, the food was good, albeit cold, we felt rushed, and the portions weren't all that big. The brunch sounds amazing, so maybe I'll have to go back and try it again. Count me in!

About 10 years ago, there was an interesting article in the NYT about the food that people sneak into movie theatres. Ushers who clean the theatre after each feature found things including fast food wraps, Chinese take-out containers, and sushi. These days, the most I sneak into movies is bottled water and maybe a candy bar. When I was in college, my friend and I once brought in tuna sandwiches, wine coolers (hey, it was the 80s), and popcorn. For some reason, I never remember how much tuna can smell. I thought we'd surely be busted once we opened up the wrappers, but we made it through.

Wow! Beautiful, Ah Leung.

Were they battered (Austin-tatious fried chicken) or did they just go wild when they hit the oil and sizz all over the place? (Speaking from experience. There's a bit about honey-injected turkey in the "I Will Never Again... thread). Visions of chick-shaped shrimp chips growing and growing and.... ← If a Peep gets submerged in hot oil and nobody is around, does it make a noise?

Breakfast this morning, courtesy of Mr. Duck. Eggs scrambled with sour cream and green onions. Served on top of leftover naan from last night's (restaurant) dinner.

In the past few weeks, I've been seeing recipes and articles for Ravioli Nudi (naked ravioli, or just the filling). The shape of that pasta reminds me of ravioli, so making a Nudi may give it a nice deconstructed look to the dish.

Pretzels and mustard, yes, but I've never seen or heard of a bagel and mustard. Is this commonplace in some hidden corner of Philly? ← Not that I know of. I meant bagel instead of toast. Though I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried the bagel-mustard thing. Then again, putting mustard on a bagel sandwich isn't unheard of.

Finally saw Tuesday's episode last night. I got my husband into this show, so girls, there's hope for you yet! He also knows there'd be severe consequences if he ever deleted my program. At least the second time cucumber water has been mentioned on this show. I liked Luke’s response: (paraphrasing) “you just add water and eat it right out of the bag!”And Lorelai thinking that a potato masher was some weird type of waffle maker.