I_call_the_duck

it was listed as orange on the menu, but i suspect kumquat ← Thanks, that makes more sense. But I wonder how a tomato would have worked...

HOLY SH--!! I was determined to say that Saturday's meal was the best ever, but I am almost rendered speechless by this meal. Raspberry cider with a cauliflower froth and white chocolate? That has got to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Was that a cherry tomato on top of that chocolate cake? ETA: philadining, three times in six days. Is that a record, even for you?

Like everything with me, it depends. If it's one of those giant cookies or a really hard cookie, I'll tend to break it into more manageable pieces before eating. Otherwise I bite.

In 2006, I will eat more fish. Nope. I will make pastries more often. Nope. Too much junk in the house I need to get rid of first. I will learn to use my pasta machine. Nope. This is the year I will try a new recipe at least once a month. I tried THREE!! I will taste more types of offal. Does once count? I will use my convection oven. Nope. I will give dinner parties. HAH! My kids still won’t exist as I will not procreate. Check. When eating out, I will call other things besides the duck. Who am I kidding? Three for nine.

Really, HOW crazy do you think I am?!? ← Is that a rhetorical question?

Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I have yet to have Shola's chocolate three ways, let alone one way. Once again, until I can get there again, I'll live vicariously through your dinners. Chalk it up to good old fashioned jealousy. Chris, I know you are going to have a fabulous time. Looking forward to reading your post tomorrow.

Thanks for appeasing the masses, philadining. Best ever, huh? I wasn't there, but it certainly looked darn good. The Warm Potato-"Redondo Inglesias" Terrine looked especially beautiful. Boy at times like this, I wish there actually was Smell-O-Vision. Percy, wassup? Second SK dinner you missed? We need you there! I'm still trying to put together the wines we had on Saturday, but it's really hard to transcribe Cljasfodsssssssss.

Ya ever have one of those days where you wake up on the couch, lights on, laptop JUST about to crash to the floor, several half-edited photos on the screen? No? Happens to me all the time... patience!! All in good time! All this fine living is destroying my stamina! ← What other reason for getting up in the morning but to view your pics? Living vicariously through these postings, man! Come on!!

I'd let my hubby in the kitchen more often if he did things correctly (translation: my way). I'm such a control freak. But I do take short cuts on more than one occasion. But, just because we sometimes take short cuts I don't think that make us Sandra Lee.

Got any pictures, Daniel? You should post them on the Inspired by StudioKitchen thread. Gotta score me some lobster. Still thinking about those eggs.

Actually, Mom made it. I blanked out on the name until you mentioned it.

Gung Hay Fat Choy everyone! Back from visiting mom's CNY feast. I think she's starting to veer from the traditional in order to placate the picky eaters in the family. Everything was soooo good though. My brother had to work so there are plenty of leftovers!! Corn soup, steamed chicken, Buddha's Delight and other stuff for dinner...Law bok gao for breakfast... Kids are wimps these days...nieces and nephews get freaked out at chicken with head and feet on, and mom has foresaken tradition and has taken to not setting it out on the table.

Oceangroveguy, I think the one you're talking about is on 31st Street around 36th Avenue, right under the N/W.

I also have the Salter, and actually didn't realize the 1/4# problem until I've had it for a while. Since that's the case, I don't mind that too much. It's a nice machine.

OK, two days later and I'm still reliving this meal with much fondness. What can I say but OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!! I don’t have much to add to philadining’s comments (love the pics BTW), except to add my own bravo to Shola for another incredible meal. Percy, we thought of you twice that evening—we knew you would have loved these eggs. We really did need a good wine scribe, as the self-appointed one for the evening fell short of his duties since he was too busy drinking the wine, and lost track somewhere near the end of the meal. (I will add what tasting notes he did have later on.) Oh, THOSE EGGS. That first bite confirmed that if I died at that moment, I would die a very happy woman. The unnamed person sitting next to me would have been happy too, since he was hovering over my plate to make sure he’d get my share if I did indeed keel over. But knowing that several more courses were coming, I decided to hang on, and am I glad I did. Everything was outstanding—THE BEST MEAL EVER!!! By the time we got to the veal I think Shola recognized that some of us were slowing down. As delicious as this was, I just could not finish it, and much to the chagrin of said person sitting next to me, Shola offered me a Tupperware container to take home the rest, adding an extra scoop of Madiera Jus. (Guess what’s for dinner tonight, Capaneus? ) I took pictures, but they didn't turn out too well. But it tasted just as good the next day. That anti-griddle was so cool. I couldn’t trick anyone into putting their tongue on it, though. We had the pleasure of meeting Daniel and his lovely girlfriend, Alicia. Thanks for joining us, along with philadining, Capaneus, Diann, and later Katie. Hope to see you at a future SK dinner. Great company, great wine, and GREAT FOOD!!

I love shrimp paste, but unfortunately, my husband does not. When it's just me for dinner, I take advantage of his absence by steaming it with fresh ginger and either chicken wings or pork belly. Or stir-fried with eggplant. ...anyone want to hang out with him for a night? I'm suddenly jonesin for some shrimp paste.

herbacidal is the one who introduced me to eGullet. Kinda reminds me of my brother.

The other day I was talking with a friend about hungbaos, and I turn to my husband and said, "Now that we're married, I think you're going to get a hungbao from Mom this year. Wohoo! Horray for marriage!" (Yeah, I still love getting 'em.) Pause. Picture the little wheels in my head spinning. "Oh, no! Wait! But that means not only do I not GET any from my sisters, we have to GIVE some to the kids!" SHOOT!! So much for the spirit of giving!

if you have a refrigerator at work where you can store stuff during the day, can i recommend stopping in before work? (assuming of course that you work in town--this may not work for, say, sandy commuting out to chester). the official hours are 8-6, and i've found that if you get there 815-830ish, you can find parking, there's hardly anyone in there, merchants are mostly set up, and unlike later in the day YOU'RE the one who's picking over everything before others have a chance to. it's awesome. i keep meaning to get into that habit again like i was for a month or so last summer, but of course i can't seem to get it together. ← Actually, that's what I used to do when I was living on 10th Street. My office is on 16th. I loved going then, for all the reasons you mentioned. Now we're on 18th, and I just can't get out of the house early enough these days to detour to RTM before work, hence the mid- to late afternoon trips. Parking? You mean a car? No, we walk/bus/train most everywhere.

Save the tape!! Alert the media!! Ling's FULL!! Ling, I really envy your metabolism. I can't have too much chocolate late at night anymore.

First of all, congratulations on your new job, Sandy! YES, YES, YES!!!I can't always get over there at lunchtime, but when I do, it's usually very crowded, especially when a convention is in town. Yes, that's probably part of the charm, but I'm just a little claustrophobic, so I'd rather go at a less busy time. When I go after work, the merchants are starting to close up for the day, and I feel like I'm imposing on them, even if they give no indication that I am. (Can you say guilty conscience? Thanks, Mom.) Anyway, getting back to the original topic. I agree with herbicidal. I think it is a cultural thing. When my dad was still alive, he’d shlep to Chinatown every day to pick up fresh ingredients for dinner—and we’re talking a good 2+ hours round trip. I don’t think most Americans can be bothered with stopping by the market every day to pick up fresh ingredients. Convenience takes precedence over freshness, hence the appeal of one-stop shopping where you can get groceries, drop off your pictures, pick up your dry cleaning... I have to admit that I’m sometimes too lazy to stop by RTM every day (in the opposite direction) to pick up fresh produce and meat, but if it were on the way home, I’d be there every day.

Dialect. Hokkien, to be specific. ← In Cantonese, "hung" in "hungbao" means red - referring to the color. Does "ang" in Hokkien mean red too? It sounds like "silver", or "money". Different dialects have different ways of naming the same item in Chinese. ← Oh good. I thought I was misspelling it, so I'll go back to hungbao, since that's what I'm used to saying. Dejah. Ah. Yes, we do that. I've been getting hungbaos each from by sisters and their spouses ever since they got married, so I thought you meant that my husband and I each to give two hungbaos, making a total of four for each kid. I’m glad we cleared that up. I would have felt guilty otherwise. Ben Sook, thanks for the belated congrats.

Wow! What a great pictorial. Thanks, Pam. Yet another thing I must try.

First year? According to cantonese custom (that is, if you're cantonese...if not, you're safe..or maybe not), you've to give DOUBLE angbaos. Have fun! ← Yes, first year. It'll be six months on Feb 13th. Yes, I'm Cantonese (half Toysanese, half HK), but Mom never said anything about DOUBLE angbaos. I don't remember if my sisters gave double angbaos the first year of their marriage. Now the moral question is, should I check with Mom, or should I be lucky that she didn't mention it? The youngest three are greedy little brats, and they'll remember that they got double one year and just one the next, without quite understanding tradition.

my family goes by that rule, too. i'm getting married this summer, so this is the last year i'll be receiving angbaos. i'll have to start giving them out next year! ← Kyong hee on your marriage, sassybat! I got married in August, so now I have to give angbaos to my little (some not so little) nieces and nephews--and I will no longer get any from my siblings either.