Liz Johnson

You all have me drooling. I'm dyin' for some good tamales here in the NYC suburbs. Does anyone know if any Texas tamaleries mail order? My sister's mother-in-law brought tamales from the Dallas Tortilla Factory in a cooler on her lap on the plane for my rehearsal dinner, and my sister has brought them up a few times for Christmas, but neither will be spending the holidays with us this year! There are a few places around here that make tamales, but not very well. Wish I had time to make them myself. PS -- the 'how to eat while driving' post was hilarious.

There's an International Food Mart in on Route 59 in Spring Valley in Rockland. I believe it has the same owners as the Jersey City one.

Yup. That was my Dr. Pepper cake. The folks at the office are finishing the other one right now. Actually — the recipe is from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse. Best one I've found... and I'm from Texas orignally.

Oh my. The slushy sounds amazing. I'm in the northern suburbs of NYC, but I am just a poor journalist. I could never afford to host a d'Yquem party unless it was BYO! But there is an idea! Perhaps everyone could bring a different vintage!

ha! Carolyn, you are too kind. What's your address? melkor, Thanks for the links. I'll check them out now. Forgive me if these are the wrong terms, but... the shoulder level (?) was still above The curvy part of the bottle but not by much. The color was dark, but still amber/brown. You could see through it. malcolm, madziast and Mark, I know, this "not trying it" thing is probably irrational. (Well -- I'm not going to try this bottle at any rate, I'm just saying for another one.) I guess it's just not the kind of thing I wouldn't order for the sake of trying it. Maybe if I had a bottle and was sharing it with special people..... I don't know. It's just I've found when you wait a really long time for something and it often does not live up to the hype.

I'm doing a fun story about a guy who found a bottle of 1918 Chateau d'Yquem when cleaning out the basement of a 91-year-old woman's home. She even didn't know it was there. It's like Antiques Roadshow for wine. No telling the conditions in which it was stored (at least it wasn't the attic, right?), but does anyone here know where I might ask about its value? Only one I've found for sale online is from the UK: 685 pounds. Has anyone here tried one from 1918? Funny thing about Yquem. It is the one wine I am afraid to drink. What if it disappoints? Some things, especially when they're so highly anticipated, are better left imagined, aren't they? Thanks. Liz

I, too, will have two guests.... well two and a half: they'll be bringing their one-month-old. They would like to contribute a dish. Suggestions? Liz Johnson + 3

If there aren't too many people already, my husband and I would like to come too. If we can get it on top of the car, we have a 12-foot folding table. I'll have to check with him on that though. Otherwise, how about Dr. Pepper Cake? (Chocolate)

Make a delicious watermelon frozen margarita (or any other blended drink) by cutting watermelon into chunks and freezing them, then use that instead of ice in the blender. If you keep the black seeds in, they'll make the drink a deep red. (Of course, you'll have a few chopped-up seeds to contend with, but after one or two cocktials, you won't care a bit.)

Melting butter.

Great article. In our small kitchen we have one great feature for storage — what seems to have once been a home for a built-in ironing board. The depth of the cabinet is only about 4 inches, perfect for storing bottles of olive oil, vinegar, etc. etc. And we also have one horrible feature — a very deep closet/pantry. How do people deal with this? Something goes on the top shelf or way in the back never ever to be found again. We don't want to buy those pull-out baskets because they won't be strong enough for the weight. Everything gets piled up until frustration takes over and the whole thing is cleaned out. Argh! Did you know that Rubbermaid prints little numbers on the lids and on the containers so you can match them? They range from 0 to 12 or so... maybe bigger. When I told my friend this it changed her life.

John Mariani's newsletter this week discusses Providence: Mariani

Any new suggestions? I have a last-minute trip coming up. I'm guessing our Saturday night meal will be at Al Forno, since we've never been. Any thoughts on what to order? Also, any recommendations on a place to stay?

Thanks Rachel. I will pass it on.

No takers? Too embarrased?

Hi all, A writer at my paper, The Journal News in Westchester, NY, is working on a story about Peeps. It's the 50th anniversary of their introduction, if you can believe it. Anyway, she'd love to talk to anyone who is willing about their obessions, off-beat ways to eat or use peeps (Lord of the Peeps! Ha!) and anything else. She's not a member, so if you'd like to talk to her, PM me or e-mail me and I'll pass it along. She'll be starting work on it next week. Should be a really fun story. Liz

Too late. I haven't even had a second to crack it open, but a friend from Australia brought me a cookbook called "Street Food." It's at home, so I can check later to see what recipes are in it...

Claire797, I wrote the Journal News article. Although I didn't have room to list all the restaurants he was involved in, the owner, Prasad Chirnomula, was for a time a partner in Bombay Grill, too. Liz

Not only was there a canoodler, there were also rabble-rousers. Or at least instigators. The upstairs room was by far the rowdiest — people bouncing in their chairs to the oompah band, clunking (not clinking) their glasses for a table-wide toast, men with one arm over the shoulder of their friends, the other holding cigars. I don't know if they were interested in a food fight, but just as dessert was served, we at a table on the lower level near the hearth were treated to a symbol of their rambunctiousness. A mini-burger (no brioche attached) came flying from who-knows-where and landed on the table, nearly missing the beer glasses and chocolate cake. Thank goodness the bourbon was spared.

We're all someone, right? Seriously, I should have known that not only would Dale's drink get prodded and poked, so would my article! Thanks everyone for reading. Maggie -- don't worry, I'm normally just a lurker, so I'm easy to miss. And Col, I plan to try it with fresh, even if I have to grate it on (horrors!) a box grater. Oh, and by the way, I found a fun new resource thanks to JAZ: English Idioms Serves me right for using a cliche -- even though I was trying to play with it.

Varmint, I was getting to you next! Though I know you orignally suggested it for the purposes of toasting, it became a challenge afterward... And as far as the shaking, I have only ever shook nutmeg, but that's only because I don't have one of those cool rasp graters like Martha Stewart. But I"m sure it would be much better with fresh spice! Liz

JAZ, I guess I let the image of Dale pulling a secret ingredient out of a bag get the best of me... I'll never use that phrase incorrectly again! Liz

Col, Oops -- and I even had that in my notes. Hopefully readers will come here and see the proper recipe! Liz

Steve, Where is that? Is this a joke that went over my head?

Thank you, ngatti, for the tip. Here's some new info on Finch Tavern: New chef at Finch Tavern Haven't heard yet where Santoro has gone.