*Deborah*

I find this all fascinating. Anchoress, you have scared the living daylights out of me though, with your house-buying analogy...(in the midst of buying a cash-sucking old-timer).

Interesting. I've never tried them (the shop is, after all, very close to Mondo Gelato ), but someone I know who has tried them thought they were OK but just OK...so I've never been that eager to find out for myself. Maybe I will give the gelato a miss one day and check them out.

I have had good meals at Al Borgo (during and after its Umberto ownership) and at Il Giardino several years ago, but it's a bit pricey for my normal round of restos. My mum and I have tried to go once or twice in the past 6 months or so, but failed to get reservations at the last minute. Suggest you plan ahead. (Also, since Parkside is now my parents' Declared Favourite, it's hard to get them to go anywhere else, although I'm determined to get my dad to Aurora.) I have been to Circolo during Dine-Out, which was pretty good if not as exciting as some of the other Dine-Out menus I've had. I attended a Barbara-Jo event in Circolo's private demo kitchen, and that was most enjoyable. Umberto is a gracious fellow indeed, I have to say, and his own-label wine is pretty tasty.

Anyone making book on that manager's job security? I agree with all of the above: if the sign says 11:00 is closing, if I arrive any time up to 10:30 the kitchen had better be prepared to serve me dinner, without grumbling. If for some reason the kitchen has closed early due to an empty house, or whatever, then at the least the explanation should be apologetically delivered. Even without taking any extra steps to make me happy, such as drinks or a reso elsewhere, I should not be made to feel unreasonable for having had the gall to show up during posted open hours, expecting food, of all things, in a restaurant. Shocking.

I was at Costco the other night, and if my brain weren't constantly churning with thoughts of selling prices and renovations and interest rates nowadays, I would have remembered to post this: upon entering Costco, there was a sign posted which promised an "Intimate" book signing with RF. Intimate is just not a word I normally associate with Costco.

Cheers, Arne! *already signed up, doing the Chandler dance*

Sorry you didn't introduce yourself, McTee! Hope we weren't too loud...

That's quite an endorsement...worthy, perhaps, of a special meeting of the Burger Club? ← The same idea occured to me in my sleep last night (what little of it there was...). Role call, please, of those interested in a special pilgrimage to the site of a potential Burger Miracle. ← Schedule permitting, I think I need to try this puppy, whole wheat bun notwithstanding. I like the name Turbo Burger...as long as it doesn't give you dual exhaust...

Oh, how sad...how very, very sad. I was lucky enough to try a Lafite-Rothschild 1972 Pauillac in...1994 or so, and I think I will remember it till the day I die. It sounds as though it was a really lovely evening, Jamie, thank you so much for giving us the glimpse through the curtains. Did you have the Terrine or the Ragout? the Terrine sounds simply heavenly!

Daniel, you are just astonishing. I mean that in a good way!

I made one for Canadian Thanksgiving last month, that got good reviews. I started out with the Easy Cornbread recipe from Epicurious. I love this recipe, using creamed corn, it's tasty to have the kernels in there. I usually use the whole can of creamed corn. I lowered the sugar by half I think? it could have gone even less, though, IMO, for this savoury recipe. Then I dried it out in chunks on a cookie sheet, as it's pretty moist. Then I used this recipe as a basis for the stuffing. I had no pecans, so I left those out, but from reports, I'm not the only person who liked it (I was unable to attend the actual dinner). I used nice thick smoky bacon.

This is a super-easy tart that I do, that people love. You don't need a mixer! and you don't need to wrestle with puff pastry (I'm scared of puff pastry). A few posts down from that linked post I say where to get the recipe.

I'm thinking about sweeter char siu bao, which is almost dessert to me in the first place.

Mince pie?

FWIW, everyone who's ever told me anything about mandolines has said that the Japanese one is actually better for home use as you are less likely to slice your fingers off in it, due to a slightly more user-friendly design.

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer has its place of honour. Used weekly, on average. The Gaggia Classic, my shrine. Used daily at least. The George Foreman (small version)...I use it when I remember it. The toaster...not a lot, lately, I'm off toast for some reason. Immersion blender, food processor are used so seldom as to not rate counter space. Microwave, used intermittently at best, is slung above the stovetop, so takes no space. Aside to Pontormo, I have a fridge magnet of Michelangelo's David also, so I always have a naked Italian in my kitchen

I find that Zucchini Mama and I have a closet LWL urge in common. When I was a (poor) student, last year of McGill, having (as now) no idea what I wanted to do with my life, I would buy early issues of Details Magazine. This was in its first incarnation (it is now, I believe, in its third). It was definitely about Style, in the New York City manner. It was not, then, gender-specific, but fabulous-specific. It had ads for milliners in Chelsea, and the sorts of handbags without which one could not be au courant. I believe it was the age of Maud Frizon, B.M. (Before Manolo). It had ads for men's haberdashers, Polo Ralph Lauren, Stephen Smith, Colours by Alexander Julian. It had an ad for a Karl Lagerfeld woman's suit, grey wool crepe, nipped and pencilled and stitched, the sketched mannequin for which was be-hatted, be-handbagged, and be-slingbacked, and the skirt was (oddly, for that time) long enough that one could reasonably infer the presence of a silk Lanvin garter belt and stockings in lieu of pedestrian pantyhose. I dubbed this suit the Lady Who Lunches suit, and imagined my glamourous life visiting NYC, shopping on Fifth Avenue, wearing this perfect suit, lunching at Le Cirque or The Four Seasons or Tavern on the Green, or maybe somewhere a little more Downtown, with all the glamourous friends the wearer of such a suit would surely have. Lunch would entail something like quiche and a green salad (no garlic, darling, I have a date later!) or something like the chicken en papillotte I would treat myself to once a month at La Tulipe Noir. My dark red Christian Dior lipstick would leave glamourous marks on my wine glass and espresso cup. (This was the 80s, remember ) Later, I would get my hair done by one of those fabulous stylists who only needed one name, go to my Park Lane hotel room, remove my perfect LWL suit, and have a disco nap in preparation for the evening's festivities...which would be recounted to the glamourous friends the next day, in another perfect suit, at another glamourous lunch. As it is, Mooshmouse and I from time to time will don our cutest shoes and something pink and sally forth for High Tea, which is our version of a Ladies' Lunch.

Trying out the "little flower" button on the camera on my very ad hoc mixture of stuff with rice noodles: ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, tempura sauce (I have no straight soy, how weird) with some prawns, a scrambled egg (note to self, buy a wok where you can segregate the sauce better), some peas for colour, and topped with sweet Thai chili sauce and some grated carrot. Weird but hit the spot. I see that I obviously need more practice with that flower button, sorry!

Melange, lovely stuff! That meringue...perfect.

Oh, look, more photos of soup, meat, and Pannetone French toast! My six little bundles of cubed squash sautéed to death in butter, S& cracked black pepper, and since my hunted secret ingredient of chipotle or smoked paprika was not available, roasted red hot pepper (Geez, I didn't get an action shot of achiu doing that! d'oh!)...ours gave up its heat jest fine): ...waiting to be sat atop the glistening goodness that Christine made of our squash soup, with the roasted garlic, some onion, S& a touch of white pepper, and...I can't remember if we added any additional spices? the garlic in there was just sooooooo nice, I think we may have decided that it worked beautifully on its own: Action shot of soup pouring (Daddy-A's team did the very nice parsnip soup topped with smoked kipper that we plated with): Restaurant style, multi-plates ready to rock: I was stirring polenta (with garlic, a smidge more of that hot pepper, and sage) during the steak prep, so I have no pics of that, I'm afraid. achiu used his Hattori [Hanzo ] to beautifully slice our steak, which was a bit uneven in thickness...I assure you that we did have some nice MR bits, but the photo has washed it out so it looks much more done than it was. Christine did a kick-ass sauce with the balsamic, red wine, and marinated mushrooms....sexxxxay: Plated close-up: Then the teamwork in action for the dessert: Christine cut the holes in the pannetone pucks, and I filled them up with the ricotta mixture (oh, YUM) and patched them back together (I'm an expert in this, as my pastry always has cracks that need mending ), and then she dipped and fried them, and Alex made our luscious sauce with boysenberries: And topped with cinnamon icing sugar: I had never put liquor in my French toast liquid (usually just vanilla), but Chef said Frangelico, GM, whatever, works well, and I will try that sometime at home. Aside from having succumbed to a head cold today, I am quite sad to see the end of this class. It's been so much fun, and I mean I get the biggest kick out of doing something that I thought was so hard correctly...last night, I got that chefly one-handed toss of vegetables in the pan! not consistently, but I know I can do it! how exciting is that?! Mille grazie, not only to our esteemed Chef, but to the great helpers, I wish you all great success! and to my classmates and teammates, especially the eG crew, who made this more about fun, and less about being scared of messing up publicly Cheers, guys. À la prochaine.

Thanks, everyone! I had exactly the right amount of patience with that I think...browned just enough on top. I wish I had brought home a slice, actually, the apples aren't always that nice. Oh well! The recipe is in Jacques Pépin's Sweet Simplicity, which is all fruit desserts, organized by fruit. If you're a bit sneaky you can use the Amazon "search in this book" feature to find it. I don't know if it's published online anywhere...I love that book, though, and recommend it if you like fruit desserts. The pastry for that tart has been about foolproof for me; and I kind of suck at pastry, so that's saying something.

I wouldn't even call myself a cook...I can cook. I'm better at eating, though.

I made this apple tart (Jacques Pépin's Mémé's apple tart, with some really flavourful fresh MacIntoshes and some ginger and cinnamon in the sugar topping) for brunch at a girlfriend's yesterday: It came out really well!

Well, what goes around comes around, lady! Since I never would have gotten through that Oblivion wedding cake in the first place without your help and encouragement. I am so glad you liked it!

Can you find a good melon? canteloupe pieces wrapped with San Daniele or Prosciutto make a nice appetizer. Very simple finger food, but if your fruit is sweet, it's divine.