*Deborah*

Ah, as usual, I probably haven't explained my thoughts sufficiently. Of course it is not a meal for all, but the definition of short of pocket is most likely defined by the ratio of our income versus our expenses. Short of pocket, as mentioned, means that most of us couldn't possibly afford a tenth of the price, and usually that includes more than just one of us. For a couple, which is at least the norm, that would be two G's!! There are many of us who appreciate great cuisine, and dream of returning to places that they could frequent before the family expenses. Those of us who appreciate what good cuisine is, as opposed to pre-fab, marketed, pretty much guaranteed specification perfect. However. do you really think those that can afford this event truely think it is worth it, in a culinary appreciation sense (not including wine, which if that was the intention, should have been described as such), or is it an event at which to prove that one can pay, to be seen and hopefully have their pic published in various publications. Actually, in retrospect, I guess for other reasons than culinary, it might be worth it, for those who want to see and be seen. It just seems kind of, IDK, ostentatious, unless there is a viable contribution to some sort of worthy cause, whatever that might be, as long as it is worthy. Hopefully one of us regular folk, will attend, and supply all the details. ← Cayenne: One-tenth of the price is something you never spend on dinner for one? including wine? that surprises me. I spend more than I ought to on restaurant food, there's no question, but I often spend more than $100 on dinner for just me, including wine, even for eGullet/waiterblog events where the food is a set, well-priced, menu. Even ten years ago, when I had much less disposable income (hard as that is to imagine ) if I took a friend out for dinner and it approached $200 it wasn't that unusual, if you included the liquor. So $100 p.p. for a special-event dinner seems more than reasonable for a food and wine person. You could spend that at Milestone's without trying too hard. Having a large budget available to you (or saying OK, we're going to forego dinner out for the next four weeks and this is our advance Christmas present) doesn't preclude food appreciation, does it? I have to say: the wine is included. It was stated in the very first post that it was included, and the fact that it is included has been questioned and re-confirmed several times above. The fact that the wines which will be served are going to be the sorts of wines most of us don't get to taste often (if ever) has also been noted. I know Charlie Trotter is a famous chef, and that he wrote the foreword in the Lumière cookbook I have, and that he and RF go way back (which, presumably, is why he is involved--not because he is or isn't trendy or in tune or anything else: they're friends). That's about all I know (aside from the whole foie gras brouhaha). Since my numbers didn't come up last night my chances of buying a ticket outright are between slim and none, but to be at such an event I would certainly pay $1000, if I had it. Hope my number comes up for this one!

I think there's a big difference between not choosing to cook every single day and night, and not being able to cook. To state that women can't cook is patently ridiculous.

Oh, I see, you are the sort of person who would marry a "simpleton" and let her bear your four children but not drive your car or cook in your kitchen? Very rational. ← It's a matter of demonstrated ability. If my wife can outcook, outdrive, outanything me, more power to her. But if we are assuming Ramsay's belief that the average woman is not as good of a cook as her mother and grandmother, then I'm going to tell her to relax and not worry about it or, if she wants, work her ass off to learn from me of someone else better than her. I respect my food and the culinary arts and don't intend to eat Domino's and Applebee's Curbside Pick-Up. ← You're the one who used the word simpleton...nice backpedal attempt, in any case.

Oh, I see, you are the sort of person who would marry a "simpleton" and let her bear your four children but not drive your car or cook in your kitchen? Very rational.

[Verbed] to perfection is on my personal Strengst Verboten list. I am seeking to have it banned by Federal law in the next Parliamentary session. Punishment for breaking this law will include public humiliation on eGullet and attendance at a 15-hour Remedial Menu-Writing Community Service Program, available in major metropolitan centres in Canada, or by Distance Learning for rural offenders. ETA: I believe truth in advertising prohibits the use of the word "cream" in a Twinkie description, too, Wes!

Oh, I had a set dinner there about a month ago! Not the very best, but not bad at all. I would think it would compare favourably to most airline food. It's not expensive, either.

I saw Chef Jeff tonight, and he mentioned the smoked sablefish hash with poached and Hollandaise...I think a return to Aurora is in my near future

Nice pics, Nicky! thankyou.

As a kolachy - or in one of their famous soups? ← Kolachy...open, like the pumpkin pie, sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. I'm so full from the chili I had for lunch I've only had two bites, but... WOW.

Strawberry Cheesecake. Oh. My. God.

Nothing like going into the zone with the pasta-stuffing. I don't know if they would ever come quickly, but they would all be OCD-delicious and cute. I was really pleased with how my pasta came out! thanks, Alex, for sacrificing your batch to the recalcitrant machine. One thing about the class...I made all of my tortelloni little "innies" witih one pasta flap over the other, as demonstrated; but my co-folders tended to just stick them together like praying hands... Joe Pesci would not have been pleased.

This was a well-stated post. Although I do not not explicitly work in food-service I must admit that the entire generation, with very few exceptions, of kids my age has absolutely no conception of good food or basic cooking. I am not saying that tradtional gender roles are or ever were a good thing, but it cannot be denied that the average 20 year-old girl working or going to school is near braindead when it comes to cooking. Ramsay is not denigrating the females who strive to reach the top of their profession, he is simply remarking on the complete lack of initiative taken by younger women to get into the kitchen and learn how to cook decent meals for themselves. Ramsay's original statement was not sexist in and of itself; it was only portrayed that way in the headline. He simply notes that many young women today place greater emphasis on entertaining (i.e. mixing cocktails) and similar pursuits than learning how to cook for themselves. ← Has the world turned topsy-turvy in the past 20 years? 1st year University, residence, food service not available on weekends. The boys were ordering pizza/Chinese, smearing peanut butter on bread, or eating out, the girls were cooking. Not cooking gourmet meals out of the little scungey galley kitchen, but familiar with the use of a stove, which is more than the vast majority of the boys of that time could say. I will say that most of the young people I come across now know more about opening a frozen dinner than cooking a fresh one, but I don't find the girls any more ignorant than the boys. If nothing else, the girls can usually bake cookies.

No kidding! I started cooking two evenings before my little dinner--for four! Maybe Gordon Ramsey is right

OH MY GOD! Does this mean I'm actually a MAN?

I would only use dollop for something like sour cream or yogourt or soft butter...I would tend to put a fat spoon's worth, like a dollop of whipped cream on top of a dessert. For butter, it would be somewhere between one and two TBS, soft. This is all instinctual though, not official.

Wow! lucky your guests, Daniel! Those potato hors d'oeuvres....*swoons* And I thought I served chocolate to my guests! Wow!

My mother picked us both some up, at Costco, I believe! If you're only cooking like that once a year or something, you may as well make an event out of it...

Good luck! yesterday was a 19-hour marathon for me, with only four to feed, I bow to you! The duck, yes, thanks, I picked a good recipe (where would I be without Epicurious ), and I think letting it wait for two days in the fridge added a lot. Best part is I doubled the recipe, and I get to have leftovers for dinner tonight!

Whenever I glance at the title of this thread, I see "Snacking while Eating." And I simply can't think of another place where that might actually be the title of a thread.

Was at the Kolachy Shop yesterday for a quick mid-errand-run afternoon snack and realized that a bagful of these would be the perfect food to have in hand while watching the game in front of my own 34" flat screen. No muss, no fuss and a relatively good projectile to throw at the television set when the Flames score. Alternatively, very easy to smuggle into the game and a helluva lot cheaper than synthetic GM Place fare. ← Or, of course, you can watch HNIC with the sound off while listening to Boards of Canada and Stereolab and eating red-wine-braised duck at my table.

Thanks! it worked out pretty well! I just wish I had a bigger dining room (and dining room table, and more than 4 chairs ) so I could have had more people over.

I had a few eGullet friends over for dinner last night. I was a bit OCD about it, since I haven't been entertaining (on that scale) in a while. The table, prepped early: The first bottle of wine, a sparkling Shiraz. This stuff was really different, and not light like Champagne, but delicious, and works really well with food (thanks, Liberty wine boy!): The mushroom tart (Simply Bishop's cookbook) (Chanterelles and Oysters, green peppercorns, garlic, shallots, thyme), plated with sliced roasted yellow and red beets. I apologize that I only got a pic of mine, with the worst pastry, the others were prettier. It was really good though! I was surprised! and I should have taken a pic with the sauce in the pan, too...(deglazed the pan with sherry and chicken stock, reduced, added a little cream) oh well. The smoked salmon crème fraîche cheesecake, plated with baby greens and this rather delicious dressing I made with S&P, dill (only dry as I had no fresh), juice of one orange, about a TBSP of lime juice, and nice fruity olive oil. Because of my egg gaffe (double the eggs required; oh, the perils of halving a recipe and not marking every single item), they were a bit more dense than they should have been but it was still tasty, and that dressing really worked *pats self on back*: After this we had some lemon sorbet to take a breath. It wasn't particularly photogenic! Then I brought out the Burrowing Owl 2003 Syrah, what a lovely lovely wine. The butter-roasted Bosc pears and Maui sweet onions, drizzled with a bit of dressing (lemon juice, honey, salt) and kept in the oven at 225 for an extra couple of hours. Those pears were phenomenal. My nice purple duck legs (8 duck legs, braised in two bottles of red wine, an Epicurious recipe. They had been "soaking in it" for two days, which was a good thing), ready to serve: A plate. Mashed potatoes with sautéed leeks, one of those roasted pears, a roasted onion quarter, and the duck resting on the mirepoix in the reduced and thickened wine sauce: A prettier plate: And dessert, Mario Batali's Chocolate Pudding with Valpolicella reduction, from the Babbo cookbook. I actually used a Chilean shiraz-cab sauv blend instead of Valpolicella, in keeping with the Shiraz theme. The day before, I joked my dining room would sound like a bordello, and it did. Holy crap, that is some goooood stuff. With extra-vertical cream: And after that (nobody could finish their pudding, the portions were very large) we couldn't eat any of the cheese Mooshmouse had brought, we were too full! so we slowly finished up the wine and talked some more. I think it was a success! but now I have to clean my kitchen yet again

I predict there will be some lovely foie gras, some airlifted seafood, and probably some rather recherché wines. Oh, wait, CT doesn't do foie, does he? (Wine is included, isn't it?)

I can't bear zucchini, but a little black pepper, salt and nutmeg (and butter) works for me with squash.

It's cheaper than flying to Chicago and eating at his restaurant, I suppose...barely. And quel bragging rights, alors! one could dine out on that for months.