Megan Blocker

Damn! Taken, taken! I could make some crack about stroller volume in Park Slope, but, then, I used to live on the UWS.

I wondered about that too? SB (whose neither eyes nor moniter are that great any more ) ← I saw them too. Thought maybe it was organized to be a movie set. ← Ummmm...aren't those construction vehicles? A bulldozer and a backhoe? Or am I crazy?

Yay, John's blogging! Can't wait to see the pictures of the finished kitchen, which is no doubt your pride and joy for a very good reason. I feel like you're calling the Manhattanites out, John, but I'm too sleepy to come up with a decent response. Check back with me later.

Arugula with lemon vinaigrette and curls of parmigiano...lots of black pepper.

I gather that you feel offal is awful. ← Ba-dum ching.

Oooooh, cocktails in Brooklyn...who EVER could it be?

Ooooh, I love Green Goddess...great as a dip, too, when everything's left a bit chunkier.

Pontormo, I've never taken the measurements down, but I've made a tangy, Thousand-Island-esque dressing with sour cream, Sriracha, tomato paste, cornichons, and a touch of red wine vinegar. Add some salt and black pepper, and it's great on an iceberg wedge...

Oh, one more. Also involving bacon. So shoot me. Also from the Gourmet cookbook - BLTomatoes...cherry tomatoes scooped out, filled with lettuce mixed with mayo and salt and pepper, topped with crumbled bacon. So delicious, and hugely popular, especially when you use excellent bacon.

Actually, according to Jeffrey Steingarten (and I tend to believe him where etymology is concerned), "parmesan" is a gallic bastardization - the French word for Parmigiano, which was then picked up by the English-speaking world. Ah, and Merriam-Webster confirms it. Sorry for the word-nerd detour.

An easy and relatively inexpensive thing to do would be a simple terrine...I threw a cocktail party two years ago for my friend Louisa's 25th birthday, and we did a chicken liver pate terrine that was a big hit (the recipe was from the Gourmet cookbook, I think). Not too expensive, easy (since you don't have to individualize it), and impressive. Another great idea is mini-blinis or even potato pancakes with creme fraiche, smoked salmon, and dill or chives. Really pretty, elegant, and tasty. I've had great success with a curry chutney spread that layers cream cheese mixed with curry powder, chutney, bacon, and chives. You could easily do an individual version of this...maybe whip the cream cheese or mix it with a bit of creme fraiche to make it softer, do a dollop of that, some chutney, top with scallions and crumbled bacon. It would be great on little toasts...

CILANTRO.

New York Magazine's online component, www.nymetro.com, debuted a new blog this week, entirely devoted to the city's food scene. From the premier post: Have people been reading? Whaddya think? It's received Gawker's seal of approval, sort of. ETA: I take back the sort of! I just re-read Gawker's post, and it is uncharacteristically free of the snark.

That's like the adult version of tray consolidation in the college dining halls...stack the trays, make room for one more... Phew! So I've got a few years, then. I'll just stick that pouty lower lip of mine back out and resume my petulant demands for pampering.

Among other things it means faux-hawks, emo, and spending your parent's money on a $5 can of pbr at a bar. ← Gone are the days of shotgunning $1 PBR's, huh? I distinctly remember doing that to get into some bar in the East Village about five years ago.

Wait - you can make MARSHMALLOWS?! I've never even considered that! I'm off to Google marshmallow recipes now... I'd love to get yours if you get the chance. ← Of course! It's really easy, too! I use this recipe from Ina Garten, but I usually leave off the coconut. There's also a whole eG topic on marshmallow-making...just click here!

My brother's theatre company rents space on 52nd between 10th and 11th, and I pretty much always have dinner at Taboon (corner of 10th and 52nd) when I'm over there. The bread is unreal, and the rest of the food is pretty good, too! It's a gorgeous room, on a corner, light and airy, decorated in white with glass lanterns. Great fish, and, if you go, you have to get the tzatziki. - NY Times Review - MenuPages.com page

Wow. That scenery is amazing...I especially love that picture of the crumbling old stone house...beautiful. This looks like my kind of vacation spot - water, but cool, and not a thong bikini in sight. Those muffins look tasty, too!

New York Media Digest - 9/18/06 Reviews Godzilla on Lower park Adam Platt reviews Japonais - he's not much of a fan. Features Captain Buffalo A conversation with Ted Turner on the eve of the latest opening of an outpost of Ted's Montana Grill - at Rockefeller Center. Not Time Warner Center? Grub Street The magazine launches an online-only feature, a blog called "Grub Street," which will be updated throughout the day, every day. Today's postings include one on Ssam, David Chang's new restaurant, and an introduction to the new section: Openings and Buzz Recent Openings Openings include Pinkberry, Goblin Market, and Lonesome Dove Western Bistro. Lonesome Dove's chef, Tim Love, translates a few of the terms from his menu: Insatiable Critic Je'Bon Noodle House Gael is a fan of this incredibly cheap, usually delicious Chinese noodle house. Yet another reason for me to hop on the downtown M15...

Some responses from NYT readers were published today...looks like they had a slightly different reaction to the piece (save one of the eight) than many of us did. I can't really comment, since I didn't end up reading the article (you all seemed so annoyed and I was in no mood to be ticked off), but thought you all might like to know!

It looks like chicken to me. Is that even risotto??? It looks like a mound of brown rice, not creamy at all. Wowza.

I can add stock to my list now...it used to be a once-in-a-while thing, and now it's something I do once a month or so.

Yes! Because they always offer the pepper before you've even had a chance to taste your food - drives me bonkers. Rut-roh, am I now whiny?

We-ell, if you've seen When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle, then you're familiar with her work...she wrote them both, I think, and directed Sleepless.

Almost all of the salt sold in this country is produced by vacuum evaporators, including the two major brands of Kosher salt. This industrial process, the main point of which (besides crystallization of course) is to remove impurities, begs the question of whether or not the brine came from the sea, since it's impurities that give sea salt its allure. The salient characterisitcs of Kosher salt are crystal size and shape (there are a couple of ways to go about this) and rabbinical supervision. ← And the texture, size and shape are ideal for koshering (sorry, don't know the technical term) meat - drawing blood out and readying it for consumption. From what I understand, anyway.