Megan Blocker

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.

I HAVE wandered by...it's right across from my laundromat. They look like they're doing major renovations...plywood covering the whole storefront, and a big sign saying how to get in touch with their other locations, etc. So irritating...as much as I agree with some of what jeanki says above, they are still pretty solid delivery in the 'hood, and I miss my bun xao (which definitely doesn't leave me hungry an hour later).

Weren't you the fauna?

It looks a little too big to fit onto the counter in the ladies' room, that's for sure.

Blackberry brown sugar cake, from September's Gourmet. Blackberries and blackberry jam up top, orange/brown sugar cake layers, and brown sugar buttercream. Super-tasty!

Fabby, a fabulously befitting blog. Tell the boys that Galas are my favorite eating apple. My cousin Jason and his awesome girlfriend Abby came for dinner tonight and are headed out to Chappaqua VERY early tomorrow morning, and I am thinking of you and the fun you would all have (Jason's mom, my favorite, coolest aunt, who grew up in Chappaqua, is out there, too) together. Well done, babe. I'll think of you every time I drool over Hugh Laurie.

Alert, alert! Fabby, I had a Chelsea sighting at lunch today! Crossing Park at 54th Street, she and I walked side by side for about a block... Mission (sort of) accomplished, baby!

Yeah, I have that problem in my neighborhood, too...in fact, a few months ago, I had to jump over someone's dinner, which was splattered all over the doorstep of my walk-up building. It's actually gotten a lot better recently, though. Not sure why...maybe the frat boys are tired. (I live on 2nd Avenue in the '80's, kiddy-corner from Dorrian's, baby.) Absolutely. And quality of life is very important. But I think that the families that have moved to TriBeCa anytime in the last ten years or so should have known what they were getting themselves into. That said, noise from bars can be a real problem. So is the smoke that wafts in my third-floor windows from outside the bar below, now that the smokers have been banished to the sidewalk. Because I deal with stuff like this every night, I have no serious issues with the number of bars being regulated, but it irks me when the real reasons are cloaked, which I suspect they are right now.

That was my thinking as well. For instance, there's this example of a TriBeCa bar not being able to open because a Sufi mosque recently opened in the block. And this example of a new gastropub being denied a full liquor license because the community residents think there are enough bars already.

That looks like the view from my mom's house in Fresno! But it's definitely not her.

Hmmmmm...this, I get: But I don't understand how the new ban will help with that issue - is the idea behind this ban really to prevent irresponsible owners from opening up shop and hiring criminal bouncers? Then why wouldn't you ban all openings? A bar can hire a bad employee regardless of its proximity to other establishments. Plus, it looks like this isn't so much a new rule as an edict to rigidly enforce an existing rule: Or am I reading that bit wrong? The reason given doesn't seem to apply to the rule - which makes me think that this is NIMBY disguised as something nobler.

I haven't read the article, but earlier reporting on this seemed to suggest that, yes, it's a NIMBY effort, led primarily by young families in neighborhoods formerly known for nightlife or artists: TriBeCa, SoHo, etc. This explains why construction on the new bar across 2nd Avenue from my apartment (on a block that has three restaurants and one pub already) has halted.

Now that's a woman with EXCELLENT taste.

Well, this IS a foodblog...it's important that we be up-to-date on Jean-Luc's habits, too. He's adorable. What's his favorite kind of people-food?

I have to add Shaya's saffron risotto with a bacon (or pancetta)-mushroom-endive garnish...totally delicious. I made some a few weeks ago and added peas to mine.

Exactly! That sounds fabulous.

Fabby, I cannot wait to see you this week - you just tell me where and when, and I'll be there. In heels, of course. Almost every meal I've eaten in Chappaqua has been a holiday one - many fond memories. Can't wait to see it through your eyes!

Oh my...how exciting!

USA, huh? I would have bet MONEY that it was Marlene. Hmmmm...lessee...gotta think on this one.

Or the first time I made raspberry sauce to go on top of an angel food cake, almost 10 years ago now. I strained it very carefully, saving the seeds, tossing the, you know, sauce. My mom practically fell over, she laughed so hard. Meanie. That said, it was hilarious. Much like this. Sigh.

Not a bad point - she may not like pate, but that doesn't mean she won't like it seared and sprinkled with a little fleur de sel!

Totally. Snobbery, reverse snobbery, all annoying. But it's still funny to find a restaurant critic who acts like, of course, no one likes goose liver pate, so thank goodness I didn't order it by accident, because, obviously, it would have been gross. He's really yucking other people's yums there...it's not that the pate was ill-prepared, or too trendy - it's just something he (or she?) doesn't like as a rule, something that seems unfortunate in a food critic. To me, that's what's so funny about it. I don't much like pate myself, actually. Don't avoid it, but I wouldn't order it, either.

Are you kidding me? "What do we live for but to make sport of our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"* This is the stuff I LIVE for. *Thanks, Miss Austen, for the fabulous quote.

Spaghetti carbonara! Requires only spaghetti, egg, bacon, cheese, and scallions, if I'm feeling festive. (We're not counting S&P, right? If we are, I need those, too. ) I have all of those on hand the vast majority of the time, and dinner takes as long as the pasta takes to cook. I usually make a salad (could just be romaine and onions) at the same time. Dinner is SERVED!