Megan Blocker

Made ragu bologenese tonight for dinner with my friend Miles! He uses tomato sauce instead of canned tomatoes, and likes a lot of carrots in his base (for the sweetness). It was delicious - I bought the ingredients and made sure to get 1/4 lb. ground pork and 3/4 lb. ground chuck, and I think it made all the difference from his usual, 1 lb. of ground sirloin.

Inspired by Chufi and Kevin72, I invited my friend Miles over tonight and we made ragu bolognese together. He made the homemade fettucine earlier today...he meant to make tagliatelle, but he has a new pasta press and used the wrong setting. It was delicious in any case! Susan, I forgot that today was first day of season, but realized it when I saw all the balloons outside of the bistro around the corner...

I think I've upped my cholesterol just reading this thread.

I'm really loving hearing about how regular everyone's dogs are!!!! Definitely the best unforeseen consqeuence of this thread...keep it coming!

Great job with the pig's head, Daniel - I knew you could rock it!

I picked up some gorgeous Golden Delicious apples at a farmers' stand (at the Greenflea market at 77th and Columbus) on Sunday. I think I'll have to go back this week and get a broader sampling of some other varieties. The ones I got were so delicious, practically melt-in-your-mouth.

Synchronicity, baby! I was so psyched to see that article this morning...I felt so ahead of the trend. Because, you know, the Grey Lady is known for her trendiness. Yes, Michael's! I always think of Michael's as power lunch central for the media crowd...I had no idea it was so popular with our dear ladies who lunch!

Well, speak of the devil! Here's an article from today's New York Times about department store restaurants. Click! And, here's a bit of a preview:

Oh, Abra, I love the Norwegian kitsch!!! And Riley is adorable...what big brown eyes!!!

For the younger set, it's all about Manolos, Manolos, Manolos. For the older, Ferragamo...and lower heels. I actually wear pretty high heels to work these days, but can't be bothered to spend my weekends in them. Too much of a pain. I wore 3 1/2 inchers for a friends wedding (all three b-maids wore the same shoe), but they were so painful (not the heel so much as the pinchy toes) that we ended up taking them off during communion and recessing barefoot. Don't worry - our dresses were too long to show our tootsies! Paris is definitely the land of the high heel...and of the ballet flat. And, of course, black never goes out of style in New York or Paris!

Of course! The higher the heel, the more likely she is to have both a driver and a podiatrist on call. I wear flats.

Glass of iced tea or Perrier. "Drinkers" have a glass of chardonnay or white zin, with ice cubes in it. Salad, salad, salad, with dressing on the side. If one is feeling decadent, something from the bread basket, with a little olive oil. Any protein is lean -- broiled fish with lemon. One dessert per six lunchers, and it is NEVER to be finished. Anyone who eats pasta, anything with fat in it, or (horrors) orders her own, separate, dessert, is talked about behind her back when she goes to the restroom. The above meal takes at least 2 1/2 hours. ← That would be a rather hearty lunch for the social x-rays. I remember reading about the ladies pretending to eat, but really spitting the food into their napkins. The linen and laundry bills for restaurants "catering" to the social set were enormous. ← I will admit to doing a bit of spying at La Goulue (since I always get the same thing, I like to check out everyone else's lunches), and people definitely ordered heartily. Cassoulet was everywhere, as was the stew of chicken, olives and lemon. I saw a few pieces of flaky white fish that looked pan roasted. However, I did not keep a good eye on how empty the plates were when taken away. The food there is so good (and kind of overpriced) that I can't imagine not eating it when it's in front of you.

Hee hee! Or maybe they're too busy dealing with their offspring to cook!

Yes, three. But none is anywhere near my 'hood (the Upper East Side - the locations are Union Square, Time Warner Center and Chelsea), and they are too crowded to enter. Whole Foods, however, does not seem odd to me. We had those when I was still in high school and college - I would put these into the category of upscale markets (like Eli's or Zabar's) which have always done a healthy pre-made business. Manchu Wok in the grocery store does! Like GG said upthread, though, maybe this is just the further centralization of the shopping center. If so, I plan to get my Jane Jacobs out and beat people senseless with it as they enter the stores...

You have Starbucks in the grocery store? In New York, there just isn't space for that kind of thing...pre-made stuff is pretty rare, and the pickings rather slim, at my local Gristedes, but much more available at more upscale spots like Zabar's, Eli's, Agata and Valentina, and so on. In my mom's grocery store in Fresno (not the Von's, though I can't remember which...), they have a whole section over by the bakery that is devoted to take-away, pre-prepared foods. They have the usual (rotisserie chicken, sandwiches), plus a whole Chinese food counter. It might even be Manchu Wok or one of those other chains...it struck me as really odd to have all that in the grocery store.

Hey - free is good, man! To justify my coffee cart addiction, I just think about the $3.00 I could be spending at Starbucks, and smile as I hand over my single.

I was walking to work the other morning, relishing the crisp, cool fall air. Those of you who either live here in NYC or have had the pleasure of visiting in summer know that the smells you encounter during those months can be...less than pleasant. So, it's always a treat when summer departs, taking the stench with it. Fall's cleaner, colder air also allows you to smell all the good things you couldn't in August - roasted nuts, smoke from a brownstone's chimney (what I wouldn't give for a WBFP!), and, above all, coffee carts. Every corner, it seems, is perfumed by them in the morning, the aromas wafting toward every commuter in a one-block radius. As I passed a fourth or fifth coffee cart on my commute, I started wondering how people in other parts of the world get their morning caffeine fix. I've always been a coffee cart devotee, and even though I changed jobs and offices more than a year ago, I still miss my "guy" down on 24th and Park...he knew exactly how I liked my coffee and that if he saw me coming down for a second fix at 10:00, it was a crazy day. So...how do you get your morning coffee (or tea)? Cart? Coffeehouse? Do you make it at home and carry it with you?

Oooh, oooh! Those both sound really cool to me! Great blog so far, Abra. That dinner last night was magnificent.

Drool...that sounds so wonderful. There's something about P&P when it's raining...and mashed potatoes to boot? Count me in!

Interesting point, Busboy. On that shopping trip with Mom, we noticed that Saks has opened several new bars and little lunch counters (for lack of a better description) throughout the Fifth Avenue store. They've always had a little cafe somwehere (Cafe SFA, I believe), but we saw a cocktail bar near Contemporary Shoes... Wonder if lunching at the store is coming back? ETA: Garfinkles!!! No one knows how to name anything anymore. How fantastic!

When my mom is in town from California, we always do a little shopping (usually Saks and Barneys - she lives in Fresno now and is deprived of high-end, ridiculously over-priced department stores). Before or after the shopping (or in the middle of it all), we have lunch at La Goulue, at 65th and Madison. It is a quintessential "ladies who lunch" spot. We both go for the steak tartare every time - I love the little pile of toasts and pot of mustard it comes with! We have a glass (She usually has two - I love my mom!) of Cotes du Rhone or Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and generally enjoy ourselves. We are usually surrounded by European men and New York ladies. The ladies range in age - some of them are definitely the old-school types (defined as above by Karen), and some are younger, decked out in designer jeans faded just so, and the like. It's also a great spot for celeb-sightings. The last time we ate there, we were two tables from Ivana Trump (now THERE'S a lady who lunches). The time before that, Renee Fleming was seated in the banquette opposite us (though she really doesn't fit the lady who lunches mould). I work right next to another popular spot for this crowd - La Grenouille. Always plenty of older ladies in Chanel and pearls enjoying a midday repast in there! It does seem that, in New York at least, popular spots lean more toward French lines, be they bistro (La Goulue) or formal (La Grenouille). Also popular, for its fries and convenience, is Fred's at Barneys. I was actually thinking about this last night, too - "The Ladies Who Lunch," from Company, shuffled onto my iPod as I was walking from the subway. Nothing better than Elaine Stritch and her bourbon and cigarettes voice, singing about the emptiness of life. Sigh.

Tonight was pork tenderloin roasted with onions and some gorgeous organic apples I picked up at a farmers' market over the weekend. On the side, some long grain and wild rice. And, for dessert, some chocolate-covered pretzels my friend Aimee brought me!

I agree! I did this last week to the pearl onions I used in my coq au vin, and it worked very well. Those are beautiful, Melissa - I think I speak for all of us when I request a follow-up report on their fate!

Klary, that looks excellent. I think I know what I'm making for my Sunday night dinner!

My argument would be that in order to truly appreciate the gifts that food and nourishment are, a child needs to understand where that food comes from, meat or no. This may not currently be the societal norm, and I think that's an issue.