Megan Blocker

Agreed! Let's see some Rachel-food!

Thank you all for your very kind words! Now to answer your questions! Susan: Yes, I am totally getting into photographing my food! It's actually getting to the point where I think about what will and won't look good "on film" when planning dinner - eek! But it's so much fun! This thread has really inspired me to make each meal a treat for the eyes and the stomach. Kind of like your amazing Pinot Noir meal the other night...wowza. Daniel: OK, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but...I'm gonna do it anyway. I don't have umbrellas (I'm not that crazy!), but I have a tree-type lamp left over from my college dorm days, and I adjust one of the spotlights to light my food before I photograph it. I started out just doing it in my kitchen (where, thankfully, I have incandescent and not fluorescent lighting), but I had the same problem with the flash that you do. So, now I just plate it and stick it under the lamp for a minute! I have yet to do this when anyone is over...we'll see if I can stand to look like an obsessive weirdo (which I most definitely am, about many things) in front of anyone. I'll keep you posted. As for the camera - I'm not sure. It's a hand-me-down from my mom, who just never used it. I'll take a look when I get home tonight and let you know what it is.

Nope - someplace that looked more staid than Morimoto. It's entirely possible (though it seems unlikely, given all the other location shooting they did) that it's a restaurant somewhere in L.A. Hmmmm...

This article from today's Times made me think of this thread! It's about a man's lifelong, passionate craving for all things garlicky: click!

Steam those suckers and dip the leaves in homemade lemon mayo. Freeze the hearts and use them later in spinach and artichoke dip...

He's a sucker! Enjoy those lardons, though - his temporary loss is everyone's gain, eh? Gorgeous souffles, Daniel - I especially love the shot of the oozy custard. Yum!

Pumpkin bread...pumpkin muffins...pumpkin souffle a la Chufi. Pumpkin pancakes?

I took a long walk around the city today and made sure to stop by Eli's on the way home for some arborio, so I could make risotto! Why? Celebrating the first day when the temperature did not rise above 60. I know, I'm weird. Dinner was risotto with chicken, peas and basil. On the side, a tomato and red onion salad, dressed with some torn basil and a little balsamic vinegar. In the glass (and the risotto), Salmon Run chardonnay, made right here in the great state of New York! Risotto: Salad:

Has anyone else seen the movie In Her Shoes? One of the only reasons I've read Jennifer Weiner's books has been her vivid portrayal of Philadelphia in them (I went to college on the Main Line and have missed Philly ever since). When I went to see the movie on Friday night (which really was one of the best chick flicks I've seen in years), I was hoping it would have the same loving depiction of the city, and it did! I was also pleased by how many culinary destinations it showed, including the Italian market and Pat's and Geno's (two characters eat cheesesteaks after a Sixers game). There was a sushi restaurant that featured prominently (looked real good, but I didn't catch the name), and a Jamaican Jerk Hut - does this actually exist? Just thought all you Pennsylvania denizens might be interested to know that the movies have discovered your food! Along with all of us jealous New Yorkers, of course.

<Raising hand halfway> Once in a while my mom served salad with that set, but I think she got over it. The mini-clones always seemed sticky when they were supposedly clean. ← Our first salad bowl was a big brown earthenware affair, but somewhere in there we acquired one of those salad bowls made of thin slats of wood woven together and then laminated, plus little individual bowls to match. ← We had two wooden, extremely seasoned salad bowls (never washed with soap - only rinsed and wiped down) - one very large, one medium-sized (just right for a single, meal-sized salad or side salad for three). I'm pretty sure the smaller one (which was just stained wood - not laminated at all) was a wedding present to my mom and dad, which would date it to 1974. The larger one entered the house sometime in the mid-80's, I think. My mom still uses both on a regular basis. One of my first purchases when I moved to New York after college was a wooden salad bowl, which I use almost every day. My mom's are gorgeous and wide-mouthed, gently tapered - perfect for making dressings in the bowl. Mine has straight sides and a flat bottom, since I didn't have the cabinet space for one like hers. Maybe I'll treat myself this year! Tongs-wise, they've changed over the years. I inherited my penchant for interesting salad tongs from my mom - we both have wooden ones with zebras on the ends of the handles from Africa (brought back for us by two different friends - apparently everyone knows we have the same taste), and we both bought gorgeous pewter ones in Mexico a couple of years ago. Mom has several others, but I can't remember them all - the zebras are her (and my) everyday tongs. As for eating, we pretty much did that on our larger dinner plates, the better to mush our bites together. If we were having pasta or risotto, we had our salad on smaller side plates. All this reminiscing is making me miss my mommy! Mo-om!!!! Good thing she's coming to visit from the wilds of Fresno in a couple of weeks.

Glad to hear your dad is doing better - that's great news! I went to Thanksgiving at a relative's house last year and brought a cranberry-apple chutney as my contribution. It was very easy to make, can be made ahead, and was a huge hit! Here's a link to the recipe: click! This might be more prep work than you were thinking of doing, but what about having everything be finger-food sized, and turning it into a Thanksgiving-themed cocktail party? You know, mini open-faced turkey sandwiches (maybe toasted brioche round, a little of that chutney, and a small piece of turkey), little potato pancakes (with sour cream or creme fraiche and some herbs), squash or sweet potato tartlets...could be fun! Also might be a little less day-after-Thanksgiving-y and more generally autumnal and festive!

Oh, man. That sounds awful and annoying, and yet so funny - one of those stories you'll be telling forever. Sorry you've had a tough day, Kris - hopefully those spring rolls leading into it all helped soften the blow somewhat.

How about a Scarborough Fair theme? Sage, rosemary and thyme (Parsley might be a bit overboard, no?). Sounds a little gimmicky, but I bet it would be yummy. Maybe with a different name...

Lavender!!!!

Ooooooooh, can't wait to see what comes out of this, Susan! It sounds leaps and bounds fancier than my dinner! I made a warm pasta salad. This is a much smaller version of a salad I made back in August for my friend's bridal shower, which I hosted. It's campagnelle, skillet-roasted corn, tomatoes, garlic, red wine vinegar and olive oil, with a little parmagiano reggiano thrown in for good measure. Fast, easy, and delightfully tangy.

Thanks for the shout-out, Chris! Tossed salad was almost always a component of dinner when I was growing up. I came from a family where dinner was not complete without at least two vegetables as part of the meal, and this usually meant a tossed salad and something else (maybe steamed haricot verts, my mom's favorite). My mother has always been a bit of a foodie, so even in the early '80's the lettuce was always something other than iceberg - consequently, of course, I always thought people who had iceberg in the fridge were so cool. Dressing was usually a bottled vinaigrette or my mom's homemade, which was very basic (mustard, olive oil, champagne vinegar, S&P) and very good. Each week, we saved the leftover meats from various dinners (roast chicken, maybe, and grilled steak - we shoveled a path to the Weber in the Connecticut winters) and had a big "leftover salad" one night - tossed salad with all the good junk thrown in. These days, I still eat a tossed salad of some kind most nights. My favorite food is the cucumber, so there's always some of that included, and then any combo of red onion or scallions, peppers, tomatoes, corn...anything that's in the fridge, really. When eating alone (so, basically, nights when I don't have guests), I rarely make any veggie besides the salad - it's so easy, and I can make a different variation on it every night. I've always loved the combinations of flavors and textures in tossed salads, and I crave them constantly.

Wow, Klary! That all looks amazing...and sounds even better. How can you go wrong with lemon, garlic and capers? Would you be willing to share the recipe for the souffle? My mom is coming to visit, and that sounds like something she would swoon over.

GORGEOUS breakfasts, everyone. I think I may need to make muffins tomorrow! Breakfast for me this morning was just a big ol' cup of coffee across the street, where I sat and read, procrastinating about cleaning my apartment.

Tossed salad (romaine, cucumber, orange pepper, red onion, tomato) with chicken. I sauteed the chicken in a little olive oil, then used the pan drippings to cooks some shallots. I deglazed the pan with sherry vinegar and whisked in a bit of butter (inspired by Susan's butter dressing from last month), and added the warm dressing to the salad. Eaten after cleaning my apartment from top to bottom, and while watching BBC's Pride and Prejudice. No better way to spend a rainy Saturday.

I guess the pinkness didn't really come through as strongly in the photo. Trust me, in person... pepto mixed with dog food ← Wow. Those dumplings are...freudian. There's just no other word for it.

And so purty!

Sesame noodles with cucumber and scallions. Yum! Now off to the movies.

I was there in August, so not too recently. However, I had a great meal, as I did on my previous trips. One of my friends had the tasting menu (it had Kobe beef, but that's all I remember). I had the green salad with beets, the sirloin and short rib - which was excellent - and for dessert, the peach and blueberry fried ravioli. They were good - not great - though not nearly as delectable as the cider doughnuts they used to have on the menu (which, I hope, will make a return this fall). Someone else at the table decided to dip into the sides and ordered the potato puree, which was delicious (more butter than anything, I'm sure!). I've had the snapper crudo a few times and always enjoyed it, and my mom loves the warm octopus salad. The service is great - attentive but not fawning, and the vibe is nice. I'm still very positive when it comes to all things Hearth!

I am SO jealous! It's still summery here in NYC (though they're promising cooler temps next week), and I am strictly a cold-weather creature. Your frosty grass is making my toes tingle. Great blog so far, guys!

Can you describe this dish, Hersch?