Megan Blocker

This is one of my favorite ways to make eggs - top them with a little caviar and creme fraiche, and you're in business. I serve it as a first course sometimes, a la Jean-Georges (inside the washed-out egg shell). YUM. There are lots of recipes for this. As I mentioned above, one can be found in Simple to Spectacular , by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman. Ina Garten also has a similar recipe, which is available online: click!

I didn't watch, but I would agree with the winning team's strategy - make something that will appeal to the largest group of people. Plus, pink is pretty out as a wedding color these days, isn't it? Seems like a risky decision (as opposed to, say, blue).

I have to (gasp!) defend Martha at this point - even back when she didn't have a gazillion staffers to make everything fabulous, it was pretty darn perfect. I grew up down the street from her sister in Connecticut, and my mother attended many a cocktail party catered by the early Martha. She was amazing in her perfection then, and holds the people around her to those same standards today. Say what you will, but she is a perfectionist in her own right, not just because she has people doing it for her. I'd kill for anything even remotely resembling her kitchen.

Vermouth is a great substitute, and it sure does last a long time. I agree - I'm more of a wine sampler than a collector (I just don't have the space), so there's no telling whether that bottle of Riesling I bought to try out is going to work or not in the recipe at hand (though you can be pretty sure I'll manage to get it down via the glass). With vermouth, you always know what you're going to get, and for someone who cooks for one most nights, it's great to have something that lasts and lasts. That said, I do cook with wine on a pretty regular basis, but vermouth is still great to have on hand. I have a great recipe for a flank steak with a vermouth, caper and mustard pan sauce - PM me if you'd like to try it!

Floating Island! Also... Caca Chicken - Something my dad used to make, and you can guess what it looked like. Baked Alaska - To this day, I've never had it, but I'm fascinated by it and love the name - so evocative! And most Italian names for pasta shapes (capellini (angel's hair), gnocchi (little fists), farfalle (butterflies), orecchietti (little ears), vermicelli (little worms))...I love that they're named for what they look like.

Diet Coke (mais oui!), salad (mixed greens, grilled chicken, cukes, red onion, green peas and celery) with balsamic vinaigrette on the side (they're way too liberal with that stuff at the place around the corner) and a small sourdough roll. Topped off with a mini Take 5, this new candy that has peanut butter, pretzels and is covered in chocolate. Not bad - but the chocolate was too sweet - I would rather have dark than milk, I think.

That was the impression I got, as well. =R= ← I was wondering the same thing. Glad I'm not alone. Maybe (gasp!) he's aiming to allow his readers to draw their own conclusions? Nothing but the facts, ma'am. Hmmmm...

Thanks for reporting back! That is a lovely-looking cake. Very elegant. Congratulations to your friends! ← Thanks, Makan and Pan! It really was nice...I forgot to mention that they modeled those little sprays on the bride's antique earrings (on loan from the groom's grandmother) - every little detail was so well thought out!

Susan, that sounds delicious. And Chufi - oh, MY. How beautiful, and so well-photographed. Round of applause!!!!

My old employer had a Christmas party in the basement of a bar in the Village. My current employer does dinner, drinks and dancing at the Rainbow Room. In all honesty, aside from the excellent shrimp cocktail, I preferred the bar's basement. Edited to add: Oops. Just realized this is on the Vancouver forum - sorry for intruding with thoughts of NYC, guys!

Chicken and roasted vegetable wrap with garlic aioli and balsamic vinegar. Yum!

Pistachio madeleines from Ceci Cela on Spring Street.

I agree! Taste test time!

Those are gorgeous, Alinka! Well done!

Percy, does the price tag on that pie really say $1.75? What a deal!

Oooooh, now wouldn't that be fun???? However, anything having to do with Martha Stewart, or trying to watch people construct wedding cakes, is far far too painful for me to watch. I hate Martha. But not for reasons most people hate Martha. I hate her because I have this wonderful portfolio of original cake designs and my own ideas, but I always get brides at my consultations with her magazines in hand, asking me to copy whatever it is MARTHA has decided deserves to be fashionable and trendy. To be honest, I find a lot of cakes in her publications are plain just NO FUN to do. Ok, so call me the "Jan Brady" of cake artists....... It's always MARTHA MARTHA MARTHA!!!!!!!! Ok, make that Jan Brady with a lisp...... ← So, more like Jan crossed with Cindy?

A cappuccino and a slice of Mille Crepes at Lady M on 78th Street. Yum!

Ludja, That chocolate dessert was from Metropolitan bakery and I believe they called it a Metromon (?), which was a chocolate cookie, topped with fluffy marshmallow and covered in chocolate.....hmmmm ← Like a Mallomar on speed!

Wow...I'm drooling here!

Mmmmm...just finished a turkey club on whole wheat toast and a small bag of Cape Cod potato chips, washed down with a Diet Coke. Good stuff.

Chicken milanese (which I also made a couple weeks ago - there's a pic upthread somewhere ), with spaghetti aglio oglio on the side. For dessert, my friend brought chocolate cupcakes from Cupcake Cafe. In the bottle, a 2002 vintner's blend zinfandel.

Here's Gawker's take on the whole new reviewing system at the Post: click! They're not really foodies over there, so I'm not sure how insightful there comments are, but they definitely are entertaining!

Two of my closest friends were married last weekend, and the rehearsal dinner was at Aquavit, and it was fantastic. I was so excited to see some old college friends that I didn't pay enough attention and the waiter whisked my menu away without my noticing, so I apologize for some of my flip-flopping descriptions! We started with an amuse, which was caviar on a tiny little toast point. Under the toast was some sort of horseradish (I think) cream, and there was also a quail egg yolk on the plate - delicious! There were three choices for each of the three courses - I started with a foie gras ganache appetizer, and I honestly can't remember much about it except that it was delicious (one too many cocktails, I guess)! It was served with a savory custard cake of some kind, which was also very good, but almost too salty. The other choice I recall was a herring sampler. I'd been recently for brunch and sampled more herring than one person should eat in a year, so I let the others try that one. For my main, I had the lemon-cured duck breast (that's right, folks - all duck, all the time), which came with a potato-duck hash and a duck egg. I don't think I've ever had a duck egg before - very interesting, almost gamey flavor. Dessert was a chocolate mousse, which was very good. The best dessert on offer, we thought, was the arctic circle, which was a goat cheese parfait surrounding honey tuile. Yum! All in all, a wonderful evening. Sorry that I can't recall more details - but I can tell you that the private room was lovely, and the flower arrangements (orchids and green apples in low, wooden bowls, surrounded by votives) were beautiful. The service was, for the most part, very good. A great spot for a rehearsal dinner, definitely! Here's a photo of the table, a little dark, but you get the idea!

Oooooh, the first of the egg dishes makes its appearance. Yippeee! Percy, you've made my morning. Yum, eggs.

Pumpkin bread, fresh from the oven. Hello, fall!