Rail Paul

Tommy - slightly out of state (by about 1,000 feet), but have you tried the Mountain Valley BrewPub's new incarnation? We stopped by in February, as they were brewing. They expected to have the restaurant (as distinguished from the bar menu) up and running "in a few months." US 202 in Suffern, almost directly opposite the train station Paul

The Fresh Fields in Montclair NJ has a good selection of vegetables and produce, priced competitively against the upscale Kings Market. The selection is probably 50% more expensive than the ShopRite, PathMark, etc. It's created a difficulty of sorts for social progressives (of which Montclair has many). Good, fresh, and occasionally local produce delivered by non-union employees. It's been picketed since the day it opened. All other area supermarkets are unionized.

Dessert take-out seems to be on the upswing. In addition to the Verona shop, there's another place in Caldwell called Tastings. Relatively high margin stuff, but who eats dessert during the week? I guess there must be a market of some sort for it. Both the WCaldwell Shop-Rite and Kings have expanded their takeout dessert presentation / offerings as well.

Welcome aboard! Delicious Orchards is a delight. Seasonal, freshly picked fruit, wonderful pies, people who really care about their food products and take great pride in their venture

Rosie - you've raised an interesting question on tastes and evolution. Does the Thai cuisine have regional variations, with differenr ingredients or emphases? Could it be that one "Thai" restaraunt was of a region different from the others you've tried? Thailand's a big place. Could be similar to US cuisine (Texas), US cuisine (Oregon) and US cuisine (Maine) Very different, but all authentically US

adding a little to Rachel's excellent instructions: From the East (I-280 x4), head south on Eisenhower Pkwy, make a right onto Eagle Rock Avenue at the light, and a left at the first traffic light onto River Road. Bella Rosa is three miles on your left just after passing a Commerce bank on your right side From the West (I-287, etc), take Route 10 east, a hundred yards past Warnock Dodge, bear right onto Old Mount Pleasant. pass two traffic lights and make a left onto River Road. Bella is on your right in the shopping center)

Mysticism, especially in its enhanced forms, has been an element of Muslim, Jewish, Christian and many other religious expressions for more than a millenium. Benedictines and their brandies, Carthusians and their Chartreuse, and the many working abbey beers of Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the alpines...

Based on the location description as given by Steve Klc, it appears the Wegman's is about ten minutes by cab from the Princeton Jct station of Amtrak / NJTransit. There were cabs available at the station when I last detrained. I'm not aware of public transport to the Bridgewater location, although the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Terminus (at Raritan) is about ten minutes away.

Jason - you mentioned you have the side burner on your C. May I ask if you use it for regular cooking during the summer, etc? Can it bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, or saute fish? I've been considering the pro/com of a side burner with the intent of replacing the indoor range/stove for four or five months. Thanks for any guidance Paul

Glenn - thanks for the link. Looks like an interesting site. There's an excellent factory store for Oneida in Flemington NJ. It's adjacent to the Liberty Village on NJ 12, adjacent to the steam train's station. Lots of discontinued and imperfect flatware Paul

Winot - your distinction is between the patent on a strain of rice and the trademark used to name it? No? Paul

Putnam sales tax rate is 7.25% (4% state, plus 3% county, plus 0.25% MTA district). NYC is 8.25% (4% borough / county makes the difference). Some cities also add a surcharge to the county's rate, as several places on Long Island do.. That's why I see so many NY plated cars at Garden State Plaza, Woodbridge Mall, Riverside Square (no tax on clothing in NJ), and Home Depot / Circuit City in Secaucus (3% NJ tax in economic advantage zones).

Fat Guy - The Sterns have archived many of their reviews and food visits at RoadFood. I searched Texas & BBQ and located 17 places, including Angelo's in Fort Worth Black's in Lockhart several places in Elgin and Luling Tommy's in Paris comments, suggestions, and website links are provided. RoadFood is an interesting site, with multiple search links for food types, states, map link, etc. Paul

This could be a topic for an eGullet summer field trip. Team A visits Hiram's, tastes and records its findings, and goes on to Callahan's. Team B does the reverse. Teams gather and compare notes. Or, tasters gather in the park overlooking the GWB, as runners fetch the samples and return them to the waiting crew.

In the older Christian tradition, an abstinence from food and beverage (the fast) was required prior to communion. The traditional abstinence began at compline (prayers at nightfall) and continued until Mass. Later, the rules were relaxed with abstinence from solid food beginning at midnight, but liquids required just three hours. Certain of the monastic orders began prayers at 3 in the morning (tierce or terce), with Mass at 7 am, which posed a problem for the faster. Beer, a hearty liquid, brewed from grains, met the threshold of a liquid, with the nutrition of a solid. The perfect breakfast food - a lesson perfected by generations of college students. I'd quibble with the definition the consecrated wine is the blood of Christ, present Catholic teaching notwithstanding. Technically, the appearance of bread and the appearance of wine are each both the body and blood. It was that distinction which permitted the distribution of the Eucharist to the faithful under just one appearance for a thousand years... One poster expressed concerns about philosophical arguments on eGullet, this goes way beyond philosophy. If this thread continues, it will encounter the Council of Chalcedon, Luther, and the monophysites...

The Friday NY Times has another excellent article on the Mississippi Delta and the search for Blues roots. In the new Escapes section. Written by Rick Bragg, the article recounts a trip from Memphis to New Orleans, with side trips and reference points for students of the form. Mr Bragg has a very evocative style in his prose My NewYorkTimes server isn't responding, but the article should come up with a search under Blues, Highway 61, Memphis, or Peabody Hotel

I've been working diligently to improve and expand my bread baking, so the bread books are on my work table right now Beard on Bread Clayton's Bread Book Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book Judith & Evan Jones's Book of Bread Leader's and Blahnik's Bread Alone Cookbook Crescent Dragonwagon's Soup & Bread Cookbook

Touche! The Times had an exchange on the use of this term back in more pleasant times, divided between the predictable positions. My original direction was the acceptance by many women of "fashion imperatives" which deliver painful shoes, uncomfortable clothing, and, in some cases, very careful positioning when seating or changing positions. If I was a maitre'd, I'd be very hesitant about challenging any woman's choice of attire

Vaguely, I recall the fashion term "wife-beater" is a late '90s usage reminiscent of the Stanley Kowalski character's wardrobe in A Streetcar Named Desire. I don't believe it was in use prior to 1998 or so. It has reliably drawn the ire of feminists, but I won't raise the question of fashon imperatives and feminism in this forum

It sounds like the Greenwich Village Pub Crawling Team will become the Ninth Avenue Crawling Team. That is, provided Tommy makes it back from the west coast.

Why is it that guys have to wear a jacket, and women can get by with almost nothing? Inquiring minds want to know! My best guess is guys are more easily intimidated on matters of fashion than women are. If a woman has carefully selected an outfit, nobody in a penguin suit would dare get in the way

Thanks for the info, John. Where's Crif's? Sounds interesting

Garrison is very convenient to MetroNorth's Hudson Line train service from Grand Central Terminal. Station is in the center of town, where is Xavier's located?

Nice job, Rosie, and nice notes, Rachel! There was a smooth segue from the commercial on Artisanal Bread and Cheese (Route 24 east in Chester) to Pierre's restaurant (both owned by the same person). Another nice riff on how the citysearch.com posters have diced up Blue Smoke, with Schwartz's view that "these people don't have the credibility to review a restaurant." I thought Rosie touched on that point later by saying you hear a number of views, and get a more rounded understanding of a place. Rosie slid in several references to New Brunswick's cultural life and restaurants, and opened a dialogue about Montclair's schools, shopping, restaurants, and diverse cultural features. I fully expected somebody would say "The Far Upper West Side, but with better schools." I've heard that expression about Montclair several times

foie gras pops? Kim WB - would you elaborate, this sounds wonderful... Paul