Suzanne F

I used to get Familia brand muesli, which refered to itself with "something Bircher" or maybe as being the creation of Dr. Bircher-Benner. Sorry to be a bit vague, but it's probably more than 20 years since I bought it. Does that brand still exist?

Hello again. Forgive me if my spelling is off a bit; I still haven't been to bed from yesterday (but I got the 800-page gorilla done!) Anyway: Hey, I'm the stickler! NYXs said so! But other than "that place in the Parker Meridien" as my neighbor Eric just called it, all the other places knew we were coming, too. Well yeah, not that we were THE Burger Club, but they all knew we were coming specifically to eat burgers. So I'm not sure that theory will hold up. Besides, as much as I liked the BS burger, I think it was better when I've had it other times. But wait: How are we now going to be sure future restaurants don't try to bribe us with extra-special-good burgers, buns, cheese, and pickle slices? Won't they all treat us as if we were BurGrimes, or maybe Marian Burgros, since she's filling in? You know, try to get us to give them a good writeup? Ya know, I kind of like that idea.

The first rule of BC is not "nobody talks about BC;" it is "What elyse says, goes." BC is her creation. Kind of like the Virgin Birth. She did it all herself. For what it's worth.

Taking a break from working, and WOW!!! You gotta impress upon the interviewer that fact that burger-eaters in large numbers really tax the abilities of the grillman, waiter, and runners. A good restaurant will have a very low incidence of temperature fuck-ups -- oops, can't say that; try "temperature anomalies." I hope Picaman (the REAL statistician ) comes up with some numbers. I think it would be a hoot to sound really pseudo-scientific. By my estimate, we have about a dozen hard-core members (who have made 60% or more of the meetings), and another dozen members-slash-hangers-on who have come to one or more. That means we constitute approximately two-tenths of one percent of total eGullet membership -- and even less of regular site readers. We're just the tip of the iceberg lettuce. And of course you have to mention that eGullet members have formed BC branches in the United Kingdom and the Pacific coast of Canada: We're international! (Can we get numbers from them, too?)

Hmmm. We shall see.

Yes. But I'm asking everyone in my building to give me their Late Edition Metro Sections, so I hope to have extras. Why? Do you want the picture for a dart board? (Ho ho ho)

Oh. I always thought those hanging things were jackfruit, and you couldn't actually get durian here. Not that I ever bought one and tried it. Then again, I think I read that FROZEN durian was not as, um, odoriferous.

Kurt Weill, from Lady in the Dark. Dawn Upshaw sings it on a CD of songs by Weill, Marc Blitzstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim, called "I Wish It So." Some time after that one came out, she did all Rodgers-and-Hart, and eventually an all-Vladimir-Dukelsky CD. Vernon Duke, that is: "Autumn in New York," "April in Paris," "I Like the Likes of You" among others. alan50, I'm honored that you made your first post here. I do actually find it to be a very good reference book, myself.

My letter of complaint to the Times: FYI: prelasarian: characteristic of or belonging to the time or state before the fall of humankind. (Webster 11) Don't know about their oysters, but on the way home HWOE and I stopped in at Cajun for Sazeracs, and he had a half-dozen HUGE Bluepoints for about $10. Yeah, they were only bluepoints, but they were pretty good.

Damn them-- they didn't mention egullet!!! :mad: I'm writing to the Times to complain. Picaman, pm me with your last name, please.

AND HERE'S THE TIMES ARTICLE: clickety

I don't know, Pan -- every time I forget the LAST time and get something from Lafayette, like a lemon meringue tart, as soon as I bite into it I suddenly remember why it's been so long since the last time. But I HIGHLY respect your opinion on Chinese and Malaysian food. What does anyone think of Ceci Cela (on Spring Street and on Chambers Street)?

Yeah, but that's not what fresh durian tastes/smells like, apparently

It will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, and then you can make it into rice croquettes. Mmmmmm.

If it makes you feel better, I liked the cover the as well. I thought it was fun - those cupcakes would be a total hit at a kids party. I even think adults would be psyched to see them. Plus, green is my favorite color. But ladies, does it really say GOURMET to you? To me, it says Ladies' Home Journal. Besides, I needed sunglasses to look at it for more than a few seconds.

Lauren -- handblender, hand mixer, stand mixer, whisk, whatever you need, you shall have; you won't even have to bring it, I've got all of the above. How neat if you come! Only please, no durian.

Yeah, I ordered the apps. If we didn't get charged for them . . . I wish I'd ordered more. I wonder what Malawry would have thought of the hush puppies: golf-ball-size spheres of scallion-y dough (a bit on the sweet side), deep-fried to a golden crust (maybe rolled in dry cornmean before frying?) No, actually, they and the cheddar wafers (very different from Elyse's PdeQ) were just enough to keep us occupied while the burgers were being cooked. I mean, you know we all just sat around the table and stared at each other in silence. The Blue Smoke people were indeed very, very nice to us. Even before Elyse gave them some of her fabulous gingersnaps. If I can figure out how to use my scanner, I'll post an image of the menu. They gave us a big long table up on the mezzanine, which while HOT, meant we wouldn't scare away any of the other customers. And the burgers were indeed the best so far: great char, good quality meat, excellent bun, even decent slices of tomato and good slices of dill pickles. Just the right size, too. I only wish they hadn't taken the potato salad off the menu for winter. Mmmm, potato salad. And that chocolate cake was pretty good, too. Certainly a big enough wedge for all of us! But nowhere near as good as Elyse's gingersnaps and Sherribabee's chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies. It was definitely the best birthday party I've ever, ever had. And having some new people attend was great, too, along with some of the BC regulars and irregulars. (The only no-show was Mr. Cutlets. Bad Mr. Cutlets.) But OMG, I hope the Times runs a picture of anything except me Now THAT was a surprise!

As I mentioned on the Dinner thread, this one inspired me to try to cook a rib roast. What I bought was not encouraging: way below Prime (even way below Choice, I should think); boneless; and most of the exterior fat already removed. Taking all those strikes into consideration, it turned out pretty well. Or, I should say, rare. Coated it first with cracked black pepper as it warmed up to room temp. Then just before sticking in the oven at 325 degrees F, coated it with a mixture of rendered beef fat and white miso (to replace the outside fat, and to salt it in a way that HWOE wouldn't shrink from). My oven sucks. 325 can be anywhere from 310 to 350. But the 350 setting is slightly more accurate, so that's where it ended up, for about an hour and 15 minutes. Took it out when it registered about 115 on two instant-reads. Had a lovely crust. Let it sit about 1/2 hour. Very nicely rare throughout (except of course at the ends and outside rim). Now I feel ready to tackle a GOOD roast. Thanks to all for this discussion.

Inspired by recent threads, I got a shell roast ( = rib roast, boneless alas ) at the Pathmark a few days ago. Not the greatest quality, and almost totally devoid of fat cap, but it called to me. So: Roast beef, with a "crust" of cracked black pepper, rendered beef fat, and white miso 2 jus: the pure stuff that collected as the meat sat, and the mirepoix/red wine/beef stock-enhanced drippings Individual Yorkshire puddings Plain steamed broccoli Salad with artichoke-flavored dressing J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon 2000

Fried chicken at Stroud's in Kansas City. Oh, I still eat it wherever I can (and cook it), but that is the Holy Grail of cluck for me.

Reservation reconfirmed. See ya later!

elyse +1 SuzanneF + HWOE alacarte Blondie johnjohn laurelmilan Picaman MHesse forkAndPen sherribabee NOT SobaAddict70 Lurker Bond Girl Mr. Cutlets JosephB, both of whom I could have sworn I added the other night. and, we hope, Dave the Cook and some or all of his crew. as of 1/2, 7:50pm

elyse +1 SuzanneF + HWOE alacarte Blondie johnjohn laurelmilan Picaman MHesse forkAndPen sherribabee SobaAddict70 Lurker Bond Girl and, we hope, Dave the Cook and some or all of his crew. as of 1/2, 10:30am As for the list of places, I'm checking it (twice? hohoho)

Of course I drank it. Why wouldn't I? What's wrong with those smells? No, grappa is more like paint remover. I love it. Especially a camomile-flavored version I used to have at Zoe in Soho.

I got to taste Ciroc last night. I found the aroma to be somewhere between nail polish remover and rubbing alcohol. But the taste was . . . just vodka (and therefore, not much). However, it IS quite smooth. (My preferences normally run to Skyy and Absolut, for comparison purposes.)