ronnie_suburban

Ditto on the ham - most tasteless food known to man. Meat for people with severe sweet tooths and no tastebuds. ...depends on where you get your ham. For me, this list starts and ends with fruitcake. =R=

Really? How cool. Honestly, I didn't even know they existed before you posted that. Are the recipes 'picnic' oriented? Do tell, please. BTW, it doesn't surprise me that their books are slick. Ravinia Festival is a powerful and very well-funded organization. =R=

...so only cheese and veggie pizzas are served there now I actually learned that it had changed over while driving to your Paella-Palooza back in July. =R=

...and thanks to guajolote for reminding me about it. =R= You're gonna love it, Ronnie. Try the potato salad with dill, caoers, and fresh orange juice, marinated at room temp. It's like a cool summer breeze in the middle of winter. Thanks for the tip Heather--much appreciated Now enough of this cookbook talk, you're needed on the bridge. =R=

Thanks Flocko Looks like the plan is for me to blog through Friday and hand the controls over to jackal who will begin his holiday blogging on Saturday. Lunch today (from Barnaby's) was some standard issue fare. I settled for the 1/2 pound black angus burger with american cheese. I requested medium rare and actually received it that way I left the soggy pickles and dark & mysterious pasta salad alone but did opt for a slice (okay, 2 ) of my co-worker's pepperoni, sausage & onion pizza. Actually, Barnaby's pizza is pretty distinctive. Their crust is ultra-thin and dusted with corn meal. It's also one of those places that cuts the pizza into a grid instead of wedges. I'm not sure how I feel about that but I felt obligated to report it. It's one of those places which I could never enthusiastically recommend to anyone, but I've grown to enjoy it over the years. Throughout high school and part of college I spent my summers working at Ravinia, an outdoor music theatre in Highland Park, IL. We'd usually finish work between 11 p.m. and midnight and Barnaby's was one of the few places near Ravinia that was actually open at that hour. Needless to say, I've eaten there hundreds of times over the years. It never really changes by anything but degrees. For the next few weeks, while I am not low-carbing, I'll eat a lot of pizza--including my very favorite--home-made. In many respects, pizza is my favorite food. Wait, am I even allowed to say that here? =R=

Yeah, dining at the original Pizzeria Uno is a singular experience (pun somewhat intended) whereas Malnati's, even though they are very well-managed and not very big, is a chain. We actually got delivery from their Highland Park location for last night's dinner. I agree about the crust at Uno's. Generally speaking, I think it's slightly better than the crust at Malnati's but, as I posted above, Malnati's sausage is my very favorite. Either way, unless I am willing to take a 25 mile drive to pickup dinner, when we're at home, Malnati's always wins. When we decide to go out for pizza, a trip to Uno (or Due for that matter) is always under consideration. =R=

it seems like readers would catch on, and the writer wouldn't have much of a career. it fixes itself in that regard. I agree. Over time you get a feel for most reviewers you read frequently. A tendency develops and you know whether you generally agree or disagree with certain reviewers. In that context, a writer's potential bias becomes a smaller issue. All writers have biases--and not all writers always recognize their own. Disclosure isn't always an option. In the end, the reader must decide if the writer has credibility via the writing and the opinions stated therein, regardless of whatever issues may be looming in the background. Biases aside, if I read 10 reviews by the same writer and disagree with most of them, the reasons why my opinion differs aren't nearly as important as simply recognizing that they do. In that respect, an unreasonably or abusively biased reviewer isn't destined to be around very long. It is self-policing. =R=

...and thanks to guajolote for reminding me about it. =R=

Tuesday PM: Ok, it took 8 days of blogging but finally we consumed some 'Chicago-Style' pizza last night--from Lou Malnati's. I go back and forth between Lou's and Pizzerias Uno & Due as my favorite but last night's Lou's was great. We ordered 2 pizzas, a small deep-dish with pepperoni, sausage & onion and a medium thin-crust 'za with sausage on the entire thing and spinach (which they sautee with garlic) on half. Both pizzas were fantastic. The crust was flavorful (with olive oil), crispy and light. Lou's is very generous with the toppings which are first rate. Of all the sausage I've ever had on (non-home-made) pizza, I'd rate Lou Malnati's as my favorite. I neglected to take a picture of the food but the deep-dish pizza starts with crust (duh), on top of that goes the cheese, then the toppings and the very top layer is the 'sauce' which is actually chopped tomatoes which are lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano and a few other minor components (dried basil possibly among them). With the pizzas, we also had a caesar salad. Here is a generic pic of a Lou's pizza from their web site: Dessert was another hodge podge of party leftovers. I had some more of Sam & Roberta's outstanding fudge as well as a raspberry linzer cookie from 3 Tarts bakery in Northfield, IL. Also had a piece of rugelah from Once Upon a Bagel and an outstanding piece of the milk chocolate & macadamia biscotti which were made by my friend Derek Wildstar. After that, I wanted to keep going, but I started feeling really lousy (can't imagine why ) and decided to call it a night. Wednesday: Started out with the usual non-breakfast followed by some of the guatemalan coffee with 1/2 and 1/2. When I got to the office I had my usual IV(nw)A with 1/2 and 1/2 and one packet of sweet and low. When I'm not on Atkins, I prefer sugar but I'm too lazy to keep simple syrup around the office and granulated sugar doesn't dissolve in a cold drink, so I just use sweet and low. I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks coffees (although they are marketing geniuses) and I find that drinking their products cold masks a lot of their bitterness. Grabbed a few handfuls of the Mama Zuma's chips and 2 interesting pieces from the Godiva box; one dark chocolate something or other filled with some dark chocolate fudgey stuff and a white 'chocolate' shell filled with a milk chocolate paste and tiny little pieces of hazelnut. It was pretty good. Lunch is going to be from a local (and divey) pizza and burger joint called Barnaby's. I hope the suspense that builds before my next installment doesn't kill anyone... =R=

Not to be a total geek or anything, but wasn't she Dr Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation? Yes...and mother of young Wesley =R= I guess I should be embarrassed that I knew that. It gets a lot worse: the author is actually Christine McFadden but i'm a total Trekkie and typed Gates McFadden instead. LMAO! Just picked up Penelope Casas' Tapas yesterday as well as Richard Olney's Simple French Food and Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook. =R=

tommy, you are definitely a (martini) glass half-full kind of guy =R=

Blog on, Ronnie! Let's hear about a "normal" week at the suburbans. Ok then...until someone wrestles this microphone...err, keyboard from my hands, I shall continue. Monday: Started out with a breakfast of the guatemalan coffee (a la plunge pot) and some 1/2 & 1/2, then followed that up with an iced venti (no water) americano when I got to my office. For lunch, I'd brought in the remainder of the deli tray that was leftover from the party. It was from Kuhn's International Deli in Deerfield, IL--a great place to go for real food in the northern burbs. However, by Monday at lunch time, the tray kind of reminded me of the giant sandwich that Homer once had on the Simpsons. All that meat at the very end of its usability and me being so unwilling to say goodbye to it...I'd also bought a ciabatta roll from Foodstuffs in Glencoe, IL and intended to make a few mini sammiches for lunch but I kind of got worried when I thought about how many hours that meat had already sat out of refrigeration and opted for a slice of ultra-thin crust cheese pizza from Mama Louisa's Little Red Hen in Glencoe. Very nice, a good ratio of crust to cheese to sauce. I tend to like a little more sauce or tomato on my pizza than most people do and Mama's fits that bill. Monday dinner I 'requited' my unrequited lunchtime desire for sandwiches via further party leftovers. I had a mini sesame bagel with chive cheese and lox (open face) and some of the Nueske smoked ham on a mini (sesame) challah roll with mayo and dusseldorf mustard. Also had another small slice of the leftover pate. Wife and son both snarfed down little ham sandwiches too. Wife and I had CFDC's (caffeine-free diet coke) and the boyo had some fluorescent gatorade--flavor unknown. For dessert, the options were fantastic...so much leftover stuff from the party, it was nearly overwhelming but I toughed it out. I had some fudge (made and brought by our friends Sam and Roberta), some of the Callebaut stuff-- a few chocolates and couple of chocolate-covered pretzels too. Also had a small piece of the spice bread which was made and brought by Hobbes...Yum! After that I wanted to eat more because it all looked so good, but it was just not an option. Of course, later on during some tv time, I managed a few more of the chocolates too. Tuesday: Fell out of bed far too late to make any of the guatemalan coffee but the requisite iced venti (no water) americano was waiting for me at the office. I doctored it with the usual 1/2 & 1/2 and a packet of sweet and low. It was kind of a snacky morning around here. So many (food) gifts have arrived at the office this week that we actually have been eating some of them. I munched on a few Mama Zuma's green chile potato chips (of which we received a HUGE tin) and then cherry-picked my way through a 4 pound box of Godiva chocolates that a vendor sent to us. I'm not crazy about Godiva but it's hard to resist when it's just sitting there and you get to choose your faves out of the selection. Lunch was from Seul's Tavern across the street. I'd intended on splitting a club sandwich and a reuben with my wife who stopped by but Seul's dropped the ball and forgot the reuben. We split the turkey club on whole wheat toast, ignored the under-cooked and cold french fries and sipped CFDC's our together I also had a cup of chili that a co-worker gave up because of the glitch. Another gift of cigars, Absolut and Canadian Club Barrel Blended Whiskey just showed up. It may be an interesting afternoon around here... =R=

Should I just keep blogging? =R=

Thanks for the kind words Cusina. Yes, it was truly inspired. I can say that without hesitation because it wasn't my idea The 'assistant' came up with it. =R=

One of the best videos ever shown on MTV, especially the part where the singer's head comes out of the pot of beans. Damned straight! How else would I have remembered it 13 years after the fact? I believe the front man's name is Stanard Ridgeway. =R=

Ok, I've run out of choices for bloggers so I'm going to hand tagging responsibilities back to 'the house' before any more of this week slips by... Thanks again for letting me make a short story long. =R=

"I wish I was in Tijuana eating bar-b-qued iguana" --Wall of Voodoo, Mexican Radio, 1990 =R=

Again, thanks everyone for the kind comments. They are much appreciated. I had a blast doing this blog. =R=

Yes, every single egg was eaten. With the modifications, they were exponentially better than in years past. Bacon on top (instead of in the filling) was a great improvement and working the rendered bacon fat back into the filling was absolutely inspired. =R=

Mr. Jackal, there is a contigent that wanted you to take Christmas week. Is that a misread on my part? If so, then please step up to the podium. If not, I'd like to tag hillvalley to take this week... =R=

Ok...just heard back from pk who, due to a variety of outside factors, cannot do the blog this week. I have someone else in mind, but I will again ask for volunteers before drafting that person... Anyone? =R=

=R=

Ok, I haven't heard back from her yet, but I'd like to officially nominate the Siren of the Prairie herself, pariah_kerry, to do next week's blog. Whaddaya say pk? =R=

Thanks for the kind words Brooks and for the recipe and green beans Fresser. Things were a little too chaotic to fire up the cooktop last night, but the gb's will definitely go to good use on Monday. This afternoon, we attended my stepmom's holiday party. It was more relaxing than my week was but far less relaxing than doing nothing would have been. She is a great baker and really turns out some fine stuff. I'll get to that in a minute. First, I hovered at the savory buffet for a while to start. I was still pretty full from breakfast but did manage to have 1/2 a mini bagel with chive cheese and home-made gravlax. The gravlax was nice. It was cured with just the right amount of dill. She does a very nice job with it. Next, I made myself an open face sandwich from her deli tray...ciabatta roll with some mayo, a little dijon mustard, a slice of roast beast, a slice of turkey, 1 slice of garlicky kosher-style salami, a spirally-sliced piece of ham (watery and not smoked at all) and some muenster cheese. In spite of its multi-meat nature, it was nothing special. I also had 1 mini spanikopita (much smaller than the ones we made) but my step-mom confessed to me that she accidentally omitted the parmesan and it was pretty apparent. I also had a few of her mini hotdogs which blew mine away--better coordination in the kitchen from her helpers who cooked them perfectly whereas my helpers would have scored a B- for their baking efforts. Stepmom's versions were perfectly golden brown and flaky. I had a couple of them dipped in some Plochman's yellow mustard...Yum. I guess what I was feeling could be described as a case of hotdog envy. Next, onto the maki and I again went for the spicey tuna i/o with misago. That's my favorite maki and Akai Hana (the place where we both got our stuff) does a nice job--especially with the maki. I went for the mini meatballs next which were in a brown savory sauce. They weren't nearly as good as the ones I made IMO. After that, I had a few shrimp with cocktail sauce and a carrot stick dipped in cold spinach dip. Beverage-wise I mixed it up a bit by going back and forth between diet coke and diet sprite. I'm not much of a dessert lover but at my step-mom's house they are absolutely worth having. I made myself a plate with some chocolate mousse cake, some sort of peanut butter cheesecake, a piece of yule log and a piece of turtle cheesecake. With the exception of the yule log, everything was fantastic. The yule log was flavored with a liquore that I did not care for. I meant to take a few cookies too--she makes a wicked assortment--but I just kinda' ran out of gas. Somehow I get the feeling I'll have another shot at some of those cookies in the next couple of weeks. There were so many other fantastic looking desserts on the table that I didn't have room for...key lime pie, banana cream pie, raspberry cheesecake, bundt cake, flourless chocolate cake, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, etcetera, etcertera, etcetera...she had to have been baking for weeks--and she also made those 3 items for our party too. Wow! So that's just about it for my blog week. I wish I could have been more attentive and more focused but it just wasn't in the cards this week. Hell, I wish I could have eaten more too. The feeling of completing that list of things to do (that has been living in my mind and on various lists for the past month) is simply glorious. If you want to look at holiday shopping as a nifty diversion, just have a huge party before you do your holiday shopping. After that, the shopping will feel like the last day of school, I swear. I have selected someone (via PM) to blog next week. I'll give that person a bit of time to reply before officially calling them out here. If I hear nothing, I also have a couple others in mind. One way or the other, I'll be back very soon to pass the baton. Thanks everyone for the supportive comments, unending help and generous gifts. Oh...and Happy Holidays to you all =R=

I find that that is true of any dish that has a fair amount of pork fat piled into it. It is particularly true of Red Beans, which are always better the next day. Was certainly true of the batch of jambalaya I made this week. =R=