H. du Bois

Sadly, it's so. But she does make reference to it and tells you to go look it up. Thus is explained how she managed to fit the contents of two hardcover volumes of cookery into a third volume the very same size. My summer truffles were purchased in Rome and are packed in a small glass jar with a little water and sea salt. I have no idea yet what they'll taste like, but I like all the ideas of simply experimenting with them. I love wild mushrooms with Madeira, too - love to reconstitute the dried ones with that, and then mix the strained liquor into cream. PS: That Brillat-Savarin quote is priceless!

MaxH, thank you for your help. I recently replaced my old Classic Italian Cook Book with Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Hazan refers to this recipe as coming from More Classic Italian Cooking, but leaves out both the name and the intro you quote, which would have been helpful. In Essentials, it's called simply "Black Truffle Sauce." Seeing as these summer truffles are black, I just assumed they'd fit the bill (at the beginning of Essentials, she refers to Italy as having black truffles, but it's the white truffles she then praises). So, here's my deal - I've never cooked with truffles before, so I don't have any of the experience you do. I can't therefore tell what the dishes are supposed to taste like with the real deal in order to compare or measure these against. Are these worth using at all? Should I not bother with any recipe that calls for a truffle, given that these aren't what they refer to?

Thanks for the suggestions! I dug around in my books and found a recipe by Marcella Hazan for a black truffle sauce for pasta, using exactly the kind of truffles I've got. It's done with grated truffles, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and an anchovy, and is tossed with thin spaghetti or spaghettini. I think I'll use this for my first foray. At least I'll have a sense then of how intense or mild they are and where I can go with them.

I'm with you - someone just brought me a jar of summer truffles from Italy (tuber aestivum vitt), in which there is also water and salt. I was told to rest a truffle in dry grains of rice overnight before I used them. But I haven't really used them before. I'll gladly take suggestions for use (I've had them before in beef Wellington and tournedos Rossini, but those are wintry dishes).

When I was up visiting recently, I had some dim sum at a place on Winton near Jefferson. Cantonese Garden? Don't remember the name. The food was surprisingly good.

Just to clarify, I don't think that third drink the bartender made me was off-menu per se (it did have a name, I just don't remember what it was). It was delicious, though. Interesting to see what he came up with, particularly as my first choice was sentimental and my second was idiosyncratic.

You have never gone to pdt with H. du Bois. Hey! Not my fault they're so damned good.

Tom Wahl's! (I don't remember their burgers, I only remember the root beer - as did this guy who was asking me, because it was a memorable experience for him.) You've both hit the bulls-eye. Thanks, Gordon and Philadining. Somehow it's comforting to know that Tom Wahl's still serves root beer in frosted mugs, and that Don & Bob's (oops, Don's Original) still uses the little wooden forks in the fries.

Don & Bob's is known as Don's Original currently. Don & Bob's - that's it! Guess Bob bit the dust. Are the burgers still good?

I have some very knuckleheaded questions to ask. I grew up in Rochester, and I ran into someone today who has spent a lot of time there. He was asking me what my favorite burger place was, and I couldn't remember the name of it, even though I can see it in my mind's eye. (It's been a very long time since I lived there). Can anyone help with these names? - The burger place I loved. If you go toward Irondequoit Bay, past Sea Breeze, you end up on a road that fronts the lake. Marge's, my favorite summer bar, was on the lake side. There were a couple of burger places on the other side of the road. The one I loved wasn't Vic and Irv's, it was the other one. - The place that sells great root beer that you stop at when you're heading south toward Letchworth Park. If I remember correctly, you pass through Avon and see the White Horse on your right before you come to this place. Thanks!

Unfortunately yes -- the Staggerac is coming off the menu along with almost everything else. One or two drinks will be sticking around for an encore though.which are staying. The problem with the staggerac is the supply of Stagg. it was a limited edition and we pretty much exhausted the supply of it. ← Noooooooooooooo! I'm not shaking, I'm crying.

You aren't retiring the Staggerac, are you? That one is stellar (I still think about it).

I just looked it up - I had the Staggerac, the Benton's Old Fashioned and the Silver Sangaree. I'd be really hard pressed to choose which one I liked best.

Excuse me, but I do believe that you got me in. (Because they don't turn you away lightly, although you can't say that without sounding like an asshole). I'm awfully glad we did get in. I loved those drinks, and it was fascinating watching Johnder and Donbert making them. I can't remember the name of the last drink I got, though. Something that began with an S, but not the Staggerac. So good.

I have no practical advice to offer - I just want to say congratulations. That's the best reason to celebrate ever. Hope you and your wife have an unforgettable evening.