Taboni

"Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte"

Yes, congrats, Taboni! "Tab and Wonder Bread sandwiches with lettuce and chips. 'Who should we nuke first?'" --from War Games with Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. The kids are drinking Tab and scarfing chips, laughing their way thru the "Global Thermonuclear War" game, while NORAD goes bonkers. ← I think it was the Tab that did it Amazing what fragments of useless knowledge are stuck in the crannies of one's memory.

* Tab and Wonder Bread sandwiches with lettuce and chips. "Who should we nuke first?" * Wargames?

For us it was either fish (normally fried flounder) or Ukie food (pyrohy or holubtsi with kasha) As an added bonus on the first day of Lent and Good Friday no dairy was permitted either. This pretty much left me with tuna (no mayo) and rye bread. Now that I am grown up I don't do the no dairy thing but I still make fried flounder on Friday's during Lent.

I have the grill you are talking about (Weber Performer) and I love it. Charcoal is the only way to go and with the propane starter you are ready to go in the same amount of time as preheating a gas grill. The only downside is it is you aren't going to get the vast expanse of rectangular cooking surface you can get with a gas grill.

I see nothing wrong with the service. In years past (and present) I could always score a prime time table at Peter Luger on the night by calling someone who knew someone there and slipping that someone an extra 20 or 30 when I showed up. OK its not Per Se (or the like) but you get the idea. Its the same thing with PTT. I'm just jealous I didn't think of it myself One thing I have garnered from this thread is the lack of restaurants requiring a credit card at the time of reservation. Quite a few restaurants I frequent in NJ have had this requirement for years. Is this not the case in NY these days with the majority? I just assumed it was.

I have been searching for good Monmouth Indian restaurants since moving here 6 years ago. I haven't tried the one you mention (a little far for a take out) but I will now. I usually wind up at Neelam in Middletown on Rte 35.

I recall this company being mentioned in F&W last year as having some interesting alternatives

While not a '66, I had a bottle of '64 Chateau Beychevelle a couple of years ago for my anniversary that was sadly a mere shadow of its former self.

I don't have any super high end Japanese, etc knives, just Wusthof, but I got the new Chef's Choice 130 as seen here and I love it. I have neither the skill or patience required drag out series of whetstones, etc and this does a great job if you read and follow the instructions carefully. It is not as mindless as you think and I will deal with the greater amount of steel it takes off the knife. I figure by the time the knife gets to the point where there is too much steel taken off, I'll buy a new one.

Juanito's grocery and Juanito's bakery in Red Bank.

Wasn't that chicken liver and bacon wrapped water chestnuts, aka Rumaki? Pretty good recipe to be found HERE. ← Not if you hate, hate, hate chicken liver (or any other type of liver for that matter). ← Rumaki can be made with scallops in place of the liver if you please. ← Going to do bacon wrapped scallops since I am not even a teeny tiny fan of chicken liver. ← You still need the water chestnut in the center for textural contrast. It doesn't taste like much but it's crunchy! Halve the scallop, place a water chestnut in the middle, wrap with bacon and skewer with a toothpick. Marinate in the soy and brown sugar mixture from the recipe and broil. Delicious and perfectly 50's retro. ← Thanks Katie. I was wondering how to get the water chestnut in there..doh!

Wasn't that chicken liver and bacon wrapped water chestnuts, aka Rumaki? Pretty good recipe to be found HERE. ← Not if you hate, hate, hate chicken liver (or any other type of liver for that matter). ← Rumaki can be made with scallops in place of the liver if you please. ← Going to do bacon wrapped scallops since I am not even a teeny tiny fan of chicken liver.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I think for cocktails I am going to stick with 2 or 3 for ease of service. Probably Mai Tais, Manhattans and one other yet to be decided on. I might substitute the Mai Tais with the classic Trader Vics Samoan Fogcutter since I have some pretty cool Tiki glasses to serve them in.

Well the mini hot dogs are a given. They are my SIL's favorite snack and I plan on having quite a few.

Yup I have Rachel's Jello mold at the top of the list!

Perfect. Thanks.

My SIL is turning 50 next month and my wife and I are planning a 50's era cocktail party to celebrate. I know this is the era of "regrettable food" but certainly there must be some iconic foods of the time that won't make my guests gag. I was originally thinking Tiki themed but I think the wife wants to be a little more sophisticated (of course Tiki IS my idea of sophisticated) Any menu suggestions?

Sadly, many school districts now prohibit cupcake or other homemade treat distribution lest a peanut adverse, diabetic, gluten or lactose intolerant student feel "left out". No, no. All properly PC. SB ← My daughter's preschool has a "no cupcakes please" policy not due to preserving the tender young psyches of physically challenged students, but merely because they are too messy to clean up after and the kids normally either take only one bite or lick the icing off and drop the cake all over the place.

Thanks for the advice and well wishes. I will stick it in the fridge this morning and since I am doing the slow method with heat blast at the end, it should turn out ok even if it doesn't totally defrost. Cheers.

Due to family emergency health issues on Christmas Day, I had to freeze a 4 bone 9 lb USDA Prime standing rib. I never freeze meat....ever. I live 3 blocks from my butcher and if I want to cook something I buy it the day I want to make it. I am planning on cooking the roast this weekend as everyone (Mom and Dad) are now both out of the hospital. Any advice on how to best defrost this hunk of beef? How far in advance should I take it out of the freezer? Do I have to defrost in the refrigerator? I take a common sense approach to food safety and am not married to the fact that it has to be defrosted in the fridge, but if I have enough advance time, then why not. It killed me to freeze this roast but I really didn't have any choice.

I'm a big fan of New Braunfel's Smokehouse

Please people its "a quick dip in leftover" jus not leftover au jus...chalkboard meet nails. As far as standing rib goes, I have normally done the sear first and low to finish, but I tried the Paula Deen method a few months ago and I must while it doesn't appeal to most purists it actually works very well. 375 for an hour. Turn oven off and leave it closed for 3 hours. Do not open the oven door for any reason whatsoever. A quick reheat about 30 mins before serving at 375 and then a 15-20 minute rest. I did this on a 4 ribber and it came out final temp of 130. Very pleased with the roast and something that requires very little ability to get very acceptable results.

La Petite France has changed ownership in the last couple of months. I think the new name of the restaurant is Bienvenue but I haven't heard anything about it yet.