Dorine

Such sweeties, Sandy and Chris! I'm not enough over my husband's death to even contemplate singles bars, but I'll keep your lovely offer in mind! Maybe you can point me to a nice gay bar where I can have a cocktail in peace. Sigh, good thing I know better than to be hurt that you don't find me attractive! ;-) Oh, yes, I could definitely do a repeat of Sunday, and think more of you should join us. We had some *very* good pizzas! Those folks at La Scala definitely know what they are doing! I think I could do with another group excursion to Taconelli's and Marra's. Gotta try that 90-mile pie! And that seafood pizzaat NYPD was exquisite. As you said, my shre of the leftovers suffered a bit from being walked home in the rain in the box, but the abundanat garlic was still there. Yum! I suppose we lost some people as a result of the holiday. If the rest of the members of this group are as lovely as the aforementioned handsome men and the Ducks, it is a group well worth spending a pleasant afternoon with! Good people, good pizza, what more could you ask?

You've got me wanting to find the crayeuse here!

ave yu ever tried a Spanish classic, manchego with membrillo (thick, stiff quince jelly)?

Please tell me more about the cheese box in the pantry. I'd like to get somethig like that together. Thanks! ←

I walk very slowly but probably can handle it.

What good--great--news! I remember the sign from long ago, my newlywed days shopping at the RTM. Just as I remember the injunction to drink buttermilk to ensur a long life actually being over a place where I could sit on a bar stool and order a glass of buttermilk to drink. Or a glass of goat's milk. Who else does?

You know, I'm not a coffee drinker, but my sister is, and she's quite a coffee snob, but she said that pumpkin pie flavored coffee really is quite delicious and my non coffee snob boyfriend agrees. When she comes to visit she'll usually bring him a bag of pumpkin pie coffee beans. ← I find adding *any* artificial flavors to coffee repugnant! Why ruin someething so good with artificial chemical flavors? I won't add artificial whiteners to it, either.

Please tell me more about the cheese box in the pantry. I'd like to get somethig like that together. Thanks!

there are at least two winners on each side of Broad, although one of them--Patou in Old City--is a fairly chi-chi restaurant whose pizza is an appetizer. Still, we can produce two itineraries: East of Broad: La Cipolla (Old City), NYPD Pizza (Wash West), and the in-town restaurant run by the owners of Apollo Pizza in Media (7th and Chestnut; this used to be called Apollo like the place in Media, but I think it's been renamed since to "<mumble> at Apollo"). There are also two white-tablecloth restaurants in this bunch: the aforementioned Patou and Upstares at Varalli (Broad and Locust). West of Broad: Mama Palma's (Fitler Square), Pietro's (Rittenhouse Row), Towne Pizza (near Rittenhouse Square, one of the earliest winners), Montesini's (Liberty Place food court), Pete's Famous Pizza (Logan Circle). The white-tablecloth places are really outside the spirit of this odyssey, though if enough people really want to try one, we could arrange for a group visit. There are clearly more winners west of Broad than east of it; however, the place that's currently serving the best pizza in Center City, IMO, is east of it--NYPD Pizza. We could add one South Philly winner we haven't hit yet--Lorenzo's at 9th and Christian in the Italian Market, a by-the-slice honoree--to the East of Broad stops, or perhaps a very good but as yet unhonored place like Paolo's (Pine just east of Broad). My own personal preference would be to visit the original Apollo in Media over the Center City outpost as part of a Delaware County tour segment, but there's no reason we can't do both. So the first thing I'd like to sound people out on is which of the Center City places they'd most like to visit, and the second is what days in the rest of September or early October work--or definitely do not work--for them. As I've not yet tried Mama Palma's, I'd lean towards doing the west-of-Broad places first, but right now, the floor is open for suggestions from all interested parties. ←

Oh! What a wonderful time you had! I only managed to come in second in Scrabble :-( the pizza might have been better! Hope I can join you next time, and that it's soon!

Ah, butif you use that cup of olive oil you get the Spanish texture to the egg! The crisp edges and runny yolk... Joy on a plate!

Weekends usually work for me.

Where did you get cachaca? I'd *love* to be able to make a caipirinha! I've never seen in in the PA sate stores!

I first met these lovely cactus pears in souhern Spain, where they grow wild on the mountainsides. Street vendors sell them to eat outof hand. Whwen you ask for one, they strip off the long thorns then cut it open for you to take with a paper napkin and eat out of hand, seeds and all. Aren't they wonderful! And using in sorber or margaritas, ahhh, delicious!

Thanks!

FWIW, I have a standing commitment first and third Thursdays, but I can always make 2nd, 4th and 5th Thursdays. Sat. doesn't work. My first choice is Tues., but Sun. is okay. ←

Sat. doesn't work. My first choice is Tues., but Sun. is okay.

I'm interesetd in the local fare, not the international restaurants. Do you know any good local restaurants? Thanks.

You're talking nectar of the gods here! I don't think you have to be born on the East Coast to love this!!!

Yesterday I got some absolutely wonderful peaches at Iovine's at 2 lbs. for 99 cents! Fantastic!

Agreed. Don't know where ya had to be born to like them, but wherever that is, I know I definitely wasn't born there. The texture is horrible. ← Brazil, I guess; they're part of feijoada.

Repulsive over-salted stuff, isn't it?

Sounds good to me.

Some root beers I grew up with were very different from what you get now from nationally dominant commodity soft-drink producers. The stuff was a big deal 100 years ago, the de-facto national soft drink. Different people used different herbal recipes. A popular formula book from the 1920s gives a few of them, typically founded on sassafras bark or its oil, licorice or anise, and wintergreen oil. (The most complex includes five other flavoring roots and two other barks.) Circa 1970 I remember we would get a decent extract that was sold in the supermarket. You'd then add water, sugar, and yeast, and ferment it. This gave a very gentle soft carbonation along the lines of a classic ale, and a slight viscosity like an ale; an insignificant trace of alcohol (as in fresh bread or ripe fruit juice -- bubbles being the object of the ferment), and a subtle, slightly tart flavor, very satisfying. Today I occasionally try root beer and all I taste is gross carbonation, lots of sugar, and wintergreen oil (methyl salicylate), presumably synthetic. That's a flavoring and classic herbal liniment long used also in skin medications and "medicated" cough drops. (Edited to add: It was commonly called Sarsaparilla in its heyday, rather than root beer. The long recipe I cited is from the Ayer company and was used in its advertising, according to the formula book.) ← Yes! I used to enjoy sarsparilla at my grandparents' in NYC. Is it possible to make old-fashioned root beer at home? Does anybody have a recipe?