Chris Hennes

Thanks, Kim. Welcome back, everyone who was waiting (with bated breath!) to see my life unfold on these pages while eGullet was upgrading . I had an awesome lunch at a local Korean place that I will post about when everything is fully back to normal around here. The architecture of the building is nothing to write home about, I'm afraid, but you'll get your external shot anyway .

I like them because they are so distinctive: the iodine character is part of that (though again, Caol Ila is among the lightest of the Islays). I have a Lodge 10" cast iron skillet and no way would I try tossing anything in it, though I guess if you were trying to build muscle tone... Thanks for dropping by with words of encouragement: they are always appreciated! As promised, this morning I went to Saints for my coffee: As you can tell from the photo, it is beautiful here this morning. Not much to look at in its cardboard cup, but mighty fine coffee:

Watching Top Chef and enjoying a little single malt Scotch: Caol Ila (pronounced "cull eela," I think) is from Islay, an island off the coast of Scotland famous for the smokey, peaty character of their whisky. This particular Scotch is a milder Islay, but still quite smokey when compared to a Highland.

Can I get some more points back for the pork back fat next to the grinder?

You really could: it is the most substantial sauerkraut I have ever had. The stuff is amazing. Thanks! And thanks for the segue into the next topic: dinner! Naturally, using a Cook's Illustrated recipe, from January 2007: Sichuan Green Beans. It's a pretty simple recipe, but here's the whole procedure in images: Action shots! And the finished product:

Alas, that library magnet is for a library 1000 miles away from me! Ames is a city in Iowa where I did my undergrad. I have a handful of books checked out from the university library, but they all have titles like "Numerical Methods for the Euler Equations of Fluid Dynamics" --- probably not that exciting .

The interior of my refrigerator (anything you see that would be unimaginable for a food-lover to have in their home is my wife's, I swear ): And freezer: Super Pretzels, Tater Tots, and frozen fish sticks?!? Mon dieu!

I get the bottles at Specialty Bottle---they are really cheap, so I have ordered a ton of stuff from them. I love the way they look, and definitely agree that they are more efficient: it is much easier to keep track of the size of your dash using these.

Yup. I have the highest "hit rate" with their recipes of any of my sources: not 100%, but definitely over 75%. I also really enjoy reading the procedures they follow in their articles. I just recently started a subscription of Fine Cooking but I have only tried a dozen or so recipes, so it's too early to tell how they will fit into my cooking habits.

About half the magnets on our refrigerator date back to our undergrad years in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University: Some of the more interesting entries on our fridge door pertain to my wife's coupon-clipping hobby: And her fondness for the Pilsbury Dough Boy: Plus the list of what we ate for dinner last week: I don't generally come up with an order for the week's meals, so I have to write them all down and then go through the list every night to decide what we want to eat that day. Last week was a little strange as well because it was the first week my wife was back from her job interviews, so I was a bit scatterbrained about dinners: that list is actually several weeks old, and was just updated based on what I had in the fridge. This week's list is a little more involved: I doubt I will get to all the confections listed there, but no harm trying!

OK, as promised, here we go with the cabinets: I'm not quite at eje's "Stomping through the Savoy" level, but my wife and I like to try new drinks pretty frequently. Thus our liquor cabinet: Nothing really exciting in there, but I'm partial to single-malt Scotch, so I've got two different bottles of that right now (Pebble Beach and Caol Ila). The row of dropper bottles are mostly bitters: I've been meaning to join the bitter-making party but I haven't gotten around to it yet, so I've pretty much just got the standard stuff there. I also keep some Pernod in a dropper bottle since a little goes a long way and it's a fun accent ingredient. In the bottom of the liquor cabinet we keep the "house wines": We have some nicer stuff stashed away on top of the bookcase for special occasions, but these are the "everyday" selections, plus my contribution to the "Make your own vanilla extract" thread:

Yes, yes they do. There are only a few things on the menu that I don't care for: I once had a goulash sort of dish that was far too bland, for instance. Yeah, something like that. I would never think of getting dessert there since the portion sizes are so large (and the price is pretty high for a cash-only place). But I hear some people coming in and just ordering dessert, so I bet it's pretty good.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you are following along at home, please note that the eGullet forums will be down for most of the day tomorrow, so there will be no foodblog updates until they are back up. Details in this post. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled foodblog...

I wanted to add a little background on Herwig's from their website: The family is in the restaurant every day, cooking, taking orders, and waiting tables, and they take a lot of pride in the place. They really are friendly (despite occasionally threatening to beat you with a large stick ), so next time you are here, stop by!

Lunch today was at Herwig's Austrian Bistro: Herwig's is staffed by kind, gentle human beings who will cater to your every whim: This is the interior: And the menu (sorry for the fuzzy shot): It is fairly clear that Herwig and I share some food philosophy: When I complained about the price of the cat I was treated to an in-depth diatribe on the difficulties inherent in farming cats... Everyone at Herwig's is a member of the "clean plate club"... or else! On to the food: I ordered the Racherschmaus (spelling?)---a smoked bratwurst, smoked pork loin, their phoenomenal sauerkraut, and a dumpling: I didn't get dessert, but one of my colleagues took one for the team: here it is-- This place is awesome. Everything is homemade, they are all very, very funny people, and food comes out fast, and the menu changes frequently. I have never been to Austria so I can't comment on how authentic it is, but as far as I am concerned, if there were ever a reason to come to State College for the food, Herwig's would be it.

My approach to food and eating is always shifting: in fact, maybe that shifting is an integral part of my approach! But one thing is for sure: I like variety. I enjoy haute cuisine, and I enjoy a tasty burger and fries. Some days I am in the mood for one, some days for the other. Today for lunch I am going to probably my favorite lunch spot in State College, and as you will see, Michelin won't be awarding them any stars anytime soon! As for craving breakfast foods for dinner: first, bacon is not breakfast food, bacon is anytime food! Second, I do eat breakfast on the weekends sometime: I make killer buttermilk pancakes, if I may say so myself . Sometimes I eat omelettes for dinner, though (see one of them over here) As for the cabinets: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men..." I meant to sort of go around the kitchen over the course of the week, but here it is Wednesday already and I haven't even started! I will get on those posts following lunch, I promise!

There are two that come to mind: Webster's and Saints. Webster's is also a small, locally-owned bookstore, so it has that sort of vibe. Saints is strictly a coffee shop. I used to go to Saints all the time: their coffee is quite good. At some point I switched to Starbucks since they are closer to my office, and then when DD went in I switched again. Pure laziness: if Saints were across the street I'd still be going there. Really, it's not like I'm really in that big a rush in the morning, I'm a grad student! I still get in before almost everyone else! I could spare the time... I should start going back there.

I'm currently enjoying a liquid breakfast: As you can see, I don't always have time to make french pressed coffee, and a new Dunkin Donuts opened across the street from my office just a few months ago. I'm sort of indifferent to their coffee, but when I have to walk past them from where I park, they are the best option (Starbucks is a block out of my way... ). This morning I have the no pulp OJ, but I'm not a stickler about that. I had a colleague pick that up for me at the corner store when he went out for breakfast, and pulp free is what he gets.

Now that is right up my alley! Beautiful!

Thanks for the tip! It was definitely painful work in our old garden: both the picking and the weeding. I'm thinking of doing basically the whole garden as a series of raised beds, for that reason. On to last night's dinner... sorry, no photos: Baked oyster and crabmeat, key lime aioli: Three pieces, served on the half shell. Tasted like a crabcake that had an oyster in the middle. The aioli was a bit too sweet, IMO, but I think that about a lot of things, so it may just be me . Salad Niçoise: A bit deconstructed, with a nice seared tuna and crisp haricots verts. I love olives, which was my main reason for ordering this salad. I was not disappointed. Thai style littleneck clams: Noodles, bok choy, sausage, and eggplant, in a lemongrass broth. I didn't get much of a Thai vibe from this dish, but it was delicious nevertheless. For dessert I had an espresso and a glass of port, so I can't comment on their dessert selection. All told, a good meal, though not the best I have had there. The menu changes weekly, I think, so there is always something new to try.

Hah! I use the pasta maker reasonable frequently, as I love fresh pasta. I want one of those contraptions that fits on the KA stand mixer, but for now, this one is great. I'm from Minnesota originally, but my wife is from PA. I'm here for grad school, but in all honesty Philly is just about my favorite city, even before I met the eG gang there. There is a great food culture in this state, even in State College. I can't think of another town this size that has a Wegmans as well as three quite good restaurants. lol, I like TX a lot, esp. Dallas. Dallas is very close to OKC so I hope to get down there pretty frequently. If there is not an eG community there now, there will be soon!! OK, I hope this all sounded reasonable: I just got back from dinner at Zola's. Did I mention that I like this place? Any place where I order a Negroni and instead of saying "Huh?" the waiter says "Do you have a gin preference?" is good in my book! I'll give you the rundown of the dinner tomorrow: I'm not entirely sober now! I like Negronis a lot... Talk to you all tomorrow---keep the questions and suggestions coming.

I don't know how I missed this post---sorry for the belated reply: I have never ordered 1/4 pig all at once, but I have ordered most of the components of that package at one time or another. It is a marginally better value than buying them separately, but since what I usually want is shoulder, belly, and offal, and am not interested in ground pork or bacon, to me it is not worth it. This week the Heritage Foods newsletter announced the re-introduction of grass-fed beef from Hearst Ranch: I think this beef is available through various other purveyors as well: has anyone had it? How does it compare to other grass-fed beef?

Sorry to burst your bubble, Chris, but asparagus crowns take at least one year to get established, and you don't really see a good crop for 2-3 years, but oh, boy, are they worth waiting for! ← No worries, no bubbles burst here! The same is true of the strawberries and blackberries. The greenhouse and smokehouse are probably a few years away as well, but I'm hoping this move is pretty long-term.

Maybe at some places, but they would have to have a supernaturally fast grill man in the back to get me the sticky as fast as they did this morning. Do you recall the texture when you had one? The one this morning could easily have been microwaved, it had no crispness to it at all, like I would expect from grilling. It's fun taking input from everyone here about things they want me to eat this week: keep the suggestions coming! I may complain about it, but I'll try to do it!

Yeah, this is a State College-specific bit of jargon... they are just a caramel roll (a.k.a. a "Sticky bun") formed, it appears, by rolling up the dough into a pinwheel, slicing it into 2 inch segments, putting all those segments into a large rectangular cookie sheet, and baking it, so each bun comes out 2" thick and rectangular. They are then "grilled" in some way that no one actually seems to know. Topped with a scoop of vanilla Creamery ice cream, it is a local "delicacy."