Marlene

Two years ago at the Pig Pickin we bought a keg the night before it was being used. Not that I drink beer, but I understand it was fine the next day. Of course if you get it today, be sure you've got a way to keep it cold until tomorrow.

We're ready to go tomorrow night. the rentals will arrive sometime this afternoon. The caterers are providing a chef, bartender and server. This is the final menu. Cold Hor D'Oeuvres Parmesan Rosemary Crackers with Herbed Cream Cheese Mini Corn Muffins Stuffed with Turkey and Cranberry Honey Mustard Chicken Pieces Hot Hor D'Oeuvres Beef satays with horseradish sauce Bacon and Cheddar Mini Quiche Mini Potato Pancakes Salads Tossed Garden Salad Three lettuces mixed with slivered red cabbage, cucumber, carrot & seasonal garnish, accompanied by our ranch dressing or honey Dijon Entrees Roast Prime Rib of Beef - Gorgeous prime rib cooked to medium and served with spicyhorseradish and pan gravy. Roast Ontario Turkey - Whole turkeys roasted on our premises, freshly carved and served to you with pan gravy, sage dressing and cranberry sauce. Side Dishes Romanoff Potatoes - a magnificent casserole of creamy potatoes, cheeses, scallions and sourcream Glazed Carrots Rice Pilaf - seasoned long grain rice mixed with diced vegetables and cooked in our chickenbroth Deluxe Bread Assortment arranged in a basket with creamy butter on the side. Desserts Seasonal Finger Desserts Gourmet Cheesetray - A Cheese platter with a touch of sophistication. The wedges of Canadian and imported cheeses are elegantly presented with grape and seasonal fruit garnish and accompanied by toasts. Fresh Brewed 100% Columbian Coffee - Orange Pekoe Tea -

There is of course, the Red Hat Society. while they certainly do more than eat, these ladies have Lunching down pat. They can often be seen at the King Edward Hotel here in Toronto, for example. Particularly for high tea.

I think a new thread on Sri Lankan food and restaurants would be awesome.

Mashed potatoes by themselves don't seem to freeze or hold over well. I find though that if I use them as twice baked potatoes or madelaines, they work very well frozen ahead or chilled ahead.

I have to agree Monica. I had a meal at Daniel last year and it was among the best I've had. I haven't had a chance to visit ADNY, but that's on my list the next time I get to NY for comparision purposes. I couldn't have been treated better at Daniel and I had a great table and the food was just amazing. They even accomodated the pace for my need to take the occassional smoke break outside.

You don't need a crockpot, just a heavy pot or dutch oven and you can surely make it in under three hours. Is chili wonderful simmered all day? Sure. But you can have an equally wonderful chili that has only simmered for a few hours.

The westbend would probably be fine for water, but I honestly wouldn't buy it for coffee service. Not if you want good coffee! Also, it depends on how attractive you want your coffee/tea service to look. The Westbend isn't all that attractive, but it is serviceable for water.

And sometimes you get what you pay for. Both the Farberware and the Delonghi automatically switch to keep warm. The Westbend didn't have that feature, so like regular coffee makers, the coffee continued to "cook" in the Urn. Aluminum is just not as good as stainless steel for insulation. The added benefit of the Delonghi is that it has an adjustable "keep warm" thermostat so you can set what temp you want your coffee to hold at. In addition, it has a series of green lights that light up to tell you how many hours your coffee has been keeping warm.

I have two of these Delonghi and a faberware. (No, it's not necessary to ask why I have so many). Both brands perform well, although I find the Delonghi just a bit faster. I had a Westbend, and chucked it. It sucked.

Fruit compotes. Strawberry, blueberry etc. Hash browns. Yeah they're sort of breakfasty too, although I like hash browns any time of the day.

If you get them english cut, not flanken, then yes they do tend to fall apart while cooking. I didn't tie them the first time I braised english style short ribs and I had problems.

Um, thanks, but the baked bean recipe is not mine! I merely made it! The short rib recipe is from Bon Appetit but it's heavily adapted since I thought their quantities were way out of wack and I added a couple of things to it.

There are 4 people that were authorized to moderate that thread and Steven was not one of them. In one case and one case only, he did so, and that was only because none of the rest of us were around and he was monitoring that thread at my request while I picked up my son. Absolutely not. Steven does not make any of the editorial decisions for the Daily Gullet. The Daily Gullet operates independently with it's own editorial board, and those people with Dave Scantland leading them, make the decisions on what to run or not. If you were to ask for consideration, that request would go to the editorial board, not Steven. the request would be considered on it's own merits, not because of who you know or don't know. The Daily Gullet is interested in talent. .

The popovers had blue cheese and thyme in them, no bacon. Next time, I'll definately use bacon, and probably a very sharp cheddar cheese. (And there were more than you see on the plate there) The apple charlottes are wonderful. They are reasonably labour intensive, but because they can be fully made ahead of time and re warmed for service it wasn't so bad. And maggie, the sauce was absolutely divine. Your advice and instruction was bang on. The only thing I added was add some port to the wine reduction. Everyone raved about it, and two of the wives said it was better than having gravy!

I'm a cook. While friends and guest may jokingly make a toast to the "chef" at the dinner table, I wouldn't dream of calling myself one. As Katie says, I don't think I've got the chops to put out 300 dinners a night, I don't have the culinary vision to match flavours and I can't plate worth a damn. Not that any of those things make a chef by themselves, but it seems that all chefs devote a significant amount of time and skill to advance all three. I love to cook, and I think I'm reasonably good at it. I'm a home cook and proud of it. I just want to feed my family and friends.

And I make my own gooey decadent butter tarts.

We did chili this past week, and I'm sorry, but it was the boring ground beef kind. I almost had a revolt when I suggested trying the diced chuck. The thing I like about chili is that I can pretty much throw whatever I've got on hand in the pot and just let it simmer away for most of the day. I don't put a lot of different spices in my chili, and yes, I use canned tomatoes, kidney beans and sauce. I also used the ground ancho that Anna brought me back. And I usually saute some onions and garlic and throw that in: I always use some red wine in my chili and some chipotle tabasco. No, the peanut butter did not go in the chili. I just forgot to move it out of the way. Finished chili, topped with shredded cheese and sour cream: I also made some skillet cornbread to go with it:

It was a lovely dinner. We started with nibbles: Grilled beef rolls with soy scallion dipping sauce: Cheddar cheese tartlets and blue cheese popovers: The beef rolls and the tartlets were outstanding. While my guests loved the popovers, Don and I really felt they were "lacking" something. I'd like to experiment with a few different things in the batter nex time. Dinner was: Twice Baked Potatoes with a cheese and bacon filling: Yes, yes. Yet another prime rib picture from my kitchen: Roasted Aparagus with Balsamic vinegar and shaved parmesan: And thanks to some last minute coaching from maggie the cat, I made a red wine-port reduction sauce to go with the beef: Dessert was the most excellent Apple Charlottes. I found these ramekins to make them in: I skipped the cheese course at the end, because, well, we just didn't need it! We did have special coffees: With these ingredients: Next week, the big Seasonal party! I don't think I really need to eat between now and then.

I ordered a bunch of herbs on line from Richters this year and they were outstanding. And I didn't even have to drive out to get them!

I just used this for the first time yesterday to make Apple Charlottes. Now I have this big bottle that I'll have to find more uses for!

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Now who would have thought to look in the condiments section? I'll take a look at the Superstore when I go there next week. Thanks for the tip!

thanks. It's a little late and I'm cross eyed from cooking all day!

Yeah, but Geoff, I live in Oakville, not TO. We aren't that enlightened here. Speaking of enlightened, what's SLM?