mssurgeon81

Thank you huiray! I just moved to Indy and am still learning my way around...will be following with interest and hope to have some reports to contribute soon

I usually eat the skins of my roasted sweet potatoes (which is how i usually make my sweet potatoes)

Bumping for any north Florida lurkers.... So the Gainesville food situation is not as dire as I'd feared. Thee are plenty of good little independent restaurants which aren't doing anything earth-shattering, but are putting out good food. North Florida has an abundance of good fresh local food, and while there aren't a lot of avant garde preps I've been pleasantly surprised at the tasty meals The local chefs are producing, Embers, The Top, and Civilization are a few of the places I've had a good meal at lately. The Queens Arms pub in haile has also been a great find. Anyone else have some Gainesville favorites or hidden gems?

I just made a sensational caponata-style eggplant dish using eggplant that I sliced and grilled over low heat until it was smoky and soft. Then I chopped it roughly, along with a generous scoop of SobaAddict's slow roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, capers, pine nuts, and lots of fresh basil. Served it over pasta with a crisp unoaked French Chardonnay....even my eggplant-hating guest loved it!

Any updates on the Gainesville food scene? I'm moving there in a year from Philadelphia, and I'm starting to panic at the amount of culture shock that would appear to be forthcoming...

I've got to stop reading the Drinks! thread right before bed when I have to work tomorrow....I'd already poured myself a Manhattan nightcap, was idly surfing Egullet, and thought to myself, "hmm...I have everything to make this drink...." It's delicious. Tart, with a nice complex floral background from the St Germain. I may have another....or try it with my Flor de Cana 12-year and blanco tequila. Damn you, Chris Amirault!

Thai Curried Butternut Squash Soup, from the November issue of Food and Wine. The only change I made was to roast the butternut squash (rather than boiling it as the recipe suggests.). Garnished with a dollop of greek yogurt. Served with an Americano Imperial (an Americano, with champagne instead of club soda) to balance the rich sweetness of the soup. This was rich, spicy, and REALLY REALLY good. I ate an embarrassing amount.

Haha Katie....it was an import from across the Pennsylvania-Delaware border! Definitely not a locally-available product....

I was home working tonight...and feeling sorry for myself...and then I saw this topic and realized that an old-fashioned was the perfect nightcap for my current mood. 2oz Rittenhouse 100 rye barspoon rich demerara simple (I was out of sugar cubes) Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters Orange twist This is such a deceptively simple but awesome drink... (and Katie, I'm totally coming by Oyster House for your version next week!)

Nice to see my Philly boys represented with Franklin Mortgage...

When I moved to an apartment that was bigger than a shoebox I hit up IKEA for some liquor storage. I found this glass-fronted cabinet that works perfectly. The two things I love about it are 1) the depth of the cabinet, which allows 4-5 bottles deep and 2) the adjustable shelves, which let me size it perfectly for my bottle of Luxardo. (Plus it was fairly cheap)

Totally craving those Dan Dan noodles, and seeing the pictures only made it worse!! I may have to stroll down to Front and Chestnut and get Han to whip me up some takeout...

I'm waiting for Jeff to post pics from dinner, since there is no way I will be able to remember all the dishes we ate (even Han was impressed by the amount of food we put away). I will say that pretty much every dish was a star - clean, brilliant flavors with blazing spices. I do remember the wontons in chili oil, the spicy green beans, the ma po tofu, and the noodles as being standouts, and I can't wait to go back and have them again! It was a thoroughly magical evening with amazing food and wonderful company. So nice to meet all the eGullet folks....and props to Jeff for drinking a shot of chili oil at the end of dinner! Can't wait for the pics....

Yeah, my mom cherishes this fantasy that I have an occasional glass of wine, never drink beer, and have never had anything stronger than an amaretto sour. I forego the gin martinis, rye manhattans, and tequilas when she's in town Can't wait for dinner tonight!

Thanks Katie! Sadly I'm all too familiar with the 12th and Chestnut store; when my mom came for a visit I think she was a little alarmed that our cashier knew my name! I'm going to see what I can find in the way of Gewurtz and Riesling, and if I can find a less-dry sparkling rose I think that will be yummy. I just finished rereading through the thread on the previous excursion to Han Dynasty (the suburb edition) and now I'm starving. Can't wait for Thursday!