maggiethecat

On a frigid Monday night in the City of the Big Shoulders, six eGulleteers had a meal that will live in memory for a long, long time. The estimable Lady T, who arranged everything, took notes and, I'm sure will post the details of the food. This may be a long, lonnnnng post, because Lou and I, on the drive home, simply couldn't remember all the courses! The room(s) are over-the-top opium-dennish and absolutely striking. Jerry Kleiner, the owner, took us on a tour, and introduced us to Paul Wildermuth the immensely talented, charming (and hunky, say Aurora and !) chef. Maybe the crab course was my favourite? Can't decide. Lady T. will Tell All and jog my memory. But, as all good eGullet writeups end, the very best part was getting to know the Awbrigs better, and meeting Lady T. and Aurora for the first time. Fascinating ladies both. And how often do you get to have dinner with a six time Grammy winner?

Lou and I had the opportunity to taste Suvir's celestial apricot jam last night at Awbrig and Allison's. Awesome. A rich, deep golden brown, speckled with nuts (or seeds?) not sure. And some haunting seasonings that we can't immediately place. C'mon, Suvir the Magician. Help us out!

Suvir: Thank you for your beautiful post about Panditji. I loved the decription of the high-level cuisine he prepared for your family...also the pizza and mac and cheese!. But even more, I was touched and amused about the way he grilled your parents about their comings and goings! How wonderful to have a surrogate grandfather, as well as a great chef, in your household. May he live and cook for many more years. I honor him.

I cannot believe that I didn't remember this sooner, given the thread's title. Probably belongs on one of our "how we ate growing up" threads, but is maybe mooter (word?) here. When I was say, eleven, and my brother Ian was nine, my parents would have a kiddie New Year's Eve Party before they, glamorously dressed, coiffed and scented, would head off for their own diversions. We would be allowed to choose our menu (probably spaghetti and meatballs) and were allowed treats like potato chips and 7 Up. Plus,we could have Games. My brother, (now a caterer) made up the Eating Contest. We would put out two baskets of dry salty things: pretzels, a few chips (hey, we were hoarding them for later!) saltines, salted nuts, etc. Our bemused parents were given two minutes in which to eat as much as they could. No beverages allowed! I will always remember my father's handsome, loving face as he scarffed down as much as he could. He, at least, tried!. My mother, in her tiny Little Black Dress, was happy to nibble a couple of cashews. Daddy always won. Where the heck did my brother's idea come from? At least, my parents had some ballast in their tums before the serious martinis and champers at the Country Club. The Eating Contest was a New Year's Eve tradition for a couple of years.

Absolutely! Great fundraising idea. We could even have a straight-up eGullet matzo ball eating contest, with side bets and everything. And recipe judging. Or our own calendar, like the one those nice English church ladies did for charity. They were all topless, regardless of age and general, er, comeliness. It sold like nuts. "The Women of eGullet." Or "The men of eGullet with chinois." But think...can you imagine how this bunch would argue about how the money got spent?

im jealous... You goofball! On topic: made the cupcakes from the recent "Cook's" The author made a big deal about how cake flour made a too light, "Twinkielike" crumb. Wrong. Should have used cake flour. But hey, I took a half-dozen to my neighbours and they fell on them like ravening beasts!

But of course!

From the Metromix review of Nine. I thought it was mildly amusing (must reconsider my wardrobe.) "Already the restaurant is on the short list of the local trendanistas, who sportingly dress to the, um, nines in what at times seems like some ongoing game of chicken involving hemlines and necklines. On a particularly balmy weekend recently, there was enough skin on display to jump-start my uncle Harry, and he's been dead for 13 years. "

The Maple Leaves Yes, dearest Anna. Non-Toronto fans insist on spelling it correctly! But "The Leaves" just doesn't have the good hockey thump that "The Leafs" does. Go Habs. On topic: When my Ottawa parents go out to eat, they cross the river. But we were in Ottawa at Christmas, and a cook can buy really food raw materials, in my experience. And in summer, when the markets's open, it'salmost as good as having ones own kitchen garden.

Wait till they get a load of us!

Well, I might have reservations about some areas of your possible nuttiness, but you are right about the oil and Duncan Hines. Veg oil, and , maybe, an egg? My brother would come home from Middle School and whip up about six layers. Elyse: Yes I stand proud as a Martha Fan, which makes me somewhat a pariah here at eGullet, somewhere between a Mrs. Paul's fish stick and Chudge. Jealous bastards. Actually, my husband is the Big Fan. And yes, we have about eight years of back issues.

Yes. Nutritious, cheap, and Back in the Day, as close to exotic cuisine as most of us knew. That first egg roll! What a Thing! I'd never eaten anything like it. Who knew cabbage could taste that good?

Quick Google: 1. A scolding, vicious old woman. 2. A worn-out strumpet; a vixenish woman; a hag. ... I don't believe, however that one must be old to be a harridan.

Ghostbar? Whaaaa? Help out a lowly suburbanite!

Hey! I thought that my husband coined that phrase! Oh well, we harridans can be cute and cuddly on occasion. The softer side of harridanhood.

As a card-carrying Canadian, I agree that Canada is chip heaven...tho' Torakris's Japanese assortment sounds damn interesting. BTW...love your new avatar!

Ah, the LCBO's glossy cooking mag. One of the better ways to waste the taxpayers' money. When I visit my parents I always pick up a copy. The recipe sounds interesting. Please let us know.

Mentioned this thread to His Handsomeness, and he pointed out that this subject has been around for awhile. Went to the curling pile of clippings fron the Wednesday Times and pulled out one dated March 17, 1999. Something like "what happened to the layer cake?" And I think Martha had a feature in her mag on this subject within the last year. Remember the cake case at a restaurant? Towering three layer jobbies under their own domes? Lots of caramel and Baker's coconut (which I love.) Seven-minute frosting and chocolate buttercream. Making a light, moist layer cake isn't easy. A boiled frosting requires more cooking skill than opening a tub of premade frosting from the baking aisle. (Yuck. Gag. Horrible.) Making a cake means knowing how to bake, really bake. Even if not at a Pastry Chef level. But there are only two of us. Making a layer cake on a regular basis implies that we will buying a complete new wardrobe in a larger size in the near future. So I don't. Hmm. On the other hand, our neighbours have skinny kids.

Get Rose Levy Berenbaum's "The Cake Bible" and start baking through it. We are. I agree..the Awesome Layer Cake with filling and frosting has disappeared, engulfed by the truffle torte and the sorbet. And get some Queen Guenevere Cake Flour from King Arthurs. It makes a difference. Butter has been on sale here for 99 cents a pound. I have seven pounds in the freezer. Cakes are about to happen!

Snowangel: What an absolutely great idea. Lemon thyme...mmmm. And it really, truly withstood the evil Creeping Charlie? BTW, does anyone know the botanical name for Creeping Charlie? My neighbour has given up. She grows it as an ornamental! I love her style, but unfortunately, Charlie creeps under the fence!

Tuteur, from the French meaning...hmm... Tutor! Basically a (usually) pyramidial structure placed in the garden on which to "train"...hence "tuteur" ...climbimg plants. Go to any garden center or fancy-dancy garden catalogue and they are loaded with expensine wooden, or even copper numbers. And most of those lovely medieval garden paintings (French) usually feature a tuteur or two. I just grab three long bamboo stakes, set the ends in a vaguely triangular pattern in the ground, and lash the top ends together, about five inches down, with garden twine. I think my version is sometimes called a "Teepee", but, Tuteur has that certain ring!

Thanks for reminding me, Laura. I too always intend to, and forget. Actually, gradually, my whole garden is starting to resemble the veritable "cottage garden." I love flowers too much , and my property is too small, to dedicate a lot of room to a veg garden. Tomatoes have their sunny spot. Otherwise, it's live and let live, plant-wise. Heck, make a cheap bamboo tuteur, plant beans, train them upwards...they look darn pretty in with the perennials. And as I've mentioned before, basil and catnip make pretty underplatings for roses.

If I'm ever lucky enough to come across some I will. The flowers are so pretty. Hey, Nick: I have found a source for you for Papaver Somniferum. Select Seed's Antique Flowers catalouge. Just go to selectseeds.com. Unless you live in West Virginia or Canada. They won't ship there.

From the Select Seeds Antique Flowers Catalogue (www.selectseeds.com): Borage: Borago Officinalis: "A fovorite flower of the ancients, borage was believed to have powers to gladden the heart. Sky blue star-shaped flowes nod in clusters of open flowersand unopened buds at the top of stout stems. The rough leaves are covered with stiff white hairs. Remove the rough sepals before floating in drinks, adding to salads or candying in egg-white and sugar." I't pretty and self-sows. Also available in white. I'm going to contact a supermod to move this to the Gardening, everything about it: thread, if that's all right.

Just dragging this back into the Collective Consciousness. All in, right?