maggiethecat

For my sins, I do a lot of deep frying so cost is an issue. I buy what's on sale -- and inexpensive corn or canola oil perform just fine, thanks. I've used grapeseed and peanut oils but the price to value ratio isn't there for me.

While I was helping Randi prep for her dessert I realized I hadn't handled a clingstone peach for years -- those delightful little buggers were hell to section. I further realized that I hadn't made Salade Nicoise for way too long -- thanks to Randi's inspiration we made it Monday night.

Why, ma'am, shucks ... ... I do think you may mean myself and my trusty assistant, Chris. We were the ones manning the waffle irons churning out those lovely curried waffles. However, we were just part of team "Chicken and Waffles" and there were many other handsome lady and gentlemen on that team. Kudos to them as well! ← So glad you raised your hand so I can give props where they're due. No joke, we're buying a waffle iron, again, because of the brilliant Chicken and Waffles Team.

I’ve been trying to decide where to start, knowing that I’m going to forget lots of wonderful food and wonderful people because there was an embarras de richesse in both departments. I trust that anything or anyone I leave out will be recognized by someone else in this report. I was unable to hit anything but the marquee event at the church yesterday – the worst hair day of life, (think Rafael Nadal after five strenuous sets)but what the hey. The cooking cleaning, provisioning and expediting that went on in that kitchen was nothing short of stupendous – and it was a hot kitchen. I did some prep before the serious action started, and moved out –what a coincidence!—when nyokie set out the hands-down greatest cheese platter of my life; I think I counted fourteen varieties. The corks had begun to pop (thanks for the fine selections, Lady T and Alex) and wondrous bread from the baking class made an appearance. (I regret not making it to that class.) White Lotus and her husband Dance prepared the caffeinated category of the beverage section: Jasmine Iced Tea and a superb horizontal tasting of green teas. If triple-crème cheeses did not provide adequate exuberant fats Gus,(ronnie: please remind us of his restaurant’s name) provided healthy portions of chicken fried-deep-fried bacon and cornbread dipped deep-fried chili . Yes, you heard that right. We sat down and here’s where I’m going to need other folks to step in – there were so many courses, so good and so frequent that I know I’m going to forget wonderful stuff. The conversation at my table made “lively” pale. I remember an unctuous quail egg amuse, Alex’s superb (and time consuming to make) tomato/watermelon soup, Randi’s Salade Nicoise (grilled swordfish, fingerlings, beautiful beans and radishes.) Beets two ways: en salade and en fabulous fritters – LuckyGirl, please claim your applause. LAZ’s Shrimp de Jonge were superbly plump and garlicky, and Karen’s ratatouille a thing of beauty. Ronnie sat outside for hours in full pitmaster mode, grilling his person so that we could throw ourselves on his smoked ribs. I wish I could remember who to thank for the dish that will get me to Target to buy a waffle iron. At some point in the action the kitchen was commandeered by a bunch of smart handsome guys I don’t know (the Ohio delegation?) – as opposed to the smart handsome guys I do know—and after slaving presented us with curried waffles topped with seared chicken, grilled apricots and a choice of two sauces: maple syrup and a celadon green Thai beauty – coconut milk, galangal, (?) and scallions. Gentlemen, raise your hands and take credit. Now, please guys, chime in with what my diminishing brain cells have forgotten and I’ll haul myself, staggering, to the Sweet Spread. Shall we start with the most whipped cream and fresh raspberries I’ve even seen in one place at one time before we move on to Kerry’s Apple Cake ,and Randi’s Peach and Blueberry Crisp? The dealio was: a serving of each, add whipped cream and raspberries then Kerry Beal, MD would squirt butterscotch sauce all over. Find a place on your plate for the chocolate marvels pictured above. Moan and enjoy. Then let your jaw hit your first button as nxtasy unveils his chocolate/booze bomb of a cake. Consider adding whipped cream and raspberries. Muse about how well the digestif cognac Lady T provided and the cherry brandy (who?) smooth everything down. Thanks, Steven, for your sure expediting, Ronnie for a year of his life planning this event, Fresser (and so many others!) for providing willing hands. I’m so fortunate to catch up with old friends and make charming new ones: Heartland Rules!

I'm sitting here, waiting, just waiting for it to strike. Gout does seem to run in families, and both my father and my late mother were sufferers. When Daddy can home with his diagnosis, we ribbed him with all those Country Squire cliches. He was not amused. Mummy was stricken a few years later. I thought: "Oh well, the 'rents are major gourmands." Daddy's sister, my Aunt Char, is abstemious, mostly, and a sensible eater. This is how Iknow I'm doomed: they wheeled her out of Pearson Airport in Toronto, a lovely 78 year old lady crippled by gout. Had she come back from a winetasting tour of the Cote D'or? Nope. She came back from a trip to Asia Minor with her church group, retracing the footsteps of the apostle Paul. Not fair.

Remember: 51 is the new 45. Happy Birthday, Susan -- I'm glad you celebrated at the Cabin. In the woods and Skunk's Misery in the Mauricie in Quebec, I picked bushels of blueberries. I remember a day when I was tennish and my Grandmother and I set off with a bushel basket. Five hours later it was full, and the pies and muffins from that bushel live on in memory as the best in my life. They almost made up for my sunburn and bug bites.

I consider the L to be safer than houses, even for this middle-aged woman. You're surrounded by guards, cameras and fellow L riders. Pfui. Hop on. As in any big citykeep an eye on your handbag. At 2:00 am a male escort is good. But focus on the food, Lake Michigan and the architecture. That's what most Chicagoans are doing.

I'm fond of Japanese pop culture, especially kawaii, the word that embraces everything "cute" -- think Sanrio and it's many products, amigurumi and schoolgirl fashion. It includes stuff like the molds for transforming hard boiled eggs into pandas or choochoo trains for the bentos and Hello Kitty everything. It's the kind of cute so cute that the most hardened lumberjack or cop would stop and say "Awwwwwwwww." What's your nomination for cutest vegetable? At the Byward Market in Ottawa last month I almost smooched the gumball sized local potatoes and the actual baby carrots that could have been the model for a Beatrix Potter illustration. They were as sweet as a baby's smile. But the all time cutest veg, in my opinion is the pattypan squash or cymling. They look like a cross between a tiny spaceship and a cookie cutter flower. Adorable. What vegetable makes you sigh and smile, not because they taste good but because they're cute? OK, teeny baby radishes...

Gosh, what a lavish expenditure of time, money and brain cells. Totally tubular. In response to Dave's question, I nominate db for the job and look forward to reading the field research.

I did too, if there was a good-bye party, a promotion party or a Friday evening whoop-de-doo planned by hungry twenty- something kids. In fact, I think these jollifications are the only time I went to Benny's. I have a few fond memories, but they aren't about the food, the drink or the price. It was strictly "Party on, Dude."

I agree, and I'm cheered by that, because sliders are my guiltiest pleasure. I fear for the Onion Flower dealio at Chile's, tho. The happy daze of going to a mid-priced for Mall restaurant for the baked potato soup and the Happy Hour mozz sticks I predict to be dying or dead.

It's Amish Coleslaw, from Marcia Adams's "Cooking from Quilt Country." The usual suspects are there -- cabbage, onions, carrots, etc. But what blows it out of the park is the subversive thing: use as much sugar as you do mayo. I sent a rack of amazing ribs and a dish of this slaw to my neighbors because, well, I live in the Midwest and that's what we do. They loved the ribs but almost came to blows (no kidding) over the coleslaw. They demanded the recipe I like cabbage salads and I have a big sneaker for Asian slaws. But for me this is the perfect 365 salad: for months in the winter there are few interesting greens around (except Romaine) and in the summer slaw goes with everything.

I think Bennigan's and its ilk -- Applebee's, Chile's, TG Fridays may be in a very bad place in the current dining economy. People with money will always support fine dining and restaurants that start with Momo. The McDonald's, BKs and Taco Bells will be fine, even with an annoying price increase. Less fortunate mall mid-priced places are gonna hurt. I'm hoping White Castle will come out of this recession just fine.

I agree with ronnie and LAZ that Al's and Mario's are a terrific twosome in Little Italy, and when we lived there back in the day is was a regular Saturday lunch tour. (I am, however, with molto e in the superiority of Mr. Beef on Orleans. ) If you walk west on Taylor Street you'll get to Patio Hot Dog (!503 W. Taylor.) They do a terrific beef and the fries are even better than Al's, which is saying a lot.

What a great gift. Yes, you can freeze it. No worries.

You are so right. Great idea. But it's part of my ongoing thinking that most of us can donate about ten bucks a week, be it a check, as you suggest, or chipping out ten bucks a week from your budget for a bag of groceries for a food bank or a donation to the Heifer Project. I can eat well and still chip off ten bucks a week. I'm pretty sure most of us can.

They sell duck fat at Fox & Obel but at the prices they charge I wouldn't want to buy it in any "quantity"! I've purchased it when I was making duck confit and didn't have quite enough reserved frozen duck fat to cover. I'd love to hear of a cheaper source. Kate ← If you can afford a trip to Ottawa, Canada and don't have a problem lying to Customs officials, the Glebe Meat Market on Bank Street sells duck fat at (as I remember -- the prices may have gone up) a laughable price compared to Fox & Obel. But that's there, and we're talking here, dagnabbit!

I'm bumping this because I want to know too. Help, buddies?

Peterson rules. Get all his books, which reminds me: I should sign on to Amazon to fill in the holes in my collection. I love "Les Halles" -- for the fab soup section alone --but it's a self-described down and dirty bistro cookbook. Buy it, by all means, but anything in it you can get from Julia.

Go Kristin! This week I was reminded of the easiest way to help a food charity: contribute to your local Food Bank. You have duplicate canned goods and pasta. Cull them. Go to the supermarket vowing to spend ten bucks a week for folks in your community. If you're a smart eGullet shopper ten bucks can go a long way. Toss in all the hotel toiletries you've collected: shampoo and soap cost money too. There but for the grace of God ...

All of the above, and a big plate of red beans and rice. Side of cornbread.

I'm pretty sure JR liked his barbeque brisket!

Like here. I'm a chuckaholic, and I've never seen it. ← The meat counter at my local supermarket in Illinois has always carried chuckeye steaks, and at 1.99 a pound we figured it was our happy secret. It's simply a fabulous cut. Imagine our chagrin when a few months ago it appeared repackaged as "Poor Man's Delmonico" and priced at 3.99 a pound.

Shawn McClain's Custom House is the place I've brought food friends and family recently, after they've dined the previous night at Trotter's, Alinea, Schwa Gibson's or Moto. While they keep me rapt in their descriptions of last night's dinner , they are doing big time cooing at the food at Custom House. The typical thank you note reads: "We were enthralled with the food at (Restuarant X) but our dinner at Custom House was the best."

Rob, you've given the Society so much, like all that indexing, just for one. Many thanks. We'll miss your energy and I wish you the best.