maggiethecat

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.

De gusitbus! I think fine parfumerie can be an art akin to music, producing something lovely and ineffable. On any given day I'd be "slightly annoying to completely obnoxious." Lots of people mention that I smell good. I received as a Mother's Day gift from my daughter "Perfumes: The Guide" by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, which is one the the five best non-fiction books I've read this year. Like many of you I adored the natural vapors at Alinea, but am bemused at using commercial fragrance in cooking. Maybe Luca Turin has part of the reason here: "Note that the essential oil extracted [from botanicals] does not replicate the composition of the fragrant air above [my itals] the flower. In other words, rose oil does not smell like a rose. A technique called 'headspace' or 'living flower' attempts to remedy this discrepancy by analyzing the air above the flowers and replicating the mix with synthetics, with occasionally impressive results." A steaming pillow at a temple of gastronomy produces the fragrant air, doesn't replicate it. Nonetheless, this topic is intriguing and I'm longing to hear about everyone's experiments. I'll be thinking hard. Now, because it's really hot and too early for a gin and tonic with a twist of lime, I'm going to walk through a cloud of Guerlain's Cologne Imperiale. Yum. "Lime and lime flower notes."

Molasses, spice and bacon fat -- a delectable thrifty Caledonian triple play.As to the derivation? Dunno, just guessing. Archibald and Archie are true wha hae Scots names, ans if you ate too many of these cookies you'd be a Fat Archie? (Not a sociologist,)

Yes, Anita Stewart was her name, and I'd better get the book too. She did compare the Fat Archie to the Whoopie Pie, but mentioned a couple of spicy differences, and said the butter spreading thing was unique to NS -- like the swell name.

Ah hah! I think that molasses cookie might be a Nova Scotia specialty called a Fat Archie. It so happens that I spent a lot of time in the last few weeks driving on the 401, 401, 416, 417 and 40, and spent Q time with CBC1. There's a new regional Canadian regional cookbook out (can't remember the author) and she referred to a NS puffy molasses cookie as a Fat Archie. (She also said they were often spread with butter. Have you ever heard this cookie referred to as a Fat Archie? ←