NeroW

I won't be aging anything. That would involve not drinking the bottle immediately, right? Auxerrois--this may be a stupid question, but is there more than one Fox & Obel? The one I am familiar with is downtown, on Illinois.

Yesterday I woke up craving chili. So, discarding all notions of "seasonality," I made chili. It was sweaty work, but worth it. With about 5 lbs of ground beef, a grip of onions and peppers, etc. You know the drill. My friend Chris came over and we ate the chili with homemade rosemary/roasted garlic/kalamata olive foccacia, sour cream quenneles (couldn't help it ) and lime wedges, while we put away a twelver of Pilsner-Urquell and watched the Bears shame the city. Then, after he left, I had another bowl . . . without the quenneles.

Holy shit!

I think I've had this in year's gone by. Came in a bright green 1.5 liter bottle, yes? White's kinda like turpentine? It was cheap. Yes. Like turpentine.

When I'm desperate, I call my ex-boyfriend.

NeroW, there's a mushroom-included Brie-type cheese called just Champignon, from the German cheese folks who make the soft blue Cambazola, could that be it? I remember it had "champignon" in there somewhere.

I'm staying with my friend, The Hobbit, whom I will also be bringing.

No flipping. Tongs.

I don't know much about kashrut, but I asked around at school and like Malawry said, eggs are OK. I've made frangipane with both butter and vegetable shortening for class. I agree with Suzanne that the almond paste more than makes up for any loss of butter flavor. bloviatrix and jersey13, I will PM the pear-frangipane tart recipe.

The Pommes Anna almost make up for it. It's a tremendous dish and should be made more often than it is. Did you put the mushrooms in the brie? Or were they... already there? For how long? I agree on the Anna. The mushrooms were already in the Brie. It was good. I wish I could remember the name. Monday late afternoon was a Gruyere souffle (hmm mikeycook, must be catching) with from-a-can-but-gussied-up tomato sauce. Monday late night was homemade pita and hoummous, tabbouleh (never made it before, it came out OK), shish tawook, and from-a-box falafel.

You're getting married? EDIT to say: whoops, I mean

Nicoise olives. Is that how you spell it? Triple-cream Brie with some sorta mushrooms in it. Pilsner-Urquell. Beef Tenderloin with Bordelaise sauce Pommes Anna Green and yellow beans Cabernet Franc (thanks, Tommy) Molten chocolate cakes (by request, Jinmyo, , I would have been perfectly content with the olives, cheese, and steaks. I use frozen ganache in the cake centers). Some kinda port that was sitting around It was a special occasion. I don't spend an entire afternoon coaxing demi-glace from espagnole (pilfered from my Sauces final at school ) into Bordelaise for just any old dinner. However, I won't serve tenderloin with Bordelaise sauce again. But there wasn't anything gamy at the grocery store.

If you're sticking with the fruit tart idea, I would second the frangipane suggestion. EDIT: I have an easy recipe for pear and frangipane tarts. They are really beautiful.

Do Birkenstocks count? Mine have a huge hole in the right-foot heel and the soles are starting to peel off. There is also a piece of dried-up gum from 2 summers ago stuck to the side of the left-foot strap. Does that count?

Loaf pans. No en croute.

You can share it with us, or we can steal it. If you share it, at least you'll get a taste . I'm stealing it. Locks are of no importance. Then I'll be like, "dude, check out this Sauternes I brought. Want a sip?" I'm going to try to make it, as I said, but my schedule this next semester is a real ballbreaker. If I make it, it'll have to be with a friend (er, driver), and probably not for the whole weekend. Hayride

Bananas.

We ended up painting our kitchen blood-red to hide such tong-attacks... See this picture! I f***ing hate spring-loaded tongs.

I never understood the whole mayonnaise-on-fries thing. Is Ranch dressing a condiment? The Boy puts Ranch dressing on everything--take-out pizza (not my homemade, I'd have his hide), fries, eggs, even garlic bread. It makes me wonder. I myself enjoy hot dogs with ketchup. But not on my eggs. Sacre Bleu!

VD?

Bordelaise sauce. Then I'm gonna' go smoke some pot to celebrate the end of Soups and Sauces class.

I'm going to try to make it.

Friday night I made buttermilk-soaked fried chicken with chives, buttermilk biscuits, extra-buttery mashed potatoes, and chicken gravy. Drank Sam Adams with it.

I believe I already said this, but I had managed to forget about that picture. Now, however, it haunts my dreams again.

I think it stands for He Who Only Eats. I've got one of those, too. While we were standing in his kitchen the other day, I told him I was going to buy him a fabric cover for his range, like the kind you put on fancy cars in the winter time. He has a brand-new range that has never been used.