JAZ

I think it's a great subject for a book, but I would not describe it as the Rachael Ray of the cocktail world (not that I have anything against her -- I think her early books and shows play an important role for beginning cooks.

I guess I'm unclear about what you mean by a "basic book" -- certainly David Wondrich's Killer Cocktails fills that spot. Don't get me wrong -- making your own ingredients for cocktails is an interesting subject, but I'm not sure it's what most beginners are looking for. If you're talking about a more experienced audience, then it seems like a great book.

I had a chance to visit the Velvet Tango Room while in Cleveland for the Heartland Gathering and was very favorably impressed. The room was great -- I liked the juxtaposition of the "dive" exterior and the beautiful interior. Considering the size of our group, the bartenders did an amazing job with the cocktails, which were almost without exception very good. If I had one complaint, it would be that the written drink menu was so quirky that I sometimes had a hard time even figuring out what base spirit was in a particular drink. That would have been fine had it been possible to engage the bartenders in a conversation about the menu, but of course with a large group, that can't happen. Still, the drinks I tasted were all great, with the exception of their "Hemingway Daiquiri," which was both odd and boring. Odd because it had no Maraschino and seemed to have no grapefruit juice; plus it was shaken with an egg white, which I've never encountered in any other Hemingway Daiquiri I've had. Boring because it was just sweet and frothy -- no bite of lime to temper the drink. But overall, it was a very good experience.

Thanks, everyone, for making this such a great weekend. A couple of people asked for the recipe for the red pepper soup, so here's a link: roasted red pepper and caramelized onion soup. Because we served it with the cheese croutons, I omitted the cream. And for anyone who wants the recipe for the lime cordial used in the gimlets, it's at the end of this article: Any Other Name.

Have you tried the Cheddar and Jalapeno Cheetos? I like them much better than the Flamin' Hot variety, which to me are just hot with no flavor.

Nancy, what's the final count for dinner on Saturday? I'm trying to figure out if we have enough shot glasses for the soup.

We made this recipe from Fine Cooking over the weekend with frozen cod from Trader Joe's. Fast, easy, and good.

I have two ceramic "baskets" I can bring, if that helps. Never having been to one of these gatherings, I have a couple of questions about the shopping. Do we just shop for our own course(s)? If we need pantry items like salt, vinegar, butter, eggs, flour, etc. will those be available?

Fee Brothers bitters (product list here) are made without alcohol, so they could be an option for you.

Nancy, what time is the Sunday lunch? Sorry if I missed that. Also, due to a change in plans, Dave and I will not be attending the Thursday night crawl. We'll probably be at the lunch on Friday and will definitely be there for drinks and dinner on Friday, and all of Saturday's activities. Sunday lunch will depend on the time. Thanks!

Karen, the votive glasses would be great. Thanks. Dave and I can bring about 32 cocktail glasses if that would be helpful.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, they're flavorless and mushy. They could be free and I'd still pay $2 for a small Haas rather than use them.

Steven, I think this post is the updated full schedule -- except that the Sunday meal is at AMP, and the Friday activities are discussed here.

Just to clarify, we're planning to serve the soup as a shot, not as a full course.

Dave and I will do a soup course -- roasted red pepper with an aged gouda crouton -- and will also be available for prep and clean up duty.

I have Demeyere Sirocco at home, and use the Atlantis line on the Miele induction range where I teach and find them both excellent (dishwasher safe, too). I don't notice a problem with responsiveness on the induction range. Incidentally, both those lines have a thick copper layer in the straight sided pieces -- much thicker than what's in the All Clad Copper Core line.

If people are interested in cocktails, I can bring some homemade lime cordial and make gimlets. I'm still figuring out what else to make, if anything.

I haven't made it, but this recipe for Mexican corn salad sounds good. And here are a few recipes I wrote about last summer.

Tell me more. It's gin, Lillet blanc, crème de cacao and lemon juice. You can either go 1 1/2 for the gin and 3/4 for everything else (2:1:1:1), or 2 for the gin and 1/2 for everything else (4:1:1:1), or 2 for the gin, 3/4 for the lemon and lillet, and 1/2 for the crème de cacao. Samuel - how would you describe the taste of this? Sounds like an odd combination. That's the beauty of it! You think to yourself, "gin, Lillet, lemon and . . . chocolate?" And that's pretty much the experience you have when drinking it. When it's balanced right, the chocolate kind of sneaks up on you during the finish. I have to say I'm just not a fan. I really tried to like this, but lemon and chocolate doesn't appeal to me at all. I know I'm in the minority, but I like Rose's in the right application, of which a Gimlet is one. Gin, simple and lime is a fine drink, but it's not a Gimlet.

On behalf of the 30 million American adults who live alone, I'd like to say that most of the time, it's either drink alone, or don't drink. So, yes. And, whatever I feel like making.

I've had a couple of versions of something called a Summer Negroni -- equal parts gin, Aperol, and Lillet (or go slightly heavier on the gin, if you like). They're very refreshing; I might like them better than regular Negronis.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I have had these Dubost steak knives for years and have been quite happy with them (you can get various handle materials and colors). I should say that I don't use them often, but for me they've been great.

I've used the True Blues before. On the plus side, they are very durable and very heat proof -- when I used to have to do all my dishes by hand, I liked the fact that I could use really hot water with them. On the minus side, they were so heavy that my hands used to sweat a lot, which was uncomfortable. Also, because they're so heavy, it's impossible to turn them inside out to dry if they do get wet, so they always stay kind of damp inside. Finally, after a while, they tended to get very rigid when they dried. When wet, they'd get a bit more flexible, but never regained the original flexibility.

Drew Vogel (member vogelap) earned the Certified Chef de Cuisine designation through the American Culinary Federation in April of this year. Congratulations, Drew! For a look at his menu or more about the process, check his website.

It's been a couple of years, but we had dinner at Rioja and were favorably impressed. We got a tasting menu that seemed to consist of pretty much everything on the menu -- some real standouts, everything very solid.