KatieLoeb

This sounds absolutely delicious, Katie. I like the martini idea above as well. ← Thanks Ludja. It's definitely a bit more of an autumnal cocktail given the spice and pear flavor, but it was popular while it was on the menu at Amada. We just changed the cocktail menu a couple of weeks ago and replaced that drink with a Pomegranate Margarita for the warmer weather. Don't know if it'll make a comeback, but it's certainly in my Rolodex of drink recipes for the future. My other best creation with the Belle de Brillet is a sidecar variant I call a Provencal Sidecar. I make a Lavender infused simple syrup and substitute that for the Cointreau in a regular sidecar. Sub the Belle de Brillet for the cognac and keep the lemon juice. Voila! A Lavender-Pear, or Provecal Sidecar. Most tasty. I do love the Belle de Brillet.

Cherry Kijafa by another name, perhaps??

Hi Dennis! Let me add a warm welcome to eGullet and to the PA forum. Looking forward to hearing more from you...

How is it humanly possible that there is such widespread knowledge of this phenomenon known as "Disco Fries" and I just heard of them yesterday??? Color me gobsmacked. I still want an etymology if we can dig one up.

I did a cocktail with Belle de Brillet that was a sort of pear sangria-tini for lack of a better description. 1 oz. Belle de Brillet .5 oz. Spiced Simple syrup 1 oz. Pear nectar 2 oz. dry white wine optional: dash of fresh lemon juice (if too sweet for you) Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a floating pear slice.

How do any of us know that?

Or you could talk to Capogiro about their wholesale operations for gelato and sorbetto. Many of the better restaurants in town use their products and I'm certain Chester County would be all the happier for it. And Holly's idea is an excellent one.

The gentlemen who own Franklin Fountain were outside Amada today handing out FREE chocolate or vanilla ice cream to anyone that worked in the area. Needless to say our entire staff lined up and everyone was happy. The chocolate was yummy...

Rhubarb and Rye sounds like a new form of R&R that I could definitely house. I find that adding a fruit puree to a basic mojito or caipirinha is always an easy answer. Might make for an interesting brunch Mimosa too, with sparkling wine.

Hey everybody, check THIS out! I'm a bit skeptical of the "special menu items" being offered at several restaurants, particularly the Kobe Cheesesteak Slider at Barclay Prime. Even at half price or whatever (I shudder to ask what full price might be at the home of the $100 cheesesteak) it probably isn't such a great deal. There are several great deals though. Happy hour at Davio's with $5 martinis and those yummy cheesesteak spring rolls to munch on is definitely a deal. The three course prix fixe at Prime Rib looks intruiguing and the prix fixe dinners at Penne, Caribou Cafe, Marigold and Matyson all look worthy of a look see. Philly Magazine is also picking up the cost of metered parking from 8th-20th Streets and from Locust Street - JFK Blvd. Special "Best of Philly" parking meter covers will be on the designated areas. Looks like a fun event. I might be seen bellying up to Davio's bar that afternoon...

That's what I'm talking about. Why would you ever wait if you could eat the same food right away? As chain outfits go, I find the steakhouses (at the low/midrange like Outback, not the high end like the Palm, Capital Grill or Smith & Wollensky which are just as much a chain) to be the best bet for a less than mediocre meal. As long as the steak is cooked the way you asked for it you're pretty much set. I find Outback and Lone Star (less so, but still palatable) to be a good value for the money. Charlie Brown's does a fine steak and has a decent salad bar too, although I'd probably place that chain as closer to the high end than the low end. I haven't been to the latest chain steakhouse entry in the local market - Ted's Montana Grill, probably because they took over the space of one of my former places of employ, and it breaks my heart to see what they've done to what was once a very pretty dining room.

Actually, it sounds intriguing to me, as long as the stix & fingers aren't overly fried, but they probably are. And if I want a heart attack, who are you to prevent me from doing whatever I can to get one? ← Hey. Knock yourself out. I'm a libertarian and will defend to the death your right to eat whatever you want, regardless of how utterly disgusting I might find it to be. It's also within my rights to question your sanity. And this is hardly the first time you've given me reason to do so... Does it really matter how fried the sticks and fingers are???

Nope. It wasn't the eggs. And in fact I had a slim wedge of the quiche I made the other day and it's delicious, even if I do say so myself. I was pretty hungry after not eating for 36 hours!

Yeah - I was thinkin' that too. I agree, but where to start for research?? Hey Truffle, could you ask the diner owner what the heck "disco fries" is about? There must be a reference we're missing... And speak for yourself. I might not be the svelte disco queen I was back in the day, but I don't think of myself as a fuddy duddy. Quite. Yet.

how can it be wrong when it feels so right? ← Wiseass! (I hope that was said with an appropriate deep baritone nod to Barry White :cue strings:) But seriously. Does three kinds of processed junk in one wrap sound right to you??? And we wonder why we're a nation that's morbidly obese...

I spent plenty of time in North Jersey diners as a teenager, during the disco era I might add, and I've never seen anything called disco fries before. I'll second the motion that the wrap just sounds wrong on so many levels.

Interesting. I've never heard of "disco fries". Fries with Brown Gravy = WETS Fries with melted Whiz = Cheese fries I'd probably call disco fries Wets with Cheese. Anyhow. Let us know next time you're coming. I'll try and start saving up suggestions for foods that would appeal to a disco fry lover.

Truffle: Sorry you didn't get to have your Whiz, but as others have mentioned, you've clearly planted a seed. If she wants to come back and see colleges here (I highly recommend attending U Penn if entrance is made) then you'll have your chance to have Whiz and some better stuff at RTM on your next trip. And we'll make a Whiz eater out of her yet! I don't know a single college student that can resist the siren song of either a cheesesteak with Whiz or CHEESE FRIES!!

A Gimlet is made of gin and Rose's Lime Juice. I can't think that cherry vodka would go very well with Rose's. I imagine Katie has something in mind along the lines of your cherry-infused vodka together with some fresh lime juice and lime-zest infused simple syrup. Thanks Sam, for being clairvoyant for me. I'm not too fond of Rose's Lime when fresh lime juice and simple syrup are better. Sam did me one better with the lime zest infusion. Sounds delicious! Not sure I'd call anything made with fresh lime instead of Rose's a "Gimlet," per se. But the cherry and lime idea sounds like an interesting starting place for a drink. ← Does a Gimlet imply you must use Rose's Lime Juice?? Were there no gimlets before there was Rose's?? I thought a gimlet meant sweetened lime juice and gin (or vodka - this is another drink like the martini that seems to have evolved into a vodka optional concoction), not necessarily Rose's, but usually because that's what the bar had on hand. A bit of research yields these interesting little factoids about Rose's Lime Cordial: It was first produced in 1876 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by Lauchlin Rose, who also patented this method of preserving lime juice without adding alcohol. The same year it became mandatory for all Royal Navy and British merchant ships to include lime juice in the sailors' rations. That way Rose's lime juice quickly became known around the world. And this about the drink's origin: A 1928 description of the drink was: "gin, a spot of lime, and soda" (D. B. Wesson, I'll never be Cured III). A 1953 description was: "a real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and nothing else" (Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye (novel)). and this: Surgeon Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette (1857-1943) served in the Royal Navy when cocktails started to become popular. A naval medical officer would certainly have had access to gin and lime juice. However, neither his obituary notice in The Times of October 6, 1943, nor his entry in Who Was Who, 1941-1950, mentions any inventiveness with regard to cocktails. The real question is when was the Gimlet invented? Did the Royal Navy have anything to do with it? Was the gimlet a means of preventing scurvy?? Anyone?

A Gimlet is made of gin and Rose's Lime Juice. I can't think that cherry vodka would go very well with Rose's. I imagine Katie has something in mind along the lines of your cherry-infused vodka together with some fresh lime juice and lime-zest infused simple syrup. ← Thanks Sam, for being clairvoyant for me. I'm not too fond of Rose's Lime when fresh lime juice and simple syrup are better. Sam did me one better with the lime zest infusion. Sounds delicious!

Holly: Have torn up note to self. It wasn't the corn, but a 24 hour stomach virus. Eating too much doesn't come with chills and fever. Lots of sleep and the exorcising of the demons brings me back to myself today. A little worse for wear, but ready to tackle the corn as soon as I'm eating solids again.

Note to self: Never, ever eat three ears of corn in a sitting again. I'm feeling quite ill today as a result. Like the guy in Aliens just before the critter pops out of him...

So you just dropped the fruits into the vodka whole, is that right?? No poking holes with a skewer, no light crushing, nothing? What proof was the vodka you used? 80 or 100?

Cherries and limes go quite well together. Howzabout a Cherry Gimlet?? A Cherry Long Island Iced Tea with Cherry Vodka rather than plain. Cherry Vodka, Ruby red grapefruit juice, simple syrup and a squeeze of fresh lemon? edited to add: Would you care to share your technique on making the cherry vodka with the rest of us? Whole or chopped fruits? Pitted or unpitted? What was the vodka you infused? How long did you let it sit, etc.???

Last weekend, I discovered that David's Mai Lai Wah has a Lunch Special for like $6.95 which includes soup, pork fried rice and your choice of any of about 25 or so standard dishes on their menu, separated into spicy or not. A freakin' bargain if ever there was one. Three of us drank tons of tea and ate ourselves silly for like $22! It was crazy. Definitely impressed the auntie who was in town visiting, and totally stunned both myself and friend who live here. Who knew??