KatieLoeb

Hi Rebecca! Hope your treatments go well. There's a ton of places that have already been suggested. Amada will always have a special place in my heart. Han Dynasty you've already explored. You could access Zahav if you went in via slightly uphill on 2nd Street from Spruce toward Society Hill Towers rather than attempting the stairs from near the Sheraton Society Hill. Call to confirm but I don't think there are stairs if you approach that way.

Amarula Creme Liqueur. Stuff is hard to describe but delicious. I like it in coffee, and I'm sure it could stand in for Bailey's Irish Cream in many applications. Less booze forward than the Bailey's, and a bit fruitier. I'm kind of at a loss for words to describe it, but if you enjoy Bailey's I'm certain you'd love it.

Just to be clear, my recommendation for the Yoplait was NOT for the Greek style. I've never tried that one. I'm a fan of probiotic yogurts and that was the one I was referring to. Really I'll generally buy whatever brand is on sale that day, provided that: I don't have an active dislike for the product. It is low or non fat. Has flavors I like or think I will like. My supermarket always has at least one brand of yogurt that is on sale any given week, usually at a fairly significant savings over regular price. I just go back to that refrigerated case and see what's there. More often than not I can find at least a few that will tide me over until the following week.

I had the Key Lime for breakfast today and it was very good. Really thick and rich and limey. It was Dannon Oikos. I will definitely buy these again when they're on sale. They're outrageous (at least to me, I don't want to spend over $1 apiece for yogurts) otherwise, but they are really good. Might be my new favorite although they are also higher in fat and calories than some of my other usual choices. I'm a big fan of the Yoplait probiotic YoPlus myself and they have some interesting flavors like Pomegranate Blackberry that are just delicious.

Happy Anniversary to you both! This blog is a delight. I'm gaining a perspective on Mexican cuisine that is like no other. Thank you for your insights. Looking forward to the rest of the week. Since you're a fan of Mescal you simply must try a Oaxaca Old Fashioned, one of my very favorite cocktails, created by Phil Ward, phlip here on eGullet. It's a classic. It's not so easy to mix with mescal, but this cocktail really does it justice. Apologies for the thread hijack, but I thought you'd appreciate the cocktail recommendation...Carry on!

Bought several when they were on sale last week. I generally have yogurt with fresh fruit for breakfast at work because it's easy to bring and deal with. Apparently some of the Oikos flavors are under the Dannon label and others are Stonyfield. The Honey-Fig with a sliced banana and the Peach-Mango with sliced peaches were both delicious. The yogurts are very thick and rich and the flavorings taste very natural. Definitely worth purchasing again, although they are more expensive than some of the other brands. Still, worth it for the quality.

annabelle - it's nice to know there are still gentlemen that will protect a lady's honor that way. I'd have cheered too. Must've been fabulous!

Glad I could amuse. It definitely gets the point across, no? I once had an incident while I was bartending where a group of young plastic surgery residents from one of our city's finest hospitals had a young lady with them who was impeccably groomed, smartly dressed and had a mouth on her that could make a sailor blush. And she was LOUD as well as foul mouthed. I had several other guests comment on how obnoxious she was. After asking them several times to keep it down, I told them to leave. One of the very few times I've had to eject someone from my bar. And looking at her or reading her credentials on paper she would be the least likely candidate. It doesn't matter. Crosses all boundaries.

Screaming children are no more nor less annoying than drunken swearing frat boys, loud ladies who lunch that have had a few too many, jerkoffs that won't stop hitting on the pretty girls at the bar that have made it clear they aren't interested, or blowhard rich guys trying to one up each other. Anyone that draws enough attention to themselves in a restaurant by their decibel level or choice of language should be asked to be quiet. Then they should be asked to leave. In no uncertain terms. For those that don't understand the message or can't leave under their own steam, their parents should have enough common sense to know when they need to be walked outside. The problem is the over-entitled stroller jockeys that don't seem to grasp that not everyone finds their screaming brat as cute as they do.

Aha! I never noticed the round ones. I was with someone that had ordered one of the square ones and tasted it. Might as well have been batter dipped wallpaper paste. What flavor are the round Yonah Schimmel ones? edited to add: A bit of research has yielded the following, off the Katz's online menu. Knishes (square) 3.45 Potato only Knishes (round) 3.95 Potato, Broccoli, Sweet Potato, Kasha Next time I'll know...

I poured 2 oz. of overproof vodka onto the warmed almonds in the blender container and let them sit for a couple of minutes before adding the water and pulsing to tiny bits. You might be right about it not making an appreciable difference, but certainly alcohol in theory at least, should be giving you a better infusion than just plain water. My feeling is it's a bit like chicken soup. It certainly can't hurt it. Many folks add vodka along with the brandy at the end of the process. I figured I'd try get some utility out of the vodka by adding it in sooner. :shrug: Not sure that short of extensive laboratory testing we'd ever really be able to get a solid answer to this question. My orgeat looks a lot like iced coffee now that it's done. That's undoubtedly due to me using unbleached organic sugar rather than white bleached sugar. It doesn't look as pretty in the bottle by a long shot, but it certainly tastes fine and doesn't seem to be changing the color of the drinks dramatically. I haven't tried a Japanese yet, but it would be my first so I have no basis for comparison.

And indeed it is delicious. I wish I'd had better (read: richer) ricotta. I only had some fat free stuff in the house. Nonetheless with a bit of seasoning, some good homemade basil pesto and a healthy drizzle of good olive oil it was quite satisfying. Definitely a good alternative when you've tired of Caprese salad every night during tomato season.

Funny, that's exactly what I said to my wife. And it's doubly sad about the knishes, since Yonah Schimmel's is right down the block. A state of affairs I've often wondered about too. How do you have lousy doughy bland knishes when the temple of all Knishness is a stone's throw away?? Never made sense to me. You could send a busboy every morning to pick up the order or have it walked over and hand delivered. What's up with that??

After a rather long day in front of my computer, my reward was a proper Mai Tai that I'd been looking forward to all day. In addition to incorporating some of the freshly minted batch of orgeat, I used the Don Q Cristal, Smith & Cross, fresh lime, Cointreau and a little tiny bit of grenadine (with apologies in advance to FrogPrincesse) and then floated a bit of Gosling's on top. Quite honestly, didn't like it quite as much as last night's cobbled together creation. I was sure the float of the dark rum on top would be the thing that would take this drink into orbit. Not so much in practice. It seemed too boozy and smelled off since the Gosling's was floating right on top and was the only thing you could smell when you lifted the glass. The orgeat is still yummy and the Smith & Cross remains my fave rum for mixing up anything tiki-esque. I think I'll be going back to the "emergency" recipe as the standard while I work my way through the orgeat I just made. I need to try some other orgeat cocktail too. Will report back with any success stories.

I recommended the Appleton White as an alternative to the ubiquitous and not so tasty (by comparison) Bacardi. The Don Q Cristal also fits this same slot very well at a similar price point. If you taste any of these side by side with the Bacardi, they win hands down. I look at these things in a commercial environment as "what will the 'well rum' be" in whatever restaurant where I'm working. For that pour you'll reach for the rum and cokes or the basic rum + mixer that you'll sell oodles of without even thinking about it. But the metric is the same for the "household pour" at a decent quality/price ratio.

Go really light on the grenadine. It's subbing for a very small amount of simple syrup. I used a very scant barspoon. And we wouldn't want to upset FrogPrincesse If you can find the Smith & Cross anywhere, get yourself a bottle. It's really delicious. I thought I had a tough time with the state controlled liquor system in Pennsylvania, but it looks like the system in Canada is just as bad or worse.

Kerry: What rums did you use? Did you include the grenadine or not? That was sort of a cobble-together for me since I was out of any proper dark rum at the time. I've just returned from remedying that situation so I can treat myself to another Mai Tai when I'm done working on some writing later. It's a very tiny light at the end of my tunnel right now...

I'll be heading to my Farmer's Market later for some heirloom tomatoes so I can try out your salad with ricotta cheese. Looks easy and delicious and I can't find enough ways to eat the embarrassment of riches of tomatoes that I can find lately. Thanks for this!

Where does one procure these Tic products? Are they only commercially available or can one find them at a Whole Foods, health food store, or other retailer?

I think I got a lot of flavor/"milk" out in addition to just oils by pulsing the softened almonds in the blender down to a small nugget size (think like the bits of peanut in crunchy peanut butter)and letting that sit overnight in the hot water to cool and steep. :shrug: Science was never my strong suit. I'm just trying to do this in a way that simplifies the process and makes it less intimidating, while using my past experiences with making infusions and syrups to use some techniques that might not have been mentioned before. In the end I only used 1/8 tsp. of xanthan gum. Doesn't seem to have adversely changed the texture in any way, just seems to be helping hold it together better than other orgeats I've seen that don't include it. This might not be the end all method, but I think it's a simpler method with a very good end result.

I think the light roasting/heating of the almonds and then the soak in hot water with a little vodka really helped extract a lot of oils out that would have required the usual two to three soaks to get out. Bonus was I only got one baking sheet and the blender dirty, everything was one step and then sit overnight, and only had to do the strain and squeeze one time. Also I was really careful not to heat it too high afterward. Just enough to dissolve in the sugar. I didn't want to risk "cooking" the delicate almond flavor out. This morning it has separated a bit, but only at the bottom 20% or so, so it seems the xanthan gum has at least helped to hold the emulsion together. I'd still shake it before using regardless, just to make certain it was uniform. edited to add: Yeah, that Smith & Cross just makes everything it touches more delicious. It's both the navy strength as well as the very "rummy" flavor profile. I just love using it. Best thing in the world for tiki drinks.

Just a hair for color and sweetness so I don't have to add more simple syrup. The wee bit of grenadine doesn't change the flavor much, just adds color and adds a "bass note" of fruitiness to the drink. This was also because I didn't have any proper dark rum in the house at the time and didn't want an "albino" Mai Tai. Try the drink with those proportions as described and tell me what you think. My sensitive palate didn't pick up anything distinctive from the grenadine other than what I've described above. If I had real Goslings or Myers in the house I think I might have done this differently, but I had to make do since it was too late to go on a liquor run. I still think I'll stand by my earlier assertion that the drink was damned tasty as it was and the float of the dark on top would have been the cherry on the cake. That might just be the Smith & Cross that's so distinctive and makes everything tastier though.

Xanthan gum seems to be holding the orgeat together, even several hours later. I'll check it again tomorrow morning, but so far it's at least keeping it from separating completely. I'd likely shake before using anyway... My orgeat is light tan in color and opaque. I suspect this is from using unbleached organic sugar rather than white sugar. It isn't quite as pretty in the bottle, but it tastes delicious. Made a straightforward Mai Tai tonight. No proper dark rum like Goslings or Myers in the house (note to self for tomorrow's errands) but this worked just fine: 1 oz. Don Q Cristal white rum 1 oz. Smith & Cross 1 oz. fresh lime juice .75 oz. homemade orgeat .50 oz. Cointreau scant barspoon homemade grenadine Shake and strain over fresh ice in a tall glass. I think a float of proper dark rum on top of this would really put this drink over the top, but it was pretty tasty just as it was.

Just finished a batch of orgeat that's cooling on the stove. After reading through this entire thread and other online recipes, I think I've found the easiest way to get this done in one soak. 1) Used sliced almonds. I used two packs of the Trader Joe's raw sliced ones. Tiny bit of skins on there didn't make a whit of difference. 2) Lightly roast the almonds, not to toast them necessarily, but to "loosen" the oils a bit before soaking in the water. 3) Soak the almonds in HOT water with a little bit of vodka in it to extract the oils more effectively and soften the almonds more quickly. 4) Pulse in the blender after soaking for a few minutes and then allow to cool overnight. More surface area exposed = more oils come out. 5) After squeezing out through cheesecloth, heat the almond milk gently, only enough to heat it so the sugar dissolves. Cool slightly before the next step. 6) Add brandy, a small amount of organic almond extract to round out the flavor and give it some bite, and both orange and rose flower waters. 7) A small amount of xanthan gum for stabilization. This is being test driven for the cocktail book I'm working on, so I'm neither positive about the proportions yet (although it's tastes pretty spectacular still warm) nor can I post the complete recipe until after publication, but I hope these guidelines will be helpful to those of you still working on your home recipes. I'll report back after it cools and I've made a cocktail or two with it.

We'll have to schedule wisely, but I think we'll be able to fit in a lot of fun meals, tours, etc. in four days. Should be loads of fun. Getting some of the local chefs and food personalities excited about hosting the eG crew shouldn't be difficult. I know for a fact that many of them are lurkers here...