KatieLoeb

Oh come on. Fondue is FUN! It's hip and retro and a fun place for a group or a romantic date feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries. It's easy food and it's hard to screw up. That's a recipe for success I think, and not just with conventioneers. I suspect a well established chain like Melting Pot wouldn't waste the cash on Center City rent had they not investigated their target market first. Time will tell if I'm right or wrong. As far as their liability insurance goes, it can't be any higher than Chinese restaurants serving flaming pupu platters or sizzling Wor Ba platters or Korean restaurants with burners in the center of each table, or Chili's that serve hundreds of sizzling platters of fajitas every day or restaurants that serve Flaming Cafe Brulee. Haven't we all had the server say "Be careful, the plate is very hot"? When the waiter needs asbestos gloves to bring my plate to me I think those dishes have been just as dangerous.

Chris: I was inspired to have a wee schnapps after dinner last night. It had been a really long time since I'd touched the stuff. Thanks for reminding me I had it around. I had a marillenbrand, or apricot. Chilled it up and put into one of the many little schnapps glasses I own. It was very pleasant and warming. Stroh also makes a sugar beet derived rum called Stroh 80. It's 160 proof!!! YIKES! A small amount is very tasty in mulled cider but don't light any matches around the stuff. I actually keep a bottle around to put a wee dram in my tea when I have a bad cold. Knocks me out and I sweat it all out and wake up cured! It's brilliant stuff.

Did no one see the episode of Will & Grace where they mentioned the Fag-GOTS' guide?? I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

Luckily for me, I have the value added bonus of having North Star Orchard be local and readily available with boutique varieties of Asian pears at my local farmer's markets. Their fruits, especially the Asian pears, are absolutely the best fruit I've ever eaten. The Hosui variety of Asian pears in particular, has a lovely texture (the perfect cross between an apple and a pear) and is quite sweet and delicious. I hoard them in the autumn because they keep well in the crisper drawer throughout the winter. They smell AND taste great. I've made cobbler and baked Asian pears with these local fruits and never been disappointed with the end result. Your point regarding the overwhelming flavor of a butterscotch sauce is well taken, but the fruit is glorious, and on second thought, actually may not require any gilding of the lily. And it has definitely never come out like jicama! I suspect this boutique orchard has got it all over the commercially available Asian pears that are all texture and no flavor. The pears ship well I think, at least according to their newsletter. I'll see what's still at the local market this weekend. I'll ask about the supply and whether I can still get my fix. If there's any left over I'll mail you one!

Chris: What you have there is the most common flavor of Austrian Schnapps. Obstler is the flavor, not the brand, and it means apple/pear. It is drunk in small chilled thimblefulls after a large dinner of Wienerschnitzel and Brotknödel as a form of human Drano. It makes for a powerful digestif after some heavy Bavarian cuisine. I have some of that and several other fine examples of fine Austrian schnapps in my collection: The Obstler is definitely the one flavor you'll find in every corner tavern all over Austria. In fact if you don't specify what flavor you want it will probably be brought to you by default. I had never considered mixing this into cocktails, perhaps because I always think of it as the after dinner rocket fuel, but I suppose one could make a tasty variation on a Williams Fizz or something with it. I'll have to think about that for a bit and see what creative ideas might ensue.

this is a damn good idea. ← Seconded!

I think this depends on the application, too. I was thinking for a Bourbon hard sauce or something like that where the flavor of the Bourbon is quite pronounced the more expensive Knob Creek would be good. However, the Heaven Hill is a major league bargain that I forgot about and would certainly be fine in either a sauce or in a baked product like a pecan pie. I'm thinking of making an Asian pear tarte tatin or something similar for Thanksgiving dinner and maybe a Bourbon Butterscotch sauce would be good on the side. If this experiment carries through I'll let you all know what I used and how it worked out.

Brava, to our lovely soprano and hostess for a week's worth of fine cooking, outings and reports. Well done Kathleen! That "I can't cook" stuff is a nice cover story, but we all know the truth now. You've availed yourself admirably. And the ferrets are just so cute! Hugs to the weasel babies. They make me miss my former pets very much.

This evening I have put a sizeable (nay, lethal) dent into (yet another) bottle of the Montes Alpha 2003 Syrah. I had it with some leftover roast pork and garlic doused yucca from Lechoneria Principe in North Philly, whose praises I have sung elsewhere in this forum. It was damned good. In fact, possibly one of the best $12.99 bottles of wine I've had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of (more than once at this point) in quite some time. The joy of the Chairman's Selections I think, is having fabulous wines sitting in my wine rack at the ready for everyday drinking, not necessarily the "special occasion" wines. I've found many of those as well (and I'm feverishly seeking the latest 1994 Burgess Library Selection Cabernet to complete my vertical tasting), but not feeling like I'm going broke on a regular basis when opening a recent selection has been a real joy.

I second the recs for Havens (and Franus which shares their facility) and Artesa. Both are excellent suggestions. I also like Goosecross Cellars for their white wines and Robert Sinskey for their Pinot Noirs. I would also suggest a hot air baloon ride over the valley. Breathtaking way to spend an early morning. I flew with Adventures Aloft and enjoyed it immensely. I am typically afraid of heights, so getting me up in a balloon was no easy feat. However, since you are traveling on the wind currents it seems as though you are standing still and having someone roll the scenery right past you. A very serene form of transport and fine for me as long as I didn't look stright down over the edge of the basket. Really recommmended for a memorable experience.

The squash and apple soup came out well, albeit it a bit sweet to my taste. Roasted the halved squash and quartered peeled apples with some garlic cloves and thyme and then ran the whole mess through the blender with vegetable broth and some salt and pepper. Lots of caramelization on the cut sides of the squash and the apples led to a slightly too sweet for me result. I'd make it again with fewer apples or more squash perhaps to balance that out. Not bad, just not to my taste. Maybe a swirl of sour cream or creme fraiche would tame it a bit. I'll report back on that. Next experiment will be roasted squash and chestnut soup.

I've had the pleasure of trying the Mae de Ouro as well, and am feverishly trying to help Dave find a distributor in PA so I can get it when I run out. Very tasty stuff that makes a mean caipirinha. I've been experimenting with pineapple infused cachaca to good effect. One finely chopped pineapple per bottle. Soak for a week then whirl through the blender and strain. Makes for very tasty "Caipi-piña" drinks as well as a fine Pineapple sour or a good Colada for some alternatives to the standards.

Bring it on Mary. All good ideas. I'll raid my Rolodex and see if I can think of any good speakers for specific subjects.

Not sure what I'd recommend for straight up whiskey, but certainly for bourbon I'd suggest Knob Creek for its assertive flavor and for rum I'd suggest either Myers or Goslings for their assertive flavors as well.

Some very thoughtful and well stated opinions. This all goes back to what I've always believed to be true: 1) Barring a flood, plague of glassy-winged sharpshooters, hail storm or some other catastrophic event of Biblical proportions that effects every single winery in a given area, there are always good, and often great wines in a "bad vintage". A truly talented wine maker is the one that can spin gold out of straw or be an alchemist with judicious application of viticultural and winemaking techniques to create the best end product out of the juice he got dealt that year. 2) With all due respect to Mr. Squires and Mr. Parker and all of their ilk, their opinion is only useful if you know for a fact and through vast experience that their palates are similar to yours. Indeed, it is just as valuable to know that their palates are dissimilar to your own. Then you can take those "ratings" for what they are worth - to YOU. 3) The argument really has no basis until it becomes, as Capaneus pointed out, an oranges-to-oranges discussion. I'd be very interested to see any of the Talking Wine Heads come up with a list of selections that could compete consistently, bang-for-the-buck wise, with the Chairman's Selections program. 4) The Chairman's Selections program as a whole has done much to raise the level of quality of wines available to the consumers of the Commonwealth. And anything that can get the huddled-masses-yearning-to-drink-cheaply to step it up a notch makes them better consumers at the restaurants which provide my livelihood. So selfishly, I applaud the loudest.

We'll miss you in the PA forum, but hope you'll be back frequently enough for commentary and will also keep us posted on good finds in your new neck of the woods, which isn't THAT far away after all. A farewell dinner at Dmitri's is in order. Octopus, hummus and the best sugar snap peas known to man. A Roast pork Italiano at Tony Luke's for old times sake. And some amaretti cookies from Termini's to sweeten your sadness.

I use Berentzen to make Appletinis instead of Apple Pucker. Much better end result: 2 oz. Grey Goose 1 oz. Berentzen .5 oz. Midori splash of sour mix Shake the hell out of it and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Granny Smith apple wedge.

I'm making a Squash-Apple soup from Kathleen Daeleman's cookbook later this week. I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm test driving that recipe for Thanksgiving too.

An old college buddy was in the general vicinity today for a hockey game his older son was playing in. He called me up and asked if I wanted to come see the game and then have some lunch. Sure, says I. Dontcha know he wanted to go to Koch's! Just like old times as he was someone I often went to Koch's with while we were both at Penn. I'm happy to report that the place is running like a top, expanded hours are back and even the bad jokes were in attendance. Larry is doing a great job running the shop and there seemed to be a good deal of help as well. Our order of 5 sandwiches (one to go home to his younger son who wouldn't forgive him if he came all the way to Koch's from North Jersey and didn't bring one back for him) took a while to prepare but everthing was carefully boxed up for us and the help was friendly and as sweet as ever. Samples passed while we waited included sweet meunster cheese, turkey pastrami, corned beef and pickles. I had a Sid & Frances special - baked salmon salad (it's usually whitefish but the Baked salmon salad in the deli case looked so good I asked them to substitute that), Nova lox, sweet muenster cheese, onions and tomato on a Kaiser roll. Alas they already sold out of the onion rolls it should have come on. No matter. It was still delicious. And Koch's - although not the same without Bobby, lives on!

Oh he's in, all right. But the post was just to confirm his glee that someone else is doing the heavy lifting with the plannng this time.

For riesling I'd go with a Halbtrocken if you can find it. Or in a similar vein a nice Scheurebe goes very well with turkey. For Pinot Noir my personal preference is for something less austere and "Burgundian" and more "New World-y" (CA or OR) because the more fruit forward style matches better with the usual side dishes like cranberry sauce or the earthiness of mushrooms in the stuffing.

We did the three Trenton places in an early Pizza Club outing. Now that we're a more sophisticated and experienced group, four stops should be a piece of pie. Several people ate Nathan's hot dogs (a fourth stop) the last time we ventured out-of-state. If we don't go Nov. 12 or 19, we probably should wait until January. ← Let's try for the 19th, meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson at 3:30. This will be the hardest place to try not gorging! ← I can give a ride to anyone coming from the western suburbs/Main Line/Center City (as long as "anyone" means a total of three or four of you). PM me. ← Does this means the 19th works for everyone? ← I'm in if I can bum a ride with someone. Car is acting up. No long trips in the Nissan's future.

Well, everyone is giving me far too much credit for merely introducing the right folks to each other and letting them take it from there. But I was certainly glad to facilitate and thought that this event went wonderfully. I hope we can do it again soon. It was lots of fun. My thanks as well to Jonathan, Dee, Greg, Chef Ross and the Rx staff for a lovely evening. And my thanks to my delightful tablemates for lively conversation and twisting my arm to go to Capogiro. I can hardly wait until next spring when the Honeysuckle gelato is back in season for those few short weeks and we get to make the moscato floats with that! YUM! I really enjoyed all of the wines we tried, including the Beaune (which I must go find before Pedro buys it all) and the side by side comparison of the Sycamore and Bosche vineyard Cabernets. It isn't often that one gets to do that sort of lateral single vineyard tasting of one producer's wines, so I always find that quite enlightening. There is terroir here in the USA too, and it's nice to see fine examples of it from time to time. Let's do it again!

Thanks Suzi! Mmmmmmm....Toast Dope! I must make some of this over the weekend. PS - I restrained myself and only had one big mug of chocolate pudding. Now I'm sipping a double caipirinha to assuage my cramps.