KatieLoeb

Ehhxcellent! All we need now are a few bottles of Bitter Lemon soda and the Slippery Slopes can be a repeat performance, as well as the Dark 'n Stormies!

And why don't you let us all know the answer to this question when you get it? Meanwhile, where is this mysterious place that makes real Portugese coffee? I'd certainly love to check it out.

If we could combine the "Place to entertain the Evil (ex)Monster-in-Law" with the Prisoner of War Camp thing you might be on to something...

I haven't been out for wings in a while, but I seem to recall that McGillan's had some excellent wings, particularly on Tuesday nights when they were .10/wing. The place was always packed and there were always basket after basket of wings coming out of the kitchen. They also usually had a hard cider on draft, my beverage of choice with hot wings.

Nice turn of phrase, my wine loving friend! And I actually believe I know exactly what you mean by that.

How 'bout: Best new restaurant - ethnic Best new restaurant - special occasion/expensive Best new restaurant - down and dirty/cheap Best new bar Best new signature cocktail Best new concept restaurant

I've found tons of cool stuff at garage/yard sales and thrift stores. A big multilevel stacking steamer, an ice mold that looks like a dolphin leaping out of the punch, lots of glass decanters for gift giving of limoncello and homemade vinegars, antique bakelite handled carving set, lots of beautiful antique glassware (I collect antique barware), lots of silver and silverplate serving pieces. And I bought my copy of the Blue Moon Cafe Cookbook at the same yard sale where I got the steamer. Didn't know there were so many around.

Lemon-Pepper roast pork loin, eggplant and tomato salad (Rachel's recipe from RecipeGullet - it's delicious!!), and doctored up Middle East Creative Grains Pecan flavor with some extra wheatberries, slivered almonds and golden raisins tossed in. I'm going to use the leftover grain to mix with some ground turkey and make stuffed peppers for dinner tomorrow night. I'm going for a Middle Eastern flavored stuffed pepper with some zhataar in the tomato sauce and the bulghur, nuts and raisins in the stuffing. I'll report back, but only if it comes out well!

Actually Rich, I didn't notice much of anything beverage related, save for the best funky cocktails at whatever restaurant it was in Chinatown that they mentioned. Granted, I only skimmed through the magazine at a friend's house this evening and don't have it at my disposal to check, but I was conciously looking for and didn't see anything about best wine list, best grown up bar, best martini, or anything remotely similar. Rather disappointing. I guess I'm going to have to try to make the list myself next year! Props to Shinyboots for best food blog and to Marigold for best new BYOB. Seems we PhilleGulleteers are ahead of the curve, as usual.

So does that mean you'll be loaded up with oysters, too? ← Sorry no 8 hour drives with smelly seafood in the car. And my oyster accessibility isn't as good as it used to be. I am starting a big batch of limoncello this weekend though. Does that get me off the hook for the bivalves? Perhaps one of the better chefs amongst us could tell us how to make "tomato water"? The subtlety of the paprika vodka would likely be lost in full strength/viscosity out of the can tomato juice or V-8. But it might make for a lovely chilled cocktail served up with tomato water and one of Brooks' spicy okra balanced on the rim of the glass. That would certainly be a fancy enough Bloody Mary to qualify as having been created by a bunch of food crazed fools willing to travel hundreds of miles for a Pig Pickin'!

OK, who wants to be in charge of developing the quintessential bloody mary? Not something with barbecue sauce or anything silly like that, but something that represents a legitimate culinary advancement of the drink of which all mixologists would be proud. Well, who's capable of doing that????? ← I recently suggested a smoked paprika infused vodka for Bloody Mary's at a Spanish restaurant. I've also made horseradish infused vodka intended for oyster shooters that makes a pretty righteous Mary as well. Habanero infused vodka is good stuff. Herbacidal made some of that last summer that had to be dispensed with an eye dropper. It practically made the tomato juice bubble and smoke. Once properly diluted it made a mighty fine Mary.

Welcome JonB! Looking forward to your posts. Please pipe up early and often...

Campo's at 214 Market Street. It got the coveted 5 grease stain rating from Holly Moore. They make a mean hoagie or cheesesteak too.

Nice pictures, dude! Can I presume your inner Ansel Adams only rears his head when your merely "sharing" the wine, and not a full contact participant? Not so sure I'd want to attempt to top this Olympic level consumption. I like Shola's food to stay in my stomach where it belongs! So how do I join this Ladies Wine Club? I might not want to keep up, but they sound like my kinda ladies!

I'll third Manon. I've not been myself, but have had universally good reports from firends that have had the pleasure and whose palates I trust.

Oooh, oooh! One of the most delicious things I ever tasted was a lavender-lemon shortbread cookie that was a wedding favor. YUM!!! I can't imagine they'd be too hard to make - probably just convert a basic lemon-shortbread recipe with a little culinary lavender. I'm sure one of the expert pastry chefs here could give us all a better hint of how to do that. These were astonishingly delicious. And somehow very romantic. Lavender has all sorts of romantic meanings if IRRC.

Thanks David! It was a pleasure to see you and have your expertise at the ready with the wine descriptions for the wonderful pairings that complimented our dinner so well. Hopefully, Percy will have time to post the photos of our incredible meal last night. I loved absolutely everything, and despite the fact that Jeff insists on referring to the Broccoli Mousseline, Pheasant consomme and Foie Gras Mousse course as "Pheasant Jello" , I thought the presentation was brilliant and the textures and flavors delicious. Although the no-brainer pairing would have been something sweet, the Rivaner was an inspired choice and I enjoyed it immensely. The "Le Bouchet" Vouvray is an old favorite of mine that I have purchased both for personal indulgence and at several restaurants in the past. It was delicious with the goat cheese (sorry boys, I like white with tangy goat cheeses, red with other cheeses. But that's just me.) and surprisingly went perfectly with dessert too. Especially the Lemon Verbena Ice Cream! The caliber of cooking at Gilmore's does Chef Peter Gilmore and his staff proud. The service was gracious and friendly. The food was spectacular and the wine pairings really took this meal over the top. Please feel free to let me know of future events and I'll be happy to post them on the eGullet calendar for the PA/NJ/DE folks.

Hi all: A friend emailed me a link to this and I just about fell out of my chair. It takes a while to download and you have to be patient but stick with it until the end and you will not be sorry: Carlton Draught Ad Now there's an ad that makes me remember the product being promoted!

Now there's a man after my own heart. Opening a fabulous bottle of wine to celebrate an anniversary would always get my attention. Happy Anniversary ans welcome, Ingbakko. Looking forward to your further insights.

And they're closed on Mondays. I had to drive right though Trenton today on the way back from a friend's. It took every fiber of my being not to go get a pie at DeLorenzo's as I was all of about 5 minutes away, but it was just me, and I'm told the pies don't travel well. <sigh> Got to get a gang of intrepid PA-gulleteers to make the drive again soon. I can almost taste the clam pie now...:drool:

Glad you arrived safely in Roma, Professore. Keep us informed about the Italian eats as you discover the gems of your new home.

I'd call it - Diluted.

I'll just repeat the prior suggestions that I'd bring back: As much wine as I could carry. As much good olive oil as I could carry. Canned goods one cannot get here - pates, tuna in olive oil, etc. Big honking slabs of membrillo. Cheeses. Almonds. Pimenton in all three flavors - dulce (sweet), agridulce (bittersweet) and picante (hot). Saffron. Flor de Sal - good sea salt, often combined with other flavors like ground olives or hibiscus. Other spices and herbs that are of good caliber there (I seem to recall the most delicious smelling bay leaves in Spain)

Maybe not, but I have some pretty deep roots in Philly, too. I will say, however, that merging onto the Schuylkill expressway was the closest experience to driving in Beirut that I've ever had outside of Lebanon. ← Gotta love those "right-into-the-full-speed-left-lane" on ramps, eh?

There's black cherry, cedar, pencil lead and spiciness all rolled into one