KatieLoeb

Guess with all those substitutions, it bears little or no resemblance to classic Waldorf ... but it sure sounds good, Katie! Maybe a Sheraton Plaza instead of the Waldorf? ← Perhaps a Trump Plaza?? The Fennel Fronds could be smoothed into submission with the dressing and bear resemblance to Donald's hair.

The "Katie's Funky Waldorf" that I serve in the summertime includes sliced Fennel instead of celery, diced pears instead of apples and cashews instead of walnuts. Crumbled gorgonzola and chopped fennel fronds to garnish. Dressing consists of VERY thick commercial Russian or Thousand Island dressing (I usually use the Marie's that's refrigerated in the produce section and is approximately the texture of mayonaisse) and thin it with a few tablespoons of thawed apple juice concentrate. That's it. Simple and very tasty.

Why no kosher ostrich??? Is it because they can't fly? Chickens can't really fly so much either. Someone in the know (Bloviatrix, GG, anyone) has to explain this one to me because now it's upsetting me that my kosher friends can't have ostrich. I like ostrich. Tastes like steak!

The Syrah is probably the next bottle I'll open. Maybe even tonight. I'll post notes too if that's the case. That Sausage and Sage stuffing sounds divine!

Who do I make the check payable to? Just tell us what we need to know. Anyone that was there last time knows you can't put a price on that sort of comraderie and fun, not to mention awe inspiring and gracious hospitality.

Just want to clarify I select the Products available through the on line store and for our wine of the month club The Wine Connection. BTW another tip Lucky Country a 'second' label of Two Hands just arrived in our stores The Lucky Country Shirz/Cab just got 90 points in the Wine Advocate and the Lucky Country GSM got 87 points. ← I'm very fond of the Lucky Country blend and am considering it for a by-the-glass pour at Rouge in the near future. I've met the winemaker at Two Hands and he's a nice fellow. Does wonderful things with grape juice too! The Two Hands Angel's Share Shiraz is one of my very favorites. I picked up a bottle of the Lucky GSM (Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre) at my run to the 12th Street store on my way home from work last night. In addition I picked up some of the 2000 vintages of the Burgess wines including the Cabernet ($12.99), Syrah($9.99) and the Zinfandel which is on sale for the truly astonishing price of $7.99. I had the Zin with my steak dinner last night and it was excellent! Possibly the tastiest $8 bottle I've had in some time. I'm going to pick up a whole mess of that as my "house wine" for the foreseeable future. It's a total no brainer. And it's REAL Russian River Zin, even at that price. It's never going to compete with Turley, but for $8 it is varietally true and quite lovely. It smells of all kinds of blue/black fruits like plums and blueberries and blackberries and has a nice level of spiciness and smooth edges from oak aging. Good fruit intensity and full body (14.4% alcohol). These sorts of characteristics are generally completely unavailable at that price point. Good Stuff!!!

Me too. I'm so in! I'm prepared to peel another twenty pounds of potatoes. Whoopee! I get to see Katie and Blondie and Dean and Al and Malawry and Marlene and Dave again ---and others too numerous to mention. Marlene, you get a new title to add to your already impressive list: Fairy Godmother. Thank you. ← What she said!!! Whooppeee!!!

A joke, yes? PLEASE tell me you're kidding...

Warn the neighbors. Now!

The small amount of flavoring used wouldn't reveal the coughing and tearing you'd experience actually drinking a full measure of the stuff, believe me. Besides, an extract is usually cooked in some way and part of a whole lot of other ingredients. It's just not as obviously harsh as a shot of the stuff could be. That Prickly Pear tequila sounds very intriguing!

I suspect if you could drag that crow to a kosher butcher and have it dispatched appropriately, it might be. Then again - it is the flying equivalent of a bottom feeder so it might not be OK. Crows don't eat carrion, do they???

I'm nothing if not consistent

Actually Andie, Everclear is what I've used in the past. It's available in "neighboring states", shall I say, and it works great but still has a harshness that'll singe the lining of your esophagus like nothing you've ever had, even diluted down to vodka strength. One past batch of limoncello was made with Everclear to start (just enough to cover the peels in the jar by about 1/2") and then diluted down with spring water, simple syrup and regular vodka. That was a bit better and not nearly as "hot" as an all Everclear batch.

I'll be happy to bartend! Hot pickled green beans in a martini sound fabulous!

Oh oh oh!!! Could it be true?? I am SO there for this! Wouldn't miss it for anything, and will undoubtedly try to drag some more Philly Pholk along with Charlie and myself. With ample warning more batches of limoncello could be started.

WELCOME DEIDRE!!! Outstanding! Glad you could join us! And thanks for the update on the '92 Burgess. Wow - you might be an even better spy than the folks I've already enlisted! Where do you live? Are you in Harrisburg? Just curious... Thanks again for joining us and we look forward to your perspective on things. Your tasting notes are most welcome since I can't taste everything - as valiantly as I might try , and you're probably tasting it far in advance of it's availability to me. Rock on sister! Help me out here...

Sam: If you find such a thing please report back. There's no doubt that the higher proof spirits really make for a far better infusion. The stronger alcohol really pulls the flavored oils and color out of the peels better. Unfortunately it's at the expense of the finished product, IMO.

Percy: Those would be tartaric acid crystals which sometimes will separate out of the wine. Other "sediments" that will separate out and either stick to the cork or fall to the bottom of the last glass you pour can be bits of particulate grape skin, dead yeast cells, etc. This happens over time so this is why older vintage wines are often decanted - both for the aeration and to get the nasty sediments out. This stuff is nothing harmful, just unpleasant - kinda like waking up face down at the beach!

Is it likely though, that the stuff that's commercially available can't be found by an avid amateur? I'm certain the high proof neutral spirits that are used for commercial preparations are meant to be smoother in the first place. If there were a big enough market for smoother high proof neutral spirits (read: an organized lobby of home Limoncello makers) rather than the clientele that currently exists for the product (read: Frat boys making Hairy Buffalo Punch in trash cans and not caring about how harsh it is because Kool-Aid covers a lot of flaws) then things might be different.

Grain alcohol will absolutely yield a harsher end result than high proof vodka. No question about it. Even grain alcohol that's diluted with water is harsher than a better filtered vodka. The "sweetness" in Limoncello is from the fruit and the simple syrup. If grain alcohol were so sweet and appealing, people would drink it instead of sterilizing lab equipment with it, no? I recommend finding a vodka whose flavor and level of smoothness you like before it becomes limoncello. Make sure you use enough fruit to get a deep yellow color in the infusion after several weeks (or even months if you're patient enough) before sweetening and diluting to taste. I also recommend the microplane for removing the zest since you expose more surface area with the little shreds of peel than you do with strips of peel removed with a vegetable peeler or paring knife.

Lisa: This is very cool! I was just at the Fort Washington Expo Center last weekend in fact, on Sunday afternoon at a big craft show. It's a pretty good exhibition space. Will you be working the show? Do you know which day, if so? Let me know because I'll try and plan to be there, both to see Alton Brown and to attend the wine tasting with Melissa Monosoff of the Four Seasons. She and I used to work together when Avenue B was still around and Striped Bass was still under prior management. Should be an interesting afternoon!

Yes - Burgess tends to hang onto their stuff until they deem it's "ready". ← ha, what does that say about the 2000 that's all over? drink now, it says to me. i picked up three bottles of it tonight, and will report back later. tonight i also picked up my first bottle of decent wine with a screw top, a new zealand sauv blanc which is mighty nice. ← James: The aging of the wines at Burgess is more about the "Reserve" level selections like the '92 "Library Selection" than it is about the "Drink Me Now" Napa Valley 2000. I suspect the 1992 has more site specific grape juice in it. So whose wine is the screw cap Sauv Blanc?? Just curious since I have some limited experience with NZ screw cap wines, but am always curious as to which wineries are going "cork free", as it were.

so who's a member here? ← Ahh. The venerable Union League. Definitely a men's club sort of atmosphere with dark wood, big leather chairs and tons of portraits of former slave owners lining the walls.

Yesterday we had spaghetti and meatballs. Today -I had some Lobster Chowder off the menu and then staff meal of chicken salad with Granny Smith apples, tomato and bacon sandwiches.

One of the owners of the Abbaye was kind enough to call me today, just to check and make sure everything was fine once he'd left. How is that? I thanked him for extending the Happy Hour prices to our crew and he said, "Oh! Didn't I tell you we were going to do that?" Um - no. If I'd known that I'd have told everyone ahead of time. Anyhow - this has confirmed to me how great the staff is there and how hard they try to please their clientele. Will definitely stop by there more frequently.