KatieLoeb

Dewar's is our House scotch and what you'd be served if you simply asked for a Rob Roy. No one sends them back, as far as I know.

Maybe it's just my metabolism that doesn't seem to do well when I mix too many things. It's like making Hairy Buffalo Punch in your stomach or draining the bar mats and making shots. :shudder: An old college roommate of mine that was a pre-med at the time told me that a hangover is really just an overabundance of the enzymes that break down alcohol in your bloodstream. Hence, the old "Hair of the Dog that Bit You" theory has some small basis in fact. I also find that the higher the sugar content the louder the drum section in my head the next morning. Getting stinking drunk on cordials, dessert wines, port or anything with a good dose of sugar in it seems to make the throbbing and level of pain much higher.

Gentleman Jack is good stuff. A bit mellower than the regular Jack Daniels because it's charcoal filtered twice. I think it makes an outstanding Manhattan.

In addition to the water I'd suggest keeping a "theme" for the evening such as Vodka, Gin, Whiskey or whatever. The Hangover From Hell always comes from drinking too many different things, not just too much. Although simply drinking too much can put a hurtin' on 'ya too!

I think she's saying that you should wait until the fall when the weather isn't so hot to ship your wine. You know how hot the inside of your car gets on a summer day. And that's presumably with you running the AC while you're in it. You really don't want your wine baking in the back of a non-cooled FedEx or UPS truck, do you? Many wineries/wine shops won't ship from June through September for this reason.

Welcome Sandy!! And thanks Andrew, for helping with recruitment responsibilities. Sandy, I hope you'll be able to drop in and help instigate discussion here. The voice of local journalists is one that we definitely welcome. Looking forward to having you around and I hope you'll have time to join us for one of our DDC or Pizza Club forays.

From today's Philadelphia Inquirer NJ BBQ Champs

Gorgonzola and Figs Pineapple and Mint Strawberries and Tarragon Any sharp cheese and spicy apple butter

Now, now. Be nice. If drinking the Paterno has gotten some timid consumers to take off their training wheels, toss aside their Beringer White Zinfandel and drink some "real" wine then it's a very good thing. You gotta start somewhere. For the American culture and palate, which does not serve wine with dinner every evening, wine is definitely an acquired taste. I don't know anyone that "trained" on Château Beychevelle. And if I did I'd have to marry him!

With all due respect, if that story is factually correct and without any exaggeration then it would be considered a mercy killing. They might as well have put a dead mouse under his salad greens and sprinkled it with cockroaches masquerading as bacon bits and then offered to take off half the cost of the entree. Sheesh. A management team that doesn't respond to a truly disgusting lapse in service like that needs to GO. What a bunch of Philistines.

And Tafelspitz!!! And Apfelstudel!!!

D'oh!! The Hedges Three Vineyard Red is my wine list and I completely forgot to mention it! This too is a delicious wine, although more akin to a fine Bordeaux. Try this one too!

I think as you taste and try more things you'll get a better grasp of the "winespeak" and be able to articulate your desires/preferences better. I definitely think you should give the Snoqualmie a go, since I think you'll appreciate the balance and flavors. It's very well made wine, just not at all like the typical California Cabernet humongous fruit bombs that you may be accustomed to if that's what you've drank in the past. However, the flavor of good Cabernet fruit is definitely there and recognizable. It's just a bit more "feminine" and restrained.

David If you don't mind "old school steakhouse" then I'd highly recommend dinner at Capital Grill. I've found the service excellent, the food delicious and the atmosphere very elegant. The wine list is quite extensive, and there are some hidden gems on there as well. And I believe you might be able to have a cognac and your beloved post-prandial stogie right there at the bar. Just a thought...

If you really love the big assed California "Cabernet flavored Jolly Rancher" wines, the Snoqualmie will be a disappointment to you. It's restraint and lack of being a fruit bomb smack in the face is what I liked about it however.

Deux Cheminees

Batuta: You are obviously a wonderful hostess. The place settings look gorgeous and the food is beautifully presented. Even if your guests "got it" but it wasn't interesting to them, it's certainly interesting to the captive audience you have here! Please keep posting! There's a large group of folks here that live vicariously through each other's posted "food porn".

I recently had a bottle of Snoqualmie Vineyards Colombia Valley Cabernet that was quite tasty and very reasonably priced at about $9.00. I thought it tasted quite a bit more expensive than it was.

I thought he meant Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area, not some other dog joint called Abe's. I'm confused now.

It's cows milk, although they joked about starting a buffalo farm. They sell packaged buffalo mozz that they don't make themselves. James - you want the dried fresh mozzarella, not the wet fresh stuff. I specifcally asked what the difference between the fresh samples and the bigger lumpier and yellower cheese in the glass case was and was told, "You don't want to use this stuff on pizza - it's too wet. You use the dried on a pizza or on pasta."

I just returned from Casieficio Claudio with two still warm balls of fresh mozzarella and a big jar of pesto. These will be sliced and served with some of the gorgeous tomatoes I purchased at the Farmer's Market at 2nd and South earlier today, and a pesto vinaigrette. Yeah baby! The copious samples were still warm and slightly salty. The freshest cheese I've certainly ever tasted. The texture is incredible - a pleasant rubbery-ness that I don't believe I've ever experienced before with fresh mozz. The shop is very cool and you can watch them unmolding the cheese balls from the machine into a big vat of salted water. There a hopper type vat on top and then a large round barrel shaped die with round holes in it. I saw them switch the die cast mold from the smaller holes that make the bite sized rounds to the larger one that makes the 3-4 oz. cheese balls. It's kind of like a giant Play-Dough machine, but with cheese. Everyone needs to get down there and check this place out. It's the only cheese machine of it's kind in the US . Holly might have to go down there and take some picture to update the Claudio's portion of his website. Just a thought...

Pineapple rum, muddled mint and Bitter Lemon soda. Muy refrescoso! Mango rum, orange juice & an optional splash of triple sec. Shake and strain into cocktail glass. Top with sparkling wine and a little splash of pomegranate juice to take the sweet edge off it. Coconut rum and any other tropical juice flavor you like: pineapple, guava, pasisonafruit, mango. Go nuts!

Here in Hoagie Land, I believe a "grinder" refers to a HOT sandwich like meatballs or Eggplant Parmesan, that has spent a little time crisping up in an oven and having the cheese get all melty on top. Interesting that it's the same thing as a hoagie in New England.

The Liberace of the culinary world. My apologies to both spikemom and wongste. I guess my darker and sarcastic sense of humor didn't translate well this time. It just seemed rather obvious (to me at least), that Susanna Foo was the more approriate venue for a Szechuan chef. That being said, it went without saying that a restaurant would have the accoutrements apropos of their own cuisine. Chinese restaurant probably wouldn't have a pasta machine, an Italian restaurant wouldn't have a wok. Duh, yes? Sorry if I offended anyone. I never got the vibe that Chef Kenichi and Morimotosan were buds, if you know what I mean. In fact, I don't even know that they were ever on the show in the same time frame, were they? I suppose I don't take notes as to who's on with whom, but I don't specifically remember any interactions with the two of them.

Not really. Morimoto specializes in Japanese cuisine, not Chinese. Logistically speaking, a Chinese restaurant is more likely to have the equipment and ingredients he needs, woks, big Chinese cleavers, etc. It would be really cool to have in Philly a King of Iron Chefs battle between Chen-san and Morimoto-san though. What wouldn't I give to be on that tasting panel... Duh - yeah. He's a chef that specializes in Chinese (even more specifically, Szechuan) cuisine. Chen Kinichi guest cheffing at a Japanese, French, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, Cuban, Lativan, Polish or German restaurant, Argentinian Rodizio House, Belgian Frites stand or whatfreakingever doesn't really make sense, does it? Sort of what I was implying, no? Am I being too oblique?