KatieLoeb

They don't have to "ship" the wine and no special permissions are needed. The wine has to be "transferred" from the originating store to the PLCB store of your choosing. Even the one that's closest to home. The store manager should be able to call the store of origin and request the transfer for you. You might have to pay a deposit up front, not sure about that. But that's how it's supposed to work. You just spoke to some very clueless employees, I think.

Thanks for the info, folks. I'll test drive the shaker probably next weekend and let you know how it works as an ice crusher. My shakers are inside a cabinet, so they get a little less dusty. Doesn't mean they couldn't use a good dusting though...

I had a smoked duck BLT sandwich about a week ago that was quite delicious and big enough to share. I've always had great food there. Definitely give it another try.

Thanks Toby! I'm feeling pretty self satisfied at the riches I found. I really didn't mean to go on a shopping binge. I was really just looking for a birthday gift for my friend. It's his 60th coming up next week, and he loves proper table top accoutrement. He sets a lovely table to which I'm oft invited for dinners. Being I'm his favorite 'tender, it only seemed appropriate to get him something cocktail related. I'm really hoping he likes it. The crystal stems with the etching are so pretty I can't stand it. They'll definitely be my "photo shoot" glasses for any future cocktail pics.

Bringing this back to the "show us your stuff" aspect rather than the lovely prose, here are my latest eBay finds that have just arrived. Set of four vintage shakers. Paid about $30 with shipping for all four. I particularly like the one with the red stripes and the mixing blades at the bottom. Never used set with six short glasses and shaker. A bargain at around $18 with the shipping. Very pretty etched flower design on them. One glass had a tiny flea bite on the rim I was able to file out. This set will be a birthday gift for a dear friend that loves to entertain and serve a proper cocktail before dinner. I hope he likes it. I suspect he will. And my personal fave, and the biggest bargain of all: These are just gorgeous and are in absolutely mint condition. I won this auction for .99!! With the shipping these lovely crystal glasses came out to less than $2 per stem. I can hardly wait to use them. They're even prettier in person.

This evening's repast. Some Lamb Pelmeni from the frozen foods case with carmelized onions and some leftover sauteed mushrooms and shallots I'd tossed in the freezer. These were even better when I topped it with a little plain yogurt. The lamb pelmeni are worth the trip alone. Oh - and that pumpkin pastry made for a delicious breakfast. It wasn't really too sweet so I cut it open and dusted the filling side with some Toast Dope. Delicious. I want to try the savory beef pastries they had next time. I made a Cherry Gimlet as my cocktail of the evening, using some of the cherry juice I'd purchased, Stoli Elit and my homemade lime cordial. Refreshing but a hair too sweet. Easily fixed with a wee squeeze of fresh lime juice. Next trip when I buy some black currant juice I want to come up with a darker version of a Cosmopolitan. I think that'll be interesting.

Are there any enclaves of Middle Eastern or Turkish immigrants in Japan?? I've found the Cortas brand of Orange flower and Rose water to be quite reliable and universally available at Middle Eastern markets.

Bell's Market is my absolutely favorite new place! I was slack jawed and delirious with glee at all the things I found today. Amazing jarred, boxed and canned products (although some of them are frustrating as there are directions in Russian, Polish and Ukranian, none of which I could read!), amazing prepared foods and the most glorious cases filled with smoked fishes and sausages I think I've ever seen. Check this out: That's about a 9"x6" slab of smoked trout that cost me all of about $4. It's a little tough on the outside, but once the skin is peeled back, the smoked flesh of the fish is as delicious as any I've ever tasted. I had some on a multigrain wafer with some fresh farmer's cheese with dill I bought in the prepared foods section. Delicious. Really yummy half sour pickles came home as well. Got a few stuffed cabbage and a stuffed pepper for dinners this week also in prepared foods, as well as some frozen pierogies and lamb raviolis that looked interesting from the frozen food cases. I bought some sort of pastry that's a gigantic triangle filled with pumpkin filling. I had a couple of bites and it's delicious, but I'm saving most of it for my morning coffee tomorrow. Yum. After finding a few of the boxed products with English directions, I bought several different varieties of boil-in-bag side dishes. Buckwheat groats, lentils and some other sort of multigrain groats that will help me stick to my attempts to eat less processed white carbs and more whole grain products. I also got a big container of mushroom stock powder to put into the water I'll boil them in to make them a bit more flavorful. There has to have been about 80 different varieties of cereals, grains and legumes that looked interesting, but the language barrier made my selections a bit more limited. Still, if they taste good, they'll definitely become part of the regular rotation on my dinner table. Then I got to the juice aisle. I thought. My head. Would explode. Oh. My. God. So many varieties of juices. So many cocktail possibilities, I got a little verklempt. I brought home two different kinds of pomegranate juice and some pomegranate molasses to make a batch of grenadine, as well as a carton of some sort of cherry juice I'll be playing with for cocktails. I think cherry-gin gimlets might be mighty tasty with the fresh lime cordial I made last weekend. I'll let you all know how that works out. Next trip I'll try some of the black currant juice that also looked intriguing. Although I didn't purchase any, there was an astounding selection of teas and honeys too. Worth a trip just for that stuff if you're into that. My one and only complaint with the place is that the checkout clerks seem to want to make as many bags as possible. Maybe all those older Russian ladies want smaller lighter bags, but I was frustrated that they were practically individually bagging every single item I'd purchased. I spent about $60 for what eventually I condensed into six overstuffed bags. Last time I went to a standard American supermarket the average cost of the groceries was about $20/bag, so I think I made out like a bandit. I'll report back on how the dinners come out later in the week. So the moral of the tale is that I am loving Bell's Market. It's the nicest ethnic market I've been to in some time. Thanks to all of you that brought it to my attention. I'll be eating much better from now on.

Sentiamo: I appreciate the thought but houseplants and I are a bad combination for several reasons. A large potted tree would have to come inside at some point and I'd have no where to put it. The cats like to dig up the dirt and chew on the vegetation and then throw up in inappropriate places (like my bed, for example ). The other problem is that I seem to have inherited none of my mother's Green Thumb. She was able to resurrect things I killed. I have a Black Thumb. It isn't malicious, just a bit of benign neglect. But I'm really bad with plants. The rose geranium that's in the inaccessable-to-cats window in my kitchen is still alive through sheer will alone. It's really a minor miracle.

I had only ever seen the kaffir lime leaves available frozen at the large Asian markets, so finding them fresh was a real treat. As it turned out, when I went to put the rest of the leaves in the freezer I found the ones I'd bought last time, so the major mission was sort of moot. It pissed me off until I realized the fresh ones made the lime cordial so good. I'm making another batch this weekend - I've almost sold through the first batch of about a pint and bit. Needless to say, the lime cordial came out so well on the first try I'll never go back to Rose's again. It's particularly tasty with the Hendrick's gin.

Here's my latest twist on a Moscow Mule. Mumbai Mule 1.5 oz. Pearl Pomegranate Vodka (or other Pomegranate vodka) 1 oz. pomegranate juice 1 oz. homemade ginger beer .5 oz fresh lime juice .75 oz. spiced simple syrup Shake over ice and drop into a Collins glass. Add a splash each of soda and ginger ale. Stir and garnish with a lime wedge.

And you don't have to spend $10 at any one merchant. If you keep your receipts the merchant that puts your total purchases over $10 will stamp your parking ticket for you. This is almost always what happens with me. Thanks to rlibkind for the recommendation of the cryovac steaks at Giunta's. I bought myself one of those lovely cowboy steaks and grilled it up for dinner last night. Smothered in mushrooms and shallots sauteed with cognac it was one of the best dinners I'd made myself in a while. Here's what it looked like prior to cooking: That beauty only cost about $7.50 at just slightly under a pound. It was delicious!

OK - I'm feeling a little less stupid now. It really does seem like a lunch stand, but I made acquaintance with the fridge full of fresh ingredients today, as well as noticed the canned, jarred and packaged products behind the glass at the stand. Again, I'll never bother to look anywhere else for Thai stuff. This is just too easy for future reference.

I had a donut today (a rare occasion for me), and I don't even celebrate Lent. I just thought with the ubiquitousness of fried dough/doughnuts happening throughout the city today, and being reported all over the news, I had to do my part. I had a blueberry glazed from the Wawa with my 20 oz. cup of coffee this afternoon whilst running errands all over town. And it was good...

So today I was on the hunt for frozen Kaffir Lime leaves for a batch of homemade Lime Cordial I'm attempting, for gimlets. Usually not a problem to find, but apparently the FDA inspectors have been raiding the large Asian markets on Washington Ave. and telling them they can't sell them. At least that's what I was told by the one English speaking manager at the market at 6th & Washington. What's a girl to do? I tried Anastasio produce on Christian, but they didn't have any. He suggested I try Iovine's at RTM. So I called Iovine's. They didn't have any either, but suggested I try A Little Thai Market. "Where???" ask I. "A Little Thai Market". Turns out that lovely little Thai stand where I've been buying great spring rolls and Thom Kha soup for lunch in RTM also sells Thai ingredients. I got a whole little baggie full of FRESH Kaffir lime leaves for $2.50. Since they freeze so well, it oughta last me for months. They couldn't have been nicer. Am I dense? Did anyone else notice that they sell all manner of Thai ingredients at that little stand? I'm delighted I found what I was looking for, and won't ever waste another second if I'm seeking Thai specific ingredients. The lime cordial is cooling on the stove as I type this. I'll let you all know how that turned out, but it smells pretty good so far...

Is Bell's Market open on Sundays? I think a trip there next weekend is definitely in order! I need pomegranate juice to make a fresh batch of grenadine for the bar at Chick's and I like the idea of finding some that's less sweetened so I can control the final level of sweetness more to my liking.

There was a report on the noon news on CBS3 today from Hegele's Bakery. They are pumping out a stunning number of fastnacht. They look delicious!

I've been playing around with a drink that would showcase the delicate plum flavors of Pearl Plum vodka. Here's the latest incarnation: Plum Blossom: 2.0 oz. Pear Plum vodka .5 oz fresh lemon juice .5 oz. pineapple juice .25 oz. St. Germain liqueur 1 tsp. Luxardo Maraschino liqueur splash cranberry juice dash Fee Brothers Lemon bitters Lemon Twist A very pretty liqht purple concoction that preserves the fresh plum flavor in the vodka. Not too sweet, not too tart. Definitely a keeper.

Patience is a virtue with producing Limoncello, although the microplaning helps move along the infusion process, it really does mellow a bit with time in the bottle. Katie, I had some bitterness the last time I made orangecello. That was after a three week infusion of microplaned orange peels. Could you explain the bitterness and bottle aging process? Thanks, Tim ← Tim: I think sometimes it's just about the small amount of pith that gets in with the colored part of the peels. Some fruits are more bitter than others "under the skin", so to speak. It might be pretty on the outside, but bitter under the surface. Kind of like some people we know, yes? A slight bit of bottle aging seems to benefit all "cellos". The bit of rest in the bottle seems to allow the balance of sweet and sour to come to its tipping point. At least in my experience. My next foray is to make a batch of fresh Lime Cordial, to replace that awful chemical flavored Rose's Lime behind my bar. I'll report back on my progress. If the Lime cordial is a success, I'll be making a batch of Lemon Cordial as well, for what I can only imagine will be some very refreshing Lemon Gimlets!

Get over to Amazon.com and get yourself a copy of TIme-Life Good Cook Series Variety Meats. That ought to tell you absolutely everything you'll ever want to know about cooking virtually any variety of offal. I have most of this series of books and treasure them. They don't get daily or even weekly use, but when I have a question about a specific food, there's no better place for an answer with excellent photos and step-by-step instructions.

Many options in Chinatown - Hand Drawn Noodles, Pho and other delicious soups, Peking Duck, food on sticks, etc. Perhaps if you tell us what you like we can make more specific selections. Or you could check out the Top Five Lists we compiled a while back. Reading Terminal should keep you busy for several meals and snacks. As for wine bars, there's Tria (two locations), Vintage, Panorama (with the big Mac Daddy cruvinet and 120 wines by the glass) and a humble little place I inhabit Wed-Sat. evenings you'll notice in my signature line. I'd be happy to pour you a glass or three if you stopped by Chick's during your visit.

Make sure you get a good differential in the makeup of the various bourbons. Get one with a high percentage of wheat (e.g. Maker's Mark and/or W.L. Weller Specail Reserve) vs. ones with a higher percentage of rye (Wild Turkey) and throw in some ringers for contrast (Booker's to taste something unfiltered and uncut). You'll start to taste the subtle differences that the makeup of the mashbill will produce, as well as the differences in aging. Should be some interesting lab work! Please report back. edited to add: On a careful second reading I realize you asked how to judge them, not how to choose them. I'd certainly look for characteristics like vanilla component, fruitiness, smoothness, spiciness, balance between sweetness and alcohol, complexity, finish, etc.

That may certainly be the next incarnation. I tried a bit of Blood Orange bitters in tonight's incarnation. I think I need to get my pomegranate supply and flavor intact before I start messing any further. I don't have the Rangpur at my bar yet, but that doesn't mean I won't. I might need to dial back the lime a bit and up the pomegranate in that case. Not sure how the gin flavors will play with all that.

I just tried one of the vegetable lasagna and really liked it. I'd certainly buy that again.

Jude: A delightful surprise to see you and your charming hubby! My friend Tom had a blast chatting with you too. I've been called worse than a dangerous inspiration, so I'll take that as a compliment! I wish I'd had the Mumbai Mule perfected when you visited, but the ginger beer and the visit to the Indian restaurant didn't take place funtil a few days later. Sometimes inspiration comes inconveniently timed. Please let me know if your experiments work out better than mine thusfar. Your deft hand in the kitchen could definitely have better success...