KatieLoeb

D'oh! Quite right. The entire week is a bit of a blur, as I'm sure you can imagine. The muffaletta was an amazing and frugal lunch (with charming company I might add.) Really grooved on the Zapp's Tabasco flavored chips too. They remind me of the Lancaster County varieties of lardy chips I'm so fond of up here. And I will happily return and take you up on your gracious offer of oysters. I'll let you know when as soon as I do!

If a drink contains only a small amount of citrus and mostly boozy ingredients, I'll stir it to keep the pristine clear and unclouded look. This only works if there's a negligible amount of citrus by volume, compared to the other ingredients. Rolling might be an option I hadn't considered that would keep the clarity intact as well. Mostly I get requests to "shake it until your hands can't take the cold anymore", or "shake it like it's someone you hate that won't shut up."

Quit and then apply for unemployment. They'll fight it and you will get the opportunity to embarrass them at a hearing, explaining how they made your working situation untenable on a non-living wage. Bring up how they'll have to make up the difference between your earnings and minimum wage. Add how they've made it impossible for you to do the jobs you've taken upon yourself due to the non-payment of invoices. They'll either settle before a hearing takes place or you'll win and qualify for unemployment to tide you over while you look for an employer that really appreciates you.

Wow - those pictures bring new meaning to the phrase "tie one on", as in the de rigeur bibs. Looks like an awesome event. I had the pleasure of meeting Waldy at a Book and the Cook event at the late lamented Smoked Joint restaurant in Philadelphia in 2006. He was kind enough to sign a copy of his book for me. He's the real deal, as chefs go. If I could make it to the Chowder, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

Can anyone provide an address for mapping purposes?? How far is this from Center City?

Another advantage of using simple syrup is you can make your own flavors for use in lemonade or iced tea. Mint, mixed herb, or lavender are just a few that are delicious in either.

Ohmigosh those heirloom tomatoes are gorgeous! <swoon> Tomorrow will be the first Sunday I'm home and without other obligations that would cause me to miss the Headhouse Market. You'd better believe I'm going to try and get over there (it's a scant two blocks from my house - I have no excuse!) and see what there is to be had.

Well, let's see. I had a half dozen delicious oysters ($7.50) and a draught barleywine (approx. $4) at Bourbon House for lunch one afternoon. That was a bargain and absolutely outstanding. I also had a bowl of chicken and andouille gumbo at The Coffee Pot as an afternoon snack/late lunch one afternoon and it was quite tasty. Cute little place that serves authentic foods. I understand that they're widely known for their calas, or Creole rice cakes, but I was there at sort of an off hour in the middle of the afternoon and wanted something a little less breakfast like. I did try the “Dirty Duck” Calas, roasted fig & foie gras mousse at The Swizzle Stick Bar at Cafe Adelaide. Procrastination had aced me out of the series of special dinners one evening, so I went back to the Swizzle Stick (where I'd thoroughly enjoyed a few cocktails the night before) and treated myself to dinner at the bar, one of my favorite things to do almost anywhere. The calas were shredded duck meat and rice that was formed into a ball a little smaller than a tennis ball and breaded and fried. Came two to a plate, standing up with a piece of sugar cane in it like a lollipop, with a fondue like sauce that was insanely rich and decadent. This outrageous plate of deliciousness was all of like $14. That, a couple of cocktails and a tip ran me a little over $30, which I thought was an insane value for the level of cuisine coming both from the kitchen and from behind the bar. Chef Danny Trace himself even asked me how everything was when he stopped by the bar to pick something up. Cafe Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick are a little outside the Quarter in the Warehouse District, located in the Loews Hotel. It's a short walk or cab ride from the Quarter. Another place in the Warehouse District that was fabulicious and cheap was Mother's, where I shared dinner with fellow Philly barkeeps Phil and Nick. We shared a softshell crab Po Boy, a gigantic bowl of gumbo and a gigantic bowl of jambalaya between the three of us. It was down homey and possibly some of the best examples of authentic New Orleans cuisine I sampled while there. All told, with some non-alcoholic beverages on the side, that feast ran us around $15/person. I definitely feel like I got a good glimpse of both the high end of NOLA cuisine (I also had an outstanding dinner with several other eGulleteers at Cochon my first night in town) and of the more "peasant" end of the spectrum. But there's so much more I didn't get to see and do I simply have to go back! New Orleans is my new favorite city and I couldn't have enjoyed myself more.

Best tip I have for banana bread is to separate the eggs and beat the whites fluffy. Fold the fluffy whites into whatever recipe you're making as your last step before the pans and the oven. The difference in the final texture is quite noticeable.

I usually muddle my herbs or fruit with simple syrup or juice first, then add everything else. Never really thought out the logic of the expense. For me, it was about muddling into a small amount of liquid that would then carry the flavors into the rest of the ingredients, including the largest volume of base spirit. The cost argument makes sense, but doesn't really matter if the mistake you make is picking up the wrong bottle, though.

Holly: Nice pics, btw. You need to check out Chestnut Hill Coffee Co. on Germantown Avenue. The barista there, John Hornall, trains other baristas for these sorts of competitions. I suspect he could do the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in a big enough mug.

That thought occurred to me as well, but I figured it would either look like a Cosmo or Pepto-Bismol, niether of which seemed either original or pleasing. The Argento is really pretty floating in the drink - which is actually more violet than it appears...

Tonight's project - refining a recipe for the Ultimate Cocktail for a Cure competition. I only have a few days left to get this right. Hendrick's gin, Pama liqueur and Easy Leaf Argento Fino edible silver leaf are all required ingredients. I won't reveal my exact recipe as I still have a bit of tweaking to do, but this contains all of the required ingredients as well as a few other alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixers. I was shooting for the look of a night sky. Starry Night It's a lousy cell phone pic, but my digital camera is giving me grief at the moment. What do you think??

Congratulations to Tom and Sara Block of Naked Chocolate Cafe! They've been named one of the Ten Best Places in the World to Eat Chocolate. But we already knew that...

Maybe folks will wise up and buy one of those filters for their home and refill their own water bottles, stop supporting the shysters that don't need their money and create less biodegradeable garbage for the landfills. The primary reason for bottled water is convenience. It's more convenient to fill your own and not have to go buy them. Not to mention more economical. Maybe now that the "secret" is out folks will realize they've been ripped off and can do better themselves.

In the Mint Julep seminar I attended at Tales of the Cocktail, Chris McMillian of the Library Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans explained that the simple syrup is used as an "adhesive" of sorts, to get the leaves to stick to the sides of the glass, flattened out if possible, and then a gentle bruise can occur. We did an experiment where we took a mint leaf between our thumb and forefinger in each hand. We gently rubbed one, and mangled the other one hard. The gently bruised one smelled sweet and fragrant, the destroyed one was bittered. I'll never over muddle again after that little demo. Makes perfect sense. The other fascinating part of the Julep demo was the lovely prose Chris recited as he so carefully constructed his julep. It's an ode to the julep written by Judge Joshua Soule Smith circa 1890. It's about halfway down the page HERE. Nearly brought tears to my eyes. I shall never again construct a julep without showing it the appropriate respect.

Any of the books written by Sandra Woodruff are an excellent starting point. I like her style, the recipes are usually not too fussy, and she really knows her stuff because she's a trained dietician, not someone with a new fad diet to market. Ms. Woodruff's Secrets of Fat Free Italian Cooking is one of my most dog eared cookbooks. The Turkey-Mushroom Bolognese sauce is to die for. The other books in the Secrets of Fat-Free [fill in ethnicity of your choosing] books are also very good. The Greek book has been getting a lot of play in my kitchen lately to good results.

<big heavy sigh> Silveri's!!! Gosh, I'd almost forgotten how much I loved that place! Everything there was great. It was one of my first favorite pub crawl places in Philly...

McGillin's Olde Ale House on Drury between 13th & Juniper, just south of Chestnut Street. Tuesday nights they're cheap too - .25/wing IIRC. They used to be even cheaper back in the Jurassic when I was known to hang out there. Place can be packed to the gills with college students, but it's probably better in the summer when many of them are gone. The wings at London Grill are always good. I've eaten a few of those in my time. I could probably build a henhouse full of chickens with the bones, in fact... MadMex off of Penn's campus does decent wings too. Those are an expecially good deal for the late night Happy Hour from 11PM-1AM when all the apps are half price and the margaritas are discounted too. They have some interesting flavors other than the standard. For take-out, King of Wings in South Philly is pretty good.

Chef - my very best wishes to you and yours. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. You are a man of great talent and perseverance. I have no doubt you will beat this with your usual aplomb. You are surrounded not only by family and friends that are near, but by many of us from afar that wish you a speedy recovery.

The thinned walled glasses look a lot prettier, but tend to be an expensive proposition, especially in a commercial environment where they take all manner of abuse. For putting in the freezer, either at home or in a restaurant, you want something that won't break if you look at it cross-eyed. Thicker is better for this sort of application. Schott-Zweisel makes a beautiful break resistant Tritan martini glass that might be a fine compromise if you don't mind laying out $13/stem. The Tritan glassware is pretty good stuff and can be knocked over, at least, without shattering into a thousand shards.

I'm guessing they mean LeBlon cachaca. There are better ones out there, but I don't know what's available in Rhode Island. I'd be very curious to try some of those cocktail creations, though. They sound quite interesting and I love the names!

D'oh! I'm ashamed I didn't know the name of my former employer's new place of business. I've passed by while it was being built. The interior looked interesting. We should give them a little time for the inevitable shake out before passing judgement. It's never fair to judge before a little time has passed to allow them to get into the groove...

Much to my surprise, I ordered an absinthe frappe at Jean Lafitte's Old Absinthe House last week while I was in New Orleans and whilst it was poured with all the ritual and flair and with proper accoutrements, it was made with Absente! I was stunned, to say the least. Or at least as stunned as I could manage to be at the level of inebriation I'd reached at that late point in the evening. Am I wrong, or should a place known for it's absinthe be one of places pouring the real deal?

There's an extremely long wait at Olive Garden and Red Lobster too. The line is meaningless. The food looking good is meaningless if it tastes like crap. What's the address of this place and who's running it?