rlibkind

I think as it was used in the Colonial era, when you said "Lemme hav' another shrub, Joe", you didn't have to specify you wanted a rum shrub. Some dictionary definitions, however, say a shrub is the actual beverage (whether with or without alcohol) produced from an acidulated fruit syrup, rather than the syrup itself, while other sources define the shrub as the syrup itself. So take yer cherce. In England (up until the time in the 19th century when the temperance movement went into full gear) a shrub was always thought of as an alcholic beverage made with the vinegared fruit (usually citrus) syrup.

Shrubs date back to at least the 18th century. Raspberry, iirc, was the most common flavor, but others existed. Since they were so popular in Colonial America, one would assume it would have been combined with the Colonials' favorite firewater, rum. There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal's Weekend Journal a couple of months ago about the history of shrubs (along with some recipes); I'd link to it but it's behind the wsj.com subscribers-only wall. If you are interested in buying some shrubs here's a link to Tait Farm Foods, which makes an excellent product. I particularly like the raspberry and ginger varieites. (They also make an excellent flavor for salad dressings.)

Have a great trip! Look forward to hearing all about it, and especially if Thurston's is holding up. Can't imagine it won't -- it's a great view and it's hard to ruin steamed lobster and clams. PS: There was an interesting article in the Boston Globe about XYZ a couple of weeks ago. I've posted a link elsewhere in the New England forum, but just in case, here it is again.

The RTM was still pretty manageable when I was there between 945 and 1115 a.m. There was, however, a fairly large convention in town, some sort of medical science group. Their badges were quite discrete. I missed the pawpaws Saturday, they were gone by 9:45. Dwayne Livengood said they were from his family's tree; there should be lots more next week after Sam Consylman hits his favorite riverbanks. Also, Dwayne pointed out that the chestnuts have started. Autumn is definitely here. Did you get any of that cider, James?

Wow! Sounds like a great HDR. Sorry I missed this year's version. Well, as the cellar-dwelling team manager would say, There's Always Next Year!

Huh? Paul Steinke's email (and the Inky article) said the Sunday openings weren't to start until Oct. 15. Who was open today? Also, you said you're just back from dim sum in Chinatown. I didn't know any dim sum joints were open on Sundays much before 10:30-11 a.m. Who is?

The manager at Spice Terminal tells me he doesn't intend to open on Sundays, at least not when the Iggles are playing.

New t-shirts at the Down Home Diner for sale. One bright red shirt is emblazoned with: "I Bacon", another with "Eat More Scrapple". To accompany some pork, apple cider is ideal. Benuel Kaufman has the unpasteurized, unfiltered variety. I bought a quart today for $2.25. If you've never had it (and don't have a serious immune system disorder), get yourself some. It's a rare seasonal treat. A fish I've rarely seen before at the RTM: Yellow Pike, $14.99/pound for filets at John Yi's. They also had halibut filet on special at $10.99. O.K. Lee had a good deal on limes, a bag of about eight for 99 cents, and bags of about half a dozen lemons at the same price. (Iovine's was selling the limes at 5 for a buck, lemons 3 for a buck.) Other good deals at O.K. Lee included mixed colored peppers (red, green,yellow) at 99 cents for a two-pound bag, 79 cents for all greens. Lancaster County Bartlett pears, 99 cents for a 1-1/2 pound bag. Red cabbage, 39 cents. Pepper survey at Iovine Brothers: Reds and Greens 99 cents, Oranges and Yellows $3.99. About six varieties of eggplants, with prices at 79 cents for the local purples and going up from there. Hass avocadoes back down to a dollar apiece. The chantarelles looked particularly good this morning, but as pricey as ever at $34.99. Small black radishes, $2.49/pound. Would you believe pumpkin pie flavored coffee? UGH! But Spice Terminal had it among its flavored coffees today. More cases delivered and partially installed at the new Giunta's butcher shop; they still have a long way to go if they intend to open this month.

What Sentiamo said. Use it now or lose it later. But "dead ripe" fruit is, with few exceptions, the best possible state for just about any fruit. Especially if you're going to turn it into something like sorbet or ice cream. Or just eat out of hand.

Rich, I suspect these will be fightin' words to ya, and no disrespect intended, but based on my one recent foray to Old Forge (Salerno's Cafe), I'd sooner have Lorenzo's. Though I'd be willing to try your favored Arcaro & Genell's or Maxie's before passing a definitive judgement.

RTM Manager Paul Steinke says they've got buy-in from 22 of 77 merchants so far. Last year, for the four Sundays prior to Christmas, they had 42 merchants open, Paul said. No doubt more than the 22 will join, but how many more is open to question. No doubt Iovine Brothers will be open -- Vinnie and Jimmie have been chomping at the bit to be open Sundays (as well as into the early evening on weekdays). And Hershel's Deli, the new Jewish style deli slated to open this fall, will no doubt be a Sunday opener. (Lox and bagels, anyone?) Certainly the Amish won't participate. In the past, many of the Amish merchants said they would pull out of the market entirely if it was to open on Sunday on a regular basis, even if they were not required to be open on Sunday. (I never thought that was a real threat, because there are plenty of other Amish willing to take their place.) My guess is most of the lunch places will be open on Sunday, but I would also expect at least one of the butchers would join the Sunday group. Martin's didn't during last year's four-Sunday run, but maybe his brother Charlie, with a new store, will; Harry Ochs and all three fish markets participated in the Sunday thing last year. Iovine's did, O.K. Lee did not. Here's a list of the merchants who were open Sundays last year: 12th Street Cantina Amazulu Amy's Place Bassetts Ice Cream Bee Natural Beer Garden Blue Mountain Vineyards Chocolate by Mueller Coastal Cave Cookbook Stall De Village African Art Down Home Diner Downtown Cheese Don't Forget Your Pet Famous 4th St. Cookies Flower Basket Foster's Gourmet Cookware Golden Bowl Golden Fish Market Harry G. Ochs & Sons Iovine Bros Produce John Yi Fish Market Market Blooms Natural Connection Nanee's Kitchen Old City Coffee Olympic Gyro Original Turkey Pennsylvania General Store Profi's Creperie Rick's Philly Steaks Rocco's Famous Italian Hoagies Salumeria Salad Express Sang Kee Shoe Doctor Termini Brothers Bakery Terralyn: Bath, Body & Spirit Wan's Seafood Young Botanicals

Godshalls is the only place now. A.A. Halteman had it also, but they are now closed to make way for Giunta's. Afterthought: I don't recall ever seeing it there, but it's possible Dutch Country Meats might have rabbit.

Say what you will about Lorenzo's, it's still miles ahead of the pizzas you'll get at Little Pete's and similar places scattered in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. I'd much rather have a couple of slices of Lorenzo's than any of the so-called "style" pizzas.

A sure sign of fall: apple cider. Benuel Kaufman says he'll have it starting this Thursday at his Reading Terminal Market stall. I ate that big apple Sam Consylman sold me last Thursday. Definitely a Delicious on steroids, though with more flavor and slightly less sugar that those mealy Washington State examples. If I was going to give an apple to a teacher, this would be the one. On Monday, Sept. 25., the market hosts the "Local Food Expo," sponsored by the Fair Food Project. A similar event was held last spring for the restaurant and food supply industry, but this fall's event will be open to the public from 4 to 6 p.m., giving us mere consumers a chance to meet more than 20 family farmers and food producers from the region, showing and offering samples of the goods they offer. Next week (Thursday, Sept. 21) the monthly "Producers Corner" program will be "Indian Summer" with samples to taste of tomato and corn salad, peach cobblers, plum tarts and sangria. Some of the new cases are ready to be installed at Charlie Giunta's new natural meat store. There's a lot of work to be accomplish quickly if he's to make his goal of opening before the end of the month. No way will Hershel's deli be open before the Jewish high holydays; although design work is complete the vendor still needs permits from the city's Health and L&I departments. Until that happens, Spataro's stays put. LeBus, however, figures on beginning construction of its new stand this month. Blackberries were briefly availble at Benuel Kaufman's this past Saturday morning ($2.95 per half pint), but by the time I left the market at 11:15 they were gone. That's probably it for the season. Lots of Barlett pears at $1.49/pound. White peaches and green and colored bell peppers sold for $1.99, prune plums for $2/pint. Over at Iovine Brothers, local green peppers featured at 50 cents/pound, but all the colored varieties (none local) priced at $3.99. Local Gala apples also two pounds for a buck, local eggplant 79-cents a pound. Another sign of autumn, pomegranites $1.99 apiece. Hass avocados $1.99 (vs. $1.49 at O.K. Lee). Black figs $2.99/pint, red and green seedless grapes 99-cents, red globe, black seedless and muscatine grapes $1.99. Looking at my receipt I noticed that it offerd a 10 percent discount at the Down Home Diner; Jimmy Iovine said he's had that offer for months. Also offered at O.K. Lee, orange and yellow cauliflower at 99-cents a head. Excellent cactus pears still 79 cents apiece. Edited to fix days of Sept. 21 and 25 events

Any opinions from our Brussels residents of the restaurants in Ste. Catherine?

The best corned beef is made from brisket. The best pastrami is made from navel, which, in addition to being very hard to find, is great for pastrami, okay for hamburger (where most of it goes), useless for just about anything else.

It only matters if you're paying for it. For the sauce manufacturer, HFCS is cheaper per unit of perceived sweetness.

I'm ready to try that! Sounds delish. BTW, I've seen that outer part of a rib steak referred to as deckle before, but many butchers I know identify deckel as the fat adjacent to the brisket (not the point cut, but the fat between the point and flat, though some folks call the point cut deckle as well). Everyone's nomenclature is different when it comes to parts of a steer. But no matter what you call the fatty meat around the eye of the rib, it's the tastiest piece of beef I know.

I misspoke when I said sugar. It's probably high fructose corn syrup in the canned sauce.

Sugar.

Hardly decadent, but I made a Chinese style sauce (using peanut butter instead of sesame seed paste, since I was out of the latter) to serve atop cold chicken and noodles tonight. Lots of garlic and toasted, ground szechuan peppercorns in the sauce. Julienned cukes to cool it down.

The Fairmount market was brimming with lots of good things today, as well as a new (to me) vendor, Cressley Greenhouses & Produce Farm. I'll let these photos speak to some of the variety: Summer and fall veggies at Livengood's Cressley's peppers, eggplants and tomatoes Sam and his apples (and Earl's concord grapes, too) In addition to Brandywine and German stripped tomatoes, I picked up corn, peaches, canteloupes and, a special treat, apples from Sam Conslyman's tree. The smaller of the apples held by Sam is most likely a winesap relative. I ate a small one immediately after bring it home, and it was crisp and flavorful, sweet enough but not overpowering. The other apple appears to be a relative of Delicious, either a forebear or a cousin; it's huge, but I haven't tasted it yet. Sam took a walk by his local waterway near Lancaster this morning to check on the Paw Paw trees. He spotted the first fruit to drop, though it still wasn't quite ready. (Paw Paws are harvested after they drop; the art is to gather them before any critters do.) He expects they'll be peaking in 2 to 3 weeks.

Link works just fine. How would you compare it to other apple brandies, i.e., Calvados, Laird's in the US, etc.

Davydd, the whole point is to make sure others reading this thread understand that fungi identification is not something to be approached casually. Deciding whether or not a mushroom is safe to eat is not an area where one can accept even slight shades of differences of opinion. The visible properties which mark a "safe" from an "unsafe" mushroom can be exceedingly subtle and nuanced. I'm 99.9 percent sure the fungi you ate is safe. But if I'm only 99.9 percent sure of a mushroom's non-toxicity, then I won't eat it. The one-tenth of one percent chance of being wrong is too high for me, given the stakes.

One day later and I am still alive. ← Yes, you're still alive. And yes, a puffball is one of the most easily identifiable of fungi. So, you gonna try the next mushroom you see anyway if you aren't 100 percent certain of its identification? Plus, there are a number of mushrooms whose toxic effects don't show up until three or four days later (these are particularly nasty varieties, which usually attack the nervous system with a vengeance), so your being alive the day after you eat it is hardly proof of its safety. These are particularly nasty varieties, which usually attack the nervous system with a vengeance. And even these can taste good. Read the novel Debt to Pleasure.