SLB

Me too! Can't wait!

I'm there pretty frequently because my best friend lives there. We often grab Haitian food from Grandchamps on Patchen. It's hearty and seasoned if unevenly executed, and won't touch the wonder of Haitian home food. But for when you want things like oxtail . . . Totally kid friendly cafe=style place, good for takeout. Expect to wait a long time for the food. Honestly I have no idea whether there is alcohol (which means probably not, it's not a feature I'm prone to really miss). But you could probably bring your own beer in.

I mean, are we trying to start an intentional community? Because, I mean, I'm in. Seriously. These popsicle shots make me rethink . . . everything.

I'm trying to get that book for Christmas. Please do report back!

I drink gin regularly, and I appreciate your critique of Hendricks (which everyone around me seems to love, except for me). One to stay all the way away from is "Greenhook". It's so nasty I keep thinking, I must not understand (I felt this way about mole poblano until I actually got to Oaxaca . . . but where was I --). After two bottles I gave up. One that I'm currently enjoying, I mean for when I want something other than good ole' Plymouth, is called Martin Miller's: "Blended in England Using Icelandic Spring Water." It took awhile for the gin buyer at my regular liquor store to convince me to try it. And it turned out, he was right -- there's *something* atypical going on there, but not something crazy.

The fairly new periodical "Whetstone" has begun a podcast called "Point of Origin". I started listening on this morning's run, pretty good. Less *produced* than some other food podcasts, but less rudeness-passing-for-charming, too. And interesting topics. http://www.whetstonemagazine.com/pointoforigin

Is the DRR corn stock sweet-tasting? Does it sub well for general-use vegetable stock? I eat corn on the cob about twice a year, and may aim to collect the cobs this year for this, but I can't deal with sweet-anything in the stock. That said, the one Vivian Howard recipe I made was so excellent -- the butterbean burger -- that I'm inclined to trust her.

Always.

^^^

Thanks, that's very helpful.

Any updates on the thinking here for a home-use burr grinder? I drink the kind of "espresso" that comes out of a stove-top moka pot.

I tend to not like spiced fruit either. Or too-many-different-strong-tastes together (this is actually true of all dishes, not just fruit dishes). But. Somebody gave me one of those "best recipes" anthologies in, I think, 1999. Most of the recipes didn't do much of anything for me. Except for this concept of a watermelon shake with green cardamom. It was a revelation. So I guess I'm ok with cardamom.

I live way uptown (you can see Yankee stadium from my east windows). I may have overstated the "deep". I go to Patel Bros. I go to Corona for tortillas. **altho -- I admit, one can get really very good and fresh packaged tortillas up here. But if you want immediately fresh ones . . . . I found some micro neighborhood of Colombian foods when I was on the hunt for some more of a Colombian bean that I had bought in Pittsburgh. [Now that I'm in the RG bean club, I don't really branch out to other beans anymore because it's just too many beans for my household. It's one of the downsides of the club -- I kind of miss the wonder of Goya's aim at micro-neighborhoods]. I go to Flushing. I go to that nabe which is "Little Egypt", I don't actually remember it's map-name. Honestly, I think the eating in Queens is mind-boggling. And mind-bogglingly cheap. The drinking . . . nah. But the eating? I like Queens.

Noted, well. Thanks! I mean, I live really far from there, but it's not like I don't make routine pilgrimages to deep Queens. I'll check it out.

I guess it's not like keeping chickens on the fire escape.

Meanwhile, the petunias are going nicely in my Manhattan Containers. Speaking of okra -- did I mention that my Mississippi cousin suggested that I plant okra in my windowboxes once, after I complained about how ungodly high the okra is around here when it finally is available? I wonder what my building would make of me planting food in my windowboxes . . . . ETA: Please ignore the frayed condition of the windowsill. As you can probably guess, I tend to leave the windows open (to varying extents), no matter the weather. Edited again: I just discovered that there is a whole separate thread devoted to flower gardens. Sorry!

Fry it up, breakfast.

MmmHmm. MiL and everybody.

More, please.

I think the "relationship" cited in the OP is precisely what many folks wish to avoid. That piece of it -- no neighborhood resto (aka, "no neighbor") all up in my business; no judgment; no holiday-season weirdness -- has got nothing to do with morality about costs to businesses, or to consumers either. I actually think a HUGE component of this app world is about allowing people to conduct a big range of their business without having to tolerate much person-to-person interaction -- let alone the consequence of person-to-person interaction with the same person every week: relationship. But anyway, back on topic -- I don't do a lot of takeout (it's just not usually what I'm looking for in a restaurant meal); but for what it's worth, the delivery apps offer those of us who live in far north Manhattan a MUCH greater range of delivery options than the actual restaurants do. I fully understand all the ways that this is costly, but I also understand how a person can make desperately poor decisions when they are hungry and tired and have some money at their disposal.

That whole thing @Shelby's doing over in Pastry with home-milling on the KingOftheHomeMiller . . . sigh.

That sounds *extremely* good.

So glad you asked. I was thinking, everybody knows this. On it.

I don't either. I know that would make me INSANE, tho. Everything else too. But that would befoul the TOP OF THE MORNING. Sigh. I wish I could help.

Are we talking green bell pepper?