tanabutler

You might contact the people who run this publication: Edible Missoula. They are part of the Edible Communities newsletters that are starting up nationwide. There is not much content there, but they are all about supporting the fresh/local/seasonal food scene. If you contact them, feel free to say I recommended them, and that I am friends with Tracey and Carole (who publish Edible Ojai, the founders of Edible Communities).

Lucky Gary. No matter what you post, SOUP is always food-related. heh SC has some great things going on. I just found a nice, tiny Chinese place today. Kung Bao chicken, first time ever with mushrooms. I liked it.

I'd love to know, from reading your post, what "WNC" means. I know the Southeast, but regional abbreviations are beyond me. Good post, and thanks. (I had a friend working at Windows on the World when the bombing in the garage took place. He lived, of course, but that was the last day he worked there. He knew worse things were coming.)

I just love that Rent-a-Grandma thing, and I pray to the deities* when I think about certain grandmas teaching kids to cook. My Memaw was fine in the kitchen, but one of my kid-goofs (something I said, in front of a huge family gathering with all the aunts and uncles, making all made the grown-ups roar with laughter) was, "Memaw, can you teach me how to make rice? Yours is so nice and sticky." Well, yeah, she used broth in it, but it wasn't exactly the thing to say. I'd rent her in a minute though. The very walls in my grandparents' kitchen smelled good. It's tempting to write the Chronicle and beg for someone else's grandmother. I want an Italian! *Let's see...Father/Son/Holy Ghost makes three, right? And I could roll in all the Hindu gods and goddesses, and everything else, to appease everyone but atheists when I say that, I hope P.S., Squeat, thanks for your attentiveness, bad week or no. I'm rootin' for ya.

Mmmmmmm. 3 Amigos. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Carolyn, what about spanakopita? I've done that for huge groups before.

Thank you, Marlena. I need a schedule. I have some obligations in November but hope I can dance around them.

Okay, that does it. I'll skip New York and am going to Spain. Can I carry your bags? (May I just say that my longing to go to San Sebastián has eclipsed all other destinations on my travel agenda? I have been traveling the world virtually, looking at restaurant web sites...two from the northern coast of Spain are just stunning. I'm smitten. Don't tell Italy.) Interesting that Old Chatham uses milk from another farm. I am learning the difference between farmstead (also known as "farmhouse") cheese and otherwise.

Low Carb Living magazine: anyone seen it?

Old Chatham Sheerherding Company will be hosting one of the Outstanding in the Field farm dinners and tours, the day after OitF does a farm dinner in Seneca Lake. The guest chef for that dinner is Sean O'Brien, from Willow of Ithaca restaurant. (Host farm in Seneca Lake is Blue Heron.) The guest chef at Old Chatham, in the Berkshires, is Bryce Whittlesey of The Wheatleigh. Details about both dinners can be found at the link above. I should be attending both, and am very much looking forward to my return to New York.

A tailgate is the "door" on the back end of a truck. It folds down, and that's where you stick your cooler full of beer. Tailgate Trivia: that page says that the first tailgate party took place at "the tail end of a horse," but the literal definition is the one given above. 50 Secrets to Successful Tailgate Parties (includes recipes).

Oooh, I wish they would print the whole Bourdain conversation; he's always worth reading. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing he were posting here again. That story reminds me of an old Ross Perot (I think) quote, "How you gonna get the fat to cut the fat?" [talking about government reforms]. It will be interesting to see how this scandal plays out.

Hey, Eunny Jang, I really like how you're playing around with your photos on your new foray into digital camera world. I know people here might say, "Show us the food," but you're showing the food and the mood. I appreciate both. Especially because close-ups of meat so often look like scabs. <insert new, improved emoticon indicating rueful hilarity here.>

Tell him, "I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's really hard to pronounce."

do you mean today's skyline? or perhaps next week's. don't get too tied in to a skyline. you know better. (that said, the colgate clock is the only thing that has survived the skyline in JC for more than 10 years...and in fact, it will probably remain until we're both dead. with any luck). Ooze and Ahhs. i like that. i really really like that. excellent work, randi. take a raise out of ePettychash. As someone who deals all the time with clients naming businesses (and URLs, for those who don't go the eponymous route), I must caution, strongly, against visual puns (such as "Ooze and Ahhs"). You don't want a URL you have to spell, or which uses special pronunciation. It has to be clear from the git-go. Because. That's why I couldn't use (as much as I liked) "TasteDuds" or "HotTogs" for my food designs. Clever is clever, but brilliant contains everything. If you don't take Melt, someone else may. If they haven't already. Either way, avoid cleverness that needs an explanation.

At this very moment, I have a pot of Good Mother Stallard* beans (from Rancho Gordo) a-cooking in the oven, hopefully under the Parsons Method. I couldn't believe how they plumped up: they got wrinkly like they'd been in the bath too long. Like a slow-motion, backwards, time-lapse photography. It's the weirdest thing. They are very pretty beans. I hope they taste good. I am hoping that my inability to grow plants is not going to be combined here with my historic inability to cook beans properly. I feel so much the gringa. *I'm sorry, but this name is just so odd and evocative. "Good Mother Stallard went to Kaye Ballard, to give the old actress a loan."

Maybe we can carpool. I'd be tempted, too. But don't have a clue where I'll be then.

Maybe this photographer could help?

Frisson web site Warning: unrequested music starts blaring as soon as you land on the site. Yes, you can shut it off, but that should never be the default. That is absolutely one of the most annoying things to inflict on visitors to your web sites. A horrible practice, no matter how cool you think you are.

You said the magic words. Go to Jeanty at Jack's, one block away from the hotel.

Not crazy at all. Also, how much of a walk do you like? Is a mile too much? It's such a nice city for walking. Cabs are cheap for a mile or so.

Frisson is one of the most expensive places in the city, according to OpenTable.com. What is "reasonable" by your definition, LMF?

What night of the week are you arriving?

The first thing I served Bob was our first meeting...I had had "An Occasional Meal" the night before, and had leftovers. "An Occasional Meal" was when I catered to a group of friends, with music (flamenco guitar, harp, etcetera) and a multi-course vegetarian feast, all staged in the beautiful Craftsman house I lived in at the time. I had answered his personals ad three weeks earlier, and we'd corresponded and spoken on the phone. By the time I realized I could trust him, and invited him to lunch at our house, I'd forgotten if his ad mentioned being tall or not. I really wanted him to be tall. And lord, yes, he unfolded from his BMW and he was tall! I served him this pasta and The Ultimate Garlic Bread (my housemate's recipe), along with a salad. I have never been so calm around a man in whom I am interested in my life. It went so well. Our 13th anniversary (of me answering his ad) is October 3.

I have been to one cooking class, at Sur La Table in Los Gatos, with chef David Kinch. Stephanie (eGulleteer who works at SLT, and who assisted in the class) said he's the best teacher she's worked with, in six-plus years of teaching there. I would love to do more classes, but I'm wary...I need good, organized teachers. I might have been spoiled. The Saturday morning Cabrillo College farmers market is going to be offering "Shop with the Chef" classes via the Culinary Alliance of SC County...a tour of the market, buy some ingredients, then go to a staging area and learn how to cook with the things you've bought. I think those will be great. Oh, and I don't know if this counts, but I accompanied my little girl to an all-day cooking class series at Gayle's Bakery and Rosticceria several years ago. Joe Ortiz is a fabulous teacher, and he brought in Marion Cunningham to teach the kids how to make a vinaigrette salad dressing. That was a great way to spend a day...and I'm happy to report that my daughter started working at Gayle's this week. How's that for a great first job?