dumpling

Went there today for take out lunch-met Jason, Rachel and larrymorman-a virtual Egullet fest! Nice to meet you guys in person. I think I was still half asleep from being out late last night-too much galavanting. Don't get over there to Englewood too often but I had to be there for a couple of things today and so decided to combine it with Saigon. I do have a confession to make - I had to go to the nearby Victoria's Secret. I confess that I have sinned; I looked at thongs other than those of Egullet. Please give me an appropriate penance.

Question on the soup you guys had last year at Sweet n Tart -was that on the regular menu? Looked interesting. There used to be a restaurant at the South Street Seaport named Jade Sea that made wonderful Seafood beggar's purses(not in soup). But I don't know what happened to their chef; dream about those things though. Although I remember Tai Hong Lau's Con poy dumpling soup as being pretty good.

Chicken Rice Soup Macaroni and cheese My Irish grandmother(not the Chinese grandmother) used to make this for me for lunch when I was little. I like it because it's my comfort food. The macaroni was cooked most of the way then put in a casserole dish that I inherited with some canned stewed tomatoes(that may have been cooked with herbs, but my grandmother didn't add any), and 3 slices of American cheese laid over the top. Cooked just enough to blend the flavor a little but not melt the cheese completely. The adventure we had when we were little kids was then to try to find and fight over the cheese pieces.

Stewart's Black Cherry Wishniak

Steven- a scientific question. Given the variation from your normal eating habits, have you found that in your quest for Americana that you are losing or gaining poundage?

If you still have any, you could try crab with ginger and scallion sauce, one of my favorite things. Great with dungeness but should also be lovely with king.

Toasted Baguette Cold Sesame Noodles Grilled Cornish Game Hen with JJ's Rub Sauteed Rosemary and Sage New Potatoes Brussels Sprouts with lemon and butter Lemon Meringue PIE

Also I forgot- the Loon Mountain resort is having an Oktoberfest celebration Oct 11-12. So you may want to check that out if your schedule permits.

Hey Tonkichi! I just came back from three days in the White Mountains. Beautiful area, bring lots of film. I stayed at the Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln NH 1(800) 229 -LOON, see loonmtn.com. Great place. The resort is right at the mountain; there's climbing, horseback riding, skiing, gondola rides to the top of the mountain, glacier caves at the top. Good restaurant in hotel. Other recommended restaurant in town was the Common Man. I didn't go to that myself; but friends who had been there many times recommended it. Hotel has spa, two pools, massages, game room etc, tennis courts, indoor basketball court, the works. Lots of places to eat in town;tried a place that advertised lobster rolls in its window-was pretty good although it rather resembled McDonalds with pick up service at the counter and the style of the design of the restaurant. Supposedly lots of moose in the area; went out one night driving around looking for moose. No moose but saw two black bears. Went to Kennebunkport two years ago. Stayed at the Kennebunkport Inn, which was nice. Inn is in town on a main street close to everything. Has a pool and a nice restaurant. Took a lobster boat excursion that was advertised in the hotel and that was very cool we got to help haul in lobsters and crabs and measure them. Also had plenty of Lobster at the Cape Porpoise lobster pound. Good place, and I love lobster. Hope that helps. Good luck and have fun.

Went to Baumgart's tonight. Had intended to go to Saigon Republic, but couldn't get in. Hadn't read the earlier posts about having to call ahead so far in advance. I had tried to go before but they closed early on the day that I went. My luck with them has not been good so far. I enjoyed the comfortable ice cream shop kind of atmosphere. We were served our appetizers very quickly. Serving Plates were very mod and interesting retro hip. We had Saigon Roll which was served like a vietnamese summer roll but with no meat, just lettuce, cabbage, mint and a piece of mango with a mango sauce on the side. Not particularly exciting although my friend liked it. It was accompanied by some seaweed which was okay. We also had a chicken soong which was good and very plentiful. Our last appetizer was their sizzling duck crepes-deep fried tofu skins with bits of duck inside served with some nice white bread hoisin sauce and scallions. It was good albeit not subtle. Not a whole lot of duck meat. Our last dish was Pad Thai. That was very nice-plentiful dish with lots of egg and shrimp that were supposed to be baby shrimp but were really big enough to be teenager shrimp, any way, I did not complain. Compared to the Pad Thai I had taken out from Pimaan the prior week where the sauce mugged the noodles, this Pad Thai pleased me greatly. For dessert, we had their flavor of the week, pineapple coconut ice cream with fudge and an egg cream. The ice cream was excellent well worth trying again. The egg cream was okay; not enough milk. Other diners seemed pretty satisfied on the whole, although there was one man who was served cold white rice with his meal. There were some interesting looking dishes we didn't try that other people had including a whole fried fish and a seafood dish cooked in foil. There were several people who seemed to order one huge plate of ice cream that was the size it seemed of a bowler hat. I think I stick with my original comments that although I find it good if you're looking for true Chinese chinese food maybe this isn't the place. I'd go again especially because I have friends who like it. It is an attempt at fusion now including various Southeast Asian dishes(a couple of the dishes were purportedly Malaysian). The ice cream rocks.

I would second the Basque region suggestion; that is truly an interesting area. I really enjoyed San Sebastian in the North of Spain. In San Sebastian, you could try Arzak( 3 stars)and for tapas, Casa Alcalde. In addition to the food, it's just very beautiful all throughout the Basque area, and the beach and old town in San Sebastian.

Wow Toliver what an effort! Welcome.

Real German Liverwurst with onion on black bread. Roast chicken, toasted white bread, little mayo s/p. From my college days from the student deli- Boar's Head Bologna Hero with mayo-that thing was so big it could take two days to eat! Vermont Ham with brie on French bread with honey mustard.

Thanks fresco. Have to try it.

Fresco-"snowshoe" naan ? The shape? And what is chicken under a brick? Sounds interesting. Monday dinner: Bruschetta with olive oil, tomatoes, onions, baby bellas, cilantro, basil and garlic Chicken breast with rosemary, capers, lemon and wine sauce Penne al oglio with broccoli rabe and garlic Chocolate souffle accompanied by black cherry frozen yogurt

Best/Cleverest description of your mother's home cooking and the effect it has had on your life.

Further foray into Americana: Cherry Cola glazed ribs Coleslaw Buttered corn Bing cherry and white peach PIE

My attempt at a traditional "American" dinner: Ceasar Salad Prime Rib in a roasted garlic horseradish crust over mashed potatoes topped with julienned yellow and green squash and carrots. French Cut green beans with cream of chicken soup sauce(forgot the frizzled onions on the top). (My "I don't like cooking anymore" mother used to make this). Leftover lemon meringue pie Followed by 2 slices of pizza, salad, ice cream cake and zinfandel at a friend's house for a friend's birthday. ohhhh, my stomach!

Herb, what kind of dumplings were you thinking about? I'm down for dumplings, pie and non-alcoholic drinks.

i'll bring more. people use an insane amount of napkins. Those Vanity Fair napkins are nice and they are big. Elyse, just wanted to let you know I made a lemon meringue today that was amazing! PIE= PIE= ! Sabq, just type in you want to attend and Rachel will know and add you to the list.

Grilled Chicken Wings (recipe courtesy alanz at wwwzenreich.com) Brining for forty minutes in kosher salt and sugar then liberally sprinkling on JJ's Rub, leaving on for a while then grilling. Popping good with juice! Skin is so crispy! Pasta with broccoli, baby bellas, onions, scallions, olive oil, red wine, salt, pepper, little romano and little feta. Nice accompaniment to wings; flavors blend well. Lemon Meringue PIE!(Hey, Elyse!) First time I ever made a lemon meringue. From a recipe from Walt Disney World. I came in after practice(martial arts) and either I was just really hungry or it was just one of the most stunningly flavorful pies I ever ate. It was so freshly lemony I just said, "UMMM!"

Peppercorn-crusted pork loin with pears in a marsala sauce. Whipped butternut squash Baked sliced red potatoes with milk, butter, s/p and garlic. "Pear I don't Know"- a baked individual desert that I'm not sure what you would call it. Layered-bottom is an egg white, sugar, and almond paste mix, then sauteed pears with butter, sugar and cinnamon, finally a topping of crumbs with butter and sugar. Plated with pear vanilla sauce.

I'm there; 1 person. Do you have someone covering drinks? Doesn't appear so yet. I can do dumplings(hence the name) and a wicked good blueberry PIE(elyse, ).

Metamphetamine. But that will cut your appetite as well so forget it. Chinese Dieter's Tea- but then you'll get the trots. Stomach stapling-oh sacrilege! Liposuction?

Three oreos and a glass of ginger ale.