babyluck

Night 2: Another Mara-Amu It's Santori Time! Actually, I think that was a Special Planter's Punch. Mr. Babyluck didn't like it very much. I tasted it & told him it must be the Pernod. Moments after I took this picture, he spilled his drink--luckily, most of it went into the stream running by our table. When he ordered his next drink, he asked the waiter if the Mai Tai or the Shrunken Skull had "Pernole" in it. ("Pear-no!" I hissed.) The waiter came back and said there in fact was "Pernole" in the Mai Tai. Interesting. And here's the Shrunken Skull (they ran out of skulls, goddammit): Here's a shot of the outdoor tables: And our spread: Part of the garden: Back home, admiring our haul: From left to right, Martin, a limited edition mug from Tiki Farm, my 3 Mara-Amu mugs (I think I skipped the last color in the series as an excuse to go back), and a mystery mug on the right with a great story behind it that really sums up why the Mai Kai is so magnificent. The first night we were there, the cashier at the gift shop (a sweet middle-aged woman with wild frizzy hair) immediately pegged us as "enthusiasts" and gave us the special treatment, pulling out stuff from under the counter and even lending us her Sharpie for the whole napkin business. When we returned 2 nights later, Mr. Babyluck asked if they had any mugs like the one he'd seen in a murky display window by the valet stand. She told us that those mugs were usually one-offs that an artist would send as a comp before going into full production. The managers would keep them if they wanted or put them on display. Then, to our surprise, she picked up the phone and made a call: "Hi, I have a customer here who's an enthusiast--he's interested in the angry-faced little red mug in the walkway. Oh yeah? Is he here tonight? Could you have him stop by the gift shop?" A few minutes later the manager walked in carrying the mug. He shook both our hands, introduced himself, and made sure we had a pleasant experience at the Mai Kai. Yes, we certainly had. He showed us the mug. Said he got 2 and had the other at home. He pointed out a tiny chip on one of its teeth. Then he told the cashier to give it to us for 25% off the price they were charging for a similar mug on display. Never mind that the other mug was a current design and mass-produced and the angry red guy was an artist's proof from 2001. We were totally blown away by their generosity. I hesitated a little to recount this story--I don't want masses of hipster exotica collectors to go down there & clean out their displays. We don't know if it's worth anything, and we'd never try to sell it. We will happily drink out of it for many years and cherish the memory of the magnificent Mai Kai and its magnanimous staff. Oh yeah, the other drinks we tried were the Mai Kai Special (nothing special, I'm afraid) and the Tahitian Coffee (yum). There may have been others! I wish I could say more about the subtleties of fine rums I tasted, but I wasn't exactly there to dissect them. I can say that the Zombie was fascinating, as we have been trying to recreate it at home using the best resources at our disposal to discover Don's authentic version (he never wrote anything down & took the labels off his bottles so his bartenders wouldn't know what they were making). The Mai Kai version was similar but not the same as our best effort. Makes me wonder if his #2 man, who created the Mai Kai, had the secret and took it with him. Maybe what we were drinking was the real Zombie in the only place in the world you can still get it. The Shrunken Skull was amazing too, a close second. Really dark and murky and miles away from grenadine-sweet. Aloha!

Inside the bar: Our first two drinks, a Zombie and a Mara-Amu. I just had to try the one with the souvenir mug. It was a great drink! I was really nervous when Mr. Babyluck kept taking pictures of the menu. I worried they would think we were spies, with the whole Don the Beachcomber secrecy thing going on. It's true, they still mix the drinks behind a bamboo screen in the bar. Luckily, we didn't get caught. The Cobra's Kiss (interesting with the cinnamon stick but too sweet for me): The Rum Barrel. Just OK. Explanation: when Mr. Babyluck was leaving work before vacation, someone said "Have a drink for each of us!" I'm sure they were kidding but he really did, and when he returned he gave them each a print of their drink along with the napkin. It was a little excessive but funny. That first night, we ate inside and watched the show. It's not so clear from their website, so here's the scoop: inside, you have to pay the $10 cover and there are two seatings so that the show goes on as you are finishing. It's worth doing at least once. If you eat outside in the garden, you can eat whenever you want and smoke with no cover. It's more romantic outside and there is one particular table that is completely secluded. We stumbled upon it while roaming the garden and startled a very old man dining with a young doe-eyed blonde with implants. You know we couldn't resist the Pupu Platter: More to come!

Babyluck's tiki thoughts: (1) Don the Beachcomber rocks. (2) Vic Bergeron/Trader Vic's: evil but inevitable. The Taco Bell of Tiki. (3) A Zombie is not just a drink with 3 kinds of rum in it. Grenadine has no place in a Zombie. Zombies should be brownish, not red, and served in a Collins glass with a sprig of mint. (4) Fine "sipping" rums can be enhanced with the right blend of juices and mixers. (5) We all need a little more fantasy in our lives. If you want to really understand what I'm talking about, visit the Mai Kai. For background, here's the Mai Kai website and a great cocktail.com article. Let us show you around!

I don't know if it's the kind of experience you're looking for, but El Monte, the ecolodge we stayed at in Mindo, houses a lot of long-term guests. Some people go every year for a few weeks or months. There was a European couple at the end of a backpacking tour of South America there when we were--they were working part-time for the owners in exchange for reduced room & board. Seems like deals like that are probably common. Plenty more details if you're interested...

Sorry for the delay! Here's the wrap-up: Mezzes at Pelago, the Greek restaurant at the cute motel next to our less cute one: That was the highlight of the meal, not that the rest was so bad or anything. On a whim, I ordered retsina, since I hadn't had it since I was 16 and in Greece. It still sucks. But it was nice sitting outside in the strong evening wind, alone, as everyone else had fled inside, glowing with sunburn & reflecting on our first real vacation together. Our waitress was great, a beautiful Australian girl with curly black hair. She gave us wine glasses even though she wasn't allowed because of the wind. I checked out beeradvocate before I left and found to my surprise a place (Florida's Tap Room) in Fort Lauderdale with cask-conditioned Old Thumper, my favorite beer. From their website, I expected something polished & generic, but instead got a nicely ramshackle back-porch atmosphere where we sat for an hour or two in a beer haze. This was the appetizer, smoked fish dip w/ sesame crackers. It was awesome. Seared teriyaki tuna sandwich w/ wasabi mayo & radish sprouts. Also delicious. Crab salad w/ Havarti on sourdough. Didn't taste it but he liked it: And most importantly, the beer: Well, that's it! I skipped the food at the Mai Kai because, well, the Mai Kai isn't about the food, it's about the rum. When I get a chance I'll post in the Ministry. Hope this helps someone else planning travels down that way. Cheers!

Hey, I just got back from Times Market in S. Plainfield. Loved it!!! Much better & cheaper than California Farm. The only thing that was more expensive was the dried fruit--oh, well. The thing that made me happiest was the bunch of basil for 99 cents. And it was good stuff. Also, they had grape tomatoes on sale for 99 cents a pint, fresh shitakes, persimmons--great!

We've stopped at California Farm(s?) in Westfield a couple of times now as part of our new Saturday morning ritual: yoga, then to a produce market to see what looks good, then we go home & I make lunch while Mr. Babyluck watches Yugi-oh. It's kind of a strange place, but I like it. Sort of like going to a crowded, dusty antique shop--you know you're going to find a good deal. There is a pretty amazing selection of produce & dry goods--they carry Muir Glen tomatoes, olive oil, panko, some grains & flours, dried fruits & nuts (very cheap!). Actually, it seems more like a dollar store (or a lower-end TJs) than anything else--the selection is pretty random but interesting. The quality of the fresh food is hit-or-miss. I have seen visible mold on vegetables a couple of times and once a block of cheddar completely coated in green fuzz. However, I got parsley there and a full 2 weeks later after coming back from vacation, it's still fine! I've never seen parsley last that long. We usually prefer to go to The Greengrocer on South Ave. They have gorgeous stuff and it's a great shopping experience, but the prices of course are much higher. Still, I would have to say it's my favorite place right now. They have beautiful flowers and plants if you need a quick gift, and a very well-chosen but expensive selection of dry goods. The staff couldn't be nicer. I think I'll check out Times Market now--sounds interesting!

I find this thread interesting, but especially because it led me to this passage. I used to work next door to a lab where they created, among other things, fragrance compounds for children's shampoo. I would walk around every day smelling one odor after another that reminded me of something from my childhood and going crazy trying to identify it. "Erasers-no, Silly Putty, those scented markers, Grape Bubbalicious..." I smelled Circus Peanuts every day for 6 months straight. Now I drive down the Turnpike every day and I find that I smell the same thing in the same place day after day but don't know what factory may be producing it. When you get into Newark going south, there is a wonderful smell of new leather, then --wham!--what must be Elan--a different mix every day, some savory, some sweet, some that make me nostalgic and some that make me sick. I am so interested in finding out where these smells are coming from that I am considering starting a blog entitled "What I Smell on the Way to Work & Back" with a map depicting each odor's focal point. It also brings to mind a quote from a friend of a friend about growing up in Edison, one of my favorite quotes of all time: "Sometimes my backyard smells like raw sewage, but sometimes it smells like strawberry Jell-O. And I like strawberry Jell-O." I do have a minor point to make in the real discussion going on here, and this quote from the same article hints at it: It's the same reason I never went much for hard drugs. I had a feeling that by artificially ramping up my emotions one way or the other, I would end up neurologically stunted and less able to form natural emotional responses. A small and unscientific sampling of my friends in their post-college years seems to prove that I was right. I feel the same way about flavor enhancers. Forget about whether the foods that contain them are eco-friendly, carcinogenic, or just plain evil. What I wonder is, does eating them on a regular basis reduce your ability to enjoy a delicate-tasting dish, say a piece of fish with just lemon or sushi without the wasabi? It seems inevitable that it would. I'm sort of getting back to Don's original question, and it's something I've been asking myself lately, too. When I don't like something that's revered by the gourmets of the world, I have to ask myself if it's my own peculiar and immutable preference, or if my taste buds have to "grow up," as Mom always used to say. Even though my parents fed me healthy, mostly home-grown food and strictly controlled foods from other sources, I really think I naturally preferred strong, pure artificial flavors to complex, organic ones, probably from age 5-20. I would have traded my Five-Alive juice boxes for Sssips! if anyone had been dumb enough to trade with me. Well, when I was 20 my parents let me drink Juicy Juice... It started to become clear to me through a conversation w/ GordonCooks about Love My Goat. I was trying to convince him that it was great, but hadn't had it myself in a while, and when I tasted it again it tasted sweet and simplistic where before it tasted juicy and fresh. Hey, Mom, my taste buds are finally growing up! But what I'm concentrating on now is how to guide the process so that I get the most out of life and a greater appreciation for subtle tastes. A big part of that for me is cutting down on flavor-enhanced foods, at least ones designed in a lab.

Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor in Dania: Billy's Stone Crab followed by Jaxson's for dessert makes for a pretty good afternoon, since you won't be able to afford enough stone crabs to fill you up, and at Jaxson's you will have the opposite problem. The ice cream was good and the place was charming and unique. I left feeling bloated & wasteful (but happy) and had to bypass the candy aisle, but I was glad to see they carry all my old summer vacation favorites (Charleston Chew!). I'm curious about the statement on their menu that "Jaxson's does not serve Coca-Cola products..."--what's that all about?

Billy's Stone Crab in Hollywood: My first taste of stone crab. Our waiter back at Sundowners told us that he has stopped even mentioning stone crab as a special since the prices are so high this year--they were charging $27.95 for an appetizer portion. But we overheard a fisherman in the Keys saying they were finally "swarming," and when we got to Billy's, our waitress said they had a great catch that morning. They were $17.95/lb. at Billy's, and worth it! I was expecting a more crabby flavor like Maryland crabs; these were much more subtle but very good. I liked the dipping sauce, too. Just had to get it out of my head that all crabs should taste like Old Bay! When Mr. Babyluck pulled out his wallet to pay, he realized he had left his debit card at the Mai Kai the night before and was so flustered he forgot to leave a tip for our wonderful waitress. (I really appreciated the way she handled the other party who asked if they served "low-carb beer".) We both felt terrible about it but not terrible enough to drive back down to Hollywood on the last day of our vacation. What do you guys think? Should we send a note? P.S. I really like the outdoor glider tables. Saw them a few other places, too. Very clever.

Too late to edit--it's Cactus Jack's, not Captain Jack's. Sorry!

Our last stop in the Keys: One thing we noticed in FL and especially the Keys is that they are holding on to chain restaurants that are all but gone up our way: Waffle House, Arthur Treacher's (I found that one most odd), Denny's... Mr. Babyluck has a thing for the Waffle House, and he really hasn't been the same since the one in Linden shut down. You can imagine how happy this made him: I'm not a breakfast person at all, and I've gotta say, those pecan waffles are awesome. P.S. I'm ashamed to say that we left the Keys without having a single slice of pie. ...Up next, stone crab!

I thought they were really tasty, actually--never had them before, so I don't know how they rate compared to others. I have seen a few recipes that call for green bell pepper, so I would say they improved on that by using red pepper & jalapeno. Green pepper would have ruined them--they were nice & sweet. The "jalapeno chutney" dipping sauce was strange but not bad. Kind of like duck sauce or the stuff you get with Thai spring rolls. I was wondering what the traditional dipping sauce is and if it would be better...?

Lunch in Key West: Conch Fritters at Turtle Kraals And a cross-section: Mango Crabcakes w/ yellow rice & plantains (just OK): "Grilled, Blackened, or Fried?" One of many mahi-mahi sandwiches Mr. Babyluck enjoyed during the trip. Really enjoyed the atmosphere and the meal was quite good. Washed it all down with a couple of Key West Sunset Ales.

Went for a sail & snorkel from John Pennekamp State Park. Our harmonica-playing captain, Bob, who ruefully revealed he was from Paramus after giving us the whole Soprano routine when he saw we were from NJ, recommended Sundowners, the sort of upscale casual seafood place next to Senor Frijoles. We were not disappointed. Don't remember what this was called but it was tuna and it was delicious. Sounded strange with the tomato topping + wasabi & ginger, but it actually worked. And for me, the yellowtail meuniere, perfectly cooked and really fresh-tasting: I highly recommend the place, but if you won't listen to me, listen to Captain Bob! Next, Key West!

Just got back from a week of work & play in South Florida. I really knew nothing about the area, having only been to FL a handful of times and all for work, but with a free plane ticket on the company, 78,000 Marriott points, and most importantly, a burning desire to visit the Mai Kai (an oasis of vintage tiki nirvana on Rt. 1 in Ft. Lauderdale), we had ourselves a vacation. With a little help from this forum, we managed to eat pretty well along the way... First, a few comments on South Beach (the work part of the trip). Didn't take any pictures, but the sushi was good at Sushi Rock, as I'm sure it is pretty much everywhere on the coast. Dinner at the Blue Door in the Delano was predictably delicious (I had the Crabavocat, the Merou Cajou & a passion fruit crepe souffle, menu here). The grouper, unfortunately, was totally overcooked & dry, by far the worst piece of fish I had on the trip, but we were a large group so I expect that, and the sauce was great. Mr. Babyluck met me in Miami & we drove down to Key Largo, where we stayed at the Marriott. I loved the hotel, but was adamant about not eating onsite too much (of course). There is a little cluster of restaurants a short walk up the highway--Senor Frijoles, Sundowners, and Captain Jack's. Senor Frijoles was good--really nice skirt steak fajita. Will follow up w/ day 2 & lots of pictures--sorry, gotta run!

must have quark... now... I'm so relieved someone mentioned it because I was beginning to think it was a product of mass hallucination. That would have been very sad for me as I have been fantasizing about quark for at least a week now, and it is bad enough to have passionate daydreams about a German dairy product let alone an imaginary one. I had it every day while staying with a family in Bremen. Silly Futurama-esque ads for mysterious quark derivatives were plastered around town and at train stations. People would line up for frozen quark novelties on North Sea beaches while trying to remain standing in the wind and wrapping enormous scarves around their faces against the bitter cold. Everyone was quarking crazy, even me! Then I come back home and go through withdrawal. Why does no one here know it exists? Why do I never see it in any of my beloved German delis? Why does it have such a ridiculous name? Why, oh why, is it so delicious mixed with a drizzle of honey? Finally, a few clues begin to emerge. Mr. Babyluck reveals that he is aware of the existence of quark, and now you, not to mention google and those Vermont Cheese folks, unless you have all gone mad as well... or you are part of the global quark conspiracy. I have decided that I will get to the bottom of the mystery by following the directions on this website. I don't know if I can trust them but it is my only hope.

Do you do custom jewelry? My specialty is designing and producing one-of-a-kind pieces! I'm actually considering a food-related line... I made a miniature sterling silver tagine for Paula Wolfert (when opened, one found seed pearls as couscous and larger, mishapen brown pearls that looked like bits of squab) and my original teacher, Cheryl Forberg has a brooch of a copper pot from which dangles a fish, a slotted spoon, and a fork on which is inscribed, "Allez Cuisine!" I've also made a series of brooches from plaque du muselet, those tins found atop Champagne bottles. Perhaps I should consider 14k gold carrots or sterling pea pods of something... What would you like made, dear Lucy? Just ask... You both sound like wonderful women with interests (obsessions?) that are right up my alley. I love this New York-based jewelry designer Michael Michaud and if you haven't seen his work, you should look him up! If you google him, you will find a number of galleries selling his work online (plus amazon!) but here is one link to get you started. His basic style is cast bronze/silver/gold (casts taken from natural items) with pearls or gems to represent fruit/flowers. I recently saw his new collection at a little shop in New Hope, PA and it is all little fruits & vegetables! I don't see it online anywhere yet, but it's quite amazing. Ah, the cave! I was waiting with baited breath. (I guess that's where Carolyn will be staying?)

They got rid of that rule when "diners" added ferns, faux stone fronts, salad bars and cocktail lounges. Yuck. I hate those "brown" diners, as I call them. Diners should be shiny with chrome & vinyl. When the pebbled beige & mauve floral upholstery goes in, it's all over. Yes, I would add to my definition that you can get breakfast any time of day, as I recently noticed that a pizzeria may fit my other criterion (ordering sitting down & paying standing up). However, the 24-hour thing is optional in my opinion. My favorite diner of all time (the Royal on Rt. 22 in Branchburg) closed at 11. My friends & I always sat in the corner table & at 11 our waitress would set down a thermos of coffee, have one of us pull the chain on the OPEN sign, and we'd hang out until she was done closing. Now that's a diner. I guess I'll have to visit them myself to determine whether the "Whites" fit the bill.

MP, I'm glad I could ease your mind. And glad to see that someone else has the pragmatism to happily devour bloody poultry flesh. Maybe it's easier for the person who cooked it to trust his/her own skills. True, I would not serve bloody chicken to a guest. I do buy free range from time to time but I'm too frugal to do it all the time. The selection can be scant, too--when I'm looking for leg quarters, I have to buy what the store has. Seems like a pretty nasty trick from the poultry producers. So they have continually pushed for greater efficiency, to get the product from egg to store faster, and they have created a product that is unacceptable to their customers. Why not just ease off and fatten up the chicks a little more slowly? The sad thing is, from now on I'll be a little reassured if my factory farm chicken is bloody--that way, at least I'll know it's not pumped with pathogens! Thanks for the brining suggestion, too--I'm not really organized enough to plan ahead that much, but I'll try.

I'm sure most of us have experienced it, but I couldn't find a thread on it so I thought I'd share my newfound knowledge. You know, you cut into a piece of chicken that is clearly done and dark red blood starts to seep out from near the bone, making the meat appear underdone. I never really gave it much thought because I'm not squeamish and it is easy to tell by the firmness of the meat and the color & opacity of the blood that the meat itself is cooked and the blood is coming from somewhere else. Last night, I made a lovely "poularde de Bresse" (see Dinner thread) with regular supermarket chicken leg quarters. It was heavenly. The chicken was a tiny bit overcooked if anything, not undercooked. At some point during the meal, Mr. Babyluck complained that his chicken was bloody. I took a look at it, gave the meat a squeeze, and pronounced it OK. I was so busy devouring my meal that I didn't think anything of it until after the plates were cleared. "Wasn't it good?" I asked. He said, "I don't like bloody chicken. But the sauce was really good!" "You didn't eat the chicken? It was totally fine!!" "You could have offered to switch with me." "But I told you it was fine! I thought you were going to eat it!" And so on. So I was finally prompted to research this phenomenon. Here's what I found. Essentially, because we are getting younger chickens, their bones are more porous and they seep blood. Apparently it is a big issue for food service because the meat needs to be terribly overcooked to get rid of it, but people won't eat it if it's bloody. Well, I guess I know one of those people. Comments? Opinions?

"Poularde de Bresse" Truffled mashed potatoes Peas First time I tried a full-fledged main dish recipe from The Hemingway Cookbook. It's really quite a good book, as the author does not try to modernize the recipes. They are as fattening and exotic as they should be. I was really impressed with this one and I've never seen a preparation quite like it so I thought I'd share it with you. The chicken is dredged in flour and simply browned in butter, then covered without liquid to cook through. Morels (if dried; that's what I used and they were wonderful) are soaked in hot water & brandy (Calvados). Then a mixture of lemon juice, water (I used the soaking water) and salt is brought to a boil and the morels are added and simmered until most of the liquid is gone. When the chicken is almost done, it is removed, shallot & garlic added to the drippings, then the morel mixture, a little chicken broth, and a little tomato puree. The chicken is returned to the pan and simmered with the sauce until done. What I found so intriguing was the flavor you get by simmering the morels with lemon juice (and how it balanced the rich chicken/garlicky tomato flavors). It may be a classic preparation, but it is new to me and I'm in love with it! I don't know of a better way to get the most out of dried morels.

Like your decoration ideas. Reminds me of an Easter tradition I had forgotten about. I had a "secret" spot behind our rhododendron bushes outside our front door where I would go to read books and have tea parties when I was little. On Easter morning, my dad would say, "Hey, I planted some seeds out front--let's check if anything came up!" Sprouting up from between the lilies-of-the-valley would be a rainbow of lollipops. On a more practical note: I would stick with things normally found in a garden--i.e., no lambs or chickens. Bunnies and carrots are fine! I would love to see it done in a naturalistic style with brown bunnies and robins' eggs, like an English country garden thing. I would personally find that more appetizing than bright candy colors or pastels--more soothing after a big meal. And a suggestion for the styrofoam--you can usually get green styrofoam at craft stores, or you could get florist's foam. Probably too late, I know. Would love to see pictures.

That's . . . whoa. Word. A related story about a friend of mine--sad, but funny. I never realized why she always bought lunch in the school cafeteria until we had a field trip where we had to bring a lunch from home. Her mom packed her two Jell-O packets, one orange and one lime, and she ate them like Pixi-Stix.

I like the Desert Pepper Corn, Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper salsa (here). With chips, I've been pretty happy picking up anything that comes in one of those paper bags with the plastic window. I believe Chef Garcia is one of them and the other is Que Pasa, which I don't see as much. I like yellow corn chips that approximate the fresh ones you get at restaurants. Until these new brands started cropping up in stores, I would buy those store-brand round yellow chips (like for nachos at the roller rink)--the ones that were just called TORTILLA CHIPS--rather than buy into the Tostito's empire. The TJ's fresh salsa is pretty good for a change of "pace" but a little heavy on the cilantro for my taste. Much better than the supermarket equivalent, though.