Plan: 2008 Heartland Gathering in Chicago Aug 8-10

[NancyH]

Since I don't have any assigned duties this year, and since my duties last year kept me from cooking - I wanna cook! Our team of me, Bob and Edsel had great fun in 2006 (Ann Arbor) - probably a meat course, but we were one of those you mentioned who kept an open mind and based our meal (beef braised with chili and cherries) on the ingredients we found at the market.

Okay, let's approach this logistical question for a different angle.

Who wants to be in charge of making something for the Feast on Saturday? If you want to, what are you thinking about, and how many people do you feel comfortable cooking for?

In the past we've had people stake out various courses, and then as the menu starts to emerge fully on the day of the event, we figure out what order to serve things in and where some pairing up make sense. So for example, you could opt to prepare a meat dish, and we'd find someone who was doing a side dish that could be served with it. So it's more like staking out a dish, rather than a course where you're mandated to have all the components in hand (although you're certainly welcome to). Also, if you have a signature dish, you can declare it in advance, but in previous years some people have enjoyed figuring it out on the fly based on what looks best at the market.

Jean, you asked about bringing things prepared in advance - that's certainly welcome, just speak up answering the questions above about what you're thinking of bringing.

←

[Alex]

I'd definitely like to make something. What I have in mind is a cool (temperature-wise, although it's the other cool as well) tomato-watermelon-mint soup. I'm assuming that with all the food we're likely to have, folks would want smaller servings, perhaps 4-6 oz. With a couple of sous chefs and a food processor or two, I can make enough for all 90.

I agree with your approach, Tammy. Also, as you mentioned a couple of days ago, some dishes would be fine plated, others family style (assuming we have enough servingware).

Edited June 18, 2008 by Alex (log)

[tammylc]

Since I don't have any assigned duties this year, and since my duties last year kept me from cooking - I wanna cook!  Our team of me, Bob and Edsel had great fun in 2006 (Ann Arbor) - probably a meat course, but we were one of those you mentioned who kept an open mind and based our meal (beef braised with chili and cherries) on the ingredients we found at the market.

Are you guys up for cooking for 90, then?

[tammylc]

I'll stake out my usual canape/ hors d'ouevre/ amuse sort of thing. And I'll do it for 90.

(I think we're all frikkin insane, BTW. But it's a good kind of insane.)

[tammylc]

I'd definitely like to make something. What I have in mind is a cool (temperature-wise, although it's the other cool as well) tomato-watermelon-mint soup. I'm assuming that with all the food we're likely to have, folks would want smaller servings, perhaps 4-6 oz. With a couple of sous chefs and a food processor or two, I can make enough for all 90.

I agree with your approach, Tammy. Also, as you mentioned a couple of days ago, some dishes would be fine plated, others family style (assuming we have enough servingware).

←

Sounds great, Alex. Soup might be something that it would make sense to plate individually, but for the rest, I am going to strongly push family style platters. We can think about picking up some inexpensive servingware if the church doesn't have enough.

[tammylc]

What we have so far:

Amuse - Tammy

Soup - Alex

Meat - Nancy/Bob/Edsel

[NancyH]

Well - since I've sort of volunteered them, let me check with them. But I'm inclined to say yes!

Since I don't have any assigned duties this year, and since my duties last year kept me from cooking - I wanna cook!  Our team of me, Bob and Edsel had great fun in 2006 (Ann Arbor) - probably a meat course, but we were one of those you mentioned who kept an open mind and based our meal (beef braised with chili and cherries) on the ingredients we found at the market.

Are you guys up for cooking for 90, then?

←

[Jean Blanchard]

I'll definitely bring a dessert or two. I'll be a sous chef to anybody that needs me. I could also bring caponata if it looks like we could use it.

On Thursday, we are going to be going to TVH after dinner so we'll be happy to drive 3 people over with us.

[tino27]

What we have so far:

Amuse - Tammy

Soup - Alex

Meat - Nancy/Bob/Edsel

←

Don't forget we'll have breads for 90 as well. And we'll have specific breads for those that need them for their courses.

[Kerry Beal]

What we have so far:

Amuse - Tammy

Soup - Alex

Meat - Nancy/Bob/Edsel

←

Dessert - of course - for me. Ah, but what to make. Perhaps a couple of apple or pear cakes, great with chantilly cream. Also we could make some creme brulee chocolates - a la Kee's.

[CaliPoutine]

I'd like to do a salad( and I can do it for 90) and a dessert. I was thinking of a fruit cobbler or something with blueberries and peaches( assuming those are availble).

I can also bring some fig jam if anyone plans a cheese course.

eta: I'd like to pretty much decide what I'm going to do so I can bring whatever ingredients I need from home( ie: a tbls or two of baking powder, a certain spice, etc) This way we dont have to buy a whole container of something just to use a tiny bit.

Edited June 19, 2008 by CaliPoutine (log)

[Alex]

What we have so far:

Amuse - Tammy

Soup - Alex

Meat - Nancy/Bob/Edsel

←

Dessert - of course - for me. Ah, but what to make. Perhaps a couple of apple or pear cakes, great with chantilly cream. Also we could make some creme brulee chocolates - a la Kee's.

←

I had to look: Kee's Chocolates

[Kerry Beal]

What we have so far:

Amuse - Tammy

Soup - Alex

Meat - Nancy/Bob/Edsel

←

Dessert - of course - for me. Ah, but what to make. Perhaps a couple of apple or pear cakes, great with chantilly cream. Also we could make some creme brulee chocolates - a la Kee's.

←

I had to look: Kee's Chocolates

←

Yup, over in the 'Confections what did we make?' thread a couple of us have made our imitation of these gems. By adding some brulee'd sugar we have (in my humble opinion) improved on the original.

[CaliPoutine]

What we have so far:

Amuse - Tammy

Soup - Alex

Meat - Nancy/Bob/Edsel

←

Dessert - of course - for me. Ah, but what to make. Perhaps a couple of apple or pear cakes, great with chantilly cream. Also we could make some creme brulee chocolates - a la Kee's.

←

I had to look: Kee's Chocolates

←

Yup, over in the 'Confections what did we make?' thread a couple of us have made our imitation of these gems. By adding some brulee'd sugar we have (in my humble opinion) improved on the original.

←

Are those the ones I tasted at your house? If so, they were totally yummy.

[Kerry Beal]

I had to look: Kee's Chocolates

←

Yup, over in the 'Confections what did we make?' thread a couple of us have made our imitation of these gems. By adding some brulee'd sugar we have (in my humble opinion) improved on the original.

←

Are those the ones I tasted at your house? If so, they were totally yummy.

←

I think so, were they really big, dark chocolate and nice and creamy smooth?

Edited June 19, 2008 by Kerry Beal (log)

[tammylc]

Cooking volunteers so far...

Amuse - tammylc

Soup - Alex

Salad - CaliPoutine

Meat - NancyH/Bob/Edsel

Bread - Tino

Dessert - CaliPoutine, KerryBeal, Jean Blanchard (Dessert people - given that there are multiples of you, and we're always stuffed by dessert, you should be thinking in terms of regular size desserts, not each of you making something that will feed everyone. So a single pie or cake or whatever is totally fine)

Pretty light meal so far! With 90 people signed up to come on Saturday, I'd think there'd be a few more cooks wanting to wow the crowd. Who else would like to do something? You don't have to have a solid plan yet, just a willingness to put something together.

[ronnie_suburban]

Would it be possible to pin the week's schedule to perhaps the top of this post? I'm going crazy searching and trying to put together a list of what and where everything is going to be, and the cost, timing, etc. Can anyone help this Luddite?

Thanks!!

←

I'm sorry but the software won't allow me to pin it to the top of the thread. I'll post the details here, though . . .

If there's someone here who is adept at creating Google interactive maps, it would be most helpful if they could create one with this information and post the link here. Thanks

Thursday August 7, 2008

Dinner

Blackbird Restaurant

619 W Randolph, Chicago, IL 60606

312 715-0708

Start time tbd, approximately 6:30 pm CT

Cocktail Session

The Violet Hour

1520 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

773 252-1500

approximately 10:30 pm CT (30 minutes after dinner ends)

Initial post about Thursday's events

=====

Friday August 8, 2008

Dinner

Lao Sze Chuan

Chinatown Square Mall

2172 S Archer Ave

Chicago, IL 60616

312 326-5040

7:30 pm CT

Intial post about Friday's dinner

=====

Saturday August 9, 2008

Shopping

Evanston Farmers Market

Intersection of University Place and Oak Avenue

Evanston, IL 60201

9 am CT

Group Meal

Immanuel Lutheran Church

616 Lake St

Evanston, IL 60201

847 864-4464

1 pm CT

Initial post about Saturday's events and the weekend in general

=====

Sunday August 10, 2008

Walking tour of Maxwell Street Market led by David Hammond

500 W Roosevelt Rd

Chicago, IL 60607

312 922-3100

10 am CT

Initial post about Sunday's event

=====

=R=

[Alex]

Saturday August 9, 2008

Shopping

Evanston Farmers Market

Intersection of University Place and Oak Avenue

Evanston, IL 60201

9 am CT

Group Meal

Immanuel Lutheran Church

616 Lake St

Evanston, IL 60201

847 864-4464

1 pm CT

Ronnie, what does that 1 p.m. mean? I hope we'll have access to the church kitchen before then. With all the shopping and prepping and cooking, much of the meal itself won't be until well after that, I'm pretty sure. Is that the start of noshing time?

[tammylc]

Alex, I'm not Ronnie, but I will say that in the past we've gathered at the dinner location around 1 pm. Shopping takes a few hours in the morning, and then people usually do lunch and convene in the afternoon to start prepping and cooking. Sometimes there are afternoon activities, like the chocolate tasting in Cleveland or wine tasting in Ann Arbor. We usually start serving around 6 or 7.

[Fresser]

Cooking volunteers so far...

Amuse - tammylc

Soup - Alex

Salad - CaliPoutine

Meat - NancyH/Bob/Edsel

Bread - Tino

←

I'd be happy to pitch in with any prep work as needed...

[ronnie_suburban]

Saturday August 9, 2008

Shopping

Evanston Farmers Market

Intersection of University Place and Oak Avenue

Evanston, IL 60201

9 am CT

Group Meal

Immanuel Lutheran Church

616 Lake St

Evanston, IL 60201

847 864-4464

1 pm CT

Ronnie, what does that 1 p.m. mean? I hope we'll have access to the church kitchen before then. With all the shopping and prepping and cooking, much of the meal itself won't be until well after that, I'm pretty sure. Is that the start of noshing time?

←

Alex,

It's unlikely we'll have the church much before 1 pm because they have other activities there in the a.m., etc. We'll shop at the market and other assorted vendors, beginning at 9 am. It's possible that we'll have access to the church a bit earlier than that but it's not too likely. But as Tammy mentioned above, in previous years, after shopping, we will likely want to grab lunch and then head over to the cooking venue. I think that even a 1 pm start should give us more than enough time.

So, a couple of points . . .

If possible, everyone who is able should bring a cooler or some other means to keep their purchases at safe temperatures between shopping and prep. This is especially important this year because the church has fairly limited refrigerator space (especially in light of the number of attendees this year) and many of us will need to keep our stuff cold on our own, even after we occupy the church. Simply put, there will not be enough fridge space for all our stuff. So, if you're local or driving into town, please do your best to bring a cooler or 2. Of course, sharing of cooler space (and other resources) is always encouraged.

Regarding Saturday's lunch and shopping, hand-outs will be provided to everyone, listing places to shop and have lunch. Additionally, I and other locals will be happy to make driving runs to various shopping venues beyond the market. Based on previous years, this is something I think we can simply improvise on Saturday morning.

Speaking of Saturday lunch, eGS member nr706 has very generously put together this awesome interactive Google map, which lists a whole bunch of places in Evanston (and nearby) to have lunch. My hope is to provide similar maps, listing both shopping venues and event locations for the weekend (in addition to the handouts). A short list of nearby vendors can be found here.

Is everyone getting excited?

=R=

Edited June 19, 2008 by ronnie_suburban (log)

[nyokie6]

Hi

I'd like to help. I would be happy to help someone or I can cook. I'm just a home cook but I could do brownies or an apple cobbler. I also can do vegtables with pasta as a side dish for a large group, but it will have dried pasta(with onions, mushrooms, spinach, fresh herbs and whatever else looks good at the market).

Also what about wine? I'd be happy to buy a case of prosecco. Not having been in the past I don"t know what your proceedure is. We will be flying in on Wed. and staying around the Hyatt/Michagan Av. area and will not have a car.

Tobi

[torakris]

Would it be possible to pin the week's schedule to perhaps the top of this post? I'm going crazy searching and trying to put together a list of what and where everything is going to be, and the cost, timing, etc. Can anyone help this Luddite?

←

The best I was able to do was add the list of events (with the nice links you provided) to Alex's very first post in this thread. So all anyone needs to do is check post #1 and all the information is there.

I am more than happy to help out in any prep, I'm not sure that I want the responsibility of a dish though... and I absolutely put my foot down on deep frying for 90 people!

I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts?

[prasantrin]

I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts?

←

It looks like there's a food court at Union Station, and some of the places open at 6am.

[CaliPoutine]

I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts?

So did you decide on the MegaBus?