Plan: 2010 Heartland Gathering

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, I can bring a blowtorch in my car. Actually I have a new one, never used. Let's go torch some food!

Yippee!!

[Sam Iam]

Anyone want to take a free Garland stove home with them? It's available, around 30 minutes S of AA. See my separate post.. Just trying to help a fellow Gourmand out here..

[Sam Iam]

And, if anybody needs anything that they can't bring, let me know. I can bring a lotsa stuff, including mushroom fluters. These days, who eats an unfluted mushroom??

Edited July 28, 2010 by Sam Iam (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Tammy - what vegetables are you seeing at the farmers market these days? I'm assuming we are past any aspargus or fresh peas?

Edited July 29, 2010 by Kerry Beal (log)

[tammylc]

Well past asparagus - with such a warm spring, we were done asparagus by the second week of June! There were some peas the last time I was at the market, but that was a while ago.

Fortunately, Real Time Farms comes to the rescue! Here's a list of everything that was at the market yesterday morning: http://www.realtimefarms.com/market/ann-arbor-farmers-market

The Wednesday market is smaller than the Saturday market, so you can look back to the previous Saturday, or wait until after this weekend for the most up-to-date listing.

I should also note for market lovers that there are several other marketing options while you're in Ann Arbor. There is a Thursday evening (3 pm to 7 pm) market outside Zingerman's Roadhouse that has some interesting vendors. For anyone going to SELMA Friday morning, a local farm does CSA distribution there on Friday mornings, and has a farm stand with extra produce. Also, my neighbor Kate has a farm just a couple miles from Great Oak and is growing some exotics like (fantastic) microgreens and edible flowers that aren't readily available at the regular market, as well as more standard stuff. She's promised me some baby golden beets for next weekend if I want them. I'll get a stock list from her mid-week next week and post it here so we can reserve some items. She's planning to come out and join us for a while on Saturday, but probably can't stay for dinner.

I'll be putting together a Google Map with all these locations, etc.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks Tammy - the site I found was still showing June stuff. I'm going to experiment with a potato and kale shooter with smoked paprica foam. Wish me luck!

[tammylc]

eGullet's PM system seems to be flaky right now. I was just sending out a reminder to people who've not yet paid that I need you to do that ASAP. My mail won't come until later this afternoon, but if your check isn't there, please use PayPal as described in the individual message I sent to you. I want to report final numbers to restaurants on Monday.

In case we have further PM problems, it would be most useful if everyone could email me with their email address and phone number, just in case! My email is tammylc at pobox dot com.

Thanks!

[tammylc]

I've created a map with all of the locations for the Gathering. It's here. You'll be able to generate directions from wherever you're staying to the events of the weekend.

[prasantrin]

Thanks for the map!

On the map, the address of the Grange is 118 West Liberty Street, but the icon is on Essex Road. Is our dinner at a special location, or is the icon misplaced?

[tammylc]

The map is fixed now. I kept thinking that looked wrong... Google bug on that location, but it worked right if i entered the address manually. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

[Kerry Beal]

Tammy - is good spanish chorizo available in town?

[Alex]

Spanish chorizo is available via Zingerman's mail order, so you can call them to see if it's also available at the deli. I suspect that Tammy knows other places, too.

[Fat Guy]

Dress code at Grange?

[tammylc]

Spanish chorizo is available via Zingerman's mail order, so you can call them to see if it's also available at the deli. I suspect that Tammy knows other places, too.

We have no shortage of excellent choices for all your cured meat needs. Ann Arbor is a cook's paradise - we have really excellent shopping, and you'll be able to find most anything you'd want here. Not to mention things you didn't know you wanted because you didn't know they existed.

[tammylc]

Dress code at Grange?

Nowhere in Ann Arbor is very formal, comes of being a college town. Certainly some people dining there dress up a little, but as long as you don't look raggedy pretty much anything goes. Definitely NOT a jacket's required place.

[ChefCrash]

My wife and I would like to attend Friday night's dinner as well as Saturday's activities. However our experience is limited to Lebanese peasant foods and pastries. If there is anything we could prepare that would compliment Saturday's menu, we open to requests.

Otherwise we can offer wine and beer for dinner.

Tammy, please PM me with Paypal info.

Thanks

[tammylc]

My wife and I would like to attend Friday night's dinner as well as Saturday's activities. However our experience is limited to Lebanese peasant foods and pastries. If there is anything we could prepare that would compliment Saturday's menu, we open to requests.

Otherwise we can offer wine and beer for dinner.

Tammy, please PM me with Paypal info.

Thanks

Lebanese peasant foods and pastries sounds awesome to me. Welcome!

I'll PM you the information.

[Alex]

This might be somewhere in the forum and I simply missed it, but what are the starting times for the restaurant meals (and the bread workshop and the tour)?

[prasantrin]

My wife and I would like to attend Friday night's dinner as well as Saturday's activities. However our experience is limited to Lebanese peasant foods and pastries. If there is anything we could prepare that would compliment Saturday's menu, we open to requests.

Otherwise we can offer wine and beer for dinner.

Tammy, please PM me with Paypal info.

Thanks

ChefCrash, I am so excited that you and your wife will be joining the festivities! Your posts (both travel and cooking) have always been amongst my favourites.

Lebanese peasant foods and pastries are very welcome, indeed! I personally hope for baklava; so much that we will not be able to finish it all, so some of us will be forced to take home copious amounts! (not that I'm hinting or anything. . . )

[white lotus]

Greetings Tammy et al,

Sorry for radio silence. We have a few changes in our plans as all 3 (Dance, Masumi & I) of us will be arriving on different days & different times. That said, there will only be me for the Chia Shang Thursday in AA. Please cancel Dance's reservation for that evening.

Hopefully you have received our remittance by now as we mailed it to you a while ago. For the FEAST, we are planning on being available for prep, washing dishes, or anything other duties where we can be useful. We are bringing NW smoked salmon to be used for the feast if any of you have good ideas for it. Otherwise, it could be put out for snacks. We are also packing our usual hot & iced tea stuff. Dance brought back some fairly good oolongs from a recent Taiwan tea tour. I will have my usual Japanese senchas/gyukuros as well. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. cheers, wl

[tammylc]

Greetings Tammy et al,

Sorry for radio silence. We have a few changes in our plans as all 3 (Dance, Masumi & I) of us will be arriving on different days & different times. That said, there will only be me for the Chia Shang Thursday in AA. Please cancel Dance's reservation for that evening.

Hopefully you have received our remittance by now as we mailed it to you a while ago. For the FEAST, we are planning on being available for prep, washing dishes, or anything other duties where we can be useful. We are bringing NW smoked salmon to be used for the feast if any of you have good ideas for it. Otherwise, it could be put out for snacks. We are also packing our usual hot & iced tea stuff. Dance brought back some fairly good oolongs from a recent Taiwan tea tour. I will have my usual Japanese senchas/gyukuros as well. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. cheers, wl

Thank you for the update! I did receive your ticket payment, thank you. I'll be giving the chef at Grange special request info tomorrow - Dance eats fish/dairy/eggs, but no other meat, right?

If anyone else has special food requests, now is the time to speak up!

[tammylc]

Thursday dinner at Chia Shiang - 7 pm

Friday

Bread workshop - starts at 8:30 am goes until about 12:30 pm.

Foodie Field trip - We'll discuss this at the Thursday and Friday dinners and plot ourselves a plan - probably 1-ish

Dinner at Grange - 7 pm

Saturday - People who want to shop as a group should meet at the Farmer's Market at 9 am for best selection, but we can negotiate this on Friday depending on how late we end up being out on Friday.

I am planning to offer a little cocktail hour at 5 pm-ish on Saturday - I'm no Violet Hour or Velvet Tango Room, but I've been having a lot of fun with mixology this last year and will have a fun menu of offerings.

I assume we'll sit down to eat around 7-ish on Saturday, but we'll negotiate that based on number of courses and etc.

Sunday - Brunch is at 11:30 am.

[white lotus]

Tammy, correct on Dance's food preferences. He will also be an appreciative audience for whatever mixed cocktail beverages you make up as he is a relative newbee to the cocktail world, thanks to the KC heartland adventure last year. Tammy, thanks for all the work you are putting into this...

[tammylc]

Allan from Zingerman's Coffee Roaster contacted me to see if people would be interested in him running a coffee tasting during the weekend. I know we did this on the last Ann Arbor Gathering, and we have a lot of the same people, but I thought I'd throw his offer out there. If anyone is interested, please let me know ASAP - I'm still working on times with Allan, but Friday or Sunday afternoon seemed the most likely possibilities.

[ChefCrash]

This may have been covered already, other than specialty equipment and utensils, what should we bring?