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eG Foodblog: ronnie_suburban - A high volume week


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Thanks for the kind words Brooks and for the recipe and green beans Fresser. Things were a little too chaotic to fire up the cooktop last night, but the gb's will definitely go to good use on Monday.

This afternoon, we attended my stepmom's holiday party. It was more relaxing than my week was but far less relaxing than doing nothing would have been. She is a great baker and really turns out some fine stuff. I'll get to that in a minute.

First, I hovered at the savory buffet for a while to start. I was still pretty full from breakfast but did manage to have 1/2 a mini bagel with chive cheese and home-made gravlax. The gravlax was nice. It was cured with just the right amount of dill. She does a very nice job with it.

Next, I made myself an open face sandwich from her deli tray...ciabatta roll with some mayo, a little dijon mustard, a slice of roast beast, a slice of turkey, 1 slice of garlicky kosher-style salami, a spirally-sliced piece of ham (watery and not smoked at all) and some muenster cheese. In spite of its multi-meat nature, it was nothing special. I also had 1 mini spanikopita (much smaller than the ones we made) but my step-mom confessed to me that she accidentally omitted the parmesan and it was pretty apparent. :sad:

I also had a few of her mini hotdogs which blew mine away--better coordination in the kitchen from her helpers who cooked them perfectly whereas my helpers would have scored a B- for their baking efforts. Stepmom's versions were perfectly golden brown and flaky. I had a couple of them dipped in some Plochman's yellow mustard...Yum. I guess what I was feeling could be described as a case of hotdog envy. :wink:

Next, onto the maki and I again went for the spicey tuna i/o with misago. That's my favorite maki and Akai Hana (the place where we both got our stuff) does a nice job--especially with the maki. I went for the mini meatballs next which were in a brown savory sauce. They weren't nearly as good as the ones I made IMO. After that, I had a few shrimp with cocktail sauce and a carrot stick dipped in cold spinach dip.

Beverage-wise I mixed it up a bit by going back and forth between diet coke and diet sprite. :wink:

I'm not much of a dessert lover but at my step-mom's house they are absolutely worth having. I made myself a plate with some chocolate mousse cake, some sort of peanut butter cheesecake, a piece of yule log and a piece of turtle cheesecake. With the exception of the yule log, everything was fantastic. The yule log was flavored with a liquore that I did not care for. I meant to take a few cookies too--she makes a wicked assortment--but I just kinda' ran out of gas. Somehow I get the feeling I'll have another shot at some of those cookies in the next couple of weeks. There were so many other fantastic looking desserts on the table that I didn't have room for...key lime pie, banana cream pie, raspberry cheesecake, bundt cake, flourless chocolate cake, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, etcetera, etcertera, etcetera...she had to have been baking for weeks--and she also made those 3 items for our party too. Wow!

So that's just about it for my blog week. I wish I could have been more attentive and more focused but it just wasn't in the cards this week. Hell, I wish I could have eaten more too. :biggrin: The feeling of completing that list of things to do (that has been living in my mind and on various lists for the past month) is simply glorious. If you want to look at holiday shopping as a nifty diversion, just have a huge party before you do your holiday shopping. After that, the shopping will feel like the last day of school, I swear.

I have selected someone (via PM) to blog next week. I'll give that person a bit of time to reply before officially calling them out here. If I hear nothing, I also have a couple others in mind. One way or the other, I'll be back very soon to pass the baton.

Thanks everyone for the supportive comments, unending help and generous gifts.

Oh...and Happy Holidays to you all :smile:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Thanks for posting the photos. Everything looks great.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Bringing up a suggestion that was made up-thread, I think we should nominate ronnie as the official eGullet Santa Claus.

Thanks so much for an entertaining blog. Awesome.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Ok, I haven't heard back from her yet, but I'd like to officially nominate the Siren of the Prairie herself, pariah_kerry, to do next week's blog.

Whaddaya say pk? :cool:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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I want to thank ronnie and his wife julie for a wonderful time. i also met many of your other wonderful friends and family.

Do you have any pictures of the house set up? It's a great house for a party. There were four tables w/ 4 chairs per table set-up in the "great room", and another two tables in another room. Of course I spent most of my time hanging out next to the buffet tables.

my favorites, in no particular order, were:

shrimp

rumaki

sushi

meatballs

the "filet of brie"

queso fundido

and the chex mix.

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Ok...just heard back from pk who, due to a variety of outside factors, cannot do the blog this week.

I have someone else in mind, but I will again ask for volunteers before drafting that person...

Anyone?

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Thanks for posting the pics! They brought a tear to my eye, the food looked so good.

A great blog!

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I volunteered for next week...and/or New Years eve

Mr. Jackal, there is a contigent that wanted you to take Christmas week. Is that a misread on my part? If so, then please step up to the podium. If not, I'd like to tag hillvalley to take this week...

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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those eggs were so good. they were all gone, weren't they?

Yes, every single egg was eaten. With the modifications, they were exponentially better than in years past. Bacon on top (instead of in the filling) was a great improvement and working the rendered bacon fat back into the filling was absolutely inspired.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Again, thanks everyone for the kind comments. They are much appreciated. :smile:

I had a blast doing this blog.

=R=

Edited by ronnie_suburban (log)

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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How about Toliver?  :raz:

Soba

[sHAKES FIST] Why...you! [/sHAKES FIST]

:laugh:

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I volunteered for next week...and/or New Years eve

Mr. Jackal, there is a contigent that wanted you to take Christmas week. Is that a misread on my part? If so, then please step up to the podium. If not, I'd like to tag hillvalley to take this week...

=R=

As much as I would love to do a blog, due to a raging case of the stomach flu and a variety of other health problems it is causing, I am handing the foodblog batton over to Jackal10. That is unless you all want to spend the week hearing about BRAT and homeade chicken soup. Someone tag me another time soon!

I could like to congratulate Santa Ronnie on a fantastic blog and what sounds like a wonderful party. Next year I may have to drive up! The food pics were amazing.

Okay Jackal10, blog on......

True Heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.

It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost,

but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. -Arthur Ashe

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Ok, I've run out of choices for bloggers so I'm going to hand tagging responsibilities back to 'the house' before any more of this week slips by...

Thanks again for letting me make a short story long. :wink:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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Well now.

Thanks again Ronnie, for your herculean blog. Now we know who to turn to if we ever do a national eGullet convention. :raz:

So, among likely candidates for this week --

1. Guajolote

2. Fresser

3. Toliver

any others? c'mon now, don't be shy. :biggrin:

the floor is open, gentles all...

Soba

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Just loved reading your blog Ronnie, thanks again for the vicarious party. Bacon fat whip in deviled eggs is brilliant. You should get some sort of global recognition for that.

hillvalley, hope you feel better. I'll avoid the obvious joke about you having your ups and downs. :wink:

I'm waiting with breathless anticipation to find out who is next. Who will it be??? It's worse than the suspense on the oscars and reality television.

What's wrong with peanut butter and mustard? What else is a guy supposed to do when we are out of jelly?

-Dad

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Bacon fat whip in deviled eggs is brilliant.

Thanks for the kind words Cusina. :smile:

Yes, it was truly inspired. I can say that without hesitation because it wasn't my idea :biggrin: The 'assistant' came up with it. :wink:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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