snap203, little snap, and I will be there

Le Sigh, I have 0 non-glass containers to serve tea from for the picnic.

Perhaps I should bring pickles again. They are ready.

I will be there along with my husband and 3 kids. I think I'm going to make Accara, black-eyed pea fritters from West Africa.

I"m looking forward to this event. It will be the first time my two older boys can make it and I've promised them an amazing feast.

Add one more to my group. My friend Kevin will bring paper plates and anything else supply wise you deem needed.

[quote="Cathy2"]You are also welcome to check out our spreadsheet for LTHforum Picnic 2015:

We are 115 people strong so far with more to come! Please advise the names of people coming with you or they will have to fill in a nametag later.


Screen name Dish type Dish Name # of Guests
Cathy2 Salad carrot-pineapple salad from Milwaukee's Ono Kine Grindz 1
Cathy2 Side Purple rice 0
Cathy2 dessert Watermelon from Forestburg, SD 0
fifille Supplies 15 tableclothes 1
Octarine Supplies Pinata 1
Mkess Supplies plastic knives x 90
Mkess Supplies plastic forks x 30 0
Mkess Supplies plastic spoons x 50 0
Mkess Supplies 60x 10 1/4" laminated foam plates 0
Mkess Supplies 150x 5 7/8" laminated foam plates 0
Mkess Supplies 90x 16oz red plastic cups 0
David Hammond Supplies Handiwipes 1
David Hammond Supplies Cups - 100 0
David Hammond Supplies Plates 100 0
David Hammond Supplies Knife, fork, spoon sets 360 0
David Hammond Supplies Plastic garbage bags 0
David Hammond Supplies Sterno - 8 cans 0
David Hammond Supplies Napkins - 150 0
Carolyn Berg 1
Pairs4Life Beverages Non-alcoholic 1
bean Dessert Black and blueberry crisp 2
Joel F Main Bobotie and accompanying chutney 1
Sue F 1
justjoan Beverages Buckets of punch 1
justjoan's friends salad Wholegrain salad 2
PieLady 1
Attrill 3
Mamagotcha 2
Chouxfly 2
nr706 appetizers meatish 1
nr 706 beverages IPA homebrew 0
Moetchandon 1
mbh beverages Temple Destroyer 2
Kevin, mbh's friend supplies 1
Laikom 1
Terese 1
Hellodalli Dessert Homemade ice cream 1
Swingbossa Side Vaghareli Makai (Spiced Indian Corn) 1
Boudreaulicious 1
AlekH 3
Ronnie Suburban Main Country ham from Colonel Newsome 1
Ronnie Suburban beverages Corn liquor 0
Julie Suburban 1
milz30 1
Mrs. milz30 Bread Biscuits 1
JennyIL 1
SteveZ main "Chorizo & Smoke Roasted Pepper Hash", using Ronnie Suburban-made chorizo 1
Brian, SteveZ's friend main Teriyaki skewers 1
Victoria, SteveZ's friend 1
Chowpoodle Dessert Secret Recipe Chocolate cake 1
Deb S Dessert Chocolate pecan pie bars 1
irisarbor Beverages Pink Flamingos (rum-drink) 3
irisarbor Appetizers hot dog rumaki 0
leek beverages 1
Mr. leek 1
petite_gourmande beverages Blue Hawaiian 1
glennpann Main Uncle John's 3
fropones beverages Gold Coast punch 2
BR Appetizers Shrimp & pork eggrolls 1
nancy 2
LHS Main Spicy Korean food 3
ReneG 1
Royal Lichter 1
ruthchicago Dessert Trifle with a twist 1
gastro gnome 1
pudgym29 1
m'th'su 2
Ellen F. 1
Giovanna appetizer Molly Katzen's fabulous mushroom pate 0
Giovanna Beverages Mai Tai 1
Jvalentino Salad farrow salad w grilled vegetables, sheep feta and fresh oregano 1
Kayden - Jvalentino's son 1
Anthony - jvalentino's son 1
jazzfood Inspired by Green City Market 1
terese 1
Normskid (Michelle) 1
Glenn, Normskid's husband 1
Josephine Main Maryland Stuffed 24-pound Ham 1
Raymond. Josephine's husband 1
shoelessone 1
Lindsay, shoelessone's wife 1
Panther in the Den Side Pancit Bihon 1
Mrs. Panther in the Den Appetizers Avocado Deviled Eggs 1
LauraS Dessert Peanut butter and chocolate cake 3
Jefe Main Chili Colorado 3
Jefe side Homemade flour tortillas 0
gaf Main Peruvian casserole 1
Danijake (Kimberly) Main homemade Polish sausage 1
Danielle, Danijake's child 1
Jaco, Danijake's child 1
Mark, Danijanke's husband 1
borborigmy 1
borborigmy's Aunt 1
borborigmy's child 1
borborigmy's Dad 1
borborigmy's Mom 1
softboiled 1
Mrs. softboiled 1
jimswside Main Polynesian chicken 1
Vangie, Mrs. jimswside 1
Shay, Miss jimswside 1
BrendanR appetizers Reuben rolls 1
Laura 1
mhl main Will Special from Riviera 1
turkob 1
snap203 1
little snap 1
buttercream side Accara, black-eyed pea fritters from West Africa 1
Mr. buttercream 1
buttercream's child 1
buttercream's child 1
buttercream's child 1

In addition to the egg rolls, I will be making a coconut and passion fruit (and possibly pandan) cake for the tiki area.

Adrienne Lundquist, I will be attending. Looking forward to my first lthforum picnic. I will be bringing A salad and a dessert. Will update with more specifics.

Mr Leek is bringing SPAM and possibly SPAM Musubi.

I will sadly have to miss the picnic this year. But looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing all about it.

Hello All,

I'm planning to make it with my husband. It will be our first year!

I'll bring dessert.

Looking forward to it!
Julia Williams

Ronna and I are pleased to announce that we have joined Team Tiki™ and will be at the Picnic. We will be bringing nuts.

--Rich

turkob wrote:snap203, little snap, and I will be there

Little snap= Squee!!!!

I am so looking forward to the Spam Musubi, Mr. Leek. Also, raymond is not coming now , buy my guests will be Mia and Tia!

Hellodali wrote:I will sadly have to miss the picnic this year. But looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing all about it.

You (and your ice creams) will be missed -- see you soon!

Please add two guests to my attendance - my younger son Kevin and his fiancee Ali will join, and will bring something (but we don't know what).

Josephine wrote:I am so looking forward to the Spam Musubi, Mr. Leek. Also, raymond is not coming now , buy my guests will be Mia and Tia!

Someone else is making mini spam musubi bites (they will be awesome!

In Praise of Cooks and the Beauty of Flapjack

The Chicago region is obviously fortunate to have a number of world-class chefs, culinary wizards who make our palates tingle with new flavor combinations and innovative, undeniably artistic manipulations of the best raw materials.

Currently, I’m more inclined to eliminate the middle man and go right to the best ingredients, minimally manipulated. I’m not sure I need a chef. Just give me a cook; that’s probably enough.

If I have a beautiful ribeye steak, I don’t want to sauce it, fancy it up or dress it with anything more than salt and, maybe, pepper. I definitely don’t want a chef to elaborate on the un-improvable simplicity of a beautifully marbled Midwestern steak; I just want a cook to heat it up (but not too much) and serve it up.

I get that restaurants have to add value, and one of the ways value is added is by putting hands into clay and shaping it all into something wonderful. With superior raw materials, however, there seems to be not that much more you really need to do to make excellent ingredients taste excellent. About the best one can hope for is to not mess it up. When you’re working with high-quality vegetables and proteins, it’s your cooking contest to lose; just don’t screw it up.

Last month, during our first full day on the Isle of Wight, we went to Chale Show, an annual county fair type event where all the best raw materials of the island were on display. Walking by the tables of potatoes and courgettes and peppers, nothing would have pleased me more than to have eaten any of them, lightly cooked and salted, maybe buttered. With raw materials that good, further fussing would be unnecessary.


We stopped at a stand offering baked goods, and Carolyn suggested we get a slice of flapjack, a tray-baked confection.

Flapjack is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Pericles, and it’s perhaps one of his many anachronisms, though flapjack is so simple, it’s conceivable that it could have been enjoyed in pre-Christian Greece. Flapjack is everywhere in Britain: in grocery stores, at petrol stations, and at the Chale Show. I have never seen flapjack in the United States, where a flapjack is understood to be a pancake-type breakfast item and not an anytime-of-day snack.

Flapjack is a minimally manipulated confection: oats, butter and golden syrup (or honey, which is how I had it the first time in England and how we prepared it last weekend). This magnificently simple tea or dessert item foregrounds the quality of raw materials: oats, butter and honey. That’s it. That’s all. A child could cook it. And with the right ingredients, I don’t think the most accomplished chef could do any better.

More and more often, I’m finding that a cook will do just fine.

Anyway, Carolyn is working on perfecting our recipe for British flapjack to bring to the picnic.

David Hammond wrote:Anyway, Carolyn is working on perfecting our recipe for British flapjack to bring to the picnic.

Kicks rocks! I was hoping for tablet.

I see a potential shortage (in relative LTH terms) of pork so I'm going to bring a pan of Momofuku Bo Ssam. Not going to do oysters but I'll bring the scallion relish.

This is in addition to the piñata.

I will be there. With three guests.
I will make a dark chocolate cake. I am not sure what my guests are bringing.

Tom Skilling now says:

Sunday, September 20th, 2015

Partly to mostly sunny with readings close to seasonal norms.
Afternoon highs should reach the lower 70s. Clear and cool overnight. Lows drop into the 40s away from the city. Westerly winds diminish at night.

Totally comfortable picnic weather!

Cathy2 wrote:Tom Skilling now says:

Sunday, September 20th, 2015

Partly to mostly sunny with readings close to seasonal norms.
Afternoon highs should reach the lower 70s. Clear and cool overnight. Lows drop into the 40s away from the city. Westerly winds diminish at night.

Totally comfortable picnic weather!

I will probably need a hat, scarf, jacket, and gloves unless I wear a technical layer.

I still haven't decided what to make. I might just make a trip out to fresh farms Saturday and wait for inspiration to strike.

Hi,

For those seeking inspiration or can fill in the holes:

While there are a lot of liquor fueled beverages, we need somethings for the designated drivers and small pint crowd:
- If you are devoted to water, bring what you need for yourself.
- Pairs4Life and JustJoan are bringing iced tea and fruit juice punch respectively, though some additional soft drinks would be appreciated.
- Maybe 20 pounds of ice (and a willingness to pick up more later, if needed)

Supplies:
Dinner sized paper plates, sturdy types.
(Maybe cups, I need to check with the Tiki people)

I may add to this list after checking with some people.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

For those seeking inspiration or can fill in the holes:

While there are a lot of liquor fueled beverages, we need somethings for the designated drivers and small pint crowd:
- If you are devoted to water, bring what you need for yourself.
- Pairs4Life and JustJoan are bringing iced tea and fruit juice punch respectively, though some additional soft drinks would be appreciated.
- Maybe 20 pounds of ice (and a willingness to pick up more later, if needed)

Supplies:
Dinner sized paper plates, sturdy types.
(Maybe cups, I need to check with the Tiki people)

I may add to this list after checking with some people.



Regards,

Tiki people are fine on cups--we'll have our own. And we will have several NA drink options.

Looking forward to it!!

Cathy2 wrote:Panther in the Den Side Pancit Bihon 1

Thanks (as always) for all of your hard work!

My dish will actually be a main.

Thanks again

Panther in the Den wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Panther in the Den Side Pancit Bihon 1

Thanks (as always) for all of your hard work!

My dish will actually be a main.

Thanks again

Again, thanks for the clarification.

Regards,
Cathy

Cathy2 wrote:For those seeking inspiration or can fill in the holes:
While there are a lot of liquor fueled beverages, we need somethings for the designated drivers and small pint crowd:
- If you are devoted to water, bring what you need for yourself.
- Pairs4Life and JustJoan are bringing iced tea and fruit juice punch respectively, though some additional soft drinks would be appreciated.
- Maybe 20 pounds of ice (and a willingness to pick up more later, if needed)

Hi Cathy,

I wasn't planning to attend the picnic; usually have to keep weekends open for stepchild activities, but seeing your message, I thought I could stop by with a case or two of bottled water and/or soda (I'll get it from Costco on Saturday and refrigerate it before the picnic) and a few bags of ice ... and maybe retrieve from you that Taylor's chili you got for me in Carlinville, so we don't have to arrange a separate meetup? I know you'll have a lot to do on picnic day so if worrying about bringing the chili along sounds like a hassle, forget it; I'll meet you in HP some other time. I can still bring the water and ice to the picnic if you want.

Hi Katie,

That is very generous and certainly needed. Certainly, I hope you hang out for a while to get some food.

I have your chili in my trunk already. What time are you thinking of dropping by?

Regards,

I can stop by any time; do you have a preference, e.g., on the early side, like 10:30, as things are being set up? Or later to refresh the supplies?

ETA: I think I'd rather come on the early side, 10:30ish, and make an ice run if need be before I head home.


I see there's a Popeye's Chicken less than 3 miles away, so if I stay for a while, I can also run over there for a few more bags of ice before I head home.

Just to clarify, the driving directions in the first post are for coming up on 94 from the south, right? It looks to me like coming from the north, you have to get off at Cicero.