Holiday Party 2013, Katy’s Dumpling House, 12/7, 6-10PM

Holiday Party 2013, Katy’s Dumpling House, 12/7, 6-10PM

Few restaurants reflect the power of LTH love as clearly as Katy’s Dumpling House.


Courtesy Stevez

Since it was first mentioned by Jeff B almost ten years ago, this noodle-oriented restaurant has expanded to new locations, most recently in Oak Park. Honored with a GNR, we’d wanted for years to have a holiday party at Katy’s…but it wasn’t until a Katy’s outpost opened in Oak Park that we felt they had a venue large enough to hold us.

Our LTHForum Holiday Party 2013 will be held December 7, 6-10PM, at Katy’s Dumpling House, 1113 Lake St, Oak Park.

They’re preparing a menu that’s still being refined, but so far we’ve tentatively settled on:

• Sweet & Sour Squirrel Mandarin Fish Fillet
• Chicken Wings Peking style
• Crispy Duck
• Beef tendon noodle soup
• Pot Stickers & Boiled Dumplings
• Dan Dan Noodle
• Stir-Fried Shredded Pancake with pork
• Stir-fried Noodles with Dry Chili
• Chinese Cold platter
• Szechuan Cold Noodles
• Baked Spongy Gluten with Vegetarian Delicacies
• Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli
• Vegetarian Eel
• Pickles
• Emerald Shrimp

Bonus. The folks at Katy’s will also be demonstrating the ancient art of pulling the noodles that have made this place so popular among LTH members…and if you want to bring home some frozen foods, their freezer cabinet will be stocked with stuff. We’re guessing that given the sheer volume of food served that we may be able to get some doggie bags.

Tickets. Tickets are set at $37.50, and that includes dinner, tax, and tip. You can bring your own booze (no corkage fee). As in years past, all ticket sales will go through Eventbrite (small transaction fee required). Just go to the site (below) and enter your information. Ticket sales close at noon, December 6. Once you’ve paid, we’ll get updates from Eventbrite and we’ll enter your name on the guest list (this will be done in a timely fashion, though it won't likely be instantaneous). Seating is limited to 80. Tickets are non-refundable though they are transferrable, so if you buy a ticket and your plans change, you can sell your ticket to another member of the LTH community. If you do sell your ticket, please let us know who you sold it to.


Courtesy Stevez

Parking. There is ample and inexpensive parking all around the restaurant. There’s lot a few feet to the west of the restaurant, and another lot about a half block up with an entrance on Marion Street. There’s also metered parking.

Gift Exchange. If you want, please bring a food-related raffle item. For the raffle/gift exchange, all gifts go into a pool and names are drawn. Please bring gifts that you'd be happy to receive. If you do bring a gift, you get a ticket and are guaranteed one gift in exchange. We’ve set the price for each gift around $15. Please don't wrap the gift -- we like to see what people are winning before they win it -- but please do put your name (real name or screen name or both) on the gift so that lucky winners know who to thank.

Food Pantry Donations. You can bring donations and the warm-hearted mamagotcha will make take care of delivery to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.Their website is http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/

They list the following as their most-needed items:
Grain (rice, pasta, cereal)
Protein (beans, peanut butter, tuna)
Dairy (shelf-stable milk)
Fruits and Vegetables (canned)
Shelf-stable Groceries (stew, jelly, mac & cheese, chili, soup, pasta sauce)

Donations of money are also gratefully accepted; you can donate cash or a check, made out to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Tickets. When you buy tickets, please indicate your real name and, in parentheses, your LTH screen name. Buy tickets at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/event/9187751813


Courtesy Gary Wiviott

When we've received notification that tickets have been purchased, we will add the names of the ticket buyers here:

1. Cathy2
2. David Hammond
3. Carolyn Berg
4. Stevez
5. Chow Poodle
6. irisarbor
7. Guest of irisarbor
8. Boudreaulicious
9. jlawrence01
10. Guest of jlawrence01
11. NR706
12. Guest of NR706
13. Ronnie Suburban
14. Julie Kaplan
15. EvA
16. Cabbagehead
17. Lemoneater
18. Guest of Lemoneater
19. toria
20. Guest of toria
21. fropones
22. justjoan
23. GAF
24. Pie Lady
25. Mamagotcha
26. Choufly
27. JoelF
28. SueF
29. Laura Lambrecht
30. Guest of Laura Lambrecht
31. nukegirl
32. Teresa, esq.
33. laikom
34. mbh
35. Guest of mbh
36.Leek
37. Leekman
38. Ms. Ingie
39. ddickson
40. Marie Dickson
41. JimInLoganSquare
42. Mrs. JimInLoganSquare (Susan)
43. Ellen F.
44. Pamiam, I
45. Pamiam, II
46. Pamiam, III
47. pairs4life
48. Mr. pairs4life
49. Josephine
50. Guest of Josephine
51. Panther in the Den
52. Panther in the Den's Bride
53. Petite_Gourmande
54. Less is More
55. Scott Forler
56. Rob Forler
57. milz50
58. mrs. milz50
59. Josanna Berg-Hammond
60. Krasmania
61. Guest of Krasmania
62. Tarte tatin
63. turkob
64. Guest of turkob
65. Cathy1
66. bluepig
67. Guest of bluepig
68. Mr. Pie
69. Helen Cheongleen
70. swingbossa
71. hellodali
72. edc
73. Guest of edc
74. Santander
75. Guest of Santander
76. mhl
77. Sharone Kaplan
78. Gypsy Boy
79. jeffs
80. Aaron Greenberg

Exciting! Which of the dishes will be suitable for herbivores?

lemoneater wrote:Exciting! Which of the dishes will be suitable for herbivores?

I believe the following are just veg (but I defer to stevez or others who are more intimately familiar with the menu for confirmation):

• Yang Zhou Fried Rice or Stir-fried Noodles with Dry Chili
• Szechuan Cold Noodles
• Three Color Shredded Vegetable or Baked Spongy Gluten with Vegetarian Delicacies
• Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli
• Pickles

David Hammond wrote:

lemoneater wrote:Exciting! Which of the dishes will be suitable for herbivores?

I believe the following are just veg (but I defer to stevez or others who are more intimately familiar with the menu for confirmation):

• Yang Zhou Fried Rice or Stir-fried Noodles with Dry Chili
• Szechuan Cold Noodles
• Three Color Shredded Vegetable or Baked Spongy Gluten with Vegetarian Delicacies
• Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli
• Pickles

The Stir-fried Noodles with Dry Chili is generally not vegetarian, but is served with a combination of meats as is the Szechuan cold noodles. Maybe David could order a couple orders of Stir Fried noodles with Dry Chile with tofu instead of meat to allow the non-meat eaters to enjoy some of Katy's noodles. The fried rice isn't vegetarian, either, but I'm hoping we end up with the noodles and not the fried rice.

On the other hand, I've got t assume that the Vegetarian Eel is vegetarian, though I've not had it.

stevez wrote:On the other hand, I've got t assume that the Vegetarian Eel is vegetarian, though I've not had it.

I haven't had it either, and though it sounds like it'd be all vegetable, I think there might be a translation issue here.

bummer, I'm out of town that weekend. A group of us are going on a roadtrip SW Michigan Brewery tour.

Teresa and I would like to be there!

Wow, Laikom was right--that's a righteously awesome misspelling of Boudreaulicious

boudreaulicious wrote:Wow, Laikom was right--that's a righteously awesome misspelling of Boudreaulicious

Corrected and apologies -- it was the best I could do from memory while simultaneously dealing with epically inept Eventbrite help line.

No worries--I misspelled it when I posted that and had to go back and edit it. It's a HORRIBLE alias. But I guess that's part of the fun ???

i'm all paid up at eventbrite for 1 ticket. thanks

This is an inspired choice. I have eaten at Katy's often in their tiny spot, but never with a large group. It will be wonderful to assess the range of their skills.

When I bought my ticket, I forgot to add my screen name, sorry.

Oh boy! I've been looking forward to this since last year. I didn't see where to add my screen name when I bought my ticket, but Pie Lady will be in the house.

Very pleased that many from the old team are showing up for this.

Woohoo, sounds fantastic! Of course, I did not follow the instructions and forgot to put our LTH handles on our purchase (to be fair, I thought I had one more screen that would have a "notes" section or some such option before the transaction finalized). So when you see a payment from Katje Sabin, that's for me (mamagotcha) and Chouxfly.

Thank you so much for making this happen! It's become one of our favorite annual holiday treats. Can't wait!

P.S. If the membership is willing, I would be honored to do a collection of canned and dry goods for the local food pantry again. Would it be OK to include a request for those donations in the info up top, David?

mamagotcha wrote:Woohoo, sounds fantastic! Of course, I did not follow the instructions and forgot to put our LTH handles on our purchase (to be fair, I thought I had one more screen that would have a "notes" section or some such option before the transaction finalized). So when you see a payment from Katje Sabin, that's for me (mamagotcha) and Chouxfly.

Thank you so much for making this happen! It's become one of our favorite annual holiday treats. Can't wait!

P.S. If the membership is willing, I would be honored to do a collection of canned and dry goods for the local food pantry again. Would it be OK to include a request for those donations in the info up top, David?

Absolutely! Thanks Mamagotcha. Please PM/email me the info or post the information here that you'd like me to include (like name of food pantry and any special requests for donations) and I will insert that in the announcement. Sincerely appreciate your volunteering for this.

It looks like you purchased only one ticket. Did you want two?

stevez wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

lemoneater wrote:Exciting! Which of the dishes will be suitable for herbivores?

I believe the following are just veg (but I defer to stevez or others who are more intimately familiar with the menu for confirmation):

• Yang Zhou Fried Rice or Stir-fried Noodles with Dry Chili
• Szechuan Cold Noodles
• Three Color Shredded Vegetable or Baked Spongy Gluten with Vegetarian Delicacies
• Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli
• Pickles

The Stir-fried Noodles with Dry Chili is generally not vegetarian, but is served with a combination of meats as is the Szechuan cold noodles. Maybe David could order a couple orders of Stir Fried noodles with Dry Chile with tofu instead of meat to allow the non-meat eaters to enjoy some of Katy's noodles. The fried rice isn't vegetarian, either, but I'm hoping we end up with the noodles and not the fried rice.

On the other hand, I've got t assume that the Vegetarian Eel is vegetarian, though I've not had it.

As an omnivore, I can attest that the dry chili tofu is an outstanding choice, and is part of my "definites" list at Katy's. If the menu is still being finalized, it is worth consideration, (pending logistics,) as is the cucumber with garlic sauce to appease the fire. LOL - you know you're an lth'er when...

You look at the Holiday Party menu and think to yourself, "why is the word 'or' on there?"

Oops, sorry, I also didn't put my screenname in. I'm Helen Lee Reid, as some of you already may know! Looking forward to it, I've always wanted to try the place. I can't wait to see those of you I know and am eager to meet those of you I don't know - and those of you I do know but haven't yet met in person (looking at you, Katje Sabin and David Hammond).

seebee wrote:You look at the Holiday Party menu and think to yourself, "why is the word 'or' on there?"

We're doing what we can to jigger the menu to satisfy the greatest number of people. It's not finalized yet, but we're working on it.

I hope we get the tri color vegetables AND the spongy gluten! Mr. lemoneater (and other herbs, I imagine) would certainly be happy to eat the noodles with tofu, as stevez suggested. Looking forward to this!

Given that Katy's specializes in Noodles, it might make sense to have a noodle dish that has tofu and one that is not vegetarian (for those who of us can't eat tofu).

Just a suggestion but either through the thread or, in the future, as a function of the ticketing process, maybe the organizers should get a Veg/non-Veg RSVP as part of the sign up. Planning for a group this large is hard but that can take a least a bit of the guesswork out of it. I think that's what we did for the last GNR dinner and it worked well...

This is not a buffet. Food will be served to tables. So unless we want to segregate vegetarian and omnivores, it's going to be logistically very difficult to have the same dish done different ways

David Hammond wrote:This is not a buffet. Food will be served to tables. So unless we want to segregate vegetarian and omnivores, it's going to be logistically very difficult to have the same dish done different ways.

Aha...that does make a difference! I'm sure the menu will be delicious, regardless.

boudreaulicious wrote:

David Hammond wrote:This is not a buffet. Food will be served to tables. So unless we want to segregate vegetarian and omnivores, it's going to be logistically very difficult to have the same dish done different ways.

Aha...that does make a difference! I'm sure the menu will be delicious, regardless.

Ditto.

David Hammond wrote:

stevez wrote:On the other hand, I've got t assume that the Vegetarian Eel is vegetarian, though I've not had it.

I haven't had it either, and though it sounds like it'd be all vegetable, I think there might be a translation issue here.

Looks like Vegetarian Eel is, indeed, vegetable-based: http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/01/when-eel-is-not-eel-or-buddhist-slight.html

It's the mock chicken of the sea.

Done. I would love to try the noodles. I do need them to be vegetarian, but they don't have to have tofu for me.

pairs4life wrote:Done. I would love to try the noodles. I do need them to be vegetarian, but they don't have to have tofu for me.

Ava, I'd recommend that those who want dishes prepared with or without ingredients just ask for them. These guys are going to be very accommodating, and leaving meat out should not be a problem, but we kind of have to do it table-by-table.

David Hammond wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Done. I would love to try the noodles. I do need them to be vegetarian, but they don't have to have tofu for me.

Ava, I'd recommend that those who want dishes prepared with or without ingredients just ask for them. These guys are going to be very accommodating, and leaving meat out should not be a problem, but we kind of have to do it table-by-table.

Okay.