Hi,

Note: if you're planning to attend, we need to receive your payment before 12/12; after that date, we're locked in.

Just to keep us all up to date:

Paid attendees:

Aaron Deacon 1
Abby B-H 1
Alex & Jennifer M. 2
Antonius & Amata 2
aschie30 1
Bruce + wife 2
Cathy2 1
ccrush 1
Chowpoodle 1
Cinny's Mom 1
Cookie Monster 1
Cynthia 1
dicksond 2
EatChicago + Le Petit Pois 2
edc 1
El Panzone 1
Fiocchi Ellen 1
Evil Ronnie 1
GAF 1
GP and Mr. X 2
gp60004 1
Germuska 1
Giovanna 1
Gwiv + Ellen 2
Gypsy Boy + Lovely Dining Companion 2
Hammond, David + wife 2
helen 1
Hellodali 1
JSM 2
jazzfood 2
Jean Blanchard 2
JiminLoganSquare 2
Jimthebeerguy 1
jlawrence 2
Josephine 1
justjoan 1
jygach 1
Kayen 1
Kuhdo 5
mhl 1
MikeG 1
nr706 2
Paul SL + wife 2
pdaane 1
Rene G 1
Robin K 1
Ronnie Suburban 2
Saint Pizza 1
Seth Zurer and Kerensa Petersen 2
SteveZ 1
tarte tatin 1
The Lovely Donna 1
Threadkiller 1
Tim Berthiaume 1
Vital Information 1

Total: 76

Your reservation is confirmed with your payment. Please refer to the original post for payment instructions.

Regards,

I just mailed my check.

Now, time to think up some raffle prizes...

BTW, for folks who are still thinking, don't think you have to buy something.. My prize last year was homemade ginger-chocolate-chip cookies as made by Geli, and they were great.

Would You Want to Be a Supertaster?

According to those who study these things, 25% of the population are supertasters; 50% are regular tasters; 25% are non-tasters. Where do you fall in this taxonomy? Well, for this year’s LTH holiday party, we have about 40 test strips (courtesy of the generous and thoughtful Ed Fisher/gleam) that can help you make your own determination. So, the first 40 or so people who come to the holiday party will be able to find out where they stand (or taste) – if they want to know (and it’s possible some might not).

Once you take the test, you may, if you like, take a brief survey @ http://supertastertest.com/survey

When I was an undergrad. I was convinced by desperate psychology students to participate in some tasting research. Based on their work, I was rated a supertaster. It would be interesting to see what impact time has had on my tastebuds

Jyoti

jygach wrote:When I was an undergrad. I was convinced by desperate psychology students to participate in some tasting research. Based on their work, I was rated a supertaster. It would be interesting to see what impact time has had on my tastebuds

Jyoti

Did you, or do you, find yourself turned off by "bitter" foods like chocolate, coffee and broccoli?

From the Graduate School of Better Late Than Never:

I posted my payment via Brown Paper Tickets tonight....

What is the parking situation like at Manny's?

Hi,

There is street and valet parking.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

There is street and valet parking.

Regards,

FREE valet parking.

Re: Parking and other Miscellaneous Info

Just spoke with Dan Raskin, and he much prefers to provide free valet parking because the lot is "dark and slippery" and for security reasons, he'd prefer to have his valets be responsible for getting people out of and in to cars. He has, however, offered to make a special exception for justjoan, who will be allowed to park her car in what will be a very crowded lot or wherever else she pleases. Others are encouraged to avail themselves of the free valet service, or they can park in one of the hundreds of spaces on the street.

If anyone needs help getting in and out of their vehicles, Dan suggests they use the loading zone in front for easy access to the front door; I will help these people get out and into Manny's (call me at 708-902-3969 and I'll come out); valets will then park the vehicles.

There is a video monitor (20 inches, which will probably be just fine) and a VCR if anyone wants to bring LTH-related video footage (if you have DVDs, you'll need to bring a playback device).

Manny's does have a coat rack, of course, and both Dan and our musicians, the Northside Southpaws, are ready to go on Saturday night.

And get this: Dan told me that you can ask for "smaller portions" of dishes if you want; so if you prefer just a taste of the pastrami, rather than a full-plate portion, you can go that way and thus maximize the taste possibilities.

Overall, the Raskins are being extraordinarily accommodating, for which I am very appreciate.

Hammond

We've just had a death in the family, and I don't think we can go. If there's anyone who wants to buy my 2 tickets for face value....

Because of a late breaking change of plans, we're now free to attend. Nosing in just under the wire, please add Don (kuhdo), Phyllis, Gabe (astrozombie), Molly and Nick (the BF) for a total of five eager eaters (four calling birds etc).
Tickets on will call thru Brown Paper Tickets.
Molly wants assurances there will be unlimited Green River. We'll bring a raffle gift, as yet undetermined. See you there!

Hi,

Thanks! I was just checking our Brown Paper Ticket's Account.

See you on Saturday!

Regards,

Condolences, leek. Sorry you won't be able to join us.

Wah!

My bride and I will not be able to attend.

... and we had a lot of fun last year...

Happy Holidays to you all!

Panther,

Thanks for the update. Look forward to seeing you another time.

Regards,

To add a tad more excitement to the party, I have confirmed that Cookie will be bringing her famous sour cream chocolate bundt cake again as her raffle prize. (To be baked Sat. morning, and it freezes well).

See you all tomorrow.

Best,
Michael

Vital Information will be collecting for the Oak Park Food Pantry; those who would like to do so are encouraged to bring items such as rice, cereal, and canned meat,

Hey VI -- any other specific suggestions for those of us who may wish to donate to the food pantry?

thanks,
Amata

Amata wrote:

Vital Information will be collecting for the Oak Park Food Pantry; those who would like to do so are encouraged to bring items such as rice, cereal, and canned meat,

Hey VI -- any other specific suggestions for those of us who may wish to donate to the food pantry?

thanks,
Amata

Sorry, I meant to post on this earlier this week.

My main suggestion is to bring things that are not part of the standard package; i.e., not what they normally get. In other words no tuna, no peanut butter.

Cooking oil! My biggest pet peeve is that the folks are provided in their bag, rice and beans, but no oil. Oil is a luxury and one that would be really well appreciated.

Coffee, sugar, treats of any kind, and diapers are all things wanted but seldom available.

Your donations are all appreciated.

Rob

Procrastinators' Reprieve

Manny's has such huge capacity that we should be able to handle a few extra walk-in folks, so if you've put off sending in your check, give me a call and we'll probably be able to accommodate you: 708-902.3969.

I just returned for the fabulous LTH ChanuKwanzaChristadan Festivus. My thanks go out to David Hammond and Cathy2 who did the lion's share of organizing and to the many others that helped along the way. The food, the music, the 3 foot sausage...well what more can I say. It was a great time.

stevez wrote: The food, the music, the 3 foot sausage...well what more can I say. It was a great time.

Actually, it's a 33-inch sausage but hey, who's counting? It now reposes in my refrigerator, having been sliced into identical, individually wrapped six-inch pieces. Math wizards will be quick to note the discrepancy here.
Suffice it to say, the discrepancy has been eaten.

I think David Hammond and his "girls" Cathy2 (the hardest working woman in show biz), Hellodali (Carol) and Giovanna (Vanna) need to be thanked heartily for the raffle fun. The raffle prizes keep getting better. This was a great party...always a pleasure to see, and chat with, so many terrific people. Steve Z. thanks to you, too and any others who planned this soiree. Manny's was a great idea! Oh, and thanks to Mike G. 'cuz if I didn't see him carrying a skirt steak plate I would never have ordered one.

I truly regret not attending. We started driving over. I-80/90 was a mess and it was expected to get worse. We decided we didn't want the uncertainty of driving back at night so we took a left at Michigan City and went to the casino in New Buffalo for dinner and some excellent crab legs and salmon. Stuck around to play craps a little and when we went to leave learned that the road home was closed. I asked one of the pit bosses (Janet) if she could see if they had any rooms. Instead she called a host and we were comped a room for the night. The Four Winds Hotel has very nice rooms.

I still have the organic leaf lard in the car. I know that as good as our meal was last night it was not even close to what we would have experienced last night. at Manny's with our LTH friends.

Merry LTH ChanuKwanzaChristadan Festivus everyone!

Hi Bruce,

We guestimated only the weather kept you from coming.

Sorry to have missed you.

Regards,

In case you missed the social event of the year, here are a few photos.

The Organizers


Cathy2, Hellodali and Ms. Wiv Prepare to be SUPERTASTERS


LTHers Line Up to Consume Mass Quantities


Eatchicago Rejoices After Landing One of Only a Few Servings of Short ribs


Vanna White (Giovanna) and Carol Merrill (Hellodali) Practice Their "Prize Reveal" Moves


David Hammond Stares in Awe at Ronnie Suburban's Giant Sausage


And There Was Cake

My first LTH Holiday Party and all I can say is - Fabulous!!!!!
A big thanks to all involved with the flawless organization.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Jyoti

I hardly took any photos but allow me to also give big props (as the youth of today say) to the incredible job done by LTHForum co-founders and party planners extraordinaire David "MC Hammond" Hammond, seen here surveying the crowd held spellbound by his bounty of gifts:



And Cathy2, who as one copywriter to another, I can only salute for zeroing in on the magic words that made her sauerkraut a hot hot hot item last night: "Projectile Vomiting."



Great meal (I'm going to post a little about the history of Romanian skirt steak later), great folks, truly astonishing raffle gifts which went way up in quality this year. (And remember, some of them-- like the LTHForum calendar and tote bags-- can be yours at the Cafe Press store.)

A couple of random shots:




Young woman checking her messages at corner of Clybourn and Fullerton, approximately 1:45 AM.

What a great party; one perfectly fitting for the LTH group. Manny's did not disappoint and all the folks who helped organize the event -- especially Cathy2, David Hammond and stevez -- deserve the highest praise. If the party had lasted twice as long, I still don't think I could have chatted with everyone I wanted to. On top of all that, the raffle was a truly wonderful event and it was awesome to see the generosity of everyone involved.

Below are some images that I believe capture the essence of what makes LTHForum.com -- and last night's event -- truly great . . .



























































Happy Holidays!

=R=