I've gotten so many disappointed emails (and one tearful phone call) that The Wife and I are going back to making The World's Greatest Cookie -- in process at this moment. Hate to disappoint our public. The show must go on. I like cookies more than eggs, any way.

David Hammond wrote:I've gotten so many disappointed emails (and one tearful phone call) that The Wife and I are going back to making The World's Greatest Cookie -- in process at this moment. Hate to disappoint our public. The show must go on. I like cookies more than eggs, any way.

Were they laughing through their tears?

Regards,

David Hammond wrote:I've gotten so many disappointed emails (and one tearful phone call) that The Wife and I are going back to making The World's Greatest Cookie -- in process at this moment. Hate to disappoint our public. The show must go on. I like cookies more than eggs, any way.

Wahhhh...

The Eggs were on my short list!

Wahhh...

Panther in the Den wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:The jerk jerky is going well! I did get two different jerk marinades to try. I will have traditional jerky as well.

Ready,



Set,



GO!

lookin good, the jerky is near the top of my list for items to eat tomorrow.

I'm bringing some extra plastic cups, even though I won't be arriving until close to 1:30. I figure enough people will have lost their cups by then.

Suzy

I'll put a couple packs of 330 count napkins and paper towels in my trunk in case we need some more.

We have several boxes of plastic silverware we are bringing in addition to the food.


ok, less computer, more mise en place...chop chop chop!

Bringing some of my pasta for you all to try. (I am the founder of the Al Dente Brand, which is in Whole Foods as well as other small markets in the city). So happy to have connected with this group.

I have my own labels. I'll be bringing chai marshmallows & jasmine green tea marshmallows.

Finally decided on a menu.... bringing Korean Style Chicken Wings, that I affectionately call candied chicken.

See you all soon!

Cathy2 wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Cathy,

I hope I saved you but I'm down to 1 guest whose name you already have. I hate late cancels. Thanks for doing this. Should I bring my print out guide to look for folks and their food offering or will tha be available on site? It looks like a Treasure Trove of offerings.

I will probably have a master list for my reference, which you are welcome to check out. Otherwise, you may want to bring your own list.

All name tags and food labels are printed. I will have extra labels for updating by hand.

Regards,

Uncle. The food guide prints way too small even for my 20/20. Letting the dog out to be comfortable & heading up now.

Oh.
My.
God.

As in, oh my god!

Have you ever seen so much food? So much gorgeous, stupendously delicious, wonderful food? My only regret is that I have but one stomach to give for my country.

I had to quit way, way, way too soon. Mistah Kurtz was right: "The horror, the horror."

FWIW--and with the caveat that there's far too many dishes I didn't even have a chance to try--my favorite was probably the wonderful RAB/REB pickle collection (or would that be REB/RAB pickle collection).

Or, maybe ronnie_s's homemade Old Fashioneds.

Or gastro gnome's tomato and corn pie.

Or The GP's Palm Beach brownies.

Or....

Oh hell. It was all good. Great even. I just wish I could have eaten more.

Thanks to Cathy2, Michele and all for organizing. Thanks to everyone who came and brought stuff.

It's gonna take a while to surface again. But what a great way to spend an afternoon. Maybe next year's should be a two-day event.

pic dump:

alan lake/jazzfood's beet napoleons (mid-preparation) @ 2009 LTH Picnic

heirloom tomato salad @ 2009 LTH Picnic

two jerk jerkies @ 2009 LTH Picnic

jimswside's pulled pork @ 2009 LTH Picnic

MikeG's pastrami @ 2009 LTH Picnic

SteveZ's brisket @ 2009 LTH Picnic

gary's buttermilk-brined smoked chicken @ 2009 LTH Picnic

food coma.

Quote of the day:

nr706: "Yeah, I really was hoping for python, which is a little more exotic, because, I mean, everybody here has already had rattlesnake."

You know you're an LTHer when...

great event, thanks to cathy, and mhays for all the organizational work.

Also thanks to all who put alot of thought, heart, and hard work into the items they brought to share. Everything I tried was excellent.

My favorites:
-Stevez's brisket, as good as, if not better than any I have ever had.
-MikeG's pastrami, peppery, and really nice.
-Octarines korean tacos, nice meat, and the kimche, and other toppings were great.
-Ronnies, Dragon T**rds with that homemade bacon..., excellent
-Gary's chicken of course(great recipe, a picnic classic)
-Panthers jerky, spicy, and good


I was pretty meat focused obviously, and didnt have room to try much more, I wish I had been able to.

It was also great to meet in person many people who I have gotten to know online over the past, but had never met in person. It was fun as always to hang out again with the good folks i have had the pleasure of meeting, and breaking bread with in the past.

thanks for a great afernoon y'all.

Though Lucas Suburban's comment (after hearing me complain about the almonds in my terrine) of "You know, there's a whole range between bad and as good as my Dad's" is right up there!

I love all you guys....and all your food...

It was a spectacular event. Thank you to GWiv and the others who organized this and/or made it possible. The highlight of the day for me was the opportuntiy of having some time to spend with Cathy2's mother.

Sorry I had to leave early folks -- I wanted to contribute to the cleanup and not just in the plate-emptying way. Family emergency (one that's been going on for weeks now, came to a head again).

Lots of great things -- please post recipes over in Shopping and Cooking. I particularly want Nancy's miso daikon pickles, and the Phyllo-Feta Bundt Pan spectacular (or whatever it was called, I know there wasn't a name on it)

The pastrami was amazing -- I may never be happy at a deli again, damn you!

Jerky was quite nice: might I suggest a thai-spiced variety?

Speaking of which the One Bite from Hell was quite nice, and quite hard to put out the fire (yay Beth's sorbets -- mmm Apple!)

Just good to see everyone in one place, everybody having a happy day -- couldn't ask for better weather, could we?

it was a great day out there today, it was great getting to meet some of you. thanks to all that made it work so well

Cathy and Mhays,

Thanks for all of the work you did in organizing the picnic. My kids enjoyed the food and the games. They did not want to leave.

Did anyone take pictures of the piñata activities? My kids wanted to see what was inside of the piñata. We left before it was broken.

Wow! That was an incredible amount of food and fun. And the weather could not have been better. The food was, of course, sensational but the company easily trumped it. It was great seeing so many friends and getting to meet in person some folks with whom I'd previously only interacted here.

I want to say thanks to Cathy and Mhays for all their tremendous work on wrangling such a huge, enjoyable event, to philw for getting there early with his BBQ rig and tending to it -- and so much of the cooking -- throughout the event and to Bill, who personally handled a huge amount of the clean-up duty as masterfully as Cathy and Mhays organized the event. But everyone who attended this event has my gratitude. It was a really great day, and it seems that each year we out-do ourselves by just being us. That's one of the things that makes it so extraordinarily special.

I'll be posting some pics asap.

=R=

Another excellent day with LTH. Thanks to everyone. I, too, am eager to ask for a couple of recipes--I am still dreaming about that wonderful tomato tart (next to the pear one that I forgot to sample!) and I really liked the truffle orzo...so many delights. Only wish I had had more time to meet many of you...

We had to leave as our kiddies were cracking...but, thanks to you guys who helped chat and entertain them and did anyone by chance pick up our TWO SOCCER BALLS-ONE BLUE, ONE ROSE (BOTH LABELED "STRAUS"

We left both of them and have soccer games soon! Please call my cell phone: 773/230-3166

Thanks again to the excellent and generous organizers! See you next year!

I simply want to add my thanks to Cathy2 and Mhays for their efforts at organizing the event, but I also want to add my thanks to all the many contributors of time, effort, and most excellent delicacies. As has been noted by others, a second stomach would have been helpful, as offerings so vastly exceeded capacity. Gorgeous weather, terrific food, fabulous people -- it doesn't get much better than this.

What can we say but.... wow! So much beautiful and tasty food, so many people to meet! We had a wonderful time! Thanks to Cathy2 and Mhays and all the wonderful people who obviously put a lot of heart into the delicious food they shared.

I had a fabulous time. I've already received responses on my Twitter account from folks who are sorry they didn't make it after seeing some of the photos on this thread.

The food was fabulous but being around like-minded folks was amazing. Leading up to the event I quickly realized I didn't really have any friends who liked food as much as I do. I'm excited to make new friends through the forum & its stellar events. Great conversation. Discovering why fresh eggs suck & a wonderful conversation about pricing, service, elitism, & pizza. Oooh, plus discovering that I can eat at Hot Doug's because there is a veggie dog, sweet. Good Times & Fantastic Food.

So the big question... when do we do it again? I want to put it in the calendar now.
I can't wait!

Thanks,

pairs4life wrote:I had a fabulous time. I've already received responses on my Twitter account from folks who are sorry they didn't make it after seeing some of the photos.

Would you like to post some of your photos here?

Thanks to the planners, Cathy2 & Mhays, for all your work in making this awesome event a yearly smash. Had a wonderful time as usual!

pairs4life wrote:I had a fabulous time. I've already received responses on my Twitter account from folks who are sorry they didn't make it after seeing some of the photos.

aschie30 wrote:Would you like to post some of your photos here?

Yes, please post some of the photos here.

What's twitter?

I want to add my thanks to Cathy and Mhays for organizing. Seeing Cathy lug back to her car all the leftover paper plates, plasticware, napkins to store for next year was a good reminder of how much behind the scenes work is involved in pulling off this world's greatest potluck.

Thanks also to all for the amazing food, terrific company and sweet babies I borrowed.

I am always impressed by all the folks who bring food that involves so much cooking and prep work on site as my decision for what to bring every year is guided by what I can set down on a table and forget so I have more time for eating and mingling.

My favorite "this is clearly an LTH event "observation of the day was noting all of folks sitting in folding chairs to the right of the food tables. Instead of setting up in circles/conversational groups, they were set out theatre style, all facing the food tables.

This event is another great reminder of how lucky I am to have found this community. Thanks all and I'm already counting the days till next year!

I can only echo what everyone else has already said-
many thanks to Cathy and MHays wonderful organizational talents-
A special thanks to PhilW's marvelous mobile smoker
and to Steve for loaning me his carving gear
A special shout out to the master fisherman Jason Hays

It was such fun to see and chat with so many friends...
And what an amazingly strong Pinata! I don't think I've ever see one hold up quite so long...

Everything I ate was marvelous,
although I did not have enough stomach to taste nearly everything I wanted..
The little beet napoleons were delightful in addition to the
knockout pastrami and brisket that have been mentioned many times...
the rilletttes were also delicious...
then there were these sausages that had nectarines in them? yum.
Yum also were the biramisu and the blueberry crostadas
and one of my favorite guilty pleasures, scottish shortbread.
I could go on and on....