leek wrote:HI

I happen to have an unopened bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free flour that our houseguest bought but that isn't going to be used (she has gone home). Would the food pantry want this? If not I'll bring it anyway, I seem to recall there are quite a few folks with gluten-related health issues on the board.

I'd say bring it, sure. If you don't need it, I'm sure the Food Pantry -- or someone else -- would appreciate it. Thanks, leek.

Please let me know if anybody who's already paid cannot make it for some reason. My husband and I would like to attend. Thanks,

Hwa

I'm so cranky I can't make this that I took myself off to Patty's for breakfast this morning to make up for if. I'll be thinking of you all while I'm at a high school friends get together (I planned it so there was no getting out of it). Hopefully next year, sigh!

einberliner wrote:Please let me know if anybody who's already paid cannot make it for some reason. My husband and I would like to attend. Thanks,

Hwa

Not sure this is of any help but Maryanne M. is listed twice, once at #67 and again at #74. Maybe that opens up at least one spot.

=R=

Hi,

Maryanne listed twice is not an error. There was another person who gave their ticket to Maryanne, then Maryanne bought a second ticket at a later time. It probably only makes sense to me, but that's why she's on the list twice.

There is one seat available, though einberliner wanted two.

Regards,

T minus 2 hours and counting.

If you have last minute concerns or complications, you can reach me at my cell: 708-902-3969 (can't guarantee I'll be able to answer, but leave a message if you don't get an answer).

Let me be the first to say how great the evening was. The food was wonderful and plentiful, the company was fantastic; a truly great evening.

Thanks to David and Cathy for organizing. Thanks to Ronnie for the refreshments. Thanks to all for a wonderful community.

Happy Holidays and best for a great 2010.

TCouch

Mamagotcha and Mr. Mamagotcha can't remember a time where we had so much fun... and food!... for such a reasonable price and in the company of such delightful people. Thanks to all those who put this event together, and we're looking forward to the next gathering!

(going to bed with visions of Peeps drinking apfelwine in our heads...)

Thanks from me too...to the folks at Sun Wah, to everyone who put such a tasty event together, and to llama for my orange bitters, which I plan on trying just as soon as I finish baking cookies for tomorrow's exchange! I had a lovely time and I'm stuffed. I'll be sure to join in on this event next year!

By the way, who got the bacon jam? Can't wait to hear your take on it, I thought it was quite good.

It seems someone grabbed the wrong coat. It's a women's long black North Face down coat with black lining size small. We picked up a coat that was left at the end of the night that looks similar to it, except it has red lining and is a size medium. There are black gloves in the pocket. Please let us know if you have it so we can trade back. Thanks.

The caper has been solved. Great event, thanks again to the organizers.

great job cathy & david & sun wah.my wife & i had a wunderful time

I had a wonderful time, meeting extraordinary people - some for the first time, some for a long-awaited reunion. A hearty thank you to all the organizers, as well as to Sun Wah! I can't think of a better way to spend my time and money.

Oops...I just realized that I shirked some of my Vanna duties. I just remembered now that those teapots were brought in special and I didn't stick around to repack; that cookie exchange was weighing on my mind. To whomever stayed in my place, I apologize, and owe you a batch of cookies.

Great food, great friends = another fabulous LTH event. I can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday season.
It was wonderful seeing old friends and meeting new LTHers.
Thank you Cathy and David for your hard work.

Jyoti

Let me add my thanks to Cathy and David and their various helpers for a wonderful party. Cabbagehead and I had a lovely time. And thanks to our extremely hard-working hosts at Sun Wah--the whole Cheng family and staff--who cooked, carved, chopped, carried, and carted unbelievable amounts of food to over 100 people. The food, especially all the poultry (duck, chicken, and turkey!) as well as the pig, were fabulous, as were the crispy noodles, the vegetables, and the soup. Oh, yes, and I forgot the turkey congee, and the ice cream, and the salted duck eggs, and the wine and .... Great company of course, as always at an LTH event. Even good leftovers, which our son happily lit into when we got home. Happy holidays to all!

Hi,

Over on my facebook page, one participant commented on our party, "These people are the Jedi Masters of eating." It's always fun to observe our interactions from a new person's perspective.

Earlier in the week when the numbers were not yet at 70, David and I never dreamed it would mushroom to 108! As many have noted, Sun Wah and the Cheng's really worked hard to make service run without a hitch. When Kelly outlined to us they had already mapped out how the service would be conducted earlier this week. David and I knew they had done their utmost best to make it work. Clearly their pre-planning worked very, very well!

That raffle is really full of fun surprises. The Dark Lord trilogy, kimchee, Cafeteria Lady action doll, ice cream book and machine, homemade goodies, canned food, bacon and all. Not only does LTH community enjoy the world's best potluck, the raffle prizes are pretty darn spectacular, too! It all stems from our tremendously spirited generosity exhibited all year long.

Special thanks to Giovanna, Carolyn Berg, my sister Laura, Pie Lady and David Hammond for announcing and moving those raffle items. Lucas for calling the numbers. Thanks to LynnB for bringing two boxes of books to take. Thanks to Vital Information and Sheila for taking care of the food drive.

Thank you to Rodrick Marcus of The Rare Tea Cellars for the interesting teas served at this event. It was not your typical Chinese restaurant tea service offered last night. Those were really wonderful teas. I hope someone will post on precisely what was served. Plus the bonus tea to take home!

A big thanks to everyone who came. Like everything else on LTHforum: if nobody showed up and gave of themselves, it just wouldn't be the same experience. What we have is pretty darn unique and something I treasure every day. Thank you.

Regards,

We had a great time. As always, so good to put a face to the posts on this thread.

I hope you all have a fabulous new year & I anxiously await getting to know you all better in 2010.

If there are any vegetarian lurkers around here, come on in the water is just fine. My table, & the Chengs were very, very concerned that I wasn't eating b/c lots of animals came out before the non-animal offerings. Kelly fixed that as soon as I let her know. There was more than enough food.

Cheers,

A great event, to be sure. It was my companion's first LTH event and she remarked that all the LTH'rs she met were so warm and welcoming.

Of course, we didn't come for the company... we came for the food:

Cold Cuts, Sun Wah Style

(click for larger image)

Jelly fish, tendon (I think), and cold sliced hock. Texture was the main event here, and the cold cuts delivered.

Salty Duck Eggs


Frog Casserole

This was a favorite at my table - the crispy edges on the rice reminded everyone of Dolsot Bi Bim Bap, only with savory, tender frog meat.

Crispy Noodles with Mushroom

The texture of these mushrooms blew me away - I really enjoyed this dish and had seconds (which is saying something when you're saving room for crispy suckling pig!)

Drunken Chicken

Extremely tender, though very mildly flavored. It was perked up by a bit of the salty chopped scallion condiment on the table.

Seasonal Vegetables

Another favorite for me. The veggies had a nice crisp texture and fresh flavor. The lotus root in particular gave the dish a nice crunch.

Beijing Duck

Given how close I live to Sun Wah, I'm not sure why I don't eat this more often. My only complaint was that there was only one per person - I could have eaten a dozen.

GWiv, Suckling Pig Inspector


Suckling Pig

Even by already-high Sun Wah standards, this pig was incredible. The skin was perfectly crisp with just the right amount of soft fat accompanying the sweet meat. Yum.

Lamb Stew with Bean Curd and Mushrooms

Umami, umami, umami.

The Cheng Sisters Carving Turkeys

The Cheng sisters made my Thanksgiving carving look like an amateur hack job. While everyone at my table was already stuffed, we made room for this turkey - flavorful and moist, I think I may end up outsourcing my turkey cookery to Sun Wah next year.

More than previous visits to Sun Wah, I found myself noticing texture more and more. I don't know if this is something different about the food or simply me paying more attention (almost surely the latter), but I'm really happy about it either way. Whether it was the varied texture of the cold cuts, the interplay of the tender mushrooms and crispy noodles, crispy rice and soft (almost gelatinous) frog meat in the casserole, or of course the crackling skin and succulent meat of the suckling pig.

I joked at beginning of this post about how I came for the food, but the reality is that I'm continually impressed by the community that is LTH. I live just around the corner from Sun Wah and can enjoy their food whenever the mood strikes, but the opportunity to do so amongst so many friends and food lovers is a genuine treat. As is often the case with LTH events, I got to meet people who I've interacted with online but never met before (thaiobsessed and turkob come immediately to mind) and without fail, everyone is incredibly friendly and engaging.

-Dan

Cathy2 wrote:Special thanks to Giovanna, Carolyn Berg, my sister Laura, Pie Lady and David Hammond for announcing and moving those raffle items. Lucas for calling the numbers. Thanks to LynnB for bringing two boxes of books to take. Thanks to Vital Information and Sheila for taking care of the food drive.

Thanks very, very much for the privilege of collecting such a grand haul for the food pantry. Having just been at the Pantry yesterday, I can admit that there is no shortage of food, but I will also say that there is a huge shortage of the necessities of life. I do not know how many people asked yesterday for cooking oil. It is a real crime that oil does not come with the standard package. Likewise, there are many, like me, that finds coffee hardly a luxury. These and other fancy in the best sense of the word, made it a pleasure to be the conduit.

Of course it was a pleasure enjoying this party of the year once again. My wife and I had the good luck of being in full viewing position of the carvers. What a hell of a lot of work done by the Cheng gals. I mean a hell of a lot of work.

Happy holidays.

LTH,

Fantastic holiday party, a delight on ever so many levels, first words out of both MsWiv's and my mouths this morning were about the party and what a fantastic time we had. Kudos to Hammond, Cathy2 and Sun Wah, I seldom, if ever, have been to a better organized or more delicious event.

Dan posted terrific food shots, and atypical for me, I took mainly people pictures, so I will simply post a few people pictures. Additional pictures may be found -->here

JimTheBeerGuy and son



For a vegetarian Pairs4life is sure taking a heaping forkful of piggy



Suburban_Ronnie gets a little tush, turkey tush that is



Hammond mugging with the piggys



Everyone wants to pose with the pigs, even me(RAB, Hammond, G Wiv)



Frog, good to the last drop (irisabor)



Mr. Cheng and Michael Cheng with a pair of pigs, delicious pigs at that



Cheng sisters make short work of turkeys.



Turkey was moist and very tasty, though I did not get a taste of the gravy, which I understand had a subtle 5-spice note and was delicious



Funny faces seemed the order of the day, first Lucas Suburban



Then Kelly Cheng



Additional pictures may be found -->here, though I think wide smiles of the ChowPoodle and Steve Z covey the spirit of the evening very well.

ChowPoodle, Steve Z



Thanks to all in attendance for more enjoyable interesting conversations in an evening than I typically have in a month.

Enjoy,
Gary

Absolutely splendid evening. The food was great—Sun Wah again hits it out of the park. As always, the companionship was a real highlight—seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Well planned and executed event—which is, of course, no surprise, given the folks in charge. Thanks for all the time and work that went into planning this.

Pie Lady wrote:By the way, who got the bacon jam? Can't wait to hear your take on it, I thought it was quite good.

I did and was quite happy too!

Just going by the ingredients, it looks good.

Thanks for bringing it.

Great time last night. Thanks, to everyone who organized, helped and pitched in, for making it happen. What a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season.

=R=

What a wonderful event!
Thanks you SO SO much to all the organizers, and to the Cheng family for their hard work and organization as well.
The perfect way to kick off the holiday season!

Thanks for a great time to everyone who made it happen, Cathy, David, the crew at Sun Wah. Thanks to Ronnie_Suburban for sharing some delicious liquor and to nr706 for sharing some of his great apple-pear cider. Thanks to everyone at our table and around the room who paid kind attention to our little one and were understanding of our having him there, I'm sure the fact that he was able to maintain such good behavior was due to all the smiles and high-fives he was given. And if I may be indulged, we may be looking at a future LTHer given the way he tucked into this duck leg



Also thanks to Gary for the amazing photo of the little guy upthread, I love it!

The food was amazing, all of it. I can't wait to try Beijing Duck again. And it took me until reading this thread well after the party to realize the stir-fry with the lotus root was the "seasonal vegetables," as "seasonal vegetables" is not something I expect myself to take second and third helpings of.

It was so nice to meet some new people and I hope to see all of you again at a future event!

Actually, Jim, you were the source of one of the evening's most indelible images for me-- at the end of the night, having to take in spoonfuls of your son's pablum (or maybe it was the ice cream at the end) to encourage him to eat, after no doubt gorging yourself on duck, frog legs, etc. The things we parents have to do...

Enormous thanks to Cathy and David for yet another year of their organizational prowess, pulling off an ever-larger event without a hitch that I ever saw; and to the whole Sun Wah family for rising to the occasion in every way in their spectacular new digs. Also to Dansch for maybe the greatest raffle gift ever.

I have to echo the thanks to Cathy and David for organizing, to Sun Wah for hosting, to all those who helped out throughout the night. Oh and thanks to Ronnie for sharing the outstanding bourbon and rum! It was great event!

And I totally scored in the gift raffle! Thanks to Mike G for bringing the bacon and coppa! I can't wait to dig in.

Mike G wrote:Also to Dansch for maybe the greatest raffle gift ever.

For those who cannot remember what came from who, what was it?

Regards,

The calendar of Ohio House beauty shots.