LTH Small Household Food Exchange--Season Two--February 8

Location: Spoon Thai, 4608 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
Date: February 8, 2010 at 7 pm

Attending:

Boudreaulicious: Crispy braised chicken thighs with lemon, olives and fennel
Aimee: Steak, ground beef and sausage chili
Wendy: Chicken, Andouille Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo
Cathy2: Tuna Noodle Casserole
GAF: Chicken and Date Tagine
Moet Chandon: Pulled pork with black beans
nr706: Slightly twisted dolmades

Dinner only:
mbh
Lemon-eater

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all looking forward to our next exchange! Below are the details--let me know if you can join us and I'm definitely hoping that one of our Spoon afficionados will offer to help plan our menu for the evening

Number in the group: We will cap attendance at each gathering at 14 and food exchange participants at 12 so that participants are never making more than 12 servings of anything. Couples will be counted as one serving.

The food: The food exchange started so that those of us in 1-2 person households who love to cook aren't stuck eating that big pot of chili we made for a whole week. Instead, we make 8-12 servings of one dish, and bring back 8-12 different dishes. Participants bring one pre-portioned serving of their food for everyone who has RSVP’d to come that month. A serving is whatever you think it is for your food item. For soup, it may be two cups say; for pastrami, 4 oz. (or more if you make more generous sandwiches). The priority will be for entrees, meats, soups, salad, stews, pastas, grains, etc. One dessert is OK each month, we just didn’t want 6-7 dessert offerings as everyone was mostly interested in main meals (and there is a fabulous LTH dessert exchange the first Monday of each month). There will be no restrictions on the food – we’re an omnivorous bunch. WE DO HAVE ONE MUSHROOM ALLERGY IN THE GROUP SO IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING WITH MUSHROOMS, PLEASE INFORM THE GROUP WHEN YOU POST WHAT YOU ARE BRINGING. IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY ALLERGIES, PLEASE LET US KNOW. Again, that doesn’t mean that the ingredient is off limits, it just means to let everyone know if you are using it that month. We decided we don’t want to start running any list of off-limit foods or ingredients.

The containers/delivery system: Everyone in the group should use the Gladware 3 1/8 cup plastic containers (it’s the approximately 7” x 7” square). You’ll portion your food into those containers to bring and hand out at the gathering. You can freeze them or not depending on your schedule and when you make your food. There is no need to fill the container, just put in whatever is a serving to you. If you use something else to deliver your food that month (Ziploc bags, plastic wrap, etc.) you should also return the empty containers from the last round so that everyone always has a stash of these containers for the exchange and doesn’t have to run out and buy more.

The process: Each of us will take turns being the organizer each month. Each time we meet, someone will offer to organize the next month’s gathering.

Approximately two weeks before the next gathering, the organizer will post a new thread to the events page announcing the date and the location for that month and asking for RSVP’s.

Participants will need to RSVP their attendance by one week before the monthly gathering. They will then need to post what they are bringing by three days before the gathering. This is to help make sure we get some balance in the food so that we’re not all bringing something that has to be eaten in the next 2-3 days; that there’s a balance of stuff that can be frozen for later, or eaten sooner.

The organizer will monitor the thread to see what people are bringing. The organizer will also make reservations for the group at the restaurant where we will be gathering. People can choose to stay for dinner or just come and exchange food and leave. Just let the organizer know so they can get an accurate count for the reservation. Other LTHers are welcome to join us for dinner, even if they are not bringing food to exchange.

We’re all pretty relaxed and flexible with the exchange as there will likely be some bumps here and there and questions we will continue to come up. Remember that the core purpose of the exchange is for a group of LTHers to exchange good food they’ve made with minimal hassle and restrictions.

See you on the 8th!

Jen (Boudreaulicious)

Hi,

I'm in. Will advise later on the dish offered.

Regards,

Thanks Cathy2!

In with tentative +1 for dinner. Dish TBD.

I'm getting pretty comfortable with my basement kitchen so, I'm in. +1 for dinner.
Happy to help with Spoon Thai menu planning if needed (though we could probably go off the cuff). Feel free to PM me.

Hi,

What I would love to have at Spoon Thai is what was once called their "Exploded Catfish." It was pounded and fried catfish. I will have to look up the name. I asked Wanna who said it could be had, especially if we asked in advance.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

What I would love to have at Spoon Thai is what was once called their "Exploded Catfish." It was pounded and fried catfish. I will have to look up the name. I asked Wanna who said it could be had, especially if we asked in advance.

Regards,

Yum!

I'll be back from China then, ready for Thai food and LTH company. I'm in.

Sounds good everyone. I'll try to get the list together tomorrow.

Love the sound of this! I am not a small household, but do a lot of recipe testing of good stuff that my family can't/won't eat, so this would be cool to participate in. Can't do the February exchange. Will this be ongoing once each month? Can a person participate this or that month, depending on schedule?

nr706 and I have missed the past two months, but we'd love to make it in February. Two for dinner, two sets of dishes TBD.

mrkrogers wrote:Love the sound of this! I am not a small household, but do a lot of recipe testing of good stuff that my family can't/won't eat, so this would be cool to participate in. Can't do the February exchange. Will this be ongoing once each month? Can a person participate this or that month, depending on schedule?

This is our second year of the exchange. It is monthly October through May. You can drop in any month you want. Do it once or do it often, it is your call.

Regards,

Please sign me up for dinner and I'll bring chicken/andouille/shrimp gumbo. (If anyone has shellfish allergies I can nix the shrimp.)

I haven't been able to participate on the previous dates, so I am thrilled to finally join this group.

Wendy

My Bride and I have always been intrigued with this and would love to attend for our first time.

PiD + 1

My Bride will be making her much beloved Pot Roast with Lentils on Sunday and allow it to meld for a day. So savory that I prefer the vegetable and lentil slurry more than the meat.

Spoon Thai has been high on my list as well so that will be a first time too. Oh, boy!

Hi everyone,

Here's the list so far. As you can see, we're filling up really fast! By my count, we have 1 spot left unless GP's +1 can't make it. Also, just confirming that both Moet Chandon and nr706 are making a dish as opposed to sharing one. If that is correct, we have 10 dishes so far.

For any first-timers, please make sure you check the first post for participation specifics, particularly regarding the containers to use, and don't forget to let us know what you'll be bringing by Friday the 5th.

Looking forward to it!!

Jen

Attending:

Boudreaulicious: TBD
Aimee: TBD
Cathy2: TBD
GP +1: TBD
Thaiobsessed +1: TBD
GAF: TBD
Moet Chandon: TBD
nr706: TBD
Wendy: Chicken, Andouille Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo
Panther in the Den +1: Pot Roast with Lentils

Waiting list:
Leek +1

I'll take a space if it's still available, but this time just for dinner, no food exchange. Thanks.....mb

I'm in for the exchange and dinner, if there's room.

Updated list of those attending:

Boudreaulicious: TBD
Aimee: TBD
Cathy2: TBD
GP +1: TBD
Thaiobsessed +1: TBD
GAF: TBD
Moet Chandon: TBD
nr706: TBD
Wendy: Chicken, Andouille Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo
Panther in the Den +1: Pot Roast with Lentils
mbh--dinner only
Lemon-eater: TBD

that puts us at 11 for the exchange (10 portions each) and 15 for dinner. I know that means we're one over but I'm ok with it if everyone else is--means we can order more Thai goodies, right? (and since GP's +1 is a maybe we may not be over at all.)

From this point on, I'll add names to the waiting list and I'll add the food to this list as it comes in.

Thanks all!

Jen

Jen,

If we have fifteen attending, it makes sense to warn Spoon about the dinner in advance so they won't be caught understaffed and to make sure that we can get sufficient tables put together.

GAF wrote:Jen,

If we have fifteen attending, it makes sense to warn Spoon about the dinner in advance so they won't be caught understaffed and to make sure that we can get sufficient tables put together.

Was planning to do that--as well as put in requests for any dishes that required notice.

HI

can I go on the waiting list with my +1 in case of cancellations?

Thanks

leek wrote:HI

can I go on the waiting list with my +1 in case of cancellations?

Thanks

Of course!

Thinking of Bittman's Spanish plantain stew

oh yeah!!!

lemoneater wrote:Thinking of Bittman's Spanish plantain stew

I googled to find a recipe for "TBD," but couldn't find a good one. Since so many others are making "TBD," I'll probably just make something else.

I too was a bit mystified since LTH'ers are usually so creative...I'm sure youre TBD would've been the best version but thanks for mixing it up!

nr706 wrote:I googled to find a recipe for "TBD," but couldn't find a good one. Since so many others are making "TBD," I'll probably just make something else.

Hi,

I feel challenged to respond with my proposed dish: Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Regards,

Love it!

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I feel challenged to respond with my proposed dish: Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Regards,

I regret that I/we won't be able to make it on February 8. No time to cook. And my TBD was going to be awesome.

Sorry to hear GP--hope to see you next time.

Leek--you're off the waiting list!

The GP wrote:I regret that I/we won't be able to make it on February 8. No time to cook. And my TBD was going to be awesome.