Small Household Food Exchange March 14, 2011 7:00 p.m.

Our March SHFE will be at Demera, an Ethiopian restaurant in Uptown.

Details:

Date: March 14
Time: 7pm
Location:
Demera
4801 N. Broadway
Chicago, Il
773-334-8787
http://demeraethiopianrestaurant.com/

Dinner attendees: 10
wendy
cathy2
nr706
boudreaulicious
the GP + 1
leek + 1
lazygal09
lemoneater


Exchange: (Bring 6)
wendy - Shish Tawuk
cathy2 - Chaucer Chicken
nr706 - Assorted Mini Quiches
boudreaulicious - Chowder
the GP - Spice Braised Chicken in Red Wine/Tomato
leek - Cassoulet
lazygal09 - Guiness Beef



Number in the group: We will cap attendance at each gathering at 12 and food exchange participants at 10 so that participants are never making more than 10 servings of anything. Couples can be counted as one serving, or two - if you come as a couple, please specify whether you're bringing one or two dishes to exchange.

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 6-10 servings of one dish, and bring back 6-10 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, with a blue lid). 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.

Several 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.

In for the exchange and dinner.
Thanks for organizing. Looking forward to some spicy kitfo.

I'm in, if people can tolerate whatever I make.

Have we switched to the third Monday?

In for the exchange, +1 for dinner.

I'm in for exchange and dinner.

Count me in for dinner, but bump me if you need to make room for an exchanger.

Actually, we need to get back on track (or on another track) in March unless we are going to go up against the GNR dinner which is going to be held that night. Sorry all!!

Date change works for me

me too

Attending and exchanging. I promise to fully cook my entry this month.

I'm still in with dinner and exchange with the new date.

Sharon

Still in with +1 for dinner.

-Mary

2 dinner
1 exchange

Please

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I plan to attend and exchange.

Regards,

Whatever date is decided, I am in.

Great idea, unfortunatly I'll be out of town.

NOTE: You are having this exchange on Pi Day (3/14), so I would expect quite a lot of pies there .

I would love to attend - dinner and exchange! -Liz!

Thanks for reconfirmations.


We have 1 more slot open for exchange. I have reservation for 12 - we are currently at 13 but I have been assured Demera will accommodate us.

I may only be 1 for dinner that night, will confirm next week.

Thinking about either making something with braised beef or that Persian chicken dish with cherries rice...

Open Table offering discount at Demera: http://links.insider.opentable.com/serv ... &mt=1&rt=0

Did anyone buy the open Table deal? We can only use one per table--happy to do it if no one else did...

leek wrote:I may only be 1 for dinner that night, will confirm next week.

We will be 2 for dinner.

Making Cassoulet - unlikely to have duck confit, but we'll see. Very nice pork shoulder from Butcher and Larder, and their Toulouse sausages. I'll send the breadcrumb topping separately in a baggie.

I'm going with Guinness beef stew. -Liz!

Hi,

I will make chicken cacciatore.

Regards,

Thinking about some kind of chowder...shrimp, clam, fish..maybe all three

HI,

I switched to Chaucer Chicken, a French variant of Chicken Cacciatore, when I found I did not have enough red wine.

I have made eight portions. If someone is on the fence about attending, please speak up. I can pack up a ninth portion tomorrow. Otherwise it is called dinner for my family.

If a ninth person signs up afterwards, I will make something for them. It may not be Chaucer Chicken.

Leek - This does have domesticated mushrooms.

Regards,

Thanks for the headsup Cathy, that's fine, just need to know

I think we should lock max number of participants at a certain point so that we know how many (max) we are making.

Relatedly, last month Wendy and I both had one more serving than needed, but only received the appropriate number of servings back (ie we didn't get our extra back, somehow, in the shuffle). This means we are each down one container I may end up with one serving in a completely wrong container. Sorry

(I'm always right on the edge of container number to servings I must supply)

ps - if you have the containers with a permanent white sticker on them, they are "label once" - you write on it with a Sharpie, and erase with a white plastic eraser. The label is meant to stay on forever, through dishwasher, microwave, etc. I can bring an eraser on Monday to erase and re-write if anyone needs to do so.

I'm terribly sorry for this late notice, but I'm not going to be able to participate in the exchange on Monday.

Looks like Moetchandon won't be able to make anything for the exchange, but she'll be there for dinner.

So we are currently 7 exchangers, bring 6?