Small Household Food Exchange - Tuesday, April 12 - 7 PM

The April Small Household Food Exchange will be at Machu Picchu in Lakeview.

Details:

Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM
Location:
Machu Picchu
3856 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 472-0471
http://www.machupicchuchicago.com/

Dinner attendees: (9)
The GP +1
boudreaulicious
Cathy2
nr706
leek +2
Helen

Exchange: (5)
The GP - chicken breast with red pepper sauce and sauteed spinach
boudreaulicious - riff on lasagne with spring veggies
Cathy2 - Booyah
nr706 - Homemade Ravioli with Spicy Meat Filling, Walnut-Basil Pesto
leek - Cuban picadillo with skirt steak and rice (or just rice )

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.

Great choice--I've been wanting to try this place for ages and it's walking distance from my house so an even bigger bonus!! Count me in

Oops--knew this date sounded familiar--this is the new date for the GNR dinner...can we move to the following week?

April 18 is the start of Passover. Might be a conflict. Would Tuesday, April 12 work better?

Please indicate your date preference in this thread. I'm going to edit the title for now.

12th works for me.

Hi,

I will be there for dinner and exchange on the 12th, unless there are other changes.

Regards,

12th sounds good - and I've been wanting to try Machu Picchu for quite a while, too.

With the few that responded, I made the decision to move it to the 12th. The good thing is that I couldn't make it on the 11th, but Mr. X was going to represent us. Now we can both come!

I'm in for exchange and dinner...hopefully no further family emergencies to keep me attending and cooking.

Sharon

Hi!

Two for dinner, one exchange please
AND a tentative extra friend who likes Peruvian food

Hi,

Please add Helen for dinner only.

Regards,

Please also tentatively add my friend (Joan) to the food exchange.

leek wrote:Please also tentatively add my friend (Joan) to the food exchange.

Lee-

Is Joan already included in the dinner count?

HI -

yes she is my extra +1 (DH and Joan = 2 )

And she is not able to do the exchange, just joining us for dinner (for sure, not tentative).

I'm sorry to say that I must bow out of the exchange and dinner. Taking care of my family health issues has become a priority and left me with little free time.

Sharon

Sharon-

I'm sorry to hear that and am sending positive thoughts to you and your family.

List amended. Have people started to think about what they're making?

-Mary

Hi - making Cuban picadillo with skirt steak, not ground beef, and rice. Might be rice and beans, might just be rice

For exchangers, four servings will be needed as there are five of us exchanging. I've posted the two known contributions.

I'm thinking of some kind of riff on lasagne with spring veggies...details to be determined.

In the name of expending as little energy as possible, I rummaged through the freezer and found some Homemade Ravioli with Spicy Meat Filling (I don't think it contains mushrooms, but I'm not positive, sorry, Lee) from a month or two ago. I paired it with another frozen Walnut-Basil Pesto, for a low effort offering.

HI,

Tom, it hardly sounds low effort, you did make it yourself though just a little earlier.

This sounds lame, but I don't yet know what I will bring.

Regards,

HI,

I will bring Booyah. I am making a batch to see for myself what it is like, it is now at least a two gallon commitment. I have plenty to share. Plus I wanted a sense of what it is like before it is served at Midwest Eats! Foodways of the Great Depression.

We're looking forward to dinner and the exchange tonight. The reservation is under "Godlewski" if someone gets there before us. (We'll be on public transit due to some car issues. Whee!) Also as a reminder, the restaurant is BYO.

My schedule is open for tonight. ll Moms are okay for the evening. If there is room for me at dinner, I would like to attend.

moetchandon wrote:My schedule is open for tonight. ll Moms are okay for the evening. If there is room for me at dinner, I would like to attend.

Absolutely! Glad you can make it. Rez now for 10.