I am afraid you're definitely going to have to count me out for this one. I fell on the ice yesterday, and I'm fine but sore. I also forgot I have two kids taking the ACT today. Hopefully I'll be around for the next one. Have fun.

i can't believe my bad luck. i'm still got the lingering cough from a 2 week long cold. and i actually scored some ripe pears from my brother's fruit bowl earlier today on my way to shop for some. i was going to make pear/potato curry, but i think i've got the stomach flu- i'm definitely not feeling well. i was very much looking forward to this evening, but right now it does not look good for me to cook, much less drive out to mt. prospect. i'm terribly sorry joel and sue. this iron chef thing is a great idea. joan

justjoan wrote:i can't believe my bad luck. i'm still got the lingering cough from a 2 week long cold. and i actually scored some ripe pears from my brother's fruit bowl earlier today on my way to shop for some. i was going to make pear/potato curry, but i think i've got the stomach flu- i'm definitely not feeling well. i was very much looking forward to this evening, but right now it does not look good for me to cook, much less drive out to mt. prospect. i'm terribly sorry joel and sue. this iron chef thing is a great idea. joan

I'm sorry you are ill. I really appreciate your effort to make pear work as a savory dish. I never would have thought of pear-potato curry. It is creativity like this that I appreciate about this effort.

Hope you feel better soon.

Regards,

Joan,
I hope you feel better soon, you'll be missed.

Cathy2, you keep posting, are we to expect you?

JoelF wrote:Cathy2, you keep posting, are we to expect you?

I could not participate this time, though I can still be supportive!

Regards,

Thanks to all for coming -- as usual, we had a whole mess of champions.

Ms. Ingie brought
* a pear and kohlrabi salad with pecans which had a great crunch, nice tartness
* pear and pork soup, tasty broth with the sweet pear balancing the smoky pork

mamgotcha and chouxfly brought
* an ap-pear-tif of brandy, half-and-half, pear syrup and nutmeg. Sort of a pear-nog, a nice finish to dinner
* Pear-stry cream filled cream puffs
* A pear and smoked turkey dip in the style of artichoke dips. The smoked turkey really made this work, but it still had a nice sweetness from the pear
* Chicken, pear and rice casserole

SueF and I made
* a pear and krab Thai salad, sort of halfway between a miang and a som tam -- lots of tartness, herbs and chile
* pear fritters and pear sorbet with butterscotch sauce
* pear, goat cheese, bacon, pine nut and rosemary pizza
* white sangria with pear

We'll post some pictures later. Sadly, our chairman for the evening was not feeling well and could not attend: I'll be bringing him a plate of leftovers today.

Here's a link to the photos I took last night. What a wonderful gathering, such inventive dishes, and such terrific company! Thank you so much, JoelF and SueF, for graciously opening up your beautiful home to us (and especially for letting us poke through your various libraries and periodicals). Chouxfly and I had a terrific time, and we're looking forward to the next Kitchen Battle!

Hi,

Sorry I could not make it, though I am glad everyone was as inventive as I anticipated.

Thank you!

Regards,

The pictures all look great
I especially love the Enterprise-shaped pizza cutter!
and the pear soup looked strangely familiar.....
LOL
So sorry I just couldn't make it-
see you all next time
E