I am relatively new to the group myself, and so I'm afraid I am poorly qualified to represent LTH in any official way, especially since I have not met your friend in person. I think she should probably join the forum herself to get a good idea of what LTH is about, especially if she wishes to attend LTH events, but she will of course be welcome as your companion.

If anyone is planning to bring family or friends, please let me know so I can have enough drinks, dishes and utensils ready to go! We are still at the crockery-and-silverware level, but a couple more mouths will push us into paper-plate-and-plastic-forks territory (which is fine, I just want to make sure I have enough on hand!). Many thanks!

Chouxfly has a well-stocked bar and can be (easily) persuaded to provide cocktails. I'll have a few bottles of wine, beer, juice and sparkling water on hand. Chefs will be welcome to use our oven, stove and microwave for any finishing touches needed for their presentations.

Remember, we are on our honor not to purchase anything other than the main ingredient tomorrow... so stock up today!

Can't wait to see what our Secret Ingredient is! See you all tomorrow night!

I'm honored to have been asked by mamagotcha to select and announce the secret ingredient for Saturday's event.

I was asked to choose something accessible, affordable, vegetarian and in-season. Given those parameters, the ingredient came to mind immediately. In fact, it was in this thread -- Underappreciated Ingredients -- where this ingredient got quite a few positive mentions. Not only does it fit the bill on all counts but it's also an ingredient that, I believe, can truly reveal and challenge the skills of the cook using it.

So, without further ado, the secret ingredient is . . .
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Celery!

I hope the participants can successfully incorporate stalks, leaves and roots into their creations.

Good luck!

=R=

I look forward to a report that includes
Something along the lines of

eats, shoots & leaves

Hi,

I will bring my antique celery serving dish along for the fun.

Regards,

Celery?
My hubby is a plus 1

I'd love to see what people bring for dessert!

PieLady, I know I'm not doing a dessert... but I have some coconut burfi on hand if anyone feels like they need a little sweetmeat after our feast.

I don't want to tip my hand, but I'm very happy with Ronnie's selection... can't wait to see what else shows up tonight!

I'm bringing an app/main, Sue is making desert - with celery, even tho she is not find of the stuff.

My #1 idea for the secret ingredient is unfortunately not possible due to a missing larder ingredient, and Sue making sure I didn't chat when we went to the store.

Anyone manage to find celery soda?

I'm bringing an app/ soup/ and main,
and will bring some paper bowls in case soup overwhelms the bowl population.

oh- and the main will need 20 min in a 400 degree oven to finish-
let me know if that doesn't work and I'll finish at home- but it would be better fresh.
E

Can't wait to see it, Cathy! Very brave, Sue! And very thoughtful, Iris!

I have a stew-ish thing going as well, so extra bowls will be a very good idea. I do have plenty of spoons and about a dozen ramekins that can also be pressed into service. I will also have a side and an app.

I too had a pantry shortfall of something I wanted to use (and didn't cheat!), but I do believe the material I settled upon for a substitute actually worked as well as, if not better than, the original idea. You all will be the judges!

Can't wait to see what you all are making! Oh, and I wanted to give you my cell phone number, in case you get lost or have an issue on the way here: 816-456-9014.

JoelF wrote:Anyone manage to find celery soda?

They have them at PQM! I tried it for the first time 2 weeks ago!

I will be serving savory filled rolls and an adult beverage.

Hi,

I will be there between 6:15 and 6:30.

I came home later from the very, very good tour Jefe had at the Smart Museum.

Regards,

My fellow Ferrous Fressers,

After a rough two-week stint on my non-culinary job, I too exhausted to join the Secret Ingredient: Celery soiree tonight. Sorry for missing out on all the fun. Hopefull I can join the next event with my friend Hannah in tow.

JoelF wrote:Anyone manage to find celery soda?

They have it at The Bagel, Ada's Famous Deli, and lots of other Jewish delis. I love that stuff, and hate celery. Go figure.

Iron Chef: Celery Conflict was a resounding success by all measures! Every dish could have been considered a winner for the creative and delicious use of the secret ingredient, although general consensus seemed to favor SueF's delicious and amazing use of celery in creating her Celery Upside Down Cake. The feast was terrific and the company was even better.

Here's a slideshow of the dishes with descriptions.

Chouxfly and I had a wonderful time hosting this battle. Unless someone else is dying to have it at their house (or if the competitors are mad at us for making everyone do their finishing simultaneously in our tiny kitchen), we'd love to host again, in another month or so.

Many thanks to our talented Iron Chefs, and an extra spicy Bloody Mary for Ronnie Suburban (who clearly comes from good stalk), for coming up with such a unique challenge for our inaugural kitchen combat. With fronds like this, who needs enemies?!

Thanks to all for a great time... Although I'll have too find some way to get back at Ronnie for his secret ingredient choice.

No actually, we had some fantastic food, nobody went home hungry. I'd just rather work with an ingredient that I love than one I merely can work with.

Sounds like it was a great time! I'm awed by the creativity!

Wow! The food looks and sounds just awesome. I'm so sorry to have missed this event, which was obviously a lot of fun and a great success. Next time, I'm there for sure!

=R=

It was a lot of fun, although my tastebuds are suffering from a "strange aftertaste" syndrome today...
My only request for next time is NO BEETS.
At least 1/2 of us are beet-haters...
and might become suddenly overwhelmed with the need to wash our hair that night....
Great pics and slide show Mamagotcha...
and very quick work getting it up!
Thanks you both for your hopsitality.

Thanks for posting the pictures. Looks like the event was fun. Very creative.

So I'm driving down the Edens southbound this AM near Touhy, and I pass a black SUV with a vanity license plate,
and it reads.....

"celery"

and I can only wonder....

WHY?

irisarbor wrote:So I'm driving down the Edens southbound this AM near Touhy, and I pass a black SUV with a vanity license plate,
and it reads.....

"celery"

and I can only wonder....

WHY?

Once I saw a Porsche 911 with the vanity plate, "POTATO." Mama Fresser and I still laugh at that one.

LOL, thanks Iris!

So today I was contacted by a Wikipedia editor, requesting that I allow them to use my photo of Cathy2's Celery Victor to illustrate their article on that dish. I approved the request, and now Cathy2's efforts are immortal!

Celery Victor on Wikipedia

mamagotcha wrote:So today I was contacted by a Wikipedia editor, requesting that I allow them to use my photo of Cathy2's Celery Victor to illustrate their article on that dish. I approved the request, and now Cathy2's efforts are immortal!

Celery Victor on Wikipedia

That is just too cute! Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

mamagotcha wrote:So today I was contacted by a Wikipedia editor, requesting that I allow them to use my photo of Cathy2's Celery Victor to illustrate their article on that dish. I approved the request, and now Cathy2's efforts are immortal!

Celery Victor on Wikipedia

That is just too cute! Thanks!

Regards,

That is wonderful! Congrats to Cathy2 for becoming immortal & thanks to mamagotcha for helping it happen. I think we all knew it was inevitable.