That I walked in with a jar of Bruce's lard, made the Evil one almost as happy as if I'd told him we've having breakfast at Nuevo Leon. (it joins many other rendered fats in our freezer) He was a very happy chef! The party was great, kudos to David and Cathy. It was wonderful seeing everyone I knew and meeting those I knew only by screen names. Let's do it again next year!

Truly an extraordinary party. Beyond the wonderful food and atmosphere, I am always pleased to meet new and old LTHers.

Many thanks to C2 and David Hammond (and everyone else) who worked so hard to do our community proud with this perfect party.

A few of petit pois' pics:


Sulc (aka "pork jello", aka "headcheese"). With it's lemony-porcine flavor, this dish was one of my favorites of the evening.


Everything that was served on a little slice of bread was excellent.


Too bad you missed the garlic bread, VI. It was excellent.


edk introduces himself to the damn pig


pdaane seemed very surprised to see Hammond holding his sausages

You can view the full photoset here.

Best,
Michael

Before I say what a great party this was, I just have to say: Klas is a trip. An incredibly well preserved, fascinatingly jumbled grandma's-attic-on-acid of a restaurant. People talk about it being Capone era, but more like if halfway through his meal, Capone was attacked by vampires. A brief photo essay to make my point:



Note Statue of Liberty in traditional glockenspiel spot.



Right, because nothing said happiness in the 20th century like Central Europe.



Words fail me. Maybe it's "Lebensraumi," the mascot from the 1938 Sudetenland Olympics.



Our (co)host (along with Cathy), tearing into his eighth piece of sulc. Sulc is like what Spam dreams of becoming.



You wanted a picture of the Citizen Kane-like baronial fireplace? Well, hooray for the bulldog.



Shots of becherova and another medicinally herbal, slivovitz-like liquor whose name I missed.



Good piggy. Very good piggy.



As you can see, the menu was pork, pork, pork, gravy, gravy, dumplings, kraut, and gravy. Ms. Wiv made the loveliest, neatest plate of it. The rest of us piled ours on like zombies having a buffet at the organ bank.



The only green in the meal. He said he takes it everywhere!



Great door prizes reflecting the wonderful creativity of our community-- from Paul SL's klezmer CD to Bruce's lard, which was won by... Bruce. (Who promptly uttered a phrase never before said in human history: "I won my own lard!") Jim in Logan Square won the Southern-style mayo. Within moments, he and his wife decided they really needed to get home. Now, honey.

Many things were quite tasty, even the ones that were sort of conventional were stick-to-your-ribs good, great crowd of interesting folks, not nearly enough of whom I ever manage to talk to, for which I blame only me, I won Joe the Sausage King's hot sausages, I had becherova again for the first time since I polished off the bottle my sister brought back from Slovakia and stuck in my freezer, a great meal, great party, makes me so glad to be part of this community, no quotes, it really is one both online and off.

Thanks again to David and Cathy for the planning, the idea, the whole thing.

24 Hours Later ... No Meat, No Bread, No Problem (no, really ...)

THe other liquer was Fernet Stock Citrus as seen here on the company's home page. Very tasty stuff, I will be picking some up this week if I can find it.

On our way out, I asked Cathy2 "what makes your Chex Mix so special?" - not to challenge her, or to beg some, but out of sheer curiosity. And she reached into a bag and gave me a pack! Which was incredibly nice

Which I never got to taste because my piggy dogs pulled it off the counter and ate it. Bag and all (well, not all of the bag). And then sat on the sofa, burping the rest of the evening

So I never got to taste it, but it got the dogs' ringing endorsement.

There's always next year.

leek wrote:On our way out, I asked Cathy2 "what makes your Chex Mix so special?" - not to challenge her, or to beg some, but out of sheer curiosity. And she reached into a bag and gave me a pack! Which was incredibly nice

Well, what does make Cathy2 Chex Mix so special ? I plan on making some for the holiday. Can use some tips. Thanks

Hi,

Sorry leek the dogs got to it first! I have to keep the box I store it in secured because I discovered my cat likes snack foods.

The grandiose Chex Mix wasn't my original idea. I will take a picture and post this evening to allow an opportunity to reverse engineer. While this bag of goodies begins with Chex Mix, there are a lot of extras thrown in: roasted pecans, macademia nuts, pistachios, Cheetoh's, Cheese filled Ritz crackers, etc.. I make so much I fill in excess of 40 quart ziploc bags.

Bringing the Duke's mayo was a last minute inspiration. I'm so glad it went to the right person.

As beautiful as that room looked to Gary and Hammond when we placed our deposit in September. It looked so much more glorious filled with friends, a roaring fire, white tablecloths and poinsettias. It was a better occasion than 'the committee' ever imagined.

I also appreciate the abundant generosity to feed the poor. There was way more food than I would have imagined.

Best wishes,

My wife and I were lucky to win these two items at the Klas dinner this past Saturday (the real luck was attending that great event and finally meeting many of the posters). Thanks to those who put the time and effort into planning this event. For those interested:

Corn Cob Jelly (from North Carolina, courtesy of Amata) tastes like jelly but with no fruit flavor. There is no corn flavor, either. My son likened it to honey jelly, and I think he's on the mark. It's got a nice, clean, sweet taste.

Gwiv chili oil: This is amazing stuff, Gary! I plan on throwing in on some stir frys this weekend, but any other suggestions are welcome.

Jonah

Jonah wrote:Gwiv chili oil: This is amazing stuff, Gary! I plan on throwing in on some stir frys this weekend, but any other suggestions are welcome.

There are a lot of great suggestions for the use of the chili oil in this thread:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=772

My personal favorite is as a topping for simple steamed vegetables. A bowl of steamed broccoli covered in a healthy dose of chili oil is one of my favorite weeknight dinner sides.

Best,
Michael

I'd like to express my thanks to David and Cathy2 for putting together this wonderful party. The food was excellent (highlights: mushroom soup and roasted pork), so too the beer, and the company was better. I particularly enjoyed having the chance to meet a number of LTHers whom I hitherto had known only from the board.

And the raffle was a great added touch.

Thanks to all for such a wonderful time.

Antonius

P.S. Amata would express similar sentiments but her computer has suffered a "thermal event"...

LTH,

So this morning my wife shows me this cool origami pig made from aluminum foil, says it will make a wonderful ornament.



Curiously, I ask, where'd you get the cute little piggy? She looks at me funny and says they were table decorations at Klas, didn't you notice? Not only were they on every table, but it turns out Carolyn, much better half of David Hammond, made each and every one of them.

Thanks Carolyn, really very cool, sorry I did not notice them at the party, my only excuse was I was under the weather. For those who were as unobservant as me, here's another pic.



Enjoy,
Gary

Kasia and I also had a splendid time on Saturday evening. Any party serving veal hearts is aok in my book.

Two highlights: (1) Being able to explain the term "SBD" to Antonious. I was somewhat intimidated meeting the learned man and was thrilled that I was able to impart this small piece of knowledge to him. Erudition isn't everything.

(2) Having my marriage, and perhaps life saved by David Hammond and Carolyn. As were leaving, I reached into my pocket and realized that my car keys had somehow disappeared between our parking spot and the coat rack. David in Carolyn were the only two LTHers remaining when I made this tragic discovery. They helped us search in the snow (in vain, sadly) and insisted that David drive us all the way from the restaurant to our house on the southside -- miles away from their home. We would have been grateful for simple wish of luck and maybe some company while we waited for a cab (although I suspect sitting in the back of a taxi alone with the rightously annoyed Kasia may have been or damaging to my health than another pound of pork). David and Carolyn's humor, kindness and willingness to sacrifice their own convenience really made an unpleasant and embarassing sitiuation a lot more bearable. If LTH ever becomes a religion, I nominate them for sainthood.

edk wrote:

"If LTH ever becomes a religion, I nominate them for sainthood"

Stranger things have happened. Did you ever see Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure?

But seriously, folks. . . there was some genuine party spirit at Klas last Saturday, At the salon earlier that day I came across an article in Vogue magazine, a "How To" on cocktail party conversation. The author's example of a boring conversationalist was a woman who described in detail a dish she had recently had at a new restaurant. Go figure! I couldn't help but laugh out loud and wonder how many fascinating tidbits I would encounter at Klas that evening, and I wasn't disappointed. I'm grateful to everyone who showed up and especially to Hammond and Cathy2 for their efforts to make the evening memorable. I am also grateful to have the wonderful hot peppers and lard that were so generously bestowed on me. That doesn't sound quite right, but I am. Grateful.

I’m very happy that everyone seemed to enjoy the event.

What stood out for me was the giving. This group shares information with one another all the time, so giving seems second-nature, and I was warmed that so many people contributed so generously to the raffle with bottles of homemade delectables, obscure fancies, Bill Clinton’s cookbook, multiple copies of “Oy to the World,” and lots of genuinely special edibles…and for those who didn’t win, there were bulging complementary bags of C2’s DeLuxe Chex Mix.

The donations to the food pantry were also tremendous, and I saw none of the seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time unwanted “gourmet” castaway junk. It was all good stuff (or at least stuff I’d eat).

Didn't feel a bad vibe all night.

In the coming year, let us continue to be excellent to one another…and party on, dudes!

Hammond

The grandiose Chex Mix wasn't my original idea. I will take a picture and post this evening to allow an opportunity to reverse engineer. While this bag of goodies begins with Chex Mix, there are a lot of extras thrown in: roasted pecans, macademia nuts, pistachios, Cheetoh's, Cheese filled Ritz crackers, etc.. I make so much I fill in excess of 40 quart ziploc bags.

I've got a hankering for trying to make some of this Chex Mix this weekend. Anything else besides the above named ingredients come to mind? I went through my bag so fast I didn't get the chance to "re-engineer" this great snack.

Were there any dried fruits like raisins, etc. added?

If anyone remembers some of the other ingredients post them.