thistle

We can make it, I think, either the 28th or 30th (3-4 diners)-not as close as the last dinner, but I'll fight traffic for good food...

My peppers are looking terrible this year-bugeaten, puny- the tomatoes,despite almost total neglect, look much better....

This is embarassing, but when I woke up in the middle of the night last night (I have frequent insomnia), I passed the time by thinking about what I would cook, for my 'constituency'. I'm the furthest thing from a TC that you can imagine, but some of those dishes did not appeal to me at all. I bet my dish would score better, if I included bacon or foam, though...

I love TC, even bad TC (season 2, I'm looking at you)-my picks for top 3 this year are Kenny Gilbert, Kevin Sbraga, & Timothy Dean (because Angelo bugs me for some reason). The female chefs seem a bit overshadowed, but I have hopes for Tamesha, Kelly, Andrea, & Lynne-I want them to whittle down the field some more, I want CRAZY challenges (who was high when they came up w/ this challenge?-next week's preview), what can I say? I still watch Chopped, TCMasters, & even HK....

I think we'll be available either of those dates, but are they open on Tuesdays? I have not tried any South American food, but it sounds perfect to me-corncakes, avocadoes, salsa verde, beans...yum!

I'm glad that my kids are older now & approaching the point of being pleasant dining companions (despite their habit of playing games on their phones). When they were younger, we just didn't go out to eat alot-I know I don't like kids screaming around me when I'm eating, so I chose casual restaurants, took them out at the first sign of a problem, & thought about other diners (I was also a waitress in my youth, I had a low tolerance for disruptive behavior). For parents of young kids, it'll get better-just be patient.... (& learn how to cook)...

We really enjoyed dinner-thank you, Kibbee Nayee, for suggesting it & organizing it. My son is easy, he'll eat almost anything (but has definite opinions about food), my daughter is the super picky one & she said she really liked it & would definitely come back. It's always enjoyable to eat with a group that loves food as much as I do & doesn't think I'm excessive when I want to sample everything (lots of plate passing going on). I know we were told not to set our expectations too high, but I thought it was great-the chicken larb was one of the best I've ever had. Wonderful company & food, bring on the next Springfield outing!....Linda/Thistle

I'm looking forward to dinner tonight-I love thai food & can't wait to try a new place....I hope they have larb!

OK, your ribs are prettier than mine, but I'm still happy w/ the response I got -very simple sides-french fries & coleslaw-the ribs were falling off the bone....I couldn't get over how inexpensive spareribs were....

OMG, I can't believe how good these ribs look-smoked them for 3 hrs., then swabbed them w/ a thinned down commercial sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's sweet n spicy, w/ apple cider vinegar)-gonna let them cook for another hour or two-I 'm not a rib person, but I think my family will enjoy these...

I'm smoking some ribs today (I usually use pork butt or shoulder, don't think I've ever done ribs). I'll second that link that GBA put up amazing ribsamazing ribs[/url], lots of great info there, I especially liked the diagram of the rib anatomy. I just hope we don't have any torrential downpours this afternoon, but I have a big umbrella ready...(it's an electric smoker)

I think I'll be able to make it , with either 2 or 3 additional family members. I'm trying another Springfield restaurant , Royal Court Barbecue, for the first time today, lunch w/ a friend-will report back...

I hope that we can join in (some of my family & I, may include teenage kids), if it's on Tuesday at House of Siam. Next Thursday, I'll be w/ other proud lacrosse parents, as our daughters celebrate their undefeated season (Ft. Hunt U11B2-although they went down, in a difficult game today, 7-6, to Manassas)-it's been a long season, we had fun, but I'm glad it's over...

I'm interested in hearing about how you like your book-I've been thinking about getting this one-serious barbecue. I think I do o.k. w/ basic bbq, especially pork, & I did a beef brisket last weekend that wasn't too bad...I don't think I would braise before smoking, although I have heard of parboiling ribs (I don't do ribs, so I have no firsthand experience)....

I would love to meet anyone for lunch in Springfield. My default is Blue Pearl, which I have been visiting since it was Dragon Sea Buffet , but I have eaten at Gamasot & Delia's, I would love to try any thai restaurants, my favorite is Thai Cafe at Springfield Mall, I'd like to try some of the other thai restaurants in this area...

Last vaguely japanese dish I made was okonomiyaki-little cabbage cakes w/ shrimp, they were awesome, but thinking about it, they would be great at the picnic, topped w some pork...

& guess what, folks-if I didn't mention your dish, I probably ate that, too-I think I tried almost everything. It was wonderful, but what I said earlier about pacing, OMG, I was moving slowly the first few days after the picnic...it was worth it...

Any other picnic after-action reports?-did we cover (w/ contributions)the site fee, pig, & that Oberon ale (that sustained me through the picnic)? I just regret that I didn't pace myself through all the lovely salads (orzo, lentil, potato-I can't believe I missed crab/avocado/bacon/feta-I'd be paralyzed) & when the duck eggrolls & arancini were coming out of the fryer, I could only stare in dismay (no room left, but I wanted them). & the larb that came later (wonderful, if I'd discovered it earlier, I would have polished it off). I managed to find a bit of room for the chocolate graham crackers, trifle, & choc-caramel bars & apps-pickled shrimp & crab-egg spread (I was fresh at that point). My favorite (if I can narrow it down) was the torciglione (for that, I would peel almonds), it was AWESOME! After all the meat eaters in my party raved about the brisket, I decided to try to smoke one this weekend (I'll take any advice). I can't wait until the fall picnic (actually I can, I'm beginning to think you need to train for these picnics), thanks to lperrys herb giveaway, I'm going to take fig cuttings & pot them up...thanks everyone for a lovely picnic!

I had the pleasure of meeting StephenB at past picnics, & I'm terribly sorry to hear of his passing. It's funny how people that we know 'virtually', mostly from online postings, can become as close as friends & family that we see infrequently. I belong to a couple of other online groups, that have each lost members recently, that I've known only through their posts, & I mourn for them, as I would for any of my other friends. I'm grateful that I had a few chances to talk w/ Stephen, he was quite a gentleman...I will be thinking of him this Memorial Day weekend...

I brought the poundcake, the recipe is from Camille Glenn's 'The Heritage of Southern Cooking' recipe I'm lazy, though, & don't separate my eggs, just dump them all in the Kitchenaid. I also smoked 2 10-lb. pork butts, & thank goodness I had my friend, Rose, visiting from NC-we were up early hand-pulling the pork. I used Elizabeth Karmel's vinegar sauce, found in Steven Raichlen's 'The Barbecue Bible' -vinegar sauce It was a fabulous picnic, & I continued to eat, long after I should have stopped. I kept thinking, "If I don't try some of that, I'll regret it", there was so much fabulous food, keep those recipes coming...

Actually, it was the bacon tasting a few picnics ago that led me to get this stove-I have a 18" x 24" griddle that fits on the left 2 burners that I would love to break in w/ lots of bacon, I'll pack this, too...

pan-fried grouper fingers white rice, black-eyed peas pickled cukes choice of hot sauce

Lots of variables w/ bbq, it's still hard for me to guess amounts, but I'll always err on the heavy side-sometimes, a very generously marbled piece of pork will cook down to almost nothing, though-after cooking & rendering, while I'm hand-pulling, I like to take out any excess fat- I usually do a couple of Boston butts or sometimes, a fresh picnic shoulder. I usually cook in an electric smoker, w/ a basic salt/pepper dry rub, for a LONG time-low & slow is what you want. After cooking, I use the vinegar sauce from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue Bible (Elizabeth Karmel's North Carolina Style Pulled Pork). An important point is mixing the white & dark meat, & bits of crispy outside. I've cooked it in a crockpot & an oven, overnight, but the smoker works the best. I'm from NC, & I grew up eating bbq cooked out of those giant barrel smokers that guys tow behind their trucks (my BIL has one, & an enormous SS grill, & he still hasn't shared his bbq sauce recipe w/ me), but you know, it's pretty hard to mess up pork-just get some good rolls & slaw (& plenty of beer), & everyone will be happy...

I'm bringing black bean/corn/tomato salad, pound cake, & I'm still considering pork bbq (yes, I know agm is roasting a pig, but can you have too much pork?) & fixings for pork sandwiches-bread, cheese, spreads-muffuletta & spicy mayo. I'll be bringing the stove w/ grill box, but won't be cooking on it, prefer to leave it open for anyone who wants to cook onsite...also, a cooler w/ water,soda, & beer...

& Eric Ripert is a welcome addition-he always tries to be so helpful with his criticism, he seems really nice (or at least, extremely polite). & he's gorgeous...