Maple Butter
I promised Eric that I would mention the maple butter he made for the dinner Saturday night. Four sticks of room-temperature butter, 1/4 cup maple syrup, some cinnamon and I think vanilla all whisked together then refrigerated. Eric put it all in a shallow dish and made decorative swirls on top before he put it back the in the fridge. It was terrific on the sweet-potato biscuits he made, but I think it'd be even better on buttermilk pancakes. I'm sure he and his wife, Lisa, will come up with lots of uses for it, especially since they have the better part of a pound left.
Hey, just wanted to add that there was also a pinch of salt in there; I know 'cause I put it in (following the recipe, of course)
Will the fame of being on Kim's top-notch blog make me even more arrogant than I already am? Impossible. Anyway, maple butter goes well on almost any autumn dish, as well as many breakfast foods. A Thanksgiving dinner with new twists on old standards is a great idea for any adventurous chefs reading Kim's superb blog. I also recommend today's (11/19/03) NYT Dining In section's coverstory about balancing tradition and creativity for a Thanksgiving Feast.
Tough to speak to the individual experiences you described, but yes it is a game.
I hosted and waited tables at a restaurant, and let me say that to please customers and waiters at the same time as a host/hostess is a near impossibility. This challenge can turn the hosting people into mean creatures.
Dear Kim -
I'm sorry to have contributed to a bad dream, but thank you for not making me feel like a crank. As Sally in "When Harry Met Sally" said about her ordering proclivities, "I just want it the way I want it." In other words, I just want to sit where I want to sit. In the future I will be a little more assertive up front.
The (former) Outback Guy,
Greg
There's an Outback in Chelsea?!
Yes, it's in what's become the middle-America section of Chelsea at 6th Ave. and 23rd. In addition to Outback (at whose doorway my shadow will never darken again), there's an Olive Garden and a Best Buy. Haven't been to the Olive Garden, but for electronic/technology equipment at low discount prices, you probably can't beat Best Buy (avoid during December, though). I bought my Sony CD Walkman there, but I tend to run about 10 years behind the trend on these things. Now I'd like to have an iPod.