April 13, 7:00pm, 4th LTH Small Household Food Exch @ Deta's

For our Monday April 13th gathering, we have chosen GNR restaurant:

Deta's Cafe
7555 N. Ridge
Chicago, IL
773-973-1505

We have decided to cap the number of participants at ten, given the complexity of organizing and quantity cooking.

Deta has been alerted to our party's plans. I will be ordering our dinner a few days before once we have locked in our numbers.

If anyone else wishes to join us, I will keep a waiting list. There is the possibility for sharing a dish and not dining with us.

Current roster (dinner, but not an exchange)
Cathy2: porcupines over rice
Cookie Monster: vegetable quiche
GAF: pork loin with apple-onion chutney
The GP (+ Mr. X): sweet/sour tomato cabbage soup with kielbasa
happystomach: chocolate stout cake - no dinner
hellodali: picadillo
moetchandon: venison/wild boar chili
nr706: mushroom strudel
RAB: bean soup
(tarte tatin)
Ymas: potato torte w/bacon, cabbage, and cheddar

Exchange: 10

Dinner: 11

Waitlist for exchange:
Fresser

REVIEW OF HOW THIS EVENT IS RUN

Gathering time

Second Monday of the month, 7:00 pm

Location

GNR restaurants to be determined each month

Number in Group

Attendance at each gathering is capped at 10 so that participants are never making more than 12 servings of anything. Couples will be counted as one serving (unless each person wants to be counted as one participant, in which case they will bring multiple servings of two separate dishes.

The Food

Each participant will bring one pre-portioned serving of their food for everyone who has RSVP’d to come that month. A serving is whatever you think it is for your food item. For soup, it may be two cups say; for pastrami, 4 oz. (or more if you make more generous sandwiches). The priority will be for entrees, meats, soups, salad, stews, pastas, grains, etc. One dessert is okay each month, but we don’t want 6-7 dessert offerings as everyone was mostly interested in main meals. There will be no restrictions on the food – we’re an omnivorous bunch, but we do have one mushroom allergy in the group, so please alert the group if you’re making something with mushrooms. Again, that doesn’t mean that the ingredient is off limits; it just means you need to let everyone know if you are using it that month. We decided we don’t want to start running any list of off-limit foods or ingredients.

The containers/delivery system: Everyone in the group will buy 12 or so of the Gladware 3 1/8 cup plastic containers (it’s the approximately 7” x 7” square). You’ll portion your food into those containers to bring and hand out at the gathering. You can freeze them or not depending on your schedule and when you make your food. There is no need to fill the container, just put in whatever is a serving to you. If you use something else to deliver your food that month (Ziploc bags, plastic wrap, etc.) you should also return the empty containers from the last round so that everyone always has a stash of these containers for the exchange and doesn’t have to run out and buy more. Please label your containers with the name of the dish (an ingredients list is nice but not required). If there are garnishes or other elements that are to be added to your dish before serving, please indicate that on the container.

The Process

Each of us will take turns being the organizer each month. Each time we meet, someone will offer to organize the next month’s gathering.

Approximately two weeks before the next gathering, the organizer will post a new thread to the events page announcing the date and the location for that month and asking for RSVP’s.

Participants will need to RSVP their attendance by one week before the monthly gathering. They will then need to post what they are bringing by three days before the gathering (sooner is probably better). This is to help make sure we get some balance in the food so that we’re not all bringing something that has to be eaten in the next 2-3 days; that there’s a balance of stuff that can be frozen for later, or eaten sooner.

The organizer will monitor the thread to see what people are bringing. The organizer will also make reservations for the group at the restaurant where we will be gathering. People can choose to stay for dinner or just come and exchange food and leave. Just let the organizer know so they can get an accurate count for the reservation. Other LTHers are welcome to join us for dinner, even if they are not bringing food to exchange. Usually, we’ll buy dinner as a group and split the bill.

After dinner, each person will put their servings at their place at the table, and each participant will move about the table, collecting one serving from each of the other participants.

We all agreed to stay relaxed and flexible with the exchange as there will likely be some bumps in the first few months and questions we haven’t thought of will come up and we’ll have to figure them out. Remember that the core purpose of the exchange will be for a group of LTH’ers to exchange good food they’ve made with minimal hassle and restrictions.

Looking forward to it. Food TBD.

I'm enjoying the spoils of this last one so much that I'm in for the next one! Please add +1 (Mr. X) for dinner. Dish TBD.

I've never been to one of these, but I've recently cleared out some freezer space, and Deta is a friend, so I'd like to join in with moetchandon. Not sure what I'll bring.

Cathy2 wrote:There is the possibility for sharing a dish and not dining with us.

Cathy--Is there still the possibility of dining with you and not sharing a dish?

Or are you locking in the dinner group size at 10 as well in consideration of Deta's space?

I was so sorry to miss the dinner at Smak-Tak due to illness, and Deta's is one of my never-miss-a-chance-to eat-there (if possible) restaurants.

Hi,

tarte tatin - you are in, especially since you had to miss last time.

nr706 - I presume you are coming as one exchange and moetchandon is accompanying for dinner. If you are both going to exchange, I need to know.

The GP - we look forward to seeing you and Mr. X.

Regards,

I'm in Cathy.

Jyoti

I'd like to join, but I can't stay for dinner. Food TBD.

I'll be there (no Mr. Foodie, just me) - I'm thinking duck risotto...

In.

(dinner and exchange)

Wow! Filling up fast! Put me in for 1 exchange, 2 for dinner, please.

Hi,

In less than four hours, we have reached our recommended capacity of 10.

I will now be wait listing.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

In less than four hours, we have reached our recommended capacity of 10.

I will now be wait listing.

Regards,

Wow, I just missed this one. Please put The Wife and me on the wait list for dinner and exchange.

I'd like to be on the wait list as well - for a meal and/or for dinner. Just shows that having a sort of job does - six hours and the list is filled. Also shows the popularity of the Food Exchange (and/or Deta's).

David, Gary

You are both in.

There is a confusing statement, which I have now chosen to understand no more than 12 food exchanges:

Attendance at each gathering is capped at 10 so that participants are never making more than 12 servings of anything. Couples will be counted as one serving (unless each person wants to be counted as one participant, in which case they will bring multiple servings of two separate dishes

We can discuss this at Deta's if the original intended cap of 12 is ok and not 10 people and 12 exchanges.

From here on, it is waitlist for exchange. If you want to come for dinner only, please comment but I will need to check with Deta on her capacity.

Regards,

am interested in both dinner and food exchange, or dinner only --if both dinner and food exchange spots open up, please add me to both -- if dinner spot opens but no room for food exchange, just add me to dinner -- but if food exchange opens up and no dinner, do not add me to food exchange only list -- sorry if this sounds confusing -- and if you could let me know whether i'm in or not, that would be great

thanks,
yumi

Hi,

Cookie Monster and ymas are both waitlisted for the exchange. We are 15 for dinner so far, I need to check with Deta on her capacity.

Regards,

Just a reminder - if there are mushrooms in a dish PLEASE say so.

Thanks.

Cathy - I will bring a venison/wild boar chili...unless I can get some pronghorn antelope meat.

moetchandon wrote:Cathy - I will bring a venison/wild boar chili...unless I can get some pronghorn antelope meat.

THAT sounds excellent.

leek wrote:Just a reminder - if there are mushrooms in a dish PLEASE say so.
Thanks.

There's a relatively significant chance that there may be mushrooms in my mushroom strudel.

nr706 wrote:

leek wrote:Just a reminder - if there are mushrooms in a dish PLEASE say so.
Thanks.

There's a relatively significant chance that there may be mushrooms in my mushroom strudel.

While leek is allergic to mushrooms, fortunately her husband isn't.

Regards,

moetchandon wrote:Cathy - I will bring a venison/wild boar chili...unless I can get some pronghorn antelope meat.

If I keep reading posts like this, I'm going to have to separate you and nr706...

and I thought the mushroom strudel would make you want to separate me from Cathy2.

BTW - a general note to the LTH public - I tend to forget to insert the Most of the time, it's a safe bet that it is implied in any given conversation.

OK, but consider yourselves warned - if moetchandon starts planning fermented milk chocolate beverages, I won't be held accountable.

Okay - I'll bring some milk chocolate stout, too.

Oh yeah, I just need to know so I don't eat it. DH will happily eat all my mushrooms.

A freezing question as I'm contemplating my dish for the exchange. How does bechamel do frozen and then baked? I'm thinking of making mini pastichios in small aluminum pans for everyone so that they can be popped into the ove and baked. I know it does fine refrigerated for a day or so, but I've never frozen it. Any advice?

I would think it would separate, but I'm willing to try it

Hi,

I also read where people who froze bechamel sauce had it separate, though it quickly mixed back together. I found comments of people who froze lasagna with a bechamel sauce as a component that froze successfully.

I agree with leek, give it try because we will eat it with pleasure.

Regards,