Top Ten #50

1.  summer escapes

2.  v/a, Delta Swamp Rock, vol. 1 (Soul Jazz)

sample track:  Cher, "I Walk on Guilded Splinters"

3.  fruit hunting with Local 24 & its benefits

4.  Majical Cloudz, Impersonator (Matador)

sample track:  "Childhood's End"

5.  Runaway Creek Farm, Arundel, QC

6.  Monterey Pop (1967), dir. D.A. Pennebaker + Big Brother & the Holding Company, Cheap Thrills (Columbia)

sample track:  "Summertime"

7.  summer socials

8.  John Cale, Paris 1919 (4 Men With Beards)

sample track:  "The Endless Plain of Fortune"

9.  Girls, season 1

10.  Miss Audrey (2001-2013), R.I.P.

Audrey was regularly featured on "...an endless banquet" right from the start, and with good reason:  she was a darling girl and a true superstar.  You can find two of our favourite Audrey-related posts here and here.

aj

note:  none of them ever are, really, but, as you may have guessed already, this special edition Top Ten list (#50!) is definitely not in any particular order--eds.

Return to Smokey Mt.

 fig. a:  the invite

It was that time of year again.  Time to head down the 87 to the Catskills.  Time to fire up the smoker. Time to feed a whole mess of nice people from the City, from the Catskills, and beyond, on a gloriously beautiful midsummer's eve with some true Southern hospitality.

 fig. b:  the bill

Thing is, up until the last minute, for the first time in five years, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it--which is why we didn't make the bill.

But by Friday afternoon, by the grace of God (and with a little help from an extra-special friend--TY!) we'd arrived at the Stone House, checked in, and gone for a dip in a nearby swimming hole.  And by evening that Smokey Mountain smoker was all fired up, sending sweet hickory smoke wafting in the air, and slowly, magically turning almost 40 pounds of Fleisher's pork shoulders into hog heaven.

 fig. c:  getting up to temp

By noon the next day those shoulders had been pulled, chopped, and dressed into a towering heap of luscious North Carolina-style smoky chopped pork, and we were busily putting together our sides.

By 3:00 p.m. the guests had started to arrive in full force.  And by 6:00 p.m. dinner was served.

The spread:

3x 12-lb Fleisher's pork shoulders, hickory smoked and chopped 

Martin's potato rolls 

Tidewater coleslaw 

AJ's Down East baked beans 

Smokehouse potato salad 

AJ's Holy Grub BBQ sauce 

AEB Totally Jacked-Up BBQ sauce 

Blackcurrant lemonade 

Michelle's rhubarb & white chocolate petit fours

By about 7:15 the pork had been entirely cleaned out.  People made themselves four or five heaping sandwiches.  It was like a well-mannered, totally relaxed feeding frenzy.

By 9:00 p.m., as Color War took the outdoor stage, hickory smoke wasn't the only smoke in the air.

 fig. d:  up in smoke

And by 10:00, after Color War's set had ended in ecstatic dancing and thunderous applause, there was a whole mess of other smoke shooting into a clear, star- and firefly-filled Catskills night.

 fig. e:  c'mon, baby, light my pyre

I'm not sure if it was all that smoke, or what, but I started to have all kinds of strange and interesting visions.  Like this guy.

 fig. f:  double fantasy

Saw him in a vision not long after the Theme from Twin Peaks played announcing the arrival of Color War onstage.  Had the even stranger experience of seeing him mounted to the wall of a log cabin the very next day.

Didn't get an invite?  Like to try some of my "luscious North Carolina-style smoky chopped pork"?  Well, if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, you'll get your chance tomorrow.  I'll be selling chopped pork sandwiches at Place de la Paix, right next to the Société des Arts Technologiques and the Foodlab, tomorrow, July 17, from 7:00 p.m. till 9:00 p.m.  What's the occasion?  It's a Pop Montreal/Film Pop presentation of Computer Chess on the outdoor screen.  It's also part of a Film, DJ's, and Chefs series that's going on all summer again this year.

Hope to see you there!

In smoke we trust.

aj

p.s. Many thanks to Patricia for making all of this possible, and to Flannery for invaluable assistance in the kitchen.

Top Ten #45

1.  The Cornwallville Summer Social, Cornwallville, NY



2.  Stop Making Sense, dir. Demme + the revival of the Mile End Rockumentary Club

3.  Santouka, Vancouver, BC

4.  Le Grand Aïoli + Domaine du Grand Noré rosé 2011

5.  Moonrise Kingdom, dir. Anderson



6.  summer swimming



7.  summer quilts @ The Little Shop

8.  Hudson's Hamburgers (since 1907!), Coeur d'Alene, ID

9.  Jessica Mitford, Hons and Rebels



10.  Zingerman's Roadhouse, Ann Arbor, MI

Raspberry Social Wrap-up

Such a good crowd, such amazing weather, such a great time! And such beautiful raspberries!

fig. a: framboises

From the outside, you might have just thought it was a particularly busy day at good ole Parc Laval.

fig. b: Parc Laval

On the inside, however, you found the sweet, sweet sounds of the Better Late Than Never String Band (version 2.0: banjo + fiddle) and a couple of trained professionals

fig. c: Team Laloux

serving up the most heavenly sponge cake, raspberries, and whipped cream combo,

fig. d: heaven

along with a veritable battery of drink options.

Big thanks to all of you who were able to make it down for our Raspberry Social (including a whole whack of Ottawans!), as well as all those who wished us well from afar. Once again, it was a smashing success (over 100 people!).

Will there be another social before the end of the summer? (The blueberry fanatics* have been clamoring for a Blueberry Social, among other things.) We're still not sure, but stay tuned to AEB for all the latest Summer Social information and updates.

Thanks again to Restaurant Laloux, Café Myriade, and Better Late Than Never (who tore things up!) for their invaluable assistance and their camaraderie. You guys are the best!

aj

* You know who you are!

AEB @ CBC, Summer Strawberries Edition

fig. a: Quebec strawberries

Michelle was back on the CBC with Jeanette Kelly again today, this time on Homerun, and this time the topic was strawberries. She had all kinds of things in mind to talk about (like where to go strawberry picking, helpful hints for preparing your strawberries simply, strawberry socials, strawberry gazpacho, and strawberry smackdowns), but these radio interviews go rather quickly sometimes, so, really, mostly what she talked about was pairing strawberries with herbs (plus a really sweet childhood memory of strawberry picking with her Mom and her sister).

fig. b: Michelle @ CBC

That was because she'd shown up with a sour cream panna cotta that she'd topped with strawberries and a herb granité, and Jeanette and the rest of the Homerun crew were understandably transfixed. It's a pretty delicious combo, and it's pretty too. But, best of all, it's pretty easy--especially the strawberries and the herb & lime granité.

Want to try it for yourself? Here's Michelle's recipe:

Sour Cream Panna Cotta with Strawberries and a Herb and Lime Granité

For the sour cream panna cotta:

150 ml cream
40 g sugar (2 ½ Tbsp)
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and added to sugar
1 1/2 sheets gelatin, soaked in cold water
250 g sour cream

Heat cream, sugar, and vanilla in a small saucepan. Turn off heat, wring out extra water from gelatin and add it to the cream. Stir to dissolve and pour over the sour cream. Whisk together to combine. Pour into glasses or small bowl and place in fridge to set at least 3 hours.

For the herb and lime granité:

2 sprigs basil
1 sprig mint
1 sprig lemon balm
1 sprig parsley
lime juice to taste
light simple syrup (one part sugar, two parts water) to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until quite green. Adjust sweetness by adding more syrup or water. Add more lime juice if needed. Strain into a container and freeze until hard. Scrape with a fork until fluffy and soft.

For the vinaigrette:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lime juice
black pepper

Mix all ingredients together.

To serve:

1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered

Toss strawberries in the vinaigrette and divide between the panna cottas, arranging the berries on top. Add granité and serve immediately.

The resultant panna cotta has a pleasant tang and a silky texture; the herb and lime granité brings out all the depth and natural sweetness of your farm-fresh strawberries; and the vinaigrette makes the whole ensemble sing.

Want to see a "Hallway Interview" with Michelle on the topic of strawberries? Check out Homerun's post on Michelle's visit here.

Want to see photo documentation of Michelle's visit? Check out Homerun's Facebook page here.

Want to make the most of Quebec strawberry season? Head on down to your nearest outdoor market, or, better yet, pick a nice day after we've had 2-3 straight days of sun, and make your way to a local u-pick.

Never had the pleasure of attending a strawberry social? Most of the Quebec strawberry socials have already passed, but you can catch a combination strawberry social/horse & buggy parade (!) in Vankleek Hill, ON, this Sunday, July 3, beginning at 1 p.m. You can find more information here.

aj

Strawberry Socialists

Canada Day weekend got started with what seems likely to become a lasting “…an endless banquet” tradition: the Ormstown Strawberry Social.

fig. a: June 29, 2007, Ormstown, QC

We’d been talking about going to one of Quebec’s many, many strawberry socials for years now. Home-baked shortcake, fresh Quebec strawberries, whipped cream, a little socializing—what could possibly go wrong? So this year Michelle took the bull by the horns and started doing a little research. That’s how she found out about the Ormstown Strawberry Social in MacDougall Hall. Though it’s situated just 60 km southwest of Montreal along a stretch of the Chateauguay Valley that we know quite well, we’d never been to Ormstown before. Michelle had a good feeling, though. So good, in fact, that she could picture the whole thing: the old Victorian architecture, the well-kept gardens and shade trees and the tidy lawns, the central church, and MacDougall Hall, a stately old town hall sitting next to it. She didn’t have an address, but she claimed she didn’t need one—she’d just know when we got there. And that’s pretty much the way things played out. Ormstown was just as attractive as Michelle had imagined it to be, she knew exactly when and where to make a turn, and, sure enough, there was stately old MacDougall Hall perched just to the left of the central church. It was early still, it was warm and beautiful out, and we’d brought some sandwiches along for a picnic, so we sat down on the lawn in the sunshine and had our dinner and a beverage before joining the social.

fig. b: everything old is new again

Things on the inside of MacDougall Hall were more or less just as Michelle had pictured they’d be too. With our tickets in tow--$6 for a large and $3 for a small—we made our way to the eat-in counter (the take-out counter was located in an alcove off to the right of the front entrance). There we exchanged your ticket for your portion of freshly baked shortcake slathered with the ripest, sweetest strawberries imaginable (barely stewed to perfection), and a generous dollop of freshly whipped cream.

fig. c: l-r: small and large strawberry shortcake plates

Once we’d gotten our plates, we sat ourselves down at a smartly appointed table and were immediately greeted by a friendly man bearing cups and a pot of freshly brewed coffee. We thought we were dreaming. Then we tasted the shortcake and we were sure we were dreaming.

fig. d: still life with strawberry shortcake

People were definitely kind of curious about us—everybody else seemed to know each other—but when some of the organizers found out that we’d come in from Montreal it caused a bit of a stir. “You drove all the way in from Montreal just to come here?” “How was the Mercier [Bridge]?” “D’ya get stuck in traffic?” “Where did you hear about us?” “What? You read about us on the internet?” When the storm had blown over, we went back to our table, finished our strawberry shortcake, and talked about how, at that moment, there was nowhere else we’d rather be. We meant it, too.

Want to check out your very own Montreal-area strawberry social featuring real Quebec strawberries? Try the Hudson Strawberry Social in Hudson, QC, just to the west of Montreal at the mouth of the Ottawa Valley. It takes place next Saturday, July 7 at the St. James Church. Start time is 5:30 PM, and, yes, there will be a dessert auction.

am/km