Wednesday, November 23, 2005

And on this Thanksgiving Eve...

As we gather around the virtual dining table this Thanksgiving, with football on in the background, alternating boy-girl-boy-girl, we circle up, join hands and say "thanks" for the bounty of this year. From fine wine in Napa to barbeque in Texas, from pork tenderloin in Indiana to Cafe Boulud in New York, from vineyards to sidewalk cafes to the kitchen table at Oakley's, we give thanks and once again toast "to good friends and good food".

On to the three latest and best:

Cheesecake Factory: Always crowded? Yes. Enormous portions? Yes. Baja Chicken Tacos? Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls? Oh, yes. That is all.

Unnamed Mexican Place in Beech Grove: Some wonderful clients brought in lunch last week and I'm awful for not having written it down, but food was a Mexican place in Beech Grove. Fantastic! The chicken was marinated in pineapple juice, soy sauce, and ginger. The flautas were perfect and the Tex Mex potatoes were weird, but wonderful. Some of the best Mexican food I've had in a long time.

Thanksgiving in the Oakley's kitchen: A small project Chef Oakley offered to help me with led to not only some amazing smoked salmon, but a terrific chance to help out in the kitchen at Oakley's. They were very busy last Friday and Tuesday preparing orders for Thanksgiving take-out orders. I was happy to get to help chop, slice, quarter, stir, scrape, and puree all kinds of things for stuffing, gravy, and an enormous amount of sweet potatoes. It was lots of fun and I had a great time helping out.

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