Wow, I think this makes you cool. Can you post the menu? Where is she working? Out with it, man.
I'll ask her if she minds my posting the menu, but it'll take a while before she gets back, since she's working.
Which Top Chef contestant is she? Antonia?
Wow, I think this makes you cool.
There's a bigger story here: I think bragging about your sister makes you human. That's awesome for you sister, w-lfs-n.
What's the problem with the NYC restaurants, besides a certain evident insufferability?
Palo Alto, or maybe it's Redwood City at that point has a restaurant called Applewood, I think. Gourmet pizza or something like that.
The owners are assholes.
Is this not par for the course in the world of gastrowankery?
Palo Alto, or maybe it's Redwood City at that point has a restaurant called Applewood
Menlo Park. Not really gourmet. A step up from greasy crap; not too bad.
Assholery is performed in many ways, gonerill.
I thought the CHEFS were supposed to be assholes and the OWNERS were supposed to be either bloodless entrepreneuro-types or starry-eyed food lovers from wealthy families.
Is sister-w-lfs-n's ball and chain also a chef?
So, Ben, are you gonna "buy" me dinner at some point, then?
ben has a sister who's a food snob? With ben covering music, are there other siblings to cover film, literature, theatre, and art? Were they all trained from a young age?
I don't think I can afford dinner there.
16: The w-lfs-n Way, For Both Straight and Gay
Coming this fall on Showtime, right after This American Life.
And my sister isn't a snob, Stanley. She's a very talented chef. That is different.
Tell us about your sisters, Cala.
Gourmet pizza or something like that.
Not really gourmet. A step up from greasy crap; not too bad.
I'm not sucked in that easily.
Good for yr sister, Ben.
One is getting her master's, one is getting her bachelor's, and one is pestering me for not being pregnant yet because she wants a niece.
And my sister isn't a snob, Stanley. She's a very talented chef. That is different.
Good point. Your band would suck ass.
22: It's old news, Ben. Each is cuter than the last, and somehow I never see them around town.
Each is cuter than the last
Making Cala the least cute of all? JRoth, how could you?
one is pestering me for not being pregnant yet because she wants a niece.
I think you should ignore her. You know how kids are: she wants one now, but nine months later, when the baby finally pops out, she'll have some new obsession.
one is pestering me for not being pregnant yet because she wants a niece.
Can you blame her?
Another good way to have a niece would be for HER to get pregnant and then give you the baby for your birthday!
Or for one of her other sisters to get pregnant. I volunteer to assist.
Nieces are the best. I am so in love with mine it's not even funny. Of course, she's funny, intelligent, charming, thoughtful, generous, kind, empathetic, smart, and strong, so there's a lot to like. And she's not even two yet.
It's actually not the wingnut sister who is wanting me to have a baby, but the cool hip youngest one.
ben, what sort of cuisine does your sister cook?
For a bonus, imagine 34 read in a six-year-old's voice.
Oh, you know. Upscale fancy shit.
I wish someone would just give me a baby. But NOOO, I have to make my own, & want to throw up all the time & have less energy on ten hours sleep than I used to on six. The problem with adorable nieces & nephews is they distract you from your sisters' stories about how much pregnancy sucked, to say nothing of childbirth.
What kind of upscale fancy shit?
You know I'm not sure what the "kind" here really is. I suppose most upscale american-generally-with-french-technique food is some sort of descendant of Alice Waters? You know, seasonal and local, etc., but that doesn't nail down a "kind of cuisine". If I felt free to post the menu for this dinner, it would help. Oh, hell: here are the second and third courses (of five, plus an amuse and a palate cleanser):
2: foie gras torchon and duck tartare duo
toasted brioche, strawberry-tarragon salad, rhubarb gastrique
3: sautéed diver scallop
crispy veal sweetbreads, spring vegetable succotash, lemon brown butter
She described the second course to me afterwards, or rather the duck tartare part, and there was (obviously) much more to it than you get from the on-menu description.
Adopt, Katherine.
of course, that doesn't solve the sleep deprivationproblem.
I wish someone would just give me a baby.
You know there are places you can go, and someone will give you a baby. There are some forms involved, but.
yes, I know about adoption; I'm just bitching. Thanks Josh.
That sounds really great, ben. I didn't know that duck could work as a tartare. Wooo w-lfs-n sister!
Uh, Katherine, is this a new announcement or did I miss it before? Baby??
42: was the technical term not traditionally "California cuisine"? Although if she's using sweetbreads and foie gras that seems inapt.
But wait, does this mean that you and your husband are living in the same city again?
Katherine!!
The world needs more of you in every possible way. How delightful that it gets to be an entirely new human being.
(I hope you get to the second trimester soon; my sister felt oodles better.)
Katherine I know you're tempted but don't name the baby "McManus".
50: I thought of saying that, but that, to me, implies something about what is being cooked, as well. There was nothing particularly californian about it when she was in NYC.
Congratulations on baby. Make sure to eat plenty of sweetbreads and foie gras to make it strong and give it a healthy gleaming pelt.
Congrats, Katherine!
Isn't mrh's wife also pregnant?
What a fecund bunch.
Babies are cool. We think ours will need glasses soon.
if she's using sweetbreads and foie gras
Oh god, I just recently learned that there is a vast and mighty chasm between "sweetbreads" and "sweet breads". Yeesh.
(Congrats, Katherine! A commenter in-training, coming soon!)
Congratulations, Katherine! My mom's experience was that both times in her last trimester she felt stronger than ever before.
Let's try more enthusiasm.
YEAAAAAAAH BABY! I AM LISTENING TO "FISHING" BY PUBLIC IMAGE LTD AND KEEP TURNING IT UP LOUDER
STEVE VAI AND GINGER BAKER ROCK
58, that baby might be a hipster, but those glasses are not good for a round face.
HOORAY, BABIES! ROCK ON
I don't know, the spawn of a lawyer & an economist in Chicago, what if s/he rebels & becomes all Posner-y?
what if s/he rebels & becomes all Posner-y?
Impossible. Might run for president, though. Or become an astronaut.
When are you due?
Holy crap, I run to the store for milk and Katherine up and gets pregnant? My timing is off. Anyway, congrats!
w-lfs-n-sister's food in 42 sounds terrific. I would risk gout for regular helpings of sweetbreads.
Holy crap, I run to the store for milk and Katherine up and gets pregnant?
Are you trying to establish an alibi already? Shit, man, Maury Povich hasn't even called yet.
65: not for a long time. I shouldn't be telling people yet based on standard protocol, but I had to tell my boss this week to avoid having to unexpectedly take a second set of 12+ hour flights in three weeks for work, & it's wedding season & all my relatives catch on to the not-drinking when my whole generation is getting pregnant at once. So I figure I kvetching here is okay too.
Yay, Katherine!
Also, I've had Ben's sister's food and it's delicious.
is the second course intermediate a re-imagined strawberry rhubarb pie?
Actually, Becks, she was just a line cook then, so she wasn't designing the menu.
Well, if things were that yummy when she was a line cook, I bet this place is even better.
And on the topic of pregnancy - there are about five really pregnant women who work out at my gym. One of them, who looked like she was hiding a watermelon under her shirt, was lifting weights tonight. I know pregnancy's not a disability and blah blah blah but cut that shit out! Take some time for yourself and relax! You can wait two months before resuming your marathon training, ladies.
I'm not talking prenatal yoga or swimming. I'm talking serious working out.
What a fecund bunch.
NCProsecutor's wife is six days past due. And congratulations, Katherine. Babies are awesome.
I know someone who, on learning the last date her doctor would let her fly, soon thereafter scheduled a weekend vacation for just before that date.
a re-imagined strawberry rhubarb pie?
The gastro-hipsters call it "deconstructed," TJ. Get with the program.
Why the no-flying thing? Or is this just right up near labor time?
Actually, based on my conversation with her, I'm pretty sure the answer to TJ's question is "no".
Katherine, that is rad. Babies babies!
Actually, this is funny. Have we had a regular get pregnant? I feel like there are people who started commenting with young kids, and dude regulars whose wives got the preggers, but... hmm.
Sybil Vane's child seems very young. Was she a regular before that?
79: it's not a strict medical necessity, it's just that the flight is really really long even direct, it's not direct, & then you're interviewing people about traumatic stuff & I would've just felt like complete crap.
Ben, sounds delicious. If I were to take a SWAG at naming the style from two menu items, I'd call it French-influenced modern American.
I've never been, I hear it's like club med.
the idea of airline food is also downright horrifying at the moment.
83: Oh, that makes sense. I was just curious.
87 to 84. okay, thanks everyone, bedtime.
"French-influenced modern American" sounds muy precioso y pretentioso, Chopper. "Upscale fancy shit" is exactly the mot juste.
And congrats, Katherine. It's worth it in the end, or so my wife assures me. (I know it's worth it for me, but I didn't have morning sickness and finger swelling)
the idea of airline food is also downright horrifying at the moment.
OMG I think I might be pregnant.
Ah, but the whole point of food snobbery is to be muy pretensioso, no?
||
My employees are being annoying pains in my ass. Not a lick of can-do spirit between 'em.
(Not a request for comment, just wanted to vent.)
|>
Go Chopper's employees! Stick it to the man!
There were a couple stories in the papers recently about lawyers having to travel to meet with detainees. One about the Gitmo flights and the other about worries that the government is listening.
79: In my friend's case it was because she's so close to her due date.
95: That's the little bitch we all know and, um, know.
Why the no-flying thing? Or is this just right up near labor time?
Mostly cultural nonsense, except maybe right at the end. Airlines used to have all kinds of silly rules about it, less so these days. But! In Australia my wife had to get a Letter of Confinement (this was written across the top of it and everything) to show to check-in agents when she was traveling, which I thought was pretty funny.
Death to the fascist Chopper that preys upon the life of the peopoe!
Letter of Confinement
My friend had a doctor's note just in case, but the airline never asked for it.
1. Foody vs. foodie.
2. Mucky-muck vs. muckety-muck.
I predicted the former but not the latter.
96 -- Habeas lawyers would think they'd died and gone to heaven if they got to use the military aircraft going to and from Guantanamo from Andrews or Norfolk.
Yay Katherine!!
And yes, pregnancy completely and totally sucks ass. Feel free to whine and complain and expect people to wait on you. But yes, it is actually worth it, although it's been about seven years now and I think this is the first time I'm really saying that...
My favorite pregnancy moments:
1. Standing at the kitchen counter making a pb sandwich at 3 am crying because I was SO TIRED and yet I had been driven out of bed by hunger.
2. Throwing up in month 7 (yes! for 7 months!) and being so freaking huge that the diaphragm movement made me pee. So there I was, bent over the toilet, puking, as pee ran down my legs onto the floor. DIGNITY R US.
3. On the other hand, it's sort of funny when you finish puking, wipe your mouth, and say, "you know, I want a bacon sandwich."
And re. flying/skipping shit: I bailed on a conference the first trimester b/c of feeling like crap. But I flew in like month 8 b/c of a funeral, so. And yes, with a doc's note, you can fly in the last trimester.
I promise you Katherine that you'll feel much better in a couple months. Even if you're still puking in the mornings.
it's sort of funny when you finish puking, wipe your mouth, and say, "you know, I want a bacon sandwich."
FTR, B., I'm taking bids in the other thread for the chance to eat the sandwich of a lifetime (I can add bacon; no problem-o).
Time it right with a new pregnancy, and you could sweep this whole thing.
You have no idea how many Big Macs I ate while pregnant. Such a weird and gross craving.
(But since the bids start at a nickel, fergiddit.)
Extra Katherine!! Woo, etc... If I were pregnant, I'd get on a plane to Brunei or Switzerland, or some other place with interesting citizenship. Also, I'd name my baby Theodora. This is why God wouldn't let me be a woman.
Theodora wouldn't be such a bad name. A little long, maybe.
If only there were a pleasant-sounding, nearby name, perhaps constructible by removing some letters from "Theodora".
Like "Heda" or something.
Wow, what wonderful news and what a great way to end a long day. Mazel tov, Katherine. I'm so happy for you and your husband.
A friend's friend recently named her daughter Fiona. My immediate response was, "Oh, my grandma has a retarded* cat with that name!"
Whoops.
*no, like, waaaay overly inbred Siamese; falls off tables often; walks circles around random objects for 20 mintues at a time; yes I'm a bad person.
Heh. My youngest niece's name is Fiona.
111: Perhaps "odor."
Yay Katherine! Did you get the 9-month kind, or the kind that bursts through your chest after 24 hours' incubation?
I'm so glad that my daughter is being teased ten years before her conception. You've scarred poor Hor for life.
If it turns out to be more than one, "Horde" is apt for the whole lot of 'em.
Wolves in the Throne Room's "Queen of the Borrowed Light", from Diadem of the 12 Stars, fuckin' rules.
Woo, hook'em Katherine! So wonderful.
If it turns out to be more than one, "Horde" is apt for the whole lot of 'em.
Or "Herd." That's what our triplet-having next-door neighbors call theirs.
f I were pregnant, I'd get on a plane to Brunei or Switzerland, or some other place with interesting citizenship.
Wouldn't do you any good in Switzerland. They're picky about that sort of stuff.
So wait, there's something to the transit laws after all? Is it only on international flights? Is this a NIMBY thing? Weird.
The cat in 113 is really funny if you imagine it for a moment.
Yay, Katherine! I thought pregnancy rocked once the 1st trimester nausea and exhaustion subsided. Also, I birthed the spawn of a lawyer and an economics grad student, and she totally didn't turn out Posner-y. So far. (May be an inapt comparison, though, as I gather your economist actually understands economics.)
Woohoo, more baby lawyers! If you happen to need more opinionated and bossy pregnancy information or advice than your mother and sisters have in stock (unlikely, sure) we're all here. Or you could look up dsquared, who also seems to have strong opinions on the matter.
I didn't mind the pregnancy bit much at all, untill I got ridiculously huge, at which point the ridiculousness got to me. Sleeping 15 hours a day might have worried someone else, but I rather enjoyed it. Did get busted by a paralegal a couple of times drooling on documents, though.
it's not being a killjoy, sorry, just you people are so not superstitious, not born yet children and pregnancy are sensitive matters, so i'd prefer to not talk about it, sure wishing good K mentally
coz we, if not immediate family, but friends or coworkers, usually congratulate with new born babies after solid 3 mo, before that not visiting new moms and babies, a folk custom, it's some kind of trying to protect them from any contagious diseases, i guess
"Thea"
Hor is phonetically 'poison' in my language, just if you are curious or interested in karmic things
The story about Posner I remember–could be completely apocryphal—is that he resented having to give his electric train to the Rosenberg children.
Wonder what the modern equivalent would be?
Congratulations, Katherine!
Yay Katherine! Nieces are a gateway drug.
Congrats & all the best, Katherine! Just don't let the U-tariat name your innocent offspring...
I didn't mind the pregnancy bit much at all
Yeah, don't let B's horror stories scare you. She was just being punished by God.
i meant sure we don't mind talking about pregnancy and learning how to deal with it, my own sister is pregnant btw, just we keep congrats for later, but that's just we
Yay, Katherine. You're going to make a wonderful mother. And your child is going to be fortunate to have Redstocking for a grandmother.
Katherine- Congratulations and best of luck!
135: Sounds apocryphal, sadly:
I don't know quite how the idea originated, but my mother asked me whether it would be all right to give these unfortunate children my electric train. And I said fine, because I had outgrown electric trains. I was already 13 or 14. I mention this because there was once an article about me--this is really weird--claiming that the reason I became conservative was a deep resentment that my mother had taken my electric trains and given them to these spies' children. (Laughter.)
Woot Katherine!
Ben- Let me know when your sister's place is ready. LA meetup?
129: If you imagine the cat for more than just a moment, though, it becomes tragic?
LizardBreath, we tried the nibbling of baby-fingernails. Seems to work nicely and doesn't leave me worried about cutting off the tips of his fingers.
Yay. Katherine, name your child "Edora."
Yay. Katherine, name your child "Edora."
Yes! And teach her to play basketball from an early age, so that people will occasionally ask, "Is Edora dunkin'"?
Why not name her Eudora? Qualcomm might shell out some money for that.
145: This comment would be better with scare quotes around "place."
Or Rodeo?
My childhood piano teacher's name was Theodora; she went by Theo. Which confused me, because, she didn't look like a Huxtable.
I wanted to name the Blessing Mk. II, theodora if she were a girl (in part because theodore is a family name). My father (his generation's theodore) was aghast at the idea. Really aghast. Fortuneately, Blessing Mk. II wasn't a girl and instead could be named both madoc (doing the welsh thing) and billie bob. Which is just so perfect for East Antrim.
But don't listen to anyone Katherine. Pregnancy sucks. No matter what trimester.