Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Todd
I think Becky is working on this. It will be good to see you again.
Kathy

Don't know if it makes a difference, but I will be bringing somneone with me.

Becky, is there anything I can do to help you? I am happy to be your Deputy Director. Just say the word!

Laurie

So I went and found a marvelous space right across the street from the Lincoln Park Zoo, not far from Downtown and 2 blocks from one of the larger markets in the city.
Belden-Stafford is the spot. All of the spaces have full kitchens, with BIG fridges and real stoves.
The spaces available are all suites with at least two rooms, easily huge enough to share and we could hold our reception in comfort in most of them. Continental breakfast is included in for all registered guests.
I have asked them to hold 5 of the HUGE suites and 2 of the smaller one for us, and we have 2 weeks to decide if we want to go with them.
Our rates would be $185 for the smaller suite and $285 for the HUGE ones. You could easily share three or four people in the bigger suites-they all have a powder room as well as a full bath with jacuzzi tub. Extra beds are 20 bucks/night.
I was overwhelmed with the size of the rooms and the accommodations.
Should we go with this space I would recommend that on Sat. we head for the market, then all cook lunch. We can do some kitchen time Sat. afternoon, and have an amazing dinner Sat. night at North Pond, which is a short walk away.
Sound good?
BeckyH

As a public service announcment...If there is still a bar in Old Town called the "Iron Butterfly" DO NOT go in....

I think I can safely say that I would avoid anything that would remind me of "Inagaddadavida" like the plague.

Hey there-can I have a shout from all of the folks who might be coming to this? Especially about the hotel stuff.
Thanks,
BeckyH

Becky
Pete & I will definitely be coming. We have booked our airline tickets. We will not be staying at the hotel, but will be at every event.
Kathy

I will be coming and needing hotel, not sure if I would want the small or large suite yet. I may need to call the hotel and see what the sleeping arrangements are. A female family member is coming with me, so we will need 2 beds, but do not care if we have two bedrooms. My daughter is also thinking of coming so I will need to have her make a decision very soon. So, count me in for one room and two people for now.

Hotel looks great Becky! Good job, and the offer still stands, if you need any help let me know.

I was asked to let people know what might be happening at this event so that folks can decide to join us.
At the moment I have a few things set up, a few in the works and a few ideas.
Set up:a talk from Tom and Patty Erd from the Spice House and a visit to the store.
A lesson in chocolate from Bob Piron, Belgian Chocolatier in his shop in Evanston.
In the works: A demo on breaking down a side of beef by my local butcher.
Time in a nice kitchen space for us to show off for each other.
I NEED PEOPLE TO OFFER TO SHOW OFF HERE!! So far no one has contacted me to say that they will teach or demo anything. I want to do a tasting of different vinegars and their applications. I think a set of condiments-ketchup, mayo and mustard would make a fun demo.
Ideas-The demos from the pros I want to do on Friday, so that on Saturday we can hit the market then cook lunch for each other, then do kitchen stuff, then do dinner. As part of lunch we can get a fresh killed chicken and roast it with an older chicken, to see the difference-Tim was interested in doing this.
Friday during the day I was thinking of hitting the professional cookware stores, and a bit of the city for the tourist types.
So get out your fancy aprons, folks and show us what you do best.
BeckyH

I'll gladly demo something, but right now can't think of anything to do. If someone makes a suggestion, I'll happily consider it.

I was thinking maybe spun sugar, but I'll need to practice a bit first. Any other techniques (preferably baking-oriented) that folks would like to see demonstrated?