Nora, this is the menu I would choose:

Soup- Pale ale rock shrimp bisque1/2 pint Tall Tale Pale Ale

Appetizer- Fried oysters with endive salad and lavender honey Flute of L'amour du Jour

Salad- Truffled asparagus and mascarpone frittata with frisee salad and caramelized shallot vinaigrette 1/2 pint Weekapaug Gruit

Entree-Smoked bone-in filet mignon with white asparagus, peruvian mashed potatoes and a porter hollandaisePint of cask conditioned Charles River Porter

Cold fudge "sundae"1/2 pint Charles River Porter

Someone should tell them that a canneloni is not a bean.

I'm hoping Joe either gets the G4 gig, or can do some freelancing stuff enough to get by (though after three or four years of doing the same myself, I'm still only barely getting by)

Hey, speaking of, Aims. Joe should call me on my cell today. I'll try and call him around noonish or so. I left a message for him last night. I can get him a (very short, not paying very well) gig for next weekend, but he has to come in tonight.

And with that, I'm on my way out the door.

sj, I guessed it was a misspell on cannellini beans. Also your menu picks hit some of the ones I was waffling on. Yummy.

Okay, Nora -- here are my choices (as you know, I avoid pale ale like the Black Death, so my choices are colored by this prejudice) (and I can't tell from some of the beer names what they are):

Soup: Chicken consommé with matzo ball & 1/2 pint Heather Ale

Appetizer: Camembert and asian pear wrapped in filo with maple glaze and spiced pecans & 1/2 pint Biere de Miel

Salad: Artichoke, fennel, hearts of palm, roasted pepper and herbed cheese terrine with a cracked black pepper and pecorino dressing & 1/2 pint Golden Ring

Entree: Smoked bone-in filet mignon with white asparagus, peruvian mashed potatoes and a porter hollandaise & Pint of cask conditioned Charles River Porter [This is actually one of the categories in which I had no trouble choosing!]

Dessert: Honeyed amber baklava & Flute glass of Arquebus Barleywine

sj, I guessed it was a misspell on cannellini beans.

I figured, but a canneloni is an entirely different thing.

True. But I wouldn't put it in my cassoulet. Would put it in my tummy though. Had cannelloni for dinner last night, mmmmmm. And a couple bites of leftovers for breakfast. Still hungry though.

Yes I'm in Chicago (well, Mt Prospect if you wanna get technical) this weekend. Yesterday we went to Russian Tea Time for lunch before The Art Institute. Major suck that two of my favorite works weren't on display (Picasso's Old Man with a Guitar is on tour and the Chagall window is being restored and kept off display so it doesn't get damaged during construction) but I still feel energized being in the presence of the great impressionist works. Also fun seeing a painting by James Ensor since I only knew of him from They Might be Giants.

I think later today we're driving up to Evanston for a veggie lunch at the Blind Faith Cafe and chocolates at Ethels.

Oh, Joe and Aimee, that is just shitty. I'm sorry for the late commiseration, but I've been offline. Let me know if I can do anything. Love you guys!

Also, Matilda, give your mom and dad a little break, sweetie. They've got SO much going on right now. I think they could use a little break.

I had a lovely couple of days with mom. She just left. I'll post pictures of what we did in a bit. We put together five quilts. It was really amazing. I couldn't believe how much we got done. It was SO fun, but now I'm exhausted.