Crumbs

• Some sad news, this week - for those of who have relied on Food Lovers Companion for brief descriptions and pronunciation help, and to settle bets at work.  Sharon Tyler Herbst, author of my favorite quick reference tome, died this week from ovarian cancer.  You can read the AP obit here without registering or jumping through hoops.  Can a real journalist explain to me why the writer chose to put the title of the book in quotation marks instead of italics?  I'd appreciate that.  Sorry, it's the English major in me.
• July 21st marks the release of the final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Pre-order your copies through me and I promise to use the 4% return to bring you more food news.  I will be incommunicado for the 85 hours it will take me to read book 7, so don't expect to hear from me July 21st - July 25th, okay?  Yes, I, along with the other 5 million people pre ordering the book, am a total geek.  I admit it.  Sometime you can ask to see my extensive graphic novel and comic book collection, and I'll prove it.
• I would like to declare that Mi Mi cafe has the best pho I have ever tasted.  Husband and I had a Mi Mi revisit yesterday, and it was even better than the first time, if possible.  The broth is lively with cinnamon and spices, the beef is good, the meatballs are filled (for better or worse) with fat pockets, there are bits of tendon to chew on, and the tripe is cut into slivers, making it chewy without its usual rubber-band quality, yet it isn't cooked into mushy submission, either.  Their banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich with liver pate, mayo, ham and pickled veggies) is the best I've had in Columbus; it might be my favorite sandwich, hands down.  Now, as I have stated before, I have never been to Vietnam, so I can't speak for its authenticity, although I know some of you have, so you should visit and give me a report (ahem, hem).  I am sure in a Ho Chi Minh back alley, there would never be beef slices, meatballs, tendon, and tripe all in one bowl.  As Husband and I were leaving, patting our satisfied bellies, I said "I think that might be the best $16 2 person lunch in the city."  That's $16 for 3 entrees (we have to try everything, we're gluttons) and a pot of tea.  Three people could conceivably eat for $16, folks.  Please go, and go often.  If they close, I will cry.  Read my first review here.
• Husband and I also had a Basi Italia revisit, our first in far too long (the last time we were there it was blisteringly hot outside, if that's any indication).  Their Caesar is still the best in the city, chicken is still only one of two chicken entrees I would order in a restaurant (the first being G. Michael's fried chicken), and my special entree of monk fish medallions with lightly cooked root veggies, foie gras ravioli (yum!) and port redux was really great.  I probably should have skipped the limoncello chaser, but hindsight is 20/20, as they say.
• My no-knead hard rolls turned out nicely, but I will spare you further details.  I am going to experiment with cultivating our own ambient yeast, since we seem to have a few tasty strains in our house.  A friend told me recently that her bread-baking grandfather used to say that the more you baked bread, the better your bread would be because you have more yeast floating about.  I have no idea if this is true or not, but each time I make this bread it tastes better and better.  This might be in part to my laziness - this past batch rose for a total of 28 hours, because we were in and out of the house so much.