Laid up, messed up, not going to be able to make it. Carolyn will be there, so there's one ticket available. First person who responds "Gimme" to this post gets this ticket.

David Hammond wrote:Laid up, messed up, not going to be able to make it. Carolyn will be there, so there's one ticket available. First person who responds "Gimme" to this post gets this ticket.

Hope you recover quickly. You'll be missed.

Cynthia wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Laid up, messed up, not going to be able to make it. Carolyn will be there, so there's one ticket available. First person who responds "Gimme" to this post gets this ticket.

Hope you recover quickly. You'll be missed.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

HI,

Last night was a terrific party. Good vibes could be felt everywhere.

Thank you, ChouxFleur for taking over the raffle. It was my bonus for showing up a few minutes late. I handed him the ceremonial raffle cans and off he went. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Chouxfleur and Mamagotcha also took the initiative on the food drive.

Thanks Ronnie Suburban for the food selections. It was not the capsacin-heat minefield I expected. The few items I could not deal with made others happy to get more.

Sorry SteveZ and Hammond could't make it, too!

Regards,
Cathy2

Delicious food, delightful company--a great holiday party! Thanks to everyone who made it possible. Cabbagehead and I had a lovely evening. Plus, my gift in the exchange is Cathy's new book (when it appears shortly hot off the presses), and I'm very excited! Happy holidays to all my LTH friends!

Agreed on all counts! The wings and the pork neck salad were my faves, but everything was wonderful. I don't know how they were able to keep the food flowing so fast from what must have been a tiny kitchen, or how those servers managed to even move in that crowded space, but they pulled it off with grace and huge smiles.

Later today, I'll be delivering your food drive donations to the local GCFD pantry... one of my most anticipated annual holiday tasks. Thank you all for your generosity!

It was so lovely to see you all!

David Hammond wrote:Laid up, messed up, not going to be able to make it. Carolyn will be there, so there's one ticket available. First person who responds "Gimme" to this post gets this ticket.

You were indeed missed! Boooo. Hope you're feeling better.

Thank you to the hosts for a lovely time! Special props for the chicken wings and dessert. And to nr706 and moetchandon for the booze.

I usually take the Red line home from work. Since the restaurant is off the Brown line, I figured I'd transfer at Jackson. I automatically headed to the Red line shortly after 5pm and realized, with my (seemingly) 50lb bag of canned goods, it would be better to take the Green line; I could transfer without walking through a tunnel and trekking up and down two more sets of stairs.

So special thanks to Chouxfly and mamagotcha for possibly saving my life. If you'd chosen to forgo the food drive, who knows!
https://abc7chicago.com/man-shot-in-jac ... l/4848767/

Pie Lady wrote:So special thanks to Chouxfly and mamagotcha for possibly saving my life. If you'd chosen to forgo the food drive, who knows!
https://abc7chicago.com/man-shot-in-jac ... l/4848767/

Yikes! So glad you are okay!

Absolutely loved the food last night at Aroy -- I've had countless great meals at Aroy but last night was as good if not better than the best meals I've had there. And I was impressed how well their small staff executed and served the dinner.

The company was fantastic as always - nice to catch up, even for just a bit, with so many people I haven't seen in a while.

And really happy to have departed with SueF's incredible cookies. Okay, well I departed with many of them (our table had a difficult time putting them aside they were so fantastic).

Cathy2 wrote:Thank you, ChouxFleur for taking over the raffle. It was my bonus for showing up a few minutes late. I handed him the ceremonial raffle cans and off he went. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

hear, hear !

BR wrote:Absolutely loved the food last night at Aroy -- I've had countless great meals at Aroy but last night was as good if not better than the best meals I've had there. And I was impressed how well their small staff executed and served the dinner.

having never been to Aroy before, I was thrilled with the food, especially the eggplant shrimp & egg dish.

Sweet Willie wrote:I was thrilled with the food, especially the eggplant shrimp & egg dish.

So that's what that was! I brought home a tiny portion to share with my parents. They asked me what is was, all I knew there was an egg.

Maybe the full menu could be listed, because I am probably not the only one who ate with abandon and not always sure what it was.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Maybe the full menu could be listed, because I am probably not the only one who ate with abandon and not always sure what it was.

The shrimp, eggplant & egg salad is a special order that usually requires a day or two advance notice. I was glad they included it in our meal.

I never received a final menu from T and Mama but I'm guessing we can piece it together here:

One Bite Salad
Shrimp, Eggplant & Egg salad
Nam Kao Tad
Thai Wings
Som Tum Thai
Tom Yam Beef Ball and Tender Soup
3-sausage combination (sai ua, issan and special hot)
Grilled Pork Neck Salad
Gaeng Hung Lay
Chou Chi Ground Pork Curry
Cassia Leaf Curry
Northern Larb Fried Rice
Mango Sticky Rice

I'm not sure that's the order in which they were served or if there were any others I neglected to mention.

Separately, I want to thank everyone for coming. I hope a good time was had by all and that everyone enjoyed the meal. When I was planning the party, I looked right past how much of an impediment it would be for us to be separated into 2 rooms. The place is so small, it never occurred to me that the separation would be an issue. So, I apologize for splitting us into two rooms. In future years, I'll do my best to keep those sorts of logistics in mind.

Thanks to Chouxfly and mamagotcha for wrangling the food drive once again and to Chouxfly for handling the gift exchange, as well.

Via a quick trade after the gift exchange, we ended up with BR's home-baked Crack Pie, which is absolutely delicious (we initially won some teas but we are caffeine-free). Thanks, BR, for bringing such a delectable gift to the exchange. We consider ourselves fortunate to have ended up with it.

Happy holidays - here's to a happy and healthy 2019!

=R=