Thanks everyone! Left the window open overnight, no smells. Hopefully all is well.

Seriously, how on earth do you all look so trim and fit? I suspect I would weigh 500 pounds after a month at SE. The self-restraint must be tremendous. Well done all!

Kenji and @i8, sincerely sorry for pulling out the "douche" card and bringing down the level of dialogue. That didn't need to be a part of my response, and I wish I could delete the last sentence.

But @i8, you have to understand that I was trying to call you out for being unnecessarily disrespectful to my heritage. I'm really sorry you had such a bad experience in Texas, and despite growing up there I don't have all positive things to say about it, either, so there's that. But it's my home state, it's where my family and a lot of my friends are from, and I have a lot of love and pride associated with both the state as a whole and its food culture.

The whole point of my original comment is that it's important to remember that experiences are subjective - your subjective experience is not the same thing as objective truth. You had a bad experience in Texas and you don't like its food; that doesn't mean that you can say definitively that "Tex-Mex is more of a warning for intelligent people [and]...sucks big hairy sweaty round things in a bag."

Anyway, I have already gone way too far down the someone-is-wrong-on-the-internet rabbit hole, so I'm going to leave it there.

Yay! I loooove Ninfa's.

Recipe looks tasty, as always. Now, on to a related matter: San Antonian here. Sadly, breakfast tacos may be one of those things you need to have grown up with to truly appreciate. I'm afraid the overcooked egg phenomenon you identify may be a feature, not a bug. It's also worth noting that a lot of the places that are famous for their breakfast tacos in TX are mystifyingly overrated (e.g. San Antonio's Taco Taco - no clue why that place gets as much press as it does). My theory is that breakfast tacos are best prepared not by any restaurant at all but by a Mexican grandma like mine, who used to make us ridiculously amazing homemade potato-and-egg tacos for breakfast.

Came here off this recommendation this evening - absolutely delicious! Not light by any means, so it helps to come very hungry and not expect to eat everything. Get the chicken soup, though - it's essence of Jewish grandmother.

+1 on Allagash White.

All of the jokes I can think to make are too inappropriate for Serious Eats :) This made my day.

Frying oil!

My fiance lived in Hyde Park last year as a Ph.D. student at UChicago, and I definitely want to throw my hat in the ring for brunch at Valois. As far as the food goes, I genuinely love their eggs, potatoes, bacon, and pancakes - best greasy hangover helper around. For me, it's not about old timey-ish charm, exactly - it's a true neighborhood spot, with folks from all walks of life gathering for some delicious, ketchup-drenched greasy chow. Valois encompasses for me exactly what living in Hyde Park is all about, especially if you come on a Sunday and see all the families with kids arriving fresh from church. Brunch at Valois makes my day every time.

Thanks - as I feared :( Do you think it would be bad practice to re-freeze and thaw it the day of the party (safely, with the cold-running-water-in-the-sink method)? Or am I better off just cooking the one I've got and buying a whole new chicken for Saturday?

Thanks!

I used to live just down the street from the Gate! Aw, I miss that place. Ditto 4th Avenue Pub. Yay for after-school teacher happy hours!