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Picnic at Belle Haven Park, Alexandria


hillvalley

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Asian chicken salad marinating as we speak - cokes going in the cooler tomorrow morning - I'll also throw in some plastic cutlery. If I can bring anything else, let me know.

Looking forward to putting faces to handles!

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I had promised some table "cloths" from the dollar store on Columbia Road, only to discover this afternoon that it had morphed into something else. So, I was obliged to enter into some rather suspicious places and Lo! and Behold! I found some cheap plastic table "cloths" for our gathering tomorrow. I only bought three of the things, but what can you do? I always feel that I need to grab my passport when venturing into Virginia.

At least we can pretend to be civilized.

BTW, my tiny apartment has been infused with the scent of chocolate. I can only hope that these brownies taste as good as my place smells. You will know when I do.

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I have roped off 6 picnic tables in Belle Haven Park directly behind the restroom facilities. Park in the second parking lot. If the lot is full, park in either of the others and look for the restrooms and walk toward the river. We have good spot. I hope to supplement the number of tables in the morning. If anyone has any problem finding the venue, call my cell phone: (202) 486-3735. Also call me if you need a lift from the metro.

Edited by Jacques Gastreaux
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Jacques,

I had to buy a roll of yellow "Caution" tape some time ago (1,000 feet) for my little project in AM.

I apologize for not bringing you several hundred feet of it for tomorrow's outing. Forgiven????

(This is to inform anyone planning another dr.com outing this year). . . . yellow "caution" tape is to be had for the asking.

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One last time.....

Heather+3-oatmeal cookies and salad

Mrs. & Mr. B+2-mystery dish

Mktye +1-Breads ;)

MelGold-cold Asian chicken salad

Barbara+1-guacamole, potato salad, beer, brownies

Peanut +2 1) Greek salad of some sort

2) Whipped Feta

3) A yogurt dip (probably dried apricot and garlic)

4) Some other dip

5) Pita

Laniloa-brownies and green bean salad

Nadya-booze, fruit salad and caviar if she has any left

Ferhat-hurma & bbq

Erin+1-Wine and grill?

Cracker+1-lemon wings & paper goods

simdelish-ventworm cake?

Stretch+1 1/2-Summer chicken marinated in garlic and herbs. Avo/Kiwi sambal

hm212+2-pesto pasta salad with chicken and roasted peppers

walrus & tripewriter-something sweet

Jacques Gastreaux-smoked butt

Rissa P-marinated pork bbq

mdt-Porchetta alla Nonna

babka-I can't remember

shogun-something?

bkeith-ice cream maker and cake

hannah+1-strawberry cupcakes?

Crescentfresh +1, a few pounds of curdled Delray Dairy

Assuming everyone shows up we are at 40 people :lol: My only concern at this point is paper goods and cutlery. If you have extra, grab it and throw it in the car.

I want to thank special ventworms, bivalves, etc. behind the scenes who are giving up their Sunday morning to reserve the tables. See you all tomorrow.

Edited by hillvalley
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Anyone else who, on the spur of the moment, decides that they want to come to the picnic, please show up. We don't care if you didn't RSVP.

edited to add: If we forget anything, there is a Giant close by

Dnam its hard to tpey when y9ur polluted.

further edited to add: I predict that the star of the picnic wil be mdt's Porchetta alla Nonna. Either that or the ice cream.

Edited by Jacques Gastreaux
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The question of dogs came up last year (I wanted to bring mine).   A couple of people claimed allergies so I left him at home.

Alas, I will then have to skip the event. As my puppy was just "tutored", I have vowed to spend the weekend with him. Have a great picnic! It is a beautiful day!

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Thanks to everyone for the fantastic food and dishes too numerous to enumerate here. The ventworm cake had me cracking up on my blanket so hard, I had to lie down. That, and the inordinate number of calories, of course.

Lamb sausage was another star - mdt and I almost collided as we went for the last one simultaneously - courtesy won and it got cut in half. A true Kodak moment.

Feel totally stuffed right now, but I know for a fact that tomorrow at lunch I will remember all the leftover goodies with a wistful sigh of "WHy couldn't I eat it? Why? Why?" Food, great company, fun and giggles - what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Oh, the weather didn't suck, either.

Edited by Nadya
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We left after the kids were good and sugared up. The highlight was the ventworm cake, but the pork (both kinds), chicken skewers, sausages, salads, ice cream, cupcakes, cheeses, wine, and brownies were great too. The company wasn't too bad either. :lol:

We should do it again sometime.

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CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICNIC PHOTOS!

The picnic gods were surely smiling on us today. Perfect weather, plenty of parking, lots of tables, and not a single whining brat (not even my own). BKeith's cake was a work of art, but there was also that towering chocolate layer cake, those strawberry cupcakes, brownies dropped from heaven, yummm... and the meats - grilled, skewered, brined, smoked, and roasted. A groaning board of salads, and breads, and dips and the cheeses! oh, oh, oh hand cranked vanilla ice cream, and perfect picnic wines. And Babies! Thanks Hillvalley and Jacques and Don for organizing, recon and set up. When did you say the next one will be? :lol:

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post-46-1116896928_thumb.jpg

Edited by crackers
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post-46-1116896824_thumb.jpg

This cake was a marvel - hazelnut meringue vent tubes, pulled sugar worms, fondant seashells, and a killer banana layer cake underneath all that wonderful chocolate. Here's hoping Don graces the world with some new epithet before the next picnic! (That bathroom scene he so graphically described elsewhere may be difficult to recreate.) :lol:

Edited by crackers
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Our very first DR.com picnic! What a fun day! Great meeting everyone! Great weather! And great food---lots of food (too many to list)! What more could you ask for? We could have continued on the following day. Although by the time I saw bkeith’s truly one-of-a-kind deconstructed “ventworm cake”, I agree it’s the winner. The tower of chocolate cake was meant to be for Old Dente’s (23rd) birthday (I did bring a birthday candle). Oh well, we just raised glasses for you. Thanks for the bread, mktye! I shall devour it!

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough athletes to compete for the DR.com rugby.

Peanut is a cutie! ;)

Thanks everyone, especially to Hillvalley for organizing it and for Jacques Gastreaux for literally tying down “the fort” with yellow rope from the night before! You picked the best spot!

And where was our “Godfather”? We should do it again sometime—when will our pontoon party be? :lol:

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Jacques and Mr. B, think twice before you run for office. I have great pics for the front page of the Post.

Question, how'd a pic of a dead fish end up on my camera :lol: I have a few more of edible food I'll post tomorrow. Off to eat a strawberry marshmellow ;)

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We are had a fantastic time at the picnic. Great food & company! The food was a carb-lover's dream come true (and some people were worried about there not being enough carbs! :lol:;) ).

And I especially enjoyed the "Reserved for the Rockwell Foundation" signs which adorned the tables -- very forbidding (and effective!).

Edited by mktye
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What a great event!

Thanks to all the Peanut-sitters. All the parents out there know that having someone to watch the kids for even 5 minutes can be a welcome respite.

The highlights for me were the lamb sausage and Ferhat's dessert (unfortunately by the time those came around I was positively stuffed). Mrs JPW loved the ventworm cake.

We all slept like a rock last night.

Edited by JPW
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It's hard to imagine a more perfect day. And all the Rockwellian kids were delightful. Maybe they are better fed than most others.

Jacques' pulled pork simply rocked. If it weren't for that ventworm cake (worth the price of admission by itself), I would have stuck a flag in it and declared the winner.

Thanks to Hillvalley and Jacques and the others who organized this and did so much work. You should do it again :lol:

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6 PM: Prepare for sleep, antacid and glass of wine in hand.

6:05 PM: Phone rings with invitation to dinner picnic in Columbia Heights. Tummy talks to brain and then goes to sleep, not to wake until midnight.

Midnight: Scan fridge. I didn't steal any of the leftover pork?

Lordy but that was a lovely picnic! Special kudos to Jacques for pork-flavored polenta (seriously--it was that tender), to Keith for the cake I wanted for my fifth birthday party, to mktye's charming husband for logging hours and hours and hours on the ice cream churner, to the busboys for lamb sausage that puts Vace to shame, and to the babies, for figuring out how to sneak in much-envied naps.

oh--and to Nadya. For showing up with the same obscure georgian walnut sauce & eggplant dish that I toted along in absolute confidence that not even the Rockwell crew would have tasted it before.

(and hillvalley: we should probably talk about that dead fish.)

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Virgin post here, just coming out of lurking/observation mode to tell you people that you absolutely rock. I've long envied your forum at The Society Dot Org--for being the vibrant and kick-ass group you are. (Having a forum host with a pulse sure helps, huh? Having had one like Mr. R. is about as fortunate as you could have gotten.)

Anyway, I sure hope to get to your neck of the woods sometime to have a Spontaneous Get-Together That Is Freely Planned Without Permission and Doesn't Require Fund-Raising or Pledge Drives or Signing Anything or Even Compulsory Photograph of the Attendees.

You rock, and you Rockwell.

Cheers, gang.

</back to lurk mode>

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oh--and to Nadya.  For showing up with the same obscure georgian walnut sauce & eggplant dish that I toted along in absolute confidence that not even the Rockwell crew would have tasted it before. 

I agree!! How bizarre was that?? But I am glad there is another Georgian food aficionado in DC, I really miss that quisine. Maybe you and I can host a Georgian dinner for DR.com, huh.

It's noontime already and not a single pang of hunger has been felt since last night.

Is there a reason?

Edited by Nadya
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