dracisk

I'm heading back out to the farm in Brightwood (which is actually in Madison County despite the title of this thread) next weekend (October 20-21). All of the recommendations in this thread have been super helpful -- we've tried almost all of them over the last 3 years!

This year we learned that our friends will be in Front Royal the same weekend, and my husband volunteered himself and the other husband to wrangle the two 4-year-olds while the wives (one of whom is me) do some wine tasting. I see that Linden and Glen Manor, both of which I'd love to try, are pretty close to Front Royal, but that's about an hour from where we'll be in Brightwood. I'm wondering if anyone knows of anyplace more in between Brightwood (about 20 minutes southwest of Culpeper) and Front Royal where the wines are decent, the tasting fees aren't exorbitant, and people won't frown on a couple of 4-year-olds entertaining themselves (hopefully relatively unobtrusively) while their moms partake in wine. Scenic vistas a definite plus!

29 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

So they did have it

How did you find out? Did you eventually get through by phone to your local store? Or it sounds like maybe your husband did some in person scouting?

We had another Skinnytaste recipe tonight: Ground Turkey with Potatoes and Peas. We had it one other time and found it a bit bland, so we added a bunch of curry powder this time, which improved it. We ate it with brown rice. This afternoon my husband and I discussed strategy to get my daughter to eat it and decided we'd just put out a bowl for her and not say anything, but we were ready for a fight (I don't want this! I only want a cheese sandwich!!). Miraculously she ate it without resistance!

I'm usually only at the Wheaton and DC Costcos, so it's not like I have a ton of Costcos to compare, but stock seems to come and go and may be available in one Costco but not another. For example, the Wheaton Costco consistently sold McCormick paprika, then they weren't selling it for weeks (there wasn't even a place on the shelf for it), but the DC Costco had a ton of it. Now the Wheaton Costco has it again. Also, I bought wines at the DC Costco and a few months later went back to buy them again and they didn't have them anymore. All that is to say that even if you found out your local Costco had that wine at some point, they may or may not have it in the future. And I'm not sure of the best way to find out short of calling your local store, which I assume you already tried.

On another note, there was some discussion in another thread about the Kirkland brand of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, which they sell for $7 (that may be a sale price -- not sure), and I said I didn't love it but would totally drink it for $7. It's actually grown on me and I quite enjoy it now.

I'm not in the area often, but I enjoyed Mokomandy in Sterling a few years ago. It looks like brunch or lunch would only work there on a Saturday or Sunday.

1 minute ago, DonRocks said:

Indeed - this is one of the only restaurants in DC for which I can't find a map (for the Dining Guide).

Their entrance also isn't obvious at all, around the corner from Taco Bamba and not very well labeled, at least when I was there.

8 minutes ago, astrid said:

weird spongy mass

That's true about the filling; I had forgotten that. It doesn't bother me, but I can see how it could be a turn off. I also agree about the vegetarian Bibigo dumplings being bland. I don't think I've had the bulgogi ones.

Since the Ling Ling ones are on sale this month they'll probably have samples, so you could try for yourself.

I'm no potsticker connoisseur, but I like them. If I remember correctly the wrapper is a bit thick (as can probably be expected for mass produced frozen potstickers), but they have good flavor. They're also not crazy fattening. I'll be buying at least one bag while they're on sale. I wish I had a chest freezer!

We had totally inauthentic "tacos" last night (flour tortillas, ground turkey, taco seasoning, shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sour cream). My 4-year-old has never deigned to eat these, so I heated up leftover hot dogs for her (always a winner). And she tried a taco! It was a mess as she couldn't hold the tortilla without a whole bunch of filling escaping, but I was glad she tried one. Oh, and she insisted on putting some hot dog in the tortilla with her ground turkey and cheese. But what are you going to do? She also ate an apple.

On 9/27/2018 at 4:39 PM, Steve R. said:

Our plan includes Sunday evening (10/7) at Dino's bar for drinks and dinner.

Jealous. I've been meaning to post about how much I've enjoyed dinner at the bar at Dino's, especially on Sundays, when happy hour lasts all night. It's been a couple of (or a few?) months since my last visit, but I recall a $10 pot of plump mussels and generous (and cheap!) pours of the house wine. My husband enjoys the Ric Flair cocktail. This is a great place for our date nights, as it satisfies my "foodie" desires, but it's not too off the wall for my husband. (He doesn't do well with small plates, tasting menus, unusual ingredients, etc.)

Wish we could join you next Sunday!

Ugggggh. I always felt like we were spending way too much money when we ordered from there (and the pizza is better fresh from the oven), but I'll miss it as a delivery option.

I'm kind of obsessed with Costco, and the one 2 miles from my house doesn't even sell booze (Maryland problems). Our household is me, my husband, my 4-year-old, and our dog. We don't live in a mansion by any means, but our house has a freakish amount of storage space, especially considering it was built 50+ years ago. We have the executive membership, which costs double the regular membership, but you get 2% back on every purchase up to $1000 each year. This 2% back pays for our membership.

I go to Costco every 2 weeks and do the majority of my grocery shopping there. I usually stop at Giant after a Costco trip to get perishables that we can't buy in bulk without wasting and other random items that Costco doesn't carry. We use our freezer quite a bit for breads and meats (I wish I had an additional freezer).

We've also bought lots of non-food items at Costco: beach chairs, a fire extinguisher for our kitchen, toys for birthday and Christmas gifts, toiletries (SO much cheaper than CVS), toilet paper, paper towels, books, greeting cards, stamps (cheaper than the post office), office supplies, etc.

If our Costco was further away I might not use it so much, but it's in the same mall as our Giant, so it's super convenient for us. Sometimes we make a pilgrimage to the DC Costco for booze.

39 minutes ago, Bob Wells said:

Gotta mention Al Forno in Providence. Started the PVD dining renaissance in 1979 and still going strong 39 years later.

Plus one on Al Forno, inventors of grilled pizza. As I read through this thread yesterday I thought of posting about them but didn't have time!

I grew up in Rhode Island, and, even though I didn't recognize many of the places in "The Sopranos" (other than the DRIVE SAFELY gas tank just outside of NYC), I recognized a lot of the culture.

The other day my daughter came home from preschool saying "capisce" (as in "cah-peesh"), which caused me and some of my friends to discuss the Italian-American Italian we grew up hearing, including moozarell, pro-shoot, and GABAGOOL (which in Rhode Island was more like "cap-uh-coal").

On 9/18/2018 at 11:58 AM, squidsdc said:

And Don, I'm surprised that Woodmoor Bakery did not come to mind for you. They are still in business, still in Woodmoor, still exceptional.

Second this about Woodmoor Pastry Shop. We've gotten a bunch of delicious birthday cakes and other delights from them since moving to Silver Spring in 2014. I've also seen many recommendations for JennyCakes in Kensington, but I haven't tried them.

---

Woodmoore Pastry Shop (DonRocks)

My 4-year-old had "beans and cheese" tonight -- canned black beans (well rinsed) with shredded cheddar on top. Cold. A bit odd, but she likes it and I figure it's protein and calcium.

4 hours ago, B.A.R. said:

It's gone....what did it say?

Here's a screen shot:

My 4-year-old (and I) ate Fisher's caramel and cheese combo popcorn for dinner tonight. We just back from Ocean City. :-)

2 hours ago, The Doctor said:

To my dear friend Greg O’Neill

I didn’t know him, but one of my friends was a close friend of his. Seems he touched the lives of many.

2 hours ago, Bob Wells said:

Conch fritters are the Florida equivalent of RI clam cakes. Either you love them or you don't. People who expect big hunks of clam (or something) are always disappointed with their first bite. Sometimes they come around, sometimes they don't.

Totally what I was thinking, too! I love clam cakes. Whenever I order some there’s a discussion of how much clam is in the cake.

Funny, I just had conch fritters last night in Ocean City, but they were far from great — I didn’t even detect seafood, never mind conch.

41 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

I ordered their chicken parm as takeout this week.  I think it was the best I've ever had.  Two incredibly crispy pieces that somehow seemed to have gooey cheese inside them.  It came with a side of standard plain spaghetti.  Expensive at $23, but wow

OMG. Noted. I LOVE chicken parm.

5 hours ago, DonRocks said:

All I kept thinking while reading these three sentences was, 'perfect parent.'

Wow! Not sure if you're referring to my husband or me, but I'll let my husband know. 😉

My husband is out of town and made a big dish of cheese, black bean, and veggie crumble enchiladas before he left. I got 4-year-old to eat those a couple of nights, but last night all she wanted was applesauce. I was afraid she'd be hungry in the middle of the night, so I also tried to round out her dinner with ice cream (sherbet), which she ate. :-)

I'm going to Buena Vida for brunch tomorrow.

I neglected to post, but I went for lunch on their first day of service and greatly enjoyed myself. They were offering their unlimited small plates for like $12.50 or something absurdly cheap like that, which made it very easy to excuse the expected service hiccups. I don't remember a ton of details from May, but I remember enjoying the vast majority of the dishes we tried -- and my friend and I tried a LOT. I remember a corn dish that was a bit bland, but that was my only criticism when one of the manager types came by our table to ask for feedback. The guacamole with mango and goat cheese stands out in my memory as something I enjoyed. I also remember enjoying the chips and salsa that soapy mentioned above.