Malawry

I always drove to Rockville when I lived in Takoma and wanted Chinese food. Now I live in West Virginia, and I STILL drive to Rockville when I want Chinese food! :laugh: Once, somebody found out I lived in Takoma and they got all excited and asked me if I loved Beijing Delight as much as they did. (BD is at the intersection of Flower and Piney Branch.) I looked at them like they were drunk or something. She confirmed my expression when she said, "We used to get their fried rice whenever we were drinking on Saturday nights." She must have been drinking Colt 45 or something to make Beijing Delight's food palatable...

What the hell. I'm going to try to make it, with my baby in tow. Not sure what I'm bringing since it will be a hell month for me. If somebody has a propane turkey fryer, I could do my famous vidalia onion hush puppies. If not, I'll come up with something simple. I have a butane one-eye Iwatani type burner that I will bring as well, for chilis.

If you happen to be in the area Sunday morning, I'll be doing a demo at the Loudoun County Farmers Market in the Cascades shopping center. I'm covering applesauce. Samples will be available. Now's the season for apples! I was charmed to discover several Amish bakeries contribute to the Hagerstown, MD mid-week farmer's market in the parking lot of the outlet center. One of them had red velvet whoopie pies--a real Mason-Dixon border state treat.

I've found dining with my 5mo son to be such an annoyance, I am all but ready to give up on it when I can't or don't want to arrange child care. But I don't WANT to stop dining out is the problem! We already do everything we can to reduce the impact of our baby on a nice restaurant--we eat early, we bring a bottle of expressed milk so we don't need to finesse nursing in public, we pay attention to him, we take him outside if he's acting up, we cancel our plans if he's having a bad day. I'm curious how other restaurateurs would prefer a baby too young to sit upright in a high chair be placed at the table. We like to put the baby between me and my spouse if possible, so we can both access him. I've put his car seat on a banquette before, but then it's really hard for us to get in and out of the seat for bathroom or to take him for a walk if he gets antsy etc. We've tried bringing a stroller in with us, but even though we have a fairly lightweight stroller, it has too big a footprint to be handy in most restaurants. The upside-down wooden highchair with car seat combination placed at the end of the table, with my husband and I facing one another in the two seats next to it, seems to work best for us. But I'm reading here that ya'll would rather we find another solution. Which I'm open to hearing.

There's also JB Restaurant Supply in Rockville. They cater in part to the Chinese community in Rockville, so you can buy things like Chinese soup spoons, soy sauce dishes, and other Asian smallwares at rock-bottom prices. Not used stuff, though. There is a restaurant supply store in Frederick with a decent smallwares selection that does sell used and new equipment as well. I forget the name, but I'm pretty sure it's on Patrick Street near the downtown area.

For what it's worth, I was the only one drinking at my table of 5 Saturday night (including a pregnant lady and a baby, who obviously weren't going to drink), and service at the table did not suffer for us. I don't know if we had the same server or not, but ours didn't "penalize" us for not drinking.

A&J only accepts cash, last I checked.

Confit the legs like you would duck. Nice with thyme and orange peel. Do not bother with rack of bunny. I had it as a garnish on a rabbit dish once in NY and it was amusing, but who has time to french those tiny bones?

I was at Hemp's Meats in Jefferson, MD yesterday, and they also sell whole pigs and rent smokers. They need a few weeks' notice to get you a pig. They're a little closer to the city (Jefferson is about 10mi from Frederick) than Fertile Plains. There are some benefits to living on the rural edge of suburbia, being near country butchers. If you go to Hemp's, check out the old-fashioned Jefferson Pastry Shop right next door.

Fertile Plains Custom Pork near Shepherdstown, WV can do everything you need for a whole roast pig (including delivering the cooker and the pig), though I don't know if their service area stretches to where you are. Their number is (304) 267-7755. I talked to some people last week that said they did a great job for their pig roast--they wanted it Filipino-style (one of the people I was talking to was Filipina and says whole roasted pig is a big thing for her family) and they were thrilled with the product. I've tasted hams from Fertile Plains and they are terrific. Give them a call, if they can't deliver to your area they may have ideas for who can do it closer to the city.

No, that cart has been gone for years. Too bad, they made great lemonade and some nice vegan corn tamales which were my preferred post-coop snack. Those people also used to run the concession at a municipal pool in Hyattsville--they used the kitchen there to prep all the food for the truck too. Perhaps they are still there?

Takoma is not that bad. The farmer's market is a real jewel, as is the TPSS co-op. Heather, your family will almost certainly enjoy Mark's Kitchen with its mix of Korean and American diner food--where else can you get ginger tea and "healthy salad" with seaweed and tofu while your companion knocks back a burger and a milkshake? The middle eastern place next door is not very good, but I'd go back there before I'd hit Taliano's. There are a few interesting items available in the market behind the middle eastern place, which I think is run by the same people--nice if you need something like rosewater or sumac. Everyday Gourmet is not very good for meals, but their baked goods are alright. You're very close to El Golfo, Samantha's, Tiffin, Udupi Palace, Woodlands and Pollo Campero. Plus of course all of Silver Spring's offerings--including Whole Paycheck and TJ's. The Giant on Arliss occasionally came through for me in surprising ways, allowing me to feed my Ting (Jamaican grapefruit soda) and Herdez salsa habits. It's also pretty easy to get from Takoma to areas like Penn Quarter, Wheaton, or even Georgetown. Those places will be much more accessible to you than they were in Rockville. I'm sure you'll miss some of the great Chinese food in Rockville, but there are benefits to living closer in to the city and I know it won't take you long to unearth them. Congratulations on your move! (I hope you're done moving for a while after that...)

When I was in college, I visited friends in Tuscon, AZ, and we drove down to Nogales, Mexico/Arizona for the day. I was dismayed to find that while there is a Burger King at the border, there is no Taco Bell. At least back then, the nearest Taco Bell to Nogales was about 9 miles from the border. I was disappointed.

Deckle is one of the cuts of beef that can be Koshered. (Not all cuts are Kosherable, due to intricacies that I don't fully understand. Obviously, I do not keep Kosher.) So you can always find it at Kosher markets. Check Katz's/KosherMart in Rockville on Boiling Brook Parkway. Shalom Kosher in Wheaton on University Blvd may have it too, but call before you go 'cause they're a smaller store and don't carry as much selection.