MsDiPesto

I threw a birthday party for a friend a couple years ago and had it catered by Mediterranean Bakery, it was wonderful, and reasonably priced. I found the staff to be very nice people to work with.

I treated myself to a spree at Wegman's the other afternoon. After appetizers of olives and Beemster X.O., last night's dinner was one third of a lovely boneless ribeye, served with bernaise sauce, an improvised (and fortunately successful) sweet potato souffle, and green beans. Dessert was a small slice of one of those little chocolate cakes they have in their bakery. This yankee girl knows better than to not take advantage of anything that may create positive vibes, so I made a batch of Hoppin' John based loosely on Emeril's recipe last night that will be consumed with collard greens later today. I was very happy to find real country ham in the deli section for the "seasoning meat", and threw four Thai chilies in as well as a tiny splash of white basalmic vinegar. My test tastings last night were very gratifying.

I'm trying to visualize how the rectangular potato slices are stacked in the loaf pan...long part of potato slices parallel to long side of pan?

OMG! Now I dont' have a excuse to not have a nice pan!

I was thinking that now I have to find where the new place is, because I have a friend I was going to get a gift for at Artisan. As I left her condo in Arlington last evening, I had to laugh, as it was right across the street!

Whatever. I'm Deluxe and Delicious. But I knew that already.

I was not aware of this, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

The reader's comments on that article were highly entertaining. I think the patrons named may be leaving via the back door for awhile...

I grew up on Hellman's, still enjoy it, but like the tang of Cain's and Duke's.

I was surprised to see a bottle of Fernet Branca on the shelf at my local liquor pharmacy, a.k.a. VA ABC store this evening. I was informed they began stocking it about a month ago. Trivia: According to The Atlantic, in 1960, Betsy von Furstenberg was suspended from Actors’ Equity for spiking Tony Randall’s onstage drink with it. Randall believed he had been poisoned with iodine.

I hadn't seen my friend Kate since she had her baby, and I had suggested Blue Ridge for lunch, only to find it was closed on our arrival today. I imagine they'll be open tonight, as there was a delivery sitting outside their door, but I saw nothing on their web site to foretell their being closed. We settled for mediocre Chinese a few doors away.

I found a copy of the offerings for the 2009 Bastille Day dinners: Executive Chef Cedric Maupillier's French Prix-Fix dinner menu, a special menu designed to be served in addition to Central's everyday award winning menu. The $55 special three course dinner menu includes choices of Brandade de Morue, tomate concassé (Cod Brandade, chopped tomato), Cuisses de Grenouille Provençal (Frogs Legs Provencal), Escargots a la Bourguignone (Snails in butter), Entrecote Frite, beurre Maitre d' (Rib Steak with Herb Butter), Filet de Dorade, ratatouille, Assiette de Fromages (French Cheese Plate), and Profiteroles (Cream puffs, ice cream & chocolate sauce). Brian Zipin, General Manager/Sommelier has created a $17 all French wine pairing to match. Come once, or come every day, including Tuesday July 14, when Central adds French music and lively décor to the party, and declares: Let Them Eat Gougeres! - with complimentary gougeres for everyone who dines.Bastille Day, is the French "Fête Nationale" , commemorating the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, and marking the beginning of the French Revolution. It is seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French nation.[/font]

The highlight of last night's dinner was Avocado Soup from Martha Stewart's recipe. I think I preferred it right after I blended it to the chilled version. Also attempted braised short ribs for the first time with some flanken cut ribs from the farmer's market. Oh well, the egg noodles with the gravy and veggies were good, as for the meat...eh.

Yes, when the child is older and finds out he or she will say: "Y'all left NY to come here??"

My fate was to be born on Bastille Day, and so Central seemed the most appropriate place to celebrate. The ex(partner) treated myself and a mutual friend to dinner last evening, which thrilled me as I've been dying to try it, and since I work in Georgetown, I just don't find myself in that neck of the woods very often. Wonderful service, from engaging valet parking ("Say, what year is this?")to pleasant hostess and waitron. The ex had arrived first, and I was seated next. A complimentary cone of gougeres was placed on the table,(one benefit of their Bastille Day celebration), and I had the Miners Club Cocktail while the ex chose a Blueberry Smash. Both were satisfyingly non-sweet and all the more refreshing for it. Our friend arrived, and ordered a Vodka Tonic. I suggested we share Michel's Charcuterie Plate to start, and it was a hit, including a couple of slices of Mortadella and a large piece of Country Pate in addition to the described garlic sausage, "faux gras", prosciutto and salami. I've never had such melt in your mouth prosciutto. What to order next? I'd been drooling over the menu all day, trying to make up my mind...I was torn between the Beef Cheeks, Calves Liver, Fried Chicken and Lamb Shank. None of the prix fixe choices on the B-Day menu excited me. The ex got the Fried Chicken (Central's version is the only way she'll eat it, and she's quite Southern). I ordered the Lamb Shank, and our friend ordered Mussels, as she often does. The ex advised that we had to get a side of the Mac & Cheese, and I was glad she did. A bottle of "Le Cignal" Corbieres went down well with it all. We did order two servings of the profiteroles for dessert from the special menu (with three spoons). Each serving was two profiteroles, one with chocolate sauce, and the other with an intense, buttery caramel. Even the vanilla ice cream within was exceptional. Highlights for me were the mustard cream sauce accompanying the fried chicken, the "faux gras" and country pate, the fall off the bone consistency of the lamb, the creamy polenta and rich jus that accompanied the lamb, the mustardy Mac & Cheez, and the fun atmosphere of the venue. I don't always like noisy restaurants, but this was conducive to the occasion. Now, if they'd just take over the running of the annual Waiter's Champagne Bottle Race, which seems to have gone by the wayside with the demise of Les Halles...

All that (cough) cigarette smoke might be a factor in their expiration.

A couple of weeks ago, my colleague couldn't get out of the office until 3 p.m., so she sent her brother and his girlfriend to America for lunch, knowing it would take them forever to get out of there!

No cover charge for the entertainment?? Classy!

The Falls Church C&J is a short drive, that's the good part. The bad part is that the last time I got my chicken and yucca there, I thought that perhaps they completely forgot to season the bird. I hope the Lee Heights branch of C&J gets in the groove soon, I'm moving to that area next month.

Yeah, I got the same surprise with the Angus Burgers that came in a pack of four. I grilled two of them from frozen together, paper and all (which came off easy enough, after I flipped them a few times). The second set of two frozen-together burgers was grilled Monday evening, and I thawed them this time...only to narrowly miss dropping one on the lawn when the thawed patty came apart in my hand while transferring it to the grille. I reformed it with my hands into a burger shape, and grilled it alongside the one that I very carefully transferred to the grille. I guess this is why they advise to cook from a frozen state.

Their website has a survey and says that they'll use the results to determine pricing, equipment selection, hours of operation and design of space and number of kitchen stations. http://www.openkitchenrental.com/kitchen_rental.shtml

I drive past this place every day and my initial thought when I saw the sign was that it was going to be one of those places where over-scheduled families go to assemble ingredients into packaged meals for the week. The concept of a commercial kitchen that one can rent is much more exciting!! (note to self, do not abandon professional career for dreams of cheesecake empire).

In any case, I see there's a space on Broad St in Falls Church announcing a soon to come branch.

Tonight was le Miraton to use up the leftover roast beef. Used the recipe from astray as a starting point.

To follow up, the other night I obtained a bottle of the Schlenkerla at the Whole Foods in Falls Church. Looking forward to it!