DameEdna

The long awaited A.M. Wine Shoppe at 2122 18th St. NW is now open. They are run by the Cashions Eat Place people. Speck, Grappa, Italian wine. You know Cashions, don't you? They are on Columbia Rd. near where the Comet Liquor Store used to be, the Comet sign is at the Comet Ping Pong. (Not just open in the morning) De Vinos 2001 18th Street, at U Street. Friendly people, good beer selection. Ansonia Wines, 1828 18th Street, across from Lauriol Restaurant (!). Burgundies. They have a real web site! Find out what they are tasting on Twitter (ansoniawines). Why these two blocks are a wine hub, I don't know. Those who need more could always visit the nearby Cork wine store on 14th Street.

Visitors from out-of-town have questions, and you need answers: (one good question lost) Q: The cab fare is five dollars less if you cross the street? A: Yes, it's the zone system (good questions) Q: Why do I have to pay five cents for a plastic bag at Filene's Basement? A: Because they sell chocolate bars (Thank You, DR member, for this explanation) Q: Does the Library of Congress have it's own police force? A: Yes, to track down patrons with overdue books Q: The National Mall has no stores? A; Correct Q: The Executive Mansion, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., not really on Pennsylvania Ave.? A: More like G Street, maybe. Q: Why can bars be open one hour later tonight? A: Because tomorrow is a Federal holiday. Q: If I go to a restaurant, can I take home a partial bottle of wine? A: Yes, but you will need a tamper-proof container and a dated receipt attached. Q: Marion Barry is a council member? Wasn't he the Mayor who went to jail? A: Exactly. Q: If I buy a bottle of wine, and the store puts it in a box , do I have to pay the 5 cent bag fee?

You could go to the shadplanking in Wakefield, VA, April 21. The shad roe is plays a minor role to the fish fillets, which, in turn are not as important as the political speechifying. Fish, hushpuppies, and a speech by George F. Allen, what could be better? I don't hunger for this, but to each his own. I'm sure some of our locals will be there to experience the quality of both the cooking and the speech writing. click

Afiter Snow Event, stopped in for a slice of sausage and mushroom. A Bell's Two Hearted. Excellent food. Excellent drink. Exccellent service. Watching people outside stepping into ice-cold slop. Fun

(Imagined) The charming ex-Mrs. Peter Chang has a divorce lawyer who noodles around DR.com, looking for clues about Peter Chang's whereabouts, thus creating many a billable hour! Later, several bus loads of Trillin chasers, who must visit every place CT has ever written about, and many PC fanatics. and multiple Cadillac Escalade SUVs of divorce lawyers converge on Charlottesville. Later, a very bad restaurant in Adams-Morgan announces the arrival of a new chef. It could happen.

Really, New York City residents divide the US of A into three regions: NYC, fly over country,, and California. When they say "South", they mean: Staten Island, the Pine Barrens, and various other scrub land designed to keep Miami from clogging the Hudson River. Magazine editors earn their keep by finding ways around the phrase "fly over country" , because it is a little ... pejorative. Even recognizing New Haven must have been painful, because Connecticut is full of ... .well, uninteresting people who could'nt make it in the big city.

Forget? Who could forget? Happy Birthday, Hillvalley!

I was looking for some sort of survival rations to lay in, in case we had a real snow storm (unlike the flurries we have had so far). The U.S. military MREs are available. I will have to get some to try. Some references to the various survival rations indicate that French rations are much better. The French RCIR (Ration de Combat Individuelle Rechauffable) look interesting ... particularly the duck pate and the veal stew. The rumor that wine was included is apparently incorrect .... the wine is rationed separately. Anyone know of a source?

Spring Picnic. I would go with May 30. Spring breezes. Green fields. Smoky bacon. Tasty red wine.

Ha! Bert and Ernie would do this as a musical number (but they can't dance!).

The "Deranged Insomniac" does collect the 'posted after midnight, deleted by six' smut (has for years). Mostly for private enjoyment. Like a good pornography collection. Much of that #$%! $#%& poetry is not lost.

" The menu is limited, the chairs are uncomfortable, the (im)proprietor is rude. It is unfair to make me wait so long to get in"

M Street ... strip clubs and lettuce. You are what you eat?

The rules, by way of Liz Crenshaw, as I understand (misunderstand) them: If a carry-out place has no place to sit down, no bag tax. If they have a dining area,they have to charge for the bag. I expect to hear that DC has hired two dozen people for the Anacostia Clean-up Office, but the expected money for programs didn't appear, because people changed their shopping habits. Much wailing about how the program was ruined by the meanness of DC consumers. I want this program to work, really I do. Keep hope alive.

ML dreams of an amazing New Zealand pinot noir, and wakes up to find a cat butt in his face. Surprising? No..

I plan to show up, unless there is a 'Hello, Cupcake' length line out the door.

St. Remy Brandy VSOP, NV, 1.75, $23.99, (Schneider's of Capitol Hill) yes or no?

Dairy Godmother has bacon-flavored lip balm. Really. I am gob-smacked.

Need more rumors about Black Rooster? Check out auctioneer site: click (auction of goods and chattel postponed)

The first strategic decision of raising chickens (mostly) for eggs ... sexed or unsexed? All female chicks is the most direct route, but also most expensive. The unsexed (or unsorted) will provide about equal numbers of female and male, at a lower cost.The male birds will cause endless amusement, practicing their crowing, scuffling, play fighting, and occasionally pecking one of their number to death (oops!). When the cockerels have put on enough weight to make it worthwhile, they will be, umm, processed (most of them) for the stock pot or whatever. Different breeds have different amounts of aggressiveness. At least in the old days,you wanted an aggressive rooster to protect the flock from mice, rats, fox, hawks, etc. If a farmer had a really mean rooster (particularly one that would attack anything including people) he might put it up against the neighbors bird, to see who was the badest sumbitch in the county. The cockfight was just a small amusement on the way to chicken soup. Birds bred for fighting might have little knives attached to their feet (spurs) and be drugged to increase aggressiveness. A much more bloody spectacle. The foodie, or Martha Stewart, project would be to raise capons (castrated male chickens) supposed much more tasty than ordinary chicken ... but it takes some skill to castrate a chicken, since the nuts are internal. But (supposedly) worth the effort! As part of the long day of castrating pigs, we have the "oyster roast," so named to protect the delicate feelings of the persons of the male gender. Women seem to find such occasions a lot of fun. If anyone thought the title of this thread referred to someone paid to have sex with chickens, that is so sick!

The number of times I've had to listen to a woman fake complete ecstasy after tasting great bacon ... boggles the mind.

A shandeh to be sure. With the goyim in the kitchen, a double bacon cheeseburger is going to show up on the menu sooner or later ...

When I find a beer list with much in the Miller Lite and Bud Lite neighborhood, the (often afterthought) appearance of the Bell's Two Hearted Ale brightens my day. But the patterns of distribution are puzzling ... Bell's products available in DC and much of Virginia, (and in Pennsylvania), but not in Maryland?

You would rather be in Paris with your new bride, than organizing the fall DR picnic? What can I say.

From last year (2008): Oct. 19, third Sun. in Oct., forecast 60 degrees (a little cool?) No word from numerologist ... A little knowledge ...