Pat

From Tom's chat today: "Across the river, longtime Roberto Donna sidekick Amy Brandwein has left Bebo in Crystal City to do her own thing at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City."

Due to the ice storm, we had no trouble getting a table when we got there about 7:45 last night. We opted for upstairs instead of the only open downstairs table, which was by the front door. Wet and achy from the rain and falling down, it was nice to sit and regroup for a bit before heading down the street to the show. I enjoyed my steak and cheese sandwich. I couldn't finish it, but what I ate was quite good. The fries were a little wetter than is my preference but still quite acceptable. The horseradish cream for the sandwich also made a nice dip for the fries . I was tempted to ask for more of the horseradish cream and probably would have if I had managed to get farther through the sandwich. I had a Stella and my husband had a Leffe, which he was quite pleased with, along with the bison hangar steak and fries he got. He cleaned his plate.

I've mentioned this several times in the dinner thread, but I'll repeat here. This is quite a versatile dough, even if it's not a classic biscuit dough. What I've made with it over the course of a week:pigs in blankets, twice--one appetizer size and one full size, effectively building a roll around the hot dog* biscuit buns for hamburgers, a couple eaten as plain biscuits. naan It was great in all of these applications *My husband does not much care for standard hotdog or hamburger buns, so I serve them pretty rarely. He was pleased with rolls made for both using this recipe. He especially liked the flavor and texture of the dough for the ready-made hotdog bun.

Moroccan chicken with olives and prunes, served with naan. P'tit Basque cheese and flatbread crackers before the meal. I had bought a big pack of whole chicken legs, so I used the three smallest of those in place of the four thighs called for in the recipe. There are no chicken pieces left but still a decent amount of the sauce, and that will be good served over couscous. Naan was made with the last of the yeast angel biscuit dough from this Post chat.. While it may not be a classic biscuit recipe, that turns out quite a versatile dough. Over the course of a week, I've made two batches of pigs in blankets with it, hamburger buns, regular biscuits, and naan. I've still got one naan loaf left.

Cinnamon-raisin french toast with bananas and maple syrup; bacon

I liked Coleman beef hotdogs (uncured), which I get at Whole Foods.

What about people who want so much personal space around them that you inadvertently cut in front of them in line because you didn't realize they were in line? I've encountered this one several times in the past year with people who were standing far enough back that it didn't even occur to me to ask if they were in line. (I can only think of one food-related instance of this, and I was a witness to it, but that one does make it relevant ). The rage that has exploded from these people has made me overly cautious, so I now often ask people if they're in line when they're standing so far away, they look at me funny.Definitions of personal space in the US have been changing, and that's an additional factor. It's understood that people stand pretty far back from a person using an ATM, but what about people applying that to other lines? Given the rudeness that's possible, someone being too inattentive to notice someone needs a seat ranks pretty far down the scale for me, while someone who refuses to give up a seat when asked or studiously ignores someone who wants the seat rates a lot higher. (I wasn't there so I don't know if the woman in the above case clearly realized they wanted the seat and was refusing to acknowledge it or if she was just wrapped up in her book and not paying attention. I was giving the benefit of the doubt.) The optimal situation is for people to be attuned to the needs of other people and proactively generous, but often they aren't even generous enough to accept the apology of someone who has inadvertently slighted them.

bucKy

I think I'm missing something here, because the only missing topping would seem to be onions on one of the pizzas.

guacamole and chips pigs in blankets cuban -style black beans chipotle macaroni and cheese

edited a bunch of times because these links are infuriating. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601370.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601421.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601369.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601423.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601404.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601440.html

http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=8283They've been planning the opening for some time and have finished at least some of their inspections, if not all at this point. I know they have some good people working in management (from Tunnicliffs and Stoney's). I'm looking forward to it, though I don't know that I'll get there when it first opens. Unless things get the way things get, they're hoping for a quiet opening on Sunday, the 17th.

Maybe it was a really good book .

On the metro, if five people step on together and the only non-human-occupied seat has a coat/backpack on it, then one of those people can easily sit if the objects are moved. If two people come in to a bar/restaurant together and want to eat together, one seat doesn't really help. If this woman had her coat on one seat and the one on the other side was unoccupied, then she should certainly have offered to relocate herself and her stuff. It sounds like she was not even asked to vacate the seat she had her coat on. If one of those people really wanted/needed to sit, they could have asked.

I'll move if asked so that seats can be reconfigured--or offer to do it if I notice a problem. In this case it sounds like there was only one seat but two people looking to sit, so one seat wouldn't have fixed the problem. Maybe the wine drinker realized that and that's why she didn't make a move to offer the seat. I guess one of the couple could sit and one could stand, but if I saw they were getting menus, I'd assume they're sitting somewhere else nearby (a bar table, say).

I thought that was odd, too, but they called it "classic," in the context of saying there are both old and new places mixed together in the area. It seemed like they just wanted to fit it in somehow, but it doesn't fit with all the other places mentioned in the article.

I never ate tater tots as a kid. They were one of the foods, like Kraft mac and cheese, that I tried as an adult, since I figured I'd missed out on something by never eating them as a kid.My husband never ate them when he was young either. After I made them a few times, he issued the same veto over them as he did over the Kraft mac and cheese .

I'm looking for a place to eat before a show at the Rock and Roll Hotel next week. Suggestions? Despite our reasonable proximity to H Street, we have not yet been there, nor to the Argonaut, or any of the other new nightspots that have opened . The Argonaut struck me as the best spot to try. The other option I'd thought of is Granville Moore's. (I wasn't sure which thread to put this in. I don't see a general H Street/Atlas District thread.) The Rock and Roll Hotel also has food, but the menu won't be substantial enough for my husband. Bonus question: This will be election night. Are any of these places likely to be packed on election night?

He's boycotting the market until the city reopens 7th street to traffic. Whether he'll come back in the spring or not, I don't know. I can't remember what his sign said about that before he left. He's definitely not coming back during the winter months if the street stays closed. That part I remember.I miss buying his produce but personally, I much prefer having that block closed to traffic. I know it's a sensitive subject and many people feel the other way, but I thought it was dangerous the way it was.

I've gone to the Calomiris's stand pretty regularly for years, but recently I've been happier with some of the produce at Paik. Instead of going to Paik if I can't find what I want elsewhere, I sometimes go there first. It's good to know about the curry leaves.I know they (Paik) were in the South Hall at the time of the fire, but had they taken over another produce stand fairly recently before that? I can't recall what it was called, but I thought the ownership or management had changed--a couple of years ago, maybe.

I do a fair amount with leftovers. Even if just one component of a meal is already made, it helps a lot. Last night we had all leftovers: potato skins, pigs in blankets, spare ribs, and chicken. It's actually unusual for us to have a meal that's all leftovers, but I was running late. Tonight I'm making some kind of green salad, hamburgers on biscuit buns, and bulgur with mushrooms (a Martha Stewart recipe I make periodically). The soaking of the bulgur accounts for most of the time devoted to that part of the meal. I'll start the bulgur first and then make the salad. I'll cut the mushrooms and shallots to go in the bulgur dish while I'm making the salad. The biscuit dough is leftover from the batch I made for pigs in blankets. That requires rolling out, cutting, and baking. The burgers will cook while the biscuits bake. I'm also planning to make a quick batch of guacamole, as the avocados I have are already overly-ripe and won't last another day. Some of that may go on the burgers or we'll have it with chips before the meal. It should take just over an hour to have everything done and on the table.

Timed for halftime: loaded potato skins pigs in blankets Cuban-style black beans spare ribs (dry rub, then bbq sauce; long low oven) Everything was great. I used the yeast angel biscuit dough linked elsewhere to make the blankets for the dogs. It worked very well.

I started making the corn souffle recipe from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook when I was a teenager. It's my favorite souffle recipe. I even bought a souffle dish to have the proper equipment to make it. That has to be the oldest piece of my own cooking-related equipment I have. I believe it was one of the first purchases I made with my Strawbridge and Clothier charge card. OK, that's lots of extraneous information, but my first efforts at souffle were successful with that recipe, which gave my cooking confidence an early boost.

I've only made it a few times, but I recall that what I served with it seemed to make the difference. I think I may have liked it served with spinach and garlic, but I don't seem to have notes on that. I keep notes rather erratically on the recipes I make, which can be frustrating when I can't quite recall something on my own.

Really good, fresh bagels I'll eat without toasting. Most times I eat them toasted .