Pat

Thanks for the directions. I found it with no problem, though I forgot how bad traffic and parking can be out there .

I went for lunch today and got a sensational cheesesteak (whiz, onions, peppers, mushrooms, hot peppers). I didn't have any appreciable wait for food at all. The people who work there are quite nice, too. One friend who was with me didn't know what water ice was, so the fellow working the cash register gave her a free sample.

So far, I've got reservations at: DC Coast and Corduroy for lunch, as well as Viridian for dinner. If I can find time during that week, I'd also like to try Rasika.

I went to Rasika for the January RW and it was quite good. They hadn't really even been open all that long either.

I had not really paid attention to this thread, but seeing the dates now I realize why Open Table yesterday showed nothing at Vidalia between 5:30 and 8:15 on the 20th. It's my birthday and I thought it would be great to go to Vidalia, since we haven't been there in quite a while. Fortunately, I was able to get a table at a good time by calling on the phone. (Checking OT now, I see they have nothing before 9 PM on the 20th.) Hmm

Tasting menu available every day. Tasting menu only Friday and Saturday.

Thanks. I may change my mind, and I like the option of being able do the tasting menu. I'm really looking forward to this.

I was checking out Black's menu on its website and I noticed at the bottom that their is a separate section for Sauces like chimchurri, bernaise, etc. (http://www.blacksbarandkitchen.com/menu_dinr.html) which cost an extra $2-5 each.

What is going on - since when does the sauce for a dish cost extra? This seems so strange - most of these sauces does seem like some super specialty item that justify an additional charge.

Charlie Palmer also has separate sauce pricing ($2-3). I presume this is to give people some choice in which sauce they get with their steak or other meat/fish that's prepared plain, if they want a sauce at all. Sometimes I prefer getting a meat item a la carte rather than already dressed, as it were.

I'm glad you posted the link. I hadn't looked at the new menu yet. I'm really excited to get back to Black's again and try out the new offerings.

Forgive the question, but, if the answer is here, I've missed the answer upon re-perusing the thread. Is the tasting menu on the weekends only? I made a reservation to go there for our anniversary next month, and it's on a Tuesday. I didn't get a chance to ask the gentleman on the phone, and it's not urgent enough to make a call just for that. I think I'd prefer a la carte but whatever we get will be fine. Color me curious

I'm marooned between Union Station and the MCI Center, and I need to go out for a quick lunch now and again. I have the Billy Goat (feh!), the Sunspot Cafe (found a cigarette butt in my salad last week - yes, really), and a Philips near me for quick food, but a girl needs variety.

Does anyone have suggestions on what to eat - either quick sit down, or, better, to go? I'm Union Station Food Court fatigued, but if you've got standouts, I'd love to know. (I eat a good amount of Aditi) I've eaten at those Irish pubs, too, and they taste....sort of like the night after a bender.

Of course, I'm counting the days until Johnny's Half Shell shows up....

I like the sandwiches at My Brother's Place, if you don't mind the environment. It might be too much like the Irish pubs for your liking. It's more of a happy hour place than lunch, but I've had good lunches there, and it's pretty cheap and quick if you eat at the bar. I don't know what they have to go.

Since people are directing you towards Eastern Market, there's a Sizzling Express (buffet with sandwich counter and bar) in the 600 block of PA Ave., SE. In my experience, that works well for people with kids and picky appetites. I'm not sure if they have mac and cheese, but they serve all 3 meals there. (It's a block westbound from the Eastern Market metro, on the north side of the street.) The food is not spectacular but reliably average-to-above average for the sort of place it is.

Where on Rte 1 is this relative to Marathon Deli? I haven't been out to College Park in a while but would like to try this.

There was until a few years ago a pretty good place to get Philly-style cheesesteaks in Oxon Hill. It was a small family operation called Lileons, but the proprietor became too ill to continue running it. He was from Delaware and used to drive up the Phila. on a regular basis to get his food. I guess I'm a little late with that information

Blasphemy! Heretics! Puh-leeze. Would you top fois gras with "ketchup" ??!! Request maple syrup to be served with dim sum??!! I think not. Scrapple is a stand-alone dish; each bite is to be savored, relished, enjoyed -- sans embellishment. Sour cream? You should hang your heads in shame, you so-called scrapple lovers. Humph!

I think the ketchup originated with the fact that we originally ate it with fried potatoes, which were also served with ketchup. To this day, I like link sausage with maple syrup, because I remember pancakes and sausage as a kid, where the syrup pooled around the sausage. I think scrapple would be good with maple syrup too. For breakfast foods, I tend to think the condiments used for one item transcend the specific foods.

In my experience fruit ice creams (except lemon and mango) are prone to this. A good fix is to add the chopped and macerated fruit in the last few minutes of churning, when the ice cream texture is already well-developed. Also, if you're macerating fruit, don't overdo it - the longer it sits, the more water will extract; that water carries alot of flavor that you don't want to lose, but if you add it to the mix the ice cream will be icy.

Thanks. I may have added the fruit too soon, and before that it was sitting out in a colander where it was probably wet. That, combined with not churning long enough, probably accounts for the problem. It still tasted good but not superlative.

This morning's noodling-around-in-the-kitchen, using-up-scraps-of-leftovers flavor: buttermilk banana. One overly ripe banana mushed and mixed with an egg, about 1/3 c sugar, about 3/4 c heavy cream, and about 1/3 c whole milk cultured buttermilk. The result was good but not distictly buttermilky enough. Will try again next time I have overly ripe bananas. I'm wondering if I use enough buttermilk to get the flavor, will the butterfat content be too low? Can I dose it with something like Devon double cream to compensate?

How would a little sour cream do to enhance the buttermilk flavor? (The banana-buttermilk combination sounds really good to me.)

Now I've got a question. I've made two batches of ice cream in the last week, after having not made any for years. The first batch was black raspberry. I don't think I churned it long enough, and it ended up having noticeable ice crystals when it was done. Is that likely cause and effect or two totally separate issues? Is the fruit possibly a culprit in the icyness?

Yesterday I made butter pecan, from a Ben and Jerry's recipe, and it's probably the best ice cream I've ever made. I churned it longer than I thought it should have been churned, and the consistency was good, with no icing problem.

So, what's the best way to eat it? Plain, with syrup, or what? I've lived in this area for 33 years ( ) and have never tasted scrapple, although I knew about it from someone in California who grew up in Baltimore. She rather sheepishly confessed to loving the stuff.

We always ate it with ketchup. It had to be Habersetts Scrapple. I've never found another kind remotely as good. I used to buy it in bulk when I was back visiting home (Delaware County, PA) and keep it in the freezer for times when I had to have some. I don't get up there any more.

I've tried making it at home, using this recipe. It's good but quite labor intensive.

So I'm struggling with the menu. So far I've got a couple of sweet, yeasted breakfast loaves, bagels & cream cheese & salmon, fruit, and bread & cheeses & cold-cuts, but it's the warm dishes that seem to anchor brunches, and I don't have any of these yet. Maybe a couple of stratas, or--???

Help!

Frittatas are good for this kind of thing. They can be served either right out of the oven or at room temperature. They're easy to make and hold pretty well. If you have the ingredients on hand, you can always whip up a few more if need be. For my husband's 40th birthday brunch (about 30 people) several years ago, I made a number of different types of frittatas, including crab, cheese, and vegetable selections. I really wish I had kept a menu for that because the dishes I came up with worked really well, and I've wanted to refer to a list of those foods since then and I don't have one .

I remember doing several yeast breads/coffee cakes; bagels with cream cheese, red onions, and lox; fruit salad; green salad; the frittatas; some pinwheel/wrap sandwiches; and something with potatoes that i can't quite recall.

Quiches would be an alternative to frittatas, made in advance when you have time and then reheated. Or you can prep a bunch of fillings and heat some soft tortillas so people can assemble their own soft tacos (or breakfast burritos).

black raspberries

Morrison-Clark

We had a nice dinner there last night, after having not eaten there in many years. I was pulled in by the fact that opentable was giving 1000 points for reservations at prime times. I took that to mean that they're having trouble filling tables, but since I didn't know why, I figured we'd have a meal there and see.

The service was quite attentive, from the moment we walked in. Later in the evening, the chef was circulating in the dining room, chatting with the diners. The menu is largely Southern in its emphasis. I wish I had taken real notes so I could remember the menu more clearly. At least one item on the menu featured ramps. The dining room was as I remembered it, perfect for a cozy, romantic meal.

I had the bourbon shrimp and grits, which was subtly flavored and just the right size appetizer for me (3 shrimp and a small portion of creamy grits, with an herb I couldn't identify that added a nice note to the flavor). My husband had the Kentucky Bibb salad with roasted beets, which he polished off in short order, though he's not incredibly fond of beets. The breads that were brought by the table were good. I preferred the cornbread to the raisin roll, which I thought was slightly dry. The butter was at just the right temperature for spreading.

For entrees, I had the duet of lamb, which I loved: roast loin slices layered with spinach and grilled leg slices with black-eyed peas, ham, and chanterelles. I really liked the black-eyed peas with the lamb. The flavors complemented each other well. The lamb dish was delicious, perfect except for some oversalting of the greens. My husband had chicken (roasted, I believe), with corn and soy bean (I think) succotash. There was a disparity in the size of the entrees that was a little odd. The chicken, while somewhat cheaper, was quite a bit less food than the lamb entree. But, since I couldn't finish all of my entree, my husband ate some of the lamb as well, and it all worked out .

We were too full for dessert. I was almost too full to finish my coffee. Maybe half the tables in the restaurant were full midway through the evening. There were also a few people eating outside. I had made the reservation because we hadn't eaten out in a while, and I thought Friday night would be a good night to go out. By the time Friday arrived, however, there was reason to celebrate, and it turned out to be lovely place for that. I'm not sure why this restaurant has fallen off the radar. (I tried to find recent reviews before going--good, bad, or indifferent--and couldn't find anything.)

??? Why?

I thought it was because, effective this month, they've changed the minimum number of points required for redemption, to 2000 pts./$20. That's already happened, though.

I swung by this afternoon just to double check the prices. A grilled cheese (with American "cheese"), albeit with bacon, $8.65! WTfuckinF?

That's the Super Grilled Cheese, basically the same sandwich that was on the menu at Stoney's. That's probably one of the cheapest things on the menu. The food is way overpriced for what it is, but they get away with it.

It's an odd location because of the Market. They get tons of traffic for brunch on weekends because of the Market. They get nothing on Mondays because everything around is closed. They get much better weekday lunch business than they used to because there are now more business offices located nearby. The clientele is heavy on real estate agents and teachers on weekday afternoons. It's just an odd location. They actually have really good late night food specials, but who's going to be near there late at night? Nothing is open at night along there once Montmarte and Ben and Jerry finish for the day. Occasionally there are events at the Market 5 Gallery across the street, but that's rare.

BTW, I wouldn't really call this a divey place. The last two owners have been trying to make it more upscale, though I think that's an uphill battle given the location. It really is a tavern, not especially fancy, not especially divey.

I really wanted to like Jimmy T's, because I want to like all neighborhoody greasy spoons. But I wasn't very impressed in my one visit. My potatoes had an off-taste I couldn't put my finger on; portions were small; service was theoretical.

I'd rather hit Tunnicliff's.

I'd put Jimmy T's with the late Sherrill's, Market Lunch, and Pete's in the greasy spoon category. (After eating there a lot in the 80s, I've given up on Pete's. If it's improved in the past couple of years, I don't know because I stopped going there.) I'd hate to see those (remaining) places go away, because they're real institutions. I'm glad there are lines out the door for Jimmy T's because that keeps them in business. There are times that Jimmy T's gives me what I'm looking for (which is why I get pulled into going back and getting frustrated with the inconsistency).

Generally, I don't like getting food out that isn't as good as what I can make at home (accounting for the convenience factor). There's no place around now that I can find breakfast potatoes I really like, and potatoes are one of my favorite breakfast foods. The closest are the shredded potatoes on the buffet at Sizzling Express, which are sometimes just right and other times not.

The "general" rule is that recipes are not subject to copyright protection. A simple list of ingredients and the order in which they are combined along with cooking temperatures and times are not subject to copyright. Any written part of the recipe that moves in to the territory of creative exression would be subject to copyright.

ETA: If you can find a copy of the recipe on the web somewhere, the easier thing to do would be to simply link to it.

I guess I'm wary of attempting to deviate much from the directions because I don't want to screw it up and tell people the wrong way to put the food together. I have posted links on that forum to posts I've made on usenet for other recipes. Some of the picnic ones I can just give a google link for, but others I'd have to post somewhere and then link.

Jimmy T's on East Capitol St. is the ultimate brunch joint. There are few places around where you can get every breakfast food one should have at their disposal, the best corned beef hash around (who knew a little dill could take hash to a whole new level?) and the most expensive thing on the menu is under $10. Spend enough weekend mornings there and they expect you to pour your own coffee. The same woman has been manning the grill for forever and she continues to put out food that comforts the soul and fills you up at the same time. Added bonus: breakfast is served all day for those of use who can't eat before noon on the weekend.

Not to be contrary, but I have found the food there to be inconsistent over time and am reluctant to keep trying. I haven't lived on the hill as long as you have (only 18 years), but I thought Sherrill's did the same kind of thing much better. I'm also mixed on Market Lunch, but I like it better than Jimmy T's. I generally avoid Jimmy T's on weekends because of the crowds, but weekday breakfasts and lunches are sometimes good and sometimes not. I remember the first time I ordered a sausage omelette there, and it was wonderful. The next several times I ordered it it was not wonderful, and I finally gave up. I don't understand the lines outside Jimmy T's, unless there are different people working there on the weekends. The folks who work there do seem really nice, though.

Instead of putting together a recipe book like we did in the fall, we are going to have a recipe thread in the Shopping and Cooking forum. Please post your recipes here

What about recipes from books with copyrights? I tend not to change baking recipes at all and others I sometimes change and sometimes don't.

And that homemade Gouda was also awesome. I just kept going back and picking up pieces of it, the same as I did with the ham. All of the food I tried was very good and better than very good, but I ran out of room and couldn't eat any more. It's been over 24 hours since I last ate and I'm only starting to get hungry. At this point, I think I can make it until dinner

This barbecued meat, with outrageous hot sauce, was the best thing going. It had several levels of flavor that kept on exploding. Lots of competition from an amazing variety of offerings from all corners of the world, but in in this instance Guam ruled the planet. Thanks for importing the meat (from California) and cooking it so well.

This was great meat, though my husband and I disagreed. He thought this was the best meat there. I thought JParrott's ham was the standout (of course there was also a pork shoulder and Rissa's chicken pork adobo and more...). I don't eat much meat. This was about a month's worth of meat for me, and it was totally worth it . I had a good time. Hubby is now eating dinner. Where he puts it all I don't know

Those cognac-limoncello drinks Barbara made were extraordinary.

This is all taken care of. And if you have posted/PM'd what you are bringing, you'll even get a pre-printed card for your dish.

That's great. It should be helpful.

[edit because that didn't sound the way I meant it to sound.]

I think that having some pens and index cards to label dishes (and specialty things like alcohol, vegan, etc.) is a brilliant idea.

I have excess index cards and pens and should be able to find them...