purplesachi

ah, i also just did a quick search on penzey's and i think you can get the seeds there as well. http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-p...annatoseed.html

i recently bought Mama Sita's brand achuete (annatto powder) (ah, but in philadelphia), so i definitely know that exists. and if you are going to grind it up anyway, you might be able to get away with the powder. i would try h-mart.

ouch (yes, $27.90 for a liter tanqueray)! i guess i'm going to calvert woodley next time i'm out of tanqueray!

where can i find orange bitters? all this talk led me to pick up hendricks ($30) and tanqueray($28-$30) yesterday at the va abc . i want to try making martinis with and without bitters. but at the store i only saw angostura bitters, and no orange. can i use the angostura or should i keep searching for the orange? oh. and now that i have these two bottles of gin, what other drinks can i make with them? i'm ready to get my gin on.

i know this isn't europe or the united states (though, it is close)...but what about mexico? i remember my cousin 2 years ago went to oaxaca and took a cooking vacation there. just another idea...

so i see that citronelle has been mentioned as a great place to get a great (real) martini. are there others?

i have gone several times in the past few months and never had to put my name on any list or make a reservation. where is this list anyways? usually i walk right in and they show my party to a table immediately. perhaps this has something to do with the fact that i usually go around 6pm?

isn't the dinner february 6th? or am i mistaken?

thanks for everyone's support. the fact the people read this and care really means a lot to me. i think i did ok for dinner last night: baked chicken thighs (no skin and removed all visible fat) glazed with miso, honey, and lemon. also had sauted baby bok choy and quinoa. and 2 sips of beer. my portions were correct and i was full afterwards. great! my own number one rule is no potato chips in the house!!

have you any luck with freezing the injera? how have you been storing it?

ugh. i backslided and went on an eating rampage over the weekend and now i'm back to where i started (weight-wise). (large portions, snacking) it's depressing to me but i'm trying to get back on track. before i started this challenge, i was telling myself that i would be happy to even lose 5-10 lbs, even though that wasn't my 10% goal. now i don't feel like i can even make that goal. and being depressed about the whole thing doesn't really help me either. during the week i am pretty regimented with my schedule and what i eat. but come the weekend i get extra lazy and cannot exercise self control. i guess the thing that i need help with most is motivation. when i think of the things that really should motivate me (becoming a healthier person, fitting into old jeans i have, etc.), at the time i think, "YES! that's right! i want to be more healthy! i want to fit into old clothes of mine!" but when really tested, i can't follow through (thus the regressing this weekend). i'm not sure what it is that will flip the switch in my head that this is my health i am dealing with. i know though, that i haven't yet found the motivation i need to keep going. ah. i just needed to vent.

what about drawing paper at ikea? click

yes, i believe so, but someone can correct me if i'm wrong.click

count politburo and i in for either date.

um, yes you are, if your "art" is made from humans!and if he was truly a shock artist, he should have served his extra virgin marco oil for dipping bread in, instead of hiding the fat in the meatball. what a gross story.

haha. the thing about it, is that i neglected to mention the other things we ordered at sang kee: crispy softshell crab in 5 spice dressing, pork fried dumplings, shrimp dumpling soup, baby bok choy in garlic sauce, roasted duck, chicken and pork, beef&broccoli, fried rice, beef&eggplant, and bubble tea. there were 10 of us, so it wasn't too bad. but i agree. i'm not trying to stop eating things i like to eat, but trying to figure out what 1 serving size of all those items i previously mentioned was a little hard, and i kind of gave up towards the middle of the meal. that said, i really appreciate advice and encouragement during these few months where i'm trying to change my eating lifestyle, not just going on a diet!

ok. i guess i'm outing myself, though, i've only met a few people so i guess that's not really 'outing', and you could probably guess that secret agent violet is, in fact, purplesachi. in one week i've lost one lb. i semi-lost control this weekend (peking duck, salt baked squid, pan fried noodles at sang kee in philadelphia) but i'm hoping to get back on track. 13 lbs to go!

i really admire you putting yourself out there. keep up the good work!

i think the hank's oyster happy hour is 5:30-6:30pm Sunday through Friday, and it will run through February. it started back in the middle of december.

thanks for your write up. i've been curious about this place recently, and now i might have to give it a try.

i was able to get to manila cafe this past saturday for the lunch buffet ($12.50). it's a small place - maybe 12-15 tables. when we (my bfriend and i) walked in, i immediately noticed filipino music playing as well as a tv in the corner for saturday night karaoke. there are 3 buffet tables with about 6 dishes each. here's a list of some of the dishes they had that day: -kare-kare (peanut butter oxtail stew) -pancit bihon (thin rice noodles with soysauce and kalamansi) -pancit palabok (a noodle dish topped with a sauced colored with achuete; their version used the thin rice noodles) -lechon (roasted suckling pig, already cut up into pieces) -atchara (relish made with sliced papaya, red peppers) -pork bbq (on skewers) -chicken adobo (chicken cooked in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic) -chicken adobo with coconut milk (same as above except little to no vinegar with added coconut milk - more like curry) -pork sinigang (sour soup flavored with tamarind and added veggies) -laing (greens, usually taro leaves, cooked with pork and coconut milk) -bicol express (pork and chilis cooked in coconut milk) -fried tilapia -guisadong mongo (stew of mongo beans, pork, and other veggies) -caldareta (beef stew with tomato sauce and other veggies) -pinakbet (ilocano dish with bitter melon, shrimp paste (bagoong), other veggies) -chicken afritada (chicken stew in tomato sauce and other veggies) -steamed rice -garlic fried rice -fried banana pieces (eaten as dessert, but was not wrapped in spring roll wrappers, i.e. not turron) -ginataan (thick dessert soup made from coconut milk with sticky pieces of purple yam (ube) and sweet potato. this version also had tapioca pearls in it) i tried most of these dishes. here are some of my notes: the fried tilapia seemed like it was fried earlier in the morning and by the time i ate it, it was dried out. chicken adobo (regular) was pretty good - had the correct combo of vinegar/soy sauce. pancit bihon had good flavor, but was a little greasy. bicol express - spicy!!! laing was too salty for me. the head of the lechon was sitting in the tray with pieces of the body cut up next to it. it looked like it had been picked through already (no crispy skin available!) but the pork itself was moist. pinakbet was pretty bitter, but that is what is expected. beef caldereta was excellent. meat was cooked long enough so it was tender and had great flavor. kare-kare was a little bland, though had the correct thickness/consistency. i usually like a more pronounced peanut butter flavor. i also wasn't too fond of the bagoong alamang (shrimp paste that you normally serve with the dish) they had at the buffet. it was too raw for me. the ginataan was warm, thick and wasn't too sweet and ended my meal perfectly. by the time we left there about 8-9 of the tables were filled with all filipinos. the wait staff (owners?) were very nice and were willing to get anything you needed that wasn't out on the buffet tables. it looked like most of the filipinos there had been there before and wasted no time in getting their plates of food. one thing i didn't like was that the labels of the dishes were mixed up, or non-existent, though, i guess most of the people going there already know what the dishes are and don't need labels. though, if you were still unsure, i think the staff would have been happy to explain what the dishes are. i've gone to small filipino buffets before (not in the area, though) and most of the time they only have 5-6 dishes to choose from. there were a lot to choose from at manila cafe, and i would definitely go back again in the future (though, i don't know how much dinner buffet costs. sorry!) manila cafe also has a to-go menu as well as a catering menu.

last night i went to rays the steaks for the second time (and brought a first timer as well!) and everything was delicious and perfectly cooked. the first time i went i ordered the ny strip, but based on the comments on this thread, i decided to go with a cup of the bisque and the hanger steak last night (medium rare). all i can say is WOW. i have only one complaint: i ate my entire hanger steak so i didn't have any leftovers for today.

if everything goes according as planned, i will be making a trip to manila cafe this weekend and i will report back. and just so you know, i'm filipina and i was raised on filipino food, and cook it as well. i'll try to taste as much stuff as my body will allow.

i have only been to fogo three times and i've been to greenfield once. but here is my two cents. take it for what it's worth. (tried fogo before i tried greenfield.) it was either a friday night or saturday night when i went to greenfield early in 2006 and it was completely jam packed with people. my group needed a table for 5 and they took a 4 top and added a chair on the end of the table. big mistake. the person manning the dessert cart kept trying to get by our 5th person's chair because the aisle between the tables was too small to push through, so our friend had to keep re-adjusting his seat to accommodate the dessert carts throughout our entire meal. several times i noticed different cuts of meat that i wanted to try, and i desperately tried to flag down the person carrying that particular cut of meat to no avail. i even yelled out to get the server to stop by our table, but he still didn't hear (maybe it was just too loud? we had a table next to the main aisle towards the back so i'm not exactly sure why i couldn't flag anyone down). when servers finally did stop by our table to cut the meat, they either weren't that skilled in cutting the meat, or were not paying attention, because as one or two servers were slicing, the grease and juices from the cuts of meat were flying off and actually stained my pants, which i didn't notice until i was halfway home. that being said, $28 dollars isn't too bad for the amount of food you have access to at greenfield. perhaps it was a bad night that we went. it's possible. i would be willing to try it again to see if this one visit was an anomaly. my couple of visits to fogo were extremely pleasant (and gluttonous). it wasn't jammed packed - the tables are spaced apart sufficiently so that your table isn't butted up against another table. i found the meat at fogo to be, yes, a little bit salty, but i'm a salt freak so i didn't mind as much. i also thought that the meat was more tender and juicy than greenfield, where i also found some of the meat that i tried a little bit dried out. (the picanha, costela de porco, and chicken drumsticks were very memorable items at fogo.) the servers at fogo were very attentive and if i wanted to try a cut of meat that i saw on the menu that hadn't come around to the table, my waiter made sure to flag down the appropriate meat server so he could stop by our table. oh, and i also love those cheese bread puffs they have at fogo. so. is fogo's $45 price premium worth it? it depends. i'd gladly try greenfield again (for $28) for the variety of cuts of meat, and while some of the meat i found to be a little dry, others were edible if not downright fantastic. but if i wanted to go out someplace that was a little bit more fancy and paid a little bit more attention to detail, i wouldn't mind paying $45+ to fogo. (sorry, i cannot comment on salad bar and wine.)

this is a wonderful idea. add me to the growing list of participants!