zoramargolis

Wegman's has a huge markup on Sunnyside beef--you can buy directly from them at the Dupont Market on Sundays. Also Polyface pork--they're at the Arlington Market on Saturday mornings. Another great place is Halalco in Falls Church for lamb, veal and goat, as well as beef and chicken. Very old world sort of place with excellent prices.

I believe you are thinking of Les Delices de Isabel, which sells Leonidas truffles and filled chocolates, which are delivered fresh from Belgium. The address is 1531 Wisconsin. I love that place!

I get so many food magazines, that I can't recall the source for the blind canned tomato tasting I read recently. The upshot was that "new product" Progresso canned tomatoes beat out not only standard supermarket brands, but also Muir Glen. I've since bought Progresso canned tomatoes, and they are indeed very fresh tasting.

We went to 2Amys last night, so that visiting vegetarian bro-in-law would have reasonable options. Hub and I had fennel-crusted, smoked swordfish, which was more like swordfish gravlax--thin slices with a slight background hint of fishyness, a bit of fennel seed crunch and not much smoke in the mix, but we thought it was tasty. Hub's bro and our teenage daughter went for bufalo mozzarella wrapped with roasted eggplant. With good olive oil and fresh basil, what's not to like? I seriously fell off my low-carb regimen, a sacrifice I was willing to make in the interest of family harmony. We all ordered Margherita pizzas, which were perfectly cooked, chewy, crispy and not burned at all. then we ordered caramel chocolate chip ice cream for dessert, except for teen angel who expressed her need for independence by having vanilla bean panna cotta, which was appropriately cool and silky. The caramel on the plate with the panna cotta was a bit pale and undercooked and so lacked flavor, but the kid was happy. The ice cream was FABULOUS. Not too sweet, creamy, and I loved the paper-thin crispy-crunches of good dark chocolate in every bite. Hub and I drank some very nice, medium-bodied aglianico that had notes of plum and cherry and a hint of leather, which complemented the pizza nicely, and seemed like a pretty good deal at $6 a glass.