V.H.

I could do something the weekend of the 17th or the weekend of the 24th. I also don't want to be paid. Somehow that seems at odds with the spirit of the D.R. community to me. Will work for food!

I could perhaps do this. I'm Vietnamese, speak the language, and am pretty familiar with the various food offerings.

Does anyone remember a few years when Tyler Florence basically did the same show?

One thing that turned me off from Food Revolution was the dirty reality TV feel to some of the scenes. Waiting for the kid's diabetes results in the hospital and the portrayal of the tension with the lunch lady come to mind. I also wonder how much of Oliver's efforts are coordinated with some of the existing efforts already afoot, like Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard.

It was interesting that my daughter brought home a note Friday from Arlington Public Schools Food Services that explained the healthy food choices available at breakfast and dinner. They also said that they were in the process of making upgrades to all the Elem. school kitchens to allow fresh meals to be cooked daily in them and ended with a pitch for families to buy more school lunches so that they could make more improvements. I am curious as to the timeframe for this is what sort of meals they think they can cook within their budget constraints.

An excellent model to look at is the Good Food Company, based out of Arlington. They provide school lunches to a lot of the daycares and some private schools in the area, including my daughter's old preschool. They grind all meat in house, bake bread daily, and make everything from scratch. A typical preschool lunch for her might be turkey fajitas with a corn and black bean salad, mexican rice, and cut up fresh fruit. It was not unusual to have baked fish, soups made from scratch, or quiche with scratch made crust. It was such a shock to us when we got to elementary school and saw the difference in food menus.

I had an appetizer at Rustico last night that was served on a bed of asparagus carrot slaw. It was thinly shaved aspagarus and carrot strips and tasted of lemon, olive oil and maybe some herbs. I would love some guidance on how to replicate the flavors and am open to using different veggies. Hoping to serve something similar for dinner tomorrow with some smoked pulled pork.

Third, I'm good with a limited menu that changes regularly, but will make sure our next trip there we spend more time reviewing the menu in advance to make sure there are more than a couple choices we'd like to eat.

I'm curious as to how you found the menu limiting. The current menu seems to have an offering of every kind of meat you'd typically find in a nice restaurant, except for chicken. Was it the single choice of preparation for each meat and fish?

They do seem to do a pretty good job though of keeping the website menu close to what's in the restaurant. There's nothing worse than looking forward to a meal that you've plotted out at home and finding out that the menu on the web is six months old and none of the dishes are available.

Solid pulled barbeque pork sandwich for lunch today. I was a little concerned when they fiipped open the lid at the counter that the pork looked a little dry, but that was not the case at all. It was an ample portion with relatively large pieces that were moist and succulent. Like many other places, it was served on a hamburger bun, this one topped with sesame seeds. It held up fairly well to the challenge, although the bottom did get a bit soggy. I understand that white hamburger buns may be traditional for barbeque sandwiches, but frankly any other type of roll would taste better. I really do not even like white hamburger buns for hamburgers. I wish more places would think out of the box on this front. Then again, maybe that is one of the reasons this sandwich rings up at a reasonable $5.99.

The bbq pork sandwich we got a couple months ago also had large pieces but they were so dry that even generous dousing with sauce didn't help. The brisket though is top notch. We also got the jerk salmon which was a very nicely cooked piece of fish, although not much in the way of jerk flavor. The combination with the mango salsa did make it pretty tasty and the mildness made it suitable for our kids.

Is anyone still seeing Vita Coco at any of the Asian grocery stores? I used to get cases of 12 at Grand Mart for $11.88 but they've not had them in a while. I haven't ventured to H Mart to look.

All for under $15, including tax.

How is that even legal?

My husband claims there are deals to be had in the bistro as well for lunch. He went there Wed and got the Irish BLT for $8, a coworker got something or other for $10. I checked out the website and didn't find any mention of bistro lunch specials.

Anyone know the details?

Yesterday, cinnamon raisin bread from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. The family says it's yummy, in part due to the generous quantity of raisins. I have a raisin aversion so have not tried it.

Tonight, chocolate chip cookies.

Really? These are my favorite cookies and used to be the most requested by my staff. I love sandy cookies.

I don't think I'd ever had sandy cookies before these. Evidently they're not my favorite.

I just made the double chocolate cookies from The Best Recipe. I don't have the cookbook with me, but this recipe looks awfully similar to my memory. They were enjoyed by many, including the cook (which is rare). Not surprisingly with all that chocolate, they're a lot like brownie cookies and they're very rich. I know many have recommended the World Cookies (I think that's the title, Dorie greenspan chocolate cookies with little to no flour). That's not really my style cookie, so have never pursued it. I could seeing making the Best Recipe cookies again and would recommend it to others.

Oh, one unusual thing about these cookies--I actually got the number of cookies that the recipe said I would get out of them. Shocking! I almost never pull that off (what with the need to sample the dough carefully and all).

I made the World Peace cookies one time, using my stash of Vahlrona cocoa powder and chopped vahlrona chocolate. Such a waste as I thought the cookies were grainy and not spectacular.

The dining room was packed with young families, ours included at 6pm on Thursday night, the first opportunity we had to leave the house since Tuesday. I can't believe we aren't here more often, given entrees like a terrific rendition of Bollito Misto with veal cheeks, veal breast, sausage, and pork belly. We waited a little bit for food because the dining room was so crowded but the generous bread basket came out fast and kept the kids happy until their entrees came. All around a great meal was had by all and a wonderful diversion from the snow.

The last time I was in here was about 4 years ago since a coworker raved about their burgers and suggested I try them on half price burger night, which included takeout. I went in with my then two year old and the place was so smoky that we placed our order and then waited in the car. The burgers were pretty awful so we never went back. After reading about pork belly, oyster stew, and duck confit here, I might have have to head back over. Would these types of entrees be available at lunch or only dinner?

This may deserve a separate topic (and I may create one), but given the post above about eating on $50 a week . . . here goes (my first post):

I'm considering attempting the "2 dollar difference" during Lent 2010. This challenge involves trying to eat on $2 a day (like so many people around the world do) and then donating the difference between your typical food expenditures and what you spend during this challenge.

I already cook almost all my own food, brew my own coffee, etc., but I'm sure I spend somewhat more than $2 a day. What I'm looking for are sites or suggestions for very low cost meals (less than $1 per serving) and/or charts that indicate the cost per serving of various ingredients. Sure, I could eat beans and rice for the entirety of Lent, but I'd like to try to be a bit more creative than that . . .

Any accounts of similar experiences would also be welcome.

Thanks!

You could try Vietnamese homestyle cooking to keep costs down. Typically we'd have rice with a big pot of green vegetable soup and a small quantity of meat. You could get a few pounds of chicken leg quarters, cut the meat off and make something like ga kho My link. Take the bones and use to make a big pot of chicken broth and add a pound or two of green vegetables like mustard greens, or cabbage, cut up into bite sized pieces. You can really use any kind of veggie in this soup. I frequently use a mixture of daikon, cabbage, and green onions. I would think you could get at least 6 meals out of this.

3 lbs chicken quarters: can be found on sale for $.49 or less=$1.50

2 lbs veggies for soup: $1.50 or less if you shop at an Asian grocery store

2 lbs uncooked rice would make plenty, at $.50 a pound=$1.00

So about $4 for 6 meals, maybe bump it up to $5 to account for pantry items like fish sauce and salt and pepper and such.

I am clueless on what to do with leftover half-and-half (there's a lot left and too much for just coffee). What kind of sauces or whatnots do you all use half-and-half for?

panna cotta, quiche, chocolate pudding

Unless you live without heat the cooler temps will only make the rising times longer. You can make a quick proofing 'box' using a large trash bag. Put the dough and a bowl of very hot water in the bag and close it up. In time you will figure out the best temp for the water to keep the bag around 80F.

And speaking of baking, over the weekend I made a batch of croissants. It had been a too long since the last time I made a laminated dough. Since it was as easy as I remembered danish will be next on the list.

You can also proof in the microwave or oven. I just nuke 2 cups of water in a pyrex measuring cup and leave it in the microwave or oven with my dough with the power off. I've also had success putting dough in a turned off oven with just the light on to provide a little extra warmth.

Does anyone know where I can buy blueberry flavoring for a drink? DeKuyper makes a blueberry flavor, so I will hit a couple of VA liquor stores tonight, but I was wondering if anyone has a go-to for flavorings/extracts of the fruity variety. Monin makes a syrup, are those sold at stores? I have a jug of Wegmans blueberry juice, but I don't know if it will taste good and I thought I should explore my options. I need to buy local, need the drink for this Friday night.

I just bought a bottle of blueberry syrup at Ikea the other day. The ingredients are sugar, blueberry juice, water, citric acid. German Gourmet in Bailey's crossroads has a good selection of fruit syrups but I don't recall blueberry.

(Chocolate-covered pretzels.)

It's hard to resist stopping in almost everyday, being a 7 minute walk from here now

Try one of their chocolate covered marshmallow hearts next time. A modestly priced treat that's big enough to share (if you're my big hearted 6 yr old).

I don't know a lick of Vietnamese. With that in mind, I wonder why there's an inversion here:

HÆ°Æ¡ng Quế (Restaurant) and Sí´ng Quế (Grocery Store)

vs.

HÆ°ng Phí¡t (Grocery Store) and Sí´ng Phí¡t (Restaurant)

I guess HÆ°Æ¡ng and HÆ°ng aren't the same word, huh.

Cheers,
Rocks.

Agreed. I'm five minutes away, and I frequently drive to Springfield just so I won't have to deal with the crowds. So far, I've only found it to be less crowded around 5 or 6 on weekdays, and even then 395 is so jammed you have to balance the easy parking lot with the horrific traffic.

I try to leave work a little early when I need to hit Costco so that I can get there before 5pm. Mid-week, it's not a bad option with decent parking if you immediately head for the part of the lot nearest Fern St.

I marinated some strips of tri-tip purchased from Costco in a Korean galbi marinade. Grilled and thinly sliced against the grain, it was delicious and much less work than grilling individual slices of short rib.

I'm typing while my memory is fresh before I pass out from my gluttony. Went on a culinary tour today, including Eden Center and Cheesetique. Will do Cheesetique later but what a fun little spot. We sampled Ham and Pate, and Pork and Pork Skin @ Song Que. Enjoyed them both immensely, but a little too bready. Shared a Meatball at Nhu Lan, and it was the best. More veg, less bread.

Go back to Eden Center and try the sandwiches at Banh Mi So 1. They bake baguettes fresh all day long which makes a huge difference in the sandwiches. Compared with the bread used at Song Que, the fresh baguettes are longer and thinner, like a ficelle. The end result is a nice balance of bread and filling.

We have the widemouth metal thermal containers from lands End. I'd say they work okay, not great, certainly not beyond about four hours. We bought them for my daughter for school but really have ended up using them more to bring hot meals for our toddler if we expect to be somewhere during his meal time and don't expect to be able to get suitable food.

Lebanese Butcher would probably give it to you for free. You just need to call them a day or two in advance and let them know you'd like some. They've told me in the past that they usually end up throwing veal bones away at the slaughterhouse so just call and let them know if I want some. They probably do the same thing with the large intestine.

There were beautiful whole bluefish and sea trout at the Grand Mart in Landmark a few days ago.

I bought a whole bluefish at the Seven Corners store about a month ago for something like $2 a pound. I had them take the head off and butterfly it since they no longer offer filleting as an option. When I get home, I finished filleting, seasoned liberally with finely minced lemongrass, salt, and pepper, and pan fried. So delicious. I thought it was milder in flavor compared with the bluefish fillets I had purchased at Giant in the past. Still a great flavor but with less of the strong taste you get from the darker areas of the fish.

You know... I have to ask why businesses stay open in situations like this. While I appreciate that everybody needs to make money and people appreciate places to go, the roads are nothing short of treacherous. Even if your customers are primarily within walking distance, what about your staff? Does the kitchen staff live nearby? How do the workers get home at 11 p.m. or later? Does the restaurant/store etc. cover the expenses of any accidents? I am not being snide, just genuinely concerned for people who may feel like they have to show up in order to keep their jobs.

I probably missed my calling as a union organizer.

I said something similar to my husband today about grocery stores. I wondered if many were open today given that many of their employees probably use public transportation (which I think was largely shut down today).

My dad had to go to work today but his work sent a truck to come get him and will send him home the same way. Union job.