mktye

Before the thread gets busy with the posting of logistical issues (such as helpful hints in finding Fort Hunt and carpooling arrangements) here is the list for the last time:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous hot salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Demvtr -- a big array of prepared/flavored tofu

jparrot -- smoked country ham

mdt & CrescentFresh -- homemade bratwurst

agm -- pernil (Puerto Rican-style roasted pork shoulder)

LaShanta -- barbequed chicken

paula -- barbequed chicken (possibly)

goldenticket -- grilled chicken breasts with dried cranberry relish

bbq4me -- a meat dish of some sort

squidsdc -- chicken sausage

Rissa P -- chicken and pork adobo

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- vegetarian salad

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- mojito salad (vegetarian, but alcoholic) and possibly a Thai beef salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Gubeen -- som tam

Pat -- tabbouli and a couple of loaves of bread

holdtheline -- roasted corn and tomato salad (vegan)

NCPinDC -- fruit

goldenticket -- quinoa salad

Nadya -- Thai shrimp and rice (maybe)

squidsdc -- chilled tomato & bread soup

Rissa P -- jasmine rice

dcfoodie -- baked beans

Hannah -- squash casserole. (ovo-lacto veggie ok)

Desserts:

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Ferhat Yalcin -- cookies, possibly citrus-flavored

SunshineE -- pie, probably lemon meringue or apple

Walrus -- cupcakes

hm212 -- brownies

pidgey -- cake (?)

bnacpa -- insane brownies

LaShanta -- cupcakes

paula -- cookies

RaisaB -- some type of dessert

porcupine -- possibly a surprise dessert

Rissa P -- tres leches (if time permits)

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kim bap (Korean sushi)

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

ctay122 -- tarts (heirloom tomato tart, another onion, and one a surprise)

zoramargolis -- homemade chevre with lavender and fennel pollen, and either a Spanish or Italian sheepmilk cheese with homemade quince mostarda

mktye -- an assortment of leavened & unleavended, primarily wheat-based carbs and California cheese

bbhasin -- shammi kabab

ol_ironstomach -- assortment of steamed dumplings and potstickers

shogun -- two kinds of rockfish gravlax: 'normal' and 'incorperating the dream-Revelation theme'

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

jparrot -- wine

hm212 -- soft drinks

pidgey -- non-alcoholic beverages

JPW -- fermented water with hops, malt and barley, bottled water, cooler

paula -- beer and/or wine

hillvalley -- berry infused potato drink

bbhasin -- Kaju Feni and ice

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

Daniel K -- some napkins and paper towels

bnacpa -- paper towels (4 rolls)

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

collije -- plastic cups, plates & napkins

Lydia R -- forks and plastic wine glasses (if any decent ones can be found)

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics

Ilaine -- bowls, tablecloths, garbage bags and hand sanitizer

Pete -- mini weber grill (if needed)

Bringing a dish to be named later:

Tripewriter

So you all don't have to scroll through the thread looking for the information... A map and directions to Fort Hunt park can be found here. We have reserved picnic area C-2 for Sunday, June 4th from 12-6.

And, as always, please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

Since it's a breakfast food and I'm not sure that it merits it's own topic, does anyone have good recipes for granola to share? Preferably a little on thh lighter side...

VANILLA-SCENTED GRANOLA

Makes ~8 cups

1/3 cup oil

1/4 cup honey

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and position a rack in the middle of the oven. In a small saucepan or microwave safe container, heat the oil and honey together to a simmer, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. In large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, brown sugar, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Pour the hot liquid over the oat mixture and stir well until thoroughly mixed.

Spread the granola on a half-sheet pan that has been lightly-oiled or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake the granola until golden brown, stirring occasionally, ~30 minutes. Let cool completely on the sheet pan and then store in an airtight container.

Okay, all you undeclared/undecided picnic attendees, here are some things we need...

First of all, the masses have mandated more meat!

Such as:

chacuterie platter(s)

hot dogs/burgers with fixin's (I hear Wegman's makes a good dog)

sloppy joes or chili

And for our more veggie-centric attendees:

a green salad

crudités and dip

In the beverage department:

ice chests and ice

bottled water

Plus:

grills (?)

chairs and blankets if you want to sit outside the shelter on the nice grassy meadow adjacent to the picnic site

Last, but not least:

butters and salts for the tasting (the first to call a brand, gets to bring it!)

Also, we seem to have quite a few desserts, so if anyone who is planning to bring one would like to switch to something else, please let me know.

A salt tasting might be interesting, but...how about (streaky) bacon?! Just how well does Hormel Black Label stack up against Whole Paycheck, various Amish markets, etc etc etc?

What say the masses?

For a tasting like last picnic's olive oil tasting, why don't we try a butter and salt tasting? Fancy pants butters (flavored, herbed, hand churned by Vermont spinsters, etc.) spread on crackers or bread slices, and an array of exotic salts to sprinkle on top. It's easy, not messy, holds up well in all kinds of weather, and the kind of thing even kids enjoy. Oh yea, goes well with beer and wine. No need to do a blind tasting, just schmeer, sprinkle and eat.

Does anyone have a favorite butter they would like to contribute to the tasting at the picnic?

Gourmet butter. Exotic butter. Everyday butter. Imported butter. Domestic butter (rwtye is bugging me to acquire some Clover butter from California, the butter he grew up eating and that by which he judges all other butters). All are welcome.

And what about salt? Does sel gris "harvested from the pristine Atlantic seawater off the coast of Brittany, France" really taste better than Morton's kosher salt?

Guidelines if you'd like to bring a butter for the tasting are: one-half to one pound in quantity; salted or unsalted; plain or flavored. For the salt, a half-cup to a cup would be plenty and, as long as it is predominantly sodium chloride, it will be considered salt for this tasting.

If you let me know beforehand, I'll print up a nice little tag to identify your butter and/or salt contribution. But don't let that stop you from bringing an entry -- we'll have blank tags that can be filled out by hand on the day of the picnic.

Tasting substrates -- crackers (and before anyone makes the comment, no, not that crackers) and/or bread slices -- will be provided.

And for those wondering who is coming to the picnic, below is the list of names I have so far…

(If your name is not on the list, it is not a big deal and you can certainly still come to the picnic. The main purpose of this list is to estimate the number of people attending – no one will be taking roll the day of the picnic. )

Al Dente - 2

agm - 2

babka - 1

Banco - 1

Barbara - 2

bbhasin - 2

bbq4me - 2

bnacpa - 3

clayrae - 1

collije - 4

crackers - 2

CrescentFresh - 4

ctay122 - 2

cucas87 - 1

Daniel K - 3

Demvtr - 2

dcfoodie - 3

Drive-by Critic - 1

eating out - 2

edstaut - 1

Escoffier & Grover - 2

Ferhat Yalcin - 1

goldenticket - 2

Gubeen - 1

Hannah - 2

hillvalley - 1

hm212 - 1

holdtheline - 2

Ilaine - 1

Jacques Gastreaux - 1

jjl - 3

jparrott - 1

JPW - 3

justdesserts - 1

LaShanta - 1

legant - 2

Lydia R - 1

MBK - 1

mdt - 2

MelGold - 1

Meshe at Eve - 4

mktye - 2

Monica Bhide - 3

Monique DC - 1

Nadya - 1

NCPinDC - 1

ol_ironstomach - 1

PandaHugga - 1

Pat - 2

paula - 2

pidgey - 2

porcupine - 2

RaisaB - 1

Rissa P - 1

ScottJohnson - 2

shogun - 1

squidsdc - 1

starfish - 1

StephenB - 1

SunshineE - 1

Tweaked - 1

Tripewriter & Walrus - 4

tross - 1

zoramargolis - 1

If you'd like to have your named added to (or removed from) this list, please post or PM me. Also, the number after your name is the quantity of people you will be bringing (including yourself) to the picnic. In cases where I was not certain of the number, I made it by default "1", but will be more than happy to correct it if are coming with friends or family.

So you all don't have to scroll through the thread looking for the information... A map and directions to Fort Hunt park can be found here. We have reserved picnic area C-2 for Sunday, June 4th from 12-6.

Below is the latest list of who is bringing what, based on what has been posted/PM'd so far:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous hot salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Demvtr -- a big array of prepared/flavored tofu

jparrot -- smoked country ham

mdt & CrescentFresh -- homemade bratwurst

agm -- pernil (Puerto Rican-style roasted pork shoulder)

LaShanta -- barbequed chicken

paula -- barbequed chicken (possibly)

goldenticket -- grilled chicken breasts with dried cranberry relish

bbq4me -- a meat dish of some sort

squidsdc -- chicken sausage

Rissa P -- chicken and pork adobo

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- vegetarian salad

Al Dente -- gazpacho

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- mojito salad (vegetarian, but alcoholic) and possibly a Thai beef salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Gubeen -- som tam

Pat -- tabbouli and a couple of loaves of bread

holdtheline -- roasted corn and tomato salad (vegan)

NCPinDC -- fruit

goldenticket -- quinoa salad

Nadya -- Thai shrimp and rice (maybe)

squidsdc -- chilled tomato & bread soup

Rissa P -- jasmine rice

Desserts:

MelGold -- cookies of some sort

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Ferhat Yalcin -- cookies, possibly citrus-flavored

SunshineE -- pie, probably lemon meringue or apple

Walrus -- cupcakes

hm212 -- brownies

pidgey -- cake (?)

bnacpa -- insane brownies

LaShanta -- cupcakes

paula -- cookies

RaisaB -- some type of dessert

porcupine -- possibly a surprise dessert

Rissa P -- tres leches (if time permits)

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kim bap (Korean sushi)

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

ctay122 -- tarts (heirloom tomato tart, another onion, and one a surprise)

Monica Bhide -- spiced peas in flaky pastry

dcfoodie -- arancini and/or crostini

zoramargolis -- homemade chevre with lavender and fennel pollen, and either a Spanish or Italian sheepmilk cheese with homemade quince mostarda

RaisaB -- cheese

mktye -- an assortment of leavened & unleavended, primarily wheat-based carbs and California cheese

bbhasin -- shammi kabab

ol_ironstomach -- assortment of steamed dumplings and potstickers

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

jparrot -- wine

hm212 -- soft drinks

pidgey -- non-alcoholic beverages

JPW -- fermented water with hops, malt and barley, bottled water, cooler

paula -- beer and/or wine

bbhasin -- Kaju Feni

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

Daniel K -- some napkins and paper towels

bnacpa -- paper towels (4 rolls)

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

collije -- plastic cups, plates & napkins

Lydia R -- forks and plastic wine glasses (if any decent ones can be found)

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics

Ilaine -- bowls, tablecloths, garbage bags and hand sanitizer

Pete -- mini weber grill (if needed)

Bringing a dish to be named later:

Tripewriter

Hannah

shogun

And, as always, please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

However, the very best simple sauce I ever made was also based on Hazan's recipe, using the great plum tomatoes available for a short time at the farmer's market last summer. A large quantity of butter is melted, then the chopped tomatoes are added along with an onion, peeled, but left either whole or in quarters, removed at the end. Not to die for, but a reason to live. Very good with canned tomatoes, too.

Soft inside. Yeasty. Crispy on the bottom so it snaps when you fold it in half.

...

A more moderate handle with about 1 to 1.5 inches of space between the edge of the crust and the sauce/cheese.

So you all don't have to scroll through the thread looking for the information... A map and directions to Fort Hunt park can be found here. We have reserved picnic area C-2 for Sunday, June 4th from 12-6.

Below is the latest list of who is bringing what, based on what has been posted/PM'd so far:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous hot salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Demvtr -- a big array of prepared/flavored tofu

jparrot -- smoked country ham

mdt & CrescentFresh -- homemade bratwurst

agm -- pernil (Puerto Rican-style roasted pork shoulder)

LaShanta -- barbequed chicken

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- roasted vegetable and couscous salad (vegetarian, but not vegan)

Al Dente -- gazpacho

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- some kind of pasta or chicken salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Gubeen -- som tam

Pat -- tabbouli and a couple of loaves of bread

holdtheline -- roasted corn and tomato salad (vegan)

Desserts:

MelGold -- cookies of some sort

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Ferhat Yalcin -- cookies, possibly citrus-flavored

SunshineE -- pie, probably lemon meringue or apple

Walrus -- cupcakes

hm212 -- brownies

pidgey -- cake (?)

bnacpa -- insane brownies

LaShanta -- cupcakes

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kim bap (Korean sushi)

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

shogun -- pork rillettes and/or pissaladier and/or a dreamy chicken salad and/or onigiri and/or ???

ctay122 -- tarts (heirloom tomato tart, another onion, and one a surprise)

Monica Bhide -- spiced peas in flaky pastry

dcfoodie -- arancini and/or crostini

zoramargolis -- homemade chevre with lavender and fennel pollen, and either a Spanish or Italian sheepmilk cheese with homemade quince mostarda

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

jparrot -- wine

hm212 -- soft drinks

pidgey -- non-alcoholic beverages

JPW -- fermented water with hops, malt and barley

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

Daniel K -- some napkins and paper towels

bnacpa -- paper towels (4 rolls)

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

collije -- paper goods

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics

Bringing a dish to be named later:

ol_ironstomach

bbq4me (some type of "twisted old school Chamorro food")

goldenticket

Tripewriter

squidsdc

For those wishing to contribute a non-food item and don't know what, see the post here for paper goods that are still needed.

As always, please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

Click

(If you're ever wondering if a thread has been started on a restaurant, an easy way to find out is to go to the Restaurant Guide here. In this case, since Morton's has multiple locations, it is listed here and you can just click on the link to go to the thread. )

A lot of folks around here go out to HH on a whim, I tend to bake on a whim...

I recently tried out the Apricot Walnut Bars from the April issue of Gourmet. Quick and easy, just make sure to bake them long enough. I underbaked mine a bit (I wanted to sit down to dinner) and they suffered for it.

Yesterday, I made of a batch of Pate a Choux from an interesting recipe I ran across few months ago. The recipe includes a bit of sweetened, condensed milk and makes the tastiest puffs I've ever eaten. Not sure if the difference is noticable once they are filled, but they are quite irresistible straight from the oven.

To stuff the puffs, I made two batches of coconut filling. One batch was made as written from the recipe JoeH posted in the "Coconut Cake" thread and the other batch made using unsweetened, dried coconut instead of fresh coconut. As much as I wish it did not make a difference (cleaning fresh coconut is a pain), the filling made with fresh coconut was considerably superior to the one with the dried coconut.

And I am still on a quest for the perfect yellow cake. I had been following a thread on eG where they were looking for one, but it has fizzled out and I am not satisfied with any of the recipes posted. However, I have two new recipes to test and plan to make at least one of them this afternoon.

What are you all baking these days?

---

[The following posts have been split into separate threads:

Grilled Peaches (xochitl10)

Páte Brisée (ktmoomau)]

rwtye and I went to Citronelle last night to celebrate our wedding anniversary and the only negative of the whole evening was the regret that we had never eaten there before and had waited so long to do so.

Mr. Slater very kindly arranged for us to have the perfect table -- close enough to the kitchen so the view was fantastic, but not so near that it distracted from the romance of the evening. And, as if that was not enough, he brought us glasses of champagne to start off our celebration.

As a first course, rwtye had the tuna napoleon nicoise topped with the adorable wedge of hard-boiled egg that is not really an egg at all. When he ordered it, I told him I was glad he was getting that because I wanted a bite of the "egg". Well, even after fifteen years of marriage, rwtye still has not learned to always share. The napoleon came out and the first thing he did was spear the "egg" and popped the whole thing into his mouth before I could even utter a word to stop him. He next had the lamb that was served on top of soft polenta & garlic herb sauce laid down across the plate in incredibly precise stripes and surrounded by roasted sunchokes and edamame. He declared the lamb perfectly seasoned and the best he's ever consumed.

I ordered the white asparagus 3 ways -- soup, salad and steamed (?) topped with hollandaise and a poached egg. If I had to choose, the soup was the best of the three with the salad running a close second, but all were delicious. To follow the asparagus, I had, at Mark's suggestion, the cobia with crab risotto and saffron-potato puree. Wow. Very decadent. Very delicious. Very quickly devoured.

After a just-sweet-enough raspberry mousse pre-dessert, rwtye had the trio of ice creams (caramel, vanilla and bittersweet chocolate) because he was getting near his limit of food for the evening. But dessert is always my favorite part of dinner and, in the description of the napoleon on the dessert menu, I saw the two words that never cease to entice me: "maple" and "caramel". It was an absolutely faultless combination of textures and tastes and an ideal finale to my dinner.

For us, the most surprising thing about Citronelle was the warmth and ease of all of the staff. We really expected a more formal and stuffy atmosphere, but we found it very comfortable. And one of the best parts of the night was watching Chef Richard plate some dishes for one of the other tables. He was perfectly serene, an island of calm in the midst of a busy kitchen, as he arranged the food just so. We wanted to clap when he finished.

Overall, a wonderful dinner in every aspect.

And thank you Mark for the bubbly, the table, the advice, the astute matching of wines and all the other little things you did to add to a very special evening.

For the record... Yes, the Whole Foods in Alexandria does carry unsweetened coconut. It is in the "bulk" dried food/spice section and inexplicably called "Unsulphured Coconut Macaroon".

Does anyone know if Whole Foods (particularly the Alexandria location) carries shredded unsweetened coconut? I've always bought it at Trader Joe's, but they no longer sell it.

Another page, another update to the master latest list based on what has been posted/PM'd so far:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous hot salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Demvtr -- a big array of prepared/flavored tofu

jparrot -- smoked country ham

mdt -- some sort of homemade sausage

agm -- pernil (Puerto Rican-style roasted pork shoulder)

LaShanta -- barbequed chicken

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- roasted vegetable and couscous salad (vegetarian, but not vegan)

Al Dente -- gazpacho

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- some kind of pasta or chicken salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Gubeen -- som tam

Pat -- tabbouli and a couple of loaves of bread

holdtheline -- roasted corn and tomato salad

Desserts:

MelGold -- cookies of some sort

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Ferhat Yalcin -- cookies, possibly citrus-flavored

SunshineE -- pie, probably lemon meringue or apple

Walrus -- cupcakes

hm212 -- brownies

pidgey -- cake (?)

bnacpa -- insane brownies

LaShanta -- cupcakes

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kim bap (Korean sushi)

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

shogun -- pork rillettes and/or pissaladier and/or a dreamy chicken salad and/or onigiri and/or ???

ctay122 -- tarts (heirloom tomato tart, another onion, and one a surprise)

Monica Bhide -- spiced peas in flaky pastry

dcfoodie -- arancini and/or crostini

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

jparrot -- wine

hm212 -- soft drinks

pidgey -- non-alcoholic beverages

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

Daniel K -- some napkins and paper towels

bnacpa -- paper towels (4 rolls)

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics

Bringing a dish to be named later:

zoramargolis

ol ironstomach

(something baked)

bbq4me (some type of "twisted old school Chamorro food")

goldenticket

Tripewriter

squidsdc

For those wishing to contribute a non-food item and don't know what, see the post here for paper goods that are still needed.

And for those who do not want to go back scrolling through a bunch of posts to find the location of the picnic, it will be at Fort Hunt Park, picnic area C-2. A map and directions can be found here.

As always, please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

Is anyone offering carpooling options?

crackers was kind enough to inventory our current supply of picnic paper goods and we are lacking the following:

Heavy Duty, Large Paper Plates (~200 total)

Forks (we do have some, need about 3-4 dozen)

Paper Napkins (lots!)

Bowls (~120)

Plastic Wrap for any leftovers

Large Garbage Bags

Cups (~16 oz., need around 120)

Paper Table Cloths (need 10 and we will need these *early* in the day)

Paper Towels (3-4 rolls)

Hand Sanitizer (there is no running water nearby)

Some of these amounts are a lot to buy, so they can certainly be split between two or three or four people.

So if you are looking for a non-food/drink contribution to bring to the picnic and would like to claim responsibility for one of the above, please post or PM me.

And here is the master latest list based on what has been posted/PM'd so far:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous hot salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Demvtr -- a big array of prepared/flavored tofu

jparrot -- smoked country ham

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- roasted vegetable and couscous salad (vegetarian, but not vegan)

Al Dente -- gazpacho

Heather -- a salad (maybe)

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- some kind of pasta or chicken salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Gubeen -- som tam

Desserts:

Heather -- Scott's chocolate chip cookies

MelGold -- cookies of some sort

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Ferhat Yalcin -- cookies, possibly citrus-flavored

SunshineE -- pie, probably lemon meringue or apple

Walrus -- cupcakes

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kim bap (Korean sushi)

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

shogun -- pork rillettes and/or pissaladier and/or a dreamy chicken salad and/or onigiri

ctay122 -- tarts (heirloom tomato tart, another onion, and one a surprise)

Monica Bhide -- spiced peas in flaky pastry

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Heather -- juice boxes for the kids

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

jparrot -- wine

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

Daniel K -- some napkins and paper towels

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics*

Bringing a dish to be named later:

zoramargolis

ol ironstomach

Monica Bhide

mdt

LaShanta (something baked)

bbq4me (some type of twisted old school Chamorro food)

holdtheline

goldenticket

Tripewriter

squidsdc

Please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

Here is the latest list based on what has been posted/PM'd so far:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous hot salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Demvtr -- a big array of prepared/flavored tofu

jparrot -- smoked country ham

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- roasted vegetable and couscous salad (vegetarian, but not vegan)

Al Dente -- gazpacho

Heather -- a salad (maybe)

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- some kind of pasta or chicken salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Desserts:

Heather -- Scott's chocolate chip cookies

MelGold -- cookies of some sort

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Ferhat Yalcin -- cookies, possibly citrus-flavored

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kim bap (Korean sushi)

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

shogun -- pork rillettes and/or pissaladier and/or a dreamy chicken salad and/or onigiri

ctay122 -- tarts (heirloom tomato tart, another onion, and one a surprise)

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Heather -- juice boxes for the kids

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

jparrot -- wine

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

Daniel K -- some napkins and paper towels

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics*

Bringing a dish to be named later:

zoramargolis

ol ironstomach

Monica Bhide

mdt

LaShanta (something baked)

bbq4me (some type of twisted old school Chamorro food)

holdtheline

goldenticket

*Once we do an inventory on the contents of the big black bag filled with the leftover paper and plastic goods, we'll post any deficiencies so those who plan on bringing that sort of thing can know what is needed.

Please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

hillvalley asked me to once again help keep track of who is bringing what so we don’t end up too much of one type of food. So here is a preliminary list based on what has been posted so far:

Meats/Mains:

Jacques Gastreaux -- smoked pork shoulder with Eastern North Carolina-style BBQ sauce

eating out -- grandma's famous Hot Salami's

clayrae -- turkey tonnato (roasted turkey breast with tuna sauce)

Sides/Salads:

Jacques Gastreaux -- roasted potato salad

porcupine -- roasted vegetable and couscous salad (vegetarian, but not vegan)

Al Dente -- gazpacho

Heather -- a salad (maybe)

MelGold -- her famous (and beautiful) mango mold

cucas87 -- some kind of pasta or chicken salad

jjl -- smoked baked beans or cole slaw

legant -- toasted pita bread salad

Desserts:

Heather -- Scott's chocolate chip cookies

MelGold -- cookies of some sort

Barbara -- cheesecake

ScottJohnson -- kid-friendly jello cubes

Appetizers/Drinks/Other:

hillvalley -- salmon mousse

Escoffier & Grover -- kibim bap (Korean sushi)

shogun -- pork rillettes, pissaladier, and/or a dreamy chicken salad

StephenB -- not-yet-famous deviled eggs with caviar

ScottJohnson -- deviled eggs, homemade pickles

crackers -- petits rouleaux d'aubergine farcis and oignon rouge et rhubarbe mini-tartelettes

starfish -- random bottles of wine

Jacques Gastreaux -- martian pig slop from hell

Heather -- juice boxes for the kids

Tweaked -- beer

DanielK -- imported Scottish beverages

jjl – beverages (wine or beer and non-alcoholic)

Barbara -- wine and "Fancy Pants"

eating out -- beer

DanielK -- soccer goals, ball, and jerseys for the kids

zoramargolis -- lavender

Ferhat Yalcin -- cigars and the urge to play soccer

ol ironstomach -- a medium 2-burner camp stove and at least one or two butane cassette burners

Jacques Gastreaux -- cigars (3 or 4), folding chairs (1 or 2) and the big black plastic trash bag filled with all of the leftover paper and plastic goods from the last 2 picnics*

Bringing a dish to be named later:

zoramargolis

ol ironstomach

Monica Bhide

mdt

LaShanta (something baked)

bbq4me (some type of twisted old school Chamorro food)

holdtheline

goldenticket

*Once we do an inventory on the contents of the big black bag filled with the leftover paper and plastic goods, we'll post any deficiencies so those who plan on bringing that sort of thing can know what is needed.

Please feel free to PM me corrections, re-categorizations, deletions, additions, changes, spelling errors, picnic food-related questions or if you are just too shy to post what you plan to bring.

Also, if you aren't an adult beverage drinker please don't let that keep you from joining us either.  You may not be in the majority but you won't be the only one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yeah what mktye said...I'm showing up late and bringing a 6 pack of beer...anyone can be that dare I say creative 

What? You're not bringing anything to share?

But seriously, if you are coming later in the day, beverages (of any kind) are a great contribution. At the last picnic both, Tweaked and starfish arrived later on bearing libations and they were quite well received.

Here's a list of helpful (I hope) hints for those who are DR.com picnic newbies:

DO come to the picnic even if you don't cook. Goodies picked up from your favorite bakery/cheese shop/restaurant/wine shop are perfectly fine. An appetite is all that is required.

DON’T think you have to make something fancy if you are cooking. Keep in mind that your dish will need to sit out at room temperature for at least an hour or two and that it will be eaten in a picnic setting.

DO consider other non-food options if you don’t want to cook anything. One member brought a soccer set to the last picnic and it was a big hit with the kids. Beverages (adult and otherwise) are also greatly appreciated.

DON’T make tons and tons of food. Ten to twelve servings is plenty. Really. There will be a lot of food to taste and most everyone will only want a bite or two of any one item.

DO try to remember to bring appropriate prep and serving utensils for whatever food you bring.

DON’T feel you need to present your food in your best crystal, silver and/or china. In fact, if you don't plan on staying all afternoon, disposable serving containers are preferable.

DO put your name on any items you are concerned might get lost or left behind (a piece of masking tape with your name written on it with waterproof ink works great for this).

DON’T worry about having to cook dinner that night or possibly even the next day – there will be baggies/plastic wrap for those who want to take home leftovers. (Supplying the baggies/plastic wrap is currently up for dibs and is an excellent contribution for someone not wanting to bring food. So whoever calls it first…)

DO show up on time if you want to partake in some of the more popular food/drink items -- such as the martian pigslop from hell and the jello molds.

DON’T even think about not showing up just because you are running late. Come anyway. I suspect we’ll be there until they kick us out of the park.

DO bring your families. Children are very welcome.

DON’T bring your pets.

DO come even if your dog ate your lovingly prepared dish in a fit of vengeance because it could not attend the picnic and you have to make a last minute change to what you said you’d be bringing.

DON’T eat a large breakfast beforehand. Once again, there will be a lot of food.

(A big "Thank You" to crackers for her help in putting this list together! )

Last weekend, we walked by Tacuba Cantina Mexicana in the Bradlee Shopping Center in Alexandria and it appears to be kaput. The signs are still up, but no one is home (and all the furnishings are gone). So much for their ambition of becoming a chain.

While at the mall on Friday, my friend and I decided we were starving but did not want to leave yet, so we opted to eat there. As JoeH predicted,

There will be long lines of the curious for the first few months; let's see if they are still there next Spring. 

there was no wait at Pauli Moto's (or Gordon Biersch, but going there once was plenty for me). We decided to try Pauli Moto's since my shopping companion prefers Asian food over anything else and he didn't want to wait for a table. Well, I should have found the time to re-read this thread before we left for the mall.

To put it simply: not good.

We started with the Shanghai Spring Rolls and Snow Pea Leaves in Garlic. The kitchen has apparently taken the constructive criticism to heart and started making the spring rolls a bit smaller, so they are now hot all the way through and not gooshy.

It appears they've reverted. The spring rolls were gooshy and had a definite peanut butter taste to them. My friend thought it was due to frying them in peanut oil, but I've never come across peanut oil that tasted quite so strongly of peanuts.

From there, it just got worse... I ordered the Szechuan Eggplant and Pork. Not only was it not good, it was bad. Bad as in "I can't eat this" bad. A few meager pieces of oil-logged eggplant, old-tasting pork and tepid in temperature. Luckily, they'd brought me two bowls of rice -- one white and one brown.

But good company can make up deficiencies in food, right? Unfortunately, it was so loud in there (although the place was only half full) that I could only hear my friend if he shouted (and he is not a shouter). And between the din and his rate of speech, we caught only about 15% of what the waiter said, but that evolved (devolved?) to the point where we were in hysterics making up dialogues as to what we thought he might be saying.

The only saving grace of the experience was that I was still hungry when we went to Ray's the Steaks for dinner later that day. I guess I'll try Coastal Flats next time (or eat a better breakfast before going to the mall).

For couverture, I mainly use Callebaut and buy it from bkeith at his website here. The callets (about the size of the average chocolate chip) are quite handy since they eliminate chopping for most applications. (I've heard from bkeith that his distributor has discontinued the Callebaut bittersweet callets and is now supplying him Cacao Noel 72% bittersweet disks instead.)

For the more mundane applications (such as brownies for rwtye to take in his lunch) and where the chocolate is more of an ingredient than the star, I usually buy Ghirardelli from Trader Joe's. The price is right and rwtye favors its flavor over all other chocolates since it is the chocolate he grew up eating.