tanabutler

ROCKS JACKS US OFF. Great Googly Moogly. Spill, already. Is it a boy, or a girl?

I'm a clam! I'm a clam! I'm a clam!

I can't say anything political here, huh?

Happy late birthday, Señor Rockwell. How many more posts until I am the next thing up on the evolutionary ladder from a "shrimp"?

You owe me a glass of wine, you bastard. And a new keyboard.

Logan Tavern website (I had to look it up: Logan is our grandson's name!)

Nice story, Monica. (And appropriately enough, after 16 posts, I am still a "shrimp," according to Mr. Rockwell.)

It's National Farmers Market Week. I've been to two, and I'll hit two more today, if I plan well.

Just thought anyone running Tiger would like to know that there is a new widget called "Random DC restaurants." Random DC Restaurants: hey, do they have Rockwell's permission to do this?

PickYourOwn.org: a useful link for you all.

Could it be Kent Fort Farm?

I'm not in your neck of the woods, but here in Santa Cruz, there are wild boar roaming the hills that are easily seven feet long. They are a menace, and they are tasty, tasty, tasty. I've had wild boar several times at the farm dinners I used to photograph...invariably they were the result of a patient farm worker perching in a tree with a shotgun, waiting for the boar to come and start to ravage the crops. If a menu around here says "wild boar," I believe it. And I order it, more likely than not.

I've gotten lots of food-related gifts...my first chef's knife is 13 years old. I have a red Kitchen Aid mixer with all kinds of attachments. I've got this thing and that thing, but my favorite thing is brand-new. It's a Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven (model #175BC) that was recommended to me by Squeat Mungry (you may know him from other food boards). It retails for $250 but Bob found it on eBay for under $150, and bought it for me as a sweet thank-you gift for all the extra babysitting I've been doing with our little grandson. This thing is the best appliance I've ever had in my life. I've gone from having to heat an entire oven (and the house) for simple dishes, to using it on an almost daily basis. Today I learned that a 9" Pyrex dish fits in it, so that made me even happier. Happy? I'm ecstatic. I lo-o-o-o-o-o-ve it. The best part is this: our electricity is covered in our rent. The oven is propane, which we buy. Looks like I won't have to use the oven often at all. Yay!

FYI, the next issue of Gastronomica magazine will be about Julia Child, in its entirety. The ad for it has the most beautiful picture of her that I've ever seen. (Even the words "beautiful picture of Julia Child" are almost a non sequitur, but you have to believe me.) She's working dough under an open window, wearing a halter top that looks like it could have been made by the Tarzan Outfitters...bare midriff, bare back, and a dusty dark skirt. She's intent on her work, and she's just ravishing. And very young.

When we go to Las Vegas, we often eat at Canaletto's, at the Venetian. Our favorite waiter in the world, Vito, is there. He's just wonderful: straight out of Italy, hilarious, comical, but a professional--European service, through and through.Also in LV, at Ortanique in Paris, there is a waiter named Adam who we request, having been saddled with someone else once. The someone else made requesting Adam (who had waited on us previously) a necessity. The someone else made us remark, "You know, that waiter we had the first time was really good." Adam doesn't push you to order more than you want, doesn't hover, doesn't make obsequious remarks, doesn't have that "I'll be taking such good CARE of you that you leave a REALLY BIG TIP for me" tone in his voice, and he DOES make good recommendations. Plus his grandmother danced with Elvis's revue, so there's that. He kind of looks like Oliver Platt, who I've always thought would make a great waiter.

I just wanted to stick my farm-loving head in here and post a link to LocalHarvest.org as a wonderful resource for farmers markets (and farms, farm products, events, etcetera)...this is probably the URL/resource I have come to recommend more often than any in my decade-and-a-half online. It's a national database with nearly 4000 farms, 1100 CSAs, 3000+ farmers markets, and more. Just plug in your zip code and watch the map. One thing in particular that I have enjoyed is the ability to sign up for updates...again, just plug in your zip code and you will be given periodic notices if farm events are coming your way. For example, that is the calendar for upcoming events within a hundred mile radius of the zip code 20036. Hope this helps. I just love the work he's put into the site, and hope others find it valuable, too. (P.S. HillValley, is that still Jacques' butt?)

As posted from my pre-"Legacy Participant" days: In the May 11, 2005 San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Bauer writes about Las Vegas restaurants: "Going for Broke: Las Vegas has lured some of S.F.'s top restaurateurs, but is the gamble paying off for diners?" (that is a static link that should remain intact until the end of time). On Bradley Ogden: Pretty damning: that would pretty much keep me away permanently, as the worst thing to endure in a restaurant is stuffy or ungracious service. Bauer didn't hit all the biggest/most expensive places, but these: Fleur de Lys, Mandalay Bay Hotel Nobhill, MGM Grand Bradley Ogden, Caesars Palace Burger Bar, Mandalay Place Postrio, Venetian Crustacean, Desert Passage in the Aladdin Hotel Seablue, MGM Grand Michael Mina, Bellagio Bouchon, Venetian --------- Also: another pre-Legacy report (with a few photos) of Lotus of Siam, where we eat every single time we go to Las Vegas, period. Rosemary's I love Canaletto at the Venetian, too. It's mid-priced: dinner for two with a couple of glasses of wine might be $75. Vito there is our favorite waiter ever. 100% Italian, 100% pro, and great fun. (For us, that is. YMMV.) Also in the upper mid-price range is Ortanique in Paris: there is a steak with a gorgonzola-stout reduction that is jaw-droppingly good. Dinner for two with a couple of glasses of wine: $125. pre-tip. Adam is an excellent waiter there, if he happens to be working. His grandmother danced with Elvis! We had a great lunch at Emeril's Fish House in the MGM Grand: the oyster po boys are fabulous. They are definitely huge enough to share one, if you're of a mind. Get an app and split the sandwich, or roll out the door. We did Bouchon for breakfast, and the housemade preserves were as good as anything I've ever put in my mouth. It was lovely. Have fun. Good luck!

One of my favorites for pot lucks is spanakopita. It travels well, doesn't need to be reheated, and it looks impressive. If you're comfortable using phyllo dough, it's fun. I have used the Moosewood recipe (the original one, with butter!) dozens of times successfully. Pretty easy: mix cooked spinach, eggs, cottage cheese, feta, herbs/spices in a big bowl and slather them on top of layers and layers of buttered phyllo. Top with same, crimp down edges, and bake. Let cool, cover with foil, and travel away. Another great aspect to spanakopita is that you can cut it small for finger food, or into larger pieces for sit-down dinners.

FWIW, I know several people who own restaurants, and the commonly shared belief is that Dad doesn't want to go out for Father's Day. No, he is expected to don apron and toque and Man the Grill. (Most would rather Man the Girl, I suspect, but you'll have to take that up with them.) Mom, on the other hand, is taken to brunch to get her out of the kitchen for a change. Things change slowly, don't they?

Mmmmmm, crab smoothies! My favorite.It wasn't in DC but in Reno over the weekend. We bought a spectacular platter of seafood on ice at Oceano at the Peppermill casino. I would order it again in a heartbeat, but with one variation. It comes with oysters, oyster shooters (we chose tequila, lime, cilantro, japaleño), giant prawns, Dungeness crab, and Alaskan King crab legs the size of baseball bats. Fantastic. That was only $15/person, so we ordered the add-on lobster tail for another $7.50/person. Except that it was a small lobster tail (no biggie, still delicious) not really worth the extra $$. What is this dipping sauce? "It's drawn butter." Try "movie popcorn butter compound." I can taste the chemicals. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Like I said, we'll go back and we'll order it again, because it was piled to the ceiling and everything was perfectly prepared. But we'll forego the lobster and the "drawn butter."

Virgin post here, just coming out of lurking/observation mode to tell you people that you absolutely rock. I've long envied your forum at The Society Dot Org--for being the vibrant and kick-ass group you are. (Having a forum host with a pulse sure helps, huh? Having had one like Mr. R. is about as fortunate as you could have gotten.) Anyway, I sure hope to get to your neck of the woods sometime to have a Spontaneous Get-Together That Is Freely Planned Without Permission and Doesn't Require Fund-Raising or Pledge Drives or Signing Anything or Even Compulsory Photograph of the Attendees. You rock, and you Rockwell. Cheers, gang. </back to lurk mode>