ohstate

Thanks, but I'll be in Ohio over Christmas, so I can load up my truck there. Just in time for New Years. IIRC, dad used Squirt in his Manhattans.

Does anyone know if they still make Squirt (another grapefruit soda)? We always had it in the house for New Years for mixing drinks. I haven't seen it in years.

I'm using my mother's vintage stand mixer (Oster, IIRC). She got it sometime around 1970. Still runs like a charm. It's a lovely harvest gold color. I'd like one with a beater paddle, but I make do without. I'll replace it when it dies.

I need to learn to make yorkshire puddings. My husband's grandmother served them every Christmas. Unfortunately, I don't control the menu on Christmas, so we'll see if I can get the oven space. Is it a standard recipe? I think hers is gone now.

We had: Piper-Heidsieck Brut 2005 Carmel Road Monterey Pinot Noir Erath 2005 Pinot Noir Oregon Then we sort of lost track...

Homemade coffee cake w/ cinnamon streusel topping and lots of coffee.

We've offered to bring some wine to our host's house for Thanksgiving. Any recommendations? Not only to drink with Turkey, but also perhaps a bottle of something bubbly for fun. Caveat: It can't be a wine too hard to find, as the places I can shop are not always well stocked. (Between Anacostia and southern Calvert county on my way home tonight, most likely. My best bet is Port of Call in Solomons). The hosts seem to like slightly lighter bodied wines than we do, btw. They lived in Germany and traveled extensively in France for 10 years. (I'm also taking a pecan pie and other sides, but want to get the wine right. Although I'd like to keep it under $50/bottle.)

FYI, this was posted on the DelRay listserv recently: Seasons Greetings Just a short note to inform all that we shall be closed Mondays during the month of November to attend to some maintainance work. If you are unable to handle that 'monday night chicken curry fix' until tuesday, here is a link to making your own, good luck! http://www.monkeysee.com/video/watch/3125 Thank you neighbors, for your patronage, support & friendship. Balraj Bhasin BOMBAY CURRY COMPANY

Hard Times has a "cheap wing night" on Wednesdays. IIRC, it is half price. We sometimes get a large group together in Alexandria and order dozens and dozens, with pitchers of beer.

We bougth some local freshly picked crab at Capt. Smith's Seafood store in Solomons two weeks ago. My husband makes the best crabcakes in the area, btw. Captain Smith also serves fresh seafood, but we've never eaten there. They have @ 3 tables in the tiny front of the store. They also carry local oysters in season. Captain Smith's Seafood 13944 Solomons Island Rd. Solomons, MD 410-326-1134

Thanks all. I went with Oyamel. I think my husband will like it quite a bit, especially the ceviche, which he doesn't get too often. Thanks again.

We don't usually venture into the District for dinner (being generally lazy on weeknights and out of town on most weekends), but we have theater tickets at the Lansburgh on a Friday night. There are so many new places in that area since our last visit, that I just can't make up my mind, so please offer your insights if you will. We've been to Jaleo and Atlantico (although both were many years ago). We're not mulit-course people by nature. We might split an appetizer or dessert, but not have one each, so most pre-theater dinners our too much. We like just about all kinds of food, but I'm not a big fish person. We light a less formal atmosphere (we want fun, not stuffy). We like a nice glass (or bottle) of wine, but we're not aficionados. Neither of us are fond of french food, at least the french food we've experienced so far. My husband hates heavy sauces and eats no sauces w/ cream. Maybe Jaleo for a bunch of small plates and glasses of sangria is what we should do, but I'm inclined to try something new. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Here is my Hungarian grandmother's recipe for some great soft pillow-like cookies. Since she passed in 84, and didn't really write everything down, especially when it comes to actual amounts, my sister and I fiddled with it a bit to get to this point. She used to bake so many cookies each Christmas. With 9 kids and countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she had too! BUTTER KIFFLA 4 egg yolks 1 cup thick sour cream 1 lb. Butter 1 lemon rind 3 ¾ cups flour Salt (? I use a pinch in her honor, not knowing how much it should really be). Mix dough; roll into balls the size of a walnut. Chill dough in refrigerator. When ready to bake, roll out on powdered sugar to about the size of a pancake. (see how vague this is? is 'size'=thickness? because pancake sized seems rather large for a cookie. I go with "thickness". Your mileage may vary.) Place filling in corner and shape like a crescent. Bake at 350 about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool. FILLING: 1/2 lb Ground walnuts 1 1/4 c Sugar 1/4 ts Cinnamon 1 ts Vanilla 3 Egg whites, stiffly beaten

Walking distance (or how I get my husband to agree to eat out more) Fireflies Evening Star Hanks (ok, just once so far, but we're going back) Hard Times (Wednesday night wing club) Overwood Not walking distance: Bombay Curry house A la Lucia Thailand Royal St. As you can tell, we rarely venture into the District. I need to pick a place near the Gallery Place/Chinatown area for a pre-theater dinner. Any ideas? We're not big on multi-course dinners. Thanks!

Just a reminder that this weekend is the St. Mary's County Oyster Festival. National Oyster shucking competition (professional and amatuer classes) (with free oysters served to the spectators in the stands after judging), lots of oysters of all kinds - raw, grilled, scalded (local Southern Maryland style), stewed, fried. Other vendors serving fried clams, scallops, soft crab sandwiches, crab cakes, shrimp, fried fish, and a seafood chowder. Southern Maryland ham, beef and chicken specialty dishes are available. Polish and Italian sausage, hamburgers, hot-dogs, 'Old Ham' on biscuits, and, of course, stuffed ham sandwiches are also on the menu. Volunteers from local nonprofit organizations prepare all these different seafood offerings. The festival provides a means by which these clubs raise funds for their various charities. Beer and Maryland wine to wash it all down. http://www.usoysterfest.com/

This weekend is also the Riverside Winefest at Sotterly Plantation. Only four food vendors listed though. I think it is all Maryland wines. However, it could be a nice road trip to St. Mary's county on a beautiful day to a lovely historical plantation on the Patuxent River. http://www.sotterley.org/winefest2007/index.cfm http://www.bluewindgourmet.com/ http://www.bromehowardinn.com/ http://www.sunshinescateringcompany.com/default.aspx

Looks like the old Thai Peppers restaurant in Alexandria (on King Street near the metro) is going to be an Ernie's Original Crab House - at least according to the permits/notices posted in their window. Anyone ever tried Ernies'? I think there used to be one in the Fairlington area on Fern Street, but that was years ago.

I love Vindaloo! Almost never order anything else at an indian restaurant. I once ordered it extra hot at Haandi after a weak showing of heat at a different establishment. That was a bit over the top, even for me. I've also ordered it as a "7" on a scale of 1-10, with "6" being akin to Mexican food, according to the server. Well... I don't know where he was eating his Mexican food, but this was much hotter than that. I asked him who ordered "10's", and he laughed and said "Texans". I do always order the raita and naan to cool it off a bit. I learned the milk/dairy trick when as a child, I snuck into the refrigerator and snacked on some "pickles" that turned out to be hot peppers instead. After practically drowning myself in water, milk straight from the carton put out that fire.

My husband entered the amatuer shucking contest a few years back. DNF. Sad really, but they pass around the freshly shucked oysters (after judging) to the crowd in the stands (for free). Also, check out the Circle C oyster ranch booth. They harvest them fresh each day from their floats and serve them up. They ran out while we were there, but just went down the road to pull more. IIRC, they're done on the grill and served one of 2 sauces. Also, a southern Maryland classic is the scalded oyster. IIRC, that is what they serve at the Optomist's stand. Also, there should be some classic stuffed ham sandwiches for another tasty treat. http://www.oysterranching.com/background.html

We're headed to NS in 2 weeks - Halifax, Lunenburg and Cape Breton. Lunenburg looks to have some interesting choices. Halifax seems to have a nice selection of pubs with music. Most reviews I've found are for more upscale places, which is not really what I'm after. It will be much more hit and miss as we get out into the wilds. Any reports from those of you who have made the trip? We've got Fleur de Sel (Lunenburg) on the list so far as our first night there. Thanks!

I think it has gone downhill since the original owner/chef sold it. The goulash used to be pretty good, and my husband liked the fish specials. The owner/chef was Vic Kriedl who has a new place, Cafe Tirolo in Ballston, last I heard, although I've never been there.

We use the pizza stone on our gas grill. We put the stone on the cold grill and heat them both up at the same time. We roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper, top the pie, then just slide it on and off the stone. We let the stone cool down on the grill too - thus no breaking during the heating/cooling cycle. The edges of the parchment paper get burned, but nothing that influences the pizza. With the lid on the grill, the crust and toppings get done just right. Of course, you need a pizza peel to get the pizza on/off the stone. We've found that our splatter screen works just fine (as long as the plastic handle doesn't come in contact with the grill, of course).

I second the Cowboy Ciao recommendation. Our party of 6 all raved about their meals. I would definitely go back. We also took my inlaws to the wine bar (Kazimierz), and it was a tad adventurous for them. They have more appetizers/tapas rather than full meals. Not that the food was crazy, but the concept didn't make them comfortable. Much more meat and potatoes people. The home made sausages were quite tasty at Kazimierz and the flatbreads were also good. The wine flights are great fun at both places. Reservations recommended for both. We were there the first week of January (for a bowl game, sigh) and popular places could get fairly crowded.

Thanks, I'll check it out. We usually don't get into the stadium until the first pitch, as we never have tickets in hand when we arrive. Where are the Attman stand and Capitol Q stand located? We tried the Ugly Mug again, but it was worse than ever, if possible. Exactly zero servers. We bussed our own table (ok, this should have been the clue we needed to walk down the block and go somewhere else. In retrospect, what was I thinking at that point?) We ordered food/beer at the bar, but half of our order never made it to us (they didn't put it in). They never fixed the problem either, even after we went to the bar to talk to the bartender. They were seriously understaffed. Two guys were working behind the bar with a 6 p.m. shift change when only one guy was actually working for a good 10 minutes while the other guy was checking out. His replacement walked in, and having no idea of who had been waiting the longest to get served, just started where he could. The food we did get was not good, even for bar food. (Mini burgers). Everything bad a burger could be. Too much bun, too overcooked, dried out, served cold. This place didn't even put out minimal effort. They bartenders that were working were so overwhelmed, it was all bad attitude as well. Never again.

We generally avoid RFK food - we either pack a cooler and eat in the parking lot or grab a bite on the hill. We keep trying different places in the hopes of finding something decent. I don't need a prix fixe, but I do want decent grub. RFK does not have decent grub that I can find. We usually head home after the game as we only go on week nights and are too wimpy to stay out late in the face of an early work day.