Barbara

To agm and NotQuickDraw for adopting an abandoned, handicapped dog. He becomes one of the three luckiest dogs in the world.

My poor understanding and limited intelligence leave me wondering why some people think that doing some things is a good idea.

Because we can. That's why.

To Mario Cuomo.

I should add that my father was more stable than General Ripper, but only marginally so, and in retrospect that's pretty scary.

Then you probably remember Gen Curtis LeMay urging the President to nuke North Vietnam.

CBS did a live play of Fail-Safe around 2000, IIRC produced or directed by George Clooney. I remember it being not completely awful, and certainly a unique experiment for modern TV.

The thing about Fail Safe was that the whole mess was triggered by a small electrical problem that went unnoticed until it was too late. Today, it could be a coding error or hackers. If you accidentally nuke Moscow, what can be done in order to save the rest of the world? That's what kept me up at night. At least a lot of people started thinking that maybe having nukes wasn't such a good idea.

Sorry to go on a tangent, but did you read On the Beach by Nevil Shute?  It may be more appropriate to discuss the film version in this thread, but I hated the film and loved the book.

ps  Dr. Strangelove is one of my favorite films, too.

Yes, I did read that in the not too distant past. I actually have read most of Shute's novels--because of "A Town Like Alice"--and was quite prepared for the way he saw things by the time that one landed in my hands. Never saw the movie.

 "What prompted me to watch Dr. Strangelove just now was seeing Fail-Safe on TCM just before. Practically the same conception, released in the same year, except  Fail-Safe didn't have any laughs or any genius."

I come to this whole discussion from a rather unusual viewpoint. I was living in Germany (while my Father was stationed there) when both Strangelove came out and Fail Safe was published. Imagine being 11 years old and having to over hear the librarians at the base library discussing the coming "war" during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I finished the book "Fail Safe" while my parents were driving me back from the local Girl Scout camp in Germany and feeling like I had been hit by a brick. I was literally scared to death. Our fathers, after all, were liable to be called to "alert" at a moment's notice and that meant that at least once a month or so, they had to leave in the middle of the night and reconnoiter somewhere away from us for a day or so. Not to mention the C rations everyone had to accumulate. Those came with small packs of Lucky Strike cigarettes--which my parents promptly confiscated.

I could go on about the difficulties of travelling to Berlin during those days, but I won't. I just wish I could understand the point of publishing so many books about the coming Apocalypse that were so rife at the time. I've actually read a number of lesser-known (for good reason) volumes of this sort in later years and marveled that they ever saw the light of day.

Was Dr Strangelove a brilliant film? Why, yes it was. The absurdity of it all even gave those of us living on the "front lines" a reason to be hopeful that nothing that crazy could actually come to pass.

There is one aspect of tipping I haven't read mentioned, at least lately, and that is the IRS. They can go in and audit a restaurant and estimate the amount of tips (based on what percentage I don't know) a given waitron should have declared on his/her income tax filing. Given the cuts in the IRS budget over the years, I suspect that this doesn't happen all that often. I just know that I supervised someone whose salary was garnished by the IRS for not declaring a sufficient tip income on a previous job he had as a waiter. Then, again, he was such a putz he was likely one of those who got stiffed all the time. Or not.

I meant to mention this a couple of weeks ago but forgot. Smucker Farms on 14th Street (a block or so above U and across the street from Kapnos) sells a variety of Jamie's sausages in their frozen meat section. And, since it is a whole lot easier for me to get to, I was very happy to learn this.

Now this is a nice little spat to read about while being completely removed from the situation.  I hope it gets cattier!!!!  

I found it "interesting" that Dallas has a peculiar relationship with restaurant critics. Who knew??? Heh.

Hi! I am needing to know the month and year that my Hubby was featured in a back issue of Bon Appetit for his recipe. He can't remember the year or for that matter even the month.  It amazes me how hard to find this is. I would like to purchase the issue from Bon appetite for Christmas for him, So I am pleading with anyone who perhaps kept back issues of BA mag. Here is what I know:

The title of the dish is "phyllo wrapped chicken with southwest pesto and garlic sauce"

The years it may have been issued in Bon Appetit could be between 1990-1997.

My Hubby name is Kenneth Kindel and at the time he worked at the Blue Window Bistro in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

And yes----I tired Bon App website and epicurious. I did find the recipe posted on other sites that people copied it from Bon App and they give credit to Bon App for the recipe.

Thank you soooooo much for anyone who can help!

Ah, yes. I found out (the hard way) that the RSVP recipes are NOT available online--see my request for a Lobster Risotto recipe somewhere around here.  If you PM squidsdc, and ask nicely, her husband may be of some help.  If you can find the correct date, then a search for a hard copy might actually result in one.

The Harris Teeter in Adams Morgan has had them from some place that says they are "natural" when I have looked in the past.

Funny, but I was just there this afternoon and couldn't find anything. Hmmm.

I am looking for a whole Turkey breast, preferably frozen, from a reputable source. For example, I don't consider Perdue or Tyson's reputable sources. The Whole Foods on P Street had some before Thanksgiving, but no longer. They have fresh ones that look a little hacked up. Any ideas?

Wow - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/restaurant-reviews/america-at-the-trump-hotel-the-food-is-amazing-but-you-shouldnt-eat-here-ever/article21833277/

Great find. Thanks for posting this.

New posts page is painfully slow to load.  So much so, I have been giving up.

You are hardly alone.

TG ca. 1914

A centennial anniversary edition.

The finer of the lot:

Consommé Dubarry.

Smoked turkey neck, romanesco, green and white cauliflower.

Turkey salmis: Roasted and picked turkey leg, tender gizzards, cranberries, Brussels sprouts and root vegetables in a kabocha squash gravy thickened with onions & rice;  Pont-neuf potatoes baked with caramelized onions, sprats and allspiced-heavy cream;  Maryland oyster stuffing with my ventrèche.

Turkey Wellington

Pastured turkey breast and a forcemeat made from the liver & trimmings, wrapped snug in collard greens and baked in savory pastry.

Finished with blazing mince pie.  Dried fruit bound with suet, baked in a cornmeal and almond crust then set ablaze with VSOP Calvados.

Where's the picture of the flaming pie????

Also, where did you find the inspiration for this? We're all dying to know . . .

What are the policies for OpenTable use for reservations made? Is there the ability for Open Table accepting restaurants to 1) require a credit card,.

I know that for Christmas Dinner at Corduroy, a notice on OT that you need a credit card to reserve a table is always there. I can't tell you off the top of my head if i input the number online or if I need to call the restaurant and given them my card number over the phone.

I just had a flashback to an incident that happened to me almost 20 years ago. I had booked a reservation at a fancy Chicago restaurant (maybe Everest? My memory of the actual name is dim) and my companion at the time was being a baby after a day of cold sightseeing and wasn't sure she wanted to go. I was livid. We had a RESERVATION. She waffled until about 10 minutes before our reservation time, and we were about 15 minutes away by cab, and I finally said that I was leaving whether she accompanied me, or not. I would NOT have cancelled the reservation at such a late date. She did go, but wouldn't eat when we got there. I had a divine meal. So glad I did not cancel!

You didn't marry this person, did you?

Just got back after taking my brother here for his annual birthday lunch. We got the same booth as we've had for three or four times now and still had the same waiter. (I wish I had asked his name--when I exclaimed that he was still there, he said "Where else would I go?" I should have told him "Any of the numerous new restaurants who are in desperate need of trained servers." But I'm not that quick-witted, alas.)

The lunch menu is quite a bit smaller than I remembered and there was no Duck Confit.   There were mussels, however, so I ordered those. My brother got the steak sandwich. I should have asked him how it was, but didn't and he didn't voice any complaint. The mussels were small and kind of shriveled, and there wasn't much sauce in the pot. I've had better mussels for less money at any number of places. The fries were fine. The bread basket was quite nice; but, I just found the food to lack the "finesse" that used to be a hallmark of this place. Because I mentioned that it was his birthday, the waiter showed up with a piece of bread pudding with a candle in it and two forks. That was an unexpected treat that we didn't manage to finish between the two of us.

We each had a glass of wine--one Malbec and a Dr. Loosen Riesling. Nothing to complain about there. The bill came to $51 and change before the tip.

I can't speak to dinner here, because I've only been for lunch. It remains the nicest place close to my brother's place of work and has never been very busy when we've been there. It's always been easy to converse there and catch up on the goings-on with his family. So, as long as my brother doesn't want to take the Metro into town (which he has done in the past), we will likely be there next year at this time--he won't be able to retire until his daughter graduates from college.

I've long given up hope that The Classics would open for lunch.

We had catering from DCity for a party a couple weeks ago. Certainly not cheap (at $200 for 10 lbs of meat I don't know how that compares to other places), but it was all really good. We had chopped pork, brisket, and turkey, and almost none leftover at the end of the night. Came with BBQ sauce and pickles if I recall. We didn't do any sides, but I want to go and try a sandwich with sides some time soon.

How many people were fed?

Joe,

I understand your frustration but your situations are very rare coincidence.

I had a party of 4, cancelled FishNook yesterday with the excuse being `there is a Caps game and the concert on the mall`. FishNook seats only 4 people and I have to bring in all my produce and seafood on Monday because the menu is completely different than the restaurant`s. Did these people not know about the game or the concert before hand? They made the reservation almost 4 weeks ago. I was too naive to trust them and did not ask for a credit card. How is that fair to me? I was not able to fill the seats tonight. I learned my lesson, just too late.

Btw, you should try Melisse next time right across from Rustic Canyon.

Since you are only dealing with four people at a time, I would think this is the perfect opportunity to institute the ticketing system. Pay upfront and lose out if you don't show.

Mintwood has it on offer now. Can't attest to the quality of it, since I've never had it there.

I could tell Pinto stories for days ( my kids are already over it). Mine was purchased by my dad for $100 & a couple of buckets of shrimp- he was totally taken. But he opted for a fancy paint job, blue w/ silver racing stripe down the center.

About 10 years ago, maybe at the turn of this century, the Car Guys put out a list of the Ten Worst Cars of the Century. Turns out that my Brother owned two of them--a Pinto and a Cadillac Cimmaron (which had a stick-shift, which he loved). I never miss an opportunity to remind him of this. 

Tonight DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson had his "victory" party in the rear of Next Door--victory being a rather relative term when you are expected to get at least 85% of the vote. This was a surprisingly (to me) small affair--most of these things are in hotel ballrooms. Also surprising to me was the quality of the food on offer. It was the best I've ever had at a political event, bar none. It was so good, that I questioned the staff about its origins and was given a menu to peruse.

All of it came from the Appetizer section of the menu and was served in a series of sterno-heated metal serving dishes. Obviously, I can't speak to the value of the regular menu because I don't know how they portion stuff out individually.  Nevertheless, the ribs, the mac and cheese, and the cole slaw were just excellent. Also, the spinach and artichoke dip was delicious as was the Brie and Apple flatbread. There were also three different kinds of chicken wings, which I didn't try, and something else served with rice that I also didn't try.

The service was also very friendly--even before they knew we were with the party in the back room.  There were TVs all over the place--just so's ya know--those in the front part were turned to the Wizards game and those in the back (where we were) were turned to CNN and News Channel 8. Duh.

I just want to give a shout-out to this place and suggest that if any of you are looking for a more modest place, away from the 14th Street mad house, particularly if you are attending an event at the Lincoln Theater, this wouldn't be the worst place to get a meal and a drink.

Once again, World Market has one-liter bottles of California Olive Ranch olive oil for $6.99 today only. Limit of 4 bottles per purchaser.