Barbara

This has been my go-to place to take my brother to lunch on his birthday (in November). It is right next to his office and thus, right next to the Metro. Please don't tell me I have to find another place!

May his spirit find the peace and freedom he couldn't find here on this earth.

This one is really bad. I was surprised to discover that he was the same age as me. Can't imagine doing that to Dame Edna--but then, I've never suffered from depression, which leaves me in ignorance coupled with great sadness. Sucks the big one.

I can attest that G's Italian Hero is much the best food I've ever eaten at a ballpark--admittedly a rather limited experience. I got there early, like everybody else who wanted a Jayson Werth garden gnome, and found no lines a the G Sandwich spot near my seat and a pre-made sandwich. Pricey at $14, but not much more than is charged at the restaurant on 14th St., although I can't compare since I've not had one at the resto. Also, I only ate half of it in the park and brought the other half home, which I ate late last night. It held up well throughout all of that. I could easily see two people sharing this--unless you are a teenaged boy going through a growth spurt.

Now, I just want to know who thought Dippin' Dots were a good idea?

Just noticed the other day that the meatless meatballs are back!  Assuming the recipe is still the same, It is a happy day in the ozgirl household.

I just picked some up a week or so ago. The brand we used to like was discontinued by both WF and Yes! Gourmet some time ago. These actually compared very favorably to frozen (real) meatballs Dame Edna bought. I hope this is something they will continue to carry.

I wonder if you originally replaced the raspberry preserves with Chambord? I could totally see that.

Help me save my marriage with a Frozen Raspberry Mousse recipe on page 24 of the Bon Appetit April 1991.  It also has a yummy sauce with chambord.  Many thanks! ... Robin

Was it one of those "RSVP" recipes requested from a restaurant? If so, you won't find it anywhere online. Learned this from my search for a Lobster Risotto recipe, which was in the November 1991 issue. Mr. Squidsdc found it. PM squidsdc and ask her nicely if her husband can come to rescue once again.

My mother used to make them with a farmer cheese and pineapple filling. She rolled the dough and filling together jellyroll style. Haven't seen Smitten Kitchen's dough recipe. Does it have sour cream in it?

Nope. Cream cheese.

Yesterday, I used the "cold egg-boiling water" method as described in the video and my farmers market-fresh eggs peeled like a dream and were cooked through with no green ring.

This article says it also covers Walmart and that Wegman's has recalled baked goods that contain fruits from the same company.

Fortunately, I've been finding such good regionally-sourced stone fruits, I haven't bought them anywhere else in recent times.

Yeah, this is not the time to be buying fruit in supermarkets. I bought two pints of blueberries from my favorite farmer on Saturday and, when I rinsed and sorted them to make a dessert, I found exactly ZERO bad berries and NO stems to pull. Worth the extra cost for them because the last thing I worry about is nasty diseases from anything I buy from him. I know, First World problems--except for the parts of the world which never even see industrially-produced food.

I like that Don can take a punch.  And throw one. 

I like that this was how I met Charles. And, a bunch of other folks who have also graced my life immeasurably.

As to poaching eggs, I used the method described in the video this morning and I have to say that I was impressed! No vinegar, no salt, and it only took a minute or two to produce a  perfectly poached egg that looked really good as well.

Thank you, Zora, for finding and posting that. Works like a charm!

What, nobody's mentioning Cooks Illustrated's version?! Put eggs in cold water so that water level is 1 inch above eggs. Bring to a boil then turn off heat and cover pot. Let them sit for 10 minutes then cool in ice bath for 5 minutes. SeriousEats.com says that a 30 minute ice bath is the key to easy peeling. I haven't tried that, yet. The no-boil method is great for a no-green ring hard boiled egg, though.

This is the method Jacques Pepin has recommended for years. I haven't had the dreaded "green ring" since I adopted this way of doing it.

Just started reading Odd Bits, by Jennifer McLagan, and find myself wondering where to buy the strange meat parts she is talking about. For example, and this may be a bridge too far, boned and rolled calf head. Who but our own Julien Shapiro would make one?

How about brains, sweetbreads, and other more common things? Especially from humanely raised animals?

Sadly, the former owner of Let's Meat on the Avenue retired. The lady at the counter said he got married and his wife inherited $14 million, and he moved away. I deduced that the people there are not skilled butchers when they could not tell me which part of a brisket was the point and which the flat.

So, looking for an uncommonly good butcher shop with a good, old-fashioned butcher. Do they still exist?

FIFY

Cashion's Eat Place is taking over the Taan Noodles space and opening up a casual seafood place called Pop's Seabar.

This sounds very exciting! I hope that they will be able to pick up the liquor license there. That space has been a "kiss of death" for some reason.

PS - Did you know that Tallulah Bankhead banged Hattie McDaniel? (And now, half the audience Googles this ...)

She reportedly banged every living entity she could get her claws on.

Leaning using the America's Test Kitchen Pork Butt recipe (on grill in the AM, then finished in oven and kept warm in crock pot) with potato rolls and BBQ sauce, served with pickles and close slaw, and baked beans 

I did this earlier this month for a birthday party (about 20 +- people). I made Zora's BBQ sauce a week in advance, made the rub for the meat and let it all marinate for a couple of days, and made the cole slaw for it the day before. I also baked a couple of cakes a day or two before the party. The day of the party, I ran to the farmers market and came home and started the coals for the grill. Slapped the two roasts on and left them alone for a couple of hours--which gave me time to do everything else. Put them in the oven for about 3 more hours, and they were ready to be shredded before the guests showed up. This was also pot-luck, so some of my guests brought salads and such for everybody.

Bear in mind, my party started at 5 pm, so plan accordingly.

I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre back in the 1960s. I was kind of shocked at the condition of the canvas--completely cracked and all. That experience gave me (and Dame Edna) a real education when we saw the exhibit at the National Gallery in the late 1980s of "Still Lifes from the Heinz Family Collection." There were no crowds at all and we went visited the exhibit a second time and were able to examine the paintings up close and at our leisure. The most astonishing paintings were two matched, very large, pictures of vases of flowers--commissioned by Philip II of Spain--which were painted on copper plates. They were about 500 years old and looked like they were painted yesterday.

So, when we went to Italy after we got married, we walked by a commercial gallery in Florence and spotted a painting that looked very old. Dame Edna immediately said, "We can't afford it." I suggested that we go in and make inquiries anyway. Turns out that the painting of flowers in a vase had been recently painted by a young Italian man and was put in an old frame. And, it was painted on a copper plate. That sealed the deal on what turned out to be an affordable painting after all. We later, at Venables, bought a still life by a young American painter that was painted on masonite. These two are going to last forever--assuming our heirs give a damn.

Ferhat is putting out some serious food here. The announcement that he had PEI mussels sent me out on the first day without a heat wave. However, I saw that he also had soft-shell crabs on offer so had to go with that. He obviously learned a thing or three from Tom Power about how to prepare softies. I went with the platter instead of a sandwich and got a presentation very similar to what is served at Corduroy. Ferhat serves his with a red pepper coulis, instead of the verjus at Corduroy, which was delicious. He also slipped me a bowl of the mussels, too, so I could try those. Plum, juicy and prepared in an excellent curry/coconut milk sauce.

Since discovering how ridiculously easy it is for me to get there by bus (or subway) and walking right by Mockingbird Hill and Southern Efficiency on the way to Fishnet, I could sure see doing a tour some evening of all those spots. I'll let Metro do the driving.

Great timing!

Yes! Gourmet (on Columbia Road) carries Lotus brand Carnaroli rice (imported from Italy and certified Organic) for $4.99 for a 15 oz. bag. It made a nice risotto recently.

Does someone have a beef with Cantor? A lot of folks had a steak in the election. His liberal spending obviously didn't sit well (done) with his constituents. The media grilled him over this rare defeat. A Brat is a lot cheaper.

I'm trying to think of a good meataphor to explain this.

Good try. The only metaphor I can come up with is "Happy Wife = Happy Life." He neglected his "wife", i.e., his constituents, and they made their unhappiness quite plain. How one works food into the equation escapes me.

The Saturday Farmers Market at 14th & U Sts. open from 9am-1pm, has a vendor (don't know the name) who sells duck eggs along with chicken eggs FWIW and for those who don't want to deal with the crowds at Dupont on Sunday.

A broken-hearted toast to Tony Gwynn.

Just remember that, because of the Polar Vortex we suffered from several times this winter, everything is a couple or so weeks late. I think the PV also killed off the fungus that causes Black Spot on roses and powdery mildew on other things. That, it seems, was the payoff.

I'm just pissed because a week of West Coast games means I couldn't stay awake to listen to the entire games. Luckily for me, however, I felt safe enough to go to bed when the Nats were up by quite a bit in the late innings. The results have been too late for the WaPo, though, and local TV has found every reason on the planet to ignore this sensational run.

After this afternoon's loss, they are off to a more civilized (time-wise) series in St. Louis. Should be interesting.

I just love this team (as if no one could tell).