Barbara

This is an annual event usually held close to Halloween. Guys dressed in drag (and high heels) race up 17th Street (an area some wag here referred to as the "Gayborhood"). A little history: When this first got started, the police came and arrested everyone. Times have changed and this is a big deal. When you were told to be there by 7:30, that was no mistake. The whole area gets just packed and makes it difficult to see the race.

All in favor, say "AYE!"

You lucky DOGGGG! Are you SURE you don't need some local "business" associates to accompany you?

O-O-O-O-H-H-H-H It's a good thing dueling has been outlawed.

I should have mentioned that I happily ate rabbit as a kid and cooked it myself a time or two when I lived on my own. It was as an ADULT that I acquired pet rabbits and started feeling squeamish about eating their relations. (Whoever said that they can be litter-trained were LIARS). I pity one of my neighbors who grew up on a farm in Wales and promised her pet lamb that she would never eat lamb. Now THAT would be a hardship.

Are you talking about the little building at the bus turn-around? Used to be the turn-around for the trollies which plied the bridge. It's historic and is staying. Ugly is as ugly does.

Are reservations required for the tasting? Or, can we expect to stand in a very long line for the goodies?

Rabbits are not rodents; they are LAGOMORPHS. I can't eat rabbit ever since I acquired two of them in succession as pets. Ain't happenin'.

Happy Anniversary! May you have many, many more (with the same man, of course )

I have read in various places that homemade mayo is only good for about a week, under refrigeration. You might consider making it with "pasteurized" eggs. I know that the whites don't whip very well, but the yolks do OK, and you don't need to whip the whites to make mayo.

I wonder if Constantine is a movie buff. "Open City" was the name of a post-WWII movie made by Roberto Rossellini, which Ingrid Bergman went to see with her then-husband. She later met, and married, Rossellini; but not before giving birth to twins and scandalizing everybody in Hollywood.

Thanks for this tip. I didn't know about this site before and I looked up something I have been searching for (not a German wine) and found it at a local place.

Maybe it's a typo that should have read "2x day"?

Word.

Still, no Firefly and no Corduroy. Sheesh!

Make sure the can is in good shape; i.e., no dents and particularly no odd bulges. If all looks well, then proceed with the above advice and open them and take a good look and a good smell.

We have occasionally gotten fruit fly infestations from bringing produce home. We've discovered that the best remedy is a vacuum cleaner. That does the trick. I agree that they aren't as awful as cockroaches.

And all this time I thought I was missing out on something by never having attended this event. Olivia, you have made my day!

I already have a bottle with your name on it. No need to pander.

Well, "Julie & Julia" arrived Saturday afternoon and all the rain (Yes!) gave me an excuse to sit down and start reading. I finished it late last night with tears streaming down my face. The Washington Post will have a review of this on Wednesday, so I wanted to get my $0.02 in before reading what some stranger has to say. I have also avoided reading the review in the NYT. The book opens, unfortunately for you gentlemen, with a trip to the gynecologist. You can choose to be put off by this if you want to, I suppose, but the "ick" factor is kept to a minimum. I recommend plowing on because an awful lot of this book is simply hilarious. I mean, the whole idea of this project was ludicrous on its face and Powell just runs with it; you want self-deprecating, potty-mouthed snarkiness? It's all here in abundance. My thorough enjoyment of this entire book has a great deal to do with the fact that I am a fellow card-carrying member of the "Cult of Julia" and Julie Powell speaks directly to me. The fact that I am old enough to be her mother is completely irrelevant. (I was astonished to learn how much money she made donating her eggs for IVF treatments; by the time this procedure was introduced, my ova were passed their sell-by date, alas.) I share her fascination with Childs' whole life and marriage. Powell read the correspondence of both Paul and Julia, and "Appetite for Life" by Noel Riley Fitch, and imagined some scenarios in their lives--something for which she may be criticized. I, however, have made the same sort of speculations about the Childs and so could appreciate Powell's own musings on that subject. This book is by no means a re-hash of her blog. Au contraire. I think it probably helps to have read her blog, but isn't really necessary (except she doesn't mention the name of the "Government Agency" she worked for during all this. Her blog readers, or "bleaders" as she calls them, know, though, that she worked for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation). Sounds like a swell job, no? Except she was a temporary Secretary and boy! have I been down that particular road. No matter how accomplished a home cook you may be, you will undoubtedly learn a thing or two. There are a LOT of recipes in "Mastering" and I doubt any of us have made even a small fraction of them. So, her comments about some of the more obscure things have added to my (future) repertoire. WARNING: Powell makes her politics quite clear and takes every opportunity to disparage Republicans. I mean, she takes EVERY opportunity. You have been warned. Otherwise, read and enjoy.

It occured to me that there might be a consensus for the need of a Recipe Forum on this site, particularly with the food-intensive Holidays coming up. The recipes already on various threads are likely to disappear into the "bowels" of this website and new members won't know that they exist unless somebody bumps them up to the first or second page. Rocks will need some idea of the desire for this, along with features you would like such a forum to have. I would like a list of recipes available, along with a search feature. Anyone else?

That's only because he doesn't know about the "wine coolers" (cheap red wine mixed with 7 Up) in the car at the drive-in movie in Texas. Edited to add: After thinking about this for a day or so, I remembered that we used to make wine coolers out of Boone's Farm Apple wine, too. I just thought it was too disgusting for this crowd but, apparently not.

Let's see: Young (to me, at least), nicely dressed, real cute, great hair?

For a variety of reasons, which I won't elaborate, I am happy to forego turkey on Thanksgiving. Because of the alignments of our various family members, Craig and I normally found ourselves alone on Thanksgiving. I viewed that as a time to experiment. One year, when Larimer's still existed on Conn. Ave., I sent him to get a pheasant. Pheasant for Thanksgiving, who knew? Kinda reminds me of one Easter when we were first together and ate leg of lamb in our bathrobes. Once Bistrot du Coin opened, I saw this as a place to get my favorite meal (mussels!!!) on the day you are supposed to give thanks for the bounty of our country. Lately, we have been sharing Thanksgiving dinner with neighbors who were not born in this country (Venezuela, Wales, Costa Rica, etc.) and, thus, have no particular traditional foods for the day. Those who insist on the Thanksgivings of their childhoods, with concomitant food cooked exactly as they remember, are doomed to disappointment. Flexibility, however, has great virtues. And, makes for some memorable, if not exactly traditional, Thanksgivings.

Hear, Hear! (Monique, we feel your pain.)