pax

I am resigned to the fact that I am the Black Thumb of Death, and it is no shame to support a gardener. I'd love a place to buy potted herbs; normal stuff like basil, rosemary, cilantro. Generally I pick up the weak kneed specimens at Trader Joe's and kill them within months. My husband is officially retired and I've put him in charge of rescuing our plants. Yay! Where can I go to buy good fresh potted plants, organic ones if possible. Any suggestions?

I made onion bagels yesterday, and we just had them toasted with cream cheese. We slept in, the kids have the day off.

Did you by any chance by those chips right around lunch time from a very very crabby clerk? I bought about a dozen Vosgues bars. I love them. ETA I just realized you meant today. I was there yesterday. Too bad, the chip buying man behind me was preetty toothsome himself.

What chaps me is he's willing to "donate the cost of their meal to charity". Well bully him, getting a tax write off. THEY didn't choose to donate their money. THEY choose to try to have a nice meal. They should be refunded entirely, at the least.

and kid-friendly. It doesn't even sound worth doing, does it? My step kid is coming into town with the rodeo!

World Market in Germantown has had Tyrell's, four different flavours, the last few times I've been in there. Last time I bought a case. No, no, don't thank me, just pick me up some too, ok?

Gilbert's Restaurant Supply. Near the Post Office, ish.

My ex is a veg-head, but I still cook for him regularly since he works for me and often joins the children and I for dinner. I just make sure I keep the side dishes meat-free, and he skips whatever we're having as the main. I always keep some kind of bean/cheese dish (he doesn't like tofu) as a protein for him. I just started educating myself a little more about Indian cooking, since it's a great way to get lots of flavour without using meat. We didn't divorce cause he's a veg-head.

Hi-oh, Storage Lady. I'm right over the river from Frederick. I have three places I haven't got to in Frederick, yet...Danielle's, Qynn's Attic (I hope that's the name), and Mealey's since the change... I'll check out your blog. ETA: I'd love to love That Cuban Place. I wish they'd get their stuff together.

Ditto what Heather said vis a vis the family friendly issue. Thanks for coming, I am looking forward to your answer about the service industry vs working with your muse. I worked for a living doing what I loved, and my passion suffered when I had to start running the calculator.

...does anyone know of a piano bar in the Bethesda/Rockville/White Flint area? With decent nibbles?

Ooops! PastRies, not pasties. *blushes deeply*

I picked up a bag of the Pinon nut coffee at Trader Joe's a while back and I really like it. Probably one of you smart people is going to tell me it's the coffee equivalent of Twinkies to fine pasties. I have been bouncing around with coffee methods for a long while and have finally settled on my cheap-o grinder and Bialetti. I did the high maintenance machine thing and it cost me more aggravation than the coffee was worth to me.

That Cuban Place in Frederick. I had been wanting to pop in there and try it out so one sunny Saturday my husband and I wandered in there. About 2 in the afternoon. Place was empty except for a flock of floosies the bartender/order taker could not stop trying to score with. We literally stood there for for ten minutes waiting to order , while he studiously ignored us. What a jerk. I have stopped going to Vace in Bethesda because the older woman behind the counter is such a misery.

Kraft Mac and Cheese is just fine. Whatever fills up your tum. Some comfort foods for me are: Grilled cheese sandwiches with cream of tomato soup Cinnamon toast Oatmeal with butter and dollops of jam Hot chocolate Peanut butter toast with real butter AND honey Bacon eaten out of the microwave, with no excuses.

Well, Mr Johnston, and Ilaine, and old Ironstomach...and everybody!... thank you. I have had a tonne of fun stuffing everything I own that's not flammable into my oven. I've probably cleaned that thing twelve times now. I put in all my old cast iron. Then I put in the drip trays from my range. That worked so well I put in my actual "holding up the pot" thingies from the range. And since I didn't have anything to lose, I put a couple of really disgusting old enameled pots. That worked too. Pretty much, if it wouldn't burn, I've cooked it. Much fun was had by all. Once I got the worst of the junk down to dust, I wiped them till the cloths came away clean and started reseasoning. Triumph was a breakfast cooked on Sunday in 100% reclaimed pots. Eggs, hash browns, sausages. Nice and greasy.

Get out and walk the streets until something smells good. Take water with you and some crackers, just in case. (Also, cab fare home, I once walked so far on autopilot when I "woke" up I couldn't have walked home, I got all the way down to Georgetown from Bethesda on foot.) Dress warm. Being surrounded by people but not having to talk to them is a good thing. Find a coffee or juice bar. I'm sorry for your loss.

A long, long time ago Roy's used to do a taco baked potato that I still jones for. Am I the only one who remembers those? I loved them. So heart gloggingly, gut bustingly fulfilling. And some kind of pinkish root beer that was so sweet it made your teeth ache. There is a Roy's in Brunswick, MD, which is so slow I swear they are cooking the stuff as you order, and yet the fries and bisquits are always luke warm.

I like to Drink Liberally.

I found a treasure trove of cast iron pots in my husband's basement when we sold his bachelor pad. Most came from his grandmother. He's 60, so they are probably 100 years old or more. His ex wouldn't cook with them so they got stowed, badly, years ago. They are thick with grease and scum and all kinds of nasty crud that I cannot get off. I'd love to get them sand blasted back to the surface and see if any of them are salvagable, there are a couple of interestingly shaped ones. One in particular is a long loaf shaped roaster. Probably it was meant for fish but I'd like to try the no-knead bread idea that's all the buzz right now. Any suggestions on where I might take a small pile of pots and pans to get sanded?

I've never thought of it as slimy, but then, uhm, I pretty much consider oatmeal a mechanism by which to put butter and sugar into my body while fooling my conscious into thinking it's healthy because it's you know, oatmeal. By the time I put a knob of butter and brown sugar and cinnamon and maybe a little cream...it's not slimey, it's um..yummy. But I agree, there is a certain amount of something kind of nyah in there. I cook flax seed fairly often and it's not as greasy as that gets, but there's a little bit of that same feel.

Thank you kindly, Old Ironstomach!

I love mine and use it all the time. I do oatmeal in it overnight for a no fuss great breakfast for the kids...whole oats groats and water 1:4, a pinch of salt, set on warm. In the morning it's perfect. I love sending them out with something warm in their tummies in the morning. I use it for Bolognese, too, after the initial sauteing. Perfect for it. I also like to use it to raise dough more quickly, my kitchen is chilly and has marble counter tops. Mine has a "warm setting" that works for this, I just let it get a little toasty, then shut it off, put the oiled dough in, and put the top on.

Some time ago I had a ham that came to me with instructions, once I got it unwrapped from it's sacking, to start with "scraping off the mold" and then involved some soaking. Was this a Virginia Ham? If it wasn't, what was it? And where can I find whatever it was, now? I'm in Loudoun Co but travel easily enough. Many thanks.

Does a venti, quad, sugar free hazelenut breve cappuccino an asshole make? This is not a confession. Just an exploration.