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We're finally getting out again over the past month. Haven't traveled out of the area yet but planning on Cincinnati for August to see my wife's family and another family gathering in November at the Smokey Mountains, TN.

Woo-hoo! 

Thanks for the update Ericandblueboy. Vihn See was one of the last places we actually ate as a family before the quarantine and have been missing dim sum and dumplings. We actually tried making shumai at one point but of course it was very uneven.

Looking forward to visiting them again soon.

We started watching Netflix's Waffles and Moichi show with our 6 year old son and throughly enjoyed it. Seeing Chef Jose Andres making gazpacho and doing a dance was a hoot. Definitely recommend watching it with kids and maybe even as a stand alone show!

On 3/13/2021 at 12:24 PM, DonRocks said:

If you're living in Arlington Country, and are getting a vaccine, you're going to be amazed at how well-organized the process is.

I had my first (Moderna) a couple days ago, and there must have been 100 people working at the community center - it's as well-organized as any guided tour I've ever taken. 

Thank you to all the workers, paid and volunteer - they could not have been any better. I mean that literally: There wasn't one thing I can think of that could have make the process any easier unless they sent a limousine to my doorstep.

Great to hear Don. Both of my parents have gotten their vaccines and definitely feels like a relief in terms of being concerned they might get it. 

Hopefully, everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by May and perhaps the summer will return to a sense of normalcy. 

Saveur was the first 'cooking' magazine that I purchased. Even though it was a pretty skinny periodical compared to the magazines of the day when it was first published, it had such a unique style. When I recall the 1990s as a decade, I would still read The Washington Post and NY Times Sunday editions and magazines like Saveur. 

Saveur was a sophisticated but accessible culinary tourist experience before all of the cooking travel shows became popular. 

WAMU Announces the Kojo Nnamdi Show will end production on April 1

Very sad to hear, his food related shows were a window into the DC scene. 

Yes we also found the try again method but as our son has gotten older, he's becoming stronger in his opinions on food. It is interesting to see from a culinary point of view especially since my wife and I do place a lot of value on a diversity of favors and experiences. 

One thing which I think has probably played a large role is the isolation of being at home this year. Before we would go to restaurants or even travel and he was more likely to enjoy new favors. Now, he just wants his favorites! I guess comfort food during these trying times even helps him. Of course, we're getting tired of the same old things. What can you do? 🤷‍♂️

On 1/5/2021 at 10:16 AM, zgast said:

Yes!  We've appeared to have a breakthrough with our blanditarian son.  And it all started with Szechuan peanut sauce (little sweet, a little spicy), which opened him up to the idea that flavor might not be all bad.  Specifically it was Jade peanut sauce, but we've made our own and even branched out into dan dan noodles and currries since.

Salmon remains king in our house too.  Teriyaki, preferably.

The Szechuan peanut sauce is a good idea, sadly our son doesn't like the peanut flavor at the moment. Kind of funny, even for the Halloween candy, I end up eating his Reese's candies.

Though you've given me the inspiration to give dan dan noodles a try! Thanks!

We're wrapping up our New Year's Day leftovers, Halibut with pesto and pasta. Our son will eat white fish but mainly his fish favorite is still salmon. 

The perennial question, has anyone had any good results with trying a new recipe for kids? 

10 hours ago, Joe H said:

Are you actively involved in overseeing the pizzas that come out of the new Reston location’s ovens?

He was there when we got our pies. Have you tried them out yet? 

Stopped by at the opening yesterday and ordered a selection of pies and of course, the arancini. 

Everything was excellent and we enjoyed our first Neapolitan style crust in ten months. Again, they are one of the best in the DC area, the quality control as they expand appears to be working at this point and highly recommend them.

We'll definitely be adding them to the regular rotation and look forward to next summer when dining out can become a regular thing again.

During my wait time there, they had a brisk amount of business which appeared to be just from an article in the RestonNow advertising their soft opening on Tuesday. 

Now if Reston could only get a good Dim Sum place! 

https://scitechdaily.com/social-distancing-isnt-enough-to-prevent-infection-how-to-detect-covid-19-super-spreaders/

5 minutes ago, weezy said:

At the Falls Church Farmer's Market on Saturdays, there is a fellow that sells olive oil pressed here but from his dad's farm near Sparta, Greece.  He also sells a really good balsamic from their neighbor's farm, in the 15-20 year range. I always get a bottle of that balsamic for a friend for her December birthday....which means I need to get a bottle next weekend.

 

If it's Spartan Oil, second the recommendation. We've been using them for a while and the oil is very versatile. 

I've been listening to the Home Cooking Show podcast with Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway. They have a great unique resource page which might help with some new ideas for presents. 

Thanks for your successful usage review Rovers2000!

Looks great!

Our gravy when fast too, it was gone two days afterwards. 

It was a great bird! Today's Turkey sandwich with my wife's gravy sauce made from the leftover pan drippings was excellent. This year used our regular oven settings instead of the convention setting which was about 15 minutes longer. Perfect! 

Thanks for the comprehensive notes and updates, Dr. Delicious. Looks like we are sticking with our stoneware pans and the regular oven. 

In the past, considered the Breville Pizza Oven, jeez looking at it just now, the price has increased to $1K! Regardless, we're more than happy with Pupatella opening up in Reston. 

Picked up our Kelly Bronze today. Size was larger than last year at 15 lb. Sign said they were sold out for this year at least at that location.

Sad to hear. Still remember my first in the 1980s to the original in Aldephi. 

Planning on doing adding CBS to watch Star Trek Discovery next month and maybe Hulu afterwards. 

We've gotten in the habit of being leisurely on annual trips to family and friends, so stopping for roadside 'attractions' are still fun. 

2 hours ago, KeithA said:

We stop at Red Truck Bakery every time we head out to Shenandoah or other towns out there (it is only a 5-10 minutes detour off the highway) and we always love the cakes. 

We do the same on the road to the Shenandoah, or on our way to my wife's family in Ohio.

Don't make the same mistake that I did and notice the Route 11 Chips factory, too in Mt. Jackson, VA! 😁

Look forward to hearing about your experiences with the Ooni. 

On 11/9/2020 at 7:28 AM, DonRocks said:

Wonderful! I grew up on Butterball, and while I've had "good" turkey meat, I'm pretty sure I've never had a whole heritage bird, at least not one like this. I have no desire to relive the turkeys of my youth, which tasted like a dry, flavorless, white meat-sawdust dessicant, only given life by gravy and condiments. I suppose Butterball turkey is just as good as Purdue chicken, so extrapolate accordingly.

Did the place you bought it from remove the tendons from the drumsticks? I think I'm buying ours at Organic Butcher, btw ($181 for a 13-15-pound bird; $220 for 16-18 pounds) - the second link (in the first post) is to Dickson's Farm Stand Meats in New York which says they remove the tendons, dry age, and hand pluck the turkey. I'm wondering if all that's done at the original source, or if it will vary depending on where you purchase the turkey.

Please feel free to list all area places that carry them - I wonder if Georgetown Butcher is offering any.

It's a little shocking actually how broad the difference is between a factory mass produced Turkey and one at the level of a Kelly Bronze. Going back to a 'dry' Thanksgiving bird is not appealing now to my taste buds. Honestly, we were surprised by the taste and we thought to ourselves, "Oh, this is what turkey should taste like...

I had seen the flyers at Organic Butcher of Mclean but we buy ours from Mom's Organic Market (there is a google doc signup), which sells it at $9.99 per lb. It's cheaper there but also the past few years OBM has been a madhouse before Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm still shopping at OBM a couple of times a month, however it's a crapshoot if the line will be long or not these days with the virus and my assumption line craziness will increase. Since, we'll be doing Mom's Apple Pie Company in Leesburg, VA for pies, would like to minimize time in line for Thanksgiving items.

From my photographs, it doesn't look at the tendons have been removed and I can't remember if that was the case. 

Here is an article on the Carver Farm operation in Crozet, VA. 

From the Kelly Bronze website, the official video for cooking which I found helpful.

And here is our turkey, before and after cooking:

Yes we've had them for the past two years at Thanksgiving, and already put in our order for this year. 

If your expectation of taste is a traditional style Turkey, you may be slightly disappointed as the heritage bird tastes quite different. It's incredibly moist and almost reminds me of a pork tenderloin. The quality of the meat is unparalleled. We've really enjoyed them on Thanksgiving and the leftovers days afterwards. 

The first year, I emailed Judd Carver who answered my questions very thoughtfully. In our oven, it cooked very fast roughly 2 hours. They come with a thermometer which we used. Recommended cooking involves flipping half way thru and Judd recommended pulling it after the thickest part of the bird hits 140 degrees. It was the easiest Turkey that I ever made. We added some toppings before cooking to increase the flavor of the drippings but as he said the bird didn't really need it. The only change I made for the second year was to add slightly more salt since the first year was fairly conservative as my wife doesn't like over salted food. 

Highly recommend them.