lion

We drove by this weekend during our trip to Great Falls. It was quite packed. From the road, we noticed the outdoor seating and large tented areas. Our son was asking what was that place and my wife replied we would go there for birthdays and anniversaries celebrations occasionally. Of course he had never been there and was wondering when we would go! 

Reston Location has a sign outside announcing hiring! Hopefully they will be able to open up by the beginning of the new year. 

That's a shame. It was a good casual place for pasta. 

17 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Good quality but it was a mess last Friday.  They got so busy people were seated at back to back boothes.  The tables next to us weren’t 6 feet away either.  Is it worth the premium?  I’d drive a little further to Vinh Kee.  We only picked Han because it’s new and has a patio, but it was too cold to sit outside so we sat inside and I was not happy with the infringement on our space.

Thanks Ericandblueboy for the concise review! As I was posting this thread, thought to myself you would visit it opening weekend at some point. 

Our last trip to Vinh Kee right before New Year's Eve since like a years ago!

Han Palace 7900 Westpark Drive McLean, VA 22102 571-378-0162

Has anyone tried it out yet? Excited that there is Dim Sum in Tysons and hopefully it will be able to survive. 

On 9/6/2020 at 6:38 PM, leleboo said:

My older started reading independently at 3.5 (because she wanted to, not because I’m good at teaching humans to read) and my 5.5yo started last spring during quarantine, before kindergarten. I actually became such a fan of the books we used to help them that I started selling them...and also went down the rabbit hole of encouraging reading. If you ever want some support, lmk.

But back to the topic...why do my kids hate zucchini? It’s so inoffensive! They like a number of much more difficult veggies, but zucchini is a no go. This is hard at the end of summer. 🤣😂

Thanks for the offer to help Leleboo, we're ok on books. That's one area where we've probably gone overboard on since my wife or I have read to him every night after bringing him home from the hospital. Currently, his library is over a hundred books and that's after donating or giving away a majority of his border books. Actually my wife 'sneaks' several books into every Amazon order or we regularly place orders to our local bookstore, Scrawl Books, in Reston. 

Thanks, I'll need all the good wishes possible. He's usually good for 20-30 minute long sessions for individual assignments and video calls with classmates, too. Beyond that length of time, it's harder to keep it together. Actually, I can sympathize, that's my limit too especially when zoom meetings start to meander all over the place! 

Remarkably, about a month ago, he started really reading by himself which has been good for all of us. He's been going back to all the books we read to him for bed time stories and exploring them by himself. 

Tonight, cheese topped ramen has been requested! 

16 hours ago, leleboo said:

Lion, that seems hard for 1st grade. We still (HAHAHAHAH) don’t have our final plan, but the suggestion was that it would be a bit of synchronous time in the morning, and asynchronous otherwise. Plus my 3rd grader gets gifted services, so that’s also supposed to be a once-a-week synchronous pull-out. But spending all day replicating “school” ... that sounds hard. At least you have a lunch break! 

Since I’m packing lunches again for my kindergartener, I’m largely doing it for my at-home older one too. It’s almost “fun” to eat out of the lunch box at this point! 

His teacher said today that we'll be working our way up to an hour+ language session after morning roll call! I can see this working for 3rd graders and above but for 1st and 2nd graders it seems a bit ambitious

Where is this "true bucolic heaven" closer to DC? 🤪

Has anyone seen the Lucky Charms Magical Marshmallows only in any grocery store? 

That's rough buddy

It does seem like a long march with distance learning for kids.

Today, our rising 1st grade son had a video chat with his new teacher. From what she said, the school day will be much fuller than the spring term as they have prepared to replicate a regular school day's activities with specials and different level reading and math groups. 

Everyday lunch will be between 12 and 1, so at least our schedule will be more fixed moving into the fall. At least dinner has fallen into a routine where we rotate thru 7-8 things over two weeks.

The work has continued and looks like they are on track for end of the year. 

Looks like they started the demo work at the Reston location! 

Thanks for the impressive link, DaRiv18. 

Still having a hard time convincing my wife of the need to get a Green Egg. Look forward to seeing everyone's experiences using them. 

11 hours ago, DaRiv18 said:

I love my propane wok, having a gas line would be even better. Not sure if a water line is feasible, but having a sink is very handy. 

Can you describe your propane wok setup? 

On 7/16/2020 at 3:58 PM, sandynva said:

 Overall, I think it depends on what you’re going for, there are so many flavors and styles. If you’re looking for a vegetarian version that’s close to Shin, nonmgshim makes soon brand Ramen which is very good.   Others in my regular rotation are Indo me nasi goreng ( fried noodle) flavor and Ichiban chow mein flavor.  If you can find them, the spicy beef flavor with cheese that various brands have is  my husband’s favorite  At H Mart in the noodle aisle there’s a section where they sell individual packets. My recommendation to you is to go there and go nuts. I know a lot of people really like Mama brand too, though relatively few of them are vegetarian so I don’t have much experience 

Thanks for the H Mart tip Sandynva! Was able to pick several of the recommended options this morning at the H mart in Merrifield to try out over the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to having a bit different favor. 

No I hadn't heard of Ramen Rater, appreciate the link, Eric. 

Thanks for the recommendations folks! Will definitely be considering them after the first round of ramen.

Does any one have recommendations for favorite instant noodles or ramen?

I ordered some Japanese Noodles Tonkotsu Ramen Concentration Pork Bone Soup to make at home but looking for other styles and favors. 

Thanks!

The Sanderling Resort back in the day (15 years ago for me) was a decent resort. However, it wouldn't compare to other locations for vacations. 

If you're exploring outside with your kids NolaCaine, would recommend the Seek app by iNaturalist. My wife uses it was our son when walking in the woods to help identify plants and he definitely has taken to learning about what different kinds of mushroom there are and how not to eat them. 

That's great that your garden produces enough for your meals!

We had a couple of friends and their families drive to upstate NY and the finger lakes, rent out cabins and enjoy their experiences. In those experiences, they brought all their own food and were isolated the entire trip. 

One family member drove up to CT to visit with friends who have also been social isolated right after school closed. 

Yesterday, I was doing curbside pickup at REI and the line outside to get in was over 30-40 people. It would appear locally most people are going to parks and camping.

He does a good job with sandwiches but it's more the classic deli style and definitely is open to adjustments like any deli. Groceries wise, a little more expensive than other comparable places but super convenient for people who live in Vienna and Reston. My frequency varies but usually once a month. 

Chase/The Sandwich Shop usually for our family is almost weekly because of the proximity and we all like something there. 

Recipes from Midnight Diner looks interesting.

My wife was just telling me that I need to move in the kitchen as I was making Tamagoyaki without taking all of the space like the chef from Midnight Diner. 

We must be on the same spice kick Deangold. During last week's grocery run, I went to Lotte and picked up several items you mentioned with the idea of making Sichuan Chicken, Doenjang Jjigae and Jae Chae Noodles. My wife has requested some Japanese cooked items as well but we're just doing one new dish a week! 

I have been watching Chinese Cooking Demystified, too. They do a really good job at explaining the intricacies of Chinese cooking and suggesting substitutes for items that you may not be able to purchase easily. 

With Korean food, we found a couple of Dolsot cooking bowls in the back of our cupboard that vaguely remember purchasing eight years ago. Back then had the idea of branching out to try it at home but of course having a kid and other life moments let that idea slip away.

Unfortunately, my first attempt at Sichuan Chicken was not with Chinese Cooking Demystified's recipe because of time and needed to cook the chicken that night. The modified recipe I found was good but both my wife and I felt like it should have had more of a Sichuan peppercorn favor like HKP's does. 

Are you using a wok or frying pan to make your chilies? Gas or butane burner? A Chinese friend who is a private chef mentioned that getting the heat hot enough with the wok makes a substantial difference terms with the wok-y caramelization flavor profile with good Chinese food.