goldenticket

I tried the dark chocolate 3x ginger cookies and didn't like them. I don't think even very good dark chocolate is a good pairing with the intense ginger of those cookies.

I do like the ginger cookies better on their own, but the chocolate covered ones were a nice treat.

Yes, I had them last year, and I have a box of this years, they are pretty good.

I agree about the chocolate covered shortbread cookies - I like them too

where did you find the dark chocolate peppermint jojos? i adore these and the 2 stores i've been to both sold out--in november. why oh why don't they make more of these?

So... the bad news is the Old Town store doesn't have the dark chocolate peppermint joe-joe's on their own.

The good news is they DO have a special assorted package that includes them, along with peanut butter, double chocolate, and another flavor. It's in a round/octagonal box - bottom shelf on the back wall between the bread and the sodas.

The dark chocolate triple ginger cookies are pretty good in a pinch

The problem, though, is that a three-letter code isn't so helpful as a search term. My first thought had been to edit all the posts to add the codes and then have new posters add them themselves, but the search string is too short.

I (and I think jayandstacey) am only talking about using a threel-letter search in this particular topic. It works just fine for me when I go to the top of the page (in the thread) and use the "this topic" setting. IAH pulls up posts with that code highlighted; BNA does the same; as do DFW, DCA, etc.

FYI - there is an "advanced search" tool that allows you to narrow your search quite a bit and produces better results. Click on the little gear/cog image to the right of the search box.

I searched for Ashby Inn, using 'only titles' and got only two results.

Searching for Steak Tartare Fiola (all words) in 'content only' brought up three results, the top one being this thread (Best of 2011 and Fiola, being the other two).

I like the suggestion of including the airport code in the specific post, as this would make using this particular thread a lot easier. I don't think it requires any indexing - airport codes are easily found online. Past posts would need to have the code added into the text, but this could be done as time permits.*

*(by anyone with moderator privileges who has a little extra time - I will try to make a start of it...when I have a little extra time )

where did you find the dark chocolate peppermint jojos? i adore these and the 2 stores i've been to both sold out--in november. why oh why don't they make more of these?

Unfortunately, bettyjoan lives in Atlanta (I think that's right). I did see them at the Old Town store a week or so ago. I'll be there in the next day or two and see if they still have them.

What *are* they? Are these the glazes on the hams?

Can you imagine the poor pig that was slaughtered for this?

Spare me.

Yes "glaze packet included" - gag.

Why....

Just, WHY?!?

surely...though Friendship Heights is not exactly on the beaten path of the hordes of visitors the nation's capital receives. I can envision the presidential motorcade driving up.

Maybe not POTUS, but Neil Patrick Harris (emcee for yesterday's tree lighting ceremony) and his partner, who is a chef, checked out Range last night according to NPH's Twitter feed.

They also checked out Graffiato, Toki Underground, and Izakaya Seki while they were in town.

So the prize went to a chef from La Tour d'Argent - Yohan Lastre. Some photos of his winning entry are here and news coverage (in French) is here - check out the first video at the :58 mark!

The blog says the trays were presented about every 10 minutes and were judged on: the presentation of the entire piece; the presentation of a slice; cooking and seasoning of the forcemeat; taste and baking of the pastry; and taste of the ensemble.

Congratulations, Julien, you represented well - what an honor to be in the top dozen in the world! Looking forward to hearing what your experience was like.

(did you get one of those cool brown leather aprons?)

It may be a bit early to start thinking about April events, but planning ahead can save you some $$. Purchase your tickets between now and December 31 and save 20% by using the (case-sensitive) promo code GARLAND.

The 2013 Taste of the Nation will be held Monday, April 8, at the National Building Museum.

6:00 pm $150 VIP Entry

7:00 pm $105 General Admission

(prices are before the 20% discount)

Southern Comfort (food):

Cornbread

Collard greens

Green/pinto beans and ham

That's true, but it's not going to happen. Just today, I was coming back from Reston on the Dulles Toll Road, and getting over into the EZ Pass Express Lanes was like driving in the Indianapolis 500.

Driving has become *extremely* dangerous, just in the past few years. What else could it be other than cell phones?

Driving anywhere on the Beltway, or any of the major roads in the area, is like driving in the Indy 500; it's not unique to the Express Lanes. Cell phones, people being over-scheduled, in a hurry, just generally distracted - lots of reasons. I avoid the Beltway (and 66) if at all possible.

And to bring it back to food...traffic and avoiding it play a large part in my decision-making about where to eat. I pretty much never go to Montgomery County because it's such a hassle to get there - and I know I'm missing out on some good food because of that choice.

Maybe drivers need to slow down and be more alert, especially when there are new signs and traffic patterns in a familiar area. The opening of the HOT lanes has been well publicized and it wasn't exactly a low-profile construction project.

I seem to recall the same bitching went on with the opening of the "Local" and "Thru" lanes crossing the Wilson Bridge from Virginia into Maryland.

Transurban (the Australian company behind the HOT lanes project) and their contractors have been responsive to concerns. See here for a list of recent, and future, improvements to the southern end of the express lanes.

The users list seems to be working now - I see "1 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users" and my user name below that.

Love her or hate her, Rachael Ray deserves some (continuing? see posts above) credit for being generous with her wealth.

From an article about the opening of a temporary shelter for pets displaced by Hurricane Sandy:

After nearly two weeks of negotiations, the warehouse’s landlord agreed on a rent of $20,000 a month, A.S.P.C.A. officials said, adding that a $500,000 donation from the celebrity chef Rachael Ray, who also has contributed supplies from her line of pet food, helped defray some costs.

Thanks to my friend who lives in Denver, I enjoyed two very good meals while I was out there a few weeks ago.

uncle, in the LoHi neighborhood, has a very momofuku-esque feel to it, both from a menu and space/ambiance perspective. We started off with the steamed pork buns and Brussels sprouts - both very good. My friends really enjoyed the chashu ramen, topped with pork belly and other goodies. Based on the taste I had, I would order it on a next visit. I opted for the udon, a vegetarian preparation, full of mushrooms in an flavorful onion dashi. Service was efficient, despite a full restaurant.

ChoLon Bistro (in LoDo) has a more refined feel, with dark wood and dimmer lighting than uncle. I was dining solo, but managed to try quite a few things (and leave with some leftovers). Their version of soup dumplings (sweet onion and Gruyere filling) were quite good, but damn were they hot and a bit tricky to eat. Wok-fried Brussels sprouts and ground pork was a warm and satisfying dish, especially with snowflakes falling outside. The asparagus and mushroom salad with soy-truffle vinaigrette was light and quite pretty; a nice combination of flavors. I finished things off with the Chocolate Pudding Cake, Salted Peanut Ice Cream, Banana. Not my favorite. I found the cake a bit dry, but the caramelized bananas on top of it, and the ice cream, were both nice elements. The coconut green tea was so good I'm planning to order some. The Old Saigon was a refreshing drink made from Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, muddled Thai basil, Luxardo cherries and housemade bitters.

I grabbed a quick breakfast at the downtown location of Syrup the morning I left. The flight of 4 (bigger than) silver dollar pancakes was enough to satisfy me until a late dinner. It also provided plenty of surface area for trying out the three syrups I was able to choose to accompany the dish (buttermilk, apricot, and maple vanilla). The ramekin of green chile stew provided a spicy, savory counterpoint and I would certainly order it were I back in for lunch.

Lots of great dining options out there, hope I have the opportunity to return and try some more before too long!

Taqueria Poblano is donating 20% of today's sales to the Red Cross for Sandy-related relief efforts. All three locations are included.

Sounds like a good day for Mexican brunch to me...

I really enjoyed the fermented rib tips and the fermented pork salad...and the ribs and the fried chicken and the pulled pork...I kind of went on a protein bender!

Fortunately, I was able to enjoy some of the lighter items post-picnic. The beet-lentil salad was great, as were the millet tabbouleh/Greek salad, the shrimp-edamame salad, and the rice salad. I'd love recipes for all of them, if possible! Biscotti, both pound cakes, and the pumpkin cheesecake

I'm happy to see that weezy posted the cauliflower recipe - that was a delicious dish, especially for someone who hasn't always been a fan of cauliflower. (When you say 'no wine' - what did you use to plump the golden raisins, if not Marsala?)

We had a great group, lots of great food, and pretty decent weather, all things considered.

I appreciated hearing the story of the first picnic, and that we could take a little time to remember Mrs. B, who was, and will be, greatly missed.

Visualizing the hurricane moving out to sea...

I'm going with the accuweather forecast that calls for '64, cloudy with a chance of a shower'

Picnic is on rain or shine, so don't let a little wet weather deter you. There's a large shelter and plenty of room for everyone under it, if need be.

Old Town Alexandria location is opening today. The old Popeye's space has been transformed - from the street it looks like a very nice build out.

Strike that ^ - make it "opening tomorrow (10/24)". They're doing training today.

Old Town Alexandria location is opening today. The old Popeye's space has been transformed - from the street it looks like a very nice build out.

Update:

*Appetizers:

Scott Johnston +1 - Deviled eggs and picnic supplies

DCDeb +1

Pat +1 - Curried Turkey salad and pistachio cranberry biscotti (dessert)

Ilaine +1 - Paleo biscuits/bread, flax crackers (maybe braised pork belly yes, please)

TheMatt +1 - gluten-free millet tabbouleh (maybe baklava)

darkstar965 + - tomato/onion/avocado salad

DanielK +3 - shrimp and edamame salad

*Main:

agm +1 - ribs and macroni n' cheese

Banco +1 - Szechuan chicken or pork

Fishinnards +1 - "a dish or two"

John William G +1 - rice and vegetable salad

monavano +1 - braised beef sliders

sparkycom - coffee-chipotle brisket

thistle - meat- ribs &/or smoked butts, poundcake again, & some kind of salad

*Dessert:

Barbara +2 - pumpkin cheesecake

goodeats +1- pies

weezy - gluten-free lemon bars (and a veggie plate of some sort)

rkduggins - brown sugar pound cake (and a side)

LaShanta +1 - chocolate trifle (couscous salad - side)

*Food Undecided:

goldenticket +1

lperry (?)

LuvTeddyBears8 + FunGuy

Heather (wine)

Plenty of time to join the fun - reply here or PM thistle or me. Just bring something to share - homemade or not (and some cash for the kitty to cover the rental of the space )

Traffic note: The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday morning, so you may want to check for any closures along your route to Fort Hunt. I'd expect most roads should be reopened by noon.

The forecast is looking good for a week from now and I'm sure it will be a beautiful day for the picnic

Who else is coming?

Everyone is welcome - new members, old members, members who have never been to an event before, cooks, non-cooks. Just come on out and bring something to share - food and/or drink!

PS - don't forget to bring a little cash to kick in to help cover the cost of the rental of the picnic space

last minute, but this was in a newsletter from Cheesetique this morning (October 15):

Cheesetique Needs Cooks - Hiring Fair Today!

We need cooks. Great cooks. Food-lover cooks. Cooks who want to smell like cheese. Cooks who strive to work with other food fanatics. Want to indulge your cheesy side and get paid for it? Join us in Del Ray today from 10am - 3pm for our Hiring Fair!

Cheesetique Del Ray

2411 Mt. Vernon Ave.

Alexandria, VA 22301

Bring your resumé and be ready to talk cheese!

Haute Dogs & Fries has just opened in Alexandria at 610 Montgomery St (steps from TJ Stone's). I haven't been to this location, or the original in Purcellville, but it looks like they will be a nice addition to the north end of Old Town.