dcandohio

I am making chicken stock this morning on a lovely half-day off.

If you are driving on I-70, between Columbus and Dayton (or between Indy and Wheeling...), consider a short detour south on highway 68 if you need food, exercise, entertainment, beer and/or a dose of hippie love. Yellow Springs, home of notoriously liberal and subversive Antioch University, is about 6 miles off of I-70. When you exit on 68S, the first thing you see is a massive auto salvage yard and you will suspect you should have stayed on the highway. Keep going. Young's Jersey Dairy will appear on the left...a complex of barns, shops, restaurants, miniature golf, batting cages, pumpkin patch and corn maze. It's all very sweet and earnest. No flashing signs, neon lights or giant inflated characters. The ice cream is good, and you can walk around or take a few swings in the batting cages. Then, drive a bit farther south where there is a farm store down a winding driveway, complete with lots of dried gourds, pumpkins, bushels of apples, local honey and jams, local handicrafts. We buy our popcorn here and store it in airtight containers for the entire year. In two more minutes you are in Yellow Springs. Hippies never left here, and old hippies return here. There is a world class restaurant, The Winds. I am not kidding. It is lovingly prepared, locally sourced food at very low prices. A new brewery, Yellow Springs Brewery, makes surprisingly good beer in a concrete block building overlooking the bike trail. Peaches is a biker hangout with a good beer selection and passable bar food. The Trail Tavern has been on the main drag as long as anyone can remember. You can stock up on incense, Indian print bed spreads, simple children's toys, hand-dyed silk scarves... The town sits at the connection between two of the scenic stretches of the rails to trails conservancy paths, great for biking or walking. You can head toward Xenia (site of one of the most devastating tornadoes in Ohio history), past a horse farm and over streams, or toward Springfield, through fields and past farm houses. The paths are flat and shaded, with benches along the way for resting, and a clean public bathroom/info center in town where the two trails meet. Lots of free parking. It is especially lovely here in spring and fall, but definitely worth a stop at any time. You might happen upon a craft fair, a biker meet-up, artists working outside, an impromptu celebration or protest...it's always festive and lively. so, if you find yourself heading east from Dayton, or west from Columbus, think about a stop, especially if you can get in at The Winds.

Curry butternut squash soup and roasted cauliflower with smoked paprika. Great fall flavors to go with our cold weather.

Chili, started from a base of dried guajllo and ancho peppers. "Flatbread" of Trader Joe's pizze dough topped with diced baby heirloom tomatoes, roasted poblanos and jack cheese.

i have been really enjoying the questions and responses!

I AM those of us who love to cook (today, on my day off, I am making chili with home made chili powder), but sometimes when I am stressed and busy there are "instant gratification" tricks that I need. Not comfort food, but the 5 minute path to something that keeps me from either having a pizza delivered or eating ice cream...or something that makes me feel as if I have claimed a small victory over the seductive lure of crappy fast food or a trip to the convenience store for a horrible boxed, frozen meal. The cheese/tortilla thing is a vestige from my grad school days when I was too poor to do take-out and rarely had the ingredients for a real meal. It worked. I don't like to be lazy sbout food. I usually feel guilty if I default to take-out on those occasions when time is tight and I don't even have eggs to scramble. I try to cook almost every day, but don't have the time required, most days, for anything slow simmered for hours and can't be home while a stove bakes for hours. So most days, dinner is just a chop or chicken or fish with a quick salad and side, or leftovers. I carry lunch to work every day, usually leftovers or salads or fruit and cheese. When I do have time, I absolutely take the comfort food route. But it's not easy to do it more than once or twice a week. My work schedule changes every 7 weeks, my partner works out of town and her schedule is highly irregular. It is stressful and not conducive to a regular, daily dinner or cooking schedule. So when I can fill the house with the lovely smells of something bubbling away, I do. Sometimes the cheese and tortilla and a beer is all I can manage, and I have given myself permission to beOK about occasionally creating instantly gratifying fast food at home.

We spent one night in Nashville this weekend, and stayed close to the airport because I had an early flight back home the next day. The area close to the airport is dismal, with scads of mid-range chain hotels and low end fast food chains. However, with some internet sleuthing I found Ellendale's, mere minutes from BNA. It's in an old house in an area where few old houses remain, a pleasant setting for above-average southern and Italian inspired food with a decent wine list and a full bar. There are small dining rooms in the front, a larger space for dining in the bar area, patio dining and a room of sofas and club chairs. Add in a piano player and an eager-to-please bartender (we ate at the bar), and this is a haven in a wasteland. I had gazpacho, which was blended to a fairly smooth consistency, and even though I like it more chunky, this had a great flavor...garlic, herbs, something smoky and topped with chunks of roasted carrot, peppers and other vegetables. My main was "blackened" mahi mahi with crawfish etouffee. The fish wasn't really blackened, but it was perfectly seared and moist, and the etouffee was great. Served with greens and a large wedge of crisp polenta, this was enough food for two meals. My partner had lasagna. The bar tender said the pasta is made in house. The taste I had made me glad I got the fish. it was fine...decent pasta, lots of cheese and meat, but the sauce was bland. However, she realy wanted comfort food and this barge of lasagna hit the spot for her. If you have to eat near the airport, Ellendale's would be good for a business meeting or something more leisurely. I sense that single diners would be well-treatd here, especially at the bar. The people working were all very friendly.

When I am low, making guacamole, crumbling bacon and doctoring up beans = too much trouble. Part of comfort food's ability to comfort is being ready very quickly. Your version sounds yummy...maybe something I will make while watching a day of college football.

Put corn tortillas under the broiler till almost crisp. Then top with shredded low-grade pepper jack cheese and pickled japalenos. Broil till cheese melts. Press two together and eat like a sandwich. Always helps me beat the blues. Important to use cheap, grocery store pepper jack.

Grilled pork tenderloin marinated in dijon mustard, white wine and siracha. Roasted Brussels sprouts with fig balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Shredded kale salad with lemon and parmesean reggiano.

Roasted cauliflower, brussels sprouts, sweet potato and acorn squash. Meatless Monday cleans out much of the leftover vegetables from the weekend shopping and cooking.

Rum brined pork chops with "inner beauty" sauce: simmered peaches from the freezer, a half of a banana, mustard, hot pepper vinegar and chopped home-canned mixed hot peppers. Curry spice- dusted roasted cauliflower Romaine and kale salad with lemon and olive oil dressing.

Hello Nizam! What are the challenges and opportunities of the gentrification of the U street area, both from your perspective as a business owner and as someone who knows about DC history? We lived on 14th and N about 7 years ago, and we would never have envisioned the explosion of restaurants, high-end rentals and retail that populate the area now.

This is wonderful! I sort of guessed it, and hoped my guess was correct. Can't wait to hear from Nizam.

Tonight it's minestrone made from roasted local tomatoes that I pureed and froze a few weeks ago. Add cheesy bread.

If you are in Dayton and have a car, it's worth a 20 minute drive to the lovely little town of Yellow Springs for lunch or dinner at The Winds. Yellow Springs is home to the famously liberal and experimental Antioch University, which has helped Yellow springs maintain a hippie vibe and devil-may-care attitude. Fun place to stroll for a couple of hours. There are lovely biking or walking trails that begin in the center of town, and some nice hiking nearby. The Winds practiced farm to table long before anyone else around here. The restaurant is attached to a wine store, where you can choose a bottle for dinner. The food is fresh, uncomplicated, seasonal and reasonably priced. Always good vegetarian options. You can be casual or dressed up. Make reservations. The place is small and it fills up.

To our last days in DC. Tomorrow we drive away. I toast all the people in this community who have helped me to embrace and savor this area. Though I don't think I have met any of you pereonally, I do feel you have enriched me and entertained me and caused me to question some of my assumptions. Thank you all. I have loved being a part of this community. I hope to visit DC, at least occasionally. I will check into DR.com frequently. Eat well. I will enjoy you all from many miles away.

Zora, thank you! We took advantage of having a car and drove to Bangkok Golden for lunch today. The watercress salad beats the palak chaat at either Rasika or Bombay Club. It is a great dish, at a great price. $10 for a huge serving which includes two perfectly fried shrimp.

The H street NW space is amazing. Three floors with all kinds of seating options including a great rooftop deck. While we were having a drink around 5:00 there were a few families with small children downstairs and happy hour drinkers on the roof, Plenty of space for everyone. has anyone been there when it was crowded? Just curious if they run efficiently with a full house.

On our last weekend in DC (well, the last for a long time, cuz the movers took our stuff to Dallas yesterday), we hit H steeet NE for drinks and ramen. At 5:00, when we first checked, immediate seating was available. We weren't really hungry, so we checked back at 6:00 and were given an estimate of 1 hour or so. At 7:00 we received a text saying our seats were available. The chicken curry ramen was divine, dumplings were fried to a delightfully chewey texture and the side of cucumbers adds just the right bit of crunch and acid and brightness. But the music was deafening. Fortunately, we sat at the bar overlooking the kitchen, which positioned us behind the speakers blaring in the opposite direction. We could converse. By the time we were eating, wait times were being quoted for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

But, but, but...presumably the "friend" has an inkling about Todd's profession and can read Todd's chat and can recognize himself...in that case, the discussion of the guest's behavior is kind of rude, don't you think? Todd's not having an intimate discussion with like-minded friends. He's criticizing a person he barely knows in a very public forum for a perceived personal slight.

Tomatoes with basil vinaigrette Chicken and sausage jambalaya Brownies with "almond joy" frozen custard Friends

I, too, often default to Chipotle when I am really hungry, in a hurry and the larder is bare. But my burrito bowl as I like it has a whopping 1,500 grams of sodium. One-third of that is from the red tomatillo salsa, which is exactly what I crave the most from this place. I can't do it very often, because all that salt makes me feel icky.

We went to this place a few times for drinks and every time we went there was some kind of minor disaster. It never seemed like they were running at full stride. The patio on that space is terrific and I hope someone takes it over who can really make it a great place.

I have a Whirlpool "Silent Partner 1" that is about 3 years old, bought at Lowe's on sale. It is very quiet, does a good job cleaning and has the silverware caddy in the front door. Delay function allows 2,4 or 6 hour delay. It's made in Ohio. I like it very much. Not fancy, and brings no prestige factor, but it does the job.