lizzie

My nephew is in medical school and wants to be able to cook quick and easy dinners - he is tired of frozen meals. He really does not know how to cook anything (but he will be an artist with a knife soon!) I likely will get him Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything or the shortened format, The Basics. Are there any other books out there that would be good for this - basic meals, few ingredients - perhaps one of the 3 ingredient books?

I have had the palmiers at both Randolph's and Heidelberg. I prefer the Randolph version - it tends to be a bit more consistent in its flakiness and crunch, but the other is ok. Have you tried either of these?

Rum-laden egg nog french toast Chrismas morning at about 4am, waiting for Santa to come down the chimney (or for everyone at our Christmas Eve party to go home...)

Even before Hibiscus Cafe, there was Fish, Wings @ Tings in Adams Morgan - I loved that place. Too bad the Banks' cannot seem to make anything stick very long, they are so unique and creative on the cooking front.

I use that same pumpkin cheesecake recipe (the one with the bourbon topping?) - you could crush some of the candied nuts to sprinkle a few and do the circle thing. I do not even eat cheesecake, but I love making them - and this one is always a crowd-pleaser. Bourbon straight up on the side is also always a crowd -pleaser...

I grew up in an institutional setting where our food was made in a central kitchen and sent to our house - we even got to send back the dirty pots. We had fresh breakfast baked goods and milk delivered to our door every day! Anyway, upon moving away from home, I only knew how to cook for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas - the only full meals my mom ever prepared. I taught myself to cook with the Moosewood Cookbook (in my vegetarian days) and then moved on to 60- Minute Gourmet recipes - first cut from the NY Times and later I bought the books. These helped me in that they present a main course, side dish, and then ideas for other sides and dessert. This is not necessarily cooking for guests, but it is perfect for weekday meals for our family. I have also relied on Julia Child's The Way to Cook and Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

Funny B. Smith's story. Several years ago I went with my office - 5 people in all - for lunch. A former colleague stopped by to say hello and sat at an empty chair at the table for not more than 5 minutes while we waited for our entrees to be served. As he had already eaten at another table IN THE SAME RESTAURANT - he ordered nothing and did not even get water. When we got the bill, the 18% tip had been added because they said we had been a party of 6! I refused to pay the 18% out of principle, crossed out that amount, and added an exact 15% tip. The waiter and manager suggested that I could be sued if I did not tip the full 18%. We left and have never returned.

While my kids have a passion for Funfetti anything, our favorite cupcakes are at Pastries by Randolph on Lee Highway (4500 block) in Arlington. These are not fancy, but absolutely delicious - light, perfect frosting, and only about $1.00 each. Not metro accessible, but find a friend with a car - you can stock up next door at Arrowine with that perfect wine to accompany your cupcakes, and get dinner at the Crisp and Juicy at the other end of the block.

We tried Willow on Saturday night. I agree with the poster that it is the nicest looking of the restaurants that have occupied this space. We started with the caesar salad, which were ok but somewhat overwhelmed by lemon. This was listed on the menu description, but it was far stronger than expected. The soups were quite good - a butternut squash bisque with shrimp and a corn chowder with a small crab cake. The entrees were also ok, but somewhat disappointing. The pork was breaded and a bit overcooked, which was surprising and detracted from what was a very nice cut of meat still on the bone. The spinach tartlet was a highlight, however. I could eat a larger version of that as an entree, and would love to be able to replicate it at home. My daughter and I shared the halibut with orzo. The fish itself was cooked perfectly and it was nicely complemented by the oranges and sauce, but there was way too much sauce on the plate and the sauce was too thin. The orzo was floating and the serving size was meager - there were barely two or three teaspoonfuls on the plate. We were also underwhelmed by the desserts. The triple chocolate mousse was served in a smaller wine glass and seemed almost too dense for a mousse, although we did order it without the berry sauce. The chocolate tiramisu napoleon looked and tasted neither like tiramisu nor a napoleon. While the cake part was ok, the thin chocolate wafers that separated the layers were inedible - we were not even able to cut them with a fork. All that said, we will try Willow again. We live in Arlington and are always looking to support local establishments and realize that new places usually need some time to grow.

ArrowWine on Lee Highway in Arlington also carries H&H Bagels.

My kids go to a school that does not have a cafeteria, so I have been dealing with this for more than 10 years. Lunch and snack are required in the lower and middle school every day - including a juice box or some form of drink. We love the LLBean large lunch bag/coolers - my kids call them lard boxes since they hold so much. They are big enough that nothing has to be in the lunchbox sideways, so no major fruit juice leaking from tupperware-type accidents. Many years ago Costco used to sell a different brand that was also very good at keeping things cool, but I do not know if they still do (California something, maybe?). The LL Bean bags will fit a very large thermos (not the tall ones - the wider ones - ours are purple and blue from Target or Ayers Hardware, I think). You have to get a real thermos bottle - lined with glass - to keep things hot or cool. You can also get a good ice pack that will still be cool by noon or one. My kids (one eats sandwiches only with Nutella and one only with home roasted turkey breast) take a lot of chinese, thai and vietnamese food/leftovers layered with rice, as well as pasta, and soup, in the thermos, and also take salads, quesadillas, empanadas. My oldest just started high school and no one has had food poisoning yet!

I recently lost that Betty Crocker Kids cookbook (and about 200 or so other treasures) in a house fire. I loved that cookbook - I made every holiday cake year after year. My kids loved the pear and cottage cheese bunny salad (only to make, not to actually eat...). I am sure I also had that dress - probably sewed it in 4H!

Through my work, we have been involved with the US shrimp, crawfish, crab and and catfish farmers, producers and processors in the areas being hit by Katrina. I saw several families I have met interviewed on the news. Say a prayer for their safety and livelihood - these are families and industries already operating under distressed conditions and barely able to make ends meet.

I grew up just over the border in Berks County and have spent a great deal of time in Lancaster. For a true Amish experience, you have to reserve a dinner for the seven sweets and sours at the home of an Amish family. More and more are no longer serving, as the State of PA health department has come down hard on the in-home meal concept, but some families still provide the meals. Many are also B and B's. One just has to remember that the food of the Amish is plain and simple few if any spices and ingredients that are easily found - comfort food like no other. The Log Cabin has been for many years a standard for family celebrations for us. As far as potato chips are concerned, I like Good's, but nothing compares to Dieffenbach's batches of seconds - made with the potatoes with a higher sugar content and only sold from the factory a few days each week. I have fond memories of holding the big potato chip can under the conveyor belt as the chips fell in as they were cooked. Sublime... Dieffenbach's is located on Rt. 419 north of Womelsdorf, PA (can't be found on every map...), but I believe now sells some chips in local stores. Finally, for anyone traveling in that area on a Friday, go to the Green Dragon farmer's market in Ephrata - by 10 in the morning you can have home made soft pretzels, funnel cakes, birch beer soda (and sasparilla if you are lucky), peorgies, sweet bologna, shoo fly pie, pig's maw (if you have to ask you don't want it) and (at least in the past) some great fried rice made by Hmong refugees.

Firefly was my first choice for my birthday celebration this past weekend, after reading so much about it on this and other boards. It was our first visit and it did not disappoint. We started with the salmon pupusa and seared tuna appetizers. My 14 year old ignored the grape chutney, but she wouldn't share the tuna. Entrees included steak frite, roast chicken, and lamb shoulder. While the meats were excellent (my 10 year old carnivore ate her leftover steak for breakfast the next morning, opting to not share it with the mutts), we are ready to go back just for the side dishes. The tomato bread pudding, sweet corn gratin and mashed potatoes were about the best sides we have had. My kids loved that the mashed potatoes had just about as much butter as in their grandmother's version, and one even finished her spinach. We skipped dessert but will be back to try the chocolate napoleon. Kudos as well to the wait staff, which was attentive and pleasant throughout the meal.

I am in agreement with the general consensus here - CakeLove's legend far exceeds its quality. For a basic, but great, moist cupcake, at only $1/each - Pastries by Randolph on Lee Highway. It is the only place we buy cupcakes.

My family has been to Leopold's several times. My kids like it because it reminds them of the cafe at the Bijenkorp, a department store in Amsterdam. Except, that cafe is self-service - maybe that would help things along at Leopold's.. It is funny about the cash register comments. Twice I went to buy their over-priced but delicious cakes and the experience took almost 15 minutes as the server fumbled with the cash register, one time (several months ago) even resorting to writing my receipt by hand. That said, we will likely return, as we like the bright location and patio - most places that serve schnitzel are like caves.

I had the seared scallops with sugar snap peas at Perry's this weekend. I loved the dish - even more so with the spinach, potato and leek salad, although my favorite way scallops are served at Perry's is paired with brussel sprouts. I agree with the earlier poster about the scallops with coconut rice at Cafe Atlantico - one of my favorite dishes in the city.

I recently tried the Corner Bistro, in McLean, a very small tapas place on Old Dominion. While primarily Spanish, several of the dishes span other parts of the European continent, with a more Italian or French lean. We had some of the more standard tapas, but several of these dishes were quite good. We especially like the salted cod fritters and the mussels. I also enjoyed the artichoke hearts, but felt it was a stingy order - 3 halves, for the price ($3.95) The sauteed spinach and the white bean dish were not up to Jaleo standards, however. If in the mood for a more comfortable atmosphere and wider menu range, I would still trek to Jaleo, but , I would go back to Corner Bistro for a quick/local lunch or dinner. I understand Corner Bistro is moving to a larger space on the opposite end of their current building, which might help the comfort factor - it is basically impossible now to have dinner with more than 2 people total.