thistle

Even though I wasn't particularly fond of him on his season of Top Chef, I developed a soft spot for Mike Isabella, after watching him cook, in a 'Top Chef' style cook off, against the university president at the GMU parents' weekend. I had a prime spot on the balcony above,& it was the highlight of my day (parents who've gone to these kind of things will understand). I let my husband & younger child do the 7 am 'fun run'.

Revisiting cooking for a crowd, when my son asked me for BBQ for his GMU homecoming back in Dec., I said, "sure". Little did I know I'd be smoking at the coldest time of the year (ok, I didn't have to dig the WSM out from a snow bank). I did 2 pork butts, 1 brisket ($, should have done more pork) & tons of drumsticks, which I cooked in the Instant Pot, & finished in the oven w/ BBQ sauce. After all that work, cooking & reheating, when I brought it over today, the sterno (for the chafers) wouldn't light- who knew sterno expires? I drove all over Fairfax- Giant, Home Depot, & finally, the hell that is the Fairfax Costco, to get them some sterno (they were also out of lighter fluid for their grill) & when I got back, most of the 7 pans of food were gone. Proof that college kids will eat anything, as long as they have drinks. I was disappointed though- I'll try & cook them more BBQ when it's warmer. Live & learn.....

Busted! I have not made larb myself lately, but tonight I am enjoying larb from Thai Nakorn- a welcome break from the endless soups I cooked while we were snowed in. I think I have Zac Pelaccio's 'Eat with Your Hands', it's a good cookbook, but a little fussy, lots of ingredients you would have to hunt for.

[You have to admit I'm good.]

We definitely should! (or hit the Mount Vernon Inn some night for happy hour)... I have had such a strange day today, first my credit card was hacked, so I'm on the cash economy until I get a replacement. I know it's pretty common, but I feel so violated. I had to wait around all day for a UPS pickup for some well meant, but unsuccessful Xmas presents from my MIL- a bundt pan (I think I already have 4 & don't bake much anymore) & a Breville electric pizza oven (I rarely eat pizza & don't need another single use appliance), & while I was waiting for the UPS guy, my neighbor's kid (who I didn't recognize at first) showed up at my door, barefoot & in sweats, having locked himself out of the house & needing to phone someone to let him in.

This is all totally off topic on the Cedar Knoll Inn, but the idea of a good crab cake gives me hope for the future.

Arghhh! Come on everyone, let's crush the Cedar Knoll Inn! JK, I'm not sure that I'm even going to try it, & I'm right around the corner, it would be SO nice to have a place to go to close by, where you could get good food...In the absence of a wandering heart & wallet, I'm grateful that I can cook good food for myself (now in my Instant Pot), & pretend that I'm eating out...I love a good crab cake...

Man bun in action-

I like raisins in my Thanksgiving stuffing. Said no one ever.

My SIL makes a very nice, traditional corn casserole for T'giving & this year, my MIL wanted 'get creative' & add sundried tomatoes & raisins or green beans & bamboo shoots (I am searching for a barf emoji). I didn't bother to find out what she went with, just steered clear of the corn casserole.

Onions, I'm still working on also, I understand why they are in so many recipes & I use them, but raw- I can only tolerate chopped scallions or red onions, in small amounts, surrounded by lots of other stuff.

Same here, I can avoid them, lots of other stuff I like, but I keep wondering if there's something wrong w/ me, WHY DOES EVERYONE LOVE BEETS? (excuse the shouting)-is it something that's in my DNA? (probably not, my mom loves beets, too).

I did see a recipe on 'Come Dine w/ Me' today that almost sounded palatable- the beets were shredded (red & gold beets) w/ apples, & dressed w/ a vinaigrette, & I think they added walnuts.

At what point do you give up trying to appreciate ingredients that you've just never developed a taste for? I will try almost anything, but there are certain things that I can't wrap my head around- beets, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, liver. Maybe I haven't found the right way to cook these things, & I keep looking at recipes, wanting to like them, but I cannot leap this hurdle. Guess I should feel blessed that there are many other things to eat....

& I just got the idea from Poivrot Farci's post, that I need to save the turkey necks (which for some reason freak me out), freeze them, smoke them, & make stock- this is going to be long term, since I don't cook whole turkeys that often.

I cooked a turkey (because I didn't get much of the turkey I smoked at T'giving), I tried out the tamarind glazed turkey that's on the cover of Nov Saveur- it turns out, that even if you soak 6-7 oz of tamarind paste in 1/2 cup of boiling water, & chop it up, & try to pass it through a sieve, you get next to nothing & almost ruin a sieve. I gave up, chucked it in w/ the honey, fish sauce, & garlic, basted the turkey as directed, & while it smelled lovely, nice & sour- I don't think it made a big difference in the turkey. It sort of burned the on the skin (which I don't eat anyway, & feed to the pups), turkey was great, pulled off the meat, & have stock cooking in the Instant Pot.

Yay, TC is back! SPOILER- of the local chefs competing, 1 is kicked off in the first episode & 1 wins the 2nd episode.& it's amazing how quickly certain chefs can become annoying, even after maybe 10 minutes of screen time-unfortunately, lots of these will stick around, because quiet, competent chefs make for boring tv.

I can certainly understand why many chefs would prefer to focus on cooking, rather then having to be an administrator/manager-if you can cook what you like, w/ a great support system, & reach a broader audience, why not? I personally avoid chain restaurants, if I can, but I wouldn't classify Jose Andres' various restaurants as a chain, although there are quite a few of them. There's interesting differences in them & I don't see them as squeezing out small,independent restaurants.

I want one here, Mt. Vernon area, south end of Rt. 1- that'll never happen....if they put one in at the PX on Belvoir, it would clean up. There's a similar fast/casual/Med place right off post, Baytna, across from Wegmans in Lansdowne Center, but it doesn't have as much variety in the toppings.

Yes, Tubby's has folded, I should write a piece on Rt. 1 revitalization (& car title places & motels). It's still a better place to get good food than where I spent my early years- we have Thai Nakorn, El Paso, Su Pollo, Kimchi House, Tacos El Costalilla, ThaiBox, & Afghan Bistro- my DH likes Cosmopolitan Grill, & I'm just happy that I live in the middle of an area where I have choices for good food (& I'm lucky in many other ways, none of which I control). My SIL hit up Johnny Macs for milkshakes the last time they visited, they said it was great.

I've eaten at both Bozzellis & Jacalito, but this place is really off to a good start- it's small, but comfortable & nicely decorated, the gentleman who was handling everything at lunch (& it got busy pretty quickly) was very nice, explained all the specials to us, & managed to keep everyone happy (it was like watching an expert juggler, just a joy to see such good service). As a side note on Bozzellis, I go to the one on Ft. Belvoir, but the last 3 times I've gone, they've screwed up my order (& I get takeout, so I don't discover until I'm home), so I'm going on hiatus.

Is there a Bozzellis post I can put this on? Because I order a very simple sub, 12" cheese delight (i save half for a second meal, they put on a lot of cheese), lettuce, tomato, black olives, DRY-no mayo or oil (because I add my own salsa mayo at home). First screwup was the worst- I was getting ready to go on vacation, so I had been eating down my stores at home for awhile, had almost no food left, ordered, came home & found a ham sandwich/sub. Called & complained, they told me I could come in & get another one, but I didn't want to drive back- dogs got a ham sub. Second time, there was mayo (which made it soggy & gross) & 3rd time (this kills me, cause I checked it in the car & it looked ok) there was onion (which blended w/ the iceberg lettuce). This sounds like a bad sitcom plot/Seinfeld episode (or maybe I'm just obsessing over nothing), & these were spread out over a couple of months- long enough to forget, but not enough to just capitulate.

I've eaten at both Bozzellis & Jacalito, but this place is really off to a good start- it's small, but comfortable & nicely decorated, the gentleman who was handling everything at lunch (& it got busy pretty quickly) was very nice, explained all the specials to us, & managed to keep everyone happy (it was like watching an expert juggler, just a joy to see such good service). As a side note on Bozzellis, I go to the one on Ft. Belvoir, but the last 3 times I've gone, they've screwed up my order (& I get takeout, so I don't discover until I'm home), so I'm going on hiatus.

I've usually had pretty quick service, too, but I generally go for lunch- when I picked up a friend for lunch today, I asked her if she wanted to go someplace safe (Mamma's Kitchen, where we've eaten several times-I love the express lunch chicken gyro w/ a side salad) or try something new, & she agreed to try a new place. We ate at Afghan Bistro & it was a winner, definitely going to go back & try some other dishes. But Mamma's Kitchen is closer & someplace that everyone in my picky family can find something they want, the trio of dips is always a hit.

Whoops, sorry about that-I'm guilty of just jumping on any thread I want to respond to. Also, when I started the post on Afghan Bistro, I had no idea what tags to add (Springfield, Afghan ?), so thanks for editing my sometimes jumbled thoughts.

We've also been going to the El Paso on Cooper Rd for years, it opened about 5 months after we moved here, we were there on opening day, & countless times after that- my kids have El Paso salsa running through their veins, my daughter & her friends go there after school for chips & queso & lunch specials, which go until 4, I think.

I tried out this new Afghan restaurant for lunch today with a friend & had an excellent meal. Tucked in a small strip mall, near Bozzellis & a giant Puppy Palace (the Olde Towne Pet Resort), there were 2 tables seated when we arrived & it was full when we left, with several people coming in for takeout orders. My friend & I split an order of the spicy beef dumplings, mantu ($4.95) & we both ended up getting the chicken kebab ($9.95) which came with basmati, salate, avocado chutney (I thought it was more of a green yogurt sauce & delicious) & they very kindly subbed out the potatoes it came with, for eggplant. It was all delicious, great service, & I look forward to going back & trying some other dishes. It looked like quite a few people were going for the beef shank qabuli or the lamb shanks. It's an excellent choice for dining near Ft. Belvoir or the Newington area.

Reopening the end of December?

"Historic Cedar Knoll to Reopen with Seasoned Culinary Team" by Mary Ann Barton on patch.com

This year, I was picking up my husband at the airport, so my daughter had to hand out candy for the first time. When we got home, she was traumatized -"they just keep coming!". We ran out of candy by 8, turned out the lights & closed up shop, then had someone banging on our door at 9:20.

Another Instant Pot lazy meal- cooked black eyed peas, added Rotel tomatoes, & braised beef (cooked in a bulgogi marinade), a little chicken stock & chile powder- I don't know what you would call it, but it's delicious. The best thing I have added to my kitchen this year has been the Instant Pot.