thistle

Woo-hoo, picnic's only 2 weeks away! After attending a Girl Scout Encampment this weekend (I was taking notes), I'll be bringing a big Coleman cooler for water, backup supplies (sharpie, duct tape, knife, zip ties, first aid kit, bug repellent, sunscreen, valium (just kidding). For food, I will bring a rice &/or bean salad & I'm not commiting to this, but I'm breaking in my grill this week, so maybe grilled Island-style chicken-this is going to be fun, looking forward to seeing everyone!

I'm actually +3 (don't want to throw the count off), I will arrive early (when's a good time?) w/ my son, to help w/ setup. I'll be bringing backup paper towels, garbage bags, 5 tablecloths, cooler w/ beer & childrens beverages, food of some sort (still undetermined). What else would be good?-popup canopy, folding tables? I do have a CampChef Big Gas Grill, but I have to confess I haven't used it yet-if anyone wants to be a guinea pig, I'll bring it along, it's quite portable...Linda

I've been looking forward to this, my group will be 2 adults, 2 kids, & I can come early for setup (we're right around the corner), w/ 1 kid for grunt work-I can bring a canopy, portable tables &/or chairs, a grill,a cooler-just let me know what's needed. I haven't decided on food yet, but once I do, I'll post it...Linda

From last year's garden-HUGE rosemary bushes, I can't begin to use these up, I will just have to prune & throw... Signs of life from last year-tarragon, thyme, 'Pink Panda' strawberries, purple fennel, mountain mint (pycnanthemum), blueberries, jujubes (just barely), figs (lots of buds)-now, to plant out more stuff...

Great episode, although few of the pizzas looked appetizing, even if the toppings did (too doughy, crusty). I liked the head to head classics challenge & I was ready for Nimma to leave right away, I knew she would be first off. While I'm not going so far as to pick a winner yet (last year, my daughter & I chose Hung after the first show), I've selected 7 out of 15 that will be last standing. I think it will be fun to watch this season...

Alright, the cobbler's children have no shoes-I work p/t at a garden center, but is anything in my yard ready to go? NO! This next week, I'll try to set up some EBs for lettuce & other early stuff (I do have 1 out there, w/ Ch. cabbage, that I keep forgetting to harvest). I hope to see something out of the fig trees scattered around the yard & this year, I will be planting pawpaws (from Peterson's pawpaws). I also have herbs that have overwintered & a humonguous compost pile...

I had lunch at Gamasot w/ my friend last week & it was very good. We went at lunchtime & got the bulgogi & dakgalbi, we got about 10 dishes of panchan, rice, & seullangtang (after I added a bit of salt & green onion, I really enjoyed this). We also had a side of mandu. It was alot of food & though we ate as much as we could there, I had to take some dumplings & chicken home w/ me. The restaurant was pretty busy, I thought the kitchen behind the glass screen was very cool, & I only jumped a little when some poor guy broke his chair & everybody in the place stopped to look (I think he was probably really embarassed & left shortly after that). Afterwards, we cruised the El Grande supermarket-I was very impressed by their fish selection. Didn't really have anything I needed to buy, so I picked up some Pocky & other Japanese snacks. I'll definitely go back w/ a list, it's a little closer to me than the Super H (which WAS super, but a little overwhelming)...

I went w/ my friend today to Burke Garden, a Korean-Japanese restaurant in Burke. Since it was my first Korean dining experience, she insisted we sit at the grill table & we ordered a bulgolgi lunch , & also a combo of bulgolgi, shrimp, & chicken. I was worried it would be too much food (it was the 2 of us, & her 5 yr. old daughter), but somehow, we managed to eat it all (I felt a little sorry, that we didn't have leftovers to bring to the kids). We started w/ miso soup & a plate of what looked like green onions, & sprouts? in a soy-sesame dressing, that was delicious. They brought out about 10 panchan- cabbage kimchee, zucchini (or cucumber), seaweed, pickled radish,garlic, potato, something crunchy, something like jelly, sprouts, potato salad, bean paste, & lettuce leaves (& probably some more that I don't remember). & large bowls of rice. Lunch was yummy, w/ great service. Most of the other people in the restaurant seemed to be getting the lunch box specials-bulgogi, sushi, chicken or salmon teriyaki, jae yook, galbi, tonkatsu, unagi, shrimp tempura, or sushi & sashimi (7.95-10.95), which included a salad, daily special maki, japchae, vegetable tempura, & rice-seemed like a good deal. Having not had Korean food before, I don't know how authentic it was ( & it was basically grilled protein, w/ side dishes), but it was a great lunch, especially w/ the surprise mini snowstorm at noon. I look forward to trying more...

Thanks, I'll try to visit Global market & Gamasot this week, & will report back. Hope you're having a good time in Busan-is it cold there? or abnormally warm, as it is here?

Is the 'status quo' location Ft. Hunt Park? In any case, I'll help anyway that I can...Thistle/Linda

So, is Gamasot in that same shopping center? If they have lunch specials, what's the best thing for a newbie to order (new to Korean, that is, but I like spicy food)-my friend wants me to try a Korean restaurant out in Burke-Burke Garden (We meet regularly at Dragon Sea Buffet, eat lots of food, stay WAY too long, but they're very nice to us). My husband went to HS in Seoul, I've never had Korean food, but I can't wait to try it...

I was zooming by, but it's at Hechinger Dr., just before the Braddock Rd. intersection(maybe it was a Global Foods)-someone told me today it was much smaller than the Super H. She also said that Lotte was her favorite. I had a bit of trouble w/ the labels, but got some stuff anyway-didn't find the instant dashi I wanted, though. My everyday shopping is at the commissary at Ft. Belvoir, small, but decent selection of Asian, Hispanic, German groceries, good deli & sushi, great produce & meat...

I decided to check out the Super H in Fairfax today, not looking for anything specific, ended up getting new soy sauce (gold cap Kikkoman), Mitsukan rice vinegar & mirin, sesame paste, ten men jan, marokume miso, seaweed salad, miso soup mix, & a plastic bento box. After trekking all the way out there (I live in southern Fairfax county, near Ft. Belvoir), I spotted another H-Mart, on my way home, on Backlick! I can't believe I didn't know it was there, I feel like such a dummy...Has anyone been to the Global Food market in Woodbridge-is it similar?

I think everyone agrees, a KA mixer is a purchase you will not regret, one that will be useful for many years (& using a cost per usage base, one that will pay for itself quickly), get the largest model you think you will need...

I'd recommend Dave Martell of Japanese Knife Sharpening-I took a class on knife sharpening w/ him last month & he is a virtuoso! I think he could handle anything you threw at him, alot of folks ship brand new knives, straight from the factory to him, to get an even better edge...

One of my favorite cookbooks is Rick & Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures Edward RHamilton-while Rick Bayless is known for his excellent Mexican cookbooks, this book, which has him cooking w/ his daughter Lanie (they both provide comments) has sections on Mexico, Oklahoma, France, Morocco, & Thailand. It's a great resource for beginning & more experienced cooks (I just got a copy for my SIL) fairly simple recipes, tips on mise (green sections marked, 'Do This First'), personal stories, CD selections, a little bit of everything. And for the sale price, it's a STEAL!

I also have a vintage KAmixer, 4.5 qt., thanks to my grandmother, avocado green, I've been using it for at least 10 years, I think, & it's been invaluable. Every once in a while, I think about getting a newer one, w/ more bells & whistles, I will resist until there's a great price on a purple one...(I could have gotten a cobalt blue one recently, thru work, for a great price, but it wouldn't have been significantly better than my old one, so I passed). Mine is from the early 60s, so almost 50 years old & still rock solid....

Slightly stressful T'giving-after the stove being inoperable most of last week, the repairman came at 3:30 Wed. afternoon, I still was calm, we're going to do the turkeys in the smoker. I get up at 5 am Thurs morning, go out in my jammies to place the turkeys in the smokers (already set up-chips, water pan), turn it on, hear a large 'POOF!-the coil exploded, busting out a wire. I still have time to put my turkeys in the oven-a 15 lb. turkey & 7 lb. breast (never done it before, have always used the smoker), also heated up a 9 lb. ham. I had 20 guests come for T'giving, mostly family ( & outliers)-I was prepared this time for the guest who's allergic to pepper, but shortly before most of the guests arrived, I learned that my BIL's girlfrend's sister was a vegetarian-"Oh, don't worry, she's used to looking out for herself". I'm sputtering & rethinking some things, "We just won't tell her there's chicken stock in the veg". It was a beautiful day, the kids got to run around outside & frighten the neighbors, everyone had enough to eat, my delightful vegetarian guest volunteered to carve the turkey (she's a pro), there were a couple of veg dishes she could eat (but I wish I had known), & it was OK-we had 4 pies & 2 cakes..today, I made sort of an Asian soup w/ the turkey stock from the carcasses-ginger, green onion, lemongrass, mushrooms, turkey, fish sauce, glass noodles, & Sriracha. I love my extended family, but, boy, do they test me every year!

Let's see- T'giving is Thurs., my stove crapped out on me last Wed.-the front burner won't turn off, so the stove is pulled out & unplugged, I have a service appt. tomorrow, although we don't know if the part is in yet-I am totally screwed! I am expecting 14 adults & 7 kids, fortunately, we do the turkey (14 lbs.) & turkey breast in the smoker, but it's still going to be interesting, no way to heat anything up, other than a microwave & toaster oven. Next year, I'm going out for T'giving, preferably chinese food, no family invited...

Thanks for all your replies, especially the link to the KA Forum (can't think why I didn't think of that?). My mixer is probably from the early 60s, still works just fine, but if I spot one of those refurbished ones on Amazon, I'm jumping on it-especially if it's purple or plum...

I have a 4.5 qt. KA mixer that was my grandmothers (& it's a lovely avocado green). I've had it for 5 years, use it for everything-bread dough, cookies-it's still quite a performer (& has me sold on KA quality, it's pretty old, is there a way to tell? a serial # somewhere?). I'd like to get some accessories, but I don't want to buy them for this model, then have it die on me-that'd be just my luck. Maybe I should just get a new 5 or 6 qt. model & baby this one? but if it'll last another 20 years, then maybe I should just go w/ 4.5 accessories. Any experiences/tales of different KA stand mixer models?

I took the Knife Skills class yesterday at LaCuisine w/ Joe Raffa & it was great! A small class, totally hands-on, & as a home cook, I was relieved to find out I wasn't too far off the mark w/ my technique, (aside from my annoying habit of laying the index finger on the spine-trying NOT to do this & grasp the base of the blade took alot of attention for me). Chef Raffa was an excellent instructor, & I didn't feel uncomfortable asking lots of questions, although I was worried about the stray bits of veg that were flying around the store. They had knives for us to use, a variety of French, German, & Japanese shapes, but I took my own, because I wanted to be comfortable with them & learn how to use them properly. After the class, I bought a Koobi kit for my knives (because I am a knife geek) & some tiny aspic cutters for bentos. I was surprised that after 3 hours of cutting, I wasn't tired of it, I came home & chopped up a bunch of stuff for fried rice, then practiced sectioning a grapefruit (sectioning the orange seemed the most ackward to me, I kept wanting to pick it up & peel it in my hand). As a follow up to this class & my introduction to knife sharpening, I'm going to attend a class w/ Dave Martell of www.japaneseknifesharpening.com in November & learn how to work w/ waterstones. I highly recommend this class to anyone who has a chance to take it. Thank you to the folks at La Cuisine for offering it & Joe Raffa for his instruction (I brought my own band-aids, in case I cut myself, but didn't need them. I tell you, watching Chef Outtara last night on The Next ICA flipped me out-he was so FAST, but the blood...)

I've totally slacked off in my attempts to cook from an untried cookbook this week. Coq au Vin-nah, too hot for that, just grilled the chicken & the long beans, while the sambal w/ okra sounded wonderful, the commissary didn't have good looking okra, so I just braised them for a long time in chicken broth , w/ s&p, tasted yummy w/ rice & soy sauce....

OK, I'll be working from a cookbook that has inspired me for awhile, Michael Bauer's The Secrets of Success Cookbook. Apps-Stuffed Pasilla chiles w/ avocado salsa, p28-Main-Coq Au Vin (Bistro Jeanty)-I've been watching TopChef this season & Casey's Coq au Vin in the last episode makes me want tp try this one. Side Dish -Long bean & Okra sambal, p. 264 -because the long beans I planted this summer are out of control & huge! I just ripped most of them down, they were strangling my roses & fruit trees. For the dessert, Kerry Heffernan's Apple Crisp, p. 308. These are all recipes I can do easily, this week, from a cookbook I have enjoyed for a while, but have not cooked from, yet. I have a bunch of new cookbooks from the library-Morimoto-the New Art of Japanese Cooking, Daniel Leader's Local Breads, Pichet Ong's Sweet Spot, Isabel's Cantina & the Sushi Economy by Sasha Issenberg. I hope I find some things I'd love to cook from these...

Will we have a fall picnic? My first DR gathering was the spring picnic, & despite the rain, we had an excellent time. I would be happy to help w/ any organizational details ( I live close to Ft. Hunt, if that is the chosen location)...Linda