Pool Boy

Hoping to head here for a wino outing with the DC Crü. Will report back afterwards. What could be better than sushi and champagne?

Cash is a pain in the butt, so I typically pay with a credit card. Even if there is a small group (say two credit cards possible). When the group gets big, though, cash is so much easier.

Wow, I'm not sure I've ever seen such an expensive Primitivo. Sounds like it might be worth it though assuming you like the over the top style.

Doesn't Dino practice soemthing like this on Sundays or Mondays? I think on bottles $50 and over originally.

I didn't mind Food Lion. It's target was always just the basics. And as long as you steered clear or largely anything fresh, it was good for a quick dash in to get something you needed. Well, in Laurel, they turned the Food Lion to a Bottom Dollar. I went there once and I hated it. Never will go back. Even if they turn it to a Bloom now, I doubt I would go back. They turn their back on my hood by giving us a Bottom Dollar and I turn my back on them. BAH!

Thanks for sharing. Interesting results.

I forgot to add the oil cap to my pesto in the freezer yesterday. Can I add it now or am I too late?

I always start over every year with a couple of new basil plants. I hope to strip the plants this weekend and make a lot of pesto (will freeze a bunch).

I suppose this was a reply back to me....It's not that I won't invite these folks over again ever (well, sometimes). It really depends. Imagine how difficult it would be to manage a dinner party if you have, say, 8 guests, all with more than a few food issues? Do you get a list from everyone attending to say what they won't eat (ever) if they attend? And then try to cross-reference the list to accommadate everyone? Sorry, that is way too much of a pain in the ass to deal with. Friends with food issues might not get a dinner party invite for that reason (I guess it depends on how many food issue friends I do or don't want over for a given event), but they're certainly still my friends and will get invited over for other things where food issues ae less important. Maybe I'm just a "dinner party nazi", but there is an art (and a science) to hosting a great dinner gathering for friends....

Picky eaters are really no big deal to me. Sure, I find it baffling and puzzling, and possibly a bit annoying. But who cares? Let them eat what they want. They just probably won't get an invite over to my place for dinner (or at least a not repeat-invite). Another thing to point out is that some people with food issues may have very real phobias associated that cause them their points of view. So, by all means, they should 'go with their gut' and only eat what feels/sounds good to them. Me? I eat almost anything.

I agree!Early fall is also obviously a great apple season. I hope to head to Larriland with my wife to pick some. It's always fun to try some apples off the tree to get a sense of what a given variety tastes like. That and there is NOTHING like eating an apple right off the tree. So fresh, so juicy, so tart and delicious.

I like 'Underberg', an herbal digestif bitter, for the rare occasion where I have overindulged.

Mrs. TJ and I tried a friend's ketchep recipe and it turned out AMAZING! Here's the recipe -- JOHN’S KETCHUP 8 lb. ripe tomatoes, washed, cored and cut in quarters 2 large onions, peeled and chopped 2 green peppers, chopped 1 1/ 2 tsp. whole cloves 2 (3 inch) sticks cinnamon, broken in pieces 1 tsp. celery seed ½ tsp. whole allspice 1 cup sugar 1/ 2 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/ 2 tsp. dried mustard 1 cup vinegar 2 tsp. salt 1) Put tomatoes, onions and peppers in large nonreactive kettle. Cook uncovered on high heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and cook 30 minutes more. Press mixture through strainer back into big pot. 2) Tie cloves, cinnamon, celery seed and allspice in cheesecloth. Add to tomato mixture, along with sugar, cayenne pepper and mustard. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is reduced by half its volume – 2 to 3 hours. 3) Add vinegar and salt. Continue cooking over low heat until consistency and taste suit you – about 2 hours. Remove spice bag and spoon the ketchup into hot clean jar, leaving a ½ inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Store in a cool dark place. Once opened, store in refrigerator. Note: for a less spicy ketchup, remove the spice bag at the end of step 2. Ketchup will be brownish in color from the spices but that’s OK. NOTE-- I might edit the recipe after making it once. I might add a pound or two of tomatoes to go for the extra tomatoe-y tastes, and also kick up the heat just a nubbin. But that's just my personal preference. It is great just the way it is. Sorry I meant to include a link to a picture. You can find it here.

DW, that was a good report. I'll comment on the wines later, but here are my comments on the food -- Amuse of Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Poached Gulf Shrimp This was delicious. I 'settled' the gazpacho in the tall shooter glass a few times to get the stuff to the bottom to properly get it all out. Used a knife to scrape the dregs. Yum. I. Pan Roasted Piopinno Mushromms, Fresh Corn "Polenta", Mushroom Jus This course was sublime. I'd only wished the portion here was larger so I could've experienced more of it. The layers of flavour with the corn were amazing and the mushrooms formed a great counterpoint. Wow. Tied for my COTN (course of the night). II. Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Fuji Apples, Frisse, Aged Balsamico Dinwiddie nailed describing this course. Pure foie perfection. III. Wild Alaskan Halibut, Raviloi Vitello, Wilted Spinich, Pinot Noir Reduction I thought this course was brilliant. I thought each component of the dish was great, but it shined most brightly when you tasted all of the things together. I'd not have thought to pair this together, but was very pleased with the result. Tied for COTN, too. IV. Breast Of Muscovy Duck, Glazed Turnips, Poached Local Peaches, Duck Jus While I thought this dish was good, I thought it was the weakest dish of the bunch. The dusk was well prepared, sure, but all of the components were. No, I think that the combination of flavors did not do it for me. Turnips and duck I can see working, as can the peaches and duck. But I did not really dig all three of these things together. Not a bad effort by any means, but, to me, clearly not up to the level of some of the other dishes. V. 3 Year Gouda, Mustard Vinaigrette, Crispy Shallots This was great. All of it worked well together and separately. I loved the crispy shallots and plan to lift the idea for cooking at home in the future. I saved a nice hunk of the cheese to finish with the remaining wine. VI. Mascarpone Cheese Cake, Bruleed Black Mission Figs I like the components of this dish. I love cheesecake, particularly that made with mascarpone. And I adore figs. But I didn't think this paired so well. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't think the pairing worked very well. So I ate the component separately and was very happy. The service was great. The staff took great care of us, particularly with all of the wine glasses. I was not expecting them to commit so many glasses to us over the course of the evening. I was expecting maybe 3 stems tops to be given to us. But they kept bringing new ones which was very nice. I had 6 wines in front of me at one point. The trick was remembering which wine was which. It was also great to meet the chef and I was glad to be able to speak with him for a short bit.

*yawn* They make a style of wine I do not really prefer, though I have not tasted their latest incarnation's efforts. I'll give them a whirl if by chance I have an ooportunity, but it's no loss if I don't. Enjoy the wine, particularly since you like it. I'll keep hunting.

I gave up hoarding these last year. What I do now is keep them near the fireplace. I use them to start fires and rejuvenate sputtering/dying fires. They work great!

I have only returned corked wine to a wine shop once. That is because it'd only been a few weeks since the purchase and all three of the same bottle of wine I bought were bad. They took it back no questions asked. Now, my main issue is that I tend to buy wine and hold on to it for later consumption. While much of the consuming public buys wine in order to drink it that day or certainly within the upcoming week, I do not. So trying to return a bottle that is corked a year or two or three later is just not likely to happen or work, so it's my loss.

I've checked with the boss, and the chocolate cake recipe and icing are off limits for now. Maybe sometime soon or maybe next year she'll be willing to share. I think she's most protective of the icing recipe. And let me tell you, this cake rocks. It is so wonderfully chocolatey and the icing is such a great counterpoint and, you guessed it, it is definitely NOT cloying at all. This cake is in balance. I wish I could share the recipe (and I will when she decides it is OK to). Someone asked for the pumpkin bread recipe. Just PM me and I'll send it over. That was approved for sharing.

Let me check with the boss.

Link to Maryland State Fair Photos

Some of you might know that Mrs. TJ has taken up the competitive Baking tack and run with it starting 4 years ago. After testing the waters in the Prince George's County Fair and the Howard County Fair, last year she targeted the Maryland State Fair and walked away with 'Best In Show' Cookie honors for her fabled Ginger Spice Cookies. So, Mrs. TJ, due to Maryland State Fair Rules, would not be able to win Best In Show for cookies this year, so she said 'Why enter cookies if I have no chance to win the whole thing?!' So she entered a few items in the other baked goods sections....Let's see how she did --- Double Blueberry Muffins A variation of a recipe, this involves whole and mashed blueberries as well as a crisp top. These unfortunately did not place in her category. I swear, the Blueberry Muffin category was FILLED with competition. But her muffin recipe as entered suffered from the delay in time of coming out of the oven and the judging. The crip top becomes too moist and loses it's 'thing' -- so back to the drawing board for next year. Applesauce Spicecake This is another variation on a recipe. Meant to be served with caramel icing, Mrs. TJ winged it and instead poured the cake in to a decorative bundt mold and hoped for the best. This category demand NO FROSTING, to best taste the essence of the applesauce spice cake, methinks. Sadly, this also did not place. We'll either have to rethink the approach or recipe for next year or try something totally new. Pumpkin Bread Inspired by a Mama-of-TJ recipe, Mrs. TJ took the recipe and made a couple of minor tweaks and entered it. This has done reasonably well in prior years, placing, I think at least once. But this year we harvested an early ripening butternut squash from our garden, and used that as the primary pupkin base for the recipe and supplementing only where needed with other pumpkin mush. This may have been what tipped us over the edge, BECAUSE SHE GOT FIRST PLACE! Woo-hoo! Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing This was entered in the Devil's Food Cake category. What I found interesting was that all, yes all, the other entries in this category went with 'white' icing. Bizarre. Mixing up some ingredients as if by a whim of her own, Mrs. TJ concoted a true chcolate lover's cake. Pure choclate decadence without being too sweet and too cloying. The icing sealed the victory as SHE GOT FIRST PLACE! Unfortunately, another cake won Best In Show this year, so that only has rejuvenated Mrs. TJ's drive for next year.

Just finishing up an American rose, Californian really, a 2004 A Donkey and Goat Grenache Rose -- deliciously good and quaffable

I am meeting with a vendor of mine in NYC on Monday with offices right on Time Square. Lunch is included and before I suggest db Bistro Moderne again, I thought I'd see if anyone else has any suggestions for another place to try that is is the same general area. TIA

A minor peeve of mine has to do with when I order an iced tea. Now, typically, this is for lunch, but, on some occasions, I order it with dinner. Like tonight. Anyway, iced teas usually is served with a single wedge of lemon. I prefer to have an extra wedge or two with mine and I do use them. So, when I order it, I specifically say 'Iced tea with extra lemon', often I even make a motion that indicates several rimming a glass. Well, almost always, I get iced tea with a single wedge. Oh well. But, perhaps even more bothersome, is when I get a refill of the glass. 98% of the time, I get extra tea poured in the same glass and they bring no extra lemon wedge. Argh! Why? Anyway, when my request for extra wedges of lemon get answered, and particularly when I get extra wedges with a refill (or with a fresh glass of it), I definitely notice and appreciate it. I usually tip at 18-20% and I'll kick in an extra 5 or even 10% just for that....a few extra wedges of lemon.

I have never had the chance to Experience any of the higher end M-P bottles like the 9 and the Integrity. I did try some Henry's Drive and found the reserves to be enjoyable. But man, I think they need to be drunk young, and cooler than I normally prefer my reds too. I think I am more or less over my 'Aussie Phase' of wine drinking....for now. I'll revisit when I am done with Italy, perhaps. But that'll probably take me ten years at least. BTW, I agree with your wife's cough syrup comments.