lperry

Unfortunately, I will be in San Juan. OK, it isn't really unfortunate, although I would like to attend since I missed the last one as well. If people do meet up and start organizing, I would be happy to be part of or even head up a biweekly or so fairly inexpensive outing to an ethnic eatery that doesn't require me to cross the 14th street bridge. If there are other like-minded Virginia dwellers, or those who don't mind heading south, I think it would be fun and logistically much less stressful for us. Something along the lines of, hey let's meet up at Meaza in Bailey's Crossroads next Wednesday at 6. Sound reasonable?

I'm in if there's a girls' table and if I'm in town. How's that for a commitment? So can someone lay out the basic rules, regulations, or lack thereof on how we can schedule or arrange something?

We have interest, it's just difficult for us to commit to things too far in advance because of our work. Sometimes Mr. lperry finds out today that he needs to get on a plane tomorrow. Top that off with my Tuesday evenings taken up with track, and there may be the appearance of no interest, when it is really all scheduling issues. Or mostly all. I'll take some blame for being reluctant to head into the District or Maryland at rush hour. That said, we eat out quite a bit, and I should probably be posting it on the "impromptu" thread. I would be interested in more get-togethers in Virginia at ethnic eateries. I like the idea of Sunflower (#3), and will suggest Meaza. I'll even volunteer to put something together if others are lurking out there in the NOVA burbs.

We had lunch at Los Tios today. The cheese pupusa was excellent and even better with the habanero salsa and pickled slaw. We then had the spinach enchiladas and pollo guisada. Both were very good and nicely plated. There was attention to detail that we appreciated. For example, the slice of avocado on the chicken plate was perfectly ripe, and the sides of beans and rice were nicely cooked entities unto themselves instead of blobs of tasteless starch that seem like afterthoughts. The service was excellent, and the waiter suggested that, to avoid the crowds, lunch was a better time to come than dinner. We both work out of the house quite a bit, and I think we will be walking to Los Tios fairly often.

Yum. I'm having a Mai Tai made with my first batch of homemade orgeat.

Two glasses of water for each drink. Works like a charm.

We are in indirectly. My SO has been on the board of the Community Coalition for Haiti for years (website here). The portraits you see on the site are his. CCH has scrapped all trips planned for this year and they are sending the money that would have been used for travel as it will do more good toward feeding people and getting them the medications to fight waterborne illnesses. They work mainly in Pignon.

I've watched Made in Spain twice, and I'm with you on booking the flight. On the Road Again seems more into showing all the people talking and driving, and I'm not entirely certain why we are supposed to be interested in that. Maybe it's just for the first show to introduce the players(?) If you cut all that out, there are maybe fifteen minutes or so of good food information, so you might have to be in the right mood to watch it. José Andrés' program, in contrast, is all about the food, and I really like the way they go from production in Spain to in the kitchen with the different dishes. Plus, the website has most if not all of the recipes on it, although that may change when the cookbook comes out. I watch maybe two hours of TV a week, and I took the time out to watch On the Road Again. I'm not sure I'll do it next week. I am, however, looking up the listings for Made in Spain.

From the start of the show, they said that the women planned to see the sights and the men planned to eat, so I figured it wouldn't be a serious cooking program. I watched it while drinking a glass of wine and looking through a magazine, and I stopped reading when they got to the food parts. It was entertaining, although I will admit to being easily entertained. I'll try the pisto manchego, and I'll probably try the rice dish as well. There are some nice recipes up on their website. I got the impression that this program was put together to promote Spanish tourism, and it did make me want to go there. The scenery was beautiful, and the food and wine looked great. I do wish they had shown a bit more of the surrounding landscape, though. I also would have liked to know what was served at the two dinners that did not get described.

I love that book. It has been a great resource not only for recipes, but also for inspiration. Once I started macerating everything in her 1 kilo of fruit to 800 g of sugar ratio, all my preserves became both more beautiful in the jars and more flavorful. The plum sounds wonderful, as does the fig you mentioned above. I have a fig tree in a pot, and I'm hoping it does well once I get it in the ground.

Daiquiris. Real ones.

Deviled quail eggs might work with a piping bag. I've also seen the little halves simply decorated with various things for hors d'oeuvres - caviar comes to mind. I really like the idea of the tiny poached eggs. Maybe over asparagus. Or wilted spinach. Or toast. I've seen them at the Asian supermarkets. Is that where you got yours? We had them when I was a kid and my Grandmother raised quail, but I never actually did anything with one. I have heard that the shells are pretty tough, so you have to be careful breaking them open. Edited to say - whoops - I just reread that you got them from local farmers.

Mine are just starting to ripen as well. So far we've harvested a mere five yellow pear tomatoes despite the large numbers of green ones on various types of plants. Some have even fallen off green. The eggplants and peppers are also creeping along very slowly. In contrast, I picked our first watermelon yesterday, and there are seven more ripening on the plant. It's a mystery.

Congratulations and best of luck with your business!

I bought a package of passion fruit pulp from Grand Mart and have been mixing daiquiris with Cruzan Estate light rum (very nice). Tonight I needed more refreshment and made a passionfruit mojito. Also very enjoyable.

Do we have to share our stock with family members? Four rums: Barbancourt five star Flor de Caña extra dry silver Appleton Reserve Lemon Hart 151 Then, Ypioca ouro cachaça (maybe Beleza...) Cointreau Del Señor silver tequila Knob Creek bourbon Beefeater gin Highland Park 15 year The Highland Park is for my SO. The Beefeater is for my Dad, and since he believes that the vermouth bottle standing next to the gin bottle imparts an appropriate amount of vermouth into the martini, I don't have to reserve a spot for that.

Without those three rums, you would be forced to lead a Zombie free life. And is a life without Zombies really worth living?

Costco in Springfield had them a week or so ago.

The recipe I used called for freezing the plums so they crack when you pour in the gin, so I suppose it is an updated classic method. I didn't hear the cracking like I was supposed to, so I did a little puncturing with a fork just to be sure. At the end of the process, you are supposed to use the plums in desserts, so keeping them whole is somewhat desirable. Although I'm not sure how you are supposed to get the pits out then, unless you leave that to your dining companions. Edited to add a link to the recipe: Click I saw damsons also at the Courthouse market this weekend if anyone else is interested.

Today I canned six jars of damson chutney with a recipe from Delia Smith's website. Recipe here.

Here they are in their gin bath where they will stay for a month. I took a picture to prove I bought the Plymouth.

Warning against cheap gin duly noted. I was thinking something like Gordon's, but I'll look for Plymouth. The only thing I have on hand is Sapphire. The recipes I've seen call for adding sugar rather than simple, I assume to cut down on dilution. But they also recommend "cheap gin." I hope this turns out well - I've tasted the damsons (I chose a ripe one), and I like them well enough that I'm considering a tree to replace a cherry we lost recently. I've had varying success with homemade liqueurs using vodka, the best being the lemoncello from last year and some peach I made ages ago.

Along with the Meyer lemoncello, the spiced pears, the jams, the chutneys, the preserves etc... Seriously. I'm pathological. But I just found a recipe for a sloe gin fizz made with champagne, and I think a damson gin fizz sounds fantastic, so a few of these pretties are off to the freezer and I'm off to the ABC to buy some cheap gin.

This is the problem, I think. I am always intrigued by these sorts of things, but I've also made some pretty awful stuff. I'm not the sort to drink liqueurs or spirits straight, so I wasn't quite sure what I might do with it once it is done. I just like the idea of making it. I guess I'm more of a journey than destination person, but I'd still like the destination to be useful and good. I've never had sloe gin either, although I've heard many sing it's praises. Is this the sort of thing that is an after dinner liqueur?

Because? I guess I'm looking for a comparison. If you like port, you will like damson gin, for example. Or is it mixed?