JPW

If you're ever in Odenton MD, try a place called My Butcher and More.

Where the heck is Odenton?

Snider's is my every day grocer and I do like it a lot. I find they occasionally has good deals and I love their store-made Italian sausage. Quality can be so-so.

Most of my meat purchasing is done at Whole Paycheck.

One of these days I have to get down to Eastern Market butcher.

Tomato paste.  For each cup of flour you need roughly a tablespoon.  Just mix it in with your eggs.

(Careful if you use that paste that comes out of a tube like I did- it has a fair amount of olive oil mixed in.  I already use olive oil in my dough so this extra oil resulted in a dough with a hard to work with texture that had me cursing up a storm.)

It's also very salty, so it is important to monitor theseasoning of your filling and/or sauce.

Last night's dinner has inspired the beginning of an ode, "Ode to Stir Fry". Expect more bad poetry soon.

Tired? Don't feel like cooking? Looking for an easy clean-up? The humble stirfry has the answers to all these questions.

Put rice and water in rice cooker, plug in.

Chop up some veggies (last night was bamboo shoots, carrots, and onion)

Slice up some meat (last night was chicken)

Wait until rice cooker is done.

Heat oil in wok, toast some chili paste.

Add meat. Add veggies. Add some chix stock.

Cook through. Take off heat. Sprinkle with basil. Time to cook = 10 minutes total.

Easy as you please. Limited number of dirty things makes my dishwasher very happy.

Both look nice bilrus.

What's the dressing on that salad?

Funny about the cookbook.  I much prefer the Babbo book - gave Simple Italian Food away.

Well, if you ever feel like giving the Babbo cookbook away....

One of these days I'll get around to ordering a used copy from Amazon.

Sausage and kale with penne a la Mario. He suggests making your own stinging nettle pasta, but I was just too god damned tired.

As a side note -- My copy of Simple Italian Food is almost RIP; binder falling apart, pages falling out. I have yet to try a recipe from this book that needs tweaking. And as any cookbook addict knows, that is VERY unusual.

am I overreacting?

In short? No.

To add to your litany of complaints, the fact that they put Cafe Spice on the list is an absolute joke.

As someone put elsewhere, it is best to treat this list and the reviews in this mag like Zagat's. Phone numbers, location and hours are about the most useful thing I get from their food info.

In addition to good food, we had great conversation and I wanted to follow-up on the All-Clad Seconds sale. I just called All-Clad and it's Friday & Saturday (6/3 & 6/4)  in the Washington (PA) County Fairgrounds. There are some Pittsburg area shops selling seconds that weekend (Crate), but the biggie will be at the fairgrounds.

Just for a little info --- That's about 4 hours from the Beltway. Take I70 to I68 (do not go to Breezewood and get on the PA turnpike) to I79 North.

What two national capitals have four letters and end in "ome?"

But are pronounced very differently.

Hint - they both have significant international treaties named after them that started international organizations.

Sniff Sniff

What's that I smell?

Smells like a lucratively compensated restaurant PR person.

But not a DC native, most likely brought in from the home office in NYC.

What a great event!

Thanks to all the Peanut-sitters. All the parents out there know that having someone to watch the kids for even 5 minutes can be a welcome respite.

The highlights for me were the lamb sausage and Ferhat's dessert (unfortunately by the time those came around I was positively stuffed). Mrs JPW loved the ventworm cake.

We all slept like a rock last night.

Twin Springs Farms greenhouse grown tomatoes were the foundation of the salad I brought to the picnic.

I also stopped by the hippy herb guy to get my garden going.

I had some purple sage survive the winter, so I got some Thai basil, French thyme and rosemary.

Joe, is that the new place next to Momo Taro?

Pho sounds like just the thing for dinner tonight.  Maybe we'll try Miss Saigon's version.

Not sure. North of Redland Rd in a little strip mall with a japanese place next door. It's on the N/E side of the street with a bright red awning, you can't miss it.

Thanks, John.

The Finger lakes seemed to have gone through the same thing for a while (stick everything and anything in the ground and see what happens) before learning what they could do well.

On a tangent....

Are there any VA wines that are actually worth drinking?

I tried one or two (Barboursville?) a few years ago and remember finding them at best potable.

Continuing on a theme that was started elsewhere, it's time to talk Pho.

Given that the first thing that Mrs JPW brought home from her new job was a cold and the state of the weather yesterday and today sucked ventworm nut, two consective Pho lunches have been had.

Yesterday - Pho Quyen, Rockville Pike, just across from King Farms. Nice soft aroma and well spiced broth that could be just little bit beefier. The jalepeno slices had no heat, but the eye of round was top notch.

Today - Pho 75, Rockville Pike just North of downtown. Much better beef flavor in the broth than my last experience, but still no hint of the seasonings esp. the star anise. And their onion and jalapeno slices are way too thick.

Judgement - Pho 75 had the better beef flavor in the broth, but its lack of depth in aroma and taste when combined with the better prepared ingredients at Pho Quyen leave my judgement with Pho Quyen. If they could just get some damn jalapenos with heat. Oh well, I guess that is what Sriracha is for.

I second this question.  Not to keep JPW from enjoying any chance he can to visit Cheesetique, it happens to be on a direct line from my residence to the picnic site, and would be happy to stop by and put together a small selection.

Who ever said I was going to get anything for yinz guys?

'Cause it goes along with the conspiracy that we all look alike.

Right now, we are looking at Bell Haven Park.  It is right next to the Potomoc River one-mile South of Alexandria, right off of the GW Parkway.  No permits are needed, we can bring grills, some other "issues" remain, but I don't think there are any size of party limitations.  Plus, there is ample parking and "facilities." 

Any thoughts on this change of venue?

Sounde better than anything that I could think of.

Plus, it'll give me an excuse to stop by Cheesetique.

Actually, in college I used a dish that I, shall we say, borrowed without permission as an ashtray.

Why is it that every neighborhood Thai place I've ever been to in the US uses the exact same patterned ceramics?

You know what I mean -- the blue painted decorations on white.

I agree that they won't be able to pass it as a national law, but what I do think they'll do eventually is "coerce" states into doing it like they did with the drinking age 20 years ago.  States that did not raise their drinking age to 21 would not receive federal highway funds.  Every state can probably still choose what it wants its drinking age to be, but......

So that's how I think Congress would act on national smoking regulations.  States wouldn't want to turn their backs on the cash.  Although it would be interesting to see if the tobacco companies would make up the difference in places like Virginia, North Carolina, etc.

It'll never happen.

1)The tobacco companies are paying out too much money to the states right now for their settlement to risk cutting off that cash cow. The states are, one might say, addicted to tobacco.

2)The tobacco companies donate HUMONGOUS amounts of money to campaign committees. The American Heart and Lung people can't even dream of matching the levels. Money talks.

Edit to get rid of extra line spaces so Don doesn't get all pissy at me. Again.

Have you taught Peanut how to use chopsticks yet?

Generally do Thai food, so no chopsticks yet.

I'll have to remember Gastro's little which end she grabs thing

I think that where there are negative effects from these bans they tend to be border issues. For places in, say, Rockville, I don't think the ban hurt too much because it's a long drive to get to a county/state where you can smoke. For places in downtown SS where both the district and PG county are 5 minutes away there may be more of a loss.

One interesting note -- I remember reading in the SS Gazette that membership at the fraternal lodges (Elk, Moose, etc) has gone way up. Private club = smoke 'em if you got 'em.