legant

Upper Northwest Gathering

Wednesday 12/27, 7p, Uptown Cathay

(5018 Connecticut Ave NW, Btwn Fessenden St NW & Everett St NW)

Anyone in Upper Northwest (including, but not limited to: Van Ness, Cleveland Park, Tenley Town, Chevy Chase) who wants to join is always welcome!

So far:

legant

hillvalley

JLK

synaesthesia

NCPinDC

DCinDC

Seared scallops over a parmesan-tomato white sauce

Sauteed green beans w/ almonds

Zinfadel (leftover from the pot roast braising in the oven)

Fig Newtons

I'm in!

Wednesday 12/20, 7p, Eamonn's (Alexandria) website

Welcome to my world

Contrary to popular belief, HP is non- Metro friendly. From the Rhode Island Metro take the H8 bus and get off at Rock Creek Church Road and Upshur; walk 1/2 blockstops. From the Petworth station, take either the H8 bus and get off at Rock Creek Church Road and Upshur OR take the 60 bus and get off at Upshur and 2nd.

UPCOMING $20 TUESDAYS:

Anyone who wants to join is always welcome! Post here or PM me for updates. Read dates carefully - none of this month's meals are actually on Tuesday!

Wednesday 12/6, 7p, The Hitching Post (Petworth)

legant

Heather

cucas87

Monique DC

Is anyone else plan on being stuck downtown waiting for traffic to let up?

--stuff snipped--

Other suggestions also welcome!

I won't be able to make it on December 7, but some other suggestions (closer to 15th and L): Nage? Beacon Bar & Grill?

I was at Bob's Shabu Shabu 88 ...

For anyone else who isn't in the know: Bob's Shabu Shabu

Shabu-shabu, sometimes referred to as Japanese hot pot, actually refers to the style of cooking as well as the food produced,

How about Wednesday, December 27th ? Going once, going twice....

What about the week between Chirstmas and New Years?

So far:

legant

hillvalley

JLK

synaesthesia

brr (does the new date work for you?)

Wednesday 12/6, 7p, The Hitching Post (Petworth, DC)

200 Upshur Street, NW

The following folks plan on attending:

legant

cucas87 (tentative)

Monique DC (tentative)

If you'd like to join us, come on down.

I’d like to propose a Neighborhood Gathering for those north of Cleveland Park (only!) at Uptown Cathay on December 11 or 13* .

Although Uptown Cathay is across the street from Comet, it’s no rival. However, Uptown Cathay does have really cheap drinks.

So, if you live in the neighborhood and want to gather with your neighbors, PM me or post here if you’re interested and which date works best for you.

* My bad. Forgot about the DR-Bebo event. Like to propose the following alternative dates: December 18 or December 20.

Following are the people who plan on attending:

hillvalley

synaesthesia

Any takers for The Hitching Post? I've gotten two replies so far.

I had a dream about Brendan Cox last night. (No, no. Not that type of dream.) We were at CB, planning a special dinner for four. After asking me tons of questions about the guests, he offered a fish, pork and poultry suggestion. We were having trouble coming up with the fourth dish (which was for me) until he mentioned scrapple and biscuits w/ apple butter.

In the light of day, I’m not sure which I’m drooling over more: Cox or the scrapple & biscuits.

[Considering changing my sig to Drown my past regrets in scrapple and bis-cuits ]

I feel for you. However, it doesn't have to be "good." Just a place that's condusive for folks to meet & greet. Who knows--you might just find a diamond in the rough! [uptown Cathay is not known for its food. In fact, quite a few people wonder why that place is still in existence.]

It's been ages since I've wandered into TP. Isn't there a bowling alley on University? What about the Flower & Piney Branch intersection? IIRC there are quite a few Latino restaurants on that corner. Another suggestion: you might want to consider redefining TP to include DC.

In the spirit of $20 Tuesdays how about neighborhood gatherings? Some of us live near each other yet haven't met or broken bread together.

It seems that quite a few of us live north of Cleveland Park between Van Ness and Chevy Chase Circle. (I know four of us who live on Connecticut Avenue alone.) Other than Comet, the pickings are rather slim. But that shouldn't stop us from gathering. I'd like to propose a Neighborhood Gathering for those north of Cleveland Park (only!) at Uptown Cathay on December 11 or 13.

Although Uptown Cathay is across the street from Comet, it's no rival. However, Uptown Cathay does have really cheap drinks.

So, if you live in the neighborhood and want to gather with your neighbors, PM me or post here if you're interested and which date works best for you.

I encourage others to also post here and coordinate their own neighborhood gatherings.

Street parking shouldn't be too bad, especially after 6:30. (There is a lot behind Comet; you can enter it from Nebraska avenue. Don't know if the lot is for Comet customers.) If you can't find street parking directly in front of Comet at most you'd have a 1 blk walk. Comet is ~ .5 miles from Chevy Chase Circle. Chevy Chase is the 5600 blk; Comet is the 5000 blk. of Connecticut Ave.

How is the parking in that neighborhood? I am coming from Silver Spring and from MapQuest I reckon it's down Connecticut near that first circle as you enter DC, no?

My well-under $20 dinner at Flavors...

Curious minds want to know: how much was the dinner? What was the average cost of entrees?

Fava croquette atop roasted portabello

Steamed broccoli and (wait for it...)

KitKat bar

PROPOSED $20 TUESDAY:

Tuesday 12/5, 7p, The Hitching Post (Petworth)

Any interest? Post here or PM me.

Many new customers are unaccustomed to the service we offer. I was stocking the bread one day and was asked 'could you point me in the direction of the green beans?' My responce of course was to drop what I was doing (no I didn't drop any loaves of bread on the floor - grin) and take the customer to the frozen section, pointing out a few options, including a few I like.

Well this guest was amazed. 'You didn't have to do that' she said. 'But of course I did, thats why they pay me the big bucks and feed me so well'. She was truly surprised.

Unfortunately, there are not enough “crew members” (outside of TJs) as willing to help as you are.

For the better part of the 10 weeks while I was on crutches friends offered to shop for me. While I took them up on their offers, it’s kinda difficult to describe (especially to non-cooks) a specific cut of beef or where to find soy milk. Besides, they refused to take me with them; by the time I hobbled to the front door, they had finished shopping.

I went out on three occasions to do my own shopping. And all experiences were disasters. Once, in Ohio taking care of the nieces, I asked a store manager if they carried puff pastry. He disappeared for a good 10 minutes while I shopped for vegetables. When he came back, he said they didn’t have it. A while later, in the same store, I asked another manager if they had phyllo. She didn’t bother to look; her response was a flat no. I then asked about the frozen treats; I hadn’t seen ice cream and such on my first scouting trip. Sure enough, both items were there. In rather plain sight. What made this shopping experience especially frustrating was (1) the store gave the impression that it would assist customers—they even provided electric carts for customers to get around; (2) the items that I wanted were often on top shelves and getting them was quite difficult (I did send one niece scurrying up a shelf to get a box of polenta); (3) the store managers were anything but helpful; and (4) the check-out aisles weren’t wide enough to accommodate the electric carts.

Locally things weren’t much better. At one store, one that had big signs stating that assistance was available for customers, I waited a good 20 minutes after notifying store personnel that I needed assistance. It was NOT a busy time at the store. In fact, there were several checkout clerks standing around talking about the latest football game. To add insult to injury: the associate who did finally help me set out at a gallop. I nearly slipped trying to keep up with him.

(Next time – please Lord, don’t let there be a next time – I’m giving the cart a good shove down the aisle and doing my best Larry Bird imitation. Woe to anyone in my path.)

Extremely high or low objects were especially difficult while in a cast and on crutches. Yet another store—again, one that posted that assistance was available—has bins that are at ankle level. After an extremely long wait for assistance, a fellow customer stooped to get my items for me.

Hence I relied on meals from friends (often stews, chili and chicken), frozen food/dinners and ramen noodles. I craved fresh vegetables.

When I just need an aisle number, I am often embarrassed when associates/crew members/store personnel walk me to an item. Yet, when I needed assistance the most – from establishments that proffered -- it was nowhere to be found. Thank you Trader Ronald – and others like you – for “just doing your job.”

Due to poor planning and downright laziness I found myself, late Thursday morning, trying to throw together something to take to a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. I absolutely refused to go to the store on Thanksgiving so I was forced to use what was in the house. I scoured the Internet and decided on spinach ravioli lasagna. After reviewing several recipes "“ taking a bit from this recipe, a tad from that recipe "“ I had the ingredients to pull this off. Well, almost all of the ingredients.

All the recipes I found that used ricotta also called for an egg. The only thing I was missing was the egg. I presumed it was used as a binder for the ricotta and spinach filling.

Another search of the Internet for substitutions was futile. Substitute 2 egg whites for 1 whole egg. Well, if I had two egg whites I wouldn't need to substitute it for the damned egg.

(It seemed that there were quite a few others with cooking emergencies; a lot of the cooking sites crashed on me or had a slow response time.)

In a last ditch effort, I searched the board. When I couldn't find anything in the archives I looked to see who was online. It seems that most of you kitchenistas were lovingly basting your turkeys or artistically plating your holiday dinners. I did get one suggestion: EVOO as a binder.

After more Internet searching (a.k.a., procrastination) I came across a site that suggested using flour or cornstarch as a binder. 2 TBS cornstarch/flour = 1 egg. I've not cooked lasagna since I was in Girl Scouts, but I thought this came out pretty well.

Are you in the middle of cooking a dish and realize you don't have XX? What are your suggestions for last minute ingredient substitutions? (Herbs don't count.) What type of dish? Did you compensate for the missing ingredient in any other way (such as adding extra vanilla)?

Most cooking is improvisation; new ideas are always welcome.

...only drink on the weekends.

According to the latest medical literature, females should only have one drink a day. Under your system, if I abstain during the week does that mean I can get totally blasted on the weekend?

I am restocking the entire kitchen (actually the whole house) - it is like getting your first apartment, but with a much better budget than I had when just starting out.

Can I go shopping with you? Kitchen shopping with a decent budget: I'd be like Tom Hanks in that movie where he gets a job at the toy store.

Regarding Brooklyn Bagels and Booeymongers: Are these eggs actually scrambled? Or are they microwaved?

With Virginia travel documents reinstated -- under duress -- crossed the river and had dinner with txaggie, cjsadler and a non-DRian at Tallula. The conversation was quite lively which may have distracted from the enjoyment of the food.

Txaggie’s tuna tartare was quite interesting. Raw meat has never appealed to me, but I think I’ve turned that corner. I had the Goat Cheese Ravioli. My only complaint was that there was not enough to pass around the table. Non-DRian had the soup. I believe cjsadler had several amuse yourself dishes -- baby burger, pulled pork, duck spring roll and the corn dog. Granted, these are meant to be two-bite items, but when you have four people…

Our waiter (Matt?) informed us that they were out of the short ribs and pork. However, after mustering up enough crocodile tears and putting on my best lost puppy dog face, he was able to “find” one last serving of the pork. (Way to go Matt!) I’m glad he did; the smoked mashed potatoes were out of this world. I’d go back to the Commonwealth just for those potatoes. Cjsadler had the scallops; the salsify and cabbage were also quite good. Txaggie had the salmon w/ gnocchi and leek fondue. Although Non-DRian had the duck, he was slow to share. After seeing txaggie, cjsadler and me passing plates around, he finally got the idea. I suspect rather reluctantly. Or, maybe he was trying to keep the duck all for himself. After tasting it, I could understand why. It was my favorite dish of the evening. Now if Tallula would pair the duck with the mashed potatoes I would actually consider relocating to Virginia.

Don't remember the wine, but cjsadler did a good job of selecting it. Especially considering the table had pork, poultry, shellfish and seafood.

Did we have dessert? I honestly don’t remember. I was so blown away by the meal that anything else was secondary.

Would I go back? Definitely. For the duck and potatoes alone--hint, hint. The bar seemed quite inviting; I can imagine as a solo diner enjoying a glass of wine and several amuse yourself dishes.

That's a solid enough endorsement for me:

I love the Shrimp Butler so much so that I have given it as a gift as well as spoken of it in casual conversation with strangers at the seafood counter in the grocery.

My $0.02: went the other night, for the first time. Unfortunately, you can’t see the menu board from the bar; the board is perpendicular to the bar. Makes ordering a bit difficult. Another bone of contention: Comet doesn’t serve coffee or tea with dessert. Yet Politics & Prose does.