NolaCaine

Update: I have the two lunch boxes back and for the record, the 5 yr old has no trouble bringing them back but the 8 yr old can't seem to remember. 

is it weird that I'm considering a ball lunch or ball dinner? I"m inspired!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Quick note to say that I've enjoyed both recent trips which happened to be on two consecutive days. The menu is confusing but i really enjoyed both meals. All good:
cauliflower side

boc choy side

eel lunch bowl

shrimp/sweet potato/squash thing on the lunch menu

How Do I GET the Lunch Boxes Back From The School without going to Fetch Them Myself? !! ???

On 3/25/2019 at 9:57 PM, Marty L. said:

Did anyone here realize that i Ricci even continued to exist?  (No reviews here in a dozen years.)  Apparently it's one of the very best places in D.C., just as it was in the 20th Century.

I've been twice in the last two years. Both times those bastards "poisoned" me, AKA exposed me to food allergens that I declared.  The food is forgetable and service old-school good. Expensive IMO, considering the bla-ness of the food. All that said, my review is skewed by the inability to swallow at the end of both meals. It sort of ruins an evening. 

Dinner: Salmon with soy+stuff glaze, rice, broccoli at the request of Big J. Little J will eat anything. (I'm trying out different code names to see what works)

Feeling oddly proud of my school lunch box game recently.  Tomorrow will be chef salad with the left over grilled chicken from last night and lots of other random stuff. My kids like a lot of little things and I think the end up eating more when I prep this type of lunch. I tried "warm" food once but too much of a PIA to be worth trying to master it. 

I almost spat out my lunch Sundae. 

So Leleboo: When are we going to call time on "a bread" comments. Today, both my kids for pre-bed snack had water and two slices of "sara lee whole wheat" bread. It's like squishy wonderbread dyed brown. 

And, while I was preparing their prison rations, they were eating the remains of their lunches! To quote all parents: "kids are weird"

In other news, I've mastered bento-box like lunches. Girl likes salad, even grain salad, various pickled things, and variety. She tells me "you didn't pack enough of stuffes." She means different things, not general volume.  

Loved it.

"Never Let Me Go" should go on y'alls reading list next. I've tried every Ichiguro and these are the only two I finished yet both rank very high on my all-time favorites list and I'm thinking of reading them both again, which I almost never do.

FWIW, I read very very fast and have read a lot of crap and literature so feel like my book recommendations are far better than my food reviews.

Love this. 

4 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

[I was actually using the Universal You.]

that's y'all 

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/09/701701825/yall-heard-an-argument-for-the-great-southern-pronoun

Sundae: Good luck with the food issues and I hope the OT helps. 

Just came on here to say that my little asked for a bread again last night, looked at the options and chose the ultra healthy seed filled sprouted organic thing over the bagels and tortilla. Good for her!

in other news, why does my big eat beans at school but not home? They cannot be better at school. Don't we open the same can? (baked, re-fried)

53 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

This article doesn't make it clear if there's a new ownership, or if it's just a redo.

It opened in August of 2018. A redo in less than a year? Why?

Peeps: The con closed before we could test it.

Can I make fun of la finca or am I being too trite recently?

Le Kon's sign was blocked by the overhang. The professional exterior was marred by stupid sticker letters announcing "tacos" or some such nonsense. And ARL messed with the location just as they opened. 

Anybody have anything positive to share?

Lunch today was good enough and for the record, by the time I left at 12:45, completely packed. Egg drop soup could have used some salt IMO. Loved the garlic eggplant (not to oily) but the ...seafood thing was lackluster, maybe needed salt too.

I'd go again because something about it delighted me. 

Curly Deon does have its charms. 

On 3/6/2019 at 10:14 PM, Mark Slater said:

The g is not pronounced . 

Should a restaurant's name require/inspire 6 or more posts on pronunciation?

That said, thank you all. I now know how to pronounce it and will remember (thanks to the multiple posts...makes me feel not alone in confusion, which is nice)

On 3/5/2019 at 4:29 PM, dracisk said:

 

She also had some strawberries. Then before bed she told me she was hungry for "a bread."

 

I've got a little sleep avoider (5) who also eats an early dinner. When she asks for food before bed, based on internet advice, I give her "a bread" or a cheese or something equally as bland. If she's hungry, it will suffice. If she's not, it won't and that's how I know if she's really hungry or just delaying bed. 

Husband's traveling so breakfast is "a bread" chicken cold cuts and strawberries and milk. I think I covered all of the food groups and momma's tired and lazy and it's lent and for lent I've given up trying too hard.

More news on my girl. She ate $17 worth of oysters at the Wharf today. FWIW: she likes the medium between salty and sweet. The other one at quite a bit of burger. He's not food adventurous.

Rappahannock oyster bar is expensive and not child-friendly (it's an actual bar) but the staff was really, really nice. I had fried seafood everything. That was amazing but then again, I never eat fried food so maybe it was just the fried-ness of it.

In another thread I mocked the concept of Cajun crawfish in the same restaurant as sushi. Well, last Sunday on girl-date, my daughter (5) requested both at the Harris Teeter. I got them, made them and she loved the meal. Of course! 

Am I the only person who can't pronounce "Sfoglina" ? I also went to Sfoglina and enjoyed the food but here's the thing; I remember the Casa Luna lunch still, but not the So-fog-lina lunch.  That's how my brain pronounces it...I know it's not correct but there it is.

On 2/9/2019 at 6:54 PM, leleboo said:

My older one is like that. No real sweet tooth but a fierce salt tooth — which frankly is also me, but not my husband. Littler Bits, though, is Totally In Favor of Sugar. Kids, man.

My kids have critiqued the sweetness of various fruits and candy. For example, grapes are generally too sweet. OTOH apples can go either way. They prefer dark to milk chocolate. 

I've noticed that when my kids eat an early dinner, they want more/another when husband and I eat. Last night we had drop-in in-laws so I made the absolute best Thai food that I could order over the phone.

Kids came sniffing around at white rice and mango sticky rice for second dinner. Not bad.

In other news, my 8yr old boy has declared himself to "not like meat" but when offered he'll eat fish sticks and chicken nuggets. What the heck? He used to love salmon and pollo a la braza. But I guess that was 2018. 

They will still eat potstickers even though they are not homemade. Very often that's their second dinner. Or bread and cheese when I think they are faking hunger.  

On 9/2/2010 at 3:48 PM, xdcx said:

Take your time with the roux. It will easily take 40-50 mins of constant stirring. You'll want to use something wooden and flat if you can, to scrape the bottom of the pot so it all cooks the same.

On 9/2/2010 at 6:58 PM, Ilaine said:

Just don't scorch the roux! If you do, throw it out and start over, it can't be saved. Edited to add: don't go off and leave roux unattended, it will go from not done to scorched within seconds.

I guess by now you understand that the roux is the most ingredient in a gumbo. You can make it with andouille, chicken, shrimp, duck, crab, whatever, but the roux is the star of the show.

Chef Folse's dissertation on roux -- personally I make dark brown Cajun roux for gumbo - aim high:

http://www.jfolse.com/fr_rouxs.htm

On 2/14/2019 at 10:47 AM, DaveO said:

Earl's makes an excellent spicy turkey sausage gumbo.  I often order it.  Two years ago they posted a "part of a recipe" focusing on the roux.  I made it twice.  I think its all in the roux. 

Regarding roux: If you mess it up the first time, start again. It's just flour and oil. Go slow, stir a lot and watch it. It turns from "clearly not done" to "copper penny" in an instant. In the next instant, it's burnt. All this happens in what, about 2 or 3 minutes? It takes for-ev-er, though, to get to that point. 

20 hours ago, Genevieve said:

Has anyone been to Olivia?

No but I looked at the menu while walking past. It's Mediterranian ...and across the street from Zaytinya. Not sure that's a good idea.