porcupine

I get my birds from River Falls Seafood in Potomac. They come from a small farm on the Eastern Shore (I think), and are killed and cleaned right before being shipped to the store, so they're quite fresh. I don't recall the price per pound, sorry. You have to order in advance. They are pretty tasty (considering that I don't really care for turkey).

Also, last year instead of roasting one ginormous turkey I roasted two 9 pounders. They cooked much faster and much more evenly; when the dark was just done the white was still pretty juicy.

It seems to be a DR.com evening at Eve.  <snip>who do I run into at the door but Porcupine who says she is meeting Camille and Beau for dinner.  I guess we will have to wait for them to report in on the rest of the evening.

ummm... pork belly confit. I'm in a Napa Valley Syrah/pork belly confit coma right now. Will report in the morning when senses resume normal functioning...

I went to CakeLove on Sunday and purchased a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing for $3.00.  (The palm cards were out on the counter.)

I tried a couple bites immediately, and the icing had the consistency of a cold stick of butter, and the cake seemed grainy and dry.  I put it back in the bag, and went out to do some errands.

Almost ninety minutes later, I reopened the bag and retried the cupcake.  The icing had turned from refrigerated-butter consistency to a thin, creamy, semi-liquid state.  I have to say:  I really like the icing.  Unfortunately, the cake itself remained grainy and dry.  If you have the cake with the icing in the same bite, it works well enough, but the cake on its own was not executed well.  One anecdote, one data point, one cupcake.

Cheers,

Rocks.

I'm really confused by this whole refrigeration thing. I believe it's a red herring. Or maybe I don't know anything about health codes (more likely). But I bake a lot , and I make a lot of buttercream icings. They can be held at cool room temperature for a day at least (my cakes seldom last longer than that). Cool room temp, not warm, but not refrigerator cold, either. Can't CakeLove/LoveCafe get some proper storage for items likely to be consumed soon after purchase?

OK then - who would be up for Sodere on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving - the 22nd?

I'm in. And maybe we can walk to LoveCafe for dessert <ducking>

Okay, kind of an odd topic, but... I'm thinking of making potato spaetzle for a tuber-themed party this weekend. I have a recipe for spaetzle that calls for flour, egg, and milk. If I replace some of the flour with potato puree would it work? Or would it be just a pale imitation of gnocchi? Thanks for any advice.

Here is the menu from tonight.  A bit different than what Hillvalley posted.  No time to do a writeup now, but he langoustine cassoulet was spectacular!

I could be mistaken, but I think all nine people at our table agreed - the langoustine cassoulet was beyond description (for me, anyway).

Many deep and heartfelt thanks from me and my faster half to Don Rockwell, Hillvalley, Chef Krinn and his entire staff. What a lovely evening.

Suddenly I feel compelled to dine at Corduroy, say on Monday or Tuesday.

hmmmm...

For an interesting treatise on the power of advertising, might I suggest a rather dated SF classic? Read The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl and CM Kornbluth. And if you like that, try Midas World (also by Pohl).

Winter is now here, and the body craves savory, rich, guilty foods.  <snip>

7)  Fuschwaida (spelled poorly) at Ceiba

Feijoada. (yummmm...)

For me, spicy beef noodle soup (Szechuan style) from A&J. With the wide noodles.

thanks for the tips, cjsadler and zoramargolis! (Yes, depth of flavor is what I'm looking for, not pizzaz - sorry I wasn't clear on this.)

Later this week will be some roasted squash soups from purchases at the market over the weekend.

Would you be interested in sharing the recipe? Every squash soup recipe I've followed has come out kinda bland.

  We were just talking about that Onion piece today.  I love the Onion.

Last time I checked, I couldn't access it without paying; looks like something's changed:

"New Starbucks Opens in Rest Room of Existing Starbucks": http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29030

Also, "Starbucks to Begin Sinister 'Phase Two' of Operation": http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28657

Enjoy!

FYI, next restaurant week, I believe, is January 9-15, 2006.

Jesus Tapdancing Christ I wish they'd quit scheduling it the same week as my birthday! Do you know how hard it is to celebrate anything during that accursed week? (of course you do.)

home = 10

work = ZERO!

honestly, there are no commercial food purveyors within five miles of where I work. I'd actually welcome a Starbucks there. And I hate Starbucks.

Does anybody remember The Onion article titled "Starbucks to Open Branch in Restroom of Existing Starbucks"?

The Gino's at Four Corners became a Roy's, then a Hardee's, and now a McDonald's. Chicken McNuggets are unworthy to occupy the same locational aura as Roy's chicken, or Gino's.

During my senior year of high school I got out early once a week and drove from Germantown to Four Corners for music lessons. Was often late because of construction adding a fourth lane to the beltway. But I always stopped at Roy Rogers for a roast beef sandwich and fries.

also a local,

At Trader Joe's this afternoon, I witnessed a 3-year old boy tagging along after his mother, grabbing items from the display and putting them in his mouth.  The items were vacuum packed, and his spittle did not penetrate the cellophane.  But he certainly left some remnants on the packages.  His mother said, "Henry!  Henry! Henry!" and kept shopping.  When I registered a (rather mild) protest, she ignored me.  In an age of communicable disease, what is a responsible citizen to do?  Perhaps I should have taken the items he slobbered on and given them to the manager.

Or dumped them in her cart. But I like this better:

Discreetly moisten hand with water; walk briskly past the woman and flick fingers decisively at the back of her neck while making a loud sneezing sound.

Tom also loves the word "haunting."

at least he hasn't killed the word "revelation" yet like his predecessor did (though to be fair, I really enjoy her writing).

Also TemptAsian has a pumpkin bun filled with (I think) sweet red bean paste.

muffins are just bald cupcakes, discuss

Not in my experience. The basic ingredients are the same, but the proportions differ, and the method of combining does, too. Cupcakes = miniature American style (that is, butter) cake. Muffins = cupcake-shaped quick bread.

If there's another dr.com gathering sometime I will bring cupcakes from maison Miller - truly the best that I know of.

Kaddo borawni appetizer at the Helmand in Baltimore.  Pan fried pumpkin with a yogurt garlic sauce.  Good.

or kadu at Panjshir/Panjshir II and Faryab.

My favorite Indian restaurant, The Connaught Place in Fairfax, is closing this week. I am bereft. We've been dining there for something like eight years, about three times a month. As regulars we get outstanding service, and the food is always just right. The thought of spending years building that rapport again is distressing. The thought of never having Connaught's paneer mahkni again is... I can't bear it. And who else serves rasmalai?

Help! I'm going to need a new Indian (and not vegetarian) place to get my fix. Which are your favorites? And what makes them your favorites? Obviously I'm looking for good food, but would also like to find something not too expensive, not too inaccesible, and something where I can settle in and feel at home (hell of a wish list, huh?).

Just to get things rolling...

Bombay Bistro (Rockville): was the standard for about five years before we switched allegiance; last few times I went it seems to have gotten a bit mundane; besides they took my favorite (beef badam pasanda, I think it was called) off the menu

Heritage India (Glover Park): only went once, but was very impressed; top of my re-try list

Bombay Club (Downtown): fantastic, but too pricey/inaccessible for weekly chowing

Madras Palace (Gaithersburg): too limiting; I need meat sometimes; I prefer Northern to Southern anyway

Tandoori Nights (Gaithersburg): surprisingly good, but... the nouveau thing bugs me

Nirvana (DC): the worst dining experience of my life (need to post that story to the 'never again' thread); you couldn't offer me a year of dinners at Eve or Palena or Maestro to go there again

Memsahib (Rockville): I love it but for a different type of occasion

Cafe Spice (Gaithersburg): bo-ring

Flavors (Gaithersburg): only been once; it has potential; they have goat

Indique (Cleveland Park): only been once; not impressed

...any ideas, folks?

For fishmonger check out River Falls Seafood in Potomac. Very expensive, but the fish and seafood are the best I've ever purchased. If you go early they may not have everything displayed yet, but ask. They have a small selection of high quality meats, too, but I'm not sure if they'll cut to order. You can also order almost any game bird from them. I believe the owner was formerly the fishmonger at SPG in Bethesda.

The 30th is better for us too.

likewise.

Comfort food: cabbage and noodles. Cooked it for my mom; she contributed an apple pie. Mmmmmm.

Learn to use a bow.

Even that is prohibited. I checked. <sigh>