ktmoomau

Reviving a thread from 2009- I need potato salad for my trashy birthday party this weekend. But I want it to taste decently. Anyone like a pre-made store potato salad? Wegman's/Giant/Shoppers/HT- anyone have one you think is halfway decent, or with a good tszuj of hot sauce or something you can make it pretty darned good? If I still lived in Arlington I would buy it in bulk from Heidelberg, but that seems like too long of a drive from me, and a bit too classy for this party. I want it to be tasty but trashy.

Good idea, and I always have those pickles in my fridge as I love them! I just had this cabbage salad at Turkey and The Wolf and thought it would make a great picnic party dish: https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/recipes/spicy-cabbage-salad-recipe

From the ingredients it seemed a lot like a custard to me. This doesn't look terrible: https://www.saveur.com/sickles-blackberry-flummery-recipe/

To continue- the WW2 museum was very cool. The new section has just incredible digital exhibits that are very thoughtful. It is of course so sad... I thought they did a good job of incorporating areas that look and feel like you are in a place. I didn't like that the experience was broken up in terms of time, but I know how the museum expanded so in a way that makes sense. It is very hard to present so much information on so many different fronts, I thought they did try to make it not too overwhelming. I also appreciated the amount of seating areas where you could listen and watch the experiences. After that we needed a pick me up mentally, so we went to the Carousel Bar and I drank Pimm's Cups while circling. I didn't realize the bartenders have to crawl in and out to get in. For dinner we had been debating pretty much all Herbsaint restaurant group places- Gianna, Peche, Herbsaint or Cochon. We decided to go to the Mother source and just go to Herbsaint. We ordered a bottle of wine. We had the baked asiago and fried oysters to start. I thought the fried oysters were fantastic, some of the best I had ever had. I think just due to freshness and because Louisiana oysters tend to be bigger and a little more rich in taste- it made for a really good fried oyster. And you of course cannot dislike baked cheese, I just don't think it is scientifically possible. We were sent out fries that were just really good shoestring fries with aioli. For dinner I had Louisiana Jumbo Shrimp with Stewed Peppers, Coconut Milk and Basmati Rice, I had been debating gumbo, so shrimp and rice in sauce was perfect. This was really good, the shrimp may have been some of the most perfectly cooked shrimp I have had in a while, my friend doesn't love shrimp, but the texture of these were really good and she obliged to try them. The fries in the sauce weren't terrible either. My friend had the special, which I believe was snapper, and the sauce on that was equally delicious, I could have mopped it up. For dessert we had the banana tart, which was like a banana chess pie and was tasty. All in all, we really didn't have a single bad meal, although I would have traded my po-boy at the French Market for another po-boy in hindsight. We also had great cocktails, listened to good music. The Intercontinental was in a really nice location and was nice, but the staff all seemed fairly young, and wasn't exactly up to my other terribly high Intercontinental standards (I mean the Intercontinental Bali is just...extra.), but I think this is likely a property they took over, and it isn't a resort property. It really was perfectly nice, and all the hotels were super full from a herbal life convention, which I think just put a strain on things. But it isn't one of their premier properties. I would stay there again though as it was affordable and in a really great location, I like their toiletries, the room was really comfortable and they are very nice in general.

Trip Report: Evening 1: Compere Lapin- we sat at the bar and the bar stuff was really nice and engaging. I had jerk chicken with coconut cream corn pudding. I mainly wanted this dish because my family likes creamed corn and I wanted to see how they made it without dairy. The corn was very good, the chicken had some spice and was good, but was also just chicken breast in some ways. The fried pig ear starter, and dirty rice arrincini were great little bites. My friend had the snapper which was very good. This was all a very good, well composed meal. The cocktails were good, I had a frozen gin fizz. Day 2: French Market for Bloody Mary's from the pavilion (added extra hot sauce, were great), raw oysters, and a po-boy. The po-boy was ok, it was a soft shell and just was a little small, and not fried, just steamed. I love a soft-shell, this one just lacked a little flavor and was a little wet. Raw Oysters and bloodys were on point. We then saw Jackson Square the Cathedral, the Ogden Southern Museum (I thought it was very cool, but in between some exhibits in many spots right now, so it felt a bit light on art). We went on a Dark History Tour with Jonathan Weiss. He was very theatrical, and that was fun, we went to various places with a stop at Lafitte's blacksmith for to-go drinks. Then we had dinner at Antoine's and they gave us a tour after. We had the oyster sampler and escargot, which were both just classic and really tasty. I then had broiled fish topped with a crawfish tails sauce, the fish was a touch overdone, not terrible but about 1-2 minutes too long, but the sauce was excellent. Asparagus on the side. While this place is an institution, the food remained really good. That night we went to Frenchmen street and listed to live music at the Spotted Cat and 30/90. Lots of good music over there. Day 3: Cemetary Tour of St. Louis- this was very hot, but good information. We then went to the Hermann-Grimma House which was very pretty and interesting, although our tour guide had to be somewhat new. We then chilled at the Napoleon House with drinks, got a muffaletta, gumbo, jambalaya and cooled off a bit. After that a storm was rolling in so we rode the trolley through the Garden District. After the storm passed it was time for Saba. Saba was just delicious. I am always impressed when you can make vegetable dishes taste that good. We started with the brussels sprout hummus- brussels on top of hummus sounds odd, but this was truly delicious and worked well together flavor wise, I can't put my finger on exactly what was with the brussles sprouts, green chilles and carmelized onion, in some sort of light sauce to add a little acid. We also got three little tastes of feta with lots of corriander pods and preserved leeks, beets with sumac onions, tahini and dill, and wood roasted okra on garlic sauce- these were just perfect to eat with the hummus and REALLY good pita. The okra was addictive, I could eat it like popcorn. The feta was a really good feta. It was all very, very good. I ordered lamb kefta kabob with Israeli couscous and confit tomato. The lamb was fantastic, with appropriate punch of lamb flavor that also wasn't gamey. They couscous soaked up the really nice acidic tomato sauce, and it was very saucy, but not in a thick sauce way. I also had the charred eggplant, amba, soft-cooked egg, sumac onion. This dish was so freaking good. I have really been into charred eggplant (in China we had some good versions too) and this was just really good texturally, and the flavors were just delicious. We also had the zucchini shakshuka, which was really tasty, as well. And the hanger steak, which was the most tender hanger I have ever had a bite of with muhammara, charred peppers, herbs. We had a couple cocktails each, and these were delicious, as well. I had a cold brew cocktail that was almost like liquid bananas foster for dessert. I ended up buying the cookbook as I was really impressed with the fact that the dishes seemed simple, but had a real complexity that I just couldn't in my mind say- oh you just do this and this and this, like I can do with other dishes. I would highly recommend Saba. Uptown is a really cute part of town, I could have spent more time there. After Saba we went to St. Joe's bar and had a few drinks. Day 4: We walked Magazine Street to Turkey and the Wolf. This was fun, we picked up some iced chickory coffee from French Truck, saw lots of cute houses, etc. Turkey and the Wolf makes your trashy, but good meal dreams come true. I had a great brunch cocktail. The bologna sandwich was crunchy, gooey from the melted cheese and mayo, crispy and just awesome over the top. The taco was in the same vein of just terrible trashy, with pig ears, american cheese, homemade tortilla, head cheese and delicious. The devilled eggs were pooled in delicious hot sauce, and the cabbage salad had an obscene amount of sunflower seeds, it was so crunchy and good- I want to remake this to take to picnics, the fried pig ears will be the challenge. This was kind of in a strange area with not a lot around, it was pretty steady with people despite being an off Monday. After that we went to the WW2 museum, perfect timing to dodge a big rain storm... will continue after lunch.

This is why I HATE black velvet, first I think the lyrics are just plain dumb- how is black velvet a new religion that will bring you to your knees? But also, in my hometown, you either had to pray you had good enough reception to pick up a Pittsburgh station, or you were stuck with our local station, which played the worst array of music, and this was a favorite for years.

I don't know a super fan or expert... although I am a fan. I would love some tips on making them at home in a podcast, stuff that isn't on a recipe. And maybe what their favorites around the area are.

Zento?

Whoa...

I would definitely listen. I am not a big podcast person, but I like gaining local food knowledge. I always like hearing about how things came to be- who started the trends, etc. I would also love to hear tips on making things at home, or good recipes people like.

Those songs are bad... but to me, there will never be a song worse than Black Velvet by Alannah Myles. It is stupid and was overplayed in my youth, I really do not like it. Wikipedia's "List of Music Considered To Be the Worst" May be of interest.

I haven't been to the park in Maryland. In Virginia there are lots of hiking trails with spots to see the falls, some with platforms you can go out on, some trails are longer than others. They also have picnic tables, and grassy spaces to chill. You mainly are hiking unless you bring other things to do outdoors in open spaces. It looks like the MD side also has the canal and potentially canal boat rides?

BTW, Cheesetique has a Cuban sandwich that I think is far superior to Earl's. It gets a very good press to it.

Last week we had shredded bbq chicken pizza with gouda, mozz and green peppers. We also had an evening of BLT sandwiches which I quite enjoyed. I also made roasted salmon and broccoli which I put on top of thin veggie noodles coated in sesame oil and spicy sichuanese chili oil from a friend. That was quite spicy, but delicious. Yesterday I hosted a party and made tomato, watermelon salad, those hawaiian ham and cheese sliders, parm/caper deviled eggs and had some cheese and meats. Those little sliders are addictive.

The Big Buns menu changed substantially over time. They used to have chicken, fish, bowls, etc, and they would run specials on things that were a little off the normal burger track, so it is possible. The GrandCru menu also changed a fair amount, they used to have a few things I really liked that they took off the menu, very possible they had a cuban at one time. They had a big shift in menu likely around 2009 ish if memory serves me correct. I used to study for the bar there sometimes in 2008 and remember the menu changing a lot from that time.

Glad to see they are still humming along! And that someone replaced us as regulars, hahahahha. For dinner we always had to wait for our burgers, they were never pre-cooked. Max (our Bichon) REALLY misses the outdoor seating and french fries.

King Street Blues was a LONG time coming though... But I agree a lot of closures of restaurants, there is a lot of new stuff opening and moving around though (Chop Shop, Urbano, the German place I haven't tried yet, Misha's moved to King, etc). My personal theory is that if you think about it 2009-2010 the rents likely were very low as that was major recession, I can see a lot of rent negotiations during recession years being quite difficult to hammer out.

I wonder if they are putting their stuff up for auction like they did before... they have some super cute bistro chairs and stuff.

https://dc.eater.com/2019/7/17/20697735/px-speakeasy-bar-closing-alexandria-old-town I think they changed focus to the Wharf (can't blame them, it's new and hot). The Armstrong's also still have Hummingbird which wasn't mentioned here, as I am not sure it was part of EGFG. I think the rise of boutique cocktails everywhere probably took a hit on PX as being special, and people want new and different, so I can't blame him for not renewing the rent, when he has a giant space to manage.

Mmmmm soft-shells

I could do 10/20 not 10/13. I don't see a poll, so if I was supposed to put something in there... ooopsies.

I don't unfortunately, although I am absolutely sure there are places. And I could give you some Virginia recommendations. Unfortunately, I am just not in Maryland very often. Maybe someone else has a good rec? I was just searching the Alexandria area, as I moved, and my local Arlington joint wasn't as convenient, as man when you catch a craving for a good saltena, it's on!

Went back to Mason Social the other night with Hubby and Mom. Hubby had Jambalya pasta. Mom had capresse salad and meatballs. I had the thai green lemongrass wings and a caesar salad. The salad was fine, if boring- needed a bit more acid in the dressing. I liked the wings, and thought the sauce was different than your normal in a good way.

https://www.spymuseum.org/visit/ Hubby and I took a few college kids to the new Spy Museum the other week. Hubby also got to go for a special preview for museum people (he manages the media program of Mount Vernon). It was VERY crowded the day we went as it was newly re-opened and Father's Day. We took the water taxi to the wharf, which was a great way to go. From there you climb up a set of stairs, and walk over the bridge. The outside of the building was designed by Richard Rogers with Roger Stirk Harbour and Partners and is quite eye catching. In the lobby they have the REALLY cool colonial era "submarine". They also have a James Bond car and other neat items. Note that this is one of the few DC museums that charge for entrance (Adult $24.95, Adolescent $14.95 and kids under 6 free). It also has timed tickets, so please note that, if you want a certain time you should order online in advance. The museum is REALLY well done. You start at the top and work your way down two large floors of exhibits. I think it took us about 3.5 hours to go through it, but again it was crowded, and we had multiple people with us. They have really incorporated digital exhibits really well to enhance the user experience. While they have a lot of traditional displays, as well, and fun displays that move and make sounds that draw you in. They have done a good job of making venues that when you walk in they begin telling you the story of the exhibit. Just like before you get a code word, cover and mission. A lot of the digital exhibits are done such that you test "spy skills" and the more you do the better they are able to assess your skill, and help you on your mission. I would try to do at least a couple, just because they are fun and then at the end you will have your strengths pointed out to you at your debrief. Some are quick like the one that tests whether you can judge if someone will turn on you by pressing buttons, decision making matrixs, puzzles to see how much you can remember from one page to the next. I think this is an excellent museum for kids that are just a little older, as there are lots of activities, but they might benefit from being able to read and do some of the digital tasks without a huge amount of help- as some are more time sensitive. People had younger kids there too, they just needed a bit more help, and I think they didn't quite get it as much. I don't have kids, but judging by the kids there and my nephews, I think probably age 8+ you are going to be able to get it more and do more. The gift shop is even larger than before, and does have cool things. Their website says 7+, so I guess my intuition was about right. L'Enfant really doesn't have a lot, we took the college kids we were with back down to the Wharf for dinner, it really isn't a long walk, probably about 3-5 minutes. And after that much time it is nice to get a drink and a snack. They also have a very cool event space according to Hubby.