bookluvingbabe

Jennifer Frey, former WaPo reporter.

I always loved her stuff and missed her when she left the Post.

Only 47 and survivors include her 17 year old daughter.

Damn...

Does anyone else agree with this? Because these are the types of statements that cause me to dance the Dining Guide Shuffle - the odds of me going to both of these restaurants in the next couple of years are slim, so I need to rely on trusted diners' opinions for things such as this.

Don, I didn't say it was better. I said it was in-law friendly.  There is a difference as many of us trying to keep our spouse's parents happy while dining out will attest!

For my in-laws, Coastal Flats is too loud.  Cooper Canyon is much quieter and the food is bland and benign.

Yes. New Carrollton no longer has overnight parking otherwise I'd be all over it.

Are you talking about *this* station?
 
When I lived in Maryland, it was New Carrollton 100% of the time, and even when I had easy access to the American Legion Bridge, it would often be New Carrollton.

Is it any different, foodwise, from their other venture, Cooper Canyon?  Because in the pursuit of in-law friendly food, Cooper Canyon is now winning by a mile.  Even over the otherwise popular Coastal Flats.

I have started taking Amtrak out of BWI instead of Union Station because of the parking.  It isn't a solution for people in Virginia but if you live in Maryland, it may make sense for you.

I almost always pick the wrong reality show contestant to root for (I think my exceptions were Richard Blais on All-Stars and The Beekman Boys on Amazing Race) but I just looked at a map to see if we could drive to New Orleans for spring break to eat at Isaac's restaurant.

(For the record, not practical.)

Mr. BLB whimpered when he realized Kwame was gone. He was also not pleased that I kept saying Carl was gone.

I like Marjorie on the show but the menu at Ripple always looks underwhelming to me.

Isn't it actual Truman Show-like architecture? Didn't the same firm design the Kentlands that did Seaside (Truman Show setting)?

We have been stopping at Chubby's following visits to Liberty for the last several winters.  Today was the first disappointing  visit we've had.

No corned beef, no pastrami, no pork belly today.  All fine since there are other good choices.

The mild wings were served in a puddle of sauce.  A pool.

There were ants on the table.  Not a single stray ant.  Several ants.  Every time I would kill one, another would appear...

The burger and pork loin were fine (although I was initially told that pork loin is a summer only item but the server was mistaken....)

And then, despite being listed on the menu and on the specials board, there was no gooey butter cake.  Which BL-3rd grader had been looking forward to for a year.  When I pointed out that it as still listed on the specials board as we left, our server said, "yes.  It can be misconstrued."  I don't know what that means but I think it is lazy to have a specials board and not to update it if you don't have something.  Especially when it is a white board and can be updated with a wet napkin.

Sigh...

No idea but now I'm hungry...

Pork shoulder is in the crockpot but got a late start.  Back up plan for dinner is Cincinnati style chili.

Breakfast was bacon and a package of Trader Joe's biscuits.

Everyone foraged for lunch--Mr. BLB made BL-3rd grader an omelette, reducing the number of eggs in the house to 13.  I had leftover meat sauce and Mr. BLB had cold cuts.

Last night's final indulgence was hot chocolate made with heavy cream and a good dose of vanilla extract.  Everyone got a very small portion and mine was heavily dosed with kahlua.

I think it is probably a good thing for my waistline and pocketbook that I rarely drive down that part of Connecticut Avenue anymore and that when I do, it is even rarer to find a parking space.  Happily, in my attempt to get a few treats pre-blizzard I found a space yesterday.

The triple chocolate cookie is a thing of beauty.  When I was fresh out of college and living in a group house in upper NW, I regularly made a double chocolate cookie recipe that I got from Hershey.  They were amazing and I lost the recipe and I've never found anything that comes close to my memory of those cookies.  Bread Furst is like a perfect version of those cookies.  And they seem to have them whenever I go.

My pre-blizzard indulgence was a small lemon meringue pie--which probably was meant to be at least 2 or 3 servings. I enjoyed it immensely all myself though.

They were pretty full at lunch time yesterday and the ordering/paying system was as chaotic and confusing as ever.

I'm making a version of Nashville hot chicken for dinner.  I hope it doesn't cause any medical emergencies  .  Snow started here on eastern Capitol Hill by our official stopwatch at 1:10 PM, and it is coming down hard. A little while ago, I took some recycling out to the bins we have hidden under the back of the house, and, after that, I don't want to be going back out again. I'm working very quickly and efficiently to get all the laundry done and dried, as our dryer vent is only about 18" above ground, and I don't want the dryer on with a blocked vent.

I'm going to make some beer nuts in a while because...why not? When I looked at the recipe, I was surprised that it actually contained beer.  I thought that was just the name .

Macaroni and cheese for dinner too and something yet TBD.

We did mac and cheese for lunch.   Breakfast was mini quiches and breakfast brie from Wegmans.

Our dryer vent is pretty much ground level--it melts a pretty good path around it.  It is also the only part of my lawn that stays green year round...

I have coolers at the ready to stick in the snow when the power goes out.

Hoping to make a ground turkey pineapple skillet for dinner tonight with some rice.  But right now I'm enjoying one of BreadFurst's triple chocolate cookies and another cup of decaf while I warm up from our first outing to playing the snow.

If you see this in time, stay off the roads this morning - it's a continuation of last night. I had two appointments this morning, and canceled them both.

It's not worth it - risking multiple-hour commutes, getting your car dented up, and becoming stuck. Take my word for it and STAY HOME this morning. Life will be waiting for you next week.

School has a two hour delay so we will venture out by 9:15...  Montgomery County roads don't seem to be too bad... Fingers crossed!

Sad to see they have changed the rewards program. I've used my points (which I hoard...)for dinners I could otherwise not bring myself to pay for. (CityZen, twice...)Sigh...

This is one forum (of several) that I wish would become more populated, as this is a subject near-and-dear to me.

Kelly didn't hit me as hard as Nimoy or Bowie (both of which were pretty devastating, as they played significant roles in my developmental years), but he hit me hard enough.

I should post the picture I took of my grocery cart after Nimoy's death.  It was chocolate, wine and more chocolate.

You are my people.

Visiting my in-laws when I saw the Kelly obit and my gasp of sadness was met with, "Who???" from everyone.

Sigh...

The secret to Disney lodging and parks: AAA.

We did an extended family trip there last year. We rented a gorgeous house just under a 10 minute drive from the front gate, with 4 bedrooms, a pool/jacuzzi, and gated neighborhood entrance, and it was about $1000 for the entire week. To rent 3-4 rooms on property would have cost that for 2 nights, even at a budget property. But even for a single room it's cheaper.

AAA not only came through with significantly discounted park tickets, you get up-front parking passes (you are right next to the handicapped parking, so no need for the parking shuttles). No joke - it takes less time to drive the 10 minutes to the gates, drive to the individual park, park and walk to the theme park gates, than it does to walk from your hotel room to the bus stop, wait for the bus, and do the same. I don't have to worry about bus schedules, we can do breakfast in the house, and I can still park-hop using my car or WDW transportation. Sure, I pay $20/day/car for parking, but I saved that easily by not eating breakfast on property.

You lose 3 benefits staying off-property: Extra Magic Hours, 30-day (instead of 60-day) advance on FastPass, and priority dining reservations. We had no problems maximizing our FP options only 30 days out, and did fine on dining reservations as well. As far as EMH - it's well documented that the park with EMH is far busier than normal on that day. You'll probably spend that 1-2 extra hours on lines. You're better off going to a NON EMH park. With 2 teens, a pre-teen, 4 adults and a grandma in tow, we were able to basically hit every ride in each park in a single day without the extra hours (granted - summer hours - so the days were already long).

Just to keep this slightly on topic, we love Boma and go there every time. Nearly all of the EPCOT World Showcase restaurants are decent - the German buffet at lunch is a good bargain. Magic Kingdom is a food wasteland - Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch) and Tony's Town Square are passable, but everyone knows that, so tables fill quickly. At Hollywood Studios, Sci-Fi Theater (bottomless milkshakes!) is crazy fun, but limited seating makes it hard to get a table. Mama Melrose is passable (this seems to be a theme - Italian is never great but usually edible at WDW). Dining at Animal Kingdom might be worse than at Magic Kingdom - just eat your chicken nuggets and go on the roller coaster again. Luckily, this park you can kill off in 3/4 of a day, so you can go elsewhere for dinner.

We've stayed off-site and I was so crossed-eyed tired that driving back after was just not a good plan.  So staying on-site works for us.

We really like to do early EMH and then hop elsewhere.

Don, my own young companion is desperate to do all 4 parks in one day.  Perhaps this summer I'll come up with  a plan for him to do it.

We spent December 19-24 at Disney World, staying at the Dolphin (see very end for a word about that).

Be Our Guest at the Magic Kingdom.  Be Our Cash Cow would be a better name for the Magic Kingdom's latest sit-down eatery.  Guests are issued a GPS-equipped plastic disc shaped a bit like a rose and herded into a cattle chute-like chamber equipped with one menu for every 4 guests or so.  They eventually reach the business floor where they are led to their Very Own Machine to choose food.  Need that mustard on the side?  Forget about it!  There are zero options to customize the limited menu of sandwiches.  At that point the guests are turned loose to mill about the dimly lit cavernous dining hall where they can fend for themselves in finding a table.  The food is rolled out on a cart to your table, which the servers locate via the GPS discs.  It's an overpriced pretentious cafeteria.   The Magic Kingdom's food is a whole new level of suck compared to the rest of the parks, but this is just egregious.

Trying to find breakfast if a park has Magic Hours that start at 7 am.  If you stay on the Disney properties, you will have access to Magic Hours, usually 1-2 hours at the beginning or sometimes end of one or more of the 4 main parks each day.  Woe betide you if you are relying on Disney transportation and the Magic Hours start at 7 am and you actually want to be there.  You will be waiting for your Disney Transportation before 6:30, so the hotel's breakfast options won't be open.  And when you arrive at the park?  None of their food is open either!

About the Dolphin:  It is my hope that when Marriott takes over the Dolphin in 2016 as part of its acquisition of Starwood, they will make a few improvements.  The side of the hotel that faces the lake between the hotel and Epcot (and Hollywood Studios) needs a serious soundproofing upgrade.  The passenger ferries on the lake toot their horns until they stop running around midnight.  It sounds as if you're sleeping in a NYC tenement with honking traffic.  The Epcot fireworks show is largely visible from the hotel, but if you should be exhausted at 10:30 pm and trying to sleep, it is going to sound as if you are in a crackhouse shootout. Staff at the Dolphin are doing a terrible job of policing the hallways for food service items; we would see items 8-10 hours later.   Every dresser drawer reeks of mildew and even with the AC running, clothing was damp. 

We stayed at Coronado December 18-26th and we did a Beach Club trip in August.

We heard fireworks at both resorts every night.  The December fireworks were the worst because I would be awakened at 11 pm or midnight for the Star Wars ones every single night.  Mr. BLB and BL-3rd grader never stirred.    I actually found the Beach Club pool noises to be more of an issue than the fireworks when we stayed there--of course we had "splurged" on a pool view.  Never again!  Booked our next trip for an old fashioned standard view.

We did a grocery delivery from WeGoShop of cold cuts, yogurts and water so we did breakfast in the room or I would throw a ziplock bag of deli meat in my bag and we'd eat while waiting for the bus.  It made taking advantage of the 7 am park openings so much easier!  (BL-3rd grader is up at 6 am no matter what...)

Our dining highlights and lowlights:

The Plaza:  The Club Sandwich was a winner for me.  No one else liked their meal though (tuna salad and brisket burger) and I don't think we'll be going back.

The Rose and Crown:  Excellent all around.  Perfectly fried fish and chips for the youngster.  Mr. BLB and I shared a pork pie, corned beef and a shepherds pie.

Hollywood and Vine (Minnie's Holiday Dinner):  I don't like buffets at Disney. And I really don't like them at dinner.  But I was surprised at how fresh everything was, everything was kept at an appropriate temperature and the dessert variety was impressive.

California Grill:  Once again, our best meal was here.  They make an impressive cocktail, the service is excellent, the view is amazing and the food is always on point.  Mr. BLB had the bison steak.  I think I had the pork two ways.  BL-3rd grader had the kid's salmon and the rice krispy treat sushi for dessert.

Whispering Canyon:  We went because I needed to see the Wilderness Lodge holiday decorations.  BL-3rd grader and I shared the all you care to eat skillet and Mr. BLB ordered something he didn't like but I can't remember what it was.  I liked most of the skillet but had no room for any more.  The setting is beautiful and it is a nice option if you want to see the resort without paying Artists Point prices.

Liberty Tree Tavern:  We did lunch and it was another grand success.  Fish and chips (again) for BL-3rd grader who may have exceeded his fish ration for week now that I think about it, a Salmon salad for me and something unmemorable for Mr.  BLB.  The ooey-goeey toffee cake was a perfect end note.

Places we could skip next time:  Cinderella's Royal Table (average but super expensive), Beaches and Cream, Mama Melrose, The Pepper Market.

Ted's Bulletin

Yes. I keep telling myself we won't go back but BL-3rdgrader loves it.

Clyde's? Runner up guess would be Daily Grill.

Of that ilk but neither of those.

This looks like Chicken Tetrazzini. I'm trying to decide what that is on the bottom-right - it's not a noodle, and it's not chicken; it might be an onion, but why is there only one? The chicken meat itself looks pretty good (a couple pieces look like the "oysters"), but the plating is lazy, and this comes across as being hurriedly assembled.

It is lemon on the lower right.  The chicken was very overcooked and it was NYE so it was probably hurriedly assembled.

Where did I dine?

I haven't made them in forever--going paleo does that to you. I prefer organic, fair traden soy-free chocolate chips when I do make them. If I'm going all out, I will chop up an unsweetened bar and add it.

:-)

I don't think there are clear borders--it is really driven by the postal zip codes.

The Harris Teeter has a Potomac zip code. So does the Brooklyn Deli in the same plaza.  Tower Oaks Lodge is a Rockville zip code.

Hell, White Flint was considered Kensington by the post office...

I agree that it all makes little sense...

Isn't that area considered Potomac?

I was in yesterday and the selections are pretty, expensive and pretty narrow at this point.