DrXmus

I think mail order is your best bet for cinchona and gentian. Most of the cinchona bark from health food stores is in powder form. From what I understand, you'd much rather use the bark chunks because filtering is almost impossible using the powder.

What, nobody's mentioning Cooks Illustrated's version?! Put eggs in cold water so that water level is 1 inch above eggs. Bring to a boil then turn off heat and cover pot. Let them sit for 10 minutes then cool in ice bath for 5 minutes. SeriousEats.com says that a 30 minute ice bath is the key to easy peeling. I haven't tried that, yet. The no-boil method is great for a no-green ring hard boiled egg, though.

What do you all think this health code violation on June 2nd means? "Closed because of circumstances that might endanger public health." The typical reasons I've seen for closings are for the presence of rodents/insects, lack of hot water (I'm always surprised by this one) and lack of supervisor (or some such position of health code importance).

I love most Green Flash beers. IIRC, they're building their first East Coast production brewery in the Newport News area. I'm guessing we'll see better distribution then.. (and maybe a little less expensive?)

Nice to see Elephant Jumps hasn't jumped the shark in the few years after they opened. They were all the rage then but I haven't heard anything about them until Carman's article last week. I'm glad they're keeping up the standards! I've only been once as a I have an unnatural hatred for that parking lot.

LOLd at the 1 to 5 croc rating for the crappiness of the recipe.

I think you had a brilliant formula for the added water?  20%? 25%?

The above Serious Eats recipe adds water at a dilution of about 18% of the liquor volume. I've also read that cocktails should be about 20-25% water, as you mention, too.

But I can't stop laughing at this video. It's up to debate whether it's the nonchalant Tooth Fairy comment, the honey part, or how he garnishes the drink...

Personally, I'd vote for his tossing the money and stealing the "local distiller's" gin. Great video, though. Thanks for sharing.

Had some take out from the Fairfax location, ...The soy garlic was as I recalled, very good, but the hot sauce was not as hot. Is there a spicy level variance at the different locations or have they changed the recipe?  

Agree 100%. I thought I was just acclimating, but even just a year ago I posted a picture of myself on Facebook with tears running down my face from the hot version. Not so much anymore. I still can tell I ate lots of spice the next day (TMI?!), but it's not as hot as it used to be. I'm guessing they're dumbing down for the masses.

Is there a chance Sharpen This is at the new Mosaic farmer's market on Sundays? There was a sharpening service of some type under a small canopy there on my first visit last week.

Oh, and last I heard from Weezy a couple of months ago, she was on sharpening hiatus due to some unforeseen non-sharpening situations.

Got a few whiskies to add to my collection last night.  None of these (except the Stagg Jr) seem to have Va distributors,

I saw a Collingwood whiskey of some sort at the Vienna, VA ABC store last week.

I'm hoping there are commercial growers now and my outrage is misplaced. I'm sure I can find something else to rail about if so.

Isn't there any concern about digging up wild ramps and the risk of losing this plant over time? Foraging for morels or berries is different because you're not eliminating that individual fungus/plant from the ecosystem. When a ramp is plucked out of the ground, that plant and any future progeny are down someone's gullet. I don't see how this plant can continue to survive when people are getting so ramped up (sorry, couldn't help it) to feed on these young, immature plants that haven't reproduced, yet.

I still haven't tried it, but this beer is in "finals" for the WaPo's BeerMadness competition. Interesting how two session beers made it to the finals for a change.

When we were in the planning stages of our remodel, I had an induction cooktop on my wish list. Personally, I'm really happy I didn't get induction in our new kitchen after using it for a few months. I love the idea of it, but after cooking on gas, it seems like a step down. Having said that, I can see some major advantages if you're used to electric cooking. There will be a learning curve to using the induction cooktop, but it didn't take long before I was making my daily egg white omelet almost as well as I did on gas.

Congrats!!!

And the winner is...Ilaine! There were two anonymous bidders (sounds very "Southeby's", doesn't it?) behind the scenes, but the public bidder won!! Congrats, Ilaine. I'll PM you some info.

I took pictures of the three uniform, folded pieces of paper and my drawing of the winner, but I can't figure out how to post them here, so you'll just have to trust me!

I'm asking $150 for the set, which is less than the price of one, generally. Admittedly, as you can see in the pics, the outsides of these pots and pans are looking rough, but the functional parts are in great shape. As you can also see, the insides aren't non-stick. The LTD line used a matte finish which is not dishwasher safe. "Screw that" says I, and we used them and washed them as we damn well chose.

I can never remember the actual size of these pots, but you can get an idea from the pictures. The straight-sided saute pan and the large pot are 10.5" across. I think the small pot holds 2qt. They're perfectly functional, but they're not the prettiest collection (although I could argue they weren't the prettiest when they were new, either).

If anyone's interested, post here or PM me and I'll collect any and all responses and pick a "winner" on Sunday, April 13. You can pick them up from me in Vienna or I can ship them to you if you pay the shipping costs.

Our renovation is done and I don't think I'll use this great burner again. It's a Duxtop Model 8300ST in great shape, as it was only used for about 3 months. From what I read, this brand and model is better than most, so you'll be getting a great piece of equipment. I'm asking $50 for it. You can pick it up from me in Vienna or I can ship it to you if you pay the shipping costs.

On DR.com it doesn't seem fair to make it "first come, first served" (as opposed to Craigslist), so I'll pool the list of people who post or PM me that they want it before 2P on Sunday, April 13, and pick a random winner.

Anyone interested?

Sandy

They knew what they were doing all along, and given Eden Center's (hopefully temporary) decline, it seems absolutely brilliant.

The food may not be what it was (I never went to the previous iteration), but they're packed most of the time.

we will have beer with flavor however we will have land shark (everyone who knows me knows i don't like beer with flavor would be much happier with a land shark then some craft something or other)

Everyone who know me knows I don't like Land Shark, so I appreciate the effort to include other options. If you need a local to taste your beers with flavor, give me a call. I'm close by! Love the idea of bluegrass on the deck. There aren't enough places for that, plus the 20 somethings that live all around won't be packing the deck so maybe I can get a seat.

As a consumer/hand washer, I love the XLerator, although I think they are very loud. I hope you have solid, noise-blocking doors. When I checked the Google machine for the spelling of XLerator, I see that Amazon has them for $400 or so (I didn't research the details) and there's a model with noise reduction nozzle. Maybe yours are quieter than the older models I've seen. I look forward to finding out when I'm there!

A colleague of mine really, really likes it, but she also really, really likes chocolate wine, so take that for what it's worth. Personally, I haven't tried SBJ, although if I saw a bottle for a dollar I would. Otherwise, I'd love a sip or three if someone else has a glass.

I believe that is implicit permission to start sexting. Time to break out the gimp mask and school girl outfit!

My mental picture of you has changed significantly, just so you know.

This seems like a reasonable thread to resurrect, at least to me. Occasionally we go into Alexandria on a weekday for something or other and because it's an "event" we want to have lunch somewhere new. Is there anywhere these days worth going to in Alexandria. We've been to Eamonn's and The Majestic and have enjoyed both. What else is there that isn't an expense account meal or a tourist mecca?

This may deserve its own thread, but I want the machine (if it's given to me) that makes a bottle of wine in 4 days. Sure, I can make my own with my homebrewing supplies, but how cool is this thing?!!?:

http://themiraclemachine.net/#