John William G

The only things mentioned on the package are that the flour is unbleached and unbromated, and it is not Genetically Modified. There is nothing about it being organic, or anything like that.

I went to my local Giant to buy some bread flour. They had two choices: 2 pounds of Hodgson Mill for $4.79, or five pounds of Pillsbury for $2.69. So one is $0.53/lb, the other about $2.35/lb, or over four times as expensive. I have used the expensive stuff before, but have never seen any real difference in the resulting bread"”not in the texture, or taste, or anything else. Is there something I am missing? Is there anyway to justify the higher priced flour?

Habesha has a web site at www.habeshamarket.com. Their complete menu is listed on the site. I had a small meal there last week, and enjoyed it very much. I went there as part of the Little Ethiopia Food Tour (http://www.dcmetrofoodtours.com/). We had several items from their Breakfast Menu, and I found them all very good.

To my late brother-in-law, O.Z. Tyler. This write up about him is from the Owensboro, KY, Messenger-Inquirer: Tyler "finally got the Kentucky distillery he had deamed of"”on what wold have been his 81st birthday. But Tyler, who invented the TerrePURE process to speed the aging of bourbon, along with his stepson"¦died in January 2014 before his dream could be realized. More than 100 people turned out "¦to see the dedication of"¦Kentucky's new O. Z. Tyler Distillery at 10 Distillery Road."

I made my third or forth stop at the Bradlick location. As usual, the food was very good. Unfortunately, as usual, the place was a bit of a mess. The first table we sat out had drops of liquid and tiny pieces of food which had not been cleaned off. Our second stop was OK, but the table across from us had not been cleaned. Used plates, paper napkins,drink glasses, etc. were sitting and stayed there the entire time we were eating. I don't understand why a restaurant with such a nice decor, and food, pays so little attention to cleaning up after guests leave.

I was born in Sumter, a little town in SC. The first food I can remember really liking was bar-b-q that my father would buy from a local place once every month or two. Then Atlanta, GA for five or six years, followed by two years in Morocco: the first year in Rabat, the second in Oujda. While there I took vacations in Portugal and Spain. Those two years opened my eyes to what a variety of tastes and foods there are in the world. Then two years in NYC, four years in Durham, NC, while I attended grad school at Duke, then finally here to the DC area. I've been here for about 30 years. My wife and I both enjoy traveling, and we have visited quite a few places in Europe, spent several weeks in China, and have traveled quite a bit around the states. We try to enjoy local food wherever we are.

I got Peter Reinhart's book "Artisan Breads Every Day" a few months ago and have been very happy with the results.

I stopped by the new location in the Bradlick shopping center in Annandale (the corner of Braddock and Backlick roads). I didn't try anything special; I had a spring roll, a satay, and the Drunken Noodles with pork. The spring roll and satay were OK, but nothing special. The Drunken Noodles I thought was very good. It was "medium hot" as the menu said it would be. I will definitely go again and give some of the other menu items a try.

Ever wondered if global warming will affect the taste of wines you enjoy? It will. The January 2015 Scientific American has an article in it, "Will We Still Enjoy Pinot Noir?" which considers how temperature change affects wine flavor, and what vines will grow in what regions; and also discusses what winegrowers are doing now to try to offset the change, and what actions they might take in the future. Its summary of the affect: "Higher temperature increases a grape's sugar content, which means higher alcohol during fermentation. Temperature also affects trace compounds that create aromas, crucial to our flavor perception."

We were in Charleston a few weeks ago and ate a meal at Leon's. I agree with what you said: It is a restaurant well worth searching out. I will add one bizarre thing: They apparently have only one desert. When we were there it was ice cream, and the flavor was (I think I am remembering this correctly) Toasted Black Sesame Seed Ice Cream. There were four of us at the table and none of us were able to eat more than one bite of it. While we were there we also ate at another place that was new to me, Xiao Bao Biscuit. It was mentioned in the Nov '14 Bon Appétit, and they seemed to like it, so we went there for one meal. It was a very strange place. They take no reservations"”in fact, the restaurant doesn't even have a phone. It is in an old service station building. The menu lists eight "shared" dishes, and three "mains," plus rice. The menu says "No Substitutions." For drinks they have a selection of beers, sake, wine, and cocktails. We tried three dishes, and were very happy with two of them. The Eggroll (which the menu describes as duck leg confit, fois gras mousse, cilantro, fermented ginger sauce) was just not my cup of tea. The Dry Fried Beef (flank steak stir fried with snow pea, fresh cayenne chili, green beans, Sichuan pepper) was very good, as was the Okonomiyaki (cabbage pancake). Xiao Bao Biscuit is not the sort of restaurant one normally visits when in Charleston, but it can be a nice stop for something a bit different.

I, as always, enjoyed the picnic very much. I enjoyed the food, I enjoyed the conversation. It was nice to meet some folks I hadn't previously met. But before we let the memory of this picnic fade, and certainly before anyone starts planning the next one"”could some of you who didn't come, tell us why? There are people I have seen at all of the picnics I have attended who weren't at this one. Was the date inconvenient? Are you just tired of them? Did you not want to fix anything to bring? Those of you who often or usually attend"”what was wrong this time?

To Jordan Zimmermann. The Nats' first no hitter.

My wife and I will be there around noon, with the rice salad, ice, and wine. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.

I can bring one cooler full of ice.

I'll bring a rice salad, and perhaps a couple of bottles of wine. Will there be any children there? There is a chance my grandchildren might come (ages 6 and 8).

I'll be there, +1. Not certain yet what I'll be bringing.

My wife and I are meeting my daughter and her husband in NY in September. She is a vegetarian. We'll be staying around W 40th and 7th Ave. Anyone have any suggestions? The restaurant doesn't have to be vegetarian, so long as it has some nice vegetarian options.

I had lunch at 2941 yesterday"”where, by the way, Restaurant Week continues for another week. Three courses for $20.14. The Tomato Gazpacho and Yellow Corn Ravioli were wonderful. That $20 was well spent.

My wife and I were running some errands in the Frederick area yesterday, and decided to have lunch at the Tasting Room. We had heard some good things about it, but had never been there. A sign outside said that they had a three course lunch special for $18; we both tried that. I started with the Cauliflower Soup, which was described as "roasted cauliflower, romano cheese, ditalini pasta, hot pepper flakes." There was a little more pepper in it than I expected; it really had a zing to it. But it was delicious. For the second course I selected a chicken salad. This dish was a salad of lettuce with pieces of cucumber, carrots, and bell peppers. On top of the salad were five or six strips of chicken flavored with sesame oil and sesame seeds (among other things). I thought this was very good. For my third dish I had flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I am not a big fan of flourless cake, but this had a nice chocolate flavor, and when eaten with a bit of the ice cream was a very nice desert. Finally, I ordered a cup of coffee to go with the desert. This was the only disappointment of the meal; it was lukewarm, at best. (I've had this happen several times at nice restaurants; I really don't understand why. They have no trouble doing the work involved in a fancy meal, but can't get coffee hot?) The total bill, including the coffee and tax, was about $40 for the two of us. We had no complaints about the service. A very nice lunch for a quite reasonable price.

I had been intending to try this place or some time, and finally did go after reading kirite's post above. Mrs. G and I had an early dinner there last night. We were both very happy with the food and the general atmosphere. For starters we had the fried Brussels sprouts with beets and pistachios, and a fennel soup; and for the main course pan roasted sea scallops with black rice and bok choy, and a "special" dish involving rice balls and artichokes (this was advertised as a starter, but we used it for a main course). They have, of course, a nice selection of wines by the bottle or by the glass. All in all we were very pleased with the meal. (I wonder if this thread should be transferred from the beer and wine group to the restaurants and dining group, since the Curious Grape is no longer just a wine store, or even principally a wine store.)

I've eaten at a couple of places in this area that serve "Moroccan" food. I have not been happy with any of them. If by chance you do find a good Moroccan restaurant I would love to hear about it

Doesn't Chez Francois have a garden where they row some of their stuff?

The Post has the worst search feature of any site I have ever used. If you want to find something in the Post, use google. For example, if you google on, "washingtonpost: 2013 dinning guide" the first link will be to the guide. Why they can't do that on the Post site is beyond me.

I've not seen IndAroma mentioned here. It is a small Indian restaurant/bakery in a strip mall at the Little River Turnpike-Braddock road intersection. (If you don't see it right away, it is next to the Five Guys hamburger joint.) There is a small Indian grocery store next door. It has a web page where you can find more information about it, including its menu. When you are there, go to the counter and order and pay for what you want. Sit down at one of the tables, and when your order is ready they will bring it to the table. For a recent meal two of us shared a tandoori chicken, a samosa chaat, and a chicken samosa. The samosas were very good, but the tandoori chicken was really excellent. All three dishes were spicy; you can ask for a milder version if you want. If anyone else has eaten I would be very interested in your opinion of the food. To me it ranked with some of the best Indian food I have had in this area.

I really love these picnics, but given the uncertainly of the park availability, I reluctantly join those who favor cancelling.