Gubeen

Do you know a budding Jose Andres? Well, before you buy all the gadgets and ingredients, check this out: ThinkGeek's new Molecular Cuisine Starter Kit, " Imagine spaghetti made out of tomato soup! Fruit-juice caviar! Floating clouds of creamy flavor that taste like preserved lemon! Cooking has gone from the everyday drudgery of boiling, straining, chopping, and roasting to spherification, gelification, and emulsification!" For ONLY $69.95, you get a kit including: •5 sets of food-additives: ◦Agar-agar - 10 sachets of 20g each ◦Calcium Lactate - 10 sachets of 20g each ◦Sodium Alginate - 10 sachets of 20g each ◦Soy Lecithin - 10 sachets of 20g each ◦Xanthan Gum - 10 sachets of 20g each •1 set of tools: ◦1 syringe ◦5 pipettes ◦3 lengths of 18" silicone tubing ◦1 slotted spoon ◦1 set of measuring spoons •1 DVD with 50 recipe demonstrations included Think Geek Molecular Cuisine Kit Leave it to these guys to take molecular cuisine to the geek masses. FYI - This was meant to be a joke. I think $70 for a few chemicals and a few tools is outrageous.

Hi - I am looking for a restaurant with great food, decent ambience within 10-20 minutes of the Westin (7801 Leesburg Pike) in Tyson's Corner. Ol_Ironstomach is off to the races and I am left to entertain a friend from NYC. Dinner won't be until after 8pm, so the restaurant must be open until atleast 10pm. My friend is a fairly adventurous eater. Thanks. Gubeen / Catherine

This stuff makes Pernod and Ricard seem rough and ignorant. Nothing better than a little HB on ice to calm and relax after a hard day's work. Now to get home through the traffic I am very excited that Joe has brought some to town. Almost like Christmas.

Tia Pol is quite good. I love going for lunch as it fills up after 6pm. If you are in the neighborhood, go to the Chelsea market and get a really good lobster sandwich at the Fish Shop? not sure of the name. They also have great chowders. There are also good places to buy fruits, veggies, salads and sandwiches. DO NOT GO TO the restaurant in the clothing store on 9th avenue and 18th? that is part of Chelsea market. It looks innocuous enough but is actually horrid and the wait times are very long. For a nice pub lunch or low key dinner with great people watching, head over to the Half King (23rd and 10th) for a pint of guiness and a good meal. Cafe Grumpy for excellent coffee on 20th btween 7th and 8th. They won't let you take your espresso to go but it is damn good coffee. Choux for choux, not as good as Beard Papas but still very good cream puffs in the Japanese Style. Also Cookshop, 10th Ave at 20th St, up scale restaurant where I have seen more than a few chefs eating and enjoying the food. I saw Jaime Oliver eating here so it can't be that bad. Actually, I love this place; it was right across the street from my old job. They had some great devil eggs on the bar menu and the cocktails were fabulous. I had my first negroni here. I think 10th avenue is better for eating than 7th, 8th or 9th as many of the restaurants are about the Chelsea scene rather than the food. Finally, if you feel like taking a chance, try the Indo/Pak Curry place on 22nd and 8th? It has a black awning and tons of cabs outside. I always found the food delicious but others had a few issues. Hope that helps. Please forgive my spelling, I am useless. Catherine

A caol ila in a sherry cask! that is unusual to say the least. All of mine are refill, refills and very light. I like the nepalm effect or as a bartender in the UK once said, reminiscent of fish and chips. Does the sherry cask make it sweeter then other caol ila's you have had?

A wonderful gin and tonic with Oude Genever from Holland that is ice cold and Fever Tree tonic. The Fever Tree really lets the complex flavors of this gin come out. I believe this bottle was aged about 15 years and then bottled in ceramic. This stuff warms you up!!! Top of the evening to all of you

Scott- Just saw this post. I have an osterizer sausage maker and meat grinder which I am happy to have you borrow along with several sausage making books. I would also be up for making some sausage with you in the new year. I used to help my dad make sausage all the time. We tried to make "real" English sausages. The main thing I remember is to be sure to use enough fat along with the shoulder meat. If you skimp, the sausages turn out too dry when you cook them. I have made some great Italian ones with lots of fennel in the past. Also, does anyone know where I can get fresh pig blood? I would love to try and make boudin noir. Catherine

I have some very hard cider. Could I add mother to it and make a proper vinegar?

Not really a gift basket but Zingerman's sourcream coffee cake was a great sent treat. Delicious and great with the morning coffee.

Left over hanger steak and creamed spinach from RTCs.

If you head to Pamplona, I would suggest checking out Baserri Pamplona which is run by Maria Augustina Ostiz. I have heard great things about her food.

Hmm, over $5000 for a first copy or wait for the new edition...

If you were going out for one special / really nice evening dinner closer to Key West, where would you eat? why?

I would say this is the best Kitfo I have had in DC. There was a nice amount of ground corriander which gave it a lovely aroma. It was buttery in flavor but not dripping with oil. The real sensations here are the sides. The red lentils and shiro were amazing. I also really liked her gomen, not too bitter and a good foil to the kitfo. For a vegetarian combo, I don't think I have ever had better. Also, I liked that her son knew the owner / chef of my favorite place in NYC. Made me feel quite at home. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND QM.

Tonight after quite a hiatus, I cooked. I made a cream of mushroom soup using a mixture of dried mushrooms and fresh button mushrooms. I reviewed recipes from Epicurious, Anthony Bourdain, Mark Bittman, recipe source and the back of the dried mushroom container. (Believe it or not, the back of the mushroom container came closest to what I finally made.) The soup was really good even Ol_Ironstomach said it was very good. I drank a trimback pinot gris that we found in NJ on our last pilgrimage to NYC. Now I am sleepy