weezy

I made a peanut butter ice cream yesterday using the Jeni's ice cream base recipe -- it uses a small amount of cream cheese, light corn syrup and a cornstarch slurry, no eggs. Now, the peanut butter may have thrown things out of whack, and while the flavor was good, the texture is terribly gummy. With this one try using the base, I am not impressed. I may try again with a flavor that doesn't add so much solids and fat to the base mix and see what happens.

Yesterday's experiment was spearmint-vanilla-chocolate chip using the B&J base recipe (steeped & strained the garden mint and tempered & cooked the egg custard). Totally chilled the base before churning and it set up very nicely and has a lovely texture. So damn good. The spearmint/vanilla is much less toothpaste-y than the typical peppermint. My sister is here for the weekend and this batch is more than half gone already. Also, I ordered the Jeni's book and it arrived yesterday, and there are a lot of tempting recipes in there that I will be exploring in the weeks to come. Already waiting for corn season so I can try the sweet corn blackberry ice cream.

Thanks for the tips!

Well, my first go at it is a limited success. I used a slight modification of the Ben & Jerry's base and I'm very happy with the flavor -- strawberry basil -- but I think I didn't chill the base enough because it only froze around the edges after churning for 25 minutes. The canister got a full 26 hours in the chest freezer, so that was fine. I had about a quart of sliced strawberries that I had macerated with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a couple of tablespoons of vodka. I pureed most of the berries with all the juices and saved a few berries to add in at the end of the churn. Then I ran the puree through a tamis -- ended up with a bit over 2.5 cups -- and afterwards reduced in the mike by a little over half and used 1/2 cup of the reduction and 1/2 cup of cream to replace the 1 cup of milk in the B&J recipe. Steeped basil stems in the cream and tempered the eggs with the hot basil cream, and strained that. Ended up adding a teaspoon of vanilla and about a tablespoon of lime juice to round the flavors. At any rate, I put the loose mixture into a tupperware and stuck it in the freezer and I'm giving it a good stir about once an hour and it's starting to set up. Fingers crossed that it keeps solidifying. ETA: it did finally solidify. Good texture and good flavor but I'm not in love with it. I think the eggy-ness of the custard is fighting against the brightness of the fruit. I think I'll try something like a coffee ice cream next time and see if I like that better.

All this talk finally got me to pull the trigger on getting an ice cream maker. Will be picking it up curbside after work tonight. Blessing & curse in one small package 😄

Dean -- I live over in Annandale and I'm willing to go in on an order. Would love some rockfish and/or fresh shrimp. I haven't had tilefish, so that would be an interesting cookign experiment for me. Next week perhaps?

I just saw that Balo Kitchen in The Block in Annandale will be opening for carryout on May 21.

A La Lucia in Old Town is doing carryout and they are offering a different family meal each day. Unfortunately, the website is a bit wonky, so when you click the thumbnail, it doesn't expand, and I wasn't able to read the details about any of the family meal offers (tonight is fried chicken, for example, but I can't tell what the sides are or the pricing). They also have their basic menu available of pizzas, pastas, etc. There is also a catering menu where you can order larger quantities a day in advance.

The produce bag that I picked up at Silverado last week had 4 ears of corn. Since that is so terribly out of season, I gave them a quick cook in the microwave, then shucked and seared the cobs to get some caramelization on them, cut the kernals off and made a broth with the cobs, and finally ran it all thru the blender with some seasoning and buttermilk powder for a nice corn soup for dinner tonight to which I'll add some bacon and shrimp, and make a side of avocado toast

GAR restaurants are doing curbside pickup of menu items and also offering pre-sorted bags of fruits or veggies @ $30 each. I picked up a dinner salad and a bag of veg tonight. Got 4 ears of corn, 2 large russets, 2 big onions, 2 heads romaine, 1 lb baby carrots, 1 lb asparagus, 1 large red bell pepper and an avocado. Everything was in good shape except the avocado, which got pretty mushed up by corn after it slid to the bottom of the bag. The pickup was smooth at Silverado, I pulled right up front and they set it in my car thru the passenger side window, wearing masks and gloves. My only issue was the website was glitching on me, so I phoned it in and all was good after that.

Until there is almost universal testing, we probably won't have a good number of recovered b/c folks who have very mild cases during this crisis time aren't being tested and likely won't end up in the recovery numbers. Once there are enough tests that the majority of people have been tested for antibodies, then those numbers will begin to reflect reality. In the meantime, you just have to make guesstimates.

I picked up dinner here last night, chicken kabob with eggplant, and ordered an extra skewer of meat and side of spinach to stretch it all into 2 dinners. Good juicy meat, eggplant was in a mustardy sauce that was a little too strong for the vegetable to shine, the order was done online before I left work and was ready just as I walked in the door. There are two guys working the line, one at each end, so fine on the distancing bit there, but there was a table of 3 older gents huddled together -- I am assuming they were from wherever the home country is of the owner, maybe family members -- having a meal. That gave me some pause.

Oh, no! So sorry to hear this. I had missed his presence as well. I'm glad we got to take in a hockey game together back in the fall. RIP, Dave.

Saw a youtube video about handling brought in foods and groceries to keep things as safe as possible. Youtube video here What I liked especially is the simple tape line to clearly demark clean/dirty areas, and having the sink filled with hot soapy water to clean produce before you start unpacking.

Got it all figured out and the mfr discount approved, so being delivered tomorrow. Thanks again for having my back

in my email from Neighborhood Restaurant Group Our business model is changing. Operating 20 independent restaurants in three states and DC in this climate is unsustainable. We now have two unmistakable goals: to continue to support and employ staff during this challenging time, and to feed the communities and the people that have embraced us during our 22 years of business. To that end, we are creating Neighborhood Provisions — nrgprovisions.com — an online destination offering a great selection of comfort meals, ready-to-cook foods, pantry items, wine and beer (and, in DC, liquor) all delivered straight to your door. We will be ready to launch this portal later this week. Neighborhood Provisions is a joint effort of the chefs, managers and beverage specialists of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Exactly what you can get will vary a bit depending on your location, but you can count on a broad range of chef-driven options in all our delivery regions - from Tony Chittum’s chicken soup to Jarrad Silver’s mushroom fricassee, from Nate Anda’s meatball sub to Stephen McRae’s Sgt. Pepperoni pizza. ... Red Apron's butcher shops in DC’s Penn Quarter and VA’s Fairfax will remain open for counter service, but guests of Neighborhood Provisions will also have access to its ground beef, sliced bacon or brined chickens, all for purchase online and available for delivery to your doorstep. Buzz Bakeshop in Alexandria will also continue counter service while also supplying Neighborhood Provisions with its sweet treats and Nazia Khan’s cold brew concentrate. Bluejacket, Planet Wine, The Partisan, Rustico and B-Side offer beer and wine delivery services, with spirits and curated cocktails available at our DC locations thanks to Nick Farrell. We will continue to sell our cans and bottles through these outlets, as well as through Neighborhood Provisions. ... Every purchase made at Neighborhood Provisions will support our team and support our communities. We will offer a 10% discount to anyone in the restaurant industry on all purchases. Every dollar spent will earn guests points toward NRG gift certificates for use at any of our businesses once the world gets back to normal. Please join the NRG Provisions mailing list to receive the latest menus, news, previews, updates, features, promotions and more. And from the bottom of our heart, thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued support and patronage.

Many thanks

Good idea. Something to consider. Kate, thanks for the offer, but I've still got a week to figure it out.

In my email just now: To Our Guests and Friends, In the last week Great American Restaurants has had to face unimaginable challenges with more uncertain times ahead during this national health crisis. And in these times of uncertainty, many of our guests, friends and neighbors have asked what they can do to help financially support the 1,700 GARStars we had to make the difficult decision to lay off due to the pandemic that has drastically impacted our industry. We are beyond appreciative and blown away by this outpouring of love and support. Therefore, we have set up the Great American Restaurants Employee Relief Fund to help support these 1,700 wonderful people. The Norton Family will match every contribution two for one. That means that if you donate $100, the Norton Family will add $200 to the Relief Fund. Your support means more to us than you will ever know. Every contribution counts - no matter how small - it will make a profound impact on the livelihoods of these outstanding people. We will get through this together and look forward to seeing you back in our restaurants soon. With gratitude and appreciation, Great American Restaurants and The Norton Family

Some info about the coronoavirus, itself, as opposed to the pandemic it is causing. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/03/biography-new-coronavirus/608338/

This is when the store is first opened and the heavier cleaning has just been accomplished, before the general public and the full day of shifts of workers has been in. Like Dean said, it's reducing, not eliminating, risk for more vulnerable populations. Like me. over 60 and heart issues. But I plan on using delivery options. My problem is my prescription is through Giant and they dont' have a drive-thru pickup and the pharmacy isn't open during the senior hour. I guess I will have to transfer it to a drive thru CVS, but I'm a special mfr's program for cost reduction and it's a PITA anytime I've moved it, but it's the difference between paying $1500 and $200 for 3 months.

Giant Food has instituted senior (60+) shopping hours 6-7 a.m. each day.

What do you do with all the extra egg whites?

Reading a WaPo article about the impact on restaurants, in addition to buying gift cards to use after things reopen, please also take advantage of any pickup/delivery options and if the restaurant sells any merchandise, buy t-shirts or cookbooks or the like.

Got an update from Orso that they are closed to dine-in but are doing carryout and delivery. All pizzas are $13 and all salads are $8. The menu may be limited beyond those items; it wasn't clear what their virus menu is in total.