weezy

even though it isn't Friday afternoon........... "Good luck Mr. Gorsky" In case you didn't already know this little tidbit of trivia.... On july 20, 1969, as commander of the apollo 11 lunar module, neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," were televised to earth and heard by millions. But just before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark - "good luck, Mr. Gorsky." Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival soviet cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs . Over the years, many people questioned Armstrong as to what the - 'good luck, Mr. Gorsky' statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled. On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay , Florida , while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question about Mr Gorsky to Armstrong. This time he finally responded because Mr. Gorsky had died, so neil Armstrong felt he could now answer the question. Here is the answer to "who was Mr Gorsky": In 1938, when he was a kid in a small mid-western town , he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which landed in his neighbor's yard by their bedroom window. His neighbors were Mr. And Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, "Sex! You want sex?! You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!" It broke the place up. Neil Armstrong's family confirmed this is a true story.

This is the Sicilian cauliflower recipe I used, with theses changes: pistachios instead of pine nuts, no wine or vinegar (but with some caper brine), 1 small yellow onion instead of shallots, and I added about 1/2 of a large red bell pepper. Oh, and leave out the halibut http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/michael-symon/pan-roasted-pacific-halibut-sicilian-cauliflower-capers-raisins-orange-brown-butter-recipe/index.html

So many good things there, but I especially liked the Yam Naem Khao Tod (sp?) that fishinnards made, and Antonio's fried chicken. I also think it will be 2-3 days before I'm hungry again, I ate so much at the picnic.

Well, the lemon bars are good -- not great, but good. That gluten free shortbread crust was tricky.

the lemon bars are not going well. They may be a no-show. Fingers crossed but early indications are pretty damn sorry.

For me, the must-have is ice. I've got almost a third of a pig in the freezer and I am NOT going to lose it if the power goes out.

Weather right now says temps in the upper 50s; add rain & wet to that, I'm wondering if I can rig up a haybasket sort of deal and bring some hot or at least warm food.

Waitman, I am so sorry for your loss. I only met her once and I found her to be a lovely person. I wish I had had a chance to become better acquainted.

Apparently, from this recipe, there's nothing to worry about http://appetiteforch...ke-law-bok-gow/

Would that be 10% more to the linked parts as well, or only original writing?

I've heard that college students sometimes take the wheeled curbies because they're very good for cooling & transporting beer kegs.

Haven't been there yet myself, but lots of good buzz about Stachowski's sandwiches at his Georgetown shop

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/michael-symon/pan-roasted-pacific-halibut-sicilian-cauliflower-capers-raisins-orange-brown-butter-recipe/index.html Forget the halibut & parsley at the end. The marsala isn't necessary, and a sherry vinegar works just as well as champagne vinegar in this dish. I love it more on the second day and it's good at room temp.

Noticed a new restaurant -- Buenos Grille -- going in where the 7-11 used to be across Columbia Pike from the shopping center that has Silverado's in it. The sign is up and the parking lot has been repaved; didn't see any signs about an opening date.

Invite a friend over to eat with you and fix something simple but delightful -- breakfast for dinner, lentils with caramelized onions, etc. Enjoy the company and don't make yourself crazy with the food. Sounds like eating alone / no one to cook for is sapping your enthusiasm.

gluten free lemon bars and a vegetable something from me

Picked up several dishes here last night for an impromptu dinner gathering at my house. Papaya salad was a bit overdressed and heavy on the cabbage, but the dressing was very good and well balanced in flavor and there were a few whole shrimp scattered throughout and a generous serving. Spicy eggplant was not so spicy and no wok char, so I left that for the eggplant lovers in the group. Duck in red curry was tasty and the duck very nicely tender, as was the chicken penang curry (although the serving was small). And drunken noodles, which was hard to judge because it did not travel or wait well at all (congealed into a drunken noodle block) for my friends who got caught in traffic and were 30 minutes later than expected. Overall satisfactory take-out, $53 for a table full of food.

Was fortunate enough to have scheduled some personal business that left me enough time to go to Restaurant Eve for their Lickety-Split lunch today. Field greens salad with fried Rappahanock oysters and toasted peanuts in a grainy mustard vinagrette. So good! Indulged in a glass of Chilean Sauv Gris that worked well enough with the salad. I enjoyed it but wasn't wow-ed -- personal palate, I probably would have picked something a bit fruitier to balance against the mustard dressing and slight bitterness from the greens. Still, a delightful meal with top-notch service and excellent ingredients & preparation.

Saw the first of the white salad turnips this weekend. This wasn't the Tokyo variety; can't remember the name, it had an H in it, and they have a slight horseradish scent to them. Can't wait to cook those babies up!

Had the great and absolute pleasure today of watching him break down a Berkshire hog today that some friends and I purchased. And I got a glimpse of stuffed trotter that he was braising that looked great and smelled fabulous. We are so lucky to have him in this area.

Both dates work for me, so I'll go with the majority

October is better on my calendar as well. There's one weekend I'll be out of commission, but fingers crossed it won't coincide with picnic plans.

End of a long, hectic week last Friday, I stopped at the fairly new Pho Cong Ly in the Bradlick Shopping Center for a quick dinner. Got the beef with vermicelli and a spring roll. The wine list was short, Yellow Tail whites and similar reds, so I decided to pass. The decor is pleasant strip shopping center chic, wood floors, cream walls, dark wood tables booths & chairs, a couple of stone accent corners and a deep warm red accent wall. Also a giant TV tuned to the news and the closed captioning on. They tout their spring rolls, and it was a better rendition than many I've had. Dense with a flavorful meaty filling and very hot and crispy on the outside. The beef bun came out and contained one small skewer of grilled meat, I would guess a scant 3 ounces. It was well cooked with some char on the edges and juicy & tender on the inside, but it had some sort of marinade or rub on it which I didn't like at all. Maybe a lot of star anise in it? After a couple of bites, I didn't mind the small serving because I wasn't going to finish that. The rest of the bowl was the standard noodles and chopped cukes, iceberg lettuce sprouts, herbs, etc., and while fresh, it was poorly chopped -- not cleanly cut all the way thru, herbs were just left as whole sprigs on stems, and so it was very difficult to eat because I couldn't easily separate the pieces and get a mixed mouthful of bright fresh flavors, which is one of the main reasons that I like Vietnamese cooking. The restaurant wasn't busy and I was there early. Service was fine. Cost was just under $10 before tip. Overall, without checking out more of the menu, I'd say it's worth a little more exploration, and the spring rolls are definitely worth ordering again.

bunch of leftover corn, cut it off the cob and threw it and the cobs into some chicken stock I made over the weekend. Tomorrow night, I'll make some sort of chicken corn chowder or tortilla soup out of it.

Went here with friends last night. 3 of us ordered 2 apps and 2 whole chickens and each got a different side. Ended up with a whole chicken leftover to split between us because we were too full to eat it. Apps were the California roll and the fried dumplings, both decent, typical renditions. Sides were cole slaw, nicely shredded and not too finely chopped, and not overdressed; mac & cheese, which was average flavor but the elbows were a bit overcooked; and veg of the day, which was julienned yellow & green squash and carrots, steamed with butter and sprinkled with sesame seeds, which tasted mostly of butter. The chicken itself was very good, and they have kicked up the heat in the spicy dipping sauce since the last time I was there. Service was very friendly but a bit disjointed -- three servers would stop by the table in a 2-minute time frame and you wouldn't know who was taking care of what, and apparently they weren't quite sure, either.