weezy

I thought that was a Catherine Deneuve doppelganger with a bigger bosom.

I use my spaghetti pot and a splatter screen over top for popping. And a little bit of peanut oil. Water wouldn't work because it will create tough& soggy popped kernals. The air popper works because it shoots the already popped kernals out of the popper and thus they don't have contact with the heat source anymore once they have popped, so that way they don't scorch or burn or set the whole unit afire. For the buttering, when I give in to the temptation, I melt the butter in the mike, then use my silicone baster brush to brush some butter onto the top layer of the popped corn, salt, then toss well, and repeat a few times until there is a detectable but very thin sheen of butter over all of it.

Dined here tonight with a friend. The 3-course meal price has inched up to $31.95, about 10 offerings each on the apps and entrees. Several house-made pastas in the selections. Tonight I wasn't in a pasta mood and ordered off the regular menu, a bean soup to start and meatballs on polenta as my main (which was actually on the appetizer menu, but it was plenty of food especially following the soup. Had a glass of red, a Barbera, I think -- recommended by the waiter -- $8/glass and paired well with my dinner. The soup was visually uninteresting, a consistent orange-y red broth with big white beans just beneath the surface, and it had a good general flavor but didn't sing. It could have used a sprinkling of chopped fresh herbs stirred in just before serving to keep the flavor bright. The polenta was wonderfully smooth and silky, the meatballs tender and moist, and the ragu in the correct amount. However, the flavors overall were a little flat. Once again, a little more herb or black pepper or something was needed to wake up the dish. So close, so so close, but not quite on point. Dessert for me was the pistachio gelato and it was fabulous. Served with a couple of small almond-cinnamon biscotti that weren't a very good match flavor-wise for the gelato but very tasty on their own. My friend got mushroom ravioli in a white wine butter sauce, and chocolate mousse and liked them both, but I didn't sample either dish. Service was good, with all the wait staff taking care of everyone, so I think we had 4 different servers at our table over the course of the evening. Overall, I wished there was a little more brightness to the flavors in the dishes I chose, but I also feel that I probably didn't order particularly well tonight. It's close to the office and I'm sure I'll be back. There's a lot to like, and next time I'll go with one of the house-made pastas.

It's good, basic diner style fare with a slightly shabby ambience. I doubt it's real maple syrup, but the waitresses are friendly and attentive, the eggs are done the way you want, and the coffee keeps coming.

It says "newly formed" so it may be in process and not actually filed with the corporation commission for the state/DC yet. It only takes a few days to get filed if you put a rush on things, but why open up a taxable can of worms until you have everything ready to start. You wouldn't be able to get a business license in the name of the specific restaurant until you had the corporate paperwork in place. And I'm guessing it's "Lucidity" Bar.....but then again, I haven't started drinking yet today.

Don't know that it qualifies for a "great" meal, but the patio at Sweetwater Tavern in Merrifield will probably be open.

wanted something really fast when I came in tonight. Made a mushroom, green pepper, onion & feta omelet. Perfect!

Kang kee lek - Cassia fistula with tree ant eggs & cow skin That sounds more like a medical condition than a meal

Sit at the bar at Acadiana?

Bodega Monticello Verdemar Albarino 2009. My first time with this wine, and it's a very pleasant one. Paid about $12 for it at Total Beverage. A little grassy, a little citrusy. I happened to make a mushroom & sweet potato risotto tonight and it's fine with that, but it makes me wish I had a huge shrimp cocktail instead!

It sounds like a marvelous idea. It's an honor to be asked to attend.

Won't we get tired of all the liver, fava beans and a nice chianti?

mix with frozen chopped spinach (about 10-15 ounces), 1 large white or yellow onion roughly chopped and sauteed until translucent, 1/2 cup loosely packed grated jack cheese,1 can of black beans rinsed and drained, and a couple of tablespoons of a taco spice mix. Use as a filling for enchiladas using a red or a green sauce.

wine braised beef short ribs served with garlic mashed potatoes.

Keeping it simple -- I'm going to make a big pot of red sauce with mushrooms and sausage. And I think I'll get some bread started. Need a lot of carbs for shoveling later.

I didn't see a topic for Geranio's in the Dining Guide, so if I missed it, my apologies and please move this to the right spot. A friend and I ate here tonight for RW and I was excited to try it out. Four courses on a limited menu, although the selections looked interesting and varied. I wish it had lived up to my hopes. It's a pretty, cozy, old-school dining room. Service was correct and efficient but impersonal, although it started off friendlier until it was clear that we weren't drinking anything tonight. For starters, Friend got the butternut squash soup and I went with a gorgonzola & walnut salad w/ vinagrette. She said her soup was slightly sweet but she really liked it. The cheese in my salad was excellent -- nice soft creamy and a little stinky, just like I like it; greens were fresh, plenty of walnuts. Odd, though, that the dressing was sort of just plopped into the middle of the salad; at first I thought it missing entirely but found the puddle hidden in the center after a few bites. Second course, Friend had capellini with mushrooms and spinach -- it came with chicken but she asked for it without and was accomodated without hesitation. "Fine, but too oily" was the verdict on that one from her. I got penne with a tomato-caper-olive-lemon sauce with seared tuna. Sounds wonderful but wasn't good at all. The pasta was properly cooked, but the tuna was very very fishy and unpleasantly strong tasting, and medium to well done and sort of stewed in appearance, not a seared rendition. If I had liked the tuna, I would have complained that it was a very skimpy serving -- 3 or 4 cubes about 3/4" in size -- but that wasn't an issue as I only ate a few bites of the dish, enough to verify that it was not at all to my liking. Next, Friend got a roasted chicken breast on a pea shoot & mushroom risotto. She liked the risotto more than the chicken, but she is not much of a meat eater, so I cannot speak to the quality of the preparation there. The risotto looked good but she didn't remark much on it except that it was better than the chicken. I had duck leg confit on lentils. It was just over the edge of being too salty, although my tastes are such that I like saltiness against the richness of duck, but the flavor of salt was the first & last taste note on each bite instead of the duck meat. The lentils were fine and cooked properly, tender without being mushy. Final course, Friend had tiramisu and I had pear & almond tart w/ hazelnut cream. She sucked the tiramisu down blindingly fast so I imagine it was quite good. My slice of tart was tiny, stale and tasteless -- one slice of what I assume was pear, it could have just as easily been apple, no almond flavor, and so tough that I thought one half of it was going to skitter off my plate as I tried to cut thru it. I really wanted to like this place but found it "meh."

I wish I had eaten at your house tonight. That looks so good.

Even though Atkins allows you all the cheese you want, remember that you may not actually want all the cheese you have.

Just a note for new gardeners....as tempting as it is, don't start too soon! Check dates for last frost and work backwards to determine when to start seeds.

It happened I was acquainted with one of the strip mall's owners at the time and he mentioned it.

Dined at the Warehouse in Old Town tonight on their RW menu. I started with the she crab soup which was excellent -- rich, full of shreds of crabmeat, with a nice little spicyness to it. Friend got the crawfish & shrimp beignets and said they were fabulous -- and wouldn't let me have a bite, so I'm guessing they were damn near perfect. She followed with the lobster-crawfish-shrimp etoufee and I went the braised lamb shank with saffron risotto. I won round 2 -- the lamb was oh so tender and rich with melded flavors of onion and wine and who knows what, it was like eating savory meat butter. It overpowered the saffron in the risotto is my only quibble. Other than the color, that was a waste of an expensive ingredient. Friend thought the etoufee was fine but nothing special. I could see nice big chunks of seafood in it and it smelled nice, but I'll take her word on it. I'm not a fan of etoufee myself, as I think it works better in an appetizer size portion, because I don't think the flavor stays interesting thru a full bowl of it. Dessert, I won again -- she got a flourless chocolate pie wedge and I went with the creole bread pudding. The chocolate pie was very rich and dense but really too big a portion and kind of monotonous after a couple of bites. The creole bread pudding was made with a soft sweet bread with pineapple and currents and walnuts in it, served warm, with a thin rum sauce drizzled on and a little rosette of chantilly cream on the side. It's an attractive, relaxed restaurant, cream colored walls, dark woods, many different levels and rooms, easy to talk even though it was bustling by the time we were halfway through dinner. Our waiter was attentive and charming but not intrusive and he got things right. Looking at the rest of the menu, most of the entrees were in the $25-$35 range, apps $9-$15, though a few things less expensive. So the limited RW menu was a good introduction to the restaurant and a good value.

pork chop with Mirtillo sauce steamed broccoli with butter supremed orange

There is an Afghan halal market on Edsall Road just east of S. Van Dorn in Alexandria that often has a van parked in the front of the lot that has a sign advertising goat meat. If you need farther west, in the old section of Herndon in the shopping center with the KMart there is a halal butcher that I know had some disputes with the landlord for tossing the remnants from goat butchering straight into the dumpster out back.

Was there Tuesday night and was grateful for the upgrade since the last time I had been -- it has risen from below-school-cafeteria quality to food that is edible and even has some texture and flavor (other than cardboard and rubber -- anyone else remember their old-menu hamburger? shudder). One pal got the chili, another got the roast beef dip sandwich, and I got the chicken fried steak. Don't pick anything fancy; stay to the basics and enjoy the beer and the music.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I've been celebrating one way or another all week and rolling it on into Alexandria's RW for a fortnight's celebration.