cucas87

Below is a list of people who have signed up for the chocolate making class on August 29th with Jason Andelman of Artisan Confections. Please note that the class is limited to 10 people and I have started a "waiting list." I've also started a list of people who would like to take the class at another time.

Please read the payment information below.

Payment terms: The cost of the class is $50 and payment will be made directly to Artisan Confections.

To secure your spot in the class, please contact Jason Andelman by the close of business on Thursday, August 23rd to reserve your spot with a credit card. Your credit card will not be charged when you call Jason, but it will serve to reserve your spot in the class. Jason can be reached at Artisan Confections at 703-239-0616 between 8:30 am and 6 pm. (Note: the store is closed on Sundays and Mondays and Jason will be out of town this weekend). If you do not contact Jason by the close of business on the 23rd, we will open your spot to other interested people.

Cancellation policy: Due to the limited class size, once you have reserved your spot in the class, we will hold that space for you. If you need to change your plans and and your space cannot be filled by someone else, or if you if you fail to show up for the class, you will be charged $30 as a cancellation fee.

Participants

Walrus

purplesachi and politburo

demetrius +1

catharine

sam

gubeen

squidsdc +1

Waiting List

Smokey

Note: If you are listed above as a participant and you have changed your mind and no longer are interested, please let me know as soon as possible because as of now, the class is full.

An update on the chocolate making class: There are a few more spots available, so please PM me if you are interested. Jason has offered to schedule a second class if there is sufficient interest, so keep the PMs coming. Also, the cost of the class is $50/person (this is a discounted price for donrockwell.com). I'll post the payment details shortly.

I'm in for Lighthouse on the 18th.

I'm in for Tiffin.

Our own member Jason Andelman of Artisan Confections is offering us another opportunity to learn about the art of chocolate through his chocolate making class.

This is a chocolate making class that will not only delight your palate, but also leave you with gifts to take home to your family and friends.

The class will be held on Wednesday, August 29th from 7-9 pm and there is room for 10 people to attend. The cost will be approximately $50. The exact cost and payment details will be announced shortly.

Note: we will be filling this class on a first come first served basis.

If you would like to join us please PM me.

Below is more information about the class and what it entails. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

-----------------------------------

Hands-on Artisan Chocolate Making

Class Schedule

Two hours of hands-on instruction and demonstration of artisanal chocolate making.

Major highlights include:

* Tasting and discussion of chocolate varietals

* How to make ganache

* How to make molded chocolates

* Using an enrober

* Samples throughout the evening and light refreshments

* Make your own original confections to take home

* Fun and informal environment

Artisan Confections is located at 4815-B Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207 between Columbus Street N. and Buchanan Street N. near the intersection of Glebe Road N. Parking is available.

Since I didn't make my goal during the Fit for Summer challenge, I decided to join Weight Watchers. So far, I've lost 9 pounds. It's a pretty easy plan to deal with and just knowing someone else will see the scale has made me more careful in what I eat. That said, I'm sad to say that I've learned that as I eat less, I weigh less -- and that according to Weight Watchers, one sleeve of thin mint (Girl Scout) cookies is not dessert, it has the equivalent "point value" of all the food I am supposed to eat in a day. Let's just say that was an enlightening bit of food math. In any case, if it cools down some outside and anyone is up for walking, let me know.

I'm sad to say that in my experience, the mussels at Brasserie Beck are not at all as good as they were a few months ago. A friend and I stopped in for a quick bite last night and started with the Bibb salad, which was very tasty and nicely but not overly dressed. We had told the waiter we would like to share the salad and the restaurant was nice enough to split the salad for us. When we ordered iced tea we were informed that Beck doesn't make its own iced tea, but serves bottled tea from Honest Tea. That's fine, but the waiter delivered the iced tea in the bottles (along with glasses of ice). It just seemed a little funny, like I had ordered a bottle of wine and they wanted to allow me time to check the bottle. In any event, we also ordered the mussels with fennel and chorizo. I had had these months ago and they were delectable, plump, juicy, just plain great. Last night they were overcooked and seemingly without fennel. Thankfully, though, they were grit free. But the fries were incredible, hot and crispy and delicious.

Same thing when you order 12 wings, only to find that they are 12 wing pieces, not the entire 3 part wing. Then again at the Hitching Post the 1/2 of chicken is more like a whole chicken with three legs. Maybe the world does even out over time.

I will try to be at BP by 6:30 or so.

Crozet Pizza Rocks!

Joe H said:

perhaps even a nearby pizza joint that has a cult following among those from UVA.

We had a great time yesterday in NYC. I hope that we were the advance team and that we'll do this again in the fall at a time when some other folks will be able to join in because with more people we could try more dim sum. Rest assured, we did our best to tackle the menu (and we had help from some friends and family).

First on the logistics: I took the Vamoose Bus from Rosslyn. The bus stop is very convenient to me but Vamoose has very limited service on Saturdays (only one bus to NYC and one bus back to DC). The ride was comfortable and easy but we got into NYC almost an hour later than we were scheduled to -- a combination of leaving late and making a stop along the way at a rest stop on 95. If you need to be in NYC by noon or 12:30, the 7:45 departure from Rosslyn is not necessarily going to get you there in time. Also, the return bus home left NYC for DC at 4:30, which was too early for my taste, especially since we had arrived later than expected. (Oddly, my bus did not make a stop on the way back to DC). There are, of course, other bus services and Amtrak, but for this first dim sum expedition I wanted to test Vamoose. {FYI, Crackers had a very good experience on Greyhound and she pointed out that Greyhound has a full schedule on Saturdays, so that seems to be a good option.) My cost: $50 roundtrip.

We had a lot of dim sum at Dim Sum Go Go and it was all very good. I was happy to see that there were a lot of vegetable dumplings, and they were delicious. I loved the mushroom dumplings and in a non-vegetarian category, the duck dumplings were scrumptious. Everything we had was very fresh and light. At DSGG there are no carts but the upside of that is that when the dumplings come to the table, they are piping hot. I will absolutely go back.

We followed up dim sum with a quick walk to get gelato at Il Laboratorio. By the time we got there they had sold out of the toasted sesame gelato (cue the violins), so I had to content myself with the following 3 flavors: basil, dulce de leche, and coconut. The winner was the basil. It was delicious and suprising and, thankfully, not overly sweet. I had ordered thinking that I would prefer basil sorbet to ice cream, but I'm happy to say I was wrong.

Unfortunately I was out of time by then and had just enough time to get back to the bus. I would love to do this again, but at a more leisurely pace.

Update: we will be meeting tomorrow at 1:00 at Dim Sum Go Go at 5 East Broadway (between Catherine and Chatham). A few people have said that they might be able to join us; we are happy to have more company. If you think you can make it, please PM me so we can get an accurate headcount. See you tomorrow!

I'll be going up and back on Saturday for our dim sum expedition and I'll be taking the Vamoose bus. If anyone is interested in joining us, please do!

Mojito Salad 2007 (adapted from a 2006 recipe in the New York Times Magazine).

salad:

juice of 2 limes

3 English cucumbers, sliced thin and in half-moons

1 seedless watermelon, cut into 1 inch cubes or scooped with a melon-baller

3 pounds strawberries, hulled and halved lengthwise

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves thinly sliced

(optional: I didn't do this for the picnic: 1/2 cup thinly sliced cilantro leaves)

dressing: (these are approximate measurements)

3 jalapenos, chopped

1/2 -3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup lime juice

zest of 2 limes

1 teaspoon sea salt

6-8 teaspoons rum

Changes made this year:

1. added the jalapenos to the dressing (instead of into the salad)

2. added more lime juice and rum

3. left out the jicama

4. nicer presentation in the carved watermelon shell thanks to Scott Johnston's watermelon carving skills.

Note: This is also great with grilled shrimp. And cilantro. And of course, more rum.

Checking in to see if there's any more interest in the trip. Also, I'm considering going up on Friday night and returning on Saturday. But in any case I'm in for dim sum.

Ithaca

HOT TRUCK? DID SOMEONE SAY HOT TRUCK?

Hot Truck,welcome back, how I had missed you!

Apparently Bob sold the truck and it's up and running again as of at least last year. It was a little odd to find the hot truck parked on the Arts Quad, but that was done, I'm sure, for Reunions and the many alums who never would walk down to west campus (especially in light of the fact that it is largely a construction complex now) to find it. We shared an MBC, which was warm and gooey and delicious. Prices, of course, are higher than I recall! I also should note that the wait time wasn't too bad because they had anticipated the onslaught of alums so the experience this time around was a little different than in the old days. But really good. Especially when we took the MBC to our tent party madness.

Incidentally, if you are a Cornell alum and haven't been to Collegetown recently -- and I hadn't been back in 5 years -- it's a sad sight as many storefronts are vacant. Still around: Ruloffs, Collegetown Bagels, Aladdins, Sangam, Dino's, Dunbars and, of course, the Royal Palm. Oh and Starbucks is in Collegetown now. Sigh.

One last note about the Moosewood Cafe: it's a wifi hot spot. This ain't the Mooseood of old.

We may be up there anyways that weekend- could we meet you all up there?

Absolutely!

Two friends of mine will be joining us and will be bringing beer and other beverages (tbd).

Before we all enjoy the holiday weekend I thought I'd take care of a little business. Below is our current picnic list. It looks like we are going to have a great picnic, and it also looks like we still could use wine, maybe some bread and or crackers, bacon for the bacon tasting, and, um, some chocolate.

If you plan to come to the picnic, please post in this thread by noon next Friday, June 1st that you'll be coming and what you intend to bring. This will allow goldenticket to prepare a label for your food item(s) and it will make it easier for us to set up at the picnic.

Finally, I will be out of town for work next week so if you have last minute questions, feel free to post them here in this thread or PM Crackers or Scott Johnston.

1.Beverages

Wine

Barbara

JPW - Virginia wine

Melgold

Scott Johnston

Starfish

Walrus - red wine

Beer

Barbara

Crackers

Heather

Ol_Ironstomach

Pat

Tweaked

JPW

Home Brew

ferment everything

mdt - keg of mild

Non-Alcoholic

Anna Blume: fruit drink/water

cucas87: water

Danielk: soda

laniloa

rvanrens: water

Scott Johnston: Diet Coke

Other: Jacques Gastreaux: Martian Pig Slop from Hell

2. Appetizers, Salads and Condiments

BrettAshley01: watermelon or fruit salad

Crackpot Gourmet: Bloody Mary gazpacho

cucas87: mojito salad (vegan but alcoholic)

ferment everything: homemade gouda

Grover: Inari sushi

Heather: potato salad (?)

legant: Miracle Whip (for bacon tasting)

mhberk: Famous blackened chicken salad

Pat: wheatberry or farro salad

rkduggins: sage potato salad (vegan)

rkduggins: corn and wild rice salad (contains chicken stock)

Scott Johnston: deviled eggs

SquidsDC: mayonnaise, maple syrup (for bacon tasting)

StephenB: deviled eggs

ZoraMargolis: mulberry, Queen Anne cherry, and crabapple-mint preserves

3. Meat and Main Courses (non-vegan/non-vegetarian)

AGM: a lamb

bbq4me: ribs

Crackers: bucket of wings

Heather: bacon and onion quiche

Ilaine: grandmother's fried chicken or smoked piglet

Jacques Gastreaux: smoked pork butt

rvanrens: some kind of meat

Thistle: NC style Boston butt

Tweaked: blood sausage

txaggie/cjsaddler: mini ham and cheese biscuit sandwiches

4. Vegetable Dishes

Anna Blume: escarole pie with pine nuts

demvtr: vegetable dish TBD

holdtheline: vegetable dish TBD – maybe mushroom duxelles sandwiches

jm chen: vegetable side dish TBD

melgold: pasta frittata with veggies and cheese

Scott Johnston: vegetable dish TBD

ZoraMargolis: fresh fava bean mousse

5. Baked Goods and Desserts

Barbara: Michel Richard's dome cake

BrettAshley01: crackers or pita chips

Crackpot Gourmet: crepes (?)

cucas87: some kind of light dessert

jm chen: coconut turnovers

mktye: assorted baked goods

Pat: cheesecake, berries or fruit, bread (?) brownies (?)

RaisaB: TBD (or hohos and little debbies)

Thistle: poundcake

Tweaked: madelines

txaggie/cjsaddler: cookies

6. bacon-tasting

clayrae

Crackpot Gourmet: buckboard bacon

ferment everything

JPW

legant: scrapple, tomatoes, lettuce, wheat toast

Ol_Ironstomach

Pat: WF and also turkey bacon

sshorter: bacon?

Walrus

If you think you've signed up for the picnic but don't see your name above, please let us know what you'll be bringing by posting in this thread. See you all at the picnic!

I'm not going to be able to make it tomorrow night to Da Rae Won. Sorry.

So...what's another [good] lunch option in Old Town?

By the water: Mai Thai is decent; not by the water: A la Lucia.

So, if anyone is making anything that does NOT contain the following, will you let me know? I'd really appreciate a heads up: Sesame, soy (including soybean oil- read mayo, dressings, etc), carrots (veg. broth/mirepoix is tricky here), stringbeans, chickpeas, nuts

My mojito salad does not contain any of those ingredients.

Only lost 1/2 pound this week, which is at least something (especially in light of the incredible restaurant meals I've had). I definitely plan on seeing this "challenge" through to my goal weight. A few things that I haven't been able to wear in a long time fit now, and it only makes me more anxious to get back into the rest of my wardrobe.

It's hard to believe, but we're only 2 weeks away from the picnic -- time to crack open the cookbooks (or do some recon at your favorite take-out joint) and let us know what you're bringing! As you can see, we're a bit light in the beverage (wine and non-alcholic drinks) vegetable dish (side and main dish) and bacon(!) categories, so if you're still deciding what to bring please consider those items, but of course we'll take anything you want to make/bring as long as it's delicious!

Here's the list so far; please take a look at the list below and add your information. If I've missed something or made a mistake, just let me know.

1. Beverages

Wine

Barbara?

Beer

Barbara(?)

Crackers

Heather

Ol_Ironstomach

Tweaked

Home Brew

ferment everything

Non-Alcoholic

Anna Blume: fruit drink/water

cucas87: water

rvanrens: water

Other: Jacques Gastreaux: Martian Pig Slop from Hell

2. Appetizers and Salads

cucas87: mojito salad (vegan but alcoholic)

ferment everything: homemade gouda

Grover: Inari sushi

Heather: potato salad (?)

mhberk: Famous blackened chicken salad

Pat: wheatberry or farro salad

Scott Johnston: deviled eggs

StephenB: deviled eggs

3. Meat and Main Courses (non-vegan/non-vegetarian)

AGM: lamb

bbq4me: ribs

Crackers: bucket of wings

Heather: bacon and onion quiche

Jacques Gastreaux: smoked pork butt

rvanrens: some kind of meat

Thistle: NC style Boston butt

Tweaked: blood sausage

txaggie/cjsaddler: mini ham and cheese biscuit sandwiches

4. Vegetable Dishes

Anna Blume: vegetable dish TBD

jm chen: vegetable side dish TBD

Scott Johnston: vegetable dish TBD

5. Baked Goods and Desserts

Barbara: Michel Richard's dome cake

cucas87: some kind of light dessert

jm chen: coconut turnovers

mktye: assorted baked goods

Pat: cheesecake

RaisaB: TBD (or hohos and little debbies)

Thistle: poundcake

Tweaked: madelines

txaggie/cjsaddler: cookies

6. bacon for the bacon-tasting

JPW

Pat: turkey bacon

My list shows the following people plan to attend the picnic but haven't yet signed up for a particular item. Please let us know what you'd like to bring -- or if I've you've already signed up to bring something, just let me know:

Ilaine

Clayrae

Mr. Porcupine

hm212

legant

Meaghan

melgold

RissaP

Starfish

Zoramargolis

Synaesthesia

Walrus/Tripewriter

Two weeks and counting. See you soon.

Also at one point my aunt bought really good sashimi from H-mart, so that might also be a possibility.

I've seen some really nice sushi platters in the food courtr area of Super H in Fairfax.