cucas87

I am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for happy hour. There's still space available so I hope everyone will feel free to join in. To help things run smoothly, please start and be responsible for your own tab. We will not have a group bill (and we will not be paying the tip in one group sum, so please keep that in mind and be generous to our hosts). See you tomorrow when I promise to be...happier. (Reminder: please PM me if you plan to attend so that I can let Corduroy know how many of us to expect.)

There's still a chance to wish your fellow donrockwell.com members a happy holiday season, winter solstice and new year. We will be holding another happy hour this Friday, December 22nd at Corduroy (in the bar) from 4-7:30 pm. Everyone (new, longtime, wayward members too) is welcome to join the celebrating. If you need information about the location, Corduroy is located in downtown Washington on the second floor of the Sheraton Four Points Hotel at 1201 K St., NW and its website is located here. Please PM me if you plan to attend so that I can let Corduroy know how many of us to expect.

Still having trouble sporadically with the PM function, it tells me I have exceeded the storage limits even when I have deleted all of my mailboxes and deleted the cookies.

So am I. I'm also having trouble sending PMs: I receive an error message that says I have exceeded the available storage capacity, but when I look at my inbox/sentbox, it says I've only used 21% of the available space.

It's ok for me now.

1. The "my friends" thing didn't seem to work for me, reminding me of the old "Friends of the Friendless" episode of "I Love Lucy." 2. Sometimes I have to log on to the board, sometimes I don't, and it does not matter if I've checked "remember me." 3. I'm no longer notified by email when I receive PMs despite having checked the box that says "send a notification email when I receive a new private message." 4. Note: These issues occur whether I'm at work, where we use IE or at home, where I use FF.

The "artsy" movie theater in my college town, Cinemopolis, used to have shaker containers of brewer's yeast that you could put on popcorn.

I snack on hot chocolate mix -- the kind without dried marshmallows. I just eat it off of a spoon.

Ever since Washingtonian's site was updated I've had the same difficulty when trying to follow the chat in "real time."

Please add me to the growing list of (non-singing) attendees for the Bob's Shabu Shabu fun on Dec. 18th. Also, it looks like I will probably be able to make it to Eammon's on the 20th (and then to Jenny Craig on the 21st!)

I had a nice and relaxing dinner last night with a good friend who has been looking forward to going to Montsouris as a stop-gap until she's able to go to France this summer. She vowed to try as much of the menu as possible in one sitting. I don't think I'll try that approach again. For apps, we shared the veal marrow and the spicy shrimp. The marrow is luscious and beautiful but the portion was very large and I would not order it on my own as it was too rich for me (that is the first time I've ever said that about any food). We also shared mains: a lamb stew (daily special) and the pork chop. The stew was tasty and warm and the pork chop was very good but just a little dry -- it benefited from the sauce that was on the side. My friend the dessert fiend "forced" us to order desserts so we tried the pistacchio pudding/cream (can't recall the exact name) and the chocolate sorbet. I really enjoyed both and would be happy to have them again. The service was very nice but a bit slow. Also, as others have mentioned, it does get loud in the restaurant. We had reservations at 6:30 and by 7 it was jumping.

Food: my favorite items include the goat cheese ravioli in the lamb sugo (actually, order a bowl of the lamb sugo or order anything that comes with that lamb sauce) and the foie gras, and from the "amuse yourself" menu I've enjoyed the mini burger and the duck spring rolls. I've had very, very good experiences at Tallula. Parking: I think I recall reading on the Tallula website that they have a small parking lot to the left of the restaurant, but I've never parked there. I have had an easy time finding parking in the lot for the dry cleaners (on Pershing) or on the street behind Tallula (the one that runs parallel to Washington Blvd).

The daily special was a little more than most of the other entrees, I spent $13.50 including the botle of water. My plate easily could have fed 2 people well. And the menu is here.

My well-under $20 dinner at Flavors last night: the smothered chicken (the daily special), mashed potatoes, collards and corn bread. This was delicious. The chicken was incredibly tender, the potatoes were nicely peppery and the collards, with some added vinegar and hot sauce, were very tasty. I managed to get a taste of the fish (thanks, Scott) and it was wonderful. Others in our group (-- and welcome, Angela) tried the fried chicken, the pork chop, the mac and cheese and the fries. There was a lot of food, I could have shared my plate with another person easily. I was too full for dessert and so I guess I'll have to go back. I feel a little silly that I'd never been to Flavors before since it's just a few minutes from home.

I do not know the answer but can try to find out!

Yesterday a partner in crime and I found ourselves in Sperryville, VA, enjoying the great weather, changing leaves and a lazy Sunday afternoon. And on a whim and after a few requests for directions, we found our way to the Copper Fox distillery where Wasmund's single malt whiskey is made. We stopped in and ended up getting a generous private tour (complete with tastings) from Rick Wasmund himself and we also met his mother, Helen. Now, I happen to like scotch, but I don't know a ton about it. I learned to drink it by necessity about 6 years ago when I was trying to resolve a labor dispute (read: strike) and the other side was literally blowing smoke in my face. Eventually, after the negotiations had broken down, I went to the hotel bar and ordered some scotch and promptly ran into the people I'd been hoping to avoid. I don't know if they were surprised that I hadn't ordered an umbrella drink or a white wine spritzer, but I can say that that night was a definitive step toward resolution of the issues. Since then, I've been trying to drink and taste more carefully. And after reading about Wasmund's here, I was interested in finding out more about it. All in the name of continuing education, of course. As the press and the Wasmund's website will tell you, Wasmund's malts its own barley in a traditional floor-malting method. So we got to see the barley in its various stages (including the on-the-floor stages). I had read that Wasmund's dries the barley by using apple wood, cherry wood and oak wood smoke, but until we were there, I somehow hadn't understood that they use those instead of peat. We also saw the still and the fermenter and we got a sneak peek at the secret chip-aging process. I really can understand now, having seen the distillery and talked with Rick, and tasted a bit, why each batch of Wasmund's tastes so different. Rick has a passion for distilling that is addictive. Not only did we try the whiskey through its various stages, but we sampled several batches, a few barrels in progress, and a taste of a whiskey he made without the chips. If you tried batch one, I encourage you to see how the whiskey has progressed through to batch six. Personally, I'm a fan of batch six. Not that I'm above some extensive tasting to be sure I haven't missed out on another excellent batch. I really need to sip some more to describe the taste. Damn, I should have taken notes.

Daniel, if you don't have enough for the whole class...I will be spending my Thanksgiving dinners in New Jersey with my parents. Our dinners are fairly traditional and low key food-wise (yet they still allow for maximum family stress). My contributions: mini-crabcakes for an appetizer, a cranberry-orange-jalapeno relish and a bread pudding with whiskey sauce. I trust that someone (hello, Jon, are you reading this?) will be kind enough to continue the tradition of providing many ice creams and homemade sauces.

Add me to the lists for 11/21 (Peking Duck) and 11/28 (Flavors).

Thanks to Dean, Chef Amaya, Chris, our servers and all the planners for the great, good fun last night. First there were drink specials at the bar. I had the Bourbon Fizz (aka Porcupine's Elixir) which was a new taste sensation for me. Thank you to Chris and Porcupine for expanding my drinking horizons. I also had a Scorpino (Hangar 1 vodka, triple sec, pomegranate sorbet, cream and prosecco and probably other stuff). This was delicious and creamy. In the interest of giving everyone a full report today, I also tasted the Cucumber Thyme Refresher which was true to its name and very refreshing, the Winter Caipirinha, which features a brown sugar syrup and was very soothing, the Apple Jax, a lovely slushy of sorts and the Titian's Dream, the prickly pear concoction. Stop worrying, I took metro last night. Then we moved on to dinner, where we all chose from the $20 menu (and for us, another entree option was added: pan roasted pork ribs). I started with the culatella (I cannot pass up prosciutto) and then the pork ribs (wonderful). We ordered wine with dinner; I seem to recall the wine was something like a 2004 Ciacci Rosso Di Montalcino which I enjoyed. Dean later brought another wine for us to try but I cannot recall what it was (it was heavier/more tannin-y than the wine we had ordered so it was a good little study of sorts for me). When it was time for dessert, Dean brought Limoncello and Grappa for everyone. Since this was a $20 Tuesday, it's worth noting that pre-tip and pre-drinks, the bill was $22/person for 3 courses.

FYI for tonight's dinner: my friend won't be able to make it to Dino.

Just an FYI for anyone keeping count for tonight's Dino dinner: my friend won't know if she can make it until late in the day, so it's possible she won't be joining us.

What an incredible picnic! Thank you to everyone who planned, attended, roasted the pigs, ate and drank and otherwise supported the extravaganza. Here are a few post-party Qs and As. Q. Now that the picnic is over, is there anything I need to do? We are compiling recipes for the items everyone brought to the picnic, so if you have not done so, please add your recipe to the list by posting it in the fall 2006 picnic recipe thread here. Also, you could try to beat the holiday rush and start working on your recipes for the spring picnic. For the record, I'm more than willing to taste the early efforts. Q. I think I left some of my serving dishes at the picnic, is there anyone I can ask? Post a message in the main picnic thread here and let everyone know what you think you left behind and check the thread for a response. Q. I did not have my wallet with me on Sunday but I'd like to make a contribution to Luis Morales, is it too late? There's still time to contribute. You can send a check to Luis in care of the Argonaut Tavern, 1433 H St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Additional information is found in the thread here.

I am sitting at my desk eating Alaskan king crab legs and smoked wild Alaskan salmon. It's unbelievable. And unbelievably messy. One of our members is in town from Alaska and brought some goodies. I guess I won't be quitting today.

Recipes for the corn/avocado and sweet potato salads are below. Corn and Avocado Salad (adapted from a recipe by my friend and NYC-based caterer Mindy Heiferling -- www.mindyheiferlingcatering.com) Ingredients: corn, pure chili powder, safflower oil, salt, pepper, cumin, cilantro, avocado, limes and a little water. Get fresh corn if possible. Frozen will do. (If you use fresh corn: one ear usually yields 1/2 cup kernels. I used about 20 or so ears of corn). Remove husks and corn silk and slice the kernels off of the cob. Toss kernels with safflower oil (maybe 1/4 cup per 4 cups of corn), a few tablespoons water, and salt and pepper. Add the chili powder and ground cumin and some cayenne to the corn. (I used pure chili powder and also ancho chili powder). Put the corn on sheet pan(s) and bake at 400 degrees until the corn is golden around the edges. Don't let it dry out. When ready to serve, add diced avocado, chopped cilantro and lime juice. (Note: I didn’t measure the spices, I just kept tasting (with a clean spoon) until it was very spicy but still allowed you to taste the corn. When I make this again I’ll try to let the corn get a little more golden in the oven). Sweet Potato Salad (originally from a Martha Stewart cookbook and then posted on www.wellfed.typepad.com and I’ve modified it slightly) For the Dressing 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon ketchup 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1 large garlic clove, minced 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 3 dashes hot pepper sauce 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper For the Salad 2 large or 3 small, sweet potatoes, peeled and diced 1 red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped 1 jalapeno, chopped finely 3 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted in a dry skillet 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro Directions Cover and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until they can be easily pierced with a fork, but still offer some resistance, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl. While the potatoes are boiling, make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, ketchup, sugar, garlic, mustard, red pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the cooked sweet potatoes while they are still hot. Then add the diced bell peppers, jalapeno, and cumin, but don't add the cilantro until the potatoes are cooler and you are about to serve. (Note: I made about 3 batches)

Michael Pollan weighed in in yesterday's New York Times magazine. I'm excerpting the first paragraph and providing a link to the article: The Way We Live Now The Vegetable-Industrial Complex By MICHAEL POLLAN Published: October 15, 2006 Soon after the news broke last month that nearly 200 Americans in 26 states had been sickened by eating packaged spinach contaminated with E. coli, I received a rather coldblooded e-mail message from a friend in the food business. “I have instructed my broker to purchase a million shares of RadSafe,” he wrote, explaining that RadSafe is a leading manufacturer of food-irradiation technology. It turned out my friend was joking, but even so, his reasoning was impeccable. If bagged salad greens are vulnerable to bacterial contamination on such a scale, industry and government would very soon come looking for a technological fix; any day now, calls to irradiate the entire food supply will be on a great many official lips. That’s exactly what happened a few years ago when we learned that E. coli from cattle feces was winding up in American hamburgers. Rather than clean up the kill floor and the feedlot diet, some meat processors simply started nuking the meat — sterilizing the manure, in other words, rather than removing it from our food. Why? Because it’s easier to find a technological fix than to address the root cause of such a problem. This has always been the genius of industrial capitalism — to take its failings and turn them into exciting new business opportunities. Full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/magazine...r=1&oref=slogin (The link seems to work for me, but if you have trouble, PM me and I'll try again).