Sam

I want to buy a friend of mine who is on bedrest a gift certificate for take-out. She is vegetarian, so ideally some place with lots of vegetarian options. It does not have to be delivered as there is a person who can pick it up. Does anybody have any suggestions, specifically in DC near Penn Quarter? Thanks!

I moved to Denver a year ago from Arlington and have discovered the delicious goodness that are tamales. Never had one before moving here. I really want to try making my own (realizing they are time consuming) but have no idea where to start. What is a good basic recipe? Any special techniques I should know about? Thanks in advance!

I am not sure if this has been mentioned before, but the LATimes food section had a big article a few months ago on how to convert your oven into a pizza oven. Maybe it would work on a grill too? http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-homepizzatool25-2009mar25,0,2992963.story

Can you post your dough recipe? Thanks!

I have been going here for years and at dinner, the place is never crowded. I used to work across the street and I think lunch is where their business really comes from. I have stood in line from the entrance on Wilson. For those who have been inside, that is a long walk from the counter. I can't say I am an expert on Tex/Mex or New Mexican cuisine, but their refried beans are the best I have ever tried. They are creamy, but thick. Not too thick, but just thick enough to stick to your fork. They mouthfeel is a lot more substantial than others I have tried. For comparison sake, I find Guajillo's a bit thin with little flavor. The salsa is quite spicy but really good. You can buy it by the pint to go. It is a really nice family run place. The help never changes, the food is good, you can hear your dinner companions (my big complaint with Guajillo is that it is too noisy). Great for crowds too. Some of the tables middle of the restaurant are really big.

I am thinking of it too. Anybody else?

I think I posted above about GCF, but I have nothing but good things to say about them. I did a 1/2 share to feed my boyfriend and myself. I got enough to incorporate the vegetables into probably 3 meals per week. we got lots of greens in the beginning and end which I loved since GCF actually turned me onto greens. Corn was not that great this year. Peaches were ridiculously abundant. I am still sick of peaches right now. The positive with GCF is that they will deliver to your doorstep. I don't think any others do that. As long as you are willing to cook meals at home, I think a 1/2 share would be good. You may, some weeks, have too much, but you can always give it to a coworker if that happens? To split a 1/2 share with somebody could be hard. What happens when you only get 1 zucchini or 1 eggplant? Some weeks we got a little bit of different produce, other weeks it was a lot of a few items.

I went for lunch the other day and found it fine. I wasn't blown away by the pizza but thought it was good, albeit a bit oily with the extra olive oil drizzled on top. I don't think it will be on my rotation of favorite pizza places, but I would be more than happy to go again. What I found odd was the service. Our waiter was good-prompt, checked in occassionally, etc. My lunch companion ordered the gnocchi special (the gnocchi were great!!-nice and light) and I got the pizza. His dish come out in under 5 minutes (no exaggertion) whereas my pizza came out in 15. the waiter explained mine would be longer because it was being cooked in a different area. Can't the kitchen get its timing right even if the two are located in different areas? I did not have the bad waiter service experience I was expecting based on this thread. Kitchen service on the other hand was poor.

Have you done the full two weeks in brine? I would think you ought to leave them in the brine, longer. Maybe make ups a new batch of brine and let them sit for an extra week or more. As far as color goes, mine are also sort of variegated. I used a zip-lock bag full of water to keep them submerged during the water cure, so it wasn't that they got oxidized. I can't explain the color--as long as they taste good, that's my biggest issue. They have been in the brine for about 1.5 months now. Maybe I will try a soaking a smaller batch and see if that works. I only have a sacrifice a few at the start to do the experiment

I was trying the olive curing this year too and did the exact same thing. Cracked the olives (and proceeded to ruin a shirt with olive juice on it!), soaked and changed water everyday for 10 days, and now is in a brine. When I taste them, however, I still get that bitterness. Do you think I could resoak in cold water for a few more days to try to get the bitterness down? By the way, did yours turn from green to black due to exposure to oxygen during the soaking process? Some of mine are polka dotted!

Same here. Corn has been terrible this year. I try to salvage as much as possible by shaving off little parts of each cob that look ok. Again, being 2 people really help stretch things. I have been supplementing the corn through the farmer from WV at the Columbia Pike market on Sundays. His corn has been amazing all year.

I am with the Great Country Farms CSA this year. Added bonus is that they deliver to your door. Downfall is that you don't pick your produce. However, I have been so happy with them. I get a 1/2 share which is a 10X12X14 box every week. It started with lots of greens and lettuces, but this past week I received 1 big zucchini, about 5 tomatoes, 1 medium eggplant, a bunch of peppers (not as much of a fan of peppers though), 4 ears corn, and 6 gala apples. I was swimming in peaches all summer (some weeks getting upwards of 10-15 peaches) to the point that I never want to see a peach again. Corn and eggplant have been coming for weeks also. Additionally, I have a U-pick allocation each week if I am willing to schlep out to the farm. As with others, it has forced me to try new vegetables. I have found I LOVE sauteed greens more than I ever thought. We only eat out 1-2 times/week due to the CSA. I am already dreading the stop at the end of October. For what it is worth, I am feeding myself and my boyfriend. I know I sound like I work for them at this point, but I cannot say enough good things about the farm. The owners are very responsive-I get emails back from them within 24 hours. If I have to skip a week, I get a double delivery the next week.

So you did decide to share with the babysitter??? With only 2 of us in the house, I am going to have chocolate for a few weeks at the rate I eat it at. Poor me!

I agree, I had a wonderful time last night. I am looking forward to having the chocolates over the next couple of weeks.

When using Firefox, I would try to log in everytime I visited. The quick page would tell me I was logged in as "Sam" but when I actually got to the boards, it did not have me logged in. It kept happening, so I tried IE and I can log in

I have a reservation for Corduroy Saturday at 6 for 4 people that I can't use. Please email me at sam21479@hotmail.com if interested.

I know that La Cuisine in Alexandria carries a variety of shapes and sizes, although you have to browse through a catalog and have it ordered. There were definitely some for under $400, although probably on the smaller size.

Sorry! I dropped mine off Saturday and they said they would be ready Tuesday. But it is a great place to browse in either way, even if you have to come back next week!

I just had mine done last week at La Cuisine in Old Town (on Cameron St. more towards the River). I am very pleased with the work, esp since one was in terrible need of repair. Very reasonable prices too. For one repair and 2 sharpenings, I paid $8. In addition, it is just the best store to browse around in!

So which other stores in DC would you say are better than average? I know of Arrowwine in Arlington, but am not as familiar with DC

Well, I just found this in that document you linked. Guess that answers my question on one of them. Thanks for the link though-it looks very interesting! 2004 Rüdesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken Fluffy-leesy and spicy and splendidly well-balanced; typical brine-smoky aromas, along with the `04 wisteria and iris; this has length and salt and a caressing fruit. Virtually perfect dry Riesling. SOS: 1 (yes, this tastes sweeter than it is) (now to five years) SOMMELIER ALERT!

The one I really like is Scholl, a 2003 Rudesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Kabinett. It come in 1L bottles (green with a screw top), not the usual 750ml. Looks like maybe made by Eduard Scholl. 2nd one is Kunger 2002 Riesling Kabinett, Rudesheimer Kirchenpfad. Made by Franz Kunger. Brown bottle with red seal. Third is a leitz, 2004 Rudesheimer Bischofsberg. I like all three and would be happy with a case of any of them, but I really like the first one the best. I find it to be a nice table wine. I don't have a great knowledge of wine, although I would like one. I am just going off of the fact that I think it is good. Riesling is my all time favorite wine, so the more of it I can have in the house, the better!

Towards the end of August, I was in Germany for the Rudesheim wine festival and brought home three Rieslings I tried there and absolutely love them. (I don't know if they are actually good wines, but they taste great to me!) I asked all of the wineyards if they export to the US and they do. I was wondering, if all I have is the bottle and label to work with, who would be the best wine merchant to talk with in the hopes of ordering a case? Perferrably VA (Arlington, Alexandria areas) or DC? Thank you so much in advance for any help anybody can provide!

I haven't seen much about this restaurant other than occassional mention in the Wed. chat, but a friend and I went there last night for dinner. In comparison to Lebanese Taverna, I must say this is much better. Note: we split 5 mezzas and they were all vegetarian as my friend doesn't eat meat. We stuck with your basics standards but thought they were well executed. Had a pomegranate hommass-your basic hommos with with pom. juice on top. (we actually ordered a 2nd one later since we liked it so much). It was well made, very smooth and creamy, not too garlicky, but the juice just added a nice sweet/tart note that is a bit unexpected (but in a good way) Had the moussaka-eggplant, onion, tomatoes, chickpeas. We both enjoyed it, but definitely had other favorites of the night. It was cold which we weren't expecting, and came as a bit of a shock since we were expecting something else. It was a good melding of flavors in more of a vegetable stew kind of dish, rather than a layered casserole that I think of when I think moussaka. Middle Eastern cheese-2 1/2" thick, maybe 6" long slice of cheese, said to be served warm, we found ours to be at best lukewarm. Probably the least liked of the bunch. One was covered in black sesame seeds, the other in zaatar. I just found it didn't have a whole lot of flavor. Spinach Fatayer-a good rendition, nothing mind-blowing, not too inventive, just a good spinach pocket. Very generous on the filling, which I have found can be stingy at some places. Last, vegetarian kibbeh-I think this was my favorite of the night. Triangle shaped filled wheat shells with walnuts, peppers, and pom. sauce, then deep fried. The outside had a wonderful crispness to it without being greasy at all. The inside was so hot I burned my mouth a bit, but is was a wonderful oozy gooiness. Not to oozy to spill everywhere, but enough to feel a wonderful texture contrast in your mouth. That's it, sorry to be so long, hope I didn't bore you! Our bill was $42 (6 mezzas and one iced tea), not including tip. The interior was very nice-the usual Middle Eastern decorations, but tastefully done. It was not crowded at all when we were there, but I could see this being a nice place to bring a date on a weekend. Very large selection of vegetarian choices-I would say over half of the menu actually.