DaveO

This thread has been interesting.  My take is that "Amish" for chicken has no precise meaning.  There are no parameters no definitions, no legal descriptions.  Its a marketing term.   I could get a crummy chicken from a brutish place for the lowest price available and market it as an Amish Chicken.  There are no penalties for doing so.  Buyer beware.

T - one hour.  Let the Washington Nats/World Series Begin and let the Best Team (Washington Nats) win!!!

On 10/18/2019 at 1:45 PM, dcs said:

Java Shack to Close Unless Buyer Can Be Found, October 18, 2019, on ARLnow.com.

....and on the small news front....I spoke with a long term Java Shack employee today.  She knew the lease was up for renewal as far back as 10 months ago and knew they weren't getting close last spring, as did most or all of the staff.  That information is different from what was reported in the article.   Ah well in the near term we'll have another empty space in the neighborhood.

A well known whiskey expert's guide to the best whiskey's in the world this year:  https://www.maxim.com/food-drink/jim-murrays-best-whiskey-in-the-world-2019-10

The tough part of this job is that you have to taste them.  Ugggghhhh   the agony.  Meanwhile toward the top 3 whiskey's at 125+ proof.  Ooooh.   You are going to know the booze with those drinks.

They just redid their website:   https://newheightsrestaurant.com/

On 10/13/2019 at 5:59 PM, Steve R. said:

Are you all avoiding talking about their recent wins (as of this post, they are 2-0 over the Cards) due to superstition about hexing them or is it just indifference? ⚾

I wouldn't be missing a chance to gloat/brag/be happy if I was youse guys.  Just sayin'. 🧛‍♂️

Astro's.  We'll kick their butts!!!!!

11 minutes ago, dcs said:

Have you been to Blümen Cafe? 

Only once or twice.  I don't really get it.  Tell us more!!!   OTOH, if we are speaking of that neighborhood. try Takeshi Sushi and Ramen.   Their spicy pork ramen is incredible!!!!!!

6 minutes ago, dcs said:

Java Shack to Close Unless Buyer Can Be Found, October 18, 2019, on ARLnow.com.

hmm.  I saw that article.  I work across the street.  Go there often.  Still go there, even as I don't like their brews...(Commonwealth Joe's)  (but it IS across the street).  I'll ask but I assume it was a surprise to the staff.     They have nice staff now;  I wish them well.   Ah well, two Starbucks in equal distance.  Even better coffee a bit further.  Life goes on.

Okay...so the Nats are going to the World Series!!!!  (Oh man is that amazing!!!!!!!)

The Mystics just won the WNBA championship  (best woman's team in the world!!!!!)

A new hockey season just started, the Caps are highly rated and they won the Stanley Cup less than two seasons ago!!!!!!  (that was celebratory--to the max)

The Redskins--(oh yeah, the team that formerly dominated the local landscape and had some of the best (at least one) teams in NFL history) are in midseason and showing us again how an owner can f*ck up everything and even more!!!!  Peeee Uuuuuu

And the Wizards just made the news.  Well who cares???  (okay--I care for about the 40-50th year).  Bradley Beal resigned and is off the market for a trade   News story 

Hey don't feel bad for Brad.  He is resigning for beaucoup bucks--more than any other athlete in DC (save his teammate John (big bucks) Wall.  NBA stars rack up!!!!!   Its a good news story in my mind.  I like rooting for a team wherein you have local stars that stick around.  Brooks and Cal in Baltimore, Art Monk and Ovi in DC, a guy named Mickey Mantle for the Yanks, Stan Musial for St Louis, Tony Gwinn in San Diego, Tim Duncan for the San Antonio Spurs, etc etc.  Fandom connects the team and the loyal star. 

The Wiz/Bullets haven't had a player like that since Wes Unseld who both played then coached and was GM for a long time.  They need a good news "guy'.  Beal might be the right person.  He is not at the star of stars kind of level.  But if he plays like he did last year he will be close--and he is a very high quality outside shooter--with a bevy of additional skills.

Now this years team looks like it will "stink".  I'm guessing lottery level stink.  They have a "find" at center.  One can hope he will progress and be competitive.  They have among the shortest guards in the league;  one is decidedly second or third rate and the other, well he achieved stardom and then suffered horrific injuries.  Can he return??   Completely unknown.   Their forwards are pretty much unknown or career reserves.  They have a high draft choice....and who knows if he will be any good.

But Brad is sticking.   Thanks Brad.  Someone to root for.

33 minutes ago, TedE said:

But you'd better believe my ass is going to be in our seats for Games 3, 4 and 5 next week.

Ha ha.   Great decision making!!!!!!   Have fun!!!

On 11/28/2016 at 3:26 PM, dcs said:

I had the scampi. . . once.  Stick with the Powder Monkey draft, the Mahi Taco, the Steak or Spinach salad, and most of the sandwiches and you can do alright here.  The bartenders have all been very friendly and efficient in my opinion.  Mostly the food is OK, you just need to choose carefully.  Also, to my taste some other items here are not bad, just overproduced (hello, North Carolina Ruby Red Trout).

On 3/1/2018 at 1:13 PM, dcs said:

The staff is still friendly but the menu here has ossified.  We are going to lay off for a bit.

On 7/11/2018 at 1:09 PM, dcs said:

I don't know what the hell happened to that place.  It's like they just stopped caring.

hmmmmmm.....wondering about the food and drink over time?   Looks like @dcs nailed it. 

I was there an additional wee bit without commenting.  My impression was similar.  Spoke with a Rosslyn resident who has a feel for food and beer.  He slammed it. 

Regardless of what anyone at this forum or any review writer on any website might say, the evidence is that a probable future World Series Star busts out a huge smile at the Clarendon Silver Diner.  That is good enough for me

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

(I know, I know, "you're already there" and "it's about half the price" - fair enough

nuff said.  

having said that I get rotisserie chicken from several Peruvian chicken places in the region.  They are infinitely better. 

On 10/16/2019 at 9:43 AM, John William G said:

For those of you who have never been to Chez Francois, I urge you to forget the reviews you see in places like the Post and try it for yourself.

On 10/17/2019 at 9:51 AM, Bob Wells said:

We've been going every couple of years since I proposed to my wife at L'Auberge in 1995. (I used the old "Hey, why don't you go look at the desserts and I'll just have this ring waiting for you when you get back" ploy.) I'm pleased to report that our last visit was as good as any. Including the souffle!

Possibly its an age thing, but I also still enjoy L'auberge Chez Francais.  These years I go once every couple of years.  I used to go 1-3 times a year (80's -90's).  I still enjoy it for the same reasons as described by @John William G above.  Same menu, same environment, always at least very good.  Its an exquisite environment.  Always a celebratory evening.  Its overall rankings are great.  If it falters it seems to me to be an "age thing".  It is not contemporary or reflective of today's favorites.

15 minutes ago, Pat said:

Sunday I made a pot roast with button and oyster mushrooms, plus mashed potatoes. I think there was also salad and bread, but I don't recall now. I made my own onion soup mix and did a foil-wrapped pot roast in the oven. I used to make pot roast this way a lot. It's real simple and comes out great, but the soup mix has a ton of sodium in it, so I stopped making it. I crushed one small beef bouillon cubs into my mixture, but that was it for added sodium. In and of itself, the bouillon cube has a fairly high amount but a fraction of the amount in commercial onion soup mix. The mixture made enough for at least one more roast and possibly two.

After two nights out, last night was leftover lamb and kale as well as curry-roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts.

 

A foil roasted pot roast.  That is a blast from the past.  What great flavor...and the most important part---ridiculously easy.  An old favorite of mine.

37 minutes ago, Pat said:

That was nuts again last night. I was a couple sections over from where I was for the wild card. Monday night I was in the seats behind Soto, where I prefer to sit.  The thing that struck me last night is that the concrete was rocking the way it did at RFK. That was an interesting kind of nostalgia (except I didn't have concern that parts of the stadium would fall apart, the way I did at RFK.)

It was just stunning to be there, like did this actually happen?  I was texting friends at various points, including one I used to go to games with who moved back to the PNW a couple years ago and another who was going to use my extra ticket if there was a Wednesday game. The whole thing was surreal.

It was also great for Ted Lerner to get this on his 94th birthday, and their longest serving usher (from day 1) turned 82 at midnight.

Great for you as a true blue fan.   Simply a killer exciting exhilarating evening.  All these years.  Then all these years of playoff losses.  So exciting to know the stands were rocking.  So much like old RFK.  Extra exciting.  Hope you get to the Series and witness Nats' wins.

BTW:  Winning four straight against ST Louis was out of a dream. 

On 10/13/2019 at 5:59 PM, Steve R. said:

Are you all avoiding talking about their recent wins (as of this post, they are 2-0 over the Cards) due to superstition about hexing them or is it just indifference? ⚾

I wouldn't be missing a chance to gloat/brag/be happy if I was youse guys.  Just sayin'. 🧛‍♂️

KABOOM!!!!!!   bring on dem Yankees or Astro's or whomever the sissy American league gets to play vs the NATS

11 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

They're just pickier.  

If I was  a kid I'd be with them.

1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I think Safeway sells their rotisserie chicken for $6.99 usually and $5.99 on sale.  The kids don't like them so I don't buy them.

Hate to admit this but your kids have better taste than me.  I still buy them.  Easiest dinner out there.  And yeah, I don't like them either, but I do buy them and eat them. 

16 hours ago, Steve R. said:

Are you all avoiding talking about their recent wins (as of this post, they are 2-0 over the Cards) due to superstition about hexing them or is it just indifference? ⚾

I wouldn't be missing a chance to gloat/brag/be happy if I was youse guys.  Just sayin'. 🧛‍♂️

I can't speak for anyone else.  In that the Nats have never advanced even one step in the NL playoffs my (big) mouth is shut w/regard to gloating, trash talking etc.  I believe in sports hexes. 

LETS GO NATS!!!!!!

Its quite obvious there are quite a few rotisserie chicken fans out there and in this forum.  Costco is the bank breaker.  They have kept there rotisserie chickens at $4.99/bird. And their annual sales are now around 100 million of them. That is a helluva deal and a crazy amount of chickens.  Rotisserie chicken prices have gone up everywhere else.  So how are they coping with this challenge?   You can find the story here

You can find a good sample of  Elias Grossman's work here.   I've been late to this research and will have to check with relatives to learn more.  It is apparent that Grossman created etchings and had them copied for sale.  The various prints my grandparents had were of this sort.  Whether they purchased the prints or were given copies by Grossman I don't know.  Regardless they were prolific fans with what must have been 12-15 of them.  The one I have is copied below.

In any case I have cousins who purchased an apartment in DC, mostly to give them access to their daughter, her husband and their two kids.   While there I noticed a Grossman on the wall.  That spurred conversation....and my gut is that none or few of my age peers in siblings or cousins really don't know much about this artist, though for similar reasons we treasure the pieces.

And WNBA champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    A somewhat even and ragged game with a healthy number of fouls till the final quarter.  The Mystics made shots, shots, shots and they kept coming up with defense and stops.  Do I hear CHAMPIONS!!!!!

some of the best plays from both teams

13 minutes ago, Steve R. said:

In summary, I have fewer "nuggets" than you but a very similar tribal history (on my father's side).  But a very different last name, so don't worry.

Well that last sentence is a relief.   OTOH per the "family tree"  in the early 1800's some ancestor of the same last name had 8 kids and 5 of them changed their last name.  Per what I've read they did it to "avoid" getting "enrolled" into the military.  (evidently there were no docs at the time that would claim you had bone spurs).Fremland, Grossberg and some other last names were among those they chose; Grossberg being the last name of the artist referenced above.

I'm a little saddened that I didn't pick up on this family history story at an earlier time.  Almost all of my father's first cousins, of which there were a ton have passed away.  What I have learned is that connected to our family name is someone who was both accomplished and recognized who also may also well have been a "high society" goniff and more relatives from that part of Belarus who ended up in Australia/New Zealand.

Meanwhile Bialystok is in the Eastern part of what is now Poland, and Kobryn is in the Western part of Belarus...close but now two separate nations.  Additionally I do understand the Bialystok  society has a great trove of historical information. 

A little family history connected to Belarus and in particular the town of Kobryn (Kobrin).  Upon further research I've learned that my father's family came from Kobryn in Belarus as opposed to "near" Bialystok in Poland.  Research describes Kobryn as "near" Bialystok, though it is about 120 miles.  It must have been relatively close on a cultural basis though as my grandmother was a "fabled" bialy baker.

My grandparents emigrated to the US in the 1890's as kids.  They were part of large groups of relatives, all from that area who came to the US at that point in time.  They were poor and oppressed and were a part of a large number of Jews who moved to the US during those decades for similar reasons.  More relatives emigrated to the US and elsewhere in the following years.

Among the relatives who also arrived was a first cousin of my grandfather's named Elias Mandel Grossberg.  He was a fairly famous artist gaining fame in the 1920's to 1940's (passed away in 1947).  He primarily did etchings including many drawings of the famous and not-so-famous, including Mahatma Ghandi, Mussolini (in 1927), and Einstein among others.  A fairly detailed biography can be found here. 

My grandparents had a large number of his prints, either all or mostly signed.  There may be copies of some of the more famous pieces and/or originals.  I do know my grandfather was known for sending money back to "the old country" to help relatives relocate. He was beloved.  My grandparents might have had about 15 Grossmans.  Pretty astonishing for a family of not wealthy folks. 

Possibly around the earlier 1960's after my grandfather got ill and relocated (my grandmother had passed in the 1950's) the Grossman's were spread among my father and his two siblings.  Visit one of the homes and at the least there were some very similar pieces of art.

Even at my culturally neanderthalish perspective the prints were memorable.  They were thematically similar, all were etchings, and even I could tell they were "better" than the other pieces of art on my parents walls.  They established a theme and memory connected to the home in which I grew up.  Today I and each of my cousins has one or two Grossman's inherited from our parents and grandparents.  Visit one of those homes and you will find a familiar theme, not unlike visiting the homes of my parents, my uncle and aunt (siblings of my dad). 

Sad to say I can't report more.  My dad would give out "nuggets" of information about his past and that of his ancestors but I never questioned this and got into more detail.  Certainly wish I had that information now.