Malawry

OK, so so far we have: Malawry JPW +2 EllenH +1 Chef Shogun Sashorter Maybes/people who have expressed interest but not committed: Al Dente Mktye Mrs. P KVentura Rvanrens Bilrus Wrash Gear02 Anybody else?

Correction: They do have a limited beer and wine selection. No corkage, sorry.

OK, we are definitely on for Tuesday, December 14 at 7pm. Expected price point is about $15. Here is the menu: Baya Gyaw: Gram Fritters yellow split peas, ginger, garlic, and cilantro blended and deep-fried (vegetarian) Ginn Thoke: Ginger Salad Shredded ginger, cabbage, onion tossed with Burmese dressing, garnished with fried garlic, crispy yellow peas and carrots (vegetarian) KyarZan Gyaw: Noodles Thin noodles stir-fried with cabbage, carrot and green onion (vegetarian) Tofu MoteNyinChin Gyaw: Tofu Tofu stir-fried with sour mustard, onion and cilantro (vegetarian) Ngar MaGee Thee Hin: Catfish Lightly fried catfish simmered in onion-tomato based curry with tamarind and green pepper PaZun OhnNoh Hin: Shrimp Shrimp, green pepper, onion and tomato in coconut curry sauce WetThar KyetHinGarThee Gyaw: Pork Sliced pork sauteed with bitter melon KyetThar BooThee Hin: Chicken Chicken chunks and long squash simmered in onion curry sauce ShweJi: Cream of wheat, coconut cream, sugar, raisin and milk topped with poppy seeds and baked until golden brown, for dessert. If you would like to go, please PM me or post here. I MUST KNOW your plans NO LATER THAN Wednesday, December 8. Please plan to bring cash with you. Beverages and gratuity are not included (I am pretty sure they do not have a liquor license). I'll post attendance lists as people RSVP. I for one am really looking forward to that pork dish--apparently it's a bit edgy with the bitter melon. Aung asked me, "Are you sure you want to order that?"

I'm considering Jackie's tomorrow night.

I haven't been to Paris at any time of year, but happy circumstances made it easy and inexpensive for my spouse and I to make our inaugural trip for 2 weeks this January. I've been reading The Food Lovers Guide, saving magazine articles and nosing around this forum. However, I've not yet found a response to one of the biggest questions I have: What's the city like in January? Are all of the markets open, or do some of them shut down seasonally? What do people eat in January--what's seasonal, what should I look out for? What sort of weather should I be prepared for? I've read about what sun worshippers the Parisians are. What's cafe culture like when it's too unpleasant to be outside--are cafes as popular and vibrant in January? Are there any special events in January, or are all events and festivals effectively over when the holidays end?

Actually, the Jackie's version is a little larger than a miniburger. It's more like a semiburger. I like that you can get just one.

I've been to the MOMs in College Park and in Rockville. They're ok--roughly analogous to the Takoma Park Silver Spring Coop where I shop often, though they're not coops. I like the Spring Mill breads they carry. They sell these energy squares in the bulk section that we used to eat as trail food which I never saw anywhere else. Other than that, they have mostly what you find at Whole Foods but less selection and no butchery or fish department to speak of.

I tried parcooking recently. It worked pretty well. I was using a Patrick O'Connell technique published about 2 months ago in the Washington Post, from his new Inn at Little Washington cookbook. This was risotto for 34. They slurped it down quickly so it must have been pretty good!

I learned some time ago to avoid DC area Chinese restaurants on Christmas Day. Even takeout is really hard to manage. Too many fellow Jews in town, I guess!

I think my esteemed spouse committed sin #2 on that list last night. I managed to restrain myself a little more, but not by much!

LW, Total yogurt has been briefly pulled from American shelves. Something about needing to get a USDA certification. It's expected to return within a few months. I miss it too, and have not seen another Greek yogurt locally.

OK, I'll look at the 14th then. Thanks guys, sorry about any confusion this caused.

Thanks HV! I did enjoy my chicken. Thanks to JPW, the Busboys, Mdt and Hjshorter for coming out too--it's always great to see you guys. Not to mention the lovely and talented LittleWing and a cameo appearance by Eatdrinkummm (who was not there to celebrate my birthday but made the evening more special anyway). I had that chicken again. Ooh, that chicken. It was fun to watch JPW eat it since he'd never had it before, but I'll let him post about the experience.

I am very sorry to do this, but it turns out I cannot make the 12th. Which means that every weekend in December is unavailable for me. If ya'll still want dinner to be on the 12th we can do it then, but I cannot attend or make the financial arrangements. I would prefer to move it to a weeknight so I can attend. However, I realize that many of you cannot make weeknights. If there is a weeknight the week of December 12 that you can make, please post here or PM me. I spoke with Aung today about working up a menu--I hope to set a menu and get a price for us in the next day or two.

I'm planning a soft re-entry from Thanksgiving at Palena tomorrow (Monday) night. Anybody wanna come?

I use the mandoline or the food processor to julienne. Or, for some things, a knife. Nothing like old-fashioned knife skillz. I thought of something else, a higher ticket item but a great one nonetheless: a diamond steel. I adore mine.

Scandinavian cheap U-shaped peelers. I have about 6 of them floating around. The little beak-shaped knives, for those who tourne THERMOMETERS. For the fridge, the freezer, the oven, probe thermometers, candy and deep-fry thermometers. Fish spatulas. Useful for picking up anything. Offset spatulas. Useful for spreading anything. Little ones are cheap and perfect for cupcakes. I absolutely love those 6" long spreader knives. They have an oval-shaped head and they are perfect for sandwich spreads. Most folks can use a new kitchen timer. Dobie pads for scrubbing up. A plastic hopper that sits on the side of the sink with suction cups to hold the Dobies and sponges. Cute refrigerator magnets with built-in clips Silicon high-heat spatulas I can't live without bench scrapers. I use them to scrape the griddle, move food from cutting board to pan, work doughs without working the gluten, scraping up bits of cookie dough from the counter when I'm done. Silpats fit in a stocking. Love my silpats. Fancy muffin tin liners are good for a baker, and cheap. I like the silvery ones more than the pastel paper ones from the supermarket. Most folks could use more kitchen towels.

Thought I'd post an update as to what I actually did for people. (Yes, we give gifts at Thanksgiving in my family...) The adults got: the infamous Jaymes caramel popcorn in blue and white striped tins my signature candied almonds: plain, chocolate-and-powdered sugared, and chocolate-and-cocoaed, layered in a cellophane bag with a pretty tie and stuffed into a pretty plastic box a mustard dressing, for salads or for smearing on fish or chicken lavender sugar, for coffee or tea or sprinkling on cookies or using in whipped cream My grandparents got chili popcorn too since my grandfather is diabetic and couldn't eat the sugary things. The kids got just the first two items.

When I fry chicken, I brine it overnight, then I soak it in buttermilk for about 5 hours. Then I drain it and shake it in a sack of seasoned flour. I let the cold chicken come up to room temp uncovered, so it'll dry out and cook evenly. I don't pile the pieces up--lay them out in a single layer. It helps to drop the pieces in the oil one or two at a time--but I don't have a fryer basket so the convenience of dropping them all at once is lost to me. I use a big big pot of oil and require almost no recovery time for the chicken when I fry it since there's so much oil. It's crispy good.

I made Mom a big batch of turkey stock from the frame and bones on Thursday night. On Friday night, I made a quick tomato soup using it as a base. It worked surprisingly well with the tomato flavor, adding to the richness more than chicken stock. I know you said you wanted a turkey soup recipe, but thought I'd throw out there that you can use turkey stock in just about any soup you'd use chicken stock for. I'd think mushroom-barley soup, split pea soup, and turkey-wild rice soup would be particularly good with turkey stock.

5 onion dip: Brunoise equal parts shallots, leek whites, regular yellow onions, red onions Slice a bunch of scallions into razor-thin chiffonade ribbons Stir all into a mixture of 2 parts sour cream:1 part creme fraiche Salt the hell outta it Let it rest overnight And then try to keep your mitts off of it until serving. NOTE: Chives are good if you want six onions.

A big salad with veggies, grilled chicken breast, turkey bacon and caesar dressing Quick-and-dirty tomato soup. Finished with half and half 'cause we were out of cream. (This is not recommended.) 2001 Stone Creek zin All the turkey disappeared at lunch.

Yetti, I agree your turkey looks fantastic. Apple martinis: My aunt made them. Combine some Rose's Sour Apple cocktail mix and Stolichnaya vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain. Quaff. It's like adult Kool-Aid. Nothing exciting but we liked them. My family is unabashed about the coffee and the alcohol--lots of both, and the only question is when we switch from one to the other and when we switch back. Happy hour started around 1pm yesterday.

What went into the pineapple casserole? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain about it, but that could be because of too many apple martinis yesterday.

Apple martinis Some kind of aged rum my dad brought back from a recent cruise Gravlox Veggies with five-onion dip Chopped liver Assorted cheeses, olives, relish tray treats Smoked turkey Braised red cabbage Roasted asparagus with thyme, EVOO, Kosher salt Mashed potatoes, loaded with cream and butter, made by my 13 year old cousin (with lots of direct supervision) Green bean casserole Stuffing with Italian turkey sausage An inexpensive vouvray Coffee A tiny piece each of chocolate chip cake and apple babka Oof. Happy Thanksgiving!