Malawry

Palena has an excellent dog and an even better burger, but this is a fine dining restaurant and not a greasy neighborhood joint. They just happen to serve this excellent stuff in their front room ("cafe"). Most hot dogs in DC come from nondescript carts downtown or 7-11 in suburbia. (Ick.)

You may want to consider Florida Avenue Grill. I've not had breakfast there but once upon a time it was legendary. I did go once for fried chicken and collards--not the best representation of either I've ever had, but the place has enough local color to make up for it.

I don't mind turkey, but I don't really like it per se. I do however like turkey skin quite a lot--I gorged myself on it this summer when I roasted about 15 whole turkey breasts for a festival I was catering.

Thanks for the suggestions! I am considering the milk punch for dessert--though I have already purchased coffee with chicory as an after-dinner beverage, a little milk punch never hurt anybody. I like the pimm's cup and sazerac, but they don't seem like good pitcher drinks. Same for the ramos fizz. Keep the ideas coming, guys.

I'm giving a party soon. It's pretty casual and has a dinner component as well as a cocktail-hour component. I'd like to offer a single premixed cocktail in pitchers in addition to the usual beer, wine, and nonalcoholic beverages. The menu has a strong New Orleans and Southern bent to it, centering on a huge pot of gumbo. It's still in development. I am not a stickler for authenticity. What sort of cocktail do you think I should make? Here are the requirements: 1. I need to be able to mix it in advance, so there should probably be no carbonated component. 2. No orange juice. I am allergic to it. I'd prefer a drink I can enjoy. Lime, lemon and grapefruit are OK; clementine, tangelo, and other such fruits are not OK. 3. I'd prefer something fun and party-like, but I'm a little old to be drinking something supersweet like a hurricane. (As are my friends, I hope ) 4. I prefer rum to bourbon as a base liquor, but I'll drink either Oh, and just as a random ingredient note, I have passionfruit and mango purees in the freezer--it might be fun to use one.

I keep pancetta in the freezer, and pull it out every now and then to dice finely and render for cooking with greens like chard or spinach. I don't usually eat pancetta on its own, even though it is good, but rather add it to something else--so I don't think I'd notice if freezing damaged it somehow. I tend to assume that any meat will freeze just fine, though.

Olive: Ayup. Derek is so dreamy.

Have you??

Nothing tops the soft-shell, in my experience. All those little legs popping steam... Varm, sorry about your livers. I have some in the freezer I've been meaning to cook sometime soon and now I'm insecure about getting them in the heat.

There's one opening very soon in Langley Park (PG county, close to the Montgomery Cty border) and one opening shortly thereafter in Wheaton (squarely in Montgomery). I drove by the new Wheaton location the other day and they seem to be coming along nicely. There are chairs and tables in the Langley Park location already so I am optimistic they will open by the end of the month. I plan to buy some and bring it in for my girls to sample once the lines recede.

I take the Markk theory of cooking with wine, personally. I cook almost exclusively with the Charles Shaw wines, the infamous "two buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's. If I am cracking open a decent wine for dinner, I wanna DRINK it, not toss it into the sauce for my pork chops. But I'm poooooor, so Charles Shaw label is 90% of what I keep around.

I just placed my first order of CC decaf coffee and chicory yesterday, so I'll report back. I've purchased CDM's decaf coffee and chicory before and really enjoyed it. (I don't drink caffeinated beverages.) I absolutely love, love, love coffee and especially loved the coffee I sampled while visiting New Orleans last spring, so I've been interested in the LA coffee culture since then.

bump I need some fresh ideas. I always make the Dessert Circus candied almonds for people (1/3 plain, 1/3 chocolate coated and rolled in powdered sugar, 1/3 chocolate coated and rolled in cocoa powder, layered in a glassine sack with a pretty ribbon tie). Last year I put together small jars and bottles of goodies: cranberry mustard, rosemary-lemon dipping oil, and homemade jam along with the almonds. This year I need some kind of new concept. I am considering Jaymes' caramel popcorn and buckets along with the almonds, but I need a few savories to throw in as well (at least one recipient is diabetic, while another is on Atkins). I liked the mustard and the oil but feel a need to branch out a little more this year. Suggestions? I happen to have a huge amount of dried lavender buds laying about. I have no sewing skills to speak of. Is there a classy way to make sachets out of these or something, without having to use a needle? I'd mix up a tea blend, but none of the recipients are big on tea-drinking--they're strictly a coffee crowd. Lavender infusion for reconstituting lavender lemonade, maybe?

New England comfort fish, two ways: Cod cake on a bed of pickled red onion Bacon-wrapped cod, strewn with pomegranate seeds Sauteed asparagus and shiitake mushrooms Green grapes for dessert

I've done fish in past years--pan-seared pecan-crusted trout with apple-cider reduction. This was in addition to the turkey though, not instead of it. Those of you whose families insist on turkey, I recommend you make whatever you desire in addition to the traditional bird. That way everybody's happier. If you object to the time and energy investment in two entrees you can always buy a cooked bird. My mom does this most years and nobody seems to mind. (Then she has me commandeer the rest of the menu, so she's off the hook once she buys the groceries! )

Hebert's does not appear to sell the andouille and tasso I need. However, the boudin-stuffed duck sounds a-freakin-mazing.

Bavila, did you order? I am considering placing a fat order from Poche's directly and wondered if anybody had experience with their mail-order service. The Cajun Grocer's site was sooooo slooooow that I didn't seriously consider it--even though I want some good chicory coffee and Poche's doesn't sell it. (I mostly need andouille and tasso for an upcoming gumbo fete.)

They've made significant progress in Langley Park--it looks like they're about halfway through with the interior, and they mounted the sign on the finished exterior in the last week. They've already had open-call interviews to staff the place. I'm hopeful we'll be in business by the end of the month.

Uh, I dunno. A little floral, a little musty, and very addictive.

Zingerman's sells it. My roommate adds it to everything--it has the most incredible aroma.

Eunny, Stoney's serves an acceptable bowl. I've enjoyed the vegetarian chili at Ben's before, but they don't have a liquor license so no brewskies. I'm probably too late for ya anyway though.

My rule is, I always pay attention to my hands when I am working with a knife or a mandoline. No looking around, at all, ever. If I can't focus, I don't cut. I am usually good at talking while I work, but not while the knife is in my hand. I love finger cots. They're a godsend. If you don't have them but you do have gloves, you can cut a glove finger out and slide it over the bandaged finger. Tape it shut with a band-aid. Almost as good as the real deal.

I buy unsalted--usually from Costco, and I freeze it and just keep a couple sticks in the fridge. When I ate bread with butter a lot I would buy something like salted Lurpak--I like the salt in that context. I used to buy Plugra at Trader Joe's but eventually came to the point in my budget where I couldn't justify it over the cost of Costco butter--even if it does really taste better. I miss having that Plugra around sometimes, let me tell you. At work, I use Sysco's own label of unsalted butter. It takes me a couple of months to go through a case. I don't normally bother freezing it, but I did back when I had some fridge problems. It works just fine in recipes and makes a great garlic butter when buzzed in the Cuisinart with garlic cloves and Kosher salt.

November 2 "Lame Duck" duet: Seared duck breast atop sauteed apples and shredded duck confit Steamed broccoli, because it was sooo good the other day A big salad with lots of red onion and mustard vinaigrette.

I buy cake circles at a local restaurant/catering supply store. They sell them in packs of seven for about $1.20. I am not a pastry chef, and I don't bake enough cakes to justify buying cases so these work great. You can buy Wilton cake circles at Michael's but they will cost more than this--I think it's worth hunting out a supply store for these sorts of items if they exist in your area. Of course, my supply store is going out of business, so I will soon have to find a new resource myself. Sigh.