Malawry

Try to find a bakery that makes hamentaschen which are not pareve. Those are the best, especially if the dough is made with cream cheese. I think Amernick made them once a couple years ago, so you can try calling them. I recommend avoiding the ones from Katz's in Rockville or Shalom Kosher in Wheaton since they share the pareve problem.

Bill, if you want company, I'll gladly provide it. I'm considering dragging my ass out there by midmorning to beat the crowds. I hope to stock up on some produce, fish and FREE DIPPING OIL.

I got the magazine and coupon. Anybody know what time they open Sunday? I'm reconsidering my initial plan to arrive in the afternoon. Also who else is going, if anybody?

Buttered nuts and olives Catfish wrapped in proscuitto and steamed broccoli, arranged on a pool of tomato beurre blanc A pale salad from inner leaves of bibb and romaine lettuces

Hillvalley, I've already spoken to them about it. We'll see.

Yikes, Snowangel. Your cabin always sounds so perfect. I actually am fishing around for some summertime work, and am interested in getting involved with teaching kids to cook. (Varm, your kids usually seem to teach me, not the other way around...) However, nobody has started trying to hire me away, and I feel a little sheepish that I get such adulation for simple dishes like fajitas, or tonight's "breakfast-for-dinner" of sour cream-buttermilk pancakes with sausage and eggs.

Pork: Six pork tenderloins out of the freezer. Cut into strips sized similarly to a Wendy's french fry. Rubbed with chile powder, salt, pepper, cumin, fresh garlic, cayenne. Allowed to rest in the fridge. Sauteed in small batches in canola oil. Chicken: About 13 pounds of chicken breasts, also fresh from the freezer. () Cut similarly to pork. Similar rub, but sauteed immediately without a rest. Less chile powder and no cayenne so less spicy. The guac was basically the technique I learned at my job at Ortanique. I was a little nostalgic for those days while making it...I even made it in roughly the same quantity as I'd make it for the restaurant. The peppers and onions were most fun of all. I just seared them on my griddle at top blazing heat, nothing but salt and a little olive oil. Charred around the edges but still a little snap in the middle. Perfect.

I was just happy to be ready to serve on time, with plenty of food on hand, of a decent quality. In other words, I take pride in not sucking.

I made fajitas...chicken or pork, lots of seared peppers and onions, some simple rice with cilantro to go with. Slow-cooked black beans. Guacamole and chips and salsa and sour cream. Cheesecake brownies for dessert. The boys went home afterwards and asked their catering service (who used to have my job, actually) why they never prepared this sort of thing for the frat house. Sounds like I made a few fans.

I was planning to go on the 29th. Earlier in this thread there was a discussion of going en masse on opening day. I'm still game if anybody else is. Steve, I have never been to a Wegman's but I know you don't lavish undeserved praise on anybody...and your recommendation of the store is one of the key reasons I'm excited to check it out. As for how often I will go...it's hard to say, but my partner's choir rehearses very close to the Sterling store every Sunday so it's not hard for me to go out with him. I'd estimate once a month, except in the summer when the choir is not rehearsing. Redfox, I live in Takoma too. Hi neighbor!

Atkins Valentine's dinner: Seared shrimp with chile-spiked mayo dip Bibb lettuce salad topped with thin-sliced rare duck breast, lardons, pistachios, red wine vinaigrette Cheeses, buttered nuts, olives And later, blueberries with whipped cream sweetened a tiny tiny bit with Splenda.

I don't use those wooden spatulas...I use silicon high-heat spatulas, at home and at work, or a wooden spoon. I never seem to miss things in the corners of pans either. I agree with Fifi that I like the challenge of cooking on vacation, and really love those vacation-condo meals. I have learned through experience to at least bring some basic spices, herbs and condiments on such trips though. We visit the beach twice a year; in winter we rent an apartment with a kitchen, in summer we camp...and both times we usually just buy food from roadside stands or a nearby market. (We bring the treats, better cheeses and such hard things to find in smaller towns, from home.)

I can handle almost anything but bad knives. So I bring my knife kit if there's any chance I'll be cooking away from my own kitchen. (If I'm flying somewhere this isn't always possible, obviously, but most travel I seem to do in the car these days.) The one other thing that drives me batty is pans that can't go in the oven. Plastic handles suck. I almost always prepare fish by pan-searing and finishing it in the oven...I remember making a huge side of salmon for Passover at a friend's in CA once and having to transfer it from pan to baking sheet for finishing. Grrrrr. PS: You food snob!

Oh, I think it's weight/height proportionate. Usually it's listed as height/weight not weight/height which threw me.

What's WHP?

Wow, thanks for all the responses...especially your encyclopedic post, Theabroma. I'll definitely be printing out this thread and taking it with us. That churros y chocolate place sounds divine...

I wonder if they'll ever do Keralan food.

I made the sisters chili before (both black bean and beef) and most of them seemed content to eat it but it didn't thrill anybody. I've decided to go with something tex-mexy, but haven't worked out exactly what yet.

It's a "dry campus"

I should have mentioned, I can't make them pasta because they have pasta every Monday night.

I have until Tuesday of next week to pull together a meal for 120 college students...half fraternity members, half sorority members. What would you make if you were cooking for them?

Bringing this up again because it looks like I will be visiting Mexico City next month. I'm especially interested in what kinds of good street food we can find. I think we'll only be around for a weekend, and am not sure where we are staying yet. Any tips?

Have fun, and be sure to post lots of photos!

I work as a chef feeding a sorority house. My girls are enjoying the homemade vinaigrettes and ranch dressing I've been feeding them but some of them want something a little lighter or better yet fat-free. I'm open to trying some things. Today I made a low-fat honey mustard dressing which tasted great but was way too thin...I used vegetable stock instead of oil, and added a little sour cream to make it creamy. I make chicken stock but don't want to put it in dressings, since many of the girls are vegetarian. What else can I do to give these dressings more body? I'd rather not spooge them full of fat-free yogurt (ick).

If you want some more chi-chi chicken snacks, sometimes you can find some drumsticks (at the two bars only) at Ortanique. They're glazed with this sorrel flower paint and they are very, very good...we ate them in the kitchen all the time when they appeared in-house. Sweet and sticky and a little bitter from the glaze. Mmmm. Call ahead and ask if they're around; they rotated in every couple of weeks when I worked there (more often around holidays when people ordered them for catered parties).