hillvalley

I use it instead of sour cream when making omlettes. I also spread it on toast with a little bit of sugar in the morning. The warm toast and cold creme fraiche are amazing together. If it was the summer I would suggest making berries and cream, or using it instead of whipped cream on strawberry shortcake. Only 5 months to go....

Assorted Pates and Cheeses Homecured Gravlax Oysters on the Halfshell Caviar on Latkes Wilted Greens with Prosuctto Lobster The eating will begin around 5 and last throughout the night, coming to the table only for the lobster and wilted greens. We will be drinking Wasabi Bloody Marys, Wine and Champagne.

Since we are on the subject of food borne illness... Let's say you ate something, like raw oysters, that could potentially make you sick? How long can it take for you to get sick? I know that some people get sick in less than 12 hours, but can it take longer? A day, a week, a month?

Take whatever grows on prison farms and send it to the children of the inmates. The inmates can have whatever is leftover.

Okay, I no longer feel sorry for myself. You win hands down GrizzlyLemon. If I could drink a fifth of vodka for you I would do it. Hang in there. Since spraying pepper spray on yourself is a length most people will not go to I have an alternative. Wasabi. As much as you can handle. I personally mix it with rice and soy sauce, but in times of desperation I have eaten it straight. Liquid Plummer couldn't do as good of a job cleaning out your sinuses. Does anyone know if lemongrass has any curative powers? I am thinking about putting some in this weekend's batch of chicken soup.

My oversized copy of Chicken Soup will come out next month when we start a unit on the new year. Sendack wrote it, and I think two other books, as a parody of the poems his mother read him as a child. The song is on the Really Rosie soundtrack. As for the chicken soup I cut the ginger into pieces and steeped it soup for about 20 min. I tried chewing on the pieces of ginger that were still in the soup this morning and they tasted pretty good. Not something I would normally eat, but for now it was a welcome change. Kate, my students don't know it yet but they have a lot of catching up to do in the new year. We haven't had three days in a row where everyone in our class, including the teachers, were at school since Thanksgiving so we are very behind. Thank heavens I don't have to give exams. Are you keeping up with your workload? I had my final exam last night (I'm in night school) and relieved to have it over with. Hang in there.

I can't imagine not wanting to share a recipe. I completely agree. Feeding someone is one of the most nurturing and giving acts you can perform, and I think sharing recipes is an extention of that. I don't really understand why you would want to keep a recipe to yourself. One recipe that people frequently ask for I got from a friend, who got it from a friend, etc. Kim WB, great story. Who knew that a box of cranberry loaf mix could lead to such a happy ending.

Kate, you have my sympathies. Being at school, whether you are the teacher or the student, is less than fun while sick. It makes a desk job sound kind of good. Chicken soup with rice is a poem written by Maurice Sendak and turned into a song, I think by Carol King. tryska, your kind for asking. I'll spare you the details but lets just say I am sick from head to toe. Yesterday a coworker suggested steeping some raw ginger in my chicken soup. It seemed to work for a little while, better than the drugs they gave me anyway. Granted my taste buds forget what food actually tastes like, but it tasted good too. I wonder how much ginger you actually need to reap it's benefits?

Aaaahhhhhhhhhh misery loves company! I am on day 10 of the stomach flu and think I remember what solid food feels like. It has been nothing but chicken soup and rice for what feels like forever. (yes, the song is stuck in my head too.) Other than Jewish penicilin I have eaten a lot of umeboshi (picked plums) with my rice. With some flat gingerale thrown in for variety. That's about it. I would love any suggestions for what I might be able to eat. Feel better everyone!

I am completely addicted to the stuff, especially the peppermint. Every once in a while our local grocery chain (Giant) has a two for one deal and I stock up. In the past few months they have started selling their tea bags at Whole Foods. At last year's Race for the Cure in DC they had more than they knew what to do with (it poured during the whole race) so they offered my Grandmother, who is a survivor, a whole case. They would have given us more, but we couldn't carry it. I drink most of my tea at work so I have to use the bags. Lately it has been Honest Tea's peppermint. Does anyone know the shelf life of bags and loose tea. Does one last longer than the other?

That's great, but like I said, we're taking this as our chance to celebrate our anniversary without the kids, and wanted to hear what others were doing as inspiration - not get a lecture about how overhyped it is. Wasn't a lecture, just stating my opinion, which I assume is allowed here.

JPW thanks for the great list. I have printed it out and plan to check out many of the places this summer, when my days are free. Welcome to egullet from one newbie to another. You are off to a great start! I would like to add 2 more: Farmers Market-36th and Alton (at the Sheridan School) Mozzerrella cheese-Marcella's on Conn. Ave in Chevy Chase

Mr. Jackal, there is a contigent that wanted you to take Christmas week. Is that a misread on my part? If so, then please step up to the podium. If not, I'd like to tag hillvalley to take this week... =R= As much as I would love to do a blog, due to a raging case of the stomach flu and a variety of other health problems it is causing, I am handing the foodblog batton over to Jackal10. That is unless you all want to spend the week hearing about BRAT and homeade chicken soup. Someone tag me another time soon! I could like to congratulate Santa Ronnie on a fantastic blog and what sounds like a wonderful party. Next year I may have to drive up! The food pics were amazing. Okay Jackal10, blog on......

SWoodyWhite is right....most places at the beach are booked for New Years. A friend and I are headed to her apartment in Bethany Beach and couldn't get a reservation anywhere. We also agree with Malawry in that really, it is just a Wednesday night and not worth all the hype many people put into their celebration. So instead we are going to have a mercury meal at our apartment: Oysters on the half shell, lobster, steamed clams and caviar. Since we felt guilty about not having any vegetables we have decided to try Alice Walters recipe for wilted mixed greens with procuitto. We will wash down our meal with my special wasabi bloody mary's and a bottle of Champagne. Happy New Year. Hopefully 2004 will be a year full of peace, health and happiness for all. Mark, will Chef Richard do anything special for his staff that night?

Ronnie, despite a raging case of stomach flu my mouth is watering!!! I am so impressed with the pate. If Chicago was closer to DC I would be begging for an invite. Good luck tonight. Have a wonderful time. Anybody else think Ronnie looks like a certain jolly fellow who likes to wear a red suit? He could be the egullet Santa.

Is it true that there is not a Japanese equivalent to the term "hot flash"? I was told years ago by a family friend, who is married to a Japanese man, that because Japanese women eat so much soy they do not experience hot flashes while going through menopause.

My roomate my freshman year of college was Korean and introduced me to furikake. I have been addicted ever since. I keep a jar of seaweed furikake in my classroom to throw on top of rice for lunch. This year my students love the stuff and I have started using it as a reward (they are mainly inner city kids most of whom have never seen an ocean, let alone seaweed). I have one kid who like to eat it plain, and would "drink" the stuff if I let him.

Why shouldn't it touch the food directly? Just my own paranoia. I didn't like the thought of whatever they were using to make this stuff work so well touching my food. Not much of an issue though, since I mainly use the stuff to seal containers, jars, etc.

I bought a box after reading about it on the "This really works thread" and have become completely addicted. My only deterrent is that it is expensive, compared to regular plastic wrap. On the other hand, I use it for everything, as long as it is not touching the food directly. We used it in the classroom a few weeks ago to help explain how lizards can defy gravity. The only draw back I have found is that sometimes it does not reseal very well. I wonder why?

Hi, Ronnie. My mouth is watering after your photos. Your menu is amazing. How has it come together over the years? Any long term dish that did not make it this year? There are a bunch of recipes that I would love to get once your life calms down a bit. Your party sounds a bit legendary. There have to be good stories. Happy food preparing!

That place was great, although during my vegetarian years it freaked me out. Further up on Connecticut there is a place called Trattoria Lilliana (I think) that might be what you are looking for. The cross street is Albemarle, across the street from the drive through BK. It has only been about a year, but apparently it has become "the neighborhood restaurant". All the pasta is housemade and is suppose to be out of this world. I haven't been yet, but it looks crowded enough at the right times.

Four words: tv, computer, video games Add that to McDonaldsApplebeesOutbackBurgerKingPizzaHut and you have our county's obesity problem.

I second the Mr. Chen's recommendation, although I am not sure they will deliver that far down. Their steamed dumplings and noodle soups are fantastic.

Yes! I loved that palce. When I lived in that neighborhood they knew me by name (although it was the wrong name). I too heard that vicous rumor about Foxhall and was very disappointed when I found out the truth. I have no idea where they went, and have not found a decent replacement in upper NW. The Med. Bakery is suppose to be good, but I have no idea where it is, although I have the feeling it is somewhere in Va.

Probably because we pay much more on health care, and presumably education, and get less generous social welfare benefits of all kinds. Yet our health care and educational systems are failing your children. It is interesting that people shop at places such as Walmart and Home Depot for the lower prices and then complain about how Americans are losing jobs to other countries, where labor is dirt cheap. Granted I know very little about economics, but this seems a simple case of supply and demand. Consumers demand lower prices and therefor the supply of jobs goes to where retailers can pay little and keep prices down. Not to mention how many jobs are loss to "self checkout". I also want to bring attention to the advertising gimmicks that retailers now use with children. Every movie geared toward children has thousands of tie-ins, from books at book stores such as B&N to "prizes" found in kids meals at McD's to cereal at Safeway. Not to mention all the toys at Walmart, etc. Parents don't stand a chance against these companies. Children today are bombared with advertising in a manner that previous generations have not dealt with. While I think it is safe to assume that parents who read this board expose their children to a variety of different cuisines, vegetables, etc., most parents do not. Often because they do not have the time or money. The amount of prepackaged food that children eat today is mind blowing. It will be interesting to see, in 20-30 years, what the impact of eating more Big Macs and less veggies has on the health of children today.