hillvalley

Snowangle beat me to this one. I work at a farmer's market and we have a few families who always come by at the end to get the "end of market" discount. We make sure to keep a few things to the side that they would miss otherwise. Bringing small children helps too. By the way, I started working at my market so I could get a discount on the veggies.

What the parking likein Silver Spring? I've driven by but never had the chance to stop in. It sounds like a great place to study.

The farm raised salmon do not have the same health benefits as wild salmon. Wild salmon is chock full of Omega 3, which helps everthing from your heart, to memory to fighting depression. Farm raised salmon does not have nearly as much Omega 3, if at all. Here in DC wild salmon is available for a few weeks every spring. All the local Whole Foods (known here as Fresh Fields) sell it. The rest of the year they sell farm raised salmon. I personally prefer the wild salmon to the farm raised. The meat is moister, with a more intense yet delicate flavor.

Oh my goodness my mouth is watering. Everything sounds amazing. Diners at your restaurant have a very dificult decision. What fun! I love the truffle idea instead of the biscotti. Are you going to serve them at the Bat Mitzvah. I would seriously consider it. This is the kind of touch guests will remember. If I were dining at your restaurant for Thanksgiving I would order the sampler in a second if it included something chocolate. As for the clafouti, given the description you wrote I wouldn't order it when everything else sounds so good. Do you have a desert plate the servers bring around? A visual might help. Also, keep in mind that while servers can't remember long sentences, diners can't sustain their focus! Sounds like you are doing an amazing job in an area that you did not plan on working in but have a talent for. I can think of numerous profdessions where people work more hours than they are paid for. I am impressed by Zilla's commitment to her job. Finally, I would love reheating instructions, not just for dessert but the whole meal as well. As someone with a small appetite I tend to take home leftovers often. Reheating can be an artform, and suggestions would be great. I think it says something about your caring nature to think of this. I am enjoying following your adventure!

How so? the kids don't even say "trick or treat" anymore. Could it be because kids today are greedier than ever and not taught to say "please and "thank you? dunno. though that sounds like a generalization. It is, but a qualified one. I have spent the past eight years working with all kinds of kids. Kids today expect more material things than they did when I first started. I have to "teach" please and thank you now. There are kids out there who know how to say please and thank you, are aware how lucky they are, etc. but they are not as common as they were just a few years ago.

How so? the kids don't even say "trick or treat" anymore. Could it be because kids today are greedier than ever and not taught to say "please and "thank you?

Windex Multi Surface with Vinegar This stuff can clean anything!

The adults have already chosen my bourbon sour mash bread pudding with sorghum creme fraiche as their plated dessert. Man, you guys weren't kidding about the dessert bar being all the rage at bar/bat mitzvahs. I've been browsing caterers online and this is almost always an option. I've also seen lots of torah scroll cakes. Do people use a special pan for this, or is there a cute shortcut to making the "scroll" half-cylinders on the sides? aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! That was me all day. I kept sneaking peeks at the thread while my class was working (I'm a special ed. teacher), and wrote and rewrote my response during my class this evening. Z, the brownie bar is VERY popular among the B.M. crowd, but I have a few secrets that may jazz it up. I have used it at black tie affairs and small, not too fancy events. Kids love the control. Plus, when the cute guy is at the dessert bar you go over and get a refill. Don't just have plain brownies, but blondies, mint brownies, caramel brownies, etc. Also have some bowls with the brownies cut up into chunks. A few kids will think you are a genious. Flavored whipped cream. (I am going to assume that your restaurant would know better than to leave whipped cream cans around 13 year old boys who at some point during the day sat still for about two hours. ) Since you are whipping your own cream, go crazy. Vanilla, raspberry, lemon, the list could go on. I would not use any liquor what so ever. My first drinks were at B.M's where the people tending the bar didn't care that they were serving a 13 year old. Put it in the whipped cream and the kids who weren't as daring as I was will be in heaven. Go for "retro" candy. Pop rocks come to mind. If you want to impress the clients, order some candy necklaces or braceletts or ring pops to "decorate" the dessert table. Kids love these but at 13 they are too cool to buy them. Pretty cheap and an impressive "little extra". Let me know if you need to know where to get them by the bulk. Whatever you have for the kids for dessert, plan on at least 10-25% more for the adults. There are always some who will go for whatever the kids are eating. They are fufilling their inner child. It is fun to watch grown men in tuxes make their own brownie and grab a candy necklace for his wife. As for the Star of Davids, I would ask the client before you used them at all. It depends on the family. A few too many and that is all they will remember. One more B.M. trick that the clients will remember. If this is a buffet affair, chances are pretty good that your clients will not eat. Figure out before hand what they are looking forward to, put a plate together and then while they are talking with their guests hand it to them. If it is a seated affair, 5-10 minutes before you are going to serve the actual client (not all the other guests) let them know. I have seen many clients get caught up in talking to their loved ones who never got to eat, especially at buffetts. Let me know if you have any more questions. It feels so good to finally get that all out!

Keep in mind that Eastern Market is closed on Monday when making your decision.

Priscilla: Elaborate, please I cursorily searched for an online source of this recipe so as to provide a link to no avail. It is indeed from Marcella's Italian Kitchen, however, and is prefaced by a typically charming story of how she Marcella came by the recipe. Patate Maritate is a gratin of thinly-sliced potatoes layered with grated whole-milk mozzarella, and a mixture of grated Parmigiano, minced parsley and garlic. S & p, of course ... drizzled with olive oil overall ... the dish olive-oiled and sprinkled with toasted fine breadcrumbs before building the layers ... I could be forgetting something. People'll pretty much faint right at the table. Became an instant staple upon first preparation, whenever that was, like 15 years ago. Also a beautiful main dish for serving to pesky vegetarians, a dish one can serve to vegetarians and maintain one's self-respect. (I firmly believe that for vegetable cookery, which can incidentally sometimes be vegetarian cookery, one could hardly do better than study the Italians, Marcella in particular ... it's all there, everything one needs for perfection in vegetable cookery. Plus a lot a lot a lot of other incredibly wonderful important stuff, too, of course. Some might offer, in trying to save a mixed marriage, the first Moosewood and Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and they probably have done some good in this regard, but they ain't a patch on Marcella.) Do you bake it or are the potatoes already cooked (steamed or boiled)? Does the olive oil come before or after baking or both? This sounds amazing.

What about a make your own brownie bar? Put a brownie in a bowl and provide all the fixing: whipped cream, caramel sauce, sprinkles, different candy bars broken up into pieces. It would be cheaper and easier than cheesecake and you do not have a refridgeration problem. I work with a non-profit group that caters about half a dozen Bar/Bat Mitzvahs a year and this is always a huge hit.

If your friends live or work anywhere near the Hill then you should tell them to order it for you at Eastern Market. Where are you staying?

I too, am a potato freak. For my birthday one year I got a membership to the potato of them month club. What about steamed potatoes with a vineagrette? Or german potato salad? Or potato and leek soup? Or vicysoise? Or oven fried? Or a potato kanish? Don't forget purple potatoes!

The people on the "eGullet" of design and/or furnishings are probably having this same type of thread bashing Crate and Barrel for making middle-brow products that the masses love. Is Crate and Barrel the Cheescake Factory of the furniture world? Or is that Pottery Barn? The funny thing is that some of my design geek friends love Target (always pronounced as the French). It must be their equivalent of really good greasy burgers or barbeque. My design freak friends love Target too, but they love it because Target got amazing designers like Micheal Graves to design cool stuff at prices anyone can afford (more or less). The foodie equivalent would be if Charlie Trotter or the chef from French Laundry created a few dishes for Cheesecake. Actually, that isn't a bad idea.

Nope, sorry. My family shops there weekly anyway so we just tell Mel the order. One year my mom forgot to order it and when she was doing her regular shopping right around this time he politely asked if we needed a bird this year. If he hadn't asked we wouldn't have had a turkey! I've never known the name really either because it was always just Mel's, or the chicken place.

In high school we would put our name down on the list, go see a movie, and then come back for dinner. We never missed hearing our name called. I must admitt that their spinach and artichoke dip and their fire roasted artichokes are two of my comfort foods. There are Friday mornings where the only way I can get through the day is the thought of s&a dip. BUT, instead of eating it there, I call in my order when I am leaving work and pick it up on my way home. There are even parking spaces designated for 20 min. or less at Cheesecake Factory (it is located in a suburban DC mall). I love finding ways around the system and still getting what I want!

Mel, the owner of Market Poultry (I think that is the stand's name) at the Eastern Market has the best fresh turkeys. His stand is the only one that just does poultry, right next to the flower stand, across from one of the meat stands. I am pretty sure you can pick them up as late as Wednesday evening. There is something great about ordering your turkey from someone who remember your name every year.

Picked up some collard greens at my farmer's market today and need a great soul food/southern style greens recipe. The more details the better. How long should they cook, do I chop them, remove the stem, etc? Also, are ham hocks better than smoked turkey wings?

Where are Lem's and Leon's? Which would you choose?

One warning about the recipe....make sure the cheese you get will melt smoothly. (I hvae no idea how you would know this ahead of time.) Made this a few days ago with a Cabot cheddar and the cheese was almost grainy. A real disappointment considering how good it looked.

Have only used it in the most amazing mac and cheese recipe ever. I keep it on hand in case I have a craving for the m&C! http://www.outlawcook.com/Page0210.html

Keeping in mind that I am feeding one and have a very small kitchen....... 4 boxes of cereal 5 kinds of vinegar 4 bottles of olive oil numerous cans of chickpeas, black olives, artichoke hearts, capers 7 types of tea 5 kinds of pasta 3 cans of evaporated milk

I picked up a jar of umeboshi paste today and have a few questions. Does it need to be refrigerated and how long will it last? Other than spreading it on rice or noodles, what can be done with it? What are the health benefits? Thanks!

I love the look I get when I (a westerner) order natto at a sushi bar. The rest of my meal is usually so much better than it would have been.

Paw paw's are available in DC right now. They were at local farmer's markets this weekend. Picked up one to try it. If I liked papaya I think I would be thrilled to have found paw paws. Oh well. Great name though.