JPW

The greatest thing about being a Yankee married into a Reb family was my introduction to Smithfield country ham. Every year, I take a pound or so of it home with me from Lynchburg VA after Xmas. We get it from a deli/gas station. With this delight, my FIL makes the best damn ham biscuits ever.

Don't forget what's-his-name (Bobby Rivers ?), that does the uber-annoying Top 5. But seriously, last night as background noise while I perused last Sunday's NYTimes, I watched Cookin' in Brooklyn, the guy who grills on the back deck (have no idea what his name is, but his outdoor kitchen is da bomb), and Great Chefs before I realized that I had spent the whole night watching food shows and had never even thought about seeing what was on Food TV.

Boeuf bourgignon in 30 minutes? That I would like to see. PS - beef is a masculine noun! EDIT!

Hmmm. Well, even though it was almost 70 here in DC yesterday, I made a long slow cooker adapted from Mario -- Chicken thighs with green olives and onions. 1)Flour, season and brown chicken thighs in dutch oven. 2)Remove thighs and caramalize sliced red onion over low heat 3)Add 1 green olives and carrots, return thighs to pot and just cover with chix stock. Season with ground mustard and paprika. 4)Simmer 1 hour covered 5)Taste and balance seasoning If desired, you can thicken the sauce with beurre manie. I tend to like it thin so that I can use the extra sauce and any leftover chicken the next day as chicken soup.

Research Cafe is indeed there and still good. It is just down the hill from my office.

TO get back on the subject of cold cut subs in DC. 1)Follow Al_Dente's advice and go to DaMarco's on Colesville Road in SS (accross from AFI) 2)Come out to Rockville and get an Italian Combo sub at Giuseppe's. In true Pittsburgh style this is baked in the pizza oven. Hmmm. I think I might have to have one for lunch today.

False logic. Are you butchering the cow yourself? How can you tell if it has mad cow or not? Along the way for meat, the FDA has (far from perfect) guidelines and procedures to ensure food safety. In the case of wild mushroom gathering, there are no pros looking over your shoulder. So, I think the good advice remains - learn what you're doing before you go.

Well, I guess that I'm in the middle of the Northwestern contingent, having graduated in '92. Oneidaone - the food in Elder did not improve between your years and mine. It was the number one reason why I joined a frat. That was at least edible, even good when we had Norm the Jamaican DJ/cook. The saving grace for me was that I drove the sandwich truck on campus, both for the cash and the free food. I also did some catering work with the guy who owned the truck and stole more food there. Unfortunately for us, during my senior year, a local resident complained about us blowing the referee's whistle outside the dorms to tell people we were there. Don't know if this is still the case, but at the time the cops were telling women to carry the whistles in case they were attacked and he said that our whistle was muddying the waters. Anyways, the university said we had to find something else, but we were never able to find a good substitute. I think both the student driven truck and the one owned and driven by George (?) have since shut down.

I do question somewhat the limitations on breastfeeding foods. Mrs JPW and Peanut have had no problems with onions or spicy-hot foods or garlic, all of which I use with abandon. I think that it is more of an individual thing that depends on how Mrs Stretch and LittleStretch process and handle these foods. If it's stuff that you have been eating before and during pregnancy it shouldn't be a big deal. If something appears to be bothering LittleStretch then you'll need to take a look at MrsStretch's diet. The easiest thing to do is to tell friends to bring you food.

Happy holidays all! Off to Lynchburg for Peanut's first Xmas. And with a nod to my favorite series growing up -- "Be safe out there!"

Well, not really. What basically is vermouth, but wine with herbs?

Would you really want a goose that has been swimming around in the Potomac?

Joe, That's a pretty funny story. I ran into the same reactions when i lived in Paris. I think that it is a pretty universal reaction. To take this onto a different route, since I'm sitting at home nursing the first (of many yet to come) cold passed onto me by Peanut, I've been considering the question of why DC has a restaurant scene that is not as deep at the top end as other cities of a similar size and wealth. Two thoughts pop into my head. 1) At its base, DC is just not culturally driven. The prime concerns of the largest part of the monied class in and around DC are not theater and dining, but politics and policy. I am not saying that DC doesn't have some world class cultural institutions, but that in the minds of many of the people who could support top end restaurants, cuisine is secondary. I think of an acquaintance of mine who spent a ridiculous amount of money to go to the Kennedy Center Honors. She saw it more as a networking event more than anything else. Nothing wrong with that, but I think that it is a good example of the DC mindset. 2) Money in DC is so spread out. DC has no real center that can compare with, for example, Manhattan. Much less something as compact as the UWS or UES. How many top end places can downtown DC support? Are there enough wealthy people in Georgetown to support another Citronelle-level restaurant? Just a couple of thoughts.

I, too, am a convert to non-Champagne French sparkling wine. A new favorite local restaurant (Jackie's) introduced me to Cremant d'Alsace a few weeks ago. They are pouring Wolfberger. I thought it was very interesting. More importantly, Mrs. JPW, who tends to dislike sparklers, said "Wow, we need to get some more of this." I am currently working my way through all of the C d'A's I can find in my local wine shops.

I guess that means that you have volunteered to organize.

Sietsema's review

Walked by this last night. It is a half-block down on the other side of the street. I think that this is a great idea for kids.

Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce) Chateau Taillefer, Pomerol, 2001 Burgandy in the dish and Bordeaux in the glass? Who picked this combo? Well, at least it wsn't a left bank.

If you've got tails, and you are doing surf and turf, I would grill them.

Welcome Fred. Zola hasn't gotten a lot of love here, but mainly due to service issues. DOn't know if anyone has any more recent reports.

Thank YOU, Malawry! It was great. The fritters were great once you poured some of the dipping sauce over them. The ginger salad is a spectacular dish. Easily the favorite of all the things that I have tried on their menu. The bitter melon was actually quite good, not nearly as offputting as we had been led to believe. Kind of like grilled bell peppers injected with black pepper. Really well balanced by the pork and the hint of sweetness in the sauce. The noodle dish was OK, but to me it was the weakest dish of the night as no real flavors stood out. I'm philosphically opposed to tofu, but the dish with sour mustard, cilantro and onion was very vibrantly flavored and was a fan favorite. I really enjoyed the batter on the catfish and found it quite well balanced with the tomato curry. The shrimp in cocunut curry was a little too sweet and flabby to my taste, but well executed. Perhaps cutting it with a little light cocunut milk would help keep the milk from overwhelming the other ingredients. While I know that with a large group we needed to order the dishes mild, I feel that they all benefit from a little touch of heat. Other than that, the thing that stands out to me is the great deal of care that goes into attempting to balance the flavors in each dish. A very good cheap ethnic restaurant that I am glad is in my neighborhood. Would I make a special trip from the hinterlands (aka Virginia) to go here? Well, that's another question. It was great to meet new people and see old friends. Joe

Yeah, and it was all my fault. Peanut'll be there Friday at 7. Wanted to go Thurday so I could get that pork, but we have a viewing of Peanut's first artwork at day care (aka her teacher dipped her feet in paint and put footprints on paper!)

Another one for me... Although it was just the icing on the cake, a summer of sticking my fingers into the nether regions of squid to yank out the cartilage made calamari my mortal enemy.

Got this in e-mail from Jackie's today. 5 courses @$75

Caterpillars or green beans?