JPW

Yukon golds make the best oven roasted potatoes, in my opinion. Quarter and mix them with some olive oil and salt and spread on a heavy sheet pan*. Roast in the oven at 400. It will take about 40 minutes or so (I never really time it-- just check on their progress and flip once or twice). Take out when they are as crispy as you like. Yukons make excellent mashed potatoes too. *After my own disasters, I've learned that a heavy gauge sheet pan is key. If it's one of those flimsy grocery store ones, throw it right in the trash. That's how I know my oven is hot. At about 350 my sheet pan (target I believe) goes BOOINNNGGGG! as two opposite corners pop up .

One of the things I was happiest about when I left my job in Reston was ... leaving Reston. Unfortunately, the move was to Ashburn! Granted it was a couple of years ago, but I found Reston to be a culinary wasteland. The only somewhat interesting restaurant to me in town center was the Big Bowl. The other shining exception was Philly Mike's for Cheesesteaks. Hopefully, things are getting better out there, but at the time it was a very depressing foodscape.

Age 14, went to visit sister at U Michigan. Probably should have been taken to hospital. Lots of expulsion of bodily fluids. 2 day hangover. Still get queasy at smell of rum and coke (20 years later). Other things I need to avoid to this day in order to retain full possession of the contents of my stomach - Straight tequila (age 15, hanging out in the playground of my old snooty prep school). Southern Comfort (freshman year, no puking or hangover, did however manage to lose my shoes, my shirt and my underwear, managed to keep my pants and my socks).

It is a real town!! Uhhhh, Actually it's Needles. That's where Snoopy's brother, Spike, lives. And since it was before the birth of Spike Lee, he has been unable to successfully sue the Schultz estate.

must. keep. joke. to. self. Ho My! That's hilarious!!

Uhh...... Jen? I STILL get the e-mail newsletter. Their e-mail is dailyplanetwines@aol.com . I got the feb newsletter on the 5th

With the size of that room, a one man band would take up half the room!! They do a very good job with wine tastings and special meals through the wine shop. I was always impressed with their selections, which is key in a smaller place. They also stock some good gourmet deli items.

When we lived in DelRay, Mrs. JPW and I went very occasionally to Evening Star and the wine bar upstairs. Evening Star is quite good moderate to expensive price point restaurant (depending on how you drink $100-$150 for two) with a nice rotation to the menu. Great wine list for a small place due to their wine shop next door. It was great to have in the neighborhood, but now that we live in SS probably not worth a special trip across the water. Taqueria Poblano on the other hand ..... DROOL!!!! The wine bar was fun when it first opened and we would go there after dinner at home or at Taqueria Poblano for dessert and a drink. The main problem I had with it was that it started getting quite crowded as more and more yuppies moved into Del Ray which has very few quality dining options and NO other bars. It was not a good place when it was crowded. Smallish room with poor HVAC system + lot o' folks = a haze of smoke thick enough to cut with a knife + ear shattering noise levels +poor service.

Jim, Welcome. I myself went to Giuseppe's for a couple of slices of pepperoni for lunch today. There's also a thread on food in SS if you have any other suggestions there.

Well, sex sells. She does appear to be a fairly good chef. But like with Nigella, the soft focus lenses, the mood lighting, the k-tel romance soundtrack all combine to make me feel like I'm watching one of those pay-per-view hotel movies (not that there's anything inherently wrong with that ) not a cooking show that I may learn something from. Like watching Skin-amax, I feel like I need to turn the channel when my wife enters the room.

Pittsburgh - Iron City beer If you insist on food - pierogies or Primanti Bros. sandwiches would be the best I could come up with.

Yeah, but turn off your speakers before you hit the link. And it had no "off" link. Very annoying.

I believe the name of the show is "Everyday Italian". She is by far the hottest TV cheffette out there. The hard-sell of sex bothers some I have talked to about the show. But you know what bothers me? Her head looks too big for her body.

The new Ambrosia was recently reviewed in last week's Montgomery County local section in the Wash Post. The Bombay Bistro buffet is Fridays and is (I think) about $8 or $9

I don't know how common it is, but I've seen it used to make some incredible ribs (and I don't really like ribs that much).

GIMME MY GLOWSTICK!!!!!

For the first (but not I'm sure last) time since I joined eG, I did something stupid enough to add to this thread. The Chicken stock Chowderhead move! Making stock with the carcass of Sunday night's bird. Turn off burner. Arrange strainer over metal mixing bowl. Strain very hot stock. Grab now very hot mixing bowl in both hands because, after all, it was cool just a minute ago. AAIIIEEEE! Fortunately spill and burn were both fairly minor. Thank god for calloused hands.

Carlovski, You beat me to it. 1) Feynman - a particular hero of my dad (a physicist) and a real character 2) Richard Francis Burton - explorer, first translator of 1001 Nights out of Arabic and regarded by many at the time as the Victorian Era's greatest pornographer 3) Dorothy Parker - all around wit 4) Miles Davis - just a fascinating cat

I've had a couple of the sandwiches at Adega and enjoyed them thoroughly. Unfortunately, for wine they have to deal with the Montgomery County Department of Communist Control of Consumables. Hence, it's kind of unfair to compare their prices to a DC store. While I'll continue to buy the majority of my wine elsewhere, I will use Adega instead of the liquor store for the occasional "I need a bottle of this" purchase. I don't mind so much paying the extra dollar to support a quality addition to the neighborhood. Plus, they treat their wine a hell of a lot better than does the liquor store.

At the Ikea food shop they have this Swedish brand that is out of this world. Also love the Utz Kettle Classics. And of course, gotta mention the alltime processed chips - pringles

Forgot too that this is VA, so I'll be very interested to see what their beer/wine selection is like.

Steve, I went to the Wegman's in Binghamton NY on an almost daily basis whe I was there. Around various consulting trips, I also hit a few of the stores around Rochester. Never seen the Princeton store, but these were more than big and busy enough. The carnivore food from fish to butcher to deli is excellent and much cheaper than Whore Foods. But my main focus will be to check out produce. They have variety and quality that is unmatched. But, those obviously won't last a month. But in order to justify weekly trips, I'd have to give up too many other activities I enjoy to make it worth it.

Welcome ozgirl. Upon further review, I'm with you. Maybe once a month along with my monthly trip to Total Wine in McLean to load up on a couple of cases. When it hits summer, I'll just have to throw the cooler in the car. Like you though -- I'd love to have one closer. We've got plenty of rich suburbs in MD that would suit Wegman's great. Interesting side note (well to me at least). I don't know where in Baltimore the store is, but there are parts of B'more that I can get to in about the time it takes me to get to Chantilly. It's really more of a psychological divide.

While it is indeed Washingtonians (writ large) who will be going to Wegman's, it will be mainly those from NoVa. I loved Wegman's from my grad school days in upstate NY, but spending a whole weekend morning or afternoon to hit one grocery store, no matter how good it may be, is just not going to happen for this Silver Spring boy. PS - Hey hj. If you can do Rockville to Chantilly in 30 minutes, please tell me what you drive so I can stay out of your way on the beltway. VVVVVRRRROOOOOOMMMMMM!!!! Edit - forgot to add the smilies