JPW

One other cooking method that I like with stuffed meat roll-ups -- Sear in enameled cast iron pot, remove, and set aside. Saute garlic and veggies in same. deglaze. Add some tomato sauce, or whatever your pleasure is for braising liquid. Return meat to pot. Cover. Throw in oven for 60-90 minutes. Great winter-time meal.

NYE is generally my least favorite party. This year Mrs. JPW and I actually had no guests for the first time in a while, so I cooked at home out of the Diane Kochilas (sp?) book "Meze". Started out with some spiced up (cayenne) whipped feta dip and some garlic+dried apricot yogurt dip (amazing once you let it mature in the fridge for a few hours). The second round was dried sausage, manchego, and diced sauteed veggie phyllo cigars. The third was yogurt marinated chicken skewers. A good loaf of bread, and my last bottle of the 2001 Domaine de Pouy (Coteaux de Gascognes). Feeling we were falling asleep at about 9:30 we popped the cork on the last of the bubbly left from our wedding, a 1996 (?) Sainte Hillaire (Limoux). Al, sorry to hear about your problem. I find holiday criminals to be especially loathsome. The best in food and drink to all for 2004. Joe

My 2 cents, Breakfast is one of my 4 or 5 favorite meals of the day. Nothing beats a good diner plate of eggs, sausage, pancakes and hash browns. The Tastee in downtown SS is the best example of classic diner breakfast that I've found in the area. THe one in Bethesda is not nearly as good. I went to Bob and Edith's a couple of times when I lived over there and found that it really did not live up to all the hype. Frankly, it stunk -- the eggs were greasy and the sausage was dry. Also, the Jewish deli/diner in Chevy Chase/SS on Grubb Road (can't remember the name) is very good.

Rocks, Your posts are always works of literary art that put a smile on my face. You neglected one thing for those of us whose radar is pretty fuzzy -- Where is Corduroy? Joe

Beans, Actually I believe CARVEL was meant to refer to the chain of IceCream stores. Mainly seen them around the northeast. Was one of the few culinary pleasures of my grad school time in the dead mill town of Binghamton NY

Brooks, Absolutely, it's the parents who need to be held accountable. No kids of my own, but I don't think that you will find many "horror stories" from people on this board. For example, the last time I was eating out with an infant was my nephew at a neighborhood place near my house. It was me, my wife, my sister, and her child. We ordered, started eating, he started fussing. My sister took him outside and walked around for a few minutes and came back in to hand him off to my wife who did the same. She returned and handed him off to me. By the time I returned, he was done fussing and everyone had thouroughly enjoyed a very good meal (albeit in shifts). For older kids, you do need to test them, but you also need to know when to shut down the test. I smile heartily every time I see a parent in a public place say to a misbehaving kid "Shape up or we're going home" and then actually follow through with the threat. There's a special place in parenting hell reserved for those who don't.

Having just seen this thread, I wanted to take time to fully consider my opinions before responding. My initial thought was "Hell Yeah!!! Ban all the kids!" Then I thought of all the other people in DC that generally annoy the crap out of me when I'm dining. My main complaints being lobbyists (and wannabes) constantly on cell phones (once I even saw a guy at a restaurant in Bethesda on two different cell phones at the same time) and drunk Congressional staffers. It's really behavior of anyone that needs to be checked. And, yes, I think the same level of decorum is required of all, regardless of age (or even if they are a non-human). I expect kids and noise in a neighborhood place. I typically judge ethnic restaurants I don't know on the number of families sharing the restaurant's ethnicity I see eating there. I expect something different from higher end places. In a top end place, I would fully expect the front room manager to discretely squash the disturbance, either by a gentle request to change behavior or removing parties -- BEFORE hearing from other customers. I say before, because I know that many diners would not wish to importune a hard-working staff or appear difficult by complaining. Part of the price you are paying is for the atmosphere. That said, I am curious if there were any customer complaints at Mark's place and how they were treated. Still reading the thread Mark?

I've been to Adega a couple of times. The wine selection is fairly small (maybe 100 bottles) but they do the best they can and the staff is extremely pleasant. Of course being a booze retailer in Montgomery County the prices suck because they need to pay the county mark-up and then they have to have their own mark-up. Recently, bought a bottle of Fonseca Bin 27 LBV port there for $24, it's usually closer to $20. My wife and I have had a couple of different sandwiches there. They have all been fairly good. Like the atmosphere for eating there, it's a nice casual lunch/late afternoon snack place.

It is kinda worse than that... Work: 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Bike Home (OHMYGOD, more physical activity!). - Home by 8:00ish Sleep: 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (often later 'cuz he is exhausted and has been sleeping upwards of ten hours). Leave for work at 9:00 (on his bike again...) So he is biking 16 miles a day (8 miles to and from), sandwiching the physical labor.

I second Tryska. NO WAY is that enough calories for someone working a physical job. He needs to eat more full meals. 1 big one, 1 small one and "peanuts" are not going to cut it Although these days I'm watching calories the other way, I used to try to put on weight. In high school I ran cross-country and played hockey pretty much year round -- my average was about 5000 calories a day. I took my clues from pro athletes (esp bodybuilders) and ate 5 meals a day. 8Am, noon, 3PM (before cross-country), 6PM (before hockey), and 9PM (after hockey). Much better for you than 1 or 2 huge (2000+ calories) meals . I couldn't quite get his schedule, but my guess is if he's graveyard shift his schedule is -- work Midnight - 8 AM Get home at 9 AM Sleep 10 AM - 6 PM Leave for work 11 PM He really has to have a full meal at work. A big sandwich (or a few small ones) can contain all the starch, protein and, dairy he needs. He also needs to take a few of the high-calorie energy bars and/or a couple of pieces of fruit. The biggest problem i see though is that he has to improve what he eats when he gets home from work. To his body, that is his dinner. A couple of eggs and a piece of toast (roughly 500 calories +/-) are not going to do it. He's got to have some more quality calories. At this point his body is completely drained of nutrients that must be replenished. I know it can be tough to eat well when you're working a weird schedule (as all of the restaurant people on eG can tell you). He really needs to sit down and schedule at least 3 meals at home, and make sure he has good calories at work.

WOO HOO !!!!! I'll be right behind you. I'd love to have a good place that I could walk to.

Mal, Can you elaborate. I haven't heard anything about 'Acorn' Thx Joe

According to the traffic sign they have out, the restaurants are open. I drive by on my way home from work in Rockville if the beltway is too packed and I take an early exit. I was pretty disappointed with the selection. I thought that Red Lobster had given up the goat. Panera's Ok for lunch, but dinner?? Austin Grill isn't too bad. I hadn't seen the sign for the sandwich place. From what I have heard, the plan is for the rest to be retail. Hopefully, there will end up being enough traffic in downtown SS for a couple more good restaurants.

Well, that part of Arlington is a little easier for me to get to from SS. I hear it calling me..... I wasn't aware that there were times when we didn't.

Malawry, I think there are better options around there. THere's a Big Bowl and a little Vietnamese place (Pho 75) on WIlson Blvd. Just a little further north (on North 10th I believe) is a Sala Thai. THere are also a couple of little Mexican places on WIlson blvd. -- Mexicali Blues and Guajillo that can be pretty hit or miss. I personally like Mexicali Blues, my wife doesn't. Mexican around here is generally not too good. One thing I miss about living in Del Ray is Taqueria Poblano. Might even have to make a road trip soon. Joe

My favorite thing and place with no dress code. Homemade pizza (well Trader Joe's dough) and a beer in front of the TV I may have sneakers on, but that will be about it!!!!

We had a similar thread on the WashDC forum. Typically, I prepare a tapas/meze menu and have a stocked bar around. That way we can nosh throughout the evening as we watch the ageless wonder. It's also great to have tapas because inevitably someone stops by and it's nice to have something ready to offer them.

My frat cook was also a DJ at a big Chicago reggae club at night. In addition to getting us in the door for free, he was also our connection for various other substances. Once he was forced to leave town, quite rapidly I may add, we had a rotation of alums who took over the job. (This being during the first Bush's recession and college grads were having trouble finding work). I believe our menu was frozen Chicken Kiev and mashed potato(e)s from a mix for about 3 weeks straight.

Given that my super-secret chocolate chip cookie recipe is clearly printed on every bag of Nestle's Semi-Sweet morsels, I'd say a lot.

Wow!! Don't hold back Steve. Tell us what you really think! [Edited for inability to tpye]

I look at it this way -- Most of the "recipes" (like most I almost never measure exactly unless I'm baking where precision does make a difference) I have I took from somewhere else or were at least inspired by someone else's. I view it as somewhat hypocritical to not pass one along. If it is indeed something entirely your own (as much as that can exist outside of the truly top kitchens) then for the home cook getting asked for a recipe is indeed a great compliment. Even with the exact recipe the requestor's result will be different from yours due to equipment and cooking process. I love Mario's cookbooks. Do I think anything I make in them are nearly as good as what he could do? Heck no.

Love the interviews, but I've got to say, I find Ted's responses about sponsors to be very disingenuous. No pressure from the show to use sponsor products? How about last night's incessant shots of the barely potable Ecco Domani and absolutely unpotable Turning Leaf? I'm sure that there was no financial insistance on those product placements and that Ted chose them for the party because they are great wines for a reasonable price.

DOn't have any menus handy, but RFD and the Brickskeller in DC (owned by the same guys) have beer dinners once a month.

We'll be dining at home. I usually put together a tapas/meze menu for Mrs. JPW and myself and the occasional stranger/orphan/family member who walks in off the street. Midnight is toasted with the remnants of our wedding champagne. The brand of which I can't recall, because it is a very average wine, but special to us. With only two bottles left, I will have to find something new to drink next year. On the plus side, I am going to dig into the stash of Shotfire Ridge Shiraz which I've accumulated. Should go great with the chorizo a la plancha dish which I've copied from Jaleo.

Not that John needs any more plugs on this board, but Mrs. JPW and I had yet another fantastic dinner at Firefly on Friday. After a glass of wine (OK 2) at the bar, we sat down for a much anticipated meal. Mrs. JPW had the chicken which was awesome. We don't usually order chicken in restaurants, but the guy next to us at the bar had had it and it looked and smelled awesome. As an aside, it was funny listening to him try to pick up the blonde on the other side by saying he was a chef who had worked, among other places, at the Little Nell in Aspen and somewhere on Sea Island. I had the lamb which was absolutely perfect -- it just melted in my mouth and the sauce was fabulous. And yes, I remembered to consume the marrow on a slice of bread. Had the neoclassical brownie for dessert which was great. After reading from an earlier post, I had a glass of the tawny port to close up the meal. I enjoyed it greatly even though I tend not to like tawnys. BUT the best part of the meal was the appetizer. We had the smoked duck salad. I can't wait to have that one again. The slices of duck were just perfect. Full of flavor, just the tiniest bit of crispy on the outside and absolutely tender on the inside. It matched up well with the arugula and raisins and dressing and the toasted sunflower (?) seeds gave a great texture contrast with their crunchiness. I drove my wife nuts the rest of the weekend because it was all I could talk about. The house Chardonnay was a great match - the smokiness complimented the duck and it had just enough sweetness to compliment the raisins while contrasting with the acidity of the dressing. My mouth is watering just thinking about that dish and wine. Kudos to John and his crew.