PatDC

A Greek mezze restaurant near me sends its pita out with a trio of olive oil, olives, and harissa. The harissa makes a nice spicy accompaniment.

Pots.

That's probably because sugary food doesn't go as well with beer as savory, salt- and fat-laden food. My guess, anyway .I'm making chili, chiles rellenos, pigs in blankets, and cole slaw. I have some onion soup dip for potato chips too.

Depending on how you choose your courses (and whether you include wine and/or dessert), both Cafe du Parc (at the Willard) and Central (at 11th and PA) should meet your needs. Ditto for Ten Penh (10th and PA) if you want Asian fusion.

I'll add to the chorus of Corduroys.

Well, if another storm knocks out our satellite, I won't be too miserable about not being able to see the show tonight .

I just turned on the marathon airing of all of the episodes, already in-progress. It was right near the end of the Martha episode. I was struck by who was safe from that episode. (I don't recall which number it is.) Adam was safe because of his potato cheese fries. Lisa was safe because the food editors liked her packaged food product concept (the marmalade). Aaron was safe because Martha liked him most. This is probably apropos of nothing, but it struck me for some reason. Adam made a basic comfort food dish well. Lisa knows how to conceptualize, package, and market. Aaron is likable.

This sounds like a club sandwich. Could you add a club sandwich section to your menu for the heartier eaters? Charge $1.50 more and include potato salad or whatever extra you settle on. That way, the lighter eaters would still be able to get their smaller portions.

There are videos of the contestants' appearances on the RR show on the RR website, and they are different edits than the ones used by Food TV. It provides an interesting comparison. Shane, for example, is more charming and funny in the RR version and calls his Brownie by name...twice. (One of the judge's criticisms was that he didn't know the girl's name.) NFNS on RR video links

The judges surprised me tonight. And taking them to Las Vegas seems stupid.

What on earth was she thinking banging the neck of a glass jar against the edge of a counter, right in front of a cooking surface, no less?

I was looking at the judges' blogs on the food tv site, and in Susie's video blog for week 4, she answers a viewer questions about the shoes and the blouse. She says that the high heeled shoes are dangerous and then goes on pretty much to dimiss any problem with the attire by saying that Lisa looks "hot," and she's always interested to see what Lisa will be wearing. Her conclusion on the shoes is that Lisa will have back problems later in life .

Why is that a bad thing? Martha Stewart has done sloppy joes on her show, so she must like them (or at least not think it's a bad thing to make them). ← I'm saying that based on Kelsey's reaction. Kelsey seemed horrified by what she had made when she realized who the special guest was. (I'm not sure how much of that was editing, but it sounded like she knew Martha wouldn't like it from the moment she walked in. She said something about wanting to fall through the floor.) Then Martha made the comment to the judges about how it's not the kind of food she typically eats.Personally, I like sloppy joes and thought the one purpose sauce product was a pretty good gimmick. I probably wouldn't buy it, but I think it could be marketed pretty effectively.

Jeffrey got eliminated.

I thought that was a pretty weak comment on Martha's part (didn't she look thrilled to be there) - Montreal Steak Seasoning doesn't have any beef in it. ← It may have also been that the name of the product was confusing. It seemed like a strange product to be marketing, or an overly specialized one. Calling it spice mix for nuts would have been a lot clearer. If I hadn't watched her make it, I would probably have wondered what peanut seasoning was too. Martha didn't look too happy but added some gravitas to the proceedings. Poor Kelsey, serving Sloppy Joes to Martha Stewart .