monavano

pepperoncini good tuna packed in oil grissini bread sticks giardinara

Gorgeous Mehan! They look absolutely perfect.

Here's a sampling of my attempts to make homemade yummies for friends and family. We have coconut jelly thumbprints, chocolate chip orange biscotti with chocolate dip, double choc with choc dip, and choc almond with choc and hazelnut dip.

Absolutely gorgeous. I am SO making those today! And the crab! I am really in envy. One the east coast we have blue crab in the summer, and it's sweet and wonderful. But, to have crab like that in the winter, well, that'd chase away the blues any day.

Speaking of hotel restaurants which I'd wager would be open for Christmas Day brunch, you may also want to try the Holiday Inn Select Old Town Alexandria. The restaurant is 101 Royal. Phone is 703-549-6080. It's located, as you probably remember, in the heart of Old Town across from the Market Square. The restaurant is pleasant with a view of the courtyard, and the lobby is nicely appointed for the holidays. It is very reasonably priced as well. Edited to add that I called the Holiday Inn Select and they do indeed have a Christmas Brunch which for the holiday, offers an expanded selection such as carved roast and ham etc. Price is 27.95. If your interested you may want to call and make a reservation.

This is a tough one, but here's some ideas. I'd assume that most restaurants in Old Town are closed. I'd bet that the ones that are open are Chinese, Thai etc. My mom is 75, and if your is like mine, well then, that probably wouldn't go over well. Just ten or so minutes south (and a very nice drive along the Potomac) is Mt. Vernon. Here's a line to the restaurant. My mom would LOVE it. She's more into the theme and atmosphere, vs haute cuisine and amuse bouches. She just likes basic things done serviceably. http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/dining/index.cfm/ss/6/ Other than that, you may want to puruse the Alexandria website. http://funside.com/ There you can also find contact numbers and perhaps someone "in the know' to ask specifically. Happy Holidays!

Would you believe just a tad of veg oil? I'ts the non stick all clad pan that I keep gushing about. The china is Czech Bohemian / Tirschenreuth. My fave. I have the dinner and square lunch plates. \ My mom made our potato pancakes in an old Revere Ware (Reverware?) pan. Hers looked exactly the same. I could NEVER do it in a non stick the way she does.

Some of the best stuff comes from the last bits of turkey day! Great pics everyone. Here's the last of my spuds turned into potato pancakes. Not the proper latke (which I'ma gonna try later) but, the way it was done with leftover spuds in my home.

Here's some pics from over the past few weeks. I hadn't been able to post them due to some technical glitches it seems a few eG's have been experiencing. I fortunately came across a solution in another thread and viola! I'm back in business. Here's rack of lamb with a cherry and port reduction, along with mushroom and parmasean rissotto and harico vert with proscuitto. Rigatoni bolognese with lots and LOTS of cheese. Wedding soup. Didn't have my favorite little stars pasta, so I used some ditalini on hand. And finally, some chocolate with almonds biscotti, and stamped ginger cookies in rehearsal for holiday gift giving.

Here's the version that I've always known, you know, what "mom used to make". I don't ever remember the shredded potato version, just the leftover mashed potato kind. I simply add egg, flour, salt and pepper to the consistency of pancake batter. Today, I also added parsley and chives. I plan to try some of the other latkes mentioned already, but since I am just using up the last of the Turkey Day spuds, I thought I'd post . More to come.

My husband served on a ballistic sub, and has mentioned many times that the food is the best in the services. Sub duty is tough, and the small things count big. Like a good meal. It's a measure of how they take care of the men while on long missions. He said the tought part is when the fresh stuff is used up, so he missed salads and such towards the end of a tour. Also, many guys brought onboard one thing they really, really enjoyed. You can't bring much. His "treat' was diet coke. He allowed himself one can per week, usually on movie night. His CO always brought Catalina French dressing. He loved the "sliders". Do they still serve them up?

If you use the high temp method, i'd recommend bringing it out onto the counter for 15 minutes give or take. normal carry-over cooking, out of the oven, will cause the temp to rise 5-7 or so degrees. last Christmas, we went to my in laws for a brunch. i was put in charge of making a whole filet mignon (which i cut in half). After pan browning, i placed in in a very hot oven and I used my MIL's digital thermometer and set it to beep at 130 degrees. Well, I didn't set it right,or perhaps the beeper didnt work. I fortunatly caught the smaller piece at 135 and immediately pulled it out as well as the bigger one. Knowing I wanted med rare to med, I placed them on a serving plate and wisked the filets into the garage and placed them on the freezing cold floor for 15 minutes. Turned out beautifully.

Although i have a strong range hood vented externally, I give a lot of credit to my non stick all clad 14 inch fry pan, when it comes to reducing that 'oil in the air'. Which, by the way, I am very tuned into as I have asthma and this can be a trigger. To this day, I can't make tater-tots in the oven because the grease ALWAYS seems to hang in the air. Anyway, back to the frying, I used far less oil and can make more cakes at a time, therefore decreasing the total amount of frying time. I find that by the time you get around to the second, third...Nth batch that the oil can get acrid. And THAT really stinks. Hope this helps.

I think potato pancakes are on many peoples minds with Thanksgiving leftovers and all. I also made them a couple days ago. What a treat. My non stick all clad pan helped to make them to perfection.

I think having a website is a must. I mean, it's 2005 and if you want to reach the greatest number of people, you do it on the web. I mean, spend the money for your customers and develop a site with flash, and update it often. I think it reflects well on the restaurant if they go to great lengths to have a decent site. A well done site presumes well done, carefully tended to food. At least to me it does.

Scrapple is a sausage made from "scraps" of pork product, blended with cornmeal and spices. If you don't think about what its made of it's pretty enjoyable stuff. It's well known and loved in the Mid Atlantic states, especially in Philadelphia, Pa, where I'm from. This is one of the most well known brands. http://www.habbersettscrapple.com/

Daniel, I used a mellon baller for uniform, if not very round!, meatballs. With your skills, it should be a good Italian Wedding Soup. Also, some add an egg/parm mix. I love this, but my husband prefers the soup without it. It's a keeper. I even make this with shortcuts. I've made it with store bought chicken stock and leftovr meatballs (from a spaghetti dinner). Yeah, oh yeah. Just chop those big suckers up, add small pasta and the egg/parm mix and in under a half hour you've got wedding soup.

On a gorgeous fall day (ok....in Va I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt) your mind turns to the smell of chicken soup wafting in the home for hours. With the stock I made Italian Wedding Soup. Small meatballs, shredded chicken, pasta (ditalini today, normally I use those little stars), and escarole.I add a parmasean rind to the stock. It just adds the slightest piquant hint of cheese.

Chicken soup of course! (am making some as I type for Wedding Soup) Tom Yum Hot and Sour

Spaghettti, gorgeous curry dish. Your pics look great. And Daniel, when are you going to open a restaurant.? Holy moly. I thought I was looking over a Studio Kitchen degustation menu. Props to all.

Or squeeze half a lemon into the milk and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Works like a charm.

I have my laptop on my kitchen island whenever I'm in there. Our desktop and wifi are in an office on the second floor. I've never had problems with spills and such. I just need to set up a printing network so I can send stuff to our office printer wirelessly. Any suggeestions?

Ahhhh....chili mac. It's chili served over spaghetti. Add on anything you want. Cheese, sour cream, chives, beans(if they're not in your chile already) as condiments. Yum.

Now for sure I'm heading to the farmer's market tommorow! time to stock up on the last tomatoes of the season, I suppose. The soup looks ultra simple and hearty.

A little dyslexic, perhaps??