KOK

I once attended a function hosted by the traveling rep from Johnny Walker Scotch. He told the story of how a lady kept insisting single-malt should be the only scotch to drink. The rep tried to explain it as a single-malt would be a piano recital, and a blended scotch would be a symphony orchestra. The woman would not yield so he finally said "you're right m'am". I'm a big fan of Bourbon (esp. Knob Creek) and Rye, and some Canadian whiskey, but I don't much care for Scotch or Irish whiskey. As WoBuJiDao noted, try many different whiskeys and get a feel for the styles and brands you enjoy. Cheers! Kevin

Did you receive a reply to your email? I left a voice mail (only yesterday) but have not heard back. It seems on the website the pies are not available (when you click to go to the order page, it says "not available" after where it says pies are $1.00). 60 pies doesn't seem THAT outrageous to me. Especialy a Hubig pie. Has the makings of a good party starter. Thanks, Kevin

John is spot on with the Hebrew Nationals with casing. While I like the regular H.N.'s, it is well worth the trip to a kosher butcher to get them with the natural casing. Thanks, Kevin

When you say you "brought back 6 bottles", was that from Cuba? If not, if you get the rum through customs, you're safe in that you made it through. If the government found out you had contraband, they could sieze it. It's my understanding that if you get government permission to visit Cuba (very hard to do), you may bring back rum (and cigars) for personal consumption, but I believe it's only two bottles. I've been lucky to never have had any of my Havana Club siezed in customs coming back from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, etc, but I wouldn't go writing to Uncle Sam to invite him over for a drink . Thanks, Kevin

← ← Leave my Raven alone! ← Being one of the duller tacks in the box, I don't know what Raven is . I despize zealots as much as the next guy, and I agree that worker safety is much more important than customers who can come and go as they please. I guess I just see it as banning doing something that is annoying to many in public is better than allowing some to do annoying things in public. If I blast a radio in a movie theater, I will be asked to leave as it wll annoy a lot of people (I KNOW this not the same as a smoking ban so please don't re-label me a socialist, fascist, or any other ist). I won't post again as we surely won't agree. I just didn't want to be lumped in with zealots, do-gooders, kill-joys, or bad-time charlies. Thanks, Kevin

And as for comparing this to helmet laws,they have repealed those in a few states already.I guess if you are into a socialist form of government, this ban works for you. Just don't complain when they start interfering in other parts of your life ← If not wanting to breath cigarette smoke by force is being a socialist, I'm a socialist. Perhaps the helmet law example wasn't the best, but injuries for those wearing helmets are more often than not less than those without helmets. Motorcycle accident victims who were not wearing helmets are called 'organ donors' by e.r. nurses and the like. I am actually very much in favor of the government keeping out of my (and everyone else's) business. But if one chooses to smoke in their home (or car, etc) I won't be subjected to it. If they smoke in a bar or restaurant, I suffer having to breath disgusting air. Thanks, Kevin

While I don't think the government should legislate our lives away, I very much support the smoking ban. Perhaps I'm getting hypersensitive as I get longer in the tooth, but frequently I'll get a whiff of cigarette smoke and it will linger in my nose for several hours. This is perticularly likely when entering restaurants (or stores) where it seems smoking employees (and customers) are protecting the entrance like some sort of smoldering beefeater guard . I believe more non-smokers are inconvenienced by smoke than are smokers by not smoking. Over the holidays, we were waiting for a table in a Philly restaurant and had to inhale a bit of smoke. Luckily it wasn't too much and the meal wasn't ruined. I understand I could have waited outside, but I might have missed the call for the table and it was much more convenient to sit at the bar with a drink (the horror ) . I truly understand that smokers feel infringed on, just as non-seatbelt wearers and non-motorcycle helmet wearers also feel infringed on. But some times it comes down to who gets the most benefit out of a piece of legislation. Thanks, Kevin

I received an email from the Knob Creek folks which had a link to their recipe for eggnog. I made a batch and substituted the Gosling's for the bourbon and it was excellent. I was, of course, a little heavy handed with the rum. I'm barely a fair hand in the kitchen, but it wasn't too hard to make the recipe. If you don't have a thermometer, once the foam is almost completely gone (you will see only the yellow liquid), remove it from the heat. Otherwise, there will be lumps (cooked egg?) and the taste will not be the same. Jolly, Happy, Merry!!! Kevin Knob Creek® Bourbon Eggnog 6 large egg yolks ¾ cup sugar 2 ½ cups milk ½ cup Knob Creek® Bourbon 1 tsp. vanilla ¼ tsp. nutmeg Beat egg yolks and sugar in medium saucepan. Slowly beat in 2 cups of the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thermometer registers 150°F or mixture coats the back of the metal spoon. Remove from heat; strain into pitcher. Stir in remaining milk, Knob Creek, vanilla and nutmeg. Cover and chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with additional nutmeg. Makes 6-8 servings

But yinz got one of Lucky Strike bowling places before D.C. did so Picksburg isn't too un-hip . Last year I had a rye on ice at The Winchester Room. I'd think the old time (or just plain old) restaurants would have rye and bitters more readily than some Shadyside bistro. Thanks, Kevin

Did a blind bourbon tasting of some dozen or so brands with friends a couple years ago, and Basil Hayden actually came out near the bottom. If I remember correctly, we thought it was fine, but didn't have a lot of character, at least compared to the others we had tried. Plus, it was one of the more expensive bottles on the list. YMMV, if you like a lighter flavored bourbon. ← Several years ago I bought a miniature of all four small batch bourbon's. Knob Creek was (and is) my favorite, and Basil Hayden's was last. I've never had anything but Knob Creek out of a full size bottle, but wouldn't think it should matter. K

Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve, named for their master distiller, Jimmy Russell? ← What about Evan Williams and Baker's?? ← Basil Hayden's?

Perhaps steak and huge lobsters at The Palm, as there are sometimes 'entertainers' of the variety you may seek later, dining with elder statesmen and D.C. power players that you could commandeer for the right price . On a food note, the green beens aglio & olio are especially good at The Palm. Thanks, Kevin

In fact, sitting immediately downwind from a table of smokers often seems to be worse than sitting next to them in a well-ventilated room.Don't know why. And maybe it's just a false impression on my part. ← Unfortunately, all too true. Unless there is a very good ventilation system, you can't be guaranteed a smoke-free, or even reduced smoke environment. Thanks, Kevin

I think it was George S. Kauffman who, when phoned at 9 p.m. and asked what he was doing for dinner, replied "Digesting it." LOVE the early bird! Thanks, Kevin

You can't hug your lobster with nuclear arms . Kevin

Also not local, but the monks at Monastery Fruitcakes make a really good fruitcake (oxymoron?). Heavy, dark, moist, with liquor and fruit. I've eaten it many times. I don't recommend the chocolate covered fruitcake slices. Very dry to me. Never had the honey. Thanks, Kevin

The bar at the Hyatt (I think) by the old convention center (I think) was a cigar bar. Huge ashtrays all over and I recall they had bowls of salty olives instead of peanuts. Most steakhouses will likely try to get 'cigar bar' status. There was also a place not far from Metro Center that had private humidors for rent. There was an outpost of this place some years back in Rockeville that was taken over by 'That's Amore' and may have changed again since. I can't remember the name, but it had an outdoorsy / lodge type look to it. I realize my hypocrisy is boundless, but while I find cigarette smoke to be grim death, I don't mind cigar smoke and once in a while have one myself. I do find cheap cigar smoke (like from a 7-11 cigar) almost as bad as cigarette smoke, but that's just me and may not be the same with you. I also find most all pipe smoke ghastly, but in a nauseating way and not a emphasema way. All that said, I'd just as soon go to a No-Smoking place than one that allowed only cigars. And I agree about Ozio. Bad service, foul atmosphere and replete with poseurs and popinjays. Thanks, Kevin

← ha! yeah, i keep hearing that, but i can still name most every brand off the top of my head, and i can't get a bottle of rittenhouse here in philadelphia, where the frickin rittenhouses were from (or in the three stops i made in DC, for that matter). it's an outrage, i tell ya--i live five blocks from rittenhouse square and i'm drinking wild turkey like a schlub! ← Did any of the places in D.C. have Pikesville Rye? I've never had Rittenhouse (or Wild Turkey Rye for that matter) but I think Pikesville is very good and at $8.50 a bottle, a great value too. Of course my ghastly palate may not be picking up that Pikesville is rot-gut, but I like Knob Creek and Eagle Rare quite a bit, and I don't think Pikesville (though not bourbon) is too far below. Thanks, Kevin

I cannot give you much help as I was there in 1988, but I'm sure the old ladies are still making the fried Flying fish sandwiches on Baxter's Road. Ask any cabbie and they'll take you (pretty late into the night too). Ehhhhhxcellent! The only other thing I remeber was going to a Bajan (that's what they call themselves) buffet poolside at some hotel. When we wen't back to get more food, they said we had to pay again. I guess a buffet is different in the U.S. than in Barbados. That and the rum punch. Thanks, Kevin

White Star Lunch (Motter and I think Rosemont) for good, quick (lunch may only take you five minutes ) and cheap chili dogs. Other items always look good on people's tables but I've yet to stray from the chili dogs. Thanks, Kevin

Thanks for the link! I actually had the 100g bar near the upper left on the products page (dark red wrapper). I will have to see about getting some of the ritter rum candies in your link - the website says they are available in Germany - so I don't know if that's the only place. I've never seen them in the U.S. Thanks again! Kevin

I just had a Ritter's Sport chocolate bar in the flavor rum, with raisns and hazelnuts. It was very good chocolate and had a nice dark rum flavor to it. I stupidly threw away the wrapper before looking to see if rum was an ingredient, but it tasted very fresh and clean, not at all chemical. Are there any other candies that have a better than average rum taste to them? As an aside, I like to make rum raisin ice cream by soaking rasins in Gosling's Black Seal and then mixing it into store bought vanilla (so lazy ) Thanks, Kevin

BTW, usage note: "Wit" and "witout" are always the last words in the sequence. ← I always thought the last word was "walkin'", if you were getting them to go. Whenever I drove to New Jersey from D.C. for Thanksgiving, I would always detour to Pat's and say the words "Five cheese wit, walkin" expecting and getting five whiz steaks with onions to go. I hope all those times they weren't laughing behind my back Thanks, Kevin

Ehhhhxcellent post. I'm not sure if you inteded for other restaurants to be posted, and if not, feel free to delete this, but I miss the original Whitlow's (11th and E or so, the weird green facade and the miniature only liquor bottles, along with the daily roast turkey) as well as Fio's up 16th street in the basement of whatever apartment building that is. Roma, we hardly knew ye. Thanks, Kevin

Got a 12 pack of Black Cherry for Fresca for $2.00 (love the 5/$10 specials) at Wegman's and liked it a lot. I guess I'm a product of the red dye #2 generation as I was a little surprised at its clear color, but other than that, I'll add it to my rotation of Diet Sprite (I understand. Zero.) and Diet Mt Dew regular). I fear the peach flavor but if I see it as a single I'd give it a try. Thanks, Kevin