divalasvegas

There's nothing wrong with a little canned corn, especially when it is February. Canned potatoes however is a different story - who buys those things? There should be some form of punishment for purchasing the ideal storeable food in can form - some kind of grocery jail. Mind you I've never had them - they're probably delicious. ← Gee, I don't understand what the problem is since Sandra Lee on Food Network uses them to make POTATO SALAD!!! My sins: Canned corn Canned beans (although I use dried as well) Store bought pie dough (my rendition of pie dough is unfit for human consumption) Cream of (Fill in the Blank Soup) for a variety of uses Bottled BBQ sauce (I do doctor it up though) Canned Greens once in a while (from the food company Glory which have pretty darned good products actually) Bottled salad dressing also once in a while Bisquick I'm sure there's more................................

They had several types of dried peppers - ancho, chipotle, and piquin come to mind immediately. I think they also had smoked and regular paprika (ground). What and where is the Indian Spices and Appliances store? ← Thanks again lperry for the inside scoop. I think I'll try to get over there sometime next week since I take the Orange Line every day for work and I can take a short cab ride from either East or West Falls Church Metro. Well dammit, I just found out that Indian Spices and Appliances, after being around for over three decades, has been closed and where it sat is being turned into CONDOS!!! Gone are the rows and rows of whole and ground spices, chutneys and pickles, rice and lentils--ALL GONE. Geez, what the Hell isn't going condo in this area? Well, this was on Wilson Blvd. near Ballston Mall. Sometimes gentrification sucks!

Thanks again lperry and everyone else. I may be moving to Arlington shortly, near the Orange Line so East Falls Church and West Falls Church work out fine for me. Can anyone tell me if the Fall Church store sells whole dried hot peppers? I also wonder if they'll be in competition with Arlington's Indian Spices and Appliances store.

Okay origamicrane that device is totally the $hit! It seems similar in theory to a pressure cooker, but without the alleged loss of nutrients nor the "KA-POW!" factor.

Because: a) You are a caring and creative person b) Your cooking/baking is in part a reflection of who you are c) If you hadn't done it that way, you probably wouldn't be a member of eG

Yes, yes, a thousands times yes!!! What's next, "fruities" for fruit? Add to that: "sammies" for sandwiches, "breakie" for breakfast (pronounced as if it were spelled "brecky"), "delish" for delicious, and many more examples of the dumbing down of the English language that I can't think of right now. I haven't been in elementary school for many years now and would appreciate not being spoken to as if I were.

Even worse than drizzle, I've heard a lot of TV chefs use the word "dribble" in its place. Really. Now that's simultaneously stupid and nauseating. Another annoyance for me is calling an entirely new concoction/recipe by the name of a traditional dish. Best recent example of this is Food TV's Robin Miller who created a Roasted Garlic Artichoke Hummus dish which looks like it might be quite tasty. This recipe also contains white beans. I'm sure I'm very alone on this one, but to me hummus is a very specific dish traditionally made with chick peas, lemon, garlic, and tahini. I just don't understand the need to call any old concoction by the name of a traditionally made dish. Why not just call it garlic artichoke spread or dip?

Thanks for the tip lperry. Is it Metro accessible? (Oh please say yes, since I'm carless right now.) It just so happens that I need to re-stock a lot of my herbs and spices, and I've always wanted to try Penzey's. I'm sure it's going to be dangerously, wallet-emptying wonderful!

Drizzle, as in "a drizzle" of olive oil. OMG I hate that word. Just pour on the damned olive oil and be done with it already. Ugh.

Like HVRobinson said, sloppy joes are a definite hybrid of the flavors of chili, spaghetti sauce, plus I would say a bit of bbq sauce flavor thrown in as well. Here are my two suggestions. 1) When you got a powerful craving and don't feel like making them from scratch, order this stuff: Sloppy Boudreaux Sauce from the Cajun Power Sauce company. I tried it and it's really good. I haven't had Manwich sauce for years so I don't know how it stacks up against it, but it tastes authentic enough to me. 2) Okay, DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER , but I've made Rachel Ray's version of sloppy joes and it was good. I tweaked the recipe a little bit 'cause I usually don't follow any recipe to the letter anyway; can't remember exactly how, probably just added a pinch of this or a dash of that until I got the taste I was looking for. Give it a try Rachel Ray's Sloppy Joes. Tyler Florence did a recipe for them years ago on TFVN's Chef du Jour--I think it included a little beef stock and homemade ketchup--but I can't find the recipe anymore.

That handle looks pretty sturdy. I think maybe over time it might come loose, but I wouldn't worry about it breaking. Too bad that doesn't come with a lid. ← Thanks phatj. I think separately offering a lid would be great too. I think I'll contact HSN and ask if they are getting the set I mentioned back in stock. Since I don't have any enameled cast iron (just the "nekkid" kind ) this line of cookware would be just the thing for upcoming fall/winter dishes. I'll be moving soon and will wait until that's done before I rekindle my "Shop On TV" fetish. Seriously, it really is a Godsend to be able to order heavy items like these from tv or online for people with mobility problems.

Thanks for all the the great advice. I've had my eye on ordering Cottage Collection Cast Iron Cookware from HSN (Home Shopping Network). Since I have mobility issues and live alone, having an alternative to lugging home heavy cast iron cookware is a blessing. I'm especially lusting after the Sauteuse Pan. They also normally have a very reasonably priced set of just cookware without all of the extraneous "extras" like kitchen utensils and fondue forks--an 10" frying pan, a 5-qt. dutch oven, and 2 and 3-qt. saucepans, but it's not in stock right now. Maybe these products would also be a lower cost alternative. The customer reviews seem to be overwhelmingly favorable; the Sauteuse Pan in particular received 5 out of 5 stars for customer satisfaction. BTW, I believe that they are made in China. One question: does anyone here think that the helper handle on the Sauteuse Pan (see link to pic above) is an inevitable design flaw in that it is a metal piece inserted into the cast iron? I would hate to have that thing snap as I'm trying to carry a pan full of bubbling hot food. Edited to add a question.

Buns: I like kaiser rolls best. Potato rolls would be nice too, but I think kaisers hold up better to a juicy burger. Bleu Cheese: I know I'm the oddball here, but I like beef/burgers and I like bleu cheese, but I can't stand them together. For my tastes, the strong flavor and aroma of bleu cheese is always at war with the tasty beefiness of a burger. Name that burger: How about the "Queen La Diva" burger: burger with sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese. Actually I like a burger like that on some really good and sturdy seedless rye bread (kosher dill pickle on the side), but a kaiser will do.

Wishing you all the success in the world Magus and looking forward to pics of your food and establishment (and you maybe? ) once you've mastered the art of proper food porn photography.

Or, how about a natural, organic alternative to Jello shooters: Bloody Mary injected cherry tomatoes served along with tasty treats like grilled or steamed shrimp, herbed goat cheese on crostini, steak kabobs, etc.? I think I need to borrow Anna N's hypodermic!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Busboy/Charles for these intriguing and delicious looking recommendations. My how T Street has changed. I grew up on 1st and T--aka the "unit" block--but haven't been back to the 'hood for a while now (does it have a new, gentrified name yet?). I look forward to checking out these two places since I adore both Moroccan and Ethiopian food. Now if we could just get Mr. T's Carryout back with his "famous" chicken wings and Mambo sauce, that neighborhood would be absolutely perfect.

It doesn't actually say they were made from scratch only that salt was spilled on the "hamburger meat" and they tried to thump it off. Difficult to thump off raw meat so sounds more like frozen. ← Well that's not what the AP story said: Not that the AP or other news sources can't screw things up, but I checked elsewhere and that's how it's being reported. I'm so-o-o-o-o confused.

Something about this story has been bothering me however: since when does McDonalds or any other mega corp., fast food burger chain make burgers from raw meat? She and the manager were making these burgers from scratch when the meat was oversalted. Aren't all the burgers shipped to each McD's as frozen, pre-formed patties? Am I missing something here or do they just do things differently in Georgia McDonalds restaurants?

Well this story just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside: gigundus corporation AND the police gang up on a McDonald's worker. Let's see, this woman has now been docked pay, spent a night in jail, and had to post $1,000 bond. I'm no fan of the frivolous lawsuit either, but I have to say that this lady has been treated shabbily to say the least and been subject to an abuse of power by the moronic police officer. If he had time to go back, interrogate and arrest this woman, didn't he also have time to go back get another burger? Idiot. I hope she gets millions.

Hmmmmm.......... are they as notoriously bad in NY? I'm going to be there next week. ← Oops, I just saw your post. Yes, they are dreadful IMHO, and the most evil part of it all is that they always look such perfect, sunny little blemish-free orbs, so inviting, then you take a bite and YUCK! Makes me wonder why vendors even bother selling them here. What makes up for it is that I can always find a tasty apple here year round. Welcome to the DC area; have fun.

Better still, I think it's even tatoo-worthy!

Although I have plenty of other examples of food that looks good yet tastes bad, I have to second your assessment markk about Boston Market chicken. Why does it tastes so bad? Or perhaps it is a discernible lack of taste because it's seasoned to not offend (or maybe seasoned to offend)? The one thing I know for sure about the stuff but could never wrap my brain around was how can a chicken be cooked on a rotisserie AND come out tasting soggy everytime!? I've got to lay down a challenge to you Marky Marc and that is to come to the Washington, DC area and find ONE tasty apricot. I have tried in vain for years and I have yet to have one that didn't taste mushy, dry and cottony.

I love them on shish kebabs--chicken, lamb, swordfish--especially when they get hot and bursting with a nice char on the outside. I also have a made-up recipe where I blanch whole green beans, drain, dry and toss with halved cherry tomatoes, shallots, crumbled goat cheese, walnuts and pitted kalamata olives then dress with your basic red wine vinegar/olive oil/dijon mustard vinaigrette. I've never used walnut oil for this but I bet it would be great too.

Congrats Magus! Sounds like you've got a winner. Now, how about a little No. 9 burger porn?

Thanks Busboy/Charles. Like you, I've been eating and enjoying Ethiopian food in this area for many years as well and appreciate your very detailed description of your meal. Just a couple of things. You didn't mention the injera (bread). I find that stuff be almost addictive and gets better and better as the meal progresses. Did you like their version? Also, what did you think of the range of items offered on the menu? I've noticed over the last few years that most of the Ethiopian restaurants have the same menus not unlike many Chinese restaurants in our areas. Were there items you'd never seen on other menus? Thanks.