pax

I opened up this thread thinking you might need hints for places to eat while in Maryland, but I think Sheena Mama has got you covered. Thanks for sharing.

Well, if you're going broomstick-y, those chocolate pirouttte type cookies might make nice twigs.

That is some devotion, right there. I don't think I could give up ice cream for a mustache, no matter how luxurious.

I think I would avoid prepackaged, ground spices, given what's happening with food additives in China lately. Lovely if he can bring back real fresh peppers but I have my doubts.

My 5 yo asks for "skettis and meatballs without the meatballs". Apparently one day I called her a goober at the same time I was giving her ranch dressing. Now ranch dressing is "goober sauce". She asked me for goober sauce for her carrots. She finally had to get up on a chair in front of the fridge to show me what she meant.

Stick those bags of minis right in the freezer. The Milky Ways and Three Musketeers become much more interesting.

I am sorry to say, Busboy, that I have to disagree with you. I had a client that liked that place and I have had too many meals there. It's grimy and icky and the vegetables have been entombed in cans so long they don't lose the crimp marks, like Aunt Mabel's cranberry jelly at Thanksgiving. I am right behind you most of the way (I read your posts because you're local and know way more than me) but hey buddy...in Warrenton, go to Outback. Actually, for cheap and tasty, go to Tippy's. With respect, dude...

I had a Saeco. It was great while it lasted. Sadly, it's life span was unnaturally short and we don't know why. We got a year and a half out of it...just past the warrantee period, and then the thing crapped out and could not be fixed. If I were going to spend money on a machine again, it wouldn't be that one. Right now I'm making do with a french press.

Damn you, Fat Guy, damn you! I have eaten more Munchos since you posted this thread than I have in the whole year previous. You helped kick in my Snack Obsessive Disorder. You want to die of love? Eat them with caramelized onion dip.

I hate to sound like I'm bragging, but I've perfected a few potato dishes and while I know there is better out there in top notch restaurants, I can't get better in the run-o-the-mill feeding trough. So... 1. Lemon-garlic-rosemary roasties, parboiled then crisped in the pan under the meat (so it gets dripped on). Especially yummy with pork roast. 2. Potato pancakes, raw shredded drained tattie, minced raw onion, 1 egg per four tatties, just enough flour to hold it together, shallow fried in peanut oil, and salted immediately with coarse sea salt. Take your pic for toppings, my kids like to let shredded cheddar melt on theirs, then sprinkle chopped bacon on. Hubbie likes applesauce. I like them just as g*d intended, red hot, crispy, and right out of the pan. 3. Aunt Helen's German Potato Salad. No other will do. Except maybe my friend's Texas style mashed potato salad.

Yes, it happens to me. Not so much with whole meals, but with snacks. I went through an Utz Old Fashioned Sour Dough Pretzel phase that lasted a year. Nothing else would do. It morphed into something much worse after than, it's unspeakable. (Ok, Pizza Pringles.) Now I am on a steady snack of dark bite sized frozen Snickers.

Prepared mayonnaise. I buy it for something specific, than never use it again, and have to by another jar the next time I make whatever it is. Deviled eggs, mostly. Ditto on the fresh herbs and heels of Parmiggiano. Conversely, I cannot keep half and half in my house. I swear to god the little people are drinking it at night.

*ventures in under a flame proof coat* Dude. Would Bugles help?

Wow, that is awful. My husband proposed to me there. My kids trick or treat through the dining room there. *sniff*

That sounds like every lunch my ex-husband ever ate. Well, no, occasionally he'd go mad and have toasted cheese instead of plain toast. But other than that... I need a copy of that cook book.

You got a name? ← No, but I am dropping some tack off in Middleburg today to get fixed so I'll check. I just run down the stairs without reading the sign. Middleburg's main streeet is only about three blocks long. ETA My sister tells me it's "The Coach Stop, dummy."

There are several vinyards within driving distance. Piedmont, Swedenburg, Chrysalis are the closest. They are usually open for tastings on the weekends. Half an hour north is Magnolia's at The Mill, in Purcellville. It's not even in the same league as the other fantastic restaurants mentioned in this thread but it'll do nicely for lunch. And if you just want to people watch, there is a funky little restaurant that's a time warp sort of place half way along the south side of main street in Middleburg. It looks like something out of a Dick Van Dyke show. It' is absolutely worth it to go in and pay for a bottomless cup of coffee just to people watch, it's the horsey crowd's version of a greasy spoon.

Try a differeny kind of shop, I'm not seeing them in grocery stores but am seeing them in big chain gas stations.

My oldest is 14, my youngest is 5. I have stopped giving a rat's ass what they eat at school or at friend's houses. When they are home, which is where they spend the majority of their time, they eat well. There's only so much stuff I have the ability to micro-manage. It's hard to be the odd kid out..as much as you and I know school party food is terrible, it's worse to be the kid whose Mom always brings something "weird".

You guys make it sound so easy. I had sausage crumbles everywhere. I seriously considered operating on a big sausage casing and just shoving the egg in there.

But how do you get the sausage to stick to the eggs? I tried this for my ex about half a hundred times and I never got it.

I tried it. The interface was so jerky on my connection (satellite) that I got fed up and x'd out.

I bought a bag today. Way too pickle-y. I had to give them to my kids. They remind me of the cheddar pickle crisps I had in the UK.

Thanks, emsny. I guess I should really go down to the bigger farmer's markets and see what's happening. I do a local CSA so I don't go as often as I should. I guess I'd need to have some kind of freezer unit. Oy. My dogs' pets are turning into a thing. rooftop, at the moment, they are still walking. But I'm open to suggestion. It might get funky shipping lamb to NC though, so if you're serious, I have a lot of sheep farmer friends down there I can put you in touch with.

I didn't get many, but those I did, I banded. (A form of castration). My husband couldn't bring himself to help. But thank you. I've been keeping livestock a long time. The sheep are just a new thing cause I hit 40 and found out I don't bounce so well as I used to. Sheep are less bouncy than horses. I can hit the ag agent, that's a good suggestion. I planned to just run them to the Mennonite butcher in town but once I get them back....oh. I am going to be like a neighbour sneaking eggplant into your car at church, only with lamb. I was really just wondering if there was a niche market for it, especially since I feed only natural stuff and vax sparingly. Based on the level of enthusiasm I drummed up here, I guess I ought to put the girlies on Norplant.