hjshorter

I love cereal. Favorites are Total, Heritage flakes (they stay crunchy!), Barbara's crunchy oat squares, Cheerios or the Whole Foods equivalent, Kix, Life, and any granola type cereal with nuts but no raisins. I hate dried fruit in cold cereal. I add sliced strawberries or blueberries in season or sliced banana any time. Sometimes a handful of chopped almonds. Skim milk, or the kids' 1% if I'm out of skim.

We haven't been yet so I am reserving judgement. We have Bombay Bistro 1/2 a mile away, have been eating there for 6+ years, know the staff and like the food. Tom's review of Cafe Spice doesn't make me want to hop in the car and drive 20 minutes to a hellish shopping destination to check it out.

Yes.

In the pantry right now: Diamond Crystal kosher for cooking plain old Morton's for baking, pasta water and making play dough Halen Mon Welsh sea salt - very pretty pure white large crystals Ball pickling salt for canning

Ugh. As a parent let me apologize for the poor judgement of my brethren. I see it all the time even at the family restaurants. Tired, stressed out children out long past their bedtime. Oblivious parents. It ruins our meals too, because we have to tell our kids constantly that "no, you cannot get down from the table like those other kids over there." We always go early, never stay longer than an hour, and never take them to places where the entrees cost more than $20. If my kids act up, and they do occasionally, we leave immediately. One takes the offender to the car, the other gets the food wrapped and takes care of the check. We also never frequent places where kids are expected to run around, like Chuckie Cheese or fast food joints with play areas. Restaurants are for eating and using your good manners. Those are ruining kids for other establishments, because the precedent (making noise, running around) has been set and young kids can't always get the difference between one type of restaurant and another - and their parents can't seem to either. Ask the manager to say something to them. They may get offended, but who cares? Perhaps they will think twice about taking their kids to inappropriate restaurants.

Ming is not the only victim of lazy reporting. See this post for Jose Andres' correction.

The bottom of my two year old 12 inch All-Clad saute pan has warped and no longer sits flat. And I hate the rivets.

Soup, congratulations on your son's first birthday! And please post a photo. As for the food, I am so sorry we aren't your neighbors. What a delicious sounding spread. These Caucasians would have scarfed all of it.

Hey squids, Ten Ren's is the place in Wintergreen Plaza. I have had their bubble tea several times now (it's about a minute from my house) and my initial "what the heck" reaction was due to an inferior version somewhere else because theirs is pretty good.

That would be unacceptable. We sat in the main room when we went.

Holy crap. I guess that's just what food journalism needs. A hyperactive former cheerleader prone to exclamations like "Yummo!"

And I found the over-the-top, overdressed look of the room at the Inn at Little Washington detracted from the food. It's all personal taste. The decor at Corduroy left me cold. But I'd cope if I could eat those scallops every night.

Jaymes, you're the coolest. As I noted above, there are quite a few mixes that call for butter instead of oil. Much better texture, not that 3-year-olds I'm serving it to care much about anything but the frosting. And I too always make brownies from scratch. I've got a killer recipe and get more consistent results with brownies than with scratch cakes.

The hot breakfast sandwiches have just been introduced here in the DC area. I tried the "Florentine" and the one with ham and cheddar. Both were crispy on the outside, and warmed inside and most suprisingly the egg wasn't overcooked. They were reasonably edible, not something I would go out of my way for, but if I needed something fast they're a decent option. They're not as well-contained as an egg McMuffin so be warned if you're scarfing it in the car.

Frittata with mushrooms, herbs, and fontina. Green salad. Baguette. A glass or two of Picpoul de Pinet coteaux de languedoc. Taleggio with walnut/raisin bread for dessert.

Well, yes, it's nice to think that any restaurant would welcome any patron, regardless of sexual preference, as long as their money was the same. The issue then becomes the other patrons, whether they would be as welcoming. There is value in being able to hold hands and kiss without being stared at.

There are several cake mixes now that call for butter instead of oil.

I use a cake mix if I need two dozen cupcakes for a preschool class, tomorrow. For family I make cakes from scratch. The texture of my homemade cakes is rarely as reliable as the box. Even with a cake mix I always make my own frosting, because buttercream is easy and canned frosting tastes like shortening.

Had a lovely lunch today with 3/4 of the Busboys, Bond Girl, and friend . Stated with a Negroni, then on to onion soup, onglet with frites and salad, and Mirabelle eau de vie for dessert. The soup was very cheesy. Onglet was exactly medium rare as requested and the shallot sauce on the side was superfluous. Frites were uneven but tasty, salad was simply dressed butter lettuce and needed with the rich beef. I will let Charles chime in with the name of the wine since I am not recalling it right now. It was lemony with a strong mineral taste - exactly what I love in a French white. Today might have been a good day for steak tartare but my stomach wasn't up for raw meat. Next time. Our waiter seemed a little overwhelmed by his responsibilities. Good meal, even better company.

That's a great point. Never thought of it that way. More for me.

I've never asked and I assume I don't want to know. We only buy the live stuff there.

OK, one more place on the list.

Dean & Deluca?

It's a bit of a hike. Montgomery County just sucks for groceries. And wine. ← That's why I generally break the law and make a run for the border. Seriously though, that MoCo liquor store next to the Safeway on Shady Grove just South of Rt 28 is by far the best one that I've been in. ← J, is that the Fallsgrove location? Got an acceptable piece of Humboldt Fog today at Whole Paycheck but I am still pissed about the Fourme d'Ambert.

Wait a sec, why do I like kitfo and not beef tartare? I am planning to give BdC's version a try. Edit, on second thought frogprince's description below makes me think that BF might be the place.