hjshorter

Bill, what sides did you try? I am fond of the greens, less so of the mac & cheese. The cornbread is seriously good. The owners are very friendly. We order carryout frequently and it's always a pleasure talking to them.

It was goooood.

My favorite felafel is from the Lebanese Taverna here in DC. Made with fresh, warm house-made pita, felafel, tahini sauce, sliced radishes, tomato.

A Raclette pan, cheese, bundnerfleisch, and a giant Toblerone bar in all 3 flavors.

And poor service.

Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin. Fannie Farmer Cookbook - the 1986 edition edited by Marion Cunningham. My Time-Life Foods of the World series.

Thanks for checking on the time. Anyone think name tags are a good idea? I for one am terrible with names.

Wait, I thought this was at 7, but the topic header says 7:30?

The Quarryhouse on (actually under) Bonifant St. in Silver Spring. The food is awful, but they have Bass on tap. I and my friends have drunk many pitchers there while arguing about politics, discussing movies, and gossiping about other friends. The Tastee Diner in SS too, always a late night or Sun morning destination for coffee, greasy breakfasts, and cigs. I used to have an irrational attachment to Au Pied de Cochon which is now no longer with us. Never ordered anything but steak frites, or Eggs Benedict, also with frites. The Childe Harold. Toddle House in College Park.

it is a tirade against non-mom-and-pop places, though i'd posit that corporate restaurants are primarily responsible for this trend, and thus get a good share of the blame. Could these "trends" be part of why they're successful?

Today is Emma first day of kindergarten, so I asked if she wanted a special dinner tonight. She's requested "chicken sundaes" and told me how to make them: scoop of mashed potatoes, with chicken sprinkled on top, and gravy poured over. No idea where she got the idea but it's cute. She also tells her father frequently that he's "as silly as a pickle!"

Owen, I was there in June and noticed quite a few places on South Boulevard. I didn't get to try any of them but several looked promising.

Spaghetti and meatballs Garlic bread Salad with beets and tomatoes

We had spaghetti with lovely little meatballs, garlic bread, and a salad with beets and tomatoes for dinner tonight. Emma helped me make the meatballs, and as I was adding them to the sauce she said it looked like I was "tucking them in their blanket of sauce."

I made pear and dried sour cherry chutney last month. Seriously great with pork chops, and as a sandwich with brie.

Very thought-provoking. Thanks mongo.

Damn, Heather, I've always known how smart you were, but this puts you in Mensa territory! I never did get around to joining them. Forgot to add: Dried spaghetti - i save fresh for less robust preparations Sauce is just onion, garlic, tomatoes, oregano, nothing fancy but cooked for a while to meld Generous grated cheese - either parm-reg or pecorino Serve with a salad and garlic bread. Damn I'm hungry now.

My meatballs sound similar in composition to Varmint's, and I don't brown them ahead of time either. It really adds a lot of flavor to the sauce and the meatballs are incredibly tender.

I have a soft spot for Addie's because we ate there the night before our daughter was born. Other than that, it's good, close to home (babysitter issues), and one of the only nice, non-chain restaurants in Rockville. In 5 years I've had one bad dish, and it wasn't really bad, just boring.

This is a huge generalization. Immigrant demographics are changing, with more people gravitating to the suburbs. Have you been to the DC 'burbs? Many of the suburbs here are hubs for immigrants and it's where most of the authentic ethnic food is. Yes, CF and the like are represented. However, most of the authentic Chinese, Latino, African, Thai, Indian, etc., restaurants are in the the suburbs.

i'm guessing not much. in fact, it's more reliable than a good amount of those local mom and pops here in northern NJ. that doesn't make it really really good, mind you, but any port in a storm. I hear you. Good Italian-American mom and pops are in short supply in my neighborhood. We don't go out of our way to eat there, but we wind up there sometimes - it has an decent kid's menu.

My five year old loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on rye. Today for breakfast she had peanut butter and banana on pumpernickel. I thought it was weird but she's obviously in good company.

Have you read his book It's All American Food? I don't get the sense that he's all that hifalutin' - especially not when singing the praises of a well-made chicken pot pie, or tuna salad with Hellman's mayo. Edit: What exactly is the problem with Macaroni Grill other than that it's a chain?

Thanks for the tip about the reduced fat liverwurst. There's a market near us that carries Boar's Head. I'm amazed at all the folks who put mayo on liverwurst. That's a combination that never occured to me, maybe it's too fatty? In our house there are some sandwiches that demand mayo, and others mustard and liverwurst falls in the mustard category. Thanks Mabelline for mentioning horseradish - that sounds delicious.

Love it, on rye or pumpernickel, mustard, and thinly sliced onion. I almost never eat it because of the fat content, but I buy it frequently for my skinny husband (the one with the cholesterol count of 150).