hjshorter

Rice. It's always sticky, even when it's not supposed to be. And I don't even want to talk about my pie crust.

Why change it to Balducci's instead of keeping the Sutton Place name? Haven't the New York stores closed? SP is the name that has meaning in the Washington area.

I've been there twice in the last month, and things seem to be improving. As the first "gourmet" store in Washington it gets business from me purely for nostalgia's sake - nice if there could be some other reason to shop there in the future. I was interested to read that their CEO started Fresh Fields.

We got married at Normandie Farm but haven't been back since. The crowd isn't particularly old, but there's definitely an "old family tradition" air about the place.

Thanks for the reminder.

Yeah, that and GOLLIC. Why is that so strange? Many, many people from Massachusetts - at least the Eastern half - say it that way, including most of my family who live there. The first time my mother (born in Boston, raised in Hopkinton) heard him speak she turned to me and said "He must be from the New Bedford area." I mispronounced many, many words as a kid, because I was reading them long before I ever heard them spoken. My first attempt to pronounce "homogenized" at age 5 was a source of hilarity for my parents for years.

Sadly, Breadline opened after I stopped working downtown, and they aren't open on the weekends. I've been twice and seem to remember some excellent egg salad.

I'm in for 1, maybe 2 if we can get a sitter.

Busboy, Pepperidge Farm still makes them. They're the only hot dog rolls I buy - absolutely essential for a clam or lobster roll.

Excellent.

Thanks so much for that.

I'd be interested in any of the less expensive options, and haven't had Ethiopian food in ages.

My kids have a number of "aunts" and "uncles" too, very close family friends and their Godparents, for instance. Some have chosen the Southern version and are called Miss or Mr (first name) instead. Of course, teachers table manners, and manners in general, is a repetetive process with near constant reminding. I have actually heard myself telling the children that I'm tired of sounding like a broken record...of course they don't even know what a record is...

We have similar conventions in the USA. "Good morning ma'am (or sir)" "Hello, how are you today?" "Goodbye, it was nice to meet you." However, few of my children's peers are being taught how to say such things. A grownup recently told Emma (age 4) goodbye, and that it was nice to meet her. She was amazed when Emma said "Thank you, it was nice to meet you too." Please and thank you are mandatory at our house. And adults are always Mr or Mrs Whatever, no first names. It just frosts me to hear a four year old say "Heather, I want a juice box!" We have been teaching Emma to wait for a pause and say "excuse me" before asking a question - that's been a tough one but it's beginning to catch on. Saying excuse me is required before leaving the table too. No elbows or toes on the table, napkin in your lap, use your utensils, no blowing bubbles in your milk, etc. Ian, on the other hand, is an utter barbarian right now. As long as most of his food makes it into his mouth then dinner is a success.

I would offer, but little Mr Handsome is having his 2nd birthday party that Saturday.

That sounds interesting. Are they all good? Not the Pizza Hut. Seriously, no, they aren't all good. But most are passable, and if I'm too tired to cook it's nice to know I have a wide variety of mediocrity to choose from.

I love Dusit. We had takeout at least 2-3 times a month from Dusit when we lived in Wheaton. Your doohickey is in the mail.

Power event. Big thanks to Jenny for organizing, and for handing out the cheat sheets. You're a doll and I hope we do this again. It was really nice to put names to faces. Hannah, Bill, Erin, Chris, and Mike, it was nice to see you again, and I hope to see the rest of you at other at events. The broccoli rabe and sausage pizza was very good, and so were the nutella filled donuts.

Just checked and all I have are address labels, so you might as well bring yours. See you later.

We have reservations on 4/14. Can we expect a new carpet smell? (This our third attempt at dinner at Nectar - our last reservation was cancelled for the stove installation.)

Thanks for that review, Mrs P, that brunch sounds like fun for the kids. Might be worth a drive over on of these Sundays.

I'm Heather Shorter, 37, live in Rockville with my husband and two kids (4 1/2 and almost 2). Spent 9 years at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, decided nonprofit arts management was a ticket to frustration, and chucked my job to go back to college full time at age 30. My goal is a BS in Anthropology and I will be a full time student again once my youngest is in kindergarten. Raised in various places, including Okinawa and Germany, and California, but have been in the DC area since 1980. I love to cook, and went to culinary school in the mid-1980's here in DC but ultimately figured out that it wasn't something to I wanted to do professionally. I'm a damn good home cook and so is my husband, so it's a family hobby. The kids go out with us frequently and love sushi, Thai and Indian food. Right now Emma wants to learn to cook and I'm excited to start teaching her. Should we all wear nametags? I can bring some. I'm awful at remembering names.

Do you mean Luna Grill? If so, they're best for breakfast, for lunch and dinner there are better choices. Anyone been to Raku lately? It used to be a fun place with good food.

I usually try to stay out of there due a really bad book habit - but agreed. Not the greatest food, but acceptable, with really good browsing and people watching. I had a nice brunch there with Malawry not long ago.

I prefer Pho 75 too. My post was just a comment on the diversity of options just in this one little place. And yeah, that Vietnamese bakery/deli is really good.