hjshorter

The closest station is probably Waterfront. That said, I would absolutely not make a special trip to Phillips. I had dinner there shortly after my high school graduation in 1984 and it was terrible. My (thankfully few) subsequent trips have not shown any improvement. Adams Morgan is a good suggestion. And while Georgetown no longer has the funky, fascinating mix of cheapo boutiques and head shops (it was a different time ) that I remember from my own adolescence, it still offers amusing people-watching, some smaller shops with fun Chinese imports, DCs only punk clothing store (Commander Salamander) and some cheap eats like Five guys burgers, Georgetown Bagel Bakery, a felafel place that's been there forever (Charles might remember the name), and a few OK Vietnamese restaurants. The close-by Harborplace complex down on K Street doesn't have great food, but there's a little pizza joint that's OK - take your soda and slice, sit on the steps, and watch the goings-on out on the Potomac river. From there be sure to walk along the river to the Kennedy Center to check out a free performance on the Millenium Stage (6 PM daily), and the spectacular views from the roof terrace.

You're welcome. I love them, but I'm usually too lazy, or too rushed, to do the prep.My great-grandmother's german potato salad should get a mention. Recipe from the early part of the 20th century. Potatos, bacon, cooked onion, raw onion, sliced radishes, and sweet and sour dressing.

Our public school system runs its own food service, paid for by my property taxes. I'd like to think that for my 6K/year they might be willing to make a phone call if my daughter's balance dropped to zero. It was handled very poorly. She got her lunch, then they took it away from her when she entered her PIN. Lunch tickets and money can be lost or extorted by bullies. That's one reason that our district has gone to maintaining accounts with PINs.

If you're going as far as St. Remy, we quite enjoyed Restaurant Xa at 24 Blvd. Mirabeau. I'd describe the food as idiosyncratic Provencal bistro - excellent grilled sardines and wonderful things with vegetables. It's in a quirkily decorated little house on the ring road around the center of St. Remy.

Three off the top of my head: my pommes souffle; my gratin with cream, goat cheese, a whisper of garlic, and fresh thyme; and Busboy's pommes persillade.

My daughter's school lost my cafeteria check once this year, and didn't send a note home or call when her balance dropped to zero. She got a PTA-provided peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The cafeteria workers were not nice about it, and she spent the rest of the afternoon crying.

Yes, but that happens now anyway. No.I might serve lunch at my little place. Two soups, and a small selection of sandwiches, to eat after the shopping and before the pastries.

Time for a little update...y'know, Matchbox is almost as good as Comet Ping-Pong and at far gentler prices. My mom and I split spicy meatball and white prosciutto pies - both had excellent crust and cheese and just enough toppings. A touch too much sauce for my taste but nothing worth bitching about online. The kids' miniburgers weren't quite the requested medium-rare, but were gobbled up anyway along with all of the onion straws. Widmer hefeweizen with lemon is a fine beverage choice for a steamy DC summer day but be warned that it only come in one (enormous) size. I finished about a third of the glass. Best to arrive early; we arrived right at 11:30 and waltzed right into booth in the sunny addition. When we left at 12:30 there were probably thirty people waiting downstairs and outside.

I want to be the pastry chef for a place like the Rusty spoon, or perhaps own a tiny little boutique/pastry shop that sells imported linens. A tiny little counter and a few tables where you can sip your press coffee with a pastry after you've bought your exquisite jacquard kitchen towels or Provencal floral tablecloth. No molten chocolate cake, Chocolate Orgasm, Death By A Thousand Chocolates, etc., just the classic Frenchy-French stuff I learned in c-school...old-fashioned things like creme Bavarois, mille-feuille, eclairs, tartes au citron, or for the restaurant, clafoutis and souffles. Perhaps a homemade ice cream, in whatever flavor strikes my fancy that day.

Is this market on Saturday or Sunday?

We got the heart and liver with the pig. Charles took them but I don't know if he used them. 6-7 pound yield sounds about right to me. Not much at all. Next time I cook a piglet it will be for a much more intimate crowd. Scott was busy grilling other stuff, and didn't get any roast pig except for the cheek I brought him. He was very disappointed.

My eight-year-old demanded, and got, one of the legs to nibble on. I carved out the cheeks for me and Charles, with a bit for my husband. We didn't go hog-wild (chortle) on the carcass, as we were all full and possibly a teensy bit drunk by that time.

If you're in the DC area and want to try this at home, call or email Brooke Rental Center for the grill and rotisserie.

The devastation: I absolutely want to do this again with a larger pig.

Charles carving the pig: I was carving the other side when this was taken. Note the rapturous expression...

I call this one "Sunlight Gleaming On Crackling Skin"...

Some lessons: 1. Getting the spit through it's mouth was definitely a two person operation. 2. A 34 pound pig takes longer than you think, and yields surprisingly little meat. 3. It's worth it to rent a rotisserie. 4. It could have brined longer than overnight. 5. Remember to pin down the ears and tail before putting it over the charcoal. 6. Baby animals are delicious. Pictures to follow.

That's how it works in our family much of the time. Kids usually want dinner far earlier than is civilized. I should add that part of my blase attitude towards family dinners is because we are at home with the kids all day long - I'm a stay-at-home mother, and my husband works at home. We're very lucky in that we don't have to worry about not having enough family time.

I got an extra large plastic bin at Ikea for $9.99. The ice and pig should fit inside comfortably. We'll be putting it and the brine inside a contractor trash bag, then icing it down.

In what way? I have a jar Mom's Special Marinara right here. Ingredients are tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, butter, fresh basil, sea salt, black pepper. That's not too different from my own sauce.What about home canning? Is that "nasty" too? I'd love to be able to can enough sauce every August to last for an entire year. I'd also love to have a freezer big enough to hold a year's worth of spaghetti sauce. But I can't and I don't, so when I run out I choose the highest quality jarred sauce with the fewest ingredients.

I can usually find Mom's at Whole Foods. And bummer about Barilla - I always look for sauce with no sugar and it used to be one of the better ones. Tomatoes on pizza is great, but only if they are great tomatoes. We won't have great tomatoes for another month at least.

Our kids are too young to have play practice, or dates, so we have dinner as a family every night. I am sure it's doing us all of lots and lots of good, but I am heartily sick of the endless repetition of "eat with your fork and not your fingers" and "please chew with your mouth closed," and long for the days when children were fed in the nursery and not expected to dine until they were at least sixteen.

Pig brine: That's star anise, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and peppercorns bobbing in a sea of orange juice, apple juice, and molasses. It smells heavenly.

I managed to find a rental charcoal rotisserie, so no need to spatchcock. Jumbo will be revolving in my driveway.

I am profoundly grateful that it's sitting up in your fridge. The brine calls for star anise, oranges, red onions, and a few other savories. Landrum advised to brine it in a big trash bag, inside a cooler. Sounds great, but my quest for a very large cooler so far has been futile. We might be looking at my basement bathtub after all.