weka

Save strangely they have happened upon Elephant (Marula) Fruit Liquor frome southern Africa recently...a lesser known drink called Amarula that is kick ass over ice! I know, I know, naught to do with a Southern Pig Pickin' but worth noting for the adventurous among you out there. - Weka

"Green Splodge" pretty much describes it, though you might want to back out a bit with the focus. If you do, you will then be able to see "green splodge with blue roof". It's amazing technology, though. I spent an hour with my 15 year old last night, who pretty much won't do anything with me for an hour other than play tennis, looking at cities and landmarks. The Great Wall, The Kremlin, D.C., New York, all of the places in the world that I have lived, Mt Everest, tons of pyramid sites , Mt St Helen's, Danali, Everest. I am just stunned by the technology. I especially like putting in a new destination and "lifting off" (youngest son's term) to go to the next destination. Moscow to Los Angeles in 10 seconds-and the on board meals served are much better than any airline today. Last night they served grilled pork chops and corn with asparagus and watermelon sorbet for dessert. ← Excuse me, but how does one play tennis while looking at cities and landmarks? Pretty shoddy tennis match I should think. *Plimp* "look there's the Eiffel Tower" *Plimp* "There's the Louvre" *Plimp* "There's the very angry Gendarme running towards us with a tennis ball in his mouth!" All right maybe I shouldn't have opened that beer bottle. - Weka

That would be very, very cool. ← Rachel - If that hotel fridge plan fails we might be able to stash it at our house in nearby Cary, North Cackal... - Weka *edited multiple times as my spelling ability has left the house*

Would you like some delicious nutria or alligator meat for that VD business? It can't hurt, I don't think. ← Hmmm...I always wanted to try that large rodent! You bring it I'll eat it. This is one non-vege future vet. Alligator's not bad either - Weka

I'll help out again with the realtime hush puppy production, if you like. - Weka

You barely beat the deadline! That puts us over 100, I believe. There is room for more, y'all. Plenty of room. For the out of town guests or anyone who wants to help cook, we'll be having a "staff meal" at my house Saturday evening. Looks like fried chicken will be the main course. Lots of it! We'll have some biscuits, cucumbers and tomatoes, and whatever else we can rustle up while staying out of Dave's and Brooks' way. We can always use the two old burners in the loft, too. I'm sure Brooks wants some okra and tomatoes. I can do a couple of trays of ultra-simple peach cobbler, if I get some prep help. All in all, I think we'll have a touch of fun. ← I'll bring the okra, unless yours is just great . You should probably try to find a tomato or twenty, as ours have gone to hell. It'll be October before we see any more local ones. I'm bringing a few shrimp, some oysters, and maybe some crabs if they look good. I'm quite sure that we can find something to do with them. ← I have expertise in invertebrate medicine, specifically invertebrate euthanasia. It is a minor field of interest for a very small number of veterinarians. Really not kidding, but more importantly I like eating them all. - Weka *veterinary student*

Hmm, I wonder if the Aug 12th date was a stealth tactic or an honest slip... This veterinary student is getting more and more excited as she catches up on all the posts she's missed and thinking she needs a serious intake of french bread early this coming week to meet the potential bread pudding demand, as well as, a serious number of eggs. Let's hope their isn't a temporary market absence as Debbie raids it for her dev' eggs. Hey all, I'm open to suggestions on variations from the traditional style - what all would folks like in their bread pudding? And please don't say okra! Cheers - Weka

Weka - a diurnal bird from New Zealand...I am actually a dual citizen US and NZ The British ex-pat is my husband, no screen name. - Weka

Working on some recruits from Virginia - really surprised that state is not represented yet. As soon as I get the headcount straight, I'll sign the lot of us up, or at least the first wave. You can add a British ex-pat to the party list too, albeit one currently hanging his hat in Cary, NC. I'd be up for another bread pudding contribution this year as well. No telling what else I might be able to help out with closer to the date, but I need to get a handle on my third year vet school schedule first. Can't wait! Friends, Fun, and FOOD...oh and a drink or two on the side as well :-) Cheers - Weka

Monavano, Guess I was just lucky then :-) I will have to add breakfast at Kuba Kuba to the to do list too. Maybe I can just move in for a day of happy eating. My friends in Richmond had a distinct preference for the Thai Diner location they took me to but mentioned the other as well. Glad you brought that up. - Weka

Brief Adventures in Richmond Culinary Scene The last couple of weeks I have been whizzing in and out of Richmond, (friend says I have made it my virtual train station) using it as my base for other travels. During that time I have had a chance or two to try out some of the local restaurants. My first adventure was Thai Diner. A unique environment squirreled away in an ever so typical strip mall…every table was hand painted by a group of Virginia Commonwealth University students. Bright swirls and whooshes dominate and part of the dining pleasure is rearranging the tables in the room in your mind s multiple of them line up to make bigger canvases, but somehow it never turns out to be the tables adjacent to each other. The theme continues onto the walls and is reflected in the lighting choice as well. The food is good! Make sure you temper your heat decision on your order, as these folks are for real. Medium is respectable in after burn, let alone hot. We had a green papaya salad, medium. Tasty, representative of the dish that we happily noshed while awaiting our shared mains. We split two mains between three, as we were lightweights that night. We sampled both a green and red curry and definitely sided with the latter. I’ve been to many Thai restaurants in my time including ones on the beachside in Thailand and Thai Diner meets mustard. Oh, and if you are keen on the cool drinks, try the iced limeade. I had driven 12 hours that day so avoided the alcohol for fear of head meeting table. However, they have a selection of bottled beers, with Asian ones well represented. Then last night I went to Kuba Kuba. And let me say, I will be returning and going there first choice next time I am in town. We went for dinner. Kuba Kuba has a diner slash specialty grocery store environment. I was already shopping as we ordered the Extremes antipasto platter. Only sadness was that the scallop ceviche was gone (we were late diners arriving not long before the 9:30 close). Raincheck on the ceviche... We substituted fried plantains. Aided by Hatuey and Pacifico brews we dug into a mounded bowl of delights including cheese, roasted garlic, chorizo, the aforementioned plantains, the most wonderful massive green olives chased by their little brothers, kalamatas. Also on board were tomatoes and other salad components, beautifully grilled asparagus and roasted onions. All this was topped by Cuban toast, shaped like a slice of French baguette but a bit softer and sweeter. It reminded me of Hawaiian bread with a crust. The environment is definitely laid back, as in wave at bar and you beer is magically refilled laid back. Mains were three of those night’s specials. First there was a 24 hour slow cooked port shank. We teased its owner about how it was cave man food as the size and protruding bone were impressive. It was some of the softest, subtly flavored pork we had ever tried. Half of it later migrated home with us and will participate in lunch sandwiches today. Second there was a peppered lime mahi mahi. Probably the most mainstream of our three dishes it was a good representative of its kind. The meaty white fish was beautifully encrusted and correctly cooked. It came on and endless bed of flavorful black beans and rice, uniquely spiced with pepper pieces visible. And the piece de resistance was the shrimp plate. The large shrimp (my guess mid-20s count size) arrived beautifully fanned around coconut cakes. Each shrimp lovingly slathered with a yummy mango sauce. Even the shrimp’s ok, mangos I don’t care about person at the table went speechless on sampling one. Finally, we took an order of the Tres Leche cake to go, no one had the ability to eat more at that moment but the cake is not to be missed. Presenting with a meringue topping it called to us but we were able to resist until we arrived home then snagged a taste. Apparently it keeps well in the fridge for days but the meringue hardens a little. All mistakes above are my own. Check both these restaurants out if you are in town. Thai Diner, 8059 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23294 (804) 270-2699 Kuba Kuba, 1601 Park Ave, Richmond, VA 23220 (804) 355-8817

Thanks for the ideas folks! Cheers - Weka

Dear Richmond familiar folks, I'd like to take some friends out on the town for a unique dining experience in Richmond, VA in early June. These folks are pretty adventurous culinary-wise as am I, so I was wondering if there were any unique restaurants you would recommend in Richmond. We enjoy both good food and drink and appreciate chefs that aren't just reinventing the wheel, yet still produce palatable, solid cuisine. If there is already a good thread on this topic then please point me to it. Otherwise I look forward to any good leads. Cheers - Weka

Yes, great review. Thanks, Varmint! Definitely need to check Fins out... now just need to invent a special occasion...or not. - Weka

Dear Gifted Gourmet, Would love to join in on your idea, but will be in Orlando! I'm hoping to catch the last day of that Epcot Food and Wine fest between sessions of a conference, my real reason for being there. Met Tony twice before, last was in Chicago where I joined a big egullet gang for a memorable dinner and night on the town. Have fun! I'd be up for a foodie roadtrip to Atlanta in the future! - Weka