babka

forgot my other summer standby (it's raining....what can I say?) minted cantaloupe soup: numbers are what I wrote in my recipe book and are not representative of reality, necessarily. 1/4 C sugar 2 Tbs honey 1 Tbs lime juice 1 C water. simmer until sugar dissolves. Add at least 1/4 C, and I think I do 1/2 C, fresh mint leaves. Simmer a minute or so, remove from heat, steep to room temperature. Strain and press liquid out of leaves over 4 C cantaloupe flesh (about 1 1/2 lb melon.). Let sit for 20 minutes or so, then puree and chill. use additional lime juice, salt, and less sugar to bring flavors up, depending on how good your melon is.

Two gifts from the bulgarians: soup: 1 32 oz yogurt. two cucumbers, skinned and seeded if american, diced. salt. dill. olive oil. walnuts. mix. chill. eat. drink: yogurt-salt-water on ice.

free hot "bread."

funny how much better than green/sulfer/cumin/ liquid tasted after it was suggested that it might help us to digest and hence finish the meal.... ah, so many thanks!! To the chef and his wife; to the patient wait staff; to Monica; to our imaginary friend Mr. Rocks for the best drink of the evening; to Edward who walked our little table through the dishes before attempting to fall asleep.... I'd never had chaat before but will shortly be making a trip to the wilson blvd store for ingredients...the potato cutlets with the white pea curry, which was green and not white, were a fantastic combination--tangy tamarind and something cooling was just enough to marry the two staples together--while the onion bhajia were the strangest, if best-tasting fried dish I've had--fruity peppers beneath a crisp and not-the-least-bit greasy popper, with enough onion to keep the mouth interested.. and the desserts....um. thanks. Partially for all the hard work and creative imagination that went into the desserts, which were truly beautiful on the plate--and partially for now being able to say I've had Indian desserts made right and still find them a little bit too close to the diebetic shock end of the spectrum for my pedestrian tastes....

$10 is harsh, but here's my poor-week shopping list: 1 carton eggs--$1.50. Parsley: $1.10 cheap white fish: $3 limes & lemons: $1 for five. cheese from a 'bits' basket: $1 cheapo decent bread: 5 rolls for $2 boxed salad, leaf only, from the whole foods salad bar: $2 a few mushrooms: $1 avocado: $1 (yeah, I've got good latino markets nearby) three cheat dishes: Trader joe's vegetable dumplings--they're good, and can do three meals from a $3 bag. cucumber-yogurt soup--$2.50 for the yogurt, $1 for two cucumbers, $1 for dill (half frozen for next week). skin, seed, and dice the cucumbers, mix with the yogurt and dill, add walnuts if you have 'em, and olive oil, quantities increasing if you're looking to this for sustenance. makes several days worth of soup. rice, with frozen peas, butter, and a little bit of parmesan (cheese bits, if ya got 'em)--yum. and then I have onions, garlic, ginger, butter, oil, vinegar, peppers, pasta on-hand... secret is to increase the fat if quantities are limited. So scrambled eggs and omelets for breakfast or lunch. fish cooked a bunch of different ways for dinner and lunch. salad for several days with the avocado for fat & flavor. dumplings when I get bored, with ginger grated into soy & hoisen (already on-hand.) bread with butter and a bit of cheese, or smushed avocado, for snacks. pasta with garlic, olive oil, red pepper.

half a mile from the Bethesda metro station, for other public transit folks, and the walking map is here

nope. You have to be a "Member" of the "National Geographic Society." Which basically means shelling out $30 for a year's subscription, plus the occasional cool map. and mr. doctor--not sure where you're located, but NG is half a block away from NEA, on M between 16th and 17th. also, there's a surprisingly decent cafeteria on L street between 16th and 17th--it's right after the kid's art building. Called "To Market to Market," they have, for a buffet cafeteria, reasonable approximations of peking duck, bread pudding, fish, etc., depending on the day of the week.

National Geographic: Nope, just subscribe to the magazine. They'll send you a membership card, and that will get you into the cafeteria every day that you'd like. The food is cheap enough that the membership will pay for itself, if you eat out a couple times a week, though I actually like the magazine itself. And the food and atmosphere is much better than the the NEA 'atrium': there's a little half-garden outside with real sunlight and some decent bbq whenever the moon turns blue. Plus eavesdropping on gossipy NG employees is much more fun than doing so on NEA folks. Government office buildings: it's been a long, long time since I've been stuck in one of those, but my memory wants to claim that they _have_ to serve the public too. that said--I don't remember liking Labor's cafeteria much at all.

and the CH update--he'll be grilling again, albeit on the back deck, as of Monday, and hopefully through the summer. the update

15-Ria could be nice, too. Not sure about happy hour specials per se, but a lounge-y room, plus the bar, plus the patio you don't want today...good drinks, bar food (fried oysters, mini-burgers...:).

1) cafe atlantico while they're playing with new minibar conceits 2) palena any time and all the time, though esp. to steal the chicken recipe 3) full kee and on the bakery front: 3) amernick, to get yelled at by a master.

having neither money nor time for lunch outside the office today, I resigned myself to 10 minutes of tunafish-and-yogurt while reading through the day's posts and news...read this thread, however, and suddenly found myself in a bright patio with a crunchy-munchy-multi-legged-beastie grinning up at me from atop his skordalic platform, courtesy of zaytina. he was scrumptious. a bit greasy, but scrumptious.

will admit, my standing as a good feminist to the side, I was sorta hoping this one would find a little more resonance with the eG-boys.

oh c'mon--won't someone take one for the team? If kriscolby could brave eggspectation for us, how bad could a lil' afterwards bug be??

"In Barich's hands, cicadas have a vaguely nutty taste, reminiscent of M&Ms, although the inner texture -- chewy, kind of sticky -- feels more like coconut on my tongue.... You might want to dip your cicada in the liquid -- it hydrates the innards, which can be a bit dry." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...004May27_2.html

_thanksgiving day_. 'nuff said. except for the awful single bottle of zinfandel I had to split with five members of the family last year on my birthday 'cuz we don't order more than one bottle of wine with grandpa there, followed by my mother's realization that, it being thanksgiving and all, she'd FORGOTTEN THE BIRTHDAY CAKE. go to palena. tell 'em it's your birthday. & let us know if you want company after all.

finally read through the entire class and wow!!! I'm so impressed, and forwarding links to everybody I know--Congratulations!

When you look at the huge area that drains into the bay, it's no wonder people are pessimistic. The crabs, oysters, and sport-fish like rockfish, are just a tiny fraction of what they once were. Chesapeake Bay Watershed Map I cannot tell you how sad this makes me. After years of silent infatuation with the Bay, I'm finally reading Michener's Chesapeake epic--in my mind's eye, the days of crabs and oysters walking into own's mouth are still here....and yet I did a crash course on the Bay a few months back for an article and there was no way to turn it around, to invite them back edited b/c my computer crashed while writing, yet curiously posted. inanimate-feh.

outside of annapolis: Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn take me with you and I'll even guide you through the unmarked, twisted roads to get there.

hot heaven on a slice of bread. Hot Browns

while we're on it--does anybody here serve Hot Browns?

o ow--c'mon folks, some planning for those of us who check today's active topics before we put breakfast into our stomachs?

wowzers. Congrats Monica and hillvalley!

the only smoke-free alternative that springs to mind is Palena, which has neither cheap drinks nor happy hour specials...but o! it's good! yeah, I'll probably still be running late--will do my best to get there by 7, but can somebody who's going PM me a cell phone number so I can confirm where ya'all are before I leave? thanks!

al dente--congrats!!!!! edited b/c I'm an idiot.