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I didn't know if I should tag this onto my other topic or not, since I'm looking for different info. We are going to DC for the weekend of 2/9 & 2/10 and I'm now looking for somewhere for Sunday brunch. I was thinking of breakfast at Trio's, and then making our way to either Eastern or DuPont market. But the people we are going with seem to want to sleep late on Sunday and do a brunch rather than a b'fast and a lunch (I really don't get sleeping late and only getting one meal when you could get up early and have two ). We are staying in Crystal City, so anywhere in DC or Arlington or Alexandria would be great. I would still love to go to the markets or wander around Old Town, so those areas would be welcome. Ta so much! Kim

I'd like to start making French toast on weekday mornings, for the traditional reason: an endless bounty of stale bread. But I'm not crazy things that taste stronggly of eggs. Are there any basic recipes for French toast that don't taste much more eggy than pancakes or crepes? I'm looking for a basic template that's versatile and will have good texture, and that can easily be modified for different flavors. I'm new to this ... last time I French toast was probably when my mom made it. Thoughts?

Help! I offered to make the chocolates for my lovely stepdaughter's wedding-shower-brunch, and was asked for Tiffany-blue chocolates. Since I have no experience coloring chocolates and (frankly) would rather not, I'm looking for other ideas to propose. A Tiffany box cake and diamond ring cookies are being made by others. I have the geodesic dome mold that looks like a cut gem, am thinking that could be part of it. Any thoughts, anyone? Am also doing the fruit salad, so any ideas on 'Tiffany-ing' that would be great, too! Thanks so much Jennifer

I bought a delicious "Healthy Breakfast Bread" from The Bread Lady in Elberta, Alabama when I was in Perdido Key over the weekend. The ingredients are: whole wheat flour, unbleached bread flour, water, skim milk, honey, dried cranberries, dried apples, walnuts, soybean oil, oatmeal, milled flaxseed, salt, cinnamon, yeast. Delicious, not too sweet, with a nice, tight crumb. Any ideas about a recipe for this? I've googled until I'm blue in the face (finger?)

I'm dropping off a cask at Triumph for the Real Ale Fest Sunday (they want it there around 11am), and I'm hoping to find something good and distinctive to eat before the event at 1pm. I've read about Carmen's here before, can anyone offer an idea of the timeframe needed if I show up around 11:30? Would I be better off going there earlier and then to Triumph? It'll either be just me or I may be meeting a friend or 2 if that makes a difference getting seated at Carmens. Any advice? Thanks! ---Guy

meeting my mother in law tomorrow, we are flying to orlando, she is driving from ocala. we are heading to port canaveral but want to meet her for breakfast to drop our son off (she is watching him while we take a weekend cruise). We are renting a car, would like to meet close to the airport but not in (so she can avoid parking and whatnot). Doesn't have to be fabulous or fancy, just close by, easy to find and serving breakfast. ideas? oh yeah we are meeting her tomorrow

hi, i'm looking for recommendations for sunday brunch. i'm not looking for dim sum, or a diner, or a bar (i.e. standard or n. 3rd) or lacroix. i don't want to wait an hour for a table either. it can be a bit upscale but doesn't have to be. would like something slightly out of the ordinary. thanks for any insights. allison

We have reservations at 11:00AM on a Sunday at the Barnes, and we would like to get something to eat either before on after our visit. Looking for places anywhere along the Main Line from Bryn Mawr to Merion.

HI i will be staying in the valley for 2days/1 night in the beginning of march. i searched here, but it didnt come up with any place for breakfast. does anyone have an good rec for any in the area? also im looking fro a nice place to have dinner there w/ my bf we been to go fish & bouchon the last time we were there. something not too expensive but around the price range of those rest i mentioned. im more of a seafood/poultry fan and he likes anything esp beef. somewhere that has a menu that we can both enjoy. can't wait for your rec's thanks in advance! -melody

I sort of waffled (food reference already!) on starting this thread, because of the lovely blog in progress, and the promise of that FABulous party to come. But this one’s totally different, just a little home thing, with downhome food and a few friends in for company to celebrate Chris' birthday. We have a Birthday Brunch for him every year, and I usually just post the menu in the “Breakfast” thread, but we had such a good time, and celebrated for about four days in all, going here and there to dinner, and having a special dinner-for-two at home, plus a silly breakfast and then the brunch next day. On Wednesday night, we went to a new restaurant that DS and DDIL had tried---The Journey. They'd gone the week before, and really liked it, so since it was Caro's night off on Wednesday, all five of us and the wee Granddaughter went there for dinner. It's one of those huge-plate-printed-with-a-sailboat/seafood/sushi/Asian food buffets with everything you can think of---all sorts of calamari, frog legs, salmon and other fish prepared in several ways; huge gratins of crabmeat and scallops and trays of razor clams and immense crab legs and shells of Coquilles St. Jacques, as well as oysters, raw and Rockefeller. Chris had a big plate of sushi of all kinds, then a sampling from all the hot and cold seafood selection, with two trips up to the two chocolate fountains. I zeroed in on the roasted asparagus with Balsamic, and thoroughly enjoyed my chicken/fruit salad, some lovely garlicky sauteed green beans, and a couple of satay skewers. Everybody seemed to find just what they wanted, and the food was marvelous. There was a big glass-front freezer of dishes of already-scooped ice cream, so I got a vanilla for spooning on some of the REALLY good blackberry cobbler. Everybody chose amongst the cheesecakes and pies and the piles of fruit that looked like a glimpse into Carmen Miranda's closet. Chris came back from his first trip to the chocolate fountains with a couple of hunks of banana, a strawberry, and a marshmallow, all taking on the lessening-shine of cooling, congealing chocolate. "You have to stick it WAY through the flow, or that thing will spin your stuff right off your stick!" he said. "You oughta SEEE all the chunks of banana in the bottom." He later decided to try the chocolate on ice cream, so he got a cup from the freezer. Then: the dilemma. How to get that torrent channeled into his dish, without covering himself and the floor. (I've SEEN what two little boys can do with unfettered access to one of those things---think brown to the elbows of their little white wedding shirts). So Chris selected a long wafer-type cookie from the tray, dipped and dripped it onto his ice cream several times, and came to the table with a nicely-fudged dip in his bowl, and what looked like a DQ Dilly Bar in the other hand---the chocolate on the cookie tip must have been an inch thick from the repeated dipping. (more on this topic later). We had a wonderful time---they frowned at the camera and head-shook "No," so we put it away That was on Wednesday night---we'd gone in the Saturday night before, just us two. They take reservations only for parties of eight and up, and the foyer was JAMMED, with an hour's wait and that door screaming open with wild below-zero winds every few seconds, so we wended our way to our favorite Chinese restaurant and had a quiet dinner in our favorite booth. Then Friday night, Chris called and said he was craving lobster, so he had one steamed-while-you-wait and brought it home: I had the melted butter with lemon all ready, with the tiny almost-white-skinned potatoes steamed and sprinkled with sea salt, a dish of guacamole for dipping thin spears of Kirby cucumber, and some lovely seeded rye rolls. I had tuna salad with all the same sides (except the butter, of course--don't think TS is very dippable). There's also the cutest little sterling-silver pick in there, right under the handle of the orange crackers. It's from a nutpick set, and I got it for 29c at Goodwill; it's great for those hard-to-get spots in claws. And Moire non.

Am making an orange-butter sauce for breakfast omelets and would like suggestions for improvements: Got a bag of seedless, organic, navel oranges: They o have a LOT of orange flavor, especially in the rind, o are sour. So, took one orange and o washed and dried, o used coarse hand grater and removed outer layer of peel, o cut orange in half, and o juiced the halves. In Teflon skillet. combined o grated peel, about 1 T, o 1 T sugar o 2 T butter o the juice and over high heat, with constant swirling, melted butter, dissolved sugar, reduced to a light syrup. It's okay. Still a little sour. How to improve it?

Any suggestions for a great Brunch that ticks the following boxes, great food (naturally), fairly fast service (we do have to do other things in NYC except eat ) and central location!! We are eating at EMP, Union Square Cafe & River Cafe for dinners, just to guide you!! Thanks

Hello - I am looking for a great brunch/lunch spot in Wailea. It will be on Thansgiving day and will be for a "day after wedding" festivity (btw - wedding/reception is at Seawatch - otherwise I would probably go there). I am looking for good food and good ambiance. Potentially looking at Duo at Four Seasons, but would like to know thoughts as well as other ideas. Thanks!

Four of us are going to Vegas next weekend. Is the Sterling brunch worth the money? My friend and I have good appetites, though neither one of us are caviar people. He and his wife are champagne lovers, and I wouldn't mind a couple of glasses. My wife is not a big drinker, and her interest would be in good solid breakfast foods, and pastries. Or is our $240+ better off at a casino buffet or a la carte elsewhere?

We are coming from Philly to see the Phil Lesh shows at the Riviera Theater. It is the weekend of the Chicago Marathon, so we are staying in Evanston. We are not renting a car, we are planning to use public transportation and taxis. I am looking for suggestions for breakfast, lunch and early dinner. Dinner spots near the theater would be best. During the day we will be taking in as many sights in Chicago that we can fit, as my husband and I have never visited Chicago before. Any and all suggestions are welcome. We like all kinds of food.

I just corned some brisket and, while doing so, discovered that my entire family apparently hates corned beef. We'll get into that craziness in another topic, but, meanwhile, I've sliced up about half of it for some sandwiches on rye with good mustard and a half-sour for my lunch this week. I'm thinking that I'll use the rest of it in corned beef hash to have with poached eggs, something I adore but have very rarely, only at one restaurant that barely meets my standards for hash (the embarrassingly named J. P. Spoonems in Cranston RI). So I'm looking for a definitive home recipe for corned beef hash, one that uses "fresh" (not canned) corned beef, that includes merely meat, onions, potatoes, and possibly herbs or spices, and is cooked to produce crispy bits mixed into a hash in which retains distinct components of each of the three central elements. I've turned to my cookbooks, and here's what I've found: As is their wonderful wont, Jane and Michael Stern, in Real American Food, follow the New England standard: cut up last night's boiled dinner, render some salt pork, and "dump in chopped dinner." Crustify it in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, flip, cook other side, serve. Craig Clairborne, in the NY Times Cookbook, gussies it up with celery (heresy), green pepper (idiocy), and parsley (lunacy). The Rombauer/Beckers in Joy of Cooking follow the Sterns and stick to the basics -- though they're in the parsley camp as well. Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything adds liquid, suggests a non-stick pan, suggests broiling in another pan when the non-stick pan doesn't work, and, bizarrely, omits onions. The Gourmet Cookbook uses russet potatoes, red bell peppers, and cream. They might as well call it slithy toves after all that. Jean Anderson in The Doubleday Cookbook adds parsley (I give up) and, to compensate for underseasoned corned beef, no doubt, Worcestershire sauce. There's near universal agreement that the potato:beef ratio should be 1:1, that the potato cubes should be 1/2 inch, and that pork fat and/or butter is, as always, your friend. Other than that, it's a mostly freak show out there. I'll be going for a basic beef, onion, and potato hash with salt, pepper, and whatever lovely fat I can find around the house, and I'll try to document it here. But there are so many issues to decide: dice or shred the beef? what kind of potatoes? how well does it freeze? will one's grandparents roll over in their Maine-clay graves if you add fresh thyme? What's your say on the matter?

I was just asked where to go for a nice breakfast in UC, by someone who's going to be staying at the Inn at Penn, and whom I'm not going to send anywhere distant from campus (or for that matter, from the Inn at Penn) and I'm totally at a loss. White Dog isn't open for breakfast, neither is LT's, I don't think. Any choices other than the restaurant at the Inn at Penn itself? No food trucks, of course, even if that'd otherwise be best practice. EDIT: How's that place in the building that used to house the Palladium? The Gold something? Never been inside. Proper sit-down, or just a cafe?

We will be in Seattle this weekend for a wedding. Unfortunately, we won't be able to try any of the dinner spots that mentioned in this forum but we will have most of Sunday free to do our own thing. We are staying at the Fairmont downtown and are planning to head to University Village shopping (perfect timing since the Canadian $ is at par)....Where should we go for brunch?

I'm looking for GOOD corned beef hash - made from scratch in Seattle for my birthday breakfast. It's one of my favorite things and not easy to find. Thanks. Mary

http://www.batterblaster.com/ Its pancake batter in a whipped cream can. All organic. Is it too dumbed down? Or a great idea?

Well, our family spring holiday is booked, and this year it's in Amsterdam. I was there a couple of months ago for a weekend prior to a meeting elsewhere, and enjoyed it so much that I decided that my family would also find it entertaining. We'll be there for a week, in April, and I've rented an apartment so we'll be able to eat breakfast at home and do some cooking if I'm not too lazy (a full kitchen, from what I can tell). The apartment's near the Waterlooplein, which I gather features a flea market but not necessarily a food market. So, marketing and restaurant suggestions in that area, or others worth a trip all very welcome. I know for sure that we want to have rijstaffel one evening, so let's start with that. I know that Chufi's got a favorite, but don't know the name.

We do brunch on the weekends a lot. Depending on who is in town, the spot changes. For casual brunch, Pancake House, Stella's, Cora's (about once a year) and dim sum. For a not-so-casual brunch, Tavern in the Park or Fort Garry. Are we missing out on any other good spots? I'd like to have a few more options.

I'm having my annual Not Holiday brunch on Sunday--people just drop in and visit--we have mimosas to drink. I have to keep it do ahead because once people start arriving I can't be cooking--so I just put out a buffet table. I'm serving a ham this year and I usually make overnight French toast-- I call it Cuban French toast because the recipe is from my friend Nieves, who's Cuban--but i don't know if it actually is Cuban--but i wanted to do something different. I found this recipe in Epicurious http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/238006 haven't really looked at it yet, but the flavor combo sounds good. Or I could possibly so some sort of strata--not the traditional one, but i've seen fancier recipes for this--or maybe a fritatta or two...or a grits casserole.... I'll make a fruit platter, have some cheeses and salamis, some muffins and tea breads--but if you have anything that you make that works for you, I'm all ears! Zoe

No price on the website and despite having stayed there, too embarassed to email them and ask

Does anyone have any insight to share about the US breakfast phenomenon that nearly demands we all place sliced bananas on our breakfast cereal? I did the weekly shop yesterday, and there are now as many bananas in the cereal aisle as there are in the produce section. I'm hooked: unless it's berry season, I put a sliced banana on my All-Bran most mornings. I'd imagine it's part of some brilliant marketing campaign from the 1950s or 60s, but I'm just guessing. Anyone know?