ScotteeM

OK, but me + karaoke = crime against nature!

I couldn't agree more with everything Joe said! I would love to see Don there!

Yippee! Yippee! I was going to make a bunch of campaign promises to bolster my chances, like, if selected I would promise to be a cheerful dinner companion; I would promise to clean all of my plates, and I would promise to hold to Italian tradition and kiss Emanuelle twice . . . but I'll do those things anyway. Anyone else on the list want to share a cab to or from the Burke/Annandale area with my +1 and me?

I thought I had put my name in for this one, but apparently not. I would like to attend, although 8 is a very late start time for me on a work night. I'll say tentatively yes for now, if that's OK.

I'm going to put my name in now for China Garden on 2/19 at 1. My +1 is planning to visit his family out in Denver that week, so probably won't be able to attend. I worked in Rosslyn, in the building next to the one where China Garden is, for about 2-3 years back in 1979-1981, and lunched often at China Garden, but haven't been there since then, and never for Dim Sum.

Yesterday's mail included an announcement from Maestro about upcoming events, including special romantic dinners for Valentine's Day, a big Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) celebration, and a series of three cooking classes. I called last night and reserved my space in the cooking classes--I can't wait! Click here for details.

Count me in, for whatever restaurant is the best! My +1 will probably only make it if it is a weekend.

I noticed last night that Bombay Curry Company was not listed, so I made my write-in vote for it immediately!

I'd try hard to attend on a weeknight, but if it were a Saturday night, my +1 might join us as well. And rush hour in NoVA is usually not very pretty.

Tonight: Oyster-stuffed Porobello mushrooms (from the new WF), "Barbecued" sockeye salmon, and butternut squash creamy polenta.

Thanks! I Googled like crazy and couldn't find them! These are perfect!

Last night was the maple-rosemary glazed short ribs (braised in porter), and maple-balsamic glazed golden beets.

I have been coveting my sister's sizzle plates (left over from when she had a restaurant)! I've looked around to try to find them or something similar, with no success. Where could a mere home cook like me get my hands on a couple of sizzle plates?

I LOVE my silicone basting brush! Instant-read thermometers and microplane graters are also indispensible in my kitchen. I tried the Oxo angled measuring cups. The concept is good, but they really don't last. They aren't dishwasher-safe--the markings wear off after a while. And mine fell out of the cabinet and landed on the counter, cracked. I've gone back to standard Pyrex, for a lot less money.

OK--now I understand. But I like oak. At any rate, I appreciate the info on NBI, which I will pass on to my wine buyer.

So, Joe, you're saying that the wine was oxidized because it was from North Berkley?

OK, so I pan-seared some loin pork chops in olive oil flavored with garlic and sage. Then I made a sauce of heavy cream, mustard, sage and garlic. We ate that with reheated seared potatoes & fennel from the other night, and simmered frozen peas with tarragon.

I've only had my copy for a couple of weeks. I just made the short ribs in Porter (not stout, that's the wrong flavor, says the book) this past Sunday, but it is still resting in the fridge for tomorrow night. We've been hooked on the maple/rosemary flavor combination since we first tried Trader Joe's Maple Rosemary marinade, which is sadly no longer available. I'm looking forward to trying the ribs tomorrow night. The sausage and plums recipe caught my eye, but plums aren't that great right now, so I'll wait. Oh, I did the chicken with pears and rosemary last week, and that was outstanding! Just that my chicken had no tail, so it was hard to tie it to keep the pears in the cavity. But we worked it out.

I get that, and, as I said, we did taste oak. That wasn't the bad part. The bad part was that it was darker in color than we expected, and tasted way over the hill. The bottle was purchased in DC, and, as I said earlier, was cellared properly, just like all the other bottles of wine we have.

Please, tell me more! I just checked the label and, yes, it does say "Cuvee Unique". Also, is the cork supposed to have the vintage and vineyard name on it? This cork just said "Mis en bouteille a la propriete".

As far as I know, the Maryland store is open now. This is not a huge chain at this point--maybe 65 stores nationally (all on the east coast). That is part of what--I think--keeps the quality up. I think they're great--their products, their selection, and their staff.

Joe, I agree that it should be aging magnificently. Trust me, we have stored it properly, although we can't vouch for how it was handled before we purchased it. My husband isn't here right now, and he's better at reading labels than I--that's why he's in charge of the cellar and I handle the saute pan. The label says 1996 Chablis Grand Cru, Reserve, Valmur, Appellation Chablis Grand Cru Controllee, G. Robin Proprietaire. The label on the back reads "North Berkeley Wine, Barrel Selection. This wine was Barrel Selected exclusively by North Berkeley Wine and was specially bottled non-filtered." I don't know where my husband purchased this bottle. I fear that this wine may have fallen victim to the oxidizing that Rocks wrote about in his column. I have not tasted a Chablis that tasted quite this way before. edited to correct spelling.

Click here to find info on a meeting of the minds between Tom Power and Tom Power last year.

Crab Imperial, the O'Donnells restaurant recipe from the Maryland Seafood Cookbook II, and Corn Pudding from John Shields' Chesapeake cookbook.

After sending my last post, my husband happened to open a 1996 Chablish Grand Cru Valdon. It looks to have been a special bottling, unfiltered from the barrel, for an importer in California. I tasted it without knowing what it was. I tasted vanilla, but overall the wine tastes old. Not "eww, spit it out and dump the bottle," but not the good wine I would have expected.