ktmoomau

FYI- Hubby already went through the tupperware to purge, so I will bring lots of ziploc, but have no extra tupperware.  Bread is rising now.

I didn't see a thread on oreo's.  I am really a sucker for the original oreo and a glass of milk.  It was my cookie of choice growing up.  I haven't loved a lot of the flavored Oreo's, BUT I will give a shout out to the thin salted caramel Oreo's.  I think they are really good.  I wanted to try birthday cake with vanilla cookie, but haven't seen it around when I grocery shop.

Last night was turkey bacon cheeseburgers on homemade buns.

Tuesday night, maybe, I made a whole spread of quasi Indian food- a spicy tomato chickpea curry from Food and Wine mag, curried cauliflower and peas, tandoori pork and homemade flatbread, with some raita.  

Since we have just had all the rain, if you are delicious like me, I would take some precautions.  I have some spray I keep in my car, it is chemical heavy though, FYI.  And I bought 90 dinner size plates.  

I am getting a grocery order and can add some plates onto the list.  Thanks for the wine/beer/trash bag info.  We can bring a bottle or two of wine, we are trying to pair down anyway!

@DanielK I will bring some tupperware, plastic bags for taking things home that other people can use.  Does someone else have plates?  I don't or I would donate them, but I can pick some up if need be? 

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I know nothing about this topic, but my first question was this: Why a video doorbell and not a security camera? (The obvious advantage is that the security camera would record while you're out of town.) Maybe there are two-in-one video doorbells? Or maybe they're really inexpensive?

You normally pay monthly for a security camera, and it is generally a hefty fee, whereas with these you generally pay a lot less.  Especially if you get Amazon packages dropped at your house, etc, it could be handy.

On 7/23/2018 at 4:39 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Has anyone installed one and likes it?

Not yet, we may think about it though once we move.  If you install it, let me know what you think.

16 hours ago, tfbrennan said:

I like this recipe for brioche buns from the Post. I have commitment issues so I can't say that I really like them, but give them a try. 

WaPo Brioche Buns recipe

Apparently, I am out of reactions today.  (I didn't realize one could run out of reactions, but alas, such is life.)  Thanks will try this out!

Saturday night we had simple dinner of hot dogs, slaw and popcorn after a huge lunch out and lots of packing.  But I did make homemade hot dog bun for them.  

Last night I made a baked pasta that I had frozen with penne, smoked chicken, veggies, some red sauce topped with mozz while baking then grated some parm on after I pulled it out.  The freezer is looking emptier and emptier, so is the dry good cabinet.  I need to work on the canned goods and beans.

Yesterday was waffles with fresh peaches and sausage.

Never had the lemon chicken, so it could be a bust.  I like the dumplings with sour napa, the other dumplings, the hand pulled noodles (soup or entree), mapo tofu.  Over the phone they aren't great with giving me actually spicy stuff, but they recognize us sometimes when we go in, we will have to work on this once we move.  I never order off the American Chinese menu, but Hubby has had hunan something, kung pao chicken, cashew something, cumin lamb, general tso.  He gets their egg rolls, I am not crazy about those either, I would rather have the pan fried dumplings, but he seems to like it well enough to go back somewhat frequently instead of getting delivery from other places.  It's right next to our house so he goes a lot when I am gone.

I rarely use my cuisinart, I used my mini chop all the time, but the bigger one just is more of a pain to use/clean versus the above gadgets you list.  But you are right some things are just essential- hummus, etc.  You could create a pinterest board you share with her with cuisinart recipes she might like too?

What about baba ganoush, baigan bharta (sorry eggplant on my mind as I have one at home I need to use) or other eggplant dips, or roasted fennel white bean dip/spread, pie and other doughs for like hand pies or pizza, calzones, etc- you can always freeze them if you make, bake and have too many, red sauce for pasta, tomatillo sauce for veggie enchiladas or etc, pesto, energy bars (oh that college metabolism), papaya salad, cauliflower rice.  When I pulled up insta and typed in cuisinart food processor recipes some great looking broccoli tots came up.  You can mash potatoes or etc. Falafel. Shred veggies to make jap chae?  Lots of types of slaw salads- brussel sprouts, etc.  Most importantly- food processor chocolate chip cookies??

4 hours ago, hopsing said:

I don't know.  Desperate for a good Chinese carryout, I guess.  It worked that time, but every order is a crap shoot.

Why don't you Grub Hub Hunan Gate?  I think they likely have a better record.  The Chinese menu has some interesting things, but Hubby is always pretty satisfied with the beef and broccoli and etc.  I have never had off pork or re-used shrimp.

Exactly, I got hotels in Bali at the Intercontinental for $30 more per night than the base Hotels.com rate, but we got a free upgrade to a huge room, free wifi, free breakfast which was more than $30 per night and we would have wanted the breakfast and wi-fi.  We booked our rooms in China at the Marriot at cheaper than expedia rate through Amex.  This wasn't always the case, so just wanted to point it out to anyone who hasn't been paying attention who is Amex Plat.

I wanted to mention that I have found that the Amex travel booking for hotels and flights has gotten much more reasonable in cost.  It used to be that booking travel (when not using points solely) was more expensive through Amex, but nowadays they are often matching or beating the prices on the aggregates.  I have been using it a lot more frequently to book hotel rooms than I used to which is nice with some of the upgrades you get.

Oh man, for someone who doesn't like to waste and doesn't feel like packing food stuff, my empty the cupboards philosophy has kicked in hard.  I needed some hot dog and hamburger buns, but didn't feel like buying them and had bread flour and yeast, so I made them.  I didn't love the recipe I used, if someone has one they really like, please post.

I then also made coconut, pecan, oatmeal cookies that to me could be a tad bit sweeter, but they aren't bad (next time I would add a little more brown sugar).  

And I made waffles, which is sort of baking?  They turned out well.  I like the mini waffle machine I bought as the waffles come out the perfect size that if you don't eat them all, they are like eggo size and you can freeze them or refridgerate and pop in the toaster.

Wow, apparently I really like Vola's and/or it is right next to my office before it moved up the street.  Met up with some friends who had a babysitter at Hi-Tide lounge right before the deluge started in Old Town.  Man that spot if great people watching during a flash rain storm.  Watching people try to get across the flooded street, the cars roll through, people taking cover, the dogs, it was hilarious.  I had a strawberry daquiri and was pretending it was a nicer day than it was.  I like the music selection they play in here, it reminds me of yacht rock.  We then moved over to the restaurant.  I had fish and chips- it wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite version of the dish and they have stronger menu items.  I really wanted shrimp but we have so much shrimp at home because I purchased a big bag at RD.  My bestie's fried chicken looked really good, I should have stolen a piece and hubby had to po-boy which I like.  Anyway, I think you have better fish and chip options, but there is other stuff here worth eating and on either a nice day when you can sit on the dock, or a flash flood when you can watch people try to cross King St, great.

We will miss Pie-tanza being so close.  Friday night I wasn't feeling like cooking.  I realized I needed to thaw some key ingredients for some dishes I wanted to make, or buy or bake some bread for some things.  So I messaged Hubby to pick me up and not pull into the garage.  I kind of wanted pizza or pasta or burgers, so we went to Pie-tanza.  We got a beer and the girl next to me had a really good looking calzone, so I got a calzone with artichoke, zucchini, roasted red pepper, olives and pepperoni.  I ate more of this bohemoth than I would like to admit, it was delicious- I think the bread on the calzone was just really good, not out of this world, but I think they make pretty good dough, and this had a nice rise/char to it.  Hubby got a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs and was perfectly happy.  If you go after 7:45 ish it really calms down as a lot of families and kiddos are heading out.  Anyway, go the gym and you won't feel so guilty eating your way through the calzone, or just take part home, I did the former.

Hubby and I went on Saturday for lunch and were really impressed with the food.  We definitely will be back to try other things on the menu.  Service was very nice, but a little slow as there was just one waiter, but he was very, very nice and was handling it well!  The iced tea was very good, not your normal liptons, and I really enjoyed it.  We started with hummus, which I thought was a very good hummus, very smooth.  I liked the bread with it, it had a nice pillowy rise to it, I have a hard time getting my flatbreads to have this type of rise, would love to learn how they make this!  Hubby had the bakhtiari which he loved, and already ate the leftover of it before I could steal them!  I had a bite and I really liked the seasoning in it.  I had the Gheymeh Bademjan, which on a day in which it rained- the whole entire day- this was just perfect.  I thought it had nice texture to it, with a lot of flavor.  I took some of this home too.  The entrees are definitely two meals for Hubby and I.  We would love to take our parents here, I think they would like this place.  Next time I might try a special or something more different, but we loved these dishes.

One gentle suggestion- you should think about playing light music at lunch- it seemed pretty busy, but we could here the rhythmic sound of the AC, and the phone was a little loud, but some light music would have covered that up, and just added a bit to the experience.  You all might normally do this and may have just forgotten as it did get busy very quickly once we walked in the door.

Adding another potential new member to the group, and adding cannoli to the sheet.

I made the risotto above without the mushrooms as Hubby isn't a mushroom person.  I used Charleston Gold Rice as I was trying to use it up.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  I will try next with the arborio rice I need to use up.

Tonight I am making a chickpea curry.  This week I am going to make homemade baked beans.

Bastille in Alexandria?

RSVPing another foodie friend I hope to get to join the board.  I will update my guests on the google sheet.

Instant pot "risotto" with Charleston Gold Rice.  Shrimp, Lima beans and green beans sauteed in parsley butter with lemon.