February, 2008 -

by BS

Will You Be My Friend?

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

It’s Endless Simmer! Remember me? We talked for like twelve hours at that random party, got drunk and made out a little, and then promised we would totally be friends forever.

I bet you thought you wouldn’t hear from me, huh? Well, I’m calling you out. ES wants to be your friend on Facebook and is ready to share our randomest feelings with you on a daily basis, send you tons of pics of blogs gone wild, and school you in a food-only game of Scrabulous.

All this at absolutely no charge! What do you have to do? Just add “bs@endlesssimmer.com” to your Facebook friends.

See you on the interwebs!

in Personal 5 comments

by gansie

Ask Tom, Answer Gansie

Hi all. Welcome to the next edition of Ask a Professional, Answer a Blogger.

Dupont Circle, D.C.: Hi Tom – When I walk by The Palm on my way to work in the early morning, I notice that they turn the chairs upside down and rest them on the already-set tables, presumably to clean the floors. Seems pretty unappetizing, to say the least, to have a chair seat resting on a plate and napkin that will be used by a diner. I suspect many restaurants do this. I wonder if The Palm management realizes that their new fishbowl room reveals this practice to passers-by. Your thoughts?

Tom Sietsema: Chairs on pre-set tables might look unappealing, but I can think of worse sights. I recall addressing a reader’s concern a few years ago, about the restaurant practice where servers refold used napkins and put them on diner’s chairs when diners excuse themselves from the table. My response was formed by a medical expert who said germ transmission was minimal/unlikely. I’m thinking the same thing might hold true in this case. But still — the staff could at least wait to set the tables the next day, huh?

washingtonpost.com: First Bite: The Palm

gansie: Really? Is this what people worry about. Um, how about this?

Washington, D.C.: I have a vegetarian friend coming to town and I’ve paid no attention to restaurants with veggie fare. Where should we be going for dinner where both she and I can enjoy our meals?

Thanks

Tom Sietsema: Before I answer your question here, can I share a pet peeve?

It’s the word veggie. I hate it. If I promise never to print “cool beans” again, will you promise not to use veggie?

Places where you and your friend can happily dine together: Bombay Club, Heritage India, Banana Leaves, Zaytinya, Jaleo, Regent Thai, Rice, just about any new pizza place … the list is long. But hopefully these ideas will help.

Artsy Photo of the Day

Behind the scenes at ES

by BS

It’s a Christmas Miracle!

Holy crap.

So my older brother completely slacked on getting me a Christmas present this year. I mean, it’s almost Easter for Christ’s sake. It’s OK, I forgave him since he has one of those miniature people things to take care of. Anyways, he kept saying he was just about to send my present in the mail. Expecting a CD or book or something, I had pretty much forgotten about it.

Needless to say I was surprised when the UPS guy rang the doorbell this morning, carrying a three foot long, oddly-shaped box postmarked Louisiana and leaving a significant trail of soil behind it.

It’s a Miracle Fruit plant! Wow, I had no idea you could even purchase an entire plant – no way am I ponying up $15 a berry to those shady fruit party people – I’m growing my own, suckas!

So here’s the thing…I have no freaking idea how to make a plant survive, much less convince it to grow berries. I’ve never been responsible for one before.

I am so excited to make this thing flower, and you all are officially invited to the ES miracle party, but, I am equally nervous that I am going to make it die. I know I’m supposed to put water in the soil or something like that, but I’m in serious need of some advice.

Here’s what the seller, Stokes Tropical, has to say:

Prefers 30-50% shade. Blooms from May-November and has fruit form June-December in Zone 9. In Zone 10 and higher plant is ever bearing. Slow growing (5-year old plant, only 3’ tall), make it ideal for container culture; a 10 year old plant is only 4’-5’. Very heavy fruit producer; 6’ plant produces as many as 300 berries at one time.

Aaaaaaaah! What the hell does any of that mean? How do I give something 30 to 50% shade? Where in the world is Zone 9? Where are my 300 delicious berries? HELP!

in Personal / Trends 5 comments

by Russell Warnick

Let’s Not Choke on These Birds

My friend Tucker and I visited some friends in Manhattan a couple of weekends ago. It was a meeting of DC-transplants, as no one seems to settle in this transient city. So while we were all together, and with JH living so close to the Union Square farmers market, we decided to make dinner.

Most of our friends are students, including the gracious host, so we knew we didn’t need to impress — beans on toast would have done! But JH is a stickler for “etiquette” – it had to be seasonal fare with absolutely no repeat dishes. We started planning the menu a few days in advance, with a few options in mind (farmers markets can be unpredictable.)

Our key ingredients were onion, beets, leeks and pheasant. We cooked three pheasants, which we named Judy, Angela and Patrick. Yes, we’re a little loopy.

I mentioned in the comments of a previous posting that I wanted to cook a dish around Jerusalem Artichoke and up until this trip I had never even seen the damn vegetable. Clearly, it was going to be an interesting feat. We named this the “Challenge of the Chosen Choke!”

Dinner to feed ten… See menu after the jump.

Artsy Photo of the Day

Someone tell this monkey to read ES for tips!

in Photos 4 comments

by BS

Costanza was Wrong

I’m sure everyone remembers the extremely profound episode of Seinfeld that dealt with the sensitive issue of “double dipping.” Costanza gets in a fight when his girlfriend’s brother Timmy chastises him for dipping a chip in dip, taking a bite, and returning the bitten chip to the bowl for more dip.

A little disgusting but a little bit necessary, to re-dip or not to re-dip is a burning question we all face from time to time. One dip just can’t feasibly grab the correct ratio of chip to dip. You really need that second submersion to get two perfect bites of chip and dip, but unless you’re eating the whole bag by yourself at home , there’s always that worry that someone at the party might be waiting to publicly out your double dipping. So what to do???

The answer you’ve been waiting for, after the jump.

February 2008

Will You Be My Friend?

Ask Tom, Answer Gansie

Artsy Photo of the Day

It’s a Christmas Miracle!

Let’s Not Choke on These Birds

Artsy Photo of the Day

Costanza was Wrong