Results tagged “turkey”

    

On the eighth day, God invented the turkey, so that man would have something to deep-fry. I have only come to this conclusion after years of doing my patriotic duty to consume massive amounts of turkey on Thanksgiving. The basic approach when frying a turkey is, well, rather similar to frying anything else. The main difference is the amount of oil involved (5 gallons in my case), and the lack of batter. The resulting skin is crispy and delicious, and the short cooking time keeps the meat from drying out. Also, once the turkey comes out of the oil, you now have a ready-made setup in which you can fry anything else that you might have in mind: chocolates, pumpkin pie, or in my case, bacon. The only real downside of this method is that there are no pan-drippings for making turkey gravy, but that can be remedied by separately roasting some turkey bits if you so desire. Here's how you proceed:

It was a slower week for comments, given that lots of folks were away for Turkey Time, but there were still plenty of good ones. Monkeyrotica has this week's Comment of the Week in regards to the accident in Maryland where kids weren't wearing their seatbelts. He makes a good point, then makes us laugh: It's like they're deliberately avoiding being critical of the kids' behavior, I guess for the sake of the parents, but...

We here at the DCist constantly extol the virtues of living in a city with abundant resources of all kind. Do you need to see an awesome show at a small venue? Check. Do you need to look at physical copies of the country's most important documents? Check. Do you have a need to see Matthew Lesko now and again? Got it. Other than that whole "vote in Congress" thing, D.C. probably has what you...

My mother and I used to think we were so clever sneaking out of the house after the post-pumpkin pie haze to spend our tryptophan relaxing time at the movie theater, while our extended family lay sprawled on the couches in front of the boob tube ... until a few years later when the entire world caught on and every theater had lines around the block on Turkey Day. Lucky for you, we're in Washington,...

>> Tonight, head over to Twins Jazz to check out New York's Mark Feldman (violin) and Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) as they team up for an evening of experimental jazz. Feldman has recorded with artists as diverse as John Zorn and They Might Be Giants while Courvoisier has worked with a number of notable European artists. Call 202-234-0072 for set time and cover information. >> Most of you will be stuffing your faces with Turkey Day...

It's almost Turkey Time, but that doesn't mean DCist readers weren't posting good stuff. The comment of the week goes to voteprime, who responded to the morning roundup article about intersex fish: Potomac River's Father: D+? D+?! Why can't you be more like you cousin, C&O Canal! Potomac River: But Dad, I thought you'd be proud of my intersex fish. Nothing I ever do is good enough for you! grumble grumble...stupid canal...grumble grumble...outdated mode of...

Maybe we're cheeseballs, but we love the Annual Turkey Ceremony, the moment when the president "pardons" a lucky turkey (plus an alternate) who then becomes the official National Thanksgiving Turkey and gets to spend the rest of its days on some farm at Disneyworld or something like that. Sure, it's capricious and cutesy, but who cares! Turkeys are funny looking, and presidents posing with turkeys are even funnier. This year will mark the 60th anniversary...

Though it is not yet recognized as such by the jazz audience at large, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival's organizers have achieved their goals of mounting a world class festival by assembling a roster of top flight talent, which includes Latin jazz legend and festival artistic adviser Paquito D'Rivera (pictured). These jazz greats will grace stages across the city over the course of the nine day festival, which begins on September 9 with a Taiko...

New music is often created through the collision of hitherto disparate styles. Immigrating to the U.S. from Ukraine in the 1990s, Eugene Hutz (pictured), the driving force behind Gogol Bordello, grew up on his native music but also caught the tail end of the American hardcore scene, most notably D.C. legends Bad Brains and Fugazi. Hutz does not recognize any disparities between the two. "I see the punk and hardcore scene as an anthropological study....

>> OK, Joyce Carol Oates really IS going to be at Politics and Prose tonight, where she'll read from and sign copies of her latest novel, The Gravedigger's Daughter. Get there well before the 7 p.m. start time to stake out a seat. >> The Smithsonian Latino center presents From Mambo to Hip Hop: A Bronx Tale, a 55 minute documentary about how the South Bronx' Boricua community makes its own brand of music...

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Early this year, I took advantage of one of our strangely mild January days and went on a short walk with my dog. I was tossing a ball for the little guy on an ugly square of WMATA-owned scrub near the Brookland Metro station, when a fellow resident of the neighborhood came by and encouraged me to defend the grassy lot from...

>> If "gorgeous weather" isn't enough of a reason to get you outside, this weekend's kick-off for the National Cherry Blossom Festival should get you to shake off that winter gloom. Head over to the National Building Museum tomorrow to kick-off the celebration with Family Day events from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the opening ceremony from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Lots of hands-on art activities, like oragami and fruit carving, will keep...

In a city of monuments to great Americans, it's easy to think that the more recent monumistas began the trend of honoring foreign heroes. But for nearly a century, a statue of Polish freedom fighter Casimir Pulaski has made its home at 13th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., in what is now known as D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. The plaza, designed in 1980, is mainly a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement,...

Last year's celebration of the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, on September 25, fizzled out somewhat here in Washington. This week, dedicated listeners had the chance to take their fill of the Russian composer's music. After a thundering concert performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by the Kirov Opera on Sunday, it was the Emerson Quartet who brought the early half of their complete cycle of Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets, played to great acclaim in London and other places (available in a live recording made at the Aspen Music Festival several years ago). On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening in the sold-out Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the most attentive audience in recent Washington history heard the first eight string quartets and the piano quintet. With coughing and other distracting noise kept to a striking minimum, one had the feeling of being in the company of serious listeners. A man in front of me cupped his hand to his ear to focus on the quartet's sound if there was too much rustling of programs near him.

If you're from D.C., like me, the one great thing about the holidays is that you never have to travel, and all your old friends come to you for a week or two, and that week or two turn into dozens of debaucherous, memory-filled nights, telling stories about the times you used to hang out at Amphora Diner in Vienna (anyone else? Anyone?). Unfortunately, I had one of those nights last night, so you're...

After several feverish weeks of wall-to-wall concerts, the approach of Thanksgiving puts the Classical Music Agenda into a temporary lull this week. Not to worry: we have some concerts for you even this week, and next week we will come back out swinging.

Two years ago, I heard an interesting piece on public radio about a one-woman play that was in the middle of a critically successful run at Manhattan Ensemble Theater. I had missed the introduction of the segment but listened raptly as the author, whose voice sounded very familiar, described how she had come to write a show about the lives of Iraqi women during the American military occupations. My jaw hit the floor at the...

In what could be described as either the rebirth of Fear Factor or Anthony Bourdain's dream come true, TasteDC.com -- that hard-hearted harbinger of haggis -- has organized the 1st Annual Unique and Unusual Food and Wine Festival. Scheduled for Wednesday, October 25 at the Women's National Democratic Club in Dupont Circle's Whittemore House, the festival will spotlight both rare ingredients and seldom seen animal parts that will make you moan with delight or squirm with disgust.

Finding D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams these days is starting to seem more and more like a game of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" Today the Post reports on Williams' two-week worldwide tour, writing: On Friday, it was London. On Saturday, Istanbul. On Tuesday, he was in Paris. And today? If it's Thursday, it must be Johannesburg. For the moment, that's where Williams plans to stay. The South African city is the final stop...

You've probably heard us going on about how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born 250 years ago. Yesterday, to be exact. And where else would you have found us last night but listening to Mozart's music? As we recommended in last week's Classical Music Agenda, we spent the big night with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. This week, they are presenting a semi-staged performance of Mozart's early opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782), with television personality Sam Donaldson in the non-singing role of the Pasha Selim. Abduction is the first Viennese example of the operatic genius that the composer would later develop, reaching its full flower in The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. The story was set in a pasha's harem in Turkey, a country with whom the Austrian empire was increasingly in conflict politically, leading up to a disastrous war toward the end of Mozart's life. Two Spanish women are enslaved by the pasha, and the men who love them come from Spain to help them escape.

Welcome back, Washington. We hope you had a Turkey Day filled with food, family, and football triumphs. Now it's back to work, maggot! Hey, at least it'll be warm: today is likely to be rainy, but will have temperatures in the sixties. That's not bad for being on the cold side of Thanksgiving.

Annapolis Fire Destroys Building, Costs Millions: The weekend's big news was the blaze that tore through Annapolis's historic district. No one was injured, but the front of a jewelry store had to be demolished due to structural instability resulting from the fire. The Candy Factory and Main Street Ice Cream were also seriously damaged by the five-alarm fire. A fourth business, A.L. Goodies General Store, suffered smoke damage but remains open, according to the Post.

Post Exposes Wasteful City Spending: Sunday's Washington Post included a must-read article on the D.C. government's use of loopholes to avoid the bidding process on city contracts. Nearly a fifth of last year's expenditures went to unauthorized and no-bid contracts. As a result, $50 million went to waste. City CFO Natwar Gandhi says that the District's financial system is so broken that he has no choice but to cut checks for unauthorized expenditures. Mayor Williams — the man commonly credited with returning the city to fiscal health and discipline — declined to comment for the story.

Black Widow Strikes Again: Alexandria's own Sonya Thomas — aka "The Black Widow" — has another competitive eating title to place under her surprisingly small belt. On Wednesday Thomas consumed 4 pounds, 3.1 ounces of turkey in a New York competition. That's nearly five percent of her body weight. She walked away with first prize and $2500 for the feat.

Only 27 Shopping Days Left: The District's ten-day sales tax holiday began last Friday and lasts until December 4 (that'd be, uhh ... Sunday!). Don't forget to take advantage of the tax-free period. Also worth noting: today is "Cyber Monday." We suspect that this stupidly-named occasion is the invention of some uninspired ad agencies rather than an authentic retail phenomenon that suddenly sprung, fully-formed, from the great god of consumerism's forehead. But who cares where it came from — we need marginally cheaper consumer electronics, and we need them now! We didn't dare brave the malls on Friday; constantly refreshing our favorite bargain sites sounds like a better alternative.

Briefly Noted: Amber Alert issued... Couple charged with Montgomery County bank robbery... Woman's death on elevator leads to calls for improved regulation... Teen dies after Oak Hill brawl... Fire in SE appears to be homicide cover-up... Six youths arrested at Fort Totten Metro station... Baseball hearing set for today... WUSA: this is just sad...

Image posted to DCist Photos by dcJohn

For most of us, this week will be a blur of travel, family, and tryptophan-induced holiday napping. However, if you find yourself in Washington this week, you may be surprised to learn that there will be some classical concerts for you to attend, even over the weekend, although nothing on Turkey Day itself. Hey, musicians need to have holidays, too, and this one is the last rest most of us will get before the crazed season of Christmas and winter holiday concerts sets in.

Any D.C. resident who has put on a pair of running shoes and ventured out his or her front door knows that Washington is one of the best cities for runners. The editors of Runner's World magazine agree. In a recent article on MSN, Washington is ranked the fifth best city for running. According to the editors: Yes, the capital leads our 25 cities in percentage of park area, but local runners get pumped by...

The weather is supposed to be cooling down later this week thankfully. We at DCist suggest that you check out some more museums you may not be aware of. Check out part I, II and III of this series.