My long absence

I've been away for 11 days. Since I've been away, I've knitted a lot, eaten a lot, and cooked nothing. I don't have any photos, but some restaurant recommendations if you're in the Washington, DC area.
Gadsby's Tavern in Alexandria, VA. Their big thing is "George Washington ate here". Which he did. The food's really great, basic American fare (the pork chop is to diiiie for, although everything came with sauerkraut, which seemed weird and was new since we ate there in June 2007). They often have someone playing a dead white guy: James Madison or Benjamin Franklin have been the common ones.

Indigo Landing in Alexandria. This is at a yacht club, and is quite nice. I recommend getting the appetizer sampler (deep-fried dungeness crab, shrimp skewers and hummus with garlic naan) to split between two people, and the lump crab sliders. The chopped salad is also good- one of those half-a-head of iceburg with blue cheese dressing things, but lovely and fresh, and the dressing was up there with the best blue cheese dressings. Don't bother with the ahi tuna, it has no flavor. They say it has a sesame ginger marinade, but they're lying.

Old Ebbit's Grill on 15th Ave NW (I think) in DC. Get the crab cakes. Go back a second time and get more crab cakes. Also the cherry cobbler is delish- they use fresh cherries, something I don't see often (not that I dislike canned cherries, but I feel that's a tad lazy if the restaurant is a pricey, linen napkin type of restaurant).

Cartler's Riverside Inn in Annapolis, MD. THE best crab cake. This is a sit-on-picnic-tables-covered-with-paper kind of restaurant. Plastic cups, plastic baskets lined with waxed paper, you get the idea. People sit and smash whole crabs and pick at them to eat. But the crab cakes are seriously the best I'd had, and enormous- I saved half of mine for the next day's dinner. Also, get the crab dip, it's creamy and cheesey and warm and perfect.

We didn't go there this time, and it's a chain, but the Melting Pot is quite good, if you like fondue. Bf misunderstood fondue, so perhaps others do: fondue is not just melted cheese. Fondue is also boiling broth that you dip raw meat into and cook. It's also chocolate. Don't not go to the Melting Pot simply because you don't like cheese fondue.

The Corner Bakery for a casual boxed lunch. Yum. I used them for a catered lunch I put together for a tour another woman organized, and while the delivery guy was a pain in the #&* (he called me and said, I'm on the corner of 18th and C. So I ran out there and said, ok I'm here, but I don't see you. He says, oh I see you. And hangs up. So I wait about 5 minutes for my 70 sandwiches to come to me, and nothing. So I call him back and say, I don't see you, where are you? Him: 18th and C. I see you. *click*. ?!?!? I want my food!!! I called him back again and said, BRING ME MY SANDWICHES!!!. Well, he was on 18th and D. Which is actually where we needed to be to enter the building near the elevator to get the sandwiches downstairs. Ugh. I gave him a $6 tip for delivering 70 lunches. Idiot). Anyway, the lunches were great. Check out the website, but do it after you have lunch, or you'll start drooling all over the keyboard.

Finally, for lovely breakfasts we choose La Madeleine. A french-inspired counter-service small chain in the DC area. They have the best croissants in the US (in my opinion). They also have decent coffee, good breakfasts (eggs, egg sandwiches, quiches, fresh fruit) and good lunch/dinner sandwiches and salads. Also a nice selection of pretty pastries.

Now, knitting. I worked on the muscari socks from knitty.com and finished them once I returned (yay! great socks, and great yarn- happy feet by plymouth yarns). Also: a cat bed for my cat, which still needs to be stuffed, using Lion Brand homespun with fun fur accents on the side, and the Lelah Top everyone's working on, which I have finished according to their directions, but I want to sit down and figure out how to best convert it to a sleeveless top. I used Knitpicks shine sport weight, which was nice to work with (except for all the fuzz it left on my hands and lap).