My daughter's favorite meal there is the fried chicken!

obxgirl, the H&H is at 315 S. Maple Ave. A friend lives down the street and drops in for her spices. I know where Indian Spice is; once upon a time there was a fab organic-type place that served amazing cold borscht in the summer in that strip. I'm sure the area is now all hipster-ified.

girlonthego and SF7307, thanks for the Tupelo Honey recommendation. We're not at all brunch people (we're usually out the door and on an adventure of one form or another long before brunch begins), but I look forward to comparing their fried chicken to Austria's Backhendl.

>>>> the H&H is at 315 S. Maple Ave.<<<<

Thanks for the resource!

>>>>I'm sure the area is now all hipster-ified.<<<<

Parts of the area for sure, but not that shopping center. There's a mom & pop mediterranean market, a pizza joint and, I think, a barber shop among other things.

Good luck on your re-entry.

"Good luck on your re-entry."

Thanks. So far the only headache is importing my Vespa. The EU and the USDOT have different "certification" standards, and we may be looking at a last minute sale tomorrow rather than fuss with the U.S. and its $5000 "quarantine" deposit while they decide if my ride is U.S. road worthy.

Ben's Chili Bowl!

only just caught up with this 4for so I can only wish you bon voyage and happy landings.

Welcome back to the States. Can't help with restaurants in DC. Trader Joe's oven or microwave options -- we are fans of the samosas, both chicken and vegetable. The spanikopita. Sweet potato fries. Their Japanese fried rice isn't bad. Their boxed tomato & red pepper soup is good.

​​​​​​I also wouldn't want to buy lots of dishes, only to donate them. I would buy a cutting board and a paring knife. Obviously once you buy meals in a disposable aluminum pans, you can handwash and reuse those.

I would try to mix it up. For me, microwave and oven only would get old fast. Some ideas:

Soft taco wraps, deli meat and veggies, black beans and salsa or guac make a nice meal.

Chef salad with baked chicken tenders, or deli case turkey and deli ham. Various veggies and grated cheese.

A meal can also be made with pita chips, hummus, tzatziki different cheeses or salami, fruit. TJ has the lower calorie pita chips.

I also think you could make an interesting take on lasagne with premade sauce, no-boil lasagne noodles, meatballs, peppers, onions. I don't know if TJ has them but I have bought frozen meatballs several places.

​​​

starrs, all the old haunts are on the list. Between the suggestions here and DS' wish list, it's going to be an epicurean summer!

annhig, thank you!

5alive, We're not big microwave people, either; we didn't even own one in Vienna. DS is loaning us some of his cookware and dinnerware until the air freight arrives; presumably the "payment" will be that I'll be setting a place at the dinner table for him occasionally.

I landed yesterday and briefly wandered into Trader Joe's for a few "essentials." Had to ring DS to grab a Car2Go and fetch me. :lol: Even after all that he and his girlfriend grabbed carryout from an old Afghani/Pakistani haunt (Panjshir) and paired it with a Slovenian white that I left off the sea freight list and had to bring with on the flight. Absolutely delicious, just as I remember.

Welcome back to no Sunday Shutdowns!

And reverse culture shock. I feel ya.

Okay, I may have been in, "The World's Most Livable City" for seven years, but nowhere ever did I encounter the green nectar of the Bolivian gods, aji verde! DS and Girlfriend picked up empanadas from somewhere in Falls Church (?) Saturday evening and Oh. My. Gosh. The empanadas were out of this world delicious, but That. Sauce!

Melnq8, thank you. I went back to Trader Joes on Sunday, just because I could. :) Found a Grüner Veltliner from Hungary that I will pair with the leftover empanadas this evening.

I also went to Amazon Whole Foods. I'm not keen on Mr. Bezos knowing even more about my shopping habits, but I do love the 365 Peanut Butter Balls cereal. Next time I'll pay with cash.

Do you mind sharing the label of the Grüner Veltliner you found at TJs? I'm a convert to VG and will look or ask or it at the Foggy Bottom TJs.

Welcome back to the states. Trader Joe's does have some pretty good frozen meatballs in two sizes.

obxgirl, the label reads "Floriana." I like GV's that are crisp with a spicy finish and the label on this one mentioned white pepper, so I was sold. And, at $6 a bottle it was worth the experiment! I haven't tried it yet so I can not offer commentary, though.

charsuzan, thank you. DD loves to snack on meatballs, oddly enough, as they were conveniently packaged in Vienna as "to-go" snacks.

Do you mind sharing the label of the Grüner Veltliner you found at TJs? I'm a convert to VG and will look or ask or it at the Foggy Bottom TJs.

Another VG covert here, but our Trader's Joe's (yep, just one and 45 minutes from us) doesn't sell alcohol.

Arg.

Thank you, fourfortravel, I'll look for it!

Just following up, 4for4, to ask how things are going.

Also, have you seen the DC gtg thread in the Lounge? Stay tuned for a link.

See if this works...I'm not great on the kindle:

https://www.fodors.com/community/fod...019-a-1666588/

Thanks for checking in on me, TDudette! I hang my head in shame over not posting sooner. We have been back in D.C. for a month now; and with two long weekends away (also not written up) and countless “catching up with friends” I have yet to find a routine. The air freight arrived eight days after I, so I now have my kitchen cookware squad. Rebuilding the spice arsenal is taking time; every dinner recipe seems to require a trip “somewhere” (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Eden Center, A-1, or the Hispanic Market whose name I can not recall) for “something.” Thank you also, for the DC GTG link.

Tripplanner001, Ambar was terrific! DD and I dropped in during the week for their “Express Lunch” and loved everything. The Green Tea Soda was a unique taste that I have been trying to recreate at home—quite refreshing on these warm days.

lisainDC, we dined at Liberty Tavern on their “Fried Chicken Monday.” Liked, but did not love. Their chicken was not quite the Backhendl that I fondly recall from Austria. The Prosciutto and Burrata starter was well received at our table, however.

obxgirl and Melnq8, I was unimpressed with the Hungarian Veltliner from Trader Joe’s. It had a rather flat finish; I ended up mixing it with sparkling water to make a sad G’spritz.

Glad to hear that you are starting to reacclimatize and venturing out in the area.