Almost time to defrost the turkey, hon!

Sorry I've been light on the posting lately. I hope in the meantime you've visited some of the great blogs listed to the right. One of my regular reads is Coconut & Lime, written by one of our neighbors Rachel Rappaport. She is always cooking up something good in the kitchen, and with Thanksgiving coming up, we have the mother of all meals quickly upon us.

There are lots of great recipes over at Coconut & Lime, but this one caught my eye:

Ginger Lime Spiked Cranberry Sauce

And I am very tempted to try this one out on my family in Northern Virginia:

Thanksgiving Sauerkraut

What do you think?

For the love of Chok Chai!

As if I needed a reminder that independent and local is the way to dine, we recently ate at two chains (PF Chang’s and Bahama Breeze) that confirmed this thought. While neither meal was “bad,” neither one was particularly outstanding, either.

But you know what meal was outstanding? Saturday night’s carry out from Chok Chai! Which is what makes it all the more worrisome to have heard that they are currently struggling for business. You may remember that last year the restaurant moved from its original location on Harford Road just south of Northern Parkway, to about 2 blocks above Northern Parkway. It took a few months to reopen in their new and improved location, and apparently they haven’t recovered all of their customers yet.

I know there are some loyal Harford Road Hon readers who are Chok Chai fans, and I implore you to give them some business and show them some love. The owners/chefs are struggling and losing money each week. The economy, the move, who knows why. Certainly not the food, which is outstanding and a good value, too. I went for comfort food on Saturday, as I slowly watched my NCAA winnings fading away. Pad thai and Tom yum soup – and a heart-shaped carrot giving me love.

If you haven’t tried Chok Chai before, I encourage you to walk – no, run! – there straightaway.