Oh dear. So, apparently Congress has a cookbook with recipes submitted by Members. Here's Larry Craig's. Um.

Super Tuber is a great snack that uses one of my favorite vegetables: The Idaho Potato...Sincerely, Larry E. Craig, United States Senator

Ingredients

1 hot dog, cook's choice

1 Idaho baking potato, 7 to 10 ounces

Mustard for dipping, any style

Other condiments as desired such as cheese sauce, sour cream, chili, chives, bacon pieces or black olives.

Wash and dry potato. Rub with shortening or butter. With an apple corer or small knife, core out the potato center (end to end). Push hot dog through the center. Bake until potato is cooked through.

Um, indeed.

I got stuck sitting in a traffic jam for an hour after I left work tonight. At 10:30 on Saturday night. That is so not right.

Fleur de Lys report:

I am currently on a foie gras high, particularly since there was a Hubert Keller sighting (in that, I almost ran into him coming out of the bathroom.) Sadly, I processed that fact only after moving by him to get back to my table. Doh!! Although I have to agree with my friend, who said he looked more liked a homeless man than a "Top Chef".

The restaurant is a beautiful space. Very warm and cozy. The whole room is enveloped in fabric and the ceiling is a tent of fabric. The service was stellar, if a bit overwhelming since a different server/sommelier came to explain every dish and wine.

I started with a duo of Hudson Valley foie gras. I loved the seared duck burger with foie gras on a brioche bun. I was not really a fan of the baked dish of fois gras, truffles, and potatoes. Why? Because, for some reason, they added shitake mushrooms—to truffles and foie gras! Wrong wrong wrong. (Wine: a lovely Ste Croix du Mont).

My main course was quail stuffed with ris de veau, spinach, pine nuts and served with roasted parsnips, baby leeks, and foie gras. Heaven! (Wine: a light Sonoma syrah).

My sort-of final course was a selection of five artisanal cheeses including a great chevre and roquefort (Wine: porto). After we were finished, they learned it was my birthday and brought what can only be described as a deconstructed canoli, with a candle inside of the thin wafer shell. So I also had dessert. One of my friends had the vegetarian tasting, which he was very impressed with.

On top of the fabulous meal, we began the evening with amazing drinks (I had cucumber gimlets.) in the Library at Bourbon and Branch aka Buffista bar heaven. The bar is unmarked. You buzz at the door and give the password “books” (i.e., I don’t have a dinner reservation but please let me go back into the bar). Someone then leads you through the restaurant to a swival bookcase/door and into a dark book-lined room.

So much fun. And now, off to bed.

X-posted with Non-fiction TV

The GPS is controversial due to The Man issues.

Yeah. And I don't have much sympathy for that -- *my* boss knows where *I* am all the time. Most bosses do.

I do have sympathy for the other factors -- they have to pay to install it, they have to eat the whatever percent the credit card charges, if the credit charge machine malfunctions (and apparently do more than occasionally) it shuts off the meter, and there may be some sort of wiring glitch since the cabs that caught on fire last week and the week before had the new system.

But "my boss knows where I am"? bite me

It sounds like the CC machines are way more trouble, but I can see the GPS being more of an emotional issue. Even though in the case of hijacked cabs, cabbies in trouble, et cetera, the GPS signal could be a lifesaver, literally.

they have to pay to install it, they have to eat the whatever percent the credit card charges

OK, that's just shitty. They should be able to put a surcharge on card use. I'd be willing to pay for the convenience (up to a couple of bucks). But eating the 5% or whatever the card services charge is bad.

I'm trying to decide if this would increase their business enough to make it worthwhile.

If the technology isn't working that great, I would want to wait until it is, too.

The CC machines should tie in with the GPS, so that if they get a GPS signal, the CC location and time can be recorded and then submitted when the signal is regained. Also, then the CC bill can read "picked up at 123 Main Street, dropped off at 321 Broad Street, 2.5 miles" and so on....

Timelies all!

Megan, that sounds amazing. Now I'm hungry...

Here's a NY Times Op-Ed explaining the cabbies' issues with the GPS: [link]

The GPS is controversial due to The Man issues.

Yeah. And I don't have much sympathy for that -- *my* boss knows where *I* am all the time. Most bosses do.

Huh. It never occured to me it was the cabbies worried about The Man. I assumed passengers. I may watch too much Law & Order.

They shouldn't have to pay to install it, at least not the individual drivers. But the typically 3% surcharge is the normal merchant fee, and it's a violation of the merchant agreement to tack a surcharge on.

Mind, taxi drivers operate on a tight margin, especially when gas costs so much. And I did have a driver here tell me that his cab company charges him $2 for every credit card used. Which is fucked up and explains all the attitude I get from drivers, if that's typical here.