Food.Fun.Stuff: Fresh and New

*New*

>>>Typically when you think of diners, you think of juicy, greasy and cholesterol?? Well Clarendon's Silver Diner is here to refute those stereotypes. The classic Northern Virginia diner has made some upgrades to the menu that include keeping you in beach bod shape. We recently had an opportunity to try the new "farm to table" menu. The turkey and salmon sliders are definite satisfaction without all the greasy mess and for those that opt for an even lighter fare (*a salad), the chopped Asian salad was a shining star in our book. Perhaps it was the entrees that we need to keep in our memory bank with a few tasty (*figure friendly) options including the 600 calorie vegetarian stir-fry and the gluten-free shrimp scampi. Like our college professor used to say over their low reading glasses "Not bad at all". Since we are not sweets fanatics, we could not give you much of an opinion on that unless we are talking about the mimosas. Instead of a night out drinking, maybe we should start our night here...we easily guzzled down about 5-7 of these (*...In a three hour period...don't judge us...).

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>>>The cookbook of the summer. Planet Barbecue is the grill king/queen's encyclopedia. Literally, the book takes you around the world while teaching you the grilling techniques native to various regions. Steve Raichlen, author of the cookbook, has spent the last five years traveling and exploring all of the innovative techniques involved in a good BBQ. As a journalist, PBS TV host and an internationally known grilling authority, Raichlen knows his stuff and has done quite a job at conveying everything from Thai grilling techniques to the All-American Bobby Flay way of doing things on the grill. Some interesting facts: Australia's lamb is grilled on a shovel, Canada's trout is grilled on a log and the Charentes region of France takes on the eclade de moules way of grilling (*Translation: Mussels grilled on a bed of blazing pine needles). Yum from all around the world.