The Wait Is Snover

Or just beginning, depending on your perspective. 4:09 p.m. and flakes now falling at Chez Good Eatin’ and blowing at about a 45 degree angle. Roberto Duran says “Sno Mas.” Will we all say “snover and out?” Or is it snow big deal? Will the storm go into snovertime?  And I haven’t even started on the limes yet…

UPDATE: Naturally snovertime will be won on a goal by Snovechkin followed by a standing snovation.  It snonly took an extra 45 minutes to think of that. I sknow, I sknow…snowhatever, Martha.

Waiting for Snoverkill

I don’t feel the need to keep up or join in with the latest snowstorm naming conventions (Snowpocalypse, Snowzapalooza, Snowmageddon, etc. etc., whatever whatever) but I do like how the Post is calling the next storm Snoverkill.  It’s funny because it’s true.  The Post Capital Weather Gang has done a great job over the past few days with storm updates. Hopefully tonight/tomorrow’s storm will be on the low end of the 5-to-20 inch projections, with not too much power loss. I am ready for spring.

We walked around the neighborhood again this morning and picked up a few more grocery items at Asian Foods, in the same strip mall as Max’s, Shalom Kosher, Full Key, and Pho Heip Hoa (2211 University), where we got some pho to go. Nothing special, but good, especially on a cold day. Fresh basil, hot pepper, lime, and scallions, and decent broth. Every neighborhood should have an at-least-decent pho place. We also got a few more limes, so we should be set for a couple more days. Our street still hasn’t been plowed — wonder how long it will take to get dug out after tomorrow?

Wheaton Digs Out

Wheaton is still buried and not very walkable, but I wandered a bit anyway this morning. Most residents have cleared their sidewalks, but downtown is barely passable to foot traffic, and not much better for vehicles. Amherst is the clearest road right now, at least at the Reedie intersection. Most businesses appear open, Dunkin’ Donuts was hopping, the Moby Dick owners were clearing the parking spaces at their storefront. CVS was cleared out of milk but Shalom Kosher was well-stocked with just about everything. Still waiting for them to plow our street…

Intersection of Amherst @ Reedie

A few more photos after the jump…

Phil Should Be More Specific Next Time

The groundhog said six more weeks of winter, but he didn’t mention the snowstorm. Sure is pretty though!  Sixteen inches here at 8am this morning, and snow still falling. A good day for snowmen, DVDs, naps. Not a good weekend for Wheaton’s restaurants, however — we will have to help them make up for lost business days during the coming weeks.

Tree in the backyard, 8am

Okay, Now It’s Sticking

3pm. Bigger flakes, lots of flakes, sticking everywhere but the roads. Very pretty. Time to hunker (and panic!).

Things That Aren’t Sticking

Snow. So far this is a Teflon storm — presumably that will change later as it gets colder and snows harder. But don’t let that stop you from a good panic!

Independent coffee houses in greater Silver Spring. WUW first reported and JUTP added info to the story that DeJaBel (2519 University) is closing, starting whenever they close today. It’s too bad, they had promise (although I didn’t love their iced coffee), but that’s a tough location in the current economic climate in the current edition of Wheaton. Of course Mayorga’s Silver Spring location closed a couple of months ago. Tough times. Meanwhile the Metro Center Starbucks continues to pack ‘em in. Location, location, location…

Book Closed On Wheaton Library Move

Took me a while to get to this, but have been meaning to address the news that Wheaton’s library will remain in its current location at Georgia and Arcola. I’m sympathetic to the idea that a downtown library could help improve the overall downtown experience, but I think it will be more convenient for more people right where it is.  Wheaton’s library is pretty good, and I love the Friends Book Sale in the basement too.  I would be interested in putting  a small, satellite library in some future, reconstructed downtown core: some computer terminals, a reference section, and small collections of children’s, YA and popular adult fiction. If you want a book from the main Wheaton branch, you could request it online or by phone at least 24 hours in advance and then pick it up at the downtown satellite (thus needing only one book shuttle per day between main and satellite). But that model may not work economically, when you add real estate costs to insurance to HVAC to personnel — even in a small library, you would probably need at least two employees at any given time, plus maybe a security person. I do like the concept, though.

Meanwhile, nobody will visit the Wheaton library this weekend, because here comes snow. It’s not too late to panic, if you haven’t already! Mrs. Me wisely purchased limes on Wednesday, so we’re all set.

Kaprow!

A little slow lately, I know.  To atone, here is some of last weekend’s Nava porn (thanks to the R&D Dep’t for the photos)…

Crispy Pork Kaprow

more after the jump…

Best Laid Plans Lead to Nava

We fully intended yesterday to visit Tabasco in Rockville (4007 Norbeck), at the suggestion of commenter Nick, in our continuing quest for better local Tex-Mex. But then a “dusting” of snow turned into six inches, and whoopsie MoCo didn’t plow any of Wheaton’s streets (until today)!  Conveniently, some friends wanted to visit Nava (11301 Fern), which we were able to reach even through ice and slush.  So Tabasco will have to wait.

Nava was predictably uncrowded considering the weather, service and food were good as usual, but we made the mistake of discussing spicy food tolerances at the table, which I think led our server to tell the kitchen to tone everything down.  Nothing was as spicy as it usually is.  They also had Massamun beef curry, my holy grail, and it was good but not transcendent like the last time.

We tried a couple of appetizers we hadn’t before: steamed dumplings were juicy and flavorful and large; sizzling pan-friend beef had just a little spice kick and a slightly gritty but tasty dipping sauce; and the twice-cooked duck salad was excellent, deep-fried duck (hard to go wrong there) with veggies in a spicy sauce — it was served cold, which I wasn’t expecting, but the dish absolutely worked. Beyond that, most of us ordered various kaprows, all good, and Mrs. Me tried the roast pork and egg noodle soup, which was maybe more mellow than she was expecting but it all disappeared, which is the typical sign of another quality Nava outing.

TC Goes to Antipuqueño

Libertarian economist and ethnic food maven (and big Nava fan — it’s currently in his top five) Tyler Cowen posted earlier this week about his visit to Antipuqueño (2504 Ennals), which I don’t think I even knew existed. Sounds like a classic Wheaton dive, too bad I missed it on my last pupusa tour.  Next time. I know there’s been a lot of non-Wheaton Tex-Mex lately, need to dive back into Wheaton’s diverse Latino eateries. I visited Irene’s III, Kantutas, Sergio’s, and El Pollo Rico in 2009.  Need to get back to Matamoros and El Chorro, haven’t been to either for several years. Just Up the Pike is, meanwhile, conducting a Peruvian chicken poll. Vote early and vote often.