ThayerAvenue.com

As many years as I’ve been here, and as many times as I’ve walked or driven by Thai Market, I have been in but two times - both to pick up take out food from the counter on the left. Those of you who have been or walked by and looked know what I’m talking about. I always thought the food was okay, and we preferred to go to Thai Derm. Everything changed when I went exploring this weekend.

Finding a comfort zone
One of my biggest fears walking into the store was that I would be totally overwhelmed, not know what I was doing, and look like a total cracker. I did, but that’s okay. I went in initially to get ingrdients to make chicken panang. I assumed I would need panang curry paste and coconut milk, but there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cans of curry paste. And rows of cans with coconuts on them that may or may not contain milk.

I sucked it up and asked the woman at the front counter for help, and she didn’t even bat an eye. Walked right to the red penang curry paste in the “Wall of Tin” and handed me the proper stuff (click the thumbnail images for larger pictures). When I asked what coconut milk to get, she walked me over to where it was, handed me a can and said, “This is exactly what you need.” Done. I trust her implicitly now.

I asked her about the sweet little crunchy things we sometimes get on top of mango and sticky rice at Thai Derm. She nodded in understanding and said, “mung bean.” Took me to a different section and handed me a red bag filled with dried beans. *Not* what I was expecting, and I think she saw it in my face. She carefully explained how the beans needed to be soaked, as with any dried beans, but then here’s the kicker: chuck ‘em in the deep fryer until they’re crispy, golden, and delicious. I’m really starting to like this woman.

Exploring Thai food beyond the takeout menu
Now that I had established a certain comfort level, I began to explore on my own. If you’ve ever had Thai coffee, you know how delicious that dark brew and sweetened condensed milk can be. Not only did I appear to find the coffee secret (Café du Monde Coffee and Chicory), I found something we regularly shop for and have trouble finding. We make cold coffee concentrate, and the best stuff for that is chicory coffee. Whole Paycheck rarely carries the caffeinated kind, so this is like a Festivus miracle for us.

Starting to get adventurous, I looked at what appeared to be popular snack foods. Have you ever had Tom Yum soup? It’s that amazing lemongrass soup served at most Thai establishments, sometimes with chicken or shrimp - one of my all-time favorites. Well, the swell people in Thailand decided to take that flavor and turn it into a crunchy shell around peanuts. Really. This stuff rocks. As does the packaging. And then, last but not least, Headless Ching Chang Anchovy with sesame. Crunchy little fish with a sweet and spicy glaze, spinkled with sesame seeds. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Given that I didn’t buy the coffee, all this still came up to less than $9.00. Very impressive. Chicken panang is going on this weekend, and I’ll be back for more. You should go. And put yourself in their hands. Trust me on this.

I knew you all couldn’t wait until the next meeting in September. Luckily, in the midst of a SLOW news cycle on the East Silver Spring listserv, we get something from another listserv entirely.

Prezco is an organization that’s put together a lot of events and such, but people seem to feel it’s very mysterious. I assumed it was just what the group page says it is: “Membership for Presidents and related officers of civic associations surrounding downtown Silver Spring, Md.” That’s pretty simple and straightforward, yes? A group of community leaders getting together for communication, coordination and the like. Well, make that one or two fewer community leaders. This just in:

August 25, 2009

The Board of Directors of East Silver Spring Citizen’s Association (ESSCA) wishes to notify you that we are withdrawing from our membership in Prezco.  Please remove ESSCA’s name from all correspondence and documentation associated with Prezco.

We would appreciate an acknowledgement of receipt of this email.

Thank you,
[insert name here]

That sounds like an FU if I ever heard one. I personally have nothing against Prezco, but I am *awfully* curious to know what precipitated this “take my ball and going home” stance. Stay tuned for details.

It’s the quintessential line shared by last year’s Zombie Walk movie, Night of the Living Dead, and this year’s spectacular showing, Shaun of the Dead. It’s official. AFI Silver Theatre will be showing this Zom-Rom-Com at 10:00pm on Saturday, October 24 as part of the 2009 Silver Spring Zombie Walk.

The official site will up and running at www.silverspringzombiewalk.com where you’ll be able to find all the details, as well as links to related groups, zombification, movie information, and much more.

Thanks to an alert ThayerAvenue.com reader for this info - and the photo.

Tuesday morning saw some interesting police activity on Thayer Avenue. While the photo above gives some immediate context (with that god-awful house at the corner of Houston and Thayer on the left), the thumbnail below will take you to a much larger image. This is the end of the activity, unfortunately, as everyone was getting back in the vans, but reports indicate there were at least a dozen or so officers, clad in black bulletproof gear with large automatic weapons.

They walked a bit down Thayer from where these vans were parked, “inspected” a house, and then left. Appeared they simply stayed on the periphery and had some discussions about what to do, or perhaps debated the merits of early-20th-century residential architecture. Who knows. But it didn’t appear to be anything requiring firearms discharge.

If anyone has any more information on what the hell is going on in our ‘hood, would love to hear it.

I walked by the Fractured Prune this afternoon, and the door was actually open. I walked in and asked the status, and they’re waiting on one more inspection. It could happen this afternoon, in which case they’ll open up this afternoon. If not, they should be open tomorrow.

Hooray for donuts!

It looks like this year’s Zombie Walk (site updated soon) will be held on Saturday, October 24 in Downtown Silver Spring. Those of you who participated in last year’s event know what a great time it was, and we hope this year will be even bigger. A rough count of 2008’s participants clocked in at nearly 200 undead from the estimates we got, and I know we can get enough people to fill the theater this year.

Speaking of which, stay tuned for a special announcement in the coming days about the entertainment we’re trying to line up. And I call dibs on my special zombie costume for this year.

In Other News…
Keep an eye out for some historical banners making their way to Silver Spring, sponsored by the Montgomery County Historical Society. They’ll highlight different themes, including agriculture, the Civil War, the Depression, and slavery and freedom in three different languages: Chinese, English and Spanish. And seeing the MoCo Society’s site and the wealth of information it has makes me think it’s a shame the Silver Spring Historical Society can’t get a decent site up.

A great man (okay - he was half human) once said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” With apologies to Admiral James T. Kirk, this has again proven more than true in two recent instances.

Thank you, Councilmember Ervin
I think we really have Valerie Ervin to thank for helping to save Sligo Creek Golf Course. That, and the overwhelming outcry of the community. The only way SCGC was to be saved was for the County Council to renegotiate the contract with the Revenue Authority. Oh - and fix one minor detail: money.

The Washington Post reported that Ike Leggett proposed a plan that would keep the course open for another twelve months, even though my “buddy” Keith Miller at the Revenue Authority thinks “the long-term prospects at the other public courses, all with 18 holes and more challenging, are brighter than at Sligo.” Really? Measured how? By paying your salary? I’m gonna guess that not paying six figures a year to the Revenue Authority will help Sligo Creek’s financial prospects, and with this near-death scare, the people involved will find a way to make it work. And I’ll pony up some money in the form of increased green fees and a contribution to an endowment to help keep it up and running. Just tell me where and when.

And Speaking of Money…
That seems to be the one thing standing in the way of building light rail on the Purple Line, according to a news conference from Governor O’Malley. This endorsement comes much to the chagrin of our wealthy neighbors to the west. Chevy Chase Mayor Kathy Strom, along with 10 others, wrote a letter to the Federal Transit Administration in protest, saying, “It is shortsighted and irresponsible to destroy this irreplaceable greenspace which is both a local and regional treasure.” Not sure if they were talking about the Capital Crescent Trail or their beloved Chevy Chase Country Club.

Can’t wait to espouse the merits of a light rail purple line at September’s ESSCA meeting.

Purple line image courtesy of Wikipedia