Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

@lemonfair - I'm so sorry I didn't check back here after posting. Forgive me.

Yes, install anything from that site. Malware Bytes is completely reliable, and a real life-saver. I hope by now that you've got it all under control, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to have the site I recommended installed on your computer and run it regularly.

Again, I'm sorry for not staying current, but I hope all is well for you now.

I haven't been near that mall for a couple of years, but the only reasonable restaurant I can think of that might be good for a Thanksgiving dinner would be the Chili's that's right across the road from the main entrance to the mall. Otherwise, the whole area - including Route 1 - is a mishmash of dives and fast food places.

Alas, the Woodbridge area is not known for its culinary diversity. You might want to come a few miles north on I-95 to Occoquan, a really pretty place right on the river where there are some lovely little locally-owned restaurants.

One really nice place in Occoquan is The Garden Kitchen - http://www.gardenkitchen.com/home - I don't know if they're doing a Thanksgiving dinner, but I would be surprised if they weren't.

Check out the Occoquan Inn, another pretty place, that IS serving Thanksgiving dinner and taking reservations now - http://www.occoquaninn.com/occinn.php

Here's another really fun place - http://www.madiganswaterfront.com/ - but I don't know about Thanksgiving dinner.

I wish I could give you better information about the area around Potomac Mills, but, alas, it's just not designed for gourmands - or even people who want to eat better than fast food.

Good luck.

If you're concerned about something nasty on your hard drive, go to - www.malwarebytes.org - and get yourself a free installation of their Anti-Malware scanner. My computer geek pals told me about it after I picked up a virus - it was one so new that McAfee hadn't yet discovered it. But Malware immediately located it and quarantined it so that I was able to do the necessary things to get rid of it. My computer was fine after that.

I run it once a week, just to be safe................

In Santa Fe, go to Pasquale's.

One of my favorite restaurants in the whole world.

http://www.pasquals.com/

When I'm too lazy to venture out to the Thai market in our area, I order from this place - which has all the same things as my market. They're very good, and there's nothing you can't get from them.

http://www.templeofthai.com/food/

My cousin was manager of a huge Japanese restaurant in a major American city. He told me that all their fish - including that used for sushi - was frozen before it was used because of the parasites.

And yes, the parasites are still there, only dead. Yummy, huh?

Then I got to be friends with a marine biologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who told me why he never ate anything from the oceans, and, after that, I never ate fish again.

Never will............................

He loved chicken livers.

I think liver is what Satan dines on. I can't be in the same room with it. My gag reflex is mighty.

One Sunday morning, I found myself sauteeing chicken livers in butter, the way his mother had fixed them for him. The fan was sucking everything straight up from the saute pan, and I was using a long-handled wooden spoon to toss them around, and I realized I loved him.

He realized it, too, and then we married.....................

Liver.

Any organ meats.

Cottage cheese. There's something about how it looks - like brains - that makes me queasy.

Ripe bananas.

Absolutely. There will be more places accepting them as the economy continues to tank. At least, I hope there will.

This is a very good move.

Clearly, things have changed - and not for the better.

It's been a lot of years since I hung out in bars - ah, lovely times! - but when I was alone and a stranger sent me a drink, the server pointed out who it was from, and I'd smile and nod. A silent "thank you."

After that, if I wanted to have anything else to do with the guy, I'd go over to him and start the conversation he so obviously sought. Sometimes I ended up having some really great times; sometimes I didn't go over because, well, just because it didn't work for me.

But no one ever approached me or made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I was just lucky.

The idea that a man can presume to approach me because he CHOSE to buy me a drink is absurd. It's all up to me, and if he approaches me, he's risking being told that "I'd really rather be alone, thanks," or "My boyfriend is on his way to join me, but thank you."

I like the old days better ...................

A cheese store? I know of one in San Francisco that sells ONLY cheese. Lovely place..............

For a lovely bit of nostalgia, drop into the Tin'n'Lint Company bar on Caroline Street. There is some brilliant graffiti in the restrooms, and there's a plaque commemorating it as the place where Don McLean wrote "American Pie." A real old hippie joint, filled with really nice folks. This would be the "dive" you're looking for, I believe.

There are a couple of very nice restaurants in the grand old Gideon Putnam Hotel - really great food, limited menus, but excellent stuff. And the hotel, of course, is a real treat. This would be the "family" place.

Have a great time in a very special old town.......................

Scrub 'em, rub them with olive oil, put them on the rack in a 400 oven, and, after 30 minutes, use a fork to punch some holes in them. Bake for another 30 minutes. Then, when they come out of the oven, let them sit for a few minutes before cutting into them, just like a good piece of meat.

Waiting for the half hour to puncture the skin lets the insides retain moisture longer, and you get a nice, creamy potato with a marvelously crispy skin. If I remember, I roll them in kosher salt, but I like the idea of the salt box above. I'm going to have to try that.