Ginger cookies & Mr. Darcy

The newest addition to my family, Mr. Darcy, had quite the first week at my apartment. I adopted him from the shelter and within a few days he became seriously ill. Multiple vet visits, a stay at the pet hospital, and quite a bit of moolah later he is finally home and doing well. Though he still is bit stinky, which makes me finally understand what Phoebe was singing about on all those Friends episodes. He can't quite make up his mind whether he completely trusts me yet. And after 2 baths in a row I can't say I completely blame him.

He also came back from the vet with quite the new haircut. He is definitely going to be the trendsetter for DC cats.

I think we may be getting to a good place as he was my kitchen buddy as I baked some ginger cookies. These are the cookies that my Mom made every Christmas. My mom is not the most savvy person in the kitchen but she has a few tried and true recipes and this is one of them. I was a dork and forgot to add baking soda but I think they turned out fine despite the loss. A couple stayed a bit raw in the center so I may have just eaten those, oops! And by oops I mean yum!

Have a wonderful weekend! Here is the ginger cookie recipe if you're interested.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Boston Graveyards

One of my favorite thing to do when visiting any historical city is to visit the local graveyard. And Boston had to be one of the greatest I have seen. Of course my New Orleans trip to the local cemetery was amazing as well, but Boston was amazing in the depth of tangible history that you see. Where else do you see Samuel Adams, the Franklin Family, John Hancock, and Paul Revere all in one place? But I am a history geek and love to just roll around in all those little facts and then re-tell them to my friend who has resided in Boston for a few years and probably knows all of it but I think she should hear it again anyways. I'm just trying to spread around the knowledge people, just spreading it around.

The art of these tombstones was also intriguing. Skulls and crossbones, angels, skeletons with Father Time, weeping willows with urns. Though I think one of the most amazing things was these words:

My Flesh shall Slumber in the Ground; Till the last Trumpit Joyful Sound; Then Shall Awake with Sweet Surprise; And In Saviour Image Rise

Something about those words touched me. I am not a very religious person, but I would like to think there is something bigger then myself out there and that poem made me see that we all do when it come to the end of things. Well I'm done being philosophical and hope you enjoy some of my favorite shots.

A personal vent. I promise it will not happen too often.

So I know it is not really my style, but I just need to talk things out. As very few people actually read this rickety ol' blog I feel like it is a safe place. So what the hell why not. I'm no Meg McBlogger but this girl has a 10 bag weight on her back that needs to be unloaded.

Life is not easy. Ooohhh, how very philosophical of me, but tis true. Lately I have been in the valley of self doubt and self loathing and I need to do/say something or I may explode. I know my problems are not great. I am a lucky person who has a roof over my head and enough money to feed myself and live my life in a fairly nice way. So while my issues may be insignificant they are my problems all the same and I'm just in a funk.

There are a few reasons for this: 1. a horrible job that I loathe going to on a daily basis, 2. over being in DC where I just feel so out of place lately, 3. lost in a sea of doubts of whether I should try to go to grad school or try for a different job, 4. sometimes being a single girl just plain sucks. Such seemly insignificant issues that just engulf me.

My friend was the tapping bee from Blind Melon and she was telling me how in the video the little girl is mocked or ignored and then she finds that field full of other bees like her and is happy. Remember? She went on to say that she just feels like she has not found her bees, and I knew exactly what she meant. I have some great people here but something is ultimately lacking. I have started to doubt in the human condition as of late. I have been let down by promises of friendship, love, and building a life that I just feel so, well, sad.

I know that things will get better. I hope sooner rather than later, but it will happen. If it doesn't then I am planning to blame it on a combination of seasonal depression and lady troubles.

How did I survive without you?

Oh Immersion Blender, how did I ever make soup without you? Why did I think that blending in batches in a blender was a solid way to go. How silly I was. Now that you are with me I am a one pot soup maker. Because of you I blended that pot of soup in 2 minutes flat. Let us never part again.

Sincerely,

Veronica

P.S. My sweet potato soup is delicious. ;)

Etouffe Brute?

I have been back from New Orleans for 2 days and I'm still stuffed! Oh holy rice Batman! As in rice in the jambalaya, etouffe, gumbo, and red beans and, d'oh, rice. And then you have the oysters, char grilled please!, beignets, pralines, and more liquor then Dionysus would know what to do with. So yeah, I am still stuffed.

It was an amazing long weekend full of good friends, partyin', food, and a wedding as well. (we cannot forget that). Can I just say that the wedding was amazing. The bride looked beautiful, the groom looked ecstatic, the scenery was gorgeous, I teared up a bit, and we danced the night away celebrating. And really, isn't what it is all bout? Well you know for me the food was a huge draw as well, but first and foremost it was about being with two special people as they promised their lives to each other.

But while I was there I was able to hit up some of the tourist hot spots:

1. Beignets and coffee at Cafe Du Monde

Which was sugary deliciousness and you must do it at least once when visiting New Orleans.

2. Checked out one the many beautiful cemeteries and gave my regards to Voodoo Queen Marie Leveau

Technically Marie Leveau is no longer in her crypt. They worried about overzealous followers stealing her remains so they moved her to a different location.

3. Went to a real voodoo spiritual center

The priestess of the center was, how do I say this.......a little strange. I'm just not very in tune to the voodoo spiritual beliefs so it really didn't make much sense to me.

4. Char grilled oysters at Acme Oyster House.

Oh my bivalve, these were so amazing. Cheesy, buttery, smoky, and yummy. I also had my first etouffe experience here, but it just does not look so pretty on camera.

5. Took a streetcar to the Garden District.

Such beautiful houses in this part of town. The wedding actually happened in a beautiful old mansion in this area as well.

The Garden District is also home to Nacho Mama, which I found just hilarious. If I wasn't so darn full I would have tried this joint so I could just yell out Nacho Mama as many time as I wanted and no one would judge me. Actually they would have judged me, they just would not have said anything, which is close enough.

There is still so much that I would like to check out/eat in New Orleans, but my first time there was an amazing experience. Hope you enjoy the pics and have a great week!

Is Cupcake Wars in My Future?

These cupcakes are actually a bit bittersweet for me. My co-worker Eric, who has been a tremendous friend to me since we met over 2 years ago, is moving away. He was offered a bigger and better job down in FL, and I am so happy for him but also so sad to be losing someone who has been one of my "rocks". Those kind of people are hard to come by, especially in DC, but I know that Gchat will keep us together.

Before he leaves, I promised him one last baked good. I should say that he may have hinted in a very obvious way and I went along with it. But what to bake? Something that I could easily bring to work and share with the "Lunch Bunch" was going to be ideal, so cupcakes immediately came to mind. When I came across this recipe for Chocolate Cardamom Cupcakes I was immediately intrigued. One of our local gelato shops makes cardamom gelato, which is my fav, and I just knew that I had to try to make these cupcakes.

The cardamom flavor is very subtle, but the scent as you bring these towards your mouth is amazing. Unless you don't like cardamom then you would think they smell pretty rank. I would love to try this recipe in a vanilla cupcake, as I think the chocolate is very powerful and is definitely the main character. I wanted a stronger punch of cardamom and I think with a basic vanilla cupcake I would get that. But despite that this was an awesome recipe for a beginner cupcake maker.
I just hope that my co-workers think the same thing!

A Secret Brunch.....

I have been reading all about these secret dinner clubs that have been popping up in DC and have been wanting to try one out for quite awhile. I'm not sure how it exactly happened, where I stumbled upon it, or read about but I somehow found out about Artisa Kitchen, which has been put together by Chef Bryon Brown whose aim is to "change the dining landscape of DC".

I convinced a friend to sign up for an upcoming 15 course brunch, as brunch is my most favorite meal, and it seemed like a good way to start my first secret dining club experience.

Blood Mary a la molecular gastronomy

Pumpkin pancake

Caramelized onion, sausage, and aged balsamic

Smoked salmon on a cracker made from pasta

Corn pancake with crispy beets and pomegranate seeds

Poached egg with a very fancy tomato sauce

Calf's Liver with grits

Tomato consomme

Mussels on toast

Grapefruit with burnt sugar

Potato cake with eggplant puree

Roasted yucca

A little dry ice magic

Mojito sorbet

Cheese plate with poached apricot

Nutella Crepe



And for the most part this secret brunch was a great experience. There were some misses for me: the tomato consomme was a bit watery and the crepe was average at best. But there were also some amazing dishes: the salmon "bruschetta", a perfectly poached egg, and the most amazing cheese dish. But I think what really made this experience worth while was the ambiance and people. It was wonderful to have a local art gallery all to ourselves and to meet so many people that share the same interests in food that I do. I definitely would love to try another meal some time soon to get another look at Chef Brown's style and to meet some more foodies that are as passionate about DC and the local food scene.