Nibbling is Encouraged

Monkey Attack!

2011-03-06T18:18:00.001-08:00

Da dum......

Da dum.....

ATTACK!

You're off the guest list, Voltaggio.

WTF?

2011-02-26T04:33:00.001-08:00

Bryan Bobble Head: WTF?!

Me: Layoff, it's late and I'm just hungry.

Bryan Bobblehead: WTF?!

Me: I'm heading out of town and I didn't have time to pick anything up so it was a freezer raid, so shut it.

Bryan Bobblehead: This meal of your falls as flat as a child's souffle. Unless it is my kid's souffle because they are glorious and he is following in the footsteps of greatness.

Me: I actually wouldn't doubt that for a second.

Bryan Bobblehead: WTF?

Me: Stop looking!

Bryan Bobblehead: I can't it's like a train wreck. If I wasn't already in a permanent state of glaring, I would cue my glare at you now.

Me: (SIGH)

Howdy Partners!

2011-02-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

Bryan Bobblehead: Howdy!

Me: Aw geez! Are you for real?

Bryan Bobblehead: I never kid about chili

Me: When I told you I was going to be making chili, I really didn't expect this? I do love your mustache? How'd you cut that out what with your arms being frozen into a sullen stance?

Bryan Bobblehead: Don't question my powers.

Me: What powers?

Bryan Bobblehead: The powers of my inner cowboy.

Me: Now you're really just making sh** up.

Bryan Bobblehead: (screaming and speaking quickly) DO NOT QUESTION MY POWERS!!!!

Me: Okay then, don't get your plastic panties in a twist.

Bryan Bobble: Well little lady, I like what you're fixin'. That thar looks like a hog-killin' time in a pot.

Me: Um....thanks? I think. What does that mean exactly?

Bryan Bobblehead: Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you're not fluent in Ye Olde Western slang.

Me: Isn't "Ye olde" from medieval times?

Bryan Bobblehead: Little lady do not talk back to your elders! "A hog-killin' time" means a real good time. I actually thought that something you made looked and smelled delicious, and here I go trying to make you feel good and pretty and you have to go kill the moment. I mean, if I'm going to be treated this way then maybe I should just leave....

Me: I completely understand if you'd like some assistance with the door.....

Bryan Bobblehead: But since I know you cannot survive without your lil' sheriff over here I will dismiss your rudeness and we can just move on.

Me: Really? Are you sure? I mean I totally understand if....

Bryan Bobblehead: Moved on.

Me: Oh, Okay.

Bryan Bobblehead: I see you have busted out your soup pot, a wise choice that should have been made at the beginning of this Oregon Trail.

Me: Now you're just throwing in any Western related euphemism you can think of.

Bryan Bobblehead: Perhaps. By the way, where's the meat?

Me: There is no meat, this a vegetarian chili.

Bryan Bobblehead: Whoa, whoa! Are you trying to kill me. I'm a cowboy not an alfalfa desperado!

Me: (Blankly stares)

Bryan Bobblehead: Fine! I'm not a vegetarian, I want meat!

Me: I think you'll survive. I'm using butternut squash and black beans to add that protein factor and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Bryan Bobblehead: (sullen) Doubt it

Me: And just for that I am totally going to make you the butt of a dick joke.

Bryan: Hardy-har-har. Very funny.

Me: Well it made me laugh. And now we let it cook for a few hours, and then you'll see.

Bryan Bobblehead: Hmmm.......

2 hours later

Me: You have to admit it is tasty.

Bryan Bobblehead: I will admit that you are a brash breachy.

Me: I don't even want to know.

When Bobbleheads Attack!

2011-01-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

Bryan Bobblehead: What you up to girlfriend?

Me: Just cooking up another Dorie Greenspan recipe from my new cookbook, chicken tagine to be more specific.

Bryan Bobblehead: Girl, you so crazy!

Me: Um...have you suddenly turned into a sassy black woman? And what are you doing here?

Bryan Bobblehead: 1) I wish! 2) I live in this kitchen and you need me.

Me (as I continue to chop onions and prep the chicken): How do you figure?

Bryan Bobblehead: Well you can't deny I bring something to this relationship. My steely blue gaze......

...hot tattoos....

and a tight ass.

Plus, you just effed up the chicken thus proving my point that you need a professional in this shamble of a kitchen.

Me: It's fine.

Bryan Bobblehead: Oh really, let's take a closer look....

....That is what you get for not fully reading directions and not knowing the basics of proper chicken preparation.

Me: Listen plastic boy, I know you have a fair point but this chicken is soon going to be smothered in all kinds of deliciousness and a little missing skin will be unnoticeable.

Bryan Bobblehead: I can see where you are going with this, but somehow I feel like you will fail.

Me: Thanks for the support.

Bryan Bobblehead: That's what I'm here for sista!

45 minutes later: cous cous cooked, and tagine finished and plated.

Bryan Bobblehead: I don't know, it looks a bit questionable.

....and did you just take a picture without me. Let's take another shot.

Me: Ugh you are a pain in my....(rudely interrupted)

Bryan Bobblehead: CHEESE!

(Snap)

Me: Listen, I know that this tagine may not win best in show, looks wise, but it tastes delicious. Chicken falling off the bone, sweet potatoes, prunes, cinnamon, saffron, and a dash of awesomeness make this a winning recipe.

Bryan Bobblehead: Say what you want, this is when I'm glad I don't have to try any of the crazy things you cook.

Me: You realize that I am bigger than you?

Bryan Bobblehead: You don't scare me.

(muffled voice from the kitchen drawer)

I was just kidding girl! HAHAHA! You know I was just joshing ya! Okay? We're cool right? You gonna let me out soon right? Right.......?

(Author's note: This recipe really was delicious, albeit some mistakes on my part. Thanks!)

Cooking with a Voltaggio

2011-01-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

Me: Let's welcome our kitchen guest tonight, Bryan Voltaggio

Bryan: Excuse me, do not lie to the two people that actually take the time to read this craphshoot you call a blog.

Me: What do you mean?

Bryan: Tell them.

Me: Fine! Welcome my Bryan Voltaggio bobblehead!

Bryan Bobblehead: Now that's more like it. Okay, so what are we cooking tonight?

Me: I'm not really sure.....I was thinking...

Bryan Bobblehead: Awe geez! Do I have to do all the work around here?

Me: No, I swear, I kinda thought.....

Bryan Bobblehead: Errrr! Try again sweet cheeks. Just listen to your ol' bobblehead friend and grab that cookbook your sis and bro-law gave you for Christmas.

(Me finds said cookbook and comes back to the kitchen)

Brayn Bobblehead: Now that's what I'm talking about. Let's just open this up.......

...Some help would be nice.

Me: Sorry about that.

Bryan: Dude! First recipe and I'm already in heaven. Ol' Dorie Greenspan knows how to get my dough to rise. Hahahaha! See what I did there!

Me: Yeah, real clever.

Bryan Bobblehead: Shhh! I'm having a moment.....

...Okay let's get this started.

Me: Do I even have a choice in the matter?

Bryan Bobblehead: No, now get this stuff measured and make me some gougeres stat!

Me: Fine! But next time I'm picking.

Bryan Bobblehead: Yeah, yeah sure; now get moving.

5 minutes later

Me: Dorie was not lying about needing some elbow grease to incorporate these eggs in.

Bryan Bobblehead: Well since you were lazy and did not go to the gym you should just accept it as your punishment. Now keep stirring!

Another 5 minutes later.

Me: Done! Not to shabby if I say so myself.

Bryan Bobblehead: We'll see wannabe blogger girl.

Me: Thanks for the vote of confidence.....

30 minutes later.

Me: So there Bobblehead!

Bryan Bobblehead: Not bad. Looks pretty damn close to that pic. But what do they taste like?

Me: Like light, fluffy cheese clouds.

Bryan Bobblehead: Wow, that does sound amazing.

Me: I know right?! Sweet baby Jesus, these are delicious. And since you are just a bobblehead that I have placed my inner monologue on, I don't have to share any with you.

Bryan Bobblehead: Ouch, that hurt; but touche friend, touche.

Ginger cookies & Mr. Darcy

2010-12-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

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

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
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.
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

2010-11-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-10-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-10-17T14:23:00.001-07:00

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?

2010-10-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-10-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

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.....

2010-09-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

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.

It's a Nectarine Crisp and Hot Tub Time Machine kind of day

2010-09-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

There is an excess of fruit on my counter and every time I enter the kitchen they keep giving me the evil eye as they darken and begin to show their age. I guiltily turn away and pretend not to notice, but in my heart I know it may be too late. So what do I do? Damn myself for eternity or turn to Google for help? I pick the latter.

Another great Tasty Kitchen find! And I loved that I did not have to buy anything for this. I actually did not have enough of some of the ingredients, only 6 tbsp of butter instead of 8 and ½ cup of brown sugar, which is not quite the recommended amount. But I was still be able to make it work and I feel like I am really coming into my own in this whole baking business. High five for me!

So here is to a lazy Saturday and a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I will now be furthering my relationship with my crisp.

P.S. I cannot figure out how to remove those darn underlines in the first paragraphs! My apologies.

Infatuation

2010-08-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Friends I have become infatuated, and I am not embarrassed to admit it. I know that I focus on food on this blog but I am seriously enamored with music at the moment. Since hearing this band's video one morning I knew I had to hear more. And I have realized I am not the only one.

Band Name: Mumford & Sons

Style: Folk

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E

OMG!!! You need to watch and I hope that you enjoy as much as I do. I am seriously infatuated. I am making a trip to Boston in November just to see them live and I am more excited than a kid on Christmas day. Please enjoy because they are amazing. I mean what is a better combination than scruffy English boys singing about "feelings"? ;)

No Knead Bread

2010-08-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Why do carbs have to be bad when they taste so glorious! Bread has been such an important part of the human diet throughout food history, and I just won't give it up. Atkins be damned, I love bread and I will have it! Especially when I make it myself.

My first adventure into bread making was pretty damn successful. I chose a no knead bread recipe, which I thought would be the perfect intro into this new baking experience. After reading about it multiple times in many blogs and books I just took it as a sign that this was where I would start.

The hardest part is waiting. Waiting for the dough to rise, waiting for it to rise again, and then waiting for it to cool so you can have a taste. But you will not be disappointed. A crunchy crust with a nice chewy center, which is perfect for dipping in oil and vinegar or making into a sandwich.

I did a little bit of both as I had to test the bread properly. :) For my next experiment with this recipe I will definitely try putting in some herbs or maybe dried fruit, the possibilities are really endless. Hopefully this will inspire you to give it a try as well.

So lazy...

2010-08-14T05:55:00.001-07:00

I have been inexcusably lazy lately. June, that was the last time I posted and we are well into August now. My only reason is that life is happening. The 9-5, the restaurant blog I write, travelling, and general debauchery have kept cooking projects at bay. And yet I have been sitting on this blog post for awhile. Back in July, 4th of July weekend to be exact, I had bought an exorbitant amount of cherries because they are delicious and were on sale. You can't really beat that combination.

I am serious when I say that the amount of cherries in my fridge that weekend was beyond ridiculous for one person. A snack for the fireworks show is why I had bought them, and we definitely did some some damage, but there was still a lot of left overs. Knowing I could not destroy these cherries by straight snacking alone, I knew I had an opportunity to try some recipes out.

First up was Cherry Brown Butter Bars that Smitten Kitchen had tried out back in 2009 from a Bon Appetit recipe. The hardest part of this recipe was removing the pits manually as I am without a fancy pit remover device. My suggestion is to just turn on the tunes and just get your groove on while you do a bit of mundane work. But it is so worth the effort, because this recipe is delicious. It is also a relatively simple recipe to make. I could have browned the butter a bit more to bring a bit more nutty flavor into the bar, but I was so worried about burning it that I may have stopped just a minute short. No matter, because the results were amazing. I know that my co-workers agreed as I brought my baking efforts into work and they cleared the pan in no time flat.

With one baking success under my belt I decided to continue on this baking kick. This time I took a look at the member recipe site Tasty Kitchen that has been put together by Ree, The Pioneer Woman. This is a great site to find a multitude of different kind of recipes that are thought up by cooking enthusiasts. I also like that you can search the site by ingredient, so when I entered "Cherry" a multitude of ideas were presented to me. Wanting to pick something I could again bring to the office I decided another bar recipe would be ideal, and the Cherry & Crystallized Ginger Crumb Bar, by cookincanuk, immediately caught my eye.

Another clear success. The ginger in the title is no joke. Where a lot of ginger treats leave you with just subtle note, this is a very strong and prominent ginger flavor. This is definitely a recipe for ginger lovers. I ended up passing on the recipe to a few of my co-workers as they really loved it, and now I am spreading the word to you as well.

So for now that is it, but I do have a couple more posts in the works. A little synopsis of Montreal and a break down of my first bread making experience. Until then have a great weekend.

Cookie Monster!

2010-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting on this post for awhile, though I have no idea why. It's not like my life of saving the world is so busy that I cannot take a little time to write. So today I have put a hold on my other extracurricular activities and decided I will do this. Because this is a great cookie recipe. Granted I am no Betty Crocker, but I truly enjoyed working on this recipe and even my mess ups of baking for a bit too long and putting to many on a sheet pan that resulted in some big connected globs of cookies were delicious.

I actually made this recipe twice in a one week period. Discovered through Tasting Table, the actual recipe come from David Lebovitz and his latest book Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. I just knew I had to try my hand at making homemade cookies, and I was not disappointed. But the first time I ended up with my cookies exuding into each other's space and performing a little hanky panky with each other, which ended with these results:

I also put the cookies in for a little too long for my liking. I am someone that like my cookies crispy on the edges and soft in the middle.

So the second time around I became a factory line cookie backing machine. Rotating shelves and trays, which resulted in a more uniform shape and better texture.

In the second batch I also added in a bit of cinnamon which I really liked. And I think you could just add the cinnamon, and leave out the chocolate to have one mean snickerdoodle recipe. I also liked that I did half semi-sweet and bitter-sweet instead of just one or the either. It was a great combination that gave richness and depth to the cookie. But all in all you should give this recipe a try (see below). The results are delicious.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes, by David Lebovitz (Ten Speed Press)

Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

2½ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, almonds or macadamia nuts), toasted and coarsely chopped
14 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract at medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated, then blend in the flour mixture, nuts and chocolate chunks.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably 24 hours. (The dough logs can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.)

4. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

5. Slice the dough logs into ¾-inch-thick disks and place the disks 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. If the nuts or chips fall out, simply push them back in. Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until very lightly browned in the centers, about 10 minutes.

6. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

California Lovin'

2010-05-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Mobile food vendors have been around for decades, and yet in the past few years they have again captured the imagination of our nation. LA has been on the forefront of this movement with the many food trucks that are daily twittering their wares to a very hungry city. In a state that most people consider to be a culture of salad eaters and general health nuts, you are seeing people who want some haute street food with meat and spice. Not what one would usually consider "healthy".

DC is following suit with many food trucks now gathering a following, but since I am currently in LA it only made sense to try some of the originals. With my brother in law playing tour guide we made our mission, and that mission was tacos. With the help of http://www.ilovestreeteats.com/la we were able to check out all the different food trucks twitter feeds at once which made it super easy to find which truck we could get to quickly. The Flying Pig was heading to Downtown LA and with pork belly buns as a prospective edible delight we hopped in the car and headed to the freeway.

On a side note, can I just say how much I miss California driving. It just makes so much more sense to me then the craziness that is NoVA and DC. Driving around the district with friends can be quite stressful and I'm not even the one driving. Thank god I can walk and metro to everywhere that I need to go. But how I miss the buzz of driving with the windows down, warm sun coming down, and the landscape of mountains and ocean surrounding me.

Now back to the Flying Pig......

We found the truck around 12:30 and there already was a pretty decent line. We were all set to split a few things, but were a bit disappointed they were already out of the shrimp burrito. Oh well! We ended up order 2 pork belly buns, 2 duck tacos, and 2 spicy pork tacos.

As time passed we realized that this order seemed to be taking much longer than it should be. By the time 30 minutes had passed we began to wonder what was up. "Hanger" was beginning to creep in on both of us as well as all of the other customers. Trucks are supposed to quick lunch spots to grab in a few minutes and run back to the office. As another food truck passed promising delicious burger sliders, and the smell of beef wafted past, everyone seemed to surge forward on the truck with the intent of making these tacos appear.

An hour passed. You read that right. One Hour! Utterly ridiculous, I know. Why did we wait? Who really knows. We could have cancelled our order and moved just down the block to the next trick. But I was determined and kept thinking that we would soon have our food. It turns out that 2 very rude girls ordered enough tacos to feed about 20 people, which held up everything up for everyone. First of all, a mobile food truck is for quick eating not catering. Second, the people who run the Flying Pig should have a policy of what is an appropriate amount to order to keep their "kitchen" moving so as to benefit the lunchtime crowd. Needless to say, once we finally received our food we were a bit perturbed. I wanted to hate it, to have my anger justified but damn, it was so freakin good!

The pork belly bun was my favorite of the three things. Fatty pork belly with pickled cucumbers and onions in a soft pastry bun. The tacos were also delicious, though the spicy pork was my favorite. I do think that the wait was most likely an anomaly due to the those girls that ordered for an army, but I would hope that the Flying Pig would learn a lesson from this as well.

Here is the thing, I was still hungry and 2 small tacos and a pork belly bun were not going to fill me up. After an hour of waiting and smelling the burger truck down the way, it just seemed right to check it out. With only a few dollars left we headed down to the Pattywagon which sells organic grass fed beef mini sliders. We were able to order 2 mini sliders, a regular burger and another with sauteed onions and peppers. The meat was flavorful that we did not even to add any sauce or condiment. This was the ultimate burger and I would definitely love to check them out again and try some of their specialty burgers.

Can anyone please tell me why the paragraphs above were all underlined and how to remove said underline? I am too lazy to figure it out, so sorry for the inconsistency. But I will leave you with this, if you are in LA it is worth finding one of the many food trucks that drive around the county. Just remember to have some cash on hand and to have your twitter account. To close I must share the cutest little dog ever that should leave you with a smile. My aunt's dog Gigi who was saved from an animal shelter. She had some teeth problems and had to have a few of them removed, thus her tongue is always hanging out of her mouth. Awwwww! Have a wonderful week!

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

2010-04-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

The seemingly innocent baked good you see above was a task I decided to make at the last minute. In my last couple of hours at work yesterday I ventured into a blog break and came upon Smitten Kitchen's Lime Yogurt Cake. I immediately was intrigued by the idea of making a cake with yogurt. It made me think of something light and fluffy. And with the realization that I had most of the ingredients, except for eggs, I decided to venture into this new baking territory.

The only thing I changed was the use of grapefruit instead of lime. I had invested in a grocery box with a friend and had a grapefruit and orange that I was at odds with myself what to do with. You see I am a lazy fruit eater. I hate peeling things in order to eat them, with the exception of a banana. And that pith that is such a bitch to get off just makes me upset altogether. So a recipe where I just needed to juice my grapefruit is right up my alley.

What can I say about this recipe. It was neither bad or mind blowing. The actual process was quite simple but I do think I did a few things incorrectly. After you sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients the directions say to stir with a spoon until just combined. And it is at this point, friends, that I think I just took things a little bit too literally. So with my regular old spoon that I eat my cereal with I began to fold and stir but saw that the resulting batter was full of large lumps. I thought that's why I sifted, but lumps came about all the same. With whisk in hand I decided to try to eliminate some of these lumps and did a few light stirs to take care of them. Well, i think I stirred too much too fast which resulted in a heavy cake. I wanted something that my fork would just cook through with easy, but found that I made something with a little more give. It still was edible, but I wanted something more.

I also wished the grapefruit would have been a bit more of an upfront taste. It is instead a very subtle background note. My only solace is that I still have an orange on my counter which can only mean another cake this weekend. Who wants to come over to try?

P is for Party......and Pate!

2010-04-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

DC is full of wonderful farmers markets that dot every neighborhood in our four quadrants. And now that spring has sprung the markets have been booming with more vendors and people. Being a Capitol Hill resident I am an avid supporter of Eastern Market (the oldest and longest running market in DC) and love exploring the stalls every weekend, but I love to get off the hill and explore other venues. It was at the Dupont Farmer Market that I came upon a purveyor of all things meat who was selling pate made of pig jowl. Oh my....if you love to eat pork products than you would love this. Creamy, fatty with a bit of a spicy kick. That pate lasted about 3 days in my fridge as I was enjoying pate sandwiches way too much.

On this particular visit to the Dupont Farmers Market I was with my friends, who also enjoy spreadable meats as much as I do, and as we purchased our beautiful rounds of pig jowls it was discussed that we should have a pate party. I mean why not? We love pate. And any excuse for a party is fine by me. But this was not to be a party of pre-bought goods, because as we consider ourselves true foodies we decided we must try at our hand at making at our own pates. Crazy? Maybe. Delicious? Yes!

My assignment was to make Pistachio Pate, which includes chicken livers, onion, butter, pistachio, allspice, pepper, brandy, and salt. Really pate is a peasant food that was developed to make use of the undesirable meats that were left over as nothing could go to waste. And I thank the lord to whatever peasant figured it out since my life would be so incomplete without spreadable meat. And now a photo montage of my experience in mate making:

Browning chicken livers in butter.

Once you brown the livers and saute the onions, you blend them with the spices and brandy until smooth.

Once blended you refrigerate until it is set.

I added a little decor with some leftover pistachios and was pleased with the results. The entire pate party was a success. Every one's contributions were delicious and I am so excited for future opportunities to make more varieties of pate. Here is the website that we used to figure out what type of pate we wanted to make: http://basic-recipes.com/r/p/index.htm

Tarts and Vicars...minus the vicar

2010-03-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

I spent most of afternoon and early evening making a tart on Saturday. I had bought a pan and had made a deal to myself signed in blood that I would achieve a tart recipe this weekend. And it was so worth the effort.....

Oh yeah! That is some good looking dough! I was a bit doubtful that it would come together, but look at me continually surprising myself. The entire process of making this dish was one of the most relaxing things that I will probably do this weekend. There is something innately comforting in getting your hands dirty with crust and having the rising smells of roasted cauliflower and caramelized onions enveloping you. With the addition of Lady Gaga in the background to provide some good cooking music, the evening just flew by.

This is a rich tart. The original recipe has you using mascarpone cheese for the custard, but I took Smitten Kitchen's suggestion of using ricotta as a replacement. Next time I would also use a low fat milk instead of heavy cream, which was another of her suggestions. I was worried with the use of skim ricotta that I would be lacking something, but hell this tart is still delicious. And I think you could definitely apply this same recipe to many different vegetable combinations. Once summer is in full bloom I would love to try it with summer squash and asparagus. Oh the possibilities.

But I think that it is important to remind you that this is me cooking. And when I cook something always goes slightly awry.

Mishap 1: When I checked my tart after 40 minutes the custard was set, but upon cutting I thought the crust still needed a little more time to crisp up some more. So with one piece missing I put her back in the oven for another 15 minutes to really finish off the bottom of the crust. Kinda ghetto? Yes! Did it work though? Yes!

Mishap 2: After finally sitting down to my dinner and taking my first bite I was ecstatic. And then I looked at my tart again and...oh crap. A hair, obviously one of mine, had somehow managed to insert itself into all of my hard work. You have to understand, I shed like a long haired kitten and am constantly battling the onslaught of stray hair encroaching on my life. Inside I battled with the fact that I had somehow managed to let a strand, albeit a small one, into my masterpiece and the fact that the only person eating this is me so who really cares. Can you guess which battle won? You better bet I just took that bad boy out and continued on. Are you disgusted by me? Well you can buy me a hair net for future recipes that will be shared, but since this tart is mine, all mine, I'm going to shake it off and move on.

2 days in a row blogging?! I surprise even myself.

2010-03-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

I am seriously amazed with myself. I have been a bit of a lazy oaf when it comes to cooking lately, but something has hit me over the head and I am back at it. Could it be the nice weather, vegetables staring at me guiltily from the counter, or just a new lease on life? I think it may be all of the above and I am not going to question it.

Here is the problem with me. I am not much of planner when it comes to knowing what I will make with all of the lovely food that I make. I just see something pretty and go for it and then spend a week trying to figure out what the heck I should make; and then it is some lat minute thrown together meal in an effort to use everything before it goes bad. Recently I have actually been making shopping lists and looking up recipes before hand, which has made me feel triumphant with all of my wonderful left overs for the week and it is also so much more cost effective for my wallet. (Who would've thunk it?! ~sarcasm~) But alas, I am a vegetable/fruit-holic and sometimes fall off the truck when I see a scrumptious food thing. That was the case with my lovely acorn squash that had been languishing on the counter. Poor thing! I tried to avoid eye contact, but I could feel her giving me the evil eye. It must be done, and did it was! HAHAHAHA! I know...I'm the only one that thinks I'm funny.

Inspiration came in the form of Pioneer Woman and her Trinidadian Chicken Curry. It looked so delicious and I had been having a hankering for some curry. The stars aligned when I realized that I had the necessary ingredients, with the exception of chicken. But what about using my acorn squash and some shrimp that could be de-frosted in no time? Only one way to find out.

In her recipe she marinated the chicken for at least an hour in garlic, tomato, onion, cilantro and mustard. I didn't have much time for marinading but I coated my squash in dijon mustard and minced garlic. The actual curry making was very straight forward: take turmeric, curry, and water to make a slurry, add it to heated vegetable oil, and allow to form a fragrant paste. Once the color had deepened and the slurry had thickened I added the squash and water. From that point it was pretty much guess work. Pioneer Woman cooked her chicken for 15-20 minutes, but as I wasn't really sure how long the squash would take to soften so I just had to play it by ear. Once the squash was fork tender I added the shrimp and then called it day! It took about 30-35 minutes, but the results were delicious!

I had some left over colcannon from last night's St. Patrick's Day party so I used that as my curry sauce catcher instead of rice. I'm going rogue over here! Yum and yum! Though not traditional it was really filling and I had one less thing I had to worry about cooking, which is always a plus in my book.

And now it's cooking picture time!!!

Curry Slurry!

Squashing the competition...curry style!

The final product.

One more day of celebrating St. Patrick's Day...why I think I will!

2010-03-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Top of the mornin' to you! Okay so it is the afternoon, but let's not split hairs here. It is gorgeous in DC but I had to spend some time in the kitchen to make my dish for a belated St. Patrick's Day party. So with the theme being Irish, duh!, I was on a quest for some simple and inexpensive to make. There is definitely one thing to be said about Irish food, a lot of the traditional dishes are simple "peasant" food that had to be filling and inexpensive, which works out for me. I actually found my recipe on tastykitchen.com. If anyone has ever read Pioneer Woman you should definitely check out this newest addition to her site that is a place where her readers and friends can share recipes. It was in this member site that I found:

Can you tell why I picked this recipe? Hmmm...Difficulty=Easy and Time=35 minutes, this has my name written all over it. And Calcannon has a very short and approachable list of ingredients: potatoes, kale (or cabbage if you like), onion, whole milk (I used skim to cut some of the calories), unsalted butter, salt and pepper.

And yet with a simple ingredient list I somehow managed to make things difficult for myself. The thing is I have never cleaned, cut, or cooked kale. In the end it was not bad, it was just more work then I had anticipated. And after I had cleaned and chopped all of my kale I wondered about this line in the directions, the 3rd line to be exact:

It says, "to another small pot of water add the chopped kale......". But how was this bowl of kale possibly going to fit into a small pot?

It just didn't make sense. I mean I knew it would wilt, but it was barely fitting in my large pot and here they were telling me to use a SMALL one. But then I saw this cute guy on my bananas and all was right with the world again.

Okay, that was just a complete 180 in topic direction but I seriously saw that monkey while I was corralling all the kale in my pot and I just cracked up. Anyhoo, large pot+a whole lot of kale=perfectly boiled and wilted kale. Everything was going right with the world. It definitely took me longer than 35 minute to get this all together, but it still was easy to pull together. Since I did decide to use skim milk, I added more butter to add a bit more richness. I think next time I would add a bit of sour cream to bring some more creaminess to the dish, but besides all that I think it will be a great contribution for tonight.

After my morning of cooking it was time to enjoy the sunshine. Color has started to come to DC and there is no way you can't feel good with such gorgeousness surrounding you. And now a little picture montage of my neighborhood, enjoy!

My favorite extracurricular activity...

2010-02-25T06:58:00.000-08:00

Here is something you should know about me: I am a pole dancer by night. There it's out in the open now. Phew! I guess I should follow that with saying it is a pole dancing for fitness class; so no I am not working for the dolla dolla bills y'all. But I am super obsessed with learning how to become a better pole dancer. Fact or Fiction: The highlight of my week was leaning how to climb the pole? That friends is a fact! Not only can I climb the pole, I can also do multiple kind of spins and turns, though I have yet to master any upside down tricks. There are always more things to aim for and I need to have goals in my life, so that is one of them: to go upside down in my pole dancing class.

Pole dancing is no laughing matter, those strippers need to be given some mad props because this sh** be hurd (that's right not just hard, it's hurd). At one point my entire left hip was black and blue from doing a simple fan kick and the other day the top of my right foot was bruised from learning to climb said pole. I totally need to think of a good name for my pole since we have such an intimate relationship, I mean we have gone to at least second base so I guess that deserves us being on a first name basis with each other.

Me: Hi, Pole, my name is Veronica. My favorite color is blue, I enjoy spinning around your svelte frame, and my favorite food is Indian.

Pole: Hi, Veronica, my name is Rupert. My favorite color is silver, I enjoy jammin' to moody girl groups, and I think you should lay off that butter chicken for both of our sakes.

Me: Uncalled for, but point taken.

So pole dancing is hard, and you will definitely gain some upper body strength but I would be lying if I said there weren't amusing parts to learning pole dancing. Hilarity 1: Part of our class involves spanking our asses and learning how to move one butt cheek at a time. You just have to take it in good fun and go with the flow because everyone else is doing it. Hilarity 2: my teacher is a very hot and very pregnant woman and the fact that she will always be sexier than me doing hip circles, even when she is 5 months pregnant, is just god's little way of putting me in my place. Hilarity 3: Mighty Grip. So this actually more of a story, an anecdote let's say. There is this fun little liquid we use called Mighty Grip which allows you to do all of these tricks without slipping/falling from the sweat that will encase your body. At my last class I put some on to practice climbing, went up Rupert twice, slid down, high fived myself, and made my way to get ready for quiz night. As I was getting dressed I was having real issues putting on my tights (as in they would not budge) and that's when it dawned on me....Mighty Grip. I had slathered the stuff on my hands, thighs, and top of my feet and now I had a protective coating that is not easily removed and would not allow my tights to be pulled up my legs. It took a good 10 minutes for me to wrangle myself back into them, and I was sweating again. Is this a lesson learned? Probably not because Mighty Grip is a pole dancer's liquid gold, and you can't give up liquid gold.
There is pain, bruises, ass spanking, big heels, and tiny shorts, but it is also seriously fun. Go try it if you can, and you will get addicted as well.

The squash has been sitting on my counter way too long!

2010-02-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

The theme of tonight's dinner was to use up the produce that has been languishing on the counter for almost 2 weeks now. Who knows, it could be longer. With influx of snow all the days began to mesh together and I lost track of everything. But now DC is almost back to functioning and I guess that is a sign that I should start doing so as well. Off to the kitchen I went with my main task to use my butternut squash and onion that needed to be given some attention.

I think what amazed me about myself is that I had no freaking clue what I was going to do but I just made it work. After digging through my cabinets and spice collection I decided to go with a Moroccan feeling meal. Butternut squash and onion sauteed with cinnamon, chili powder, cumin, and white wine. Once all of my ingredients began a happy little dance in the pan I added chickpeas, chicken sausage, cranberries, and Greek yogurt (to thicken all the juices up!). With some couscous to catch all the delicious sauce I had an easy dinner in front of me, and plenty of left-overs for a few lunches.

I also was just plain happy with how my pictures turned out. Living in a basement apartment I do not get much natural sun light which is one of the most important things when taking pictures of food. But playing with the angles and trying different locations on the counter I was able to snag some paparazzi worthy pics.

Bears have invaded DC!

2010-02-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

Not only was DC blanketed in 30 inches of snow, which has put the District into a stand still, but bears have invaded as well. It's amazing but true. I will take you on a tour of my time in Snow-mageddon 2010. I swear I was just walking around, trying to take some nice pics of the neighborhood blanketed in snow and then I saw it......

My street

The Mall

The Capitol

AND.........

AAAAAHHHHHH! It's a bear! A skinny, scraggly bear. And look, he likes to fit in with the tourists and take pictures of the snowy events as well. But don't be fooled, because this what that bear was taking pictures of:

That's right people, he was scoping out potential meals on the sledding hill.

And with more snow on the way I expect that more of these furry creatures will be coming out.

I'm Chillaxin with some Chili

2010-01-24T14:02:00.011-08:00

Winter is wily woman that is for sure. One day I am freezing my ass off under grey, cloudy skies; and the next day it is sunny and beautiful and I not even wearing a jacket. I bet you can guess what happens next in the scenario...yep she decides to play with my emotions and drop the temp just for a good laugh. Oh Winter....I am beginning to understand your ways.

So what does a young lass do to kill some time and keep her warm through the winter nights? Bet you said make soup! HAHAHAHA! While a very good guess I decided to turn toward soup's brotha from another motha chili. Venison chili to be exact.

Back at the beginning of December I participated in a Venison cooking class at Zola Wine & Kitchen. It was a great class where we learned how to make pot pie, chili, and steak and eggs with venison. Being someone who loves game meat I was so excited to learn some simple recipes that can be used with venison. And as far as game meats go, venison is the most mild in terms of that "gami-ness" taste that you ever love or hate. As I am a lover of all games meats (buffalo, yes, elk, yes, kangaroo, yes, camel, yes) I am game, hahaha, to try it all!

Not only did I make the actual chili I also cooked the beans and roasted my peppers for the recipe. I will toot my own horn and say that I am the bomb and was pretty impressed with my skills!

The other cast of characters included onions, chili, chicken stock, chicken broth, garlic, diced tomatoes, and venison.

Honestly this was such a simple recipe to do:

1.Brown meat, remove and set aside

2. saute onions and once softened add chili powder and cook for a minute

3. then add broth, stock, peppers, garlic, tomato, and beans and heat through

4. Once everything has come to temp add the meat and continue to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

For realz people....that is it. And chili is one of those things that just gets better the next day as it is allowed to marinate in it's deliciousness. I actually cooked this late in the eve for the next day when my parents would be over for lunch so that the chili could do just that. And my effort was rewarded. Simple and hearty without being so heavy that you are put into a chili coma. I served with some garlic bread and would have put together a salad if I would have thought of it earlier. Oh well....guess I can't be perfect all the time! :)

My favorite holiday of the year has arrived! Happy Restaurant Week!

2010-01-16T04:54:00.005-08:00

Oh Restaurant Week! How long I have waited for you? What is that? It's only been 4 months? Logistics friends, it has been too long since I have felt your sweet embrace.

Who doesn't love a good deal? Well that is what Restaurant Week is if you plan your meal strategically. I know I have stated the rules before but I think they should be repeated.

1. When looking at the list of participating restaurant on OpenTable sort that list by price and stick to the $$$$-$$$. The point is to go try a restaurant that you can't go to often, that is a splurge, an where you get the most bang for your $35.10.

2. Go check if the restaurant has a theatre or daily prefixe menu. If they do, pick someplace else. Having a prefixe menu all year makes it, well, readily available so go someplace where this is a special event.

3. Check out DCFoodies.com. They have past restaurant week menus online and great feedback on participating restaurants.

4. Most restaurants post Restaurant Week menus online so go check them out. If the restaurant pares down their menu then it is best to look elsewhere. I also like to check out the prices so I see what items I get the most out of. (people my life is on a budget! I want the most bang for my buck)

Now that that is out of the way let's talk about some food. I know that I am constantly extolling the virtues of DC and what a great city it is, but I am not completely against our neighbor suburbs: Silver Spring, Bethesda, Alexandria, and Arlington. So this time around we ventured into the dangerous land of NOVA into the area called "Ballston" to partake in a gastronomic adventure at Willow restaurant.

Willow describes itself as modern continental with major influences from French and Italian cuisine. One could definitely feel these influences in the food offerings preparation. Butter Poached Lobster Agnolotti were ravioli-like pillows stuffed with rich lobster swimming in a decadent pink sauce. What was amazing was to have such sizable pieces of lobster in each of the 3 agnolotti so you could truly taste and enjoy it. The dish was finished with Parmesan "chips" which were delicious. (see picture below)

As you can tell from the picture below, I did not enjoy this appetizer at all!

My friend had the mushroom bisque. A rich, creamy soup that was finished with creme fraiche and basil oil. I am afraid my pics are not doing the food justice but trust me, it was wonderful.

For my main course I had the crispy leg of duck with cassoulet. Anyone who knows me that I love duck and this fulfilled all of my ducky desires. The skin was crisp and rich, while the meat just fell off the bone and melted in your mouth. The cassoulet had sausage that is made in-house and was a little bowl of meat heaven. I thought the pile of greenery put on top was a bit much, but hey I understand the desire to add color to your presentation. I think that it was the only thing, beside the bone, left on my plate.

Finally, to round things off you must have dessert. Yes you are stuffed and could stop, but what would be the fun in that! Besides, we all know that the dessert part of our stomachs is always open and ready to accept sweet treats. And when your dessert is sticky toffee pudding with peppermint ice cream, well you would just be crazy to pass this up.

I wish you could see the fleck of green in the ice cream, but you'll just have to believe me. At this point I am in a food coma and nothing makes sense anymore. Everything has been so freakin' good that I am just content and warm with happy thoughts. It could also have been that wine pairing we did as well, which I would totally suggest. $15 for 3 glasses, that is seriously a steal and worth the extra splurge.

Willow Restaurant

4301 North Fairfax Drive

Arlington, VA 22203

Next up.....Venison Chili!

2010 Resolutions

2010-01-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions as I usually forget them or blow them within the first week of the new year. But I feel that this year needs a jump start that maybe a few resolutions will help along.

Thus my resolution for 2010 is to be better to myself. A pretty broad statement but I think it encompasses everything that I aiming for. Whether that be eating well, working out, or calming down my sailor mouth. But I think that the biggest part to this resolution is to think better of myself and to stop the negative thoughts that love to creep up and tell me I'm not smart enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, and I don't deserve happiness. How will I ever be truly comfortable in my own skin if I don't value my own worth in this world? And to be quite honest I think that this is going to be the hardest thing for me to achieve.

It seems that in this day and age that we are constantly required to nit pick ourselves that we can never feel truly content or happy. And when so many people in this world are without jobs, homes, and are struggling to get by it can feel like we are bad people by allowing ourselves to splurge on our well-being and be happy.

This not to say I am going to blow all my paycheck on shopping and constant weekends away. But I will allow myself to invest in some things that make me feel good about myself. Which is why I put hot pink nail polish on and bought some fire truck red lipstick.

So here is to a good start to 2010. My red lipstick diaries and more experiments in the kitchen will soon follow.

It's 2010 bitches!

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

I have just come home from partying friends. I did not even go to a bar and yet somehow lost my purse and wallet in the process of getting home. Did I mention that I have flight tomorrow? And did I mention that the car that I left my purse in is my friends, God love her, who is constantly 5 hours late to everything. Not exactly the place you want to leave it when you have a flight to catch. Especially when a Nigerian would-be bomber causes such a ruckus that I need to get to the airport at least 2-3 hours early,

But before my drunken stupidity I was having a great NYE celebration with my friends. New Years Eve is one of those celebrations that is so hit or miss. If you plan too much it is going to blow, but if you plan too little you will end up at home sitting around and watching Lifetime Movie Network. There really is nothing better than just going to a friends house and just hanging out.. Forget the expensive bars and cover charges, just be with your people and call it a freakin day.

That is what I did and i had a great time. Of course any place where food and booze is involved I am a very happy girl. Can you say mini meatballs? Can you say candy sushi and cheese cream cupcakes? Can you also say fattie? I wish I could say I had will power but that would be just kidding ourselves. Do you remember that 50 Cent song where he states "I love you like a fat kid love cake", well I am that fat kid that loves cake. I currently have nothing to exert my love on so I just love cake and matter of fact I love all baked goods, anything involving bacon, if there is hummus involved I'm there, sour gummi worms...done, did you say cheese, well then I can't say no.

Can you sense my New Year's resolution?

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's and here's to an eventful 2010!

My Big Fat Armenian Wedding

2009-12-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

Let me state this first, I did not get married! But saying my sister's big fat Armenian wedding just doesn't sound quite right. But let's move away from technicalities and get to the meat of the matter. My sister (beautiful, confident, smart, lovely sister) has married the boy of her dreams last Sunday and I could not be happier. It's just amazing to me that it is over. You plan something for months and months and then BOOM, it is done. And now my sister is a MRS! That has to be the craziest part for me. I can remember us talking about what we dreamed about our wedding being like when we were kids. We were very taken with the idea of having a rainbow wedding where each bridesmaid would where a different colored dress and her partner in the groom's party would have a matching vest. Can you tell that we were children of the 80s? And that we may have been thinking of the ideal wedding for Rainbow Bright?

Needless to say that idea did not come to fruition at her wedding. The bridal party wore deep navy blue cocktail dresses, with pockets, with the boys looking dapper in dark suits. The flowers were shades of dark purple and blue, and the overall theme was "effortlessly elegant".

What had to be the most interesting part of this whole experience was the blending of 2 cultures. You see, my new brother in law is Armenian and is very active in the Armenian community in Glendale. Some people have not even heard of Armenia or know where it is so I will enlighten you. Armenia is a country that has had a pretty war torn and bloody past (and I will not assume to be an authority), but geographically it lies between Turkey and Georgia. It also shares similar food, dance, and culture with Greece. And if you weren't sure if there were is a connection between these two countries you would have realized it after this wedding.

I wish I could convey the tastes, the sounds, and overall joy that was emanating from this event. But as my favorite subject is food I think I am just going to stick with that for the moment. Let's start with cocktail hour. Honestly I did not see much of it as I was in a special room for the bridal party, but I did sneak out for a bit a what I saw was pretty mind-blowing. Trays and tray of appetizers, a dessert table with baklava, home made fig newtons, dried fruits and nuts, bowls of sour gummy worms, and other sweet treats, and a full bar with top shelf liquor to imbibe on. Seriously? This was only the cocktail hour. You are supposed to whet your appetite, not make a meal on dried dates and neon gummi worms. But who were we to deny ourselves?!

In the actual reception each table was stocked with wine and champagne, had platters of hummus, baba ganoush, taziki, and red pepper dip, along with baskets of bread, charcuterie, and cheese. Oh were we in trouble! And the thing is you are starving. You have been waiting for a nibble and now it is like a kid in Christmas Day and you are just too excited to stop yourself. Well then a salad came out and after that we each had a plate of dolmas, kibbeh, and some type of fried cheese stick (but not quite like a mozzarella stick).

And while all this food is being put in front of you and taken away you still have a platter of delicious, creamy hummus in front of you that you cannot stop yourself from dipping into and the champagne is consistently being poured; and that's when you realize that you are stuffed. But then you hear that that plate with kibbeh and dolmas was just another appetizer and dinner is going to be served in just a few minutes. WHAT???!!!! But we had dessert at cocktail hour, enough hummus to fill a bathtub with, and fried kibbehs that just put me over the edge. Yet another plate comes out with salmon, filet mignon, and some kind of starch that I could not even comprehend as I was in such a food daze that nothing was making sense anymore.

What is funny about all this is that amount of food that was being served was very toned down for an Armenian event. Traditional Armenian weddings have food served family style with just platter constantly being brought out. My brother in law told me that after the Armenians suffered genocide and starvation they just want to keep eating when they can and any affair from the Sunday family meal to a wedding is stocked with enough food to keep you fat and content for a good week. Well after all of the food I engorged I could definitely live off the fat of the land for awhile (but you know I wouldn't actually done that!) Heck, I stuffed my face and still put a few bites of wedding cake down my gullet.

My only solace is that we danced. We danced to Black Eyed Peas, and then to traditional Armenian music. We danced with lots of hips and booty shaking and then arms high in the air while you delicately swivel your hands and not much else. It was a literal dance off between our families. Not sure who would be the Sharks or Jets, but everyone was bringing their A-game to the dance floor.

In other words, it was a success. Everyone had fun, thought the bride was beautiful, and did not want the night to end. I can only hope if I ever get hitched that I will have such a great party.

The perks of my job...

2009-12-11T21:44:00.001-08:00

One of the perks in my job as a conference coordinator is that our building hosts meeting planner events throughout the year which can be pretty out of this world. And that was the case this past Thursday. The Long Beach CVB & Tampa CVB put together an event at CulinAerie, which is a recreational cooking school in DC, where Carla Hall (season 5 Top Chef Finalist) would be teaching us a cooking class. Hootie hoo...I am in!

Can you say awesome? Fantastic? A wannabe foodies' dream? Carla is everything that she seemed on television. Genuinely happy and down to earth, and extremely dedicated to bringing the "love" into the kitchen. We were able to watch her cook and go through everything that we would be making, where I definitely picked up some tricks, and then she turned us loose to make our dinner happen.

While we cooked she walked around the classroom, gave advice, told us about her Top Chef experience, and let us harass her for pictures (I was one of them!). Where some people who are thrown into the limelight become jaded and almost angry that people want to talk to them, she accepted our attention with grace and class.

What a wonderful night and what delicious food! I came home with a copy of all her recipes (which she did autograph with "Hootie hoo") that we made and I plan on remaking a few things, especially her root vegetable ragout. Her cooking style, at least for the class, was straightforward and relatively simple. Not too many ingredients, no longs hours in the kitchen, and approachable. My kind of cooking.

Gobble Gobble 2009

2009-11-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

On this Thanksgiving, 2009,

Down to the Outerbanks where the views are fine.

Food was abundant and the wine was flowing,

I drank so much my cheeks were glowing.

The children were put to work stuffing the bird,

It seemed right to put them in labor while I watched and observed.

I did make one contribution to this fine feast,

a turkey wine bottle which was no mean feat.

In no time at all we sat down to our dinner,

I definitely walked away from the table no thinner.

And to round it all out, I will not tell a lie,

I had at least two pieces of the most divine pecan pie.

Johnny Appleseed has nothing on me!

2009-10-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday was rainy and seriously cold, but plans had been made and there was no way that I or my friends were going to back out of them. So off into the Virginia countryside we went. By 10:30 am we had found the pick your own apple farm and let me tell you the proprietors were quite surprised to see city girls willing to brave the rain and pick some apples. Despite the cold it was so much fin. I have never gone apple picking as it is not a very common thing to do in SoCal, so I was amped up. Rome, golden delicious, and red delicious were scattered all over the place and their colors were so vivid under the grey sky. I honestly hadn't really thought about how one apple picked, but I had imagined ladders and reaching up into the branches. Yesterday I found myself crawling on hand and knee to get under all the branches and checking out what was strewn on the ground. Although there were some great apples still hanging above, I was not feeling the climbing tree idea as I envisioned my ungraceful self falling down.

I wish it had been less dreary as I would have loved to enjoy all the other produce they had at this little farm. 30 minutes picking enough apples to last 2 weeks was enough and we went on to do some wine tasting. Yummmm......

And boozing did happen and the rest of my day consisted of cheese and wine and I would not have had it any other way. But today I woke up determined to put these apples to use. I mean there is no way I would be apple to eat all these bad boys in a week. As I do not have pie plates, which is probably a good thing, and I wanted to do more than a few baked apples I decided to try my hand at apple sauce. The recipe has cranberries, apples, maple syrup, sugar, water, and cinnamon and it tuned out awesome. So now I am swimming in apple sauce heaven over here and am super excited to have a new snack for my lunch bag. Yeah, you should be jealous.

Okay I know it doesn't look super appetizing, but you have to trust me. It tastes awesome and I feel like I am making some headway in this whole "learning how to cook things besides grilled chicken on a George Foreman".

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and I will try to think of other fun things to talk about.

It smells like chicken in here! And I mean that in the best way possible.

2009-10-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

So I have been on a hiatus and for the few people who amuse me and read this I apologize. To put it bluntly the last couple of weeks have not been my best. I have found myself single again and although my new relationship status is for the best a break up is a break up and it just plains sucks! For the most part I have been kept busy by my friends and have actually done quite a few things: learning how to make homemade pizza dough, drink champagne, Indian food night, drink wine, sweaty yoga, drink beer, etc. Ya know, the standard stuff people do to distract themselves.

During the last two weeks I have been seeking out comfort through food. No friends, I do not appear to be one of these girls who becomes super model skinny from sadness, which actually is a bit of a bummer. I instead started putting on my winter hibernation weight with chocolate, pizza, falafel, and enough booze to make me feel like I was back working at Club Med. But now with the sudden turn of weather here in DC all I have been wanting is soup. This actually works out to be a benefit to me and my waist line. And I am definitely not the only person that feels that way as many of the other food blogs I read have been focusing on soup, so I have had wonderful inspiration.

Last weekend I attended an awesome knife skills at Hill's Kitchen which is wonderful kitchen supply store here on Capitol Hill. The class was actually focused on how to butcher a bird. Let me tell you that is pretty empowering to be able to take a knife and be able to take a part a whole bird. I am not saying that I would be able to do it perfectly on my own, but the knowledge is there. The point of this digression is that from this class I came home with a bag of chicken bones and meat that I am determined to use every bit of. So what with my craving for soup and a bag of bones lurking in my fridge it only seemed best to try my hand at making some chicken stock. So here is a photo essay of my chicken stock making day! (and yes it took most of the day!)

Guess What?.....Chicken Butt!!!

And so it begins...10:30 am

The final product....6:00 pm!

I will not be lacking in chicken stock for awhile, don't you agree? Honestly it should have been done around 4:30 pm but with my electric stove it is pretty heard for me to maintain anything at a simmer for such a long period. So I decided to keep it on longer to let it reduce more and I think that was a good decision.

So what did I make with my fabulous stock now readily on hand? Absolutely nothing! The goal was to make stock people, not cook something with it! Honestly I just did not think that far but there are plans for matzo ball soup, using the stock to make cous cous instead of water, etc. So stay tuned for my chicken stock extravaganza as well as fabulous recipes with all my other chicken parts that are currently on ice!

Tootaloo chickadees and I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. I am going apple picking tomorrow and will try to share some pics so that you can be jealous. :)

How quickly I am reduced to eating frozen meals

2009-09-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

I went from Sunday eating at feast at Poste and now it is Tuesday and I am eating random things I dig out of the freezer.

I went from succulent spit roasted goat and cheesy polenta to Amy's frozen Indian Meals and Green Giant steam in the bag corn.

From a crowded table with family and friends to sitting around in my pajamas being a typical couch potato.

And who doesn't love the extravagance found in a gorgeous restaurant with a meal you will talk about for days. Yet I am completely satisfied in this moment of comfortable laziness.

Thank you Poste for a beautiful and amazing meal. And thank you Amy's frozen meals for making a delicious Indian meal that made me so happy tonight.

Pictures from last Sunday's Goat Roast!

Once upon a time there was a pumpkin.....

2009-09-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

A pumpkin that was small, round, and ready to show off her stuff. But alas she was always passed over for her other fall friends, butternut and spaghetti squash. Not only that, she found to her dismay that people only seemed to want to bring home large pumpkins to carve faces in and keep outside their homes. Didn't they realize that I am edible as well?, she wondered. Till one day a young beautiful girl* who wanted to bring new adventures to her kitchen decided to give her a chance.

So off they went together. But what to do? Pumpkin pie, bread, muffins? No, said the young beautiful girl, pumpkin doesn't just have to be sweet. She reminisced of some of her favorite dishes she had in Australia where pumpkin was used in savory chicken curry pies, ravioli, and salads. It was not something she had seen before as all of her previous experiences had been in pie form (granted it's her favorite pie to have), but she wanted to make something for an entree rather than dessert. So off came the little pumpkin's top, and her seeds as well, and after a rub down of olive oil and Moroccan spice mix into the toaster oven she went.

20 minutes later she was done and ready to see how the young, beautiful, aspiring cook** would dress her for tonight's event. With her Moroccan spice mix in mind she added couscous, dried cranberries, and shrimp. The effect was a gorgeous and tasty*** marriage of sweet and savory.

The little pumpkin was happy to have achieved more than just becoming a Fall decoration piece and the girl thought that Fall is going to be a fun season to experiment.****

(*author may take liberties in describing herself. You don't like that, well too bad!)

(**cook is a definite exaggeration on the author's part, but you should give her an "A" for effort!)

(***author admits that pumpkin needed a bit more salt, but was otherwise perfectly cooked and quite good.)

(****author did not major in creative writing and realizes that her attempt to write in story format is sub par at best.)

Dinner Parties and Brunch

2009-09-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend I showed off my mad hostessing skills. That's right...I have skills! Mostly I just wanted to try out some recipes and needed people to be fatties with me. Selfish, but also delicious. So I think it is really a win-win situation. Unfortunately I did not take any pics from Friday's get together which included such fun as carne asade (pre-marinated and packaged from the great Trader Joe's. Or Trader Jose!) I then made cilantro lime rice, spiced black beans, and corn pudding. I know that corn pudding does not exactly go with the theme, but I had a ton of corn left over from last weekend's labor day festivities and wanted a recipe that would be fun and use up all of it. Oh man people, was that corn pudding delicious. Sweet and light with a bit of sinful cream to keep you coming back from more. It will definitely be on the roster for Thanksgiving this year.

I did take pics of my amazing pizza I made on Saturday though!

As it was college football night, Go Trojans! Fight On!, I wanted to make something fun and easy. I know that pizza purists will send a hex on me, but I did not make my own dough. I do not have the cajones yet to take on the task of making my own dough, but who really cares when the end result is the same. Sausage, peppers, tomatoes, onion, cheese = savory, meaty goodness. The pizza stone was a good investment and I cannot wait to try out some new crazy toppings. As Fall is rolling in I feel that some pumpkin may take a run on the pizza with some goat cheese and basil. I love that pizza has no limits and you can have an array of toppings as long as you have some imagination. If you have any other crazy pizza ideas, shoot them my way.

Sunday I had a lovely brunch date with two of my girlfriends at Bistro Bis. The bartender saw three girls who were ready for a Sunday Funday and decided to concoct us all kinds of different bubbly drinks. And who was I to argue with him. I just kept gulping them down with a huge buzzed smile on my face.

The food was delicious as well. The tarte flambe was a bacon and onion tart that was salty and sweet and the duck hash was a rich duck confit with a red wine poached egg on top, which was decadent. I wish I had better adjectives to use today but as we continued to drink most of the afternoon my vocabulary has been reduced to that of a child. Actually my whole being is currently reduced to a child as I am currently craving a PB&J, and who am I to argue with that. So for now I will leave you to salivate over my photos and I will now go make a sandwich. Have a wonderful week!

Labor Day Weekend was a clusterf*** of activities!

2009-09-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hello to my few, but devoted readers! I hope that everyone had a wonderful extended weekend and that the burden of returning to the weekly grind has not launched you into thoughts of throwing yourself off the nearest high rise. In DC this is actually more difficult to achieve as our buildings cannot block monuments and important buildings, but I'm sure the more creative people could figure something out.

Anyhoo, my weekend was fabulous and thank you for asking. I actually achieved a few things which is always exciting and makes me feel like maybe I contribute more to the human race besides carbon emissions. Here is a synopsis of my absolutuely fabulous life that you should be super jealous of! j/k

Saturday: Labor Day BBQ

Let me begin by saying that I did not sleep in on this past grogeous Saturday. As fall has already begun to encroach on us the last thing I wanted to do was stay in bed. I must be up and about so I can take advantage of every last minute of sunlight and warmth. Plus I had plans. Big plans. So I was up at 7 am and off to the supermarket to buy my weekly groceries and the ingredients for the best baked beans ever. Ummm...okay that is a bit if a lie. My dad makes some of the best baked beans you will ever taste. They are too die for and my mouth waters thinking about them. Still this recipe that I used from The Pioneer Woman c/o Pamanderson are a close second. Here is the first reason you know it will be good: Bacon. Sorry to offend all the vegetarians out there but bacon makes everything better. Sometimes I cannot believe that I did not eat bacon, red meat, or any type of pork products for 12 years. It was not for political reasons, but rather health reasons that I began my meaty hiatus. And once I cut out the meat it was just as easy to keep going with it. 12 years later I decided that the bacon smelled to good to be passed up and with that I was back in love with meat of all kinds. As simple as that. No epiphany of any kind just a craving that could no longer be ignored and with these beans you will not be able to ignore it either.

The second reason that this recipe is awesome is that it is super easy to make. There is no bean soaking (3 can of pork and beans), no complicated sauce (BBQ sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and dijon that's it!), and you just simmer and bake and than you will have achieved........

My god that is beautiful! And it was an absolute hit at the BBQ, as you can tell, and tasted even better the next day after the beans had a chance to marinate in their love sauce over night. Here is a link to the recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/08/the-best-baked-beans-ever/

Sunday: A bike ride sounds like a good idea!

Another beautiful day and what did I decide to do with it? Well I threw on some of those padded bike shorts and rode my bike from Captiol Hill to Dupont to Georgetown to the Mall and back to Capitol Hill. Why did I decide to put myself threw a grueling bike ride of hills, honking cabs, and tourists you may ask. Simply said: Jetties. And yes it is safe for you to assume that Jetties is a food spot that I had to check out after hearing about it from a friend. Don't judge me!

After making it up a long and steep hill on Reservoir Road in Georgetown (and this is after riding for a good hour non-stop) I turned to my left and saw it. Jetties was like my desert mirage as I stood there sweating through my diaper bike shorts, except this was not some sick mind game; it was real and so needed after the work out I had given myself. Jetties is a simple, no fuss place with picnic tables in the grass and sandwiches and salads that are simple yet quirky. And these are solid sandwiches with everything made onsite. You eat one and you are set. Unless you are me and have a bottomless pit for a stomach. But man oh man was that sandwich divine.

What you see above is the Sconset which is hummus, muenster cheese, sprouts, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and avocado spread on multi-grain bread. Can you say delicious? I am so going back to try out something else, but will probably not involve the bike next time. :)

Monday: Damn you rain!

I guess Mother Nature decided that the last weekend of summer was too good to be true, and decided to throw a stick in the spokes. Rain and clouds shrouded DC in a bit of gloom which kept most Washingtonians at home for the better part of the day. I include myself in this group. My day was spent doing laundry, cleaning my kitchen, and reading My Life in France by Julia Child (awesome, by the way). My one accomplishment of the day was roasting my first butternut squash.

Hooray! Olive oil, salt and pepper was all that I added to this squshy beauty before throwing it in the oven for 40 min. I then used part of it in a salad of spinach, cranberries, goat cheese, and a red wine vinaigrette. I know....I'm good! Today I included some squash in my cous cous salad, and tomorrow I will finish the last of it though I'm not sure what I will do with it. I could always just keep it simple and not do anything to it, but will see. All I know is I see a lot of adventures with squash and pumpkin as Fall approaches. Good thing I like them so much!

This Friday I am hopefully having people over for dinner so I will be sure to give you the low down on the corn pudding I plan to try to make with my gargantuan bag of left over corn from our Labor Day BBQ. Until then, have a wonderful week.

It's Restaurant Week: Round 2

2009-08-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

Technically restaurant week is over, except for those few places that extend their menus until Mid-September, but I did not feel like writing last night on my return from my latest reservation. First a bit of back story. This past Saturday I attended my first Pampered Chef party and had an awesome time hanging out with my friends, purchasing new fangled cooking tools (Can you say pizza stone?), and eating...eating a bit too much. As I have mentioned before I do Weight Watchers to stay on top of my weight and to continue to work on my healthy eating habits. For all those people who do not have the slightest idea of what WW is all about you are basically given a certain amount of food points per day based on your weight, age, and gender. My good intentions to stick to my points on Saturday were blown. What can I say...I over ate and messed up and gained the weight I had worked all week to lose. Now I know that this was my own fault but I was pretty bummed and was not the poster child for happiness on Sunday. So here I was with a reservation to Art & Soul and I just wanted to drop it. I mean it is a southern style restaurant which brings to mind fried chicken, fried okra, fried hushpuppies, etc. Boo hoo me!

What I needed to do was give myself a swift kick in the ass for being such a miserable mop and move on. I wish I could say I did that, but to tell the truth I was pretty down on myself all day. I didn't cancel my reservation to Art & Soul though. What I did decide was to not do the restaurant week prix fixe. The last thing I needed was 3 courses which would only add to the problem. Nope, I decided I would maybe spend a little extra money but have the freedom to choose an appetizer and entree that fit into my parameters of having good food while being conscious of the ingredients that were involved. And though I spent a bit more money, I was ultimately happier with this decision and did not add any more weight from my meal, which is a small success.

So let's get down to original business. Art & Soul is located in the Liaison Hotel near Union Station with Chef/Owner Art Smith at the helm. I honestly do not think he is in the kitchen that often but after seeing him on Top Chef Masters I really wanted to go to his restaurant. I began my meal with a grilled shrimp and succotash appetizer. 3 grilled shrimp came out on a skewer with a bed of peas, corn, and chili limon sauce. The shrimp were cooked well, but were difficult to remove from the skewer which was square in shape and very soft. It was quite an effort to slide a shrimp off with both utensil and fingers. The succotash with the chili limon sauce was just too sweet. Peas and corn are already sweet vegetables and really do not need much to bring out their beauty. I felt that the sauce was more for show, with it's vibrant green color and frothy consistency, than to to complement the succotash. Overall it was a decent appetizer but was nothing to write home about.

For my entree I had the grilled lamb loin with artichoke hearts, white bean puree, and romesco sauce. The lamb was cooked perfectly and just melted in my mouth, and the romesco sauce only added to the depth of flavors. Yet I did not feel like it was a Southern style dish, instead it reminded me of something I would order at a Mediterranean restaurant. It was delicious, do not get me wrong, it just did not seem to fit in with the other dishes as I compared it to the BF's Fred Flintstone size pork chop with stone fruit and onion broth.

I would definitely love to come back here and have the true Southern dishes that Art Smith is known for: fried chicken and waffles, hoe cakes, and crab and grits. Hook still wins as being my favorite restaurant week dining experience ever, but I would recommend that you go check out Art & Soul if you have a hankering for all things cooked in oil and butter.

It's Restaurant Week: Round 1

2009-08-29T03:48:00.000-07:00

I would not be a good foodie if I did not participate in restaurant week. I mean how else can I afford to go to some of these high class restaurants without a little help from restaurant week? But first I have rules for this sacred holiday: 1) You pick restaurants that are in the $25 and above range. What's the point if you can afford it on a regular basis. 2) Check out the menu early and compare it to the regular menu. You want to order things that are on the more expensive side so you actually get your $35.09 worth.

With that said my first reservation for the week was Friday night at Hook, a Georgetown seafood establishment which believes in only serving seasonal and sustainable seafood. That is something that I can support. I have wanted to go to this restaurant since it opened and out of the 2 reservations I made for restaurant week, this was the one I was most excited about. Did it live up to all of my high expectations? Did it provide a delicious meal and good service? Yes & yes! I would definitely return to Hook again and would say that of all the restaurants I have gone to for different restaurant weeks this was by far the best meal I have ever had.

The first thing that I liked about Hook upon perusing the menu is that most of the regular items were put onto this prix fixe menu as well. You will see so many restaurants take away their best items, dumb an entree down, or put it on there with an $5 charge to try it. What is the fun in that? And I think that this completely defies the purpose of restaurant week. To Hook I say thank you for allowing the masses to try some of your best dishes without extra fees.

I began my meal with the grilled calamari with a fennel/spring mix salad. The portion was amazing. 4 (head an legs!) gorgeous squid was set before me with alight salad on the side. I was actually amazed to see that the head of the squid still had their little rutters attached, as I had never seen one this way before. The calamari were smoky and still had a satisfying chew to them that set my palette off into a happy dance. I literally closed my eyes and may have even let out a little moan of satisfaction. It was so simple and clean, and yet it set off a complex set of emotions of satisfaction, desire, and need. To put it bluntly, this dish will turn you on!

For my entree I had the bluefish with polenta, carrots, green beans, and pesto. Bluefish is an oily, flaky white fish which played well against the simple unfussed sides. No heavy sauces., which would have drowned out the richness of the fish, just a perfectly crispy salted skin with the flesh of the fish giving away easily to my fork. I have never thought of seafood as decadent, but this entree changed my mind on that. There were definitely contented sighs and affirmations of "I must come here again", because it was that good.

Dessert was a rich chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and chocolate hazelnut biscotti on the side. I wanted to make my bed in that bowl! Curl up next to one of those little chocolate balls inside and never let go! It was a rich, but manageable portion size and man was it good. The perfect ending to this meal that blew me out of the water. Get it? Water? Seafood? HAHAHA.....okay it may have been funnier in my head than it is written down.

Hook:

3241 M St., NW

Washington DC, 20007

202.625.4488

Sidebar: Whenever I read about Hook I think of the movie with Robin Williams and start chanting "Where's the hook?!" and "Rufio!". Although hook is in reference, in this case, to what is put on the end of a fishing pole. :)

Joe's Noodle House & a poached egg

2009-08-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I was in Frederick, MD for a meeting that the BF had to attend. Okay, so I will just say now that I am scared of the burbs'. Track housing, strip malls with nothing but TGIFriday's and McDonald's, kids running around willy nilly....these things bring chills down my spine. What can I say? I love the city environment, it's more my style. But since I was heading out to the MD burbs I decided we should make the most of it. So the plan was to see Frederick (check!), head to the Sugar Loaf Winery for a lil wine tasting (fail! winery lost power in a storm and could not do the tastings.), and then head to Rockville to return to a Chinese restaurant that changed all my assumptions of Chinese food (delicious, salivating, wish I could have more CHECK!).

This moment of self-discovery in what Chinese food can be happened last year at Joe's Noodle House. A friend took me there and I fell completely in love. I have never gone back because I lack a car and Joe's is not very metro accessible, so when I realized we would go through Rockville to return home I demanded a stop for some delicious Chinese food. And let me tell you, it only got better.

This is a place where 75% of the clientele is speaking some form of Chinese and are eating things that most Americans have never seen before, always a good sign. In this nondescript restaurant, where the sign only says noodle house below Chinese characters outside, you will find real Schezuan cooking where the number of chilies outnumber the protein content, savory pork dumplings, salty crispy shrimp that you eat with their shell and head still on , chicken gizzards, and oh the list goes on! This time around we had lamb Tibetan style with cumin, rice noodles Singapore style in Curry, pork dumplings, and a scallion pancake. To all that is holy.....Thank You! Spicy, savory, tongue tingling, want to keep eating when you know you should stop DELICIOUS. If you are ready to go beyond sweet and sour pork and orange chicken then you should take the time to come here. Not only is it great food, the prices are reasonable as well. All that food I just mentioned...under $30. Yes, we could have ordered less as it was two if us, but what is the fun in that. And there was plenty of leftovers that were just finished the other day which makes everyone happy.

Joe's Noodle House: 1488-C Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-1414

Now I am going to take a moment to just toot my own little horn. I poached an egg! Woo-hoo! I know there are people out there who just don't see the big deal, that can poach blindfolded and with 7 eggs in the pot, and to you I say congrats; but for me, lowly beginner cook, this was a momentous feat. So maybe the first egg didn't work out, but the second one I slid into that pot turned into a floating white little orb that topped my dinner salad and brought me back to France. Okay, it was not quite as good as that salad in Lyon, but it brought those memories back to the surface and made me so very content and happy.

Peanut Butter Cereal Chicken: Round 2

2009-08-24T17:17:00.001-07:00

Okay...this time I did a baked version using the same concept that I tried last night. Flour, egg wash, and breading made from peanut butter cereal, cilantro, chile powder, and red pepper flakes.

Right now I am just at odds with myself. Although this was a more successful effort in that I did not pull my hair out and had perfectly cooked chicken, I missed the crunch factor that the frying provides. Yet with frying I was not able to cook a consistently good product. I think that when I try frying again I need to further research what can be used for breading. The cereal that I used just may not have enough fat in it to withstand the oil, as it would just char within a minute.

It was still a delicious dinner, but I see future frying endeavors in my future.

Peanut Butter Cereal Fried Chicken: A lesson in humilty

2009-08-24T08:07:00.001-07:00

Last night I decided to try my hand at what I thought would be a simple fried chicken recipe that I had conjured up. I had read in one my many food blogs I follow a version that used honey bunches of oat and I was immediately intrigued. My mind immediately thought of the peanut butter cereal that sat on my counter and wondered if I could somehow make my own version using it. I envisioned a thai style chicken where it is not unsual to use peanut sauces. Onward I went and bought some chicken breasts and cilantro that I would add to my cereal mixture. (I also added chili powder, red pepper flakes, and salt to give it some heat and depth)

On my counter I mounted a Ford-style assembly line with flour, eggs, and the crushed cereal mixture and proceeded to heat some vegetable oil to do a lil' frying. This is where things started going down hill. You see I've never fried anything in my life. I actually tend to avoid fried food and massive amounts of oil as I am a proud WW member and these are things that just start dwindling my points allowance at a rapid pace. But hell! It was Sunday and I was going to try my hand at it.

I dunked my chicken in some flour, removed excess, then dunked it in the egg, removed excess, and then into the cereal mixture it went. Oh my gosh, I thought, this is not too bad! HAHAHA, the little devil on my shoulder was thinking, as he waited in anticipation to see my downfall. Into the oil we go. I flipped and what I saw was a blackened mess. Yikes! Crap! What?! Awww...sh**! I let it cook on the other side and took it out. What I stared at was a blackened, crispy something that even myself who is a carbon fan would not enjoy. And to make matters worse it was completely raw inside.

The tears began. (I am brought easily to tears when trying to cook.) And the frustration and anger began to mount to "get out of the way she is about to blow" on the temper meter. The BF said I should cut the pieces thinner since it may just be too thick. This in fact was a correct assumption, but at that moment his advice was just adding some kindling to the flame. Mr. Hyde may have made an appearance, but I'm not really sure as I completely blacked out and came to a few minutes later. After my griping of not knowing how to properly cut said chicken I proceeded to do a paltry, though effective job of it. I was thinking I should just bake this chicken so that it would cook through and not burn to an utter crisp, but the BF wanted me to try again. Him being the absolute darling that he is cleaned my dishes and cleaned the pan of the dirty vegetable oil so we could start again.

I wish I could say it got better from there. But by this point I was a complete maniac and was just making things more dramatic then they needed to be. We fried up half of the chicken, smoked up my lil studio, still had some pieces burnt beyond recognition, and I was left feeling emmasculated and wondering why I was so inept.

Yet, in that mess there were some specimens that came off browned and juicy, with a great crust that was peanut buttery delicious. It took me some time to recognize a small success in that fact but all I could do was dissect what went wrong and what I could do to fix it. There was no satisfaction because of my less than stellar behavior and I completely own up to that.

I realize I am still learning and have a long way to go. That to learn we must make mistakes and be willing to make an utter catastrophe so we can figure out how to make something delicious. And that when you are cooking with fire the fiery temper needs to be left outside. BLAH BLAH BLAH... I know! Trust me, I am working on it and recognize that I have one of the most patient men in my life to put up with my ridiculousness and come out of it unphased.

So in an effort to learn from my mistakes I am trying to do this recipe again tonight. There will indeed be baking instead of frying, which I think will benefit the flavors and texture that I am trying to achieve; but I am going to make this idea of mine work. I will put up some pics of the final product and will update everyone on how it turned out. Until then, happy eating friends.

Random Thoughts on a Monday

2009-08-17T08:53:00.001-07:00

I am 28 and have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Is it bad that I do not consider myself a grown up? Does anyone ever truly figure it out?

I love food, talk about food, and think about food more than is probably healthy.

Anthony Bourdain = HOTTIE!

Me and my BFF from college used to obsessively watch Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen movies. We would call each if they were on, dissect plots, rank our favs (Paris for sure!) and wish for more. God, I wish I could watch one right now.

This time last year I was in Morocco. Hopefully this time next year I will be somewhere equally exciting.

It is starting to get darker earlier, which means summer is almost done. What even happened to summer? It just flew by and I feel like I did not accomplish much.

I live on Capitol Hill in DC, but have yet to actually go and tour the Capitol. This makes me feel bad and unpatriotic.

Iphones scare me. I don't like the idea of being "connected" everywhere I go. It is fun to get lost and be able to get yourself around without being dependent on technology.

I have a book club meeting in September on "The Poisonwood Bible" and just can't get into it. I start to read and just fall asleep. This also makes me feel bad and unpatriotic.

I am joining the Julia Child craze. I figure there are worse people to buy into and any woman who can reinvent herself at 37 is worth reading up on.

One of my favorite words is discombobulated. Perhaps it is because that is how I feel most of the time.

Recipe vs. Reality

2009-08-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

I love when my Bon Appetit shows up in the mail. I become giddy and so excited to check out the amazing recipes with vivid pictures that accompany them; it's what we foodies call food porn. And boy oh boy do I love some good food porn. :) Most of the time I look at my magazine, ear mark some recipes, but never actually cook anything. I mean it is intimidating, but this time I decided it was my moment to make a recipe into reality.

In the September issue of Bon Appetit there is an article that is called "Top 10 Chicken Recipes" and on the cover is a gorgeous picture of a roasted chicken. My mouth was watering and I decided to check it out. This particular recipe is from Sfoglia restaurant in NYC, and it was not a complicated 20 ingredient, chiffonade this, mince that kind of recipe. Ingredients were fresh, easy to find at the grocery store, and was just a good approachable recipe for a beginner cook like myself.

A brick or heavy cast iron skillet is required to weigh down the bird while in the oven, and this was the most complicated thing for me in preparing for this culinary adventure. I headed to the local hardware store and was able to get a heavy brick for 70 cents. Not a bad investment for future poultry adventures. The chicken also needs to be butterflied, and as I am not very confident in my knife skills (and did not want to kill the chicken even more than it already was) I went to the butcher and asked them to do their magic. For my sanity it was well worth seeking out the butcher.

I was amazed at the ease of putting this meal together. I have always just bought the roasted chicken at the deli in my market, but no more I say...NO MORE! I was able to cook a bird twice the size of the market chicken for just $2 more. It was able to provide dinner tonight, and plenty of left overs for the week. (You will see me eating some of my left overs at Screen on the Green tomorrow night!)

So let's compare and contrast:

I think I did a damn good job. The pic in the magazine has more burnt skin on the thighs of their bird, but they also have this fun thing called food stylists! When your sole job is to make people drool over a scantily clad chick you better bet they have some trick up their sleeves. Here is a close up of my lil diva who caused a stir in my apartment tonight:

Delicious. A poultry adventure of savory goodness! I think next time I will add some more garlic and not be scared to put some more salt before I begin cooking. It is still a learning curve right now, but it was still succulent and melted in your mouth, which is always the desired end result for your protein of choice. This episode of "Recipe vs. Reality" was a complete success and now I will be confident that I can take on more recipes in my lovely Bon Appetit magazine.

Bon Appetit: Chicken al Mattone

1 4-pound whole chicken, backbone cut away and discarded, rinsed and patted dry

4 tbsp. fresh lemon jucie

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

2 garlic cloves, pressed

Coarse kosher salt

1/4 tsp. dried crush red pepper

Chopped fresh Italian parsley

You will need a foil wrapped brick or heavy cast iron skillet

Day before you plan to cook:

1. open chicken flat like book and place, skin side down, on a rimmed baking sheet

2. mix 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tbsp. oil, 1 tbsp chopped rosemary and garlic in small bowl (I blended everything in my food processor)

3. Rub mixture all over both sides of chicken (I whispered some sweet nothings to my lil chick while I did this. Figured I would give her a last hurrah before throwing her in the oven.)

4. Cover and chill over night

Day you plan to cook:

1. preheat oven 400 F

2. sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper

3. heat remaining 1 tbsp. oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat

4. add chicken, skin side down, to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Do not turn over.

5. Place foil wrapped brick (or cast iron skillet) crosswise atop chicken; roast in oven 30 minutes

6. Remove brick and turn chicken over; return brick to chicken and continue to roast until juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced, about 15 minutes longer (I had to get some assistance to flip over the chicken, and just remember that there is hot oil and juices so turn carefully)

7. Transfer chicken to platter and drizzle with remaining lemon juice and sprinkle with red pepper and parsley

This was supposed to be about Les Halles but my plans were changed a bit.

2009-08-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

So I have been in Jersey City for a conference and the plan has been that on our free night a co-worker and I would head over to Les Halles so that I could prove to Tony that I truly do care. I am not just any stalker who is all talk, I am action my friends and will complete the circle that is my Anthony Bourdain obsession.

Anyhoo, we had a reception in Midtown and definitely enjoyed some wine and cheese, which in hindsight was just a silly thing to do as we were just too full for dinner. Boo to me! A pow wow was had and it was decided that Les Halles would have to be another time. Going to Les Halles is my pilgrimage and I want it to be a fun and joyful event.

As much as my heart was set on it, things actually worked out really well. It was a gorgeous day in NYC and we walked from 33rd and Park down to ground zero. That is a little over 3 miles, but I needed that after engorging myself on cookies, cheese, crackers, and all the usual conference fare that I make very bad decisions with.

For all my times of going to NYC I had never been to ground zero. It is not something I had really wanted to go to. For me it is a little hard to grasp as I never saw the Twin Towers when they stood there. Back on that fateful day I was in Cali, sleeping in (since my class was not until noon), and woke up to the sounds of screams and crying. I know that when those towers fell it was our, as a nation, collective tragedy. Yet I feel so far removed in my understanding of it all.

Looking at it now, at least what little you can see beyond the gates and cloth that enclose where the towers were, it is a huge crater. One that would be made by a special effects team for a sci-fi flick. It is one of the few places in the city where air and light permeate. It is shocking to see all that light coming in when you have been walking in the shadows of the "cement jungle" that makes up what we all think of as New York.

Seeing ground zero just put me in awe and made me wonder at the strength of this city. I love New York, I would like to live here some day, and I hope that if that happens I could show the same grit and determination.

After this impromptu journey we headed back up a couple blocks and found a great indian restaurant. I think we were on the border of Tribeca and the Financial District but I am not really sure. It was delicious, thats what I do know, and though it was not what I thought I wanted to do it ended up being a good end to a long day.

Vegetarians, Vegans, PETA people, and general lovers of Charlotte's Web will want to turn away now! It's time to talk pig!

2009-07-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

I receive a ton of emails on a daily basis letting me know what is going on in DC: boutique sales, gallery openings, new restaurants and bars, etc. It was one of these emails that I found out about Poste Roast. (Check out Daily Candy or Thrillist if you would also like to hear about up and coming events going on in your town!)

Poste is a restaurant located in Penn Quarter in the Hotel Monaco; and though I had never been there to eat I was absolutely intrigued by this event. To participate you have to have a group of 6-12 people and make a reservation at least a week in advance. Then you choose a protein that will be spit roasted and served family style to the group, along with various sides that are picked by the chef to compliment your pick. There are some intriguing options: salmon, squab, goat, lamb, brisket, pig, and more. Our group decided, though, that it was go big or go home, so we chose something that you can't easily cook in our own kitchens. Pig. I mean why not? There is something sexy and provocative about a pig roasting over the fire, being turned slowly, skin crisping, fats and juices rendering. Oooohhhh boy! I do have swine on the mind...still!

We were supposed to sit in the Chef's Garden, but unfortunately it was raining and as their is no cover outside we were sat at the Chef's private dining table. The bar was crowded for happy hour, which on another note has some really great deals, and we were causing a bit of a stir with the revelers as they tried to figure out what was going on in our room and why there were so many waiters coming in and out.

Did you meet Wilbur? Yes, we as a group have a sick sense of humor and named our soon to be feast after a beloved children's book character. But you know what, I don't feel bad about it because we were having a good time and we worshipped, loved, and devoured that pig and respected the life that it gave to us. When our waiter brought him in all the happy hour patrons parted like the red sea, some ran away (they were probably vegetarians), as they tried to make sense of what was happening. Wilbur was brought to the table as you see above, and then was taken to be broken down into glorious porky portions that would be a little more manageable. As we awaited his encore appearance sides were brought out: macaroni and cheese made with 4 different types of cheese, saurkraut, roasted plums and peaches that were sprinkled with rosemary, rolls of bread with salty crispy tops. Okay...my mouth is watering and I am not even doing it justice. Just check out some of the pics.

In the picture above you see the main body of the pig, skin and all, broken down. And to the right is the head that has been split so that you can try some cerebellum on brioche. Oh hell! It was brain and it was delicious! I am shouting it from the rooftops: I ate brain and loved it! And if you are grossed out...well you are just a pussy and need to give your taste buds a culinary adventure. They are begging for it and you are just being cruel denying them. The brain is creamy, rich, with a very subtle pork taste to it and if you like Pâté or liverwurst then you would enjoy this delicacy as well. We also dove into the cheek and tongue, and if there had been an eyeball we would have given it a go. I think the following pic speaks volumes of our experience.

That's right, we devoured it. We were in sweat from the effort, and it was worth it. Delicious, gorgeous, a party in my mouth. I cannot think of the right adjective to do it justice. So I'll just let this last picture be my conclusion.

Conquering the grill....I hope!

2009-07-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday and it was a gorgeous day in DC. It was a grillin day and I had some big plans for it. I had been planning on trying my hand at making some bison burgers. I did the research and had a recipe that looked promising, but on Friday the Teet was out of bison meat and then I completely forgot to get some at Eastern Market. As it is sold frozen there was no chance I could buy it today and have it thawed in time, so I went ahead with some ground turkey meat and proceeded with the recipe as planned. As turkey and bison are both lean meats I figured no harm no foul.

The trick with any type of lean burger meat is that you need ingredients that will add some moisture (i.e. minced onion or apple) and not take away (i.e. breadcrumbs). For my burgers I sauteed minced onions and mushrooms, brought to room temperature, and mixed with my ground meat, some red wine, and Worcestershire sauce. My mom gave me this fun toy that I finally got to try out. It is a neat little contraption that allows you to pick the pound or ounce size of your patty and then you just plop the meat inside, level it off, and drop a perfect patty down.

Another trick that I learned when the actual grilling process came about is that you need to just let these bad boys sit. Hey, even a little turkey meat likes a day to roast in some heat, but please do not feel the need to give them sunscreen! Bad joke...I know. On to the topic at hand. Let the burgers sit there for a good 3-5 minutes before you try to flip them. You want them to really have some color. I am no food scientist, but it seemed to firm up the patty so that it was easier to flip. But when you do flip, do it carefully, as these are a little more delicate than your standard burger.

I finished off our grilling extravaganza with some potatoes wrapped in foil and thrown on the grill and brusselsprouts I roasted in the oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper. And let me tell you that those brusselsprouts were the bomb and I will not have them any other way.

The meal was a great success. I would say that my ground meat could have used a little more salt and pepper, but with a little ketchup and mustard it was all good. And the icing on the cake is that everything was healthy and fresh and you could have a sizable portion without undoing the "being good" mentality. Until next time friends, have a great work week!

Anthony Bourdain + Me = Match made in heaven! Now if someone can relay this message to him that would be great!

2009-07-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

I love me some Anthony Bourdain! Not only have I read most of his books, watch his show, am a fan on Facebook, and read his blogs/interviews, but I have put him on my list of allowable people that I could cheat on my significant other with. (Though the BF is a mean boy and will not let me put a stipulation that an Anthony & Eric Ripert sandwich would also be acceptable if the occasion happened! Anthony would obviously win; but 2 silver foxes for the price of one, well I think I will sir!)

Some people are just dumbfounded by my complete attraction to him, but I think it's the simple case of a good girl liking a bad boy. Tony (Yes, we are on a first name basis so shut it!) does not sugar coat the bullsh**, is an ex-druggie and smoker, loves to drink, knows how to handle a knife, likes to eat copious amounts of meat, and cusses like a sailor. What....I think my mom would love him! Her only concern might be the 25 year age difference, but then again my mom is of the school of thought that if you are happy and being treated well than all that other stuff is superfluous.

The only thing that would make me tell my pheromones to get a hold of themselves is the fact that he is married and has a 2 year old daughter. But if he puts me on his list of allowable people to cheat on his significant other with then we would be in the clear. How I will achieve this is beyond me, but I am willing to take suggestions!

But let's face it. If I actually met him I would probably just go dumb. My mind would go blank, I would freeze in a stance that could look like I am either a complete idiot or am suffering from a distressed bladder, and the only words that would come out would be something like "OMG! I love you!" or "Uuummmm......I.....hi.....", which would only garner the Tony snicker and smart ass comment that we all love him for. And I somehow doubt he would be impressed with a Wayne & Garth-esque "I'm not worthy" show of devotion if I could somehow manage to put two words together.

So far now I will be an admirer from afar. But not a scary one with an altar in the corner and cut outs of his face plastered on the walls. Just a genuine admirer of his work, writing, and success in bringing new ideas about culture and food to his loyal viewers.

Hello! My name is Veronica and I will be your tour guide for this crazy blog!

2009-07-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

This has been a long time coming. The idea has been in my head but it took a few good pushes to actually commit to this. It seemed cocky and self-indulgent to assume that I may have thoughts, ideas, or stories that others may want to hear about. I’m not saying there won’t be disappointments, I can’t be on point all the time, but I am going to try to make this enjoyable. I figure if I have a bit of a giggle or have an “aha” moment that maybe you might feel the same way.

I will give a short synopsis, my first monologue (yeah!), to explain a bit about myself. I am a born and bred SoCal girl who has somehow found herself residing in DC. It was a bit of a circuitous route here, and it was not political dreams that brought me. I spent some prime years after college being a vagabond of sorts. I worked for Club Med resorts, in the States so nothing too exciting, and backpacked a bit around Europe and lived in Australia for a few months. The parental units decided to transplant themselves to Northern VA before I returned from Australia and it was either sink or swim in Cali or have free rent. (I mean which would you choose?!) So now I am here living on Capitol Hill and enjoying life in the District. It was not an easy road. DC is a city that has to grow on you, much like fungus or mold on a good cheese, but in a non-gross way.

Despite my desperation to get a decent job and often being mocked for my after-college decisions, I have never once regretted the path I took. Yes, I would probably be making more money or have some swanky job with a corner office out in LA (kinda doubt it actually), but you know those things you read about, the places you talk about going to, I’ve been there. Travelling has made me a better person. That’s it, plain and simple, and for that reason I am thankful that I did it. It also opened my eyes to possibilities in other cultures, food, music, fashion, etc. And food in general has become a bit of an obsession.

I talk about food almost all of the time. It is interesting and tasty, and I love learning about food, reading about restaurants/chefs, watching food related shows and seeing what new trends are happening. Let me say this though, I have no aspirations to be a chef. I am not cut out for it, as my minor blow ups in the privacy of my home have shown me. Yet food is intriguing because it is a bit like magic: you never know what a chef can create from simple ingredients. Also, the cultural and social aspects that come with the joy of eating are varied across the world, but it is still a common thread that every person can relate to each other with. Maybe I am a geek, but that crap is fascinating to me.

While this blog will definitely be an outlet for my food related inquiries, write ups on places I dine and travel, and my attempts at cooking and trying to learn moderation and to be healthy, I have been know to digress and will definitely diverge off course and speak to my other interests, observations, stories, etc. In a nutshell, this will be about me and if you don’t like it, well you can’t win them all, and you are welcome to find somebody else that will amuse you. So to all the people out there, I hope I can bring something even miniscule to your day of procrastinating from work, finding nothing on TV, avoiding the gym, etc. Bon Apetit!

Veronica

p.s. this is a work in progress so please excuse the mess while I figure out what I am doing.