the 7 o'clock hour

Asian Super Bowl Feast

2011-02-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

I normally love Super Bowl parties - lots of cheering, commentary on commercials, endless dips and snacks - all good things. But this year I had sort of a sad realization about myself. I realized, when it comes to watching things I actually care about on TV, I'm not very good company. In fact, I get downright crotchety.

Case in point: we hosted an Oscar party last winter for our cousins and colleagues in Boston. I was excited about the idea of having lots of people over and making fun foods. But as soon as the Red Carpet coverage started, I wanted complete silence so I could focus on the stars. Hmmm. Silence is hard to come by in a 500-square foot apartment with 20 people.

So this Super Bowl, we declined party invitations and celebrated, just Joe and I, at home. I felt relieved. The only person I'd have to harshly "sshhh" was my sweet husband, and I know he can take it.

I pored over our new wedding cookbooks with a cup of coffee and an open window. It felt wonderful, flipping through gorgeous photos and ingredients lists. I'd had a hankering for Vietnamese Pho thanks to a recent takeout order in Baltimore from Mekong Delta Cafe. So I whipped out our glossy new Williams-Sonoma Asian Cookbook and tried to identify what exactly it was my taste buds were shouting for.

Turns out, they wanted a clear soup. So I decided to make Miso soup, vegetarian spring rolls and Pad Thai all from scratch. Figured we could space out the eating if I got an early enough start cooking.

I schlepped over to Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, on Cambridge St. with my reusable bags and sloppy list. Produce was no problem, and frankly, I was excited to tackle the Asian aisle with a specific purpose! Usually I just stand in front of those dried foods and rices and think, dear God, what does this translate to, and was it an animal? A vegetable? Hard to say...

And even yesterday with my detailed ingredients list, I still managed to become overwhelmed. I found about 60% of what I needed, but then the packages veered off from the exact terms used on my ingredients list, and I was lost. I didn't know how to translate and find substitutes. For example, what's dashi? And if they don't have dashi, what's a close substitute?

I began Googling on my iPhone immediately and managed to cross off a few more items, but dashi, miso shiro and konbe were still eluding me. Oh, and tamarind paste. Another stumper - what TYPES of foods were these? Should I look for them in the produce or cooler sections or the dry goods aisle? I was starting to sweat as I spun in circles in the Asian aisle and contemplated how these recipes might taste with only 60% of the right ingredients. Maybe I could just improvise.

Finally a very nice employee came over and said, "Ma'am, can I help you?" I said, "Do I look terribly lost?" He said, "I've been watching you stand here for 10 minutes. How can I help you?" Bless his heart.

I happily shoved the remainder of my ingredients list at him. Poor guy. Didn't know he was going to turn into someone's personal shopper. We found everything on the list except for dashi, and he even asked other colleagues if WF carries it. I learned that miso shiro is kept in the cooler section above the orange juices. Who knew?

Humbled yet victorious, I saddled my bags to my shoulders and started the 2-mile walk back home. I felt like a pack mule. I kept thinking, if those fragile rice-paper rounds break in my bags, I'm going to scream. But they didn't.

The miso soup was my first recipe once I got home and rubbed feeling back into my shoulders. These were new ingredients to play with! I was so excited! I'd finally jumped off the cliff and invested in all these Asian cooking oils - sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, fish sauce...an investment, but a worthwhile one.

The kanbe was dried seaweed (again, who knew?), and I soaked it as instructed for 15 minutes in hot water until it was soft. Then I laid it on our wooden cutting board and began cutting long, thin slices. I was so moved by how beautiful this seaweed looked in my house. It was slippery, yet thick and durable. I rubbed my fingers over it several times to get the feel, and then I ripped off a piece to taste. (Since these were all new ingredients to me, I wanted to know what everything tasted like on its own before I mixed it with something else. That way I could better decipher what I needed to add more or less of next time). Kanbe was unremarkable by itself, but I knew it played a key role in the final flavor of miso.

I followed the miso soup recipe to a tee except for the dashi. It said to substitute 6 cups of low sodium chicken broth for dashi, but I opted for vegetable broth instead. Kind of a big difference. It made the soup much thicker than it should have been, and I didn't get that clear broth I was expecting. But now I know - chicken broth does not mean vegetable broth.

The spring rolls were fun and super simple. We shredded and peeled a bunch of veggies and fresh herbs and then added chickpeas as a protein substitute. I was excited to play with the rice paper rounds. They were surprisingly thick and malleable. I had been afraid they'd tear at the slightest touch. We each made our own little rolls, poured a little duck sauce out and had ourselves an appetizer during the pre-game show.

The Pad Thai was a cinch. Joe made the chile paste since he's the Master of the food processor. I think I added too much tamarind paste (even AFTER removing a tablespoon from the pan), so the color of the sauce was much darker than the Pad Thai I'm used to eating. I think I could use less fish sauce next time, too. Little too much salt flavor. Otherwise, it was good. And Joe had seconds, so I guess that's the real telling sign.

And now I have a pantry full of Asian ingredients for more experimenting! That's my kind of game on!

Burrito night

2011-02-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

My sis came over last night for some overdue catch-up time, and we raided the 24 Store for dinner materials. The great thing about living next to a convenience store is, well, the convenience. Down side is the lack of fresh produce. Imagine that.

Grape tomatoes and a head of iceberg lettuce were the freshest things we walked away with. The rest came out of some sort of package - hate that. Canned pink beans and black beans that we heated on the stove, wheat soft burritos, sour cream, salsa, shredded cheddar cheese.

And let us not forget the beauty of Hint of Lime tortilla chips. Have mercy. I'll admit - those were an impulse buy and probably a bad health decision. E and I plowed through those while we prepped the other ingredients.

We made ourselves a little burrito station and served them up to order. Topped with a side of American Idol, we had ourselves a crazy Thursday night!

Back at it

2010-06-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Joe and I were on vacation in Mexico last week, and we did a little visualization exercise together. Long story short, one of the outcomes of our conversation was that I wanted to recommit to my blog. We do a great job of taking advantage of the Boston food scene, and I miss being plugged in to the local foodie community like I felt I was in Baltimore. So there should be more regular postings to come as I get back at it.

Starting with last night. I met up with my sis, who moved to Boston just after I did, to catch up on vacation stories. After a brief gab fest at the office, we decided to check out the Marliave bar where our cousin, Anna, recently started bar tending. We thought we could be her "easy money" for the night while she practices on other customers.

You have to want to find the Marliave. It's tucked down a dark side street off on Tremont on Bowsworth, at the very end of the block. But it's in a great location near Suffolk Law School, the Common, and the historic Omni Parker House.

It's an awesome setting if you dig vintage bars - real vintage, as in 1885. Most of the interior is white tile with minimal black accent tile. The food is French-inspired, courtesy of the founder, Henry Marliave.

For the record, you will be best advised to order the house-cut fries IMMEDIATELY upon arrival. A side portion is a hearty helping of thick fries seasoned with rosemary. They're heavenly, and my poor sister didn't stand a chance when she ordered a side for herself last night. I tried to fool myself into thinking I wouldn't touch hers, but let's be honest, I have no willpower.

I ordered a glass of the Lambrusco and the side portion of the wild mushroom risotto. They have an entree serving of the risotto, but after seeing the deep cereal bowl-size side portion, I can't FATHOM consuming an entree. The risotto was very satisfying, although I could have done with fewer large mushrooms and more small mushrooms mixed in. I ended up leaving a small pile of oyster mushrooms in the bottom of the bowl. Probably because I was too full from sniping fries off E's plate. Doh.

Anna recommended we head upstairs to check out the really awesome dining room, but we ran out of time. Sex and the City 2 was calling at 8pm down the street! Now, I'm a huge S&TC fan, and I probably quote the show and movie an obnoxious amount. ("I may not send texts, and I may not get texts, but the subtext of that text - boo-tay.") So no surprise that I really enjoyed S&TC2, despite poor reviews from critics and friends. It's pure entertainment, people! Don't take it seriously! Without giving it away for those who haven't seen it, I think Carrie got off a little too easy at the very end. That seemed a bit too far fetched, even to me.

But it's all in good fun!

The MFA and Parish Cafe - hey, a rhyme!

2009-11-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Holy schnikes, it's been a while since I posted. Moving to Boston will do that to you.

Joe and I uprooted from Baltimore in June to pursue some pretty awesome career opportunities in Beantown. And the short story is, we're LOVING it. Couldn't be happier. Although what is UP with it getting dark at 4:00pm and snowing in October??? Our little Southern bodies are confused!

And low and behold, my little sister, E, helped us move to Boston, fell in love with it during her 4 days here, and four weeks later, she'd uprooted from Virginia and has started a new life of her own here too. Two cousins also moved to Boston this summer for law school and physical therapy school. Just too exciting! Having family so close is a first for Joe and I. Love it.

And last night was just one of many chances we've had to take advantage of that. Joe and I met after work for a double date with E and her bf at the Museum of Fine Arts. Once a month, the MFA has Free Community Day where they open the whole museum, including the special exhibitions, to the public until 9:45pm. Perfect!

We'd been this summer on another free day (cheap-os!), but we didn't make it through the whole museum. And we still didn't last night. But we did get to see The Secrets of 10A: Egypt 2000 BC. Very, very cool. The coffin on display is the most elaborate coffin that has been recovered to date.

And we finally toured the Japan and Korea wing. But I'm a sucker for Impressionist art. It's magical to be in the same room with Renoir, Monet, Manet, Millet...And for the first time I actually reveled in the old European wing, dreaming about my recent visit to the Uffizi and wishing I were back there.

I was happy to see so many young people at the Museum. Guess that's what happens when they let you in for free :)

Off we went to the Parish Cafe, a new favorite of ours on Boylston, but a favorite to all who live here. The concierge at Hotel Marlowe (my home away from home with visiting colleagues) recommended it, so we tried it out a few weeks ago. The menu is all sandwiches and salads, but the recipes are collected from chefs all over town. The top four sandwich items never change (get the Rowdy or the Zuni roll), but the rest rotate, so you can always count on something new.

I ordered the beet salad and tomato and rice soup. I was so excited to get to New England and find BEETS on the menu! Heaven forbid you see them anywhere in Baltimore or Virginia. What's up with that? I love knowing I don't have to rely on just cooking them at home - they're perfectly acceptable in menus all over Boston.

Joe got the Campbell, some veal sandwich that looked pretty substantial. And then we meandered home to the Navy Yard. Good times in Boston.

Wine and cheese

2009-05-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Planned meals have temporarily ceased to exist at my house. Blame it on a crazy schedule, but wine and cheese have officially become my default dinner.

We've been in and out of our house dodging, um, visitors, I guess you can say, so cooking has taken a back seat. The last three dinners at home have featured a bottle of red and a block of something golden or white.

My girlfriend, Adriana, came over last week and brought some gorgeous cheese and fig spread while I supplied the Cabernet Sauvignon and crackers. My Extra Sharp Cracker Barrel cheese, courtesy of the Inner Harbor Lofts Convenience store next door, was quickly trumped by her European selection. After noshing and chatting for two hours, we decided that wine and cheese is THE perfect dinner. Anything more is just over achievement.

Guest blog post is up!

2009-05-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

Check it out on Baltimore Magazine's "In Good Taste" page here.

Baltimore magazine guest blog

2009-05-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

I just submitted my guest blog entry to the Food editor at Baltimore magazine for her blog, In Good Taste. The editor, a frequent PR pursuit mine, is going out for knee surgery and asked for guest bloggers during her recovery.

Shout out to Twitter for alerting me of the opportunity. @sunnye03 was all over it.

She was open-minded enough to give me the green light, so my post should appear sometime next week. I'll link to it when it goes live.

First foray into Robert Oliver Seafood

2009-04-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

After every BSO performance, Joe and I marvel at the colorful water in the glass bar of Robert Oliver Seafood on Cathedral St. It never looks like anyone's in there, so we're curious but not compelled to peek in.

But we did on Saturday. We stepped in the front door and entered one of the few Manhattan-like settings I've found in Baltimore. Super chic and sleek. Gorgeous.

The interior color scheme is all neutral browns with black furniture for contrast. Design lines are straight and clean. A baby grand piano is perched sweetly at the top of the short steps up to the formal dining room, which is adjacent to a lounge area with stuffed chairs and knee-high tables.

The bar itself is completely out of sight from the dining room, so the rainbow of effervescent water doesn't clash with the decor. We headed to the bar for a post-show cocktail and were joined by a couple musicians straight off the BSO stage, including a cellist we'd been eyeing all night directly in front of our row.

The bar has a sloping wall of glass that peers into an outdoor courtyard in warmer weather. We parked ourselves on two bar stools and ordered drinks and calamari. The menu is pretty pricey, so we walked away with a pretty hefty bill given our light order. But the scene was cool and it was new to us, so we'll be back to try the dinner menu.

Note to self - they put that pretty baby grand to use each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

Spring Fling in Annapolis

2009-04-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

My mom, dad, and sister came to Baltimore today to join me for Annapolis' Spring Fling off of State Circle. It was pretty steamy today, so we opted for a 90-minute cruise on a double-decker boat up the Severn River so that we could be outside with a constant breeze from the water.

The $20 boat ride came with food and drink bar on the first floor and then an audio tour of the scenery up the Severn River. Our family had been chatting with Captain Dean Scarborough before we left shore, and it came up that I work in PR. Guess he spotted my natural gift for bullshitting, so when the audio cd petered out on us 10 minutes into the tour, he asked if I'd be up for reading the script for the rest of the cruise. He promised me a beer for my troubles.

You mean I get to be a ham AND get free drinks? Where do I sign?

Long story short, I became an unofficial member of the Annapolitan II and taught the guests and myself about neighborhoods like Sherwood Forest with its mandatory green or brown painted houses and Epping Forest with its sprawling mansions built on a former golf course. Those homes along the river are just incredible. Everyone was out on their boats today, and the whole scene was bliss.

Once back on land, the four of us (Joe was on call) inquired about the wait time at Pusser's - an Annapolis "must" on nice days. Three to four HOURS for an outdoor table. Riiiiight. So on to Buddy's Crabs and Ribs, which was fine.

My girlfriend Kelly and hubby Devin met up with us downtown, and it wasn't until then that we realized we weren't close to the actual Spring Fling event at all. Whoopsie. So we strolled a few blocks over and found tented vendors, live music and foodies. A precious new street in Annapolis that I'd never been down!

After we parted ways with them, we took a stroll to "the Yard," the Naval Academy campus. My goodness, is that place gorgeous. Especially on a spring day today when the green grass and flowering trees were the only color against the otherwise gray stone buildings. We walked down the row with captain homes and turned right towards the domed chapel, which dad had been eyeing since our cruise earlier. The chapel doors were locked, but we got a narrow peek inside. Enormous and beautiful.

The whole day was wonderful, and Annapolis was buzzing with energy and people eager to break in their new shorts and sandals. My feet are aching from all the walking, but every step was worth it.

Paolo's at Reston Town Center

2009-04-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

Friday night we had dinner with my best friend Ashley and her boyfriend, Frank. It was the first day of what was to be a gorgeous weekend, so our only recruitment was that they find a place outside for us to eat. So we met at Paolo's in Reston, which has lots of outdoor tables that were in direct sunlight.

I felt bad for our servers who all seemed to be getting reaccustomed to outdoor service as they dodged trees and each other to maneuver between the close tables. I had this great martini called Damn The Weather, and Joe and I shared the calamari, tortellin rose appetizer, caprese salad and cucumber carpaccio.

The cucumber carpaccio was screaming summertime to me, so I had to have it. It was so light and fresh. A layer of shaved cucumber was stacked with fennel, oranges, radishes, leeks and ricotta cheese with olive oil. I'm keeping this in mind for my summer recipe interpretations.

The Town Center has completely exploded recently with new, hopping restaurants and a new wine bar that we tried to weasel our way into. They stuck to their guns and told us to come back next week when they open. The Tasting Room looks like an awesome, chic bar with what are sure to be a wide selection of wines for every price range and taste. It will fill up fast, so we'll see how desperate I am to elbow my way to the front of a crowded bar.

REAL customer service

2009-04-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last night Joe and I had 8:00 tickets to the BSO, and our goal was to squeeze in dinner with ambiance, if possible, in 45 minutes. We blew into Abacrombie across from the Meyerhoff at 7:15 with no reservation, expecting to be stressed to the last second before our show started.

Wrong.

We told the hostess about our 8:00 commitment, and the rest was cake. We were seated immediately, and water and bread appeared in seconds. Our rockstar server from our visit in the FALL swooped down to our table and said, "Welcome back, guys!" We were floored that he remembered us and seemed so genuinely excited at our return.

We frequent lots of spots in Baltimore, and some often enough where we'd expect staff might naturally recognize us. However, this server had such a keen eye for his customers that he filed us away for months. Bonus, he was rocking lavendar patent leather shoes.

The amuse bouche was a chilled tomato soup served in a thumbnail glass. Immaculate. Praised it up and down so they'll make it a menu item.

He had our salads and grilled artichoke out to us within 3 minutes of ordering. Prosecco was on the table as soon as we said the word. The staff quietly dropped off the bill shortly after the entrees arrived so that we wouldn't be waiting on them to get us anything.

The pastry chef sent out two chocolate truffles covered in Chinese five spices for dessert. Melted in our mouths. We were done with our meal in 30 minutes, leaving us 10 minutes to slowly sip our bubbly before walking across the street at 8:00. Time to breathe.

For the smoothness and appreciation for our time restraint, we will definitely return to Abacrombie soon. Kudos to a seamless staff who make you want to brag about them.

Spring in Baltimore - by Gavin

2009-04-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

I had to post this beautiful video of the Mt. Vernon neighborhood in Baltimore. My Twitter friend, Gavin, put this together over the weekend when the weather was gorgeous.

Brings out all kinds of Baltimore pride in me, which I'm finally starting to realize I have. Only took five years :)

Bluegrass at Boordy

2009-04-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

Joe and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather on Sunday and trekked up to Boordy Vineyards for Red, Whites and Bluegrass. Each weekend in April, Boordy hosted a different bluegrass band, and a $12 admission gets you in to the vineyard with unlimited tastings.

Our mission was more or less just to lay on a blanket in the sunshine and soak up good music, but we're not ones to pass up wine. Boordy has a large array of wines, including the basic reds and whites and then the "Just For Fun" wines, which tend to be infused with other fruits like apples and melons.

Boordy is one of the most popular vineyards in Maryland, but I'm sure that's based on the setting of the vineyard and the special events they feature each year. The wine is Maryland wine. Enough said. We asked for two glasses of the 2007 Landmark Reserve Chardonnay and found out it was only $1.75 more for the whole bottle. Twist our arms.

We took our bottle back to our blanket on the hillside and talked and talked for the rest of the afternoon. The band was Jackass Flats from Richmond, VA. The four-man band had a good sound and moved lots of people to dance on the stone terrace. Very festive atmosphere. It did get crowded around 2:30 when a tour bus of people showed up and lined up at the tasting bar. That's when we hightailed it with the bottle!

Joe and I have spent the past several weekends apart for various family reasons and crazy schedules, so it was wonderful to resume our Sunday night dinner together. We made homemade carrot pasta dough and rolled it out into ravioli stuffed with baked eggplant and parmesan cheese. I made a mushroom and red wine sauce to serve over the top, and a fresh salad of chopped beets, red peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella chunks and cilantro as a side.

It was good to be back!

Mom's (chickenless) chicken casserole and biscotti

2009-03-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

Erika came up for the day for some cooking and girlie movies. Since she's such a coffee-lover, I thought we could try our hand at homemade of biscotti along with mom's famous chicken casserole.

The biscotti dough requires an hour of chilling in the fridge, so after we made the dough, E and I walked a couple miles down around the Inner Harbor and along the Ritz Carlton boardwalk. That was my first time strolling along that brick boardwalk, and it was just gorgeous. It's incredible to see so many of those gorgeous townhomes and condos uninhabited. Hello Ritz - I'll take one off your hands.

We popped the biscotti dough in the oven for 8 minutes, but they came out looking funny. And now, as I read over the directions for the first time, I see why. Erika, we were supposed to turn them over repeatedly so they lightly browned on each side and dried out. Whoops. At least we nailed the taste.

Mom's famous chicken casserole has been my brother's, sister's and my favorite dish since we were little kids. Now that we're in charge of our own cooking, I decided to omit the chicken from the chicken casserole. Per Erika, she didn't miss it at all, and neither did I. So I guess that makes it just mom's plain casserole.

Ingredients:

1 c fat-free mayo
1 1/2 T lemon juice
2 cans diced water chestnuts
1/4 small onion, diced small
1 t. salt
2 cups white rice, cooked
2 cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
4 hard boiled eggs, diced, no yolks
2 c corn flakes
1 stick margarine
1/2 - 1 c sliced almonds

Mix all together in large bowl and put in greased long casserole dish. Top with melted margarine, corn flakes and almonds. Mix together and top casserole. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Freezes well uncooked. Leave off topping to freeze.

It was SO nice to make this dish on my own instead of begging mom to make it when I go home. Such a comfort food. Tons for leftovers, so Joe can nosh when he gets home from work tomorrow.

Erika brought "Nights in Rodanthe" for us to watch while we cooked. Holy sob session! Note to little sis - do not bring movies that will make Meghan cry UNLESS they are happy tears. Otherwise, thanks for spending your Sunday with me :)

Oh Little Town of Occoquan

2009-03-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

My parents and I drove to Woodbridge, VA on Sunday to spend the day with my sister. She recently moved out of my parents' house in Harrisonburg and has created the beginnings of a great life for herself in NOVA. Go Erika!

She was totally the hostess with the mostest on Sunday :) After treating us to lunch at her place, she threw us in the car, and off we went to a local vineyard she'd been stalking called Potomac Point. Northern Virginia is chock full of wineries, but this one had caught her eye for its romantic Italian architecture. (This photo page may take a minute to upload, but skip over the wedding photos and scroll to the bottom for best winery photos).

It was a remarkable building. Huge inside with a tasting bar in the center of the main room so that guests can be served from all four sides. Lounge with a formal fireplace and oversized couches for sipping a glass. We purchased the Premier wine tasting for $10 each, and from that we were able to sample about 10 wines. None of them bowled us over, so we didn't feel compelled to buy anything. But my family loves hunting down new wineries and tasting the day away.

In addition to wine, they sold flavored olive oils by Stella Cadente, winner of the Best in Show at the Oils of the World Competition. (I volunteer to be a judge there!). They serve the oils in huge steel canteens, the equivalent of a Gatorade cooler except for olive oil. Mom and dad treated E and I to a 4-oz olive oil of our choice, so I chose the Blood Orange olive oil. It reminded me of my first blood orange at the farmers market in Mission Bay, San Diego four years ago on a trip with my sister.

We moved from Potomac Point to the waterfront town of Occoquan, a place Erika had encountered during a search for a local post office. Oddly enough, mom had seen an article about this town in Southern Living six years ago when I first moved to Baltimore, and she tore it out and gave it to me for a day trip suggestion. And here we were!

We rolled into town at 3:30pm on a rainy Sunday, so the stores that were still open weren't exactly busy. But the town is precious. It's basically one main street that sits smack dab on top of the Potomac River. Houses are all clapboard and look like water homes. I had taken a post-wine nap on the 10-minute ride from the vineyard to Occoquan, so we caffeinated ourselves at The Coffee Shop of Occoquan. Besides an eager Irishman dressed in a plaid kilt two days before St. Patrick's Day, the place was normal.

Across the street, Mom's Apple Pie Company was calling our name. This place is so charming! It's got a great big welcoming porch and screen doors that were open. Can I digress and tell you how much I love screen doors? I've told Joe that no matter how modern our house is, it must have at least one screen door, preferably in the kitchen, that can slam as people run in and out. The sound of a screen door slamming brings back so many childhood memories in South Carolina. People behind a screen door are approachable - it means you don't need a solid barrier between yourself and the rest of the world. Just something to keep the mosquitoes out.

We ventured down Main St. to yet another wine tasting - oh darn! - at Tastefully Yours gourmet foods. An Italian winemaker fron northern Italy, Walter Lodali, was in the store greeting tasters as they sampled his wines. His halting English sounded fabulous, and when I asked him to take me back to Italy with him after his U.S. tour, he stuck out his elbow and escorted me right out the front door! See ya! The store owner shouted after me, "They don't have any heirs to the vineyard, so he does need a wife!" Hmm, Italian wine heir. What to do, what to do. Joe would understand if I fell for his brethren. Right? I'm telling you, when I get to Italy, there's a very strong change I may not be returning.

Erika, dad and I each left the store with at least one bottle of the Lodali wine. After sampling Virginia wines and then Italian wines within two hours of each other, the difference in quality was absolutely incredible. I won't even begin to try to put words to it. It was a joke, really.

Great planning, sis! When can we do it again?

Baltimore Pho Vietnamese restaurant

2009-03-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

One day recently when Joe was post-call, I whisked him up off the sidewalk on his walk home and took us to Baltimore Pho, the hot Vietnamese restaurant on Hollins St. across from the Hollins Market.

I'd been reading reviews all over the place from the Sun and Baltimore STYLE, and I was tired of not seeing for myself. First of all, we made mental notes to ourselves to come back to visit the Hollins Market. I've heard great things about its history (built in 1838 and is "Baltimore's oldest home to food merchants"). According to this website, Civil War soldiers stationed nearby used to stop at Hollins Market while supplies were shipped to Washington for Union soldiers in the field.

The decor is great. Exposed brick walls, tin ceilings, walls laden with archways to provide division without making rooms feel separate, and a great bar with lots of colored lighting and two flatscreen TVs. The restaurant only has 26 tables, so it feels intimate, which we always love. Boutique restaurants tend to take better care of their customers.

This lunch day was slow, so we were rewarded with a very attentive, informative waiter. The restaurant owner served in Vietnam and fell in love with the country, going so far as to adopt four Vietnamese boys! He explained the signature menu item - Pho, pronounced "fuh." (Imagine Joe sitting there saying, "What the fuh?" I reminded him why he's not in marketing). The Vietnamese typically eat it for breakfast, but I can't see Americans slurping down broth and whole vegetables at 8:00am.

We got two bowls of Vegetarian Pho with Tofu. Each bowl is more than enough for one person. The broth takes hours to prepare, which is one of the main reasons it's so delicious. The flavors steep together for more than a day. Our tofu broth was poured over rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower. Pho is served with bean sprouts, hoi sin sauce (sweet sauce), a hot sauce that I can't pronounce, lime, and a couple other flavorful leaves that you're supposed to rub between your fingers and place in the soup to let the flavor seep out. Drop a dollop of the hoi sin sauce into your pho and stir it around until it blends in.

We tackled the soup with chopsticks and managed to splash broth all over our chins. Mmm, sexy. All in good taste! It was delicious, and we had a great view of the foot traffic across the street at Hollins Market.

Baltimore Pho is in a tough spot with really no other major commercial draws, but according to the manager, Pho's owner owns every single property around the Market and has plans to develop it into other retail properties as soon as the economy picks up. In the meantime, keep the place alive and go slurp down some Pho!

St. Patrick's Day in Annapolis

2009-03-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after work I met up with my girlfriend, Lyndsey, and we drove down to Annapolis to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with our great friends, Devin and Kelly. St. Patrick's Day is THE biggest day of the year for Devin's family, and Kelly had given us a heads up on his giddiness. He couldn't WAIT to get to the bar. Every year his family marches in the Albany, NY St. Patty's Day parade. They don't have a float or anything. They just walk and wave and wear green. It's a requirement that they all attend :) I love that spirit.

So anyway, we met at Sly Fox off Church Circle. A few years ago, I was a regular with Kelly in Annapolis, and Sly Fox was our favorite outdoor bar. She taught me a few good tricks there ;)

The best part about Sly Fox is the outdoor patio behind the original building. Last night they had covered half of the brick patio with a white tent and had a live band. The rest of the patio had heat lamps spaced out all over it, and the bar was hopping. I roasted myself under a heat lamp for a few hours while we talked our faces off. Poor Devin had to step in for conversation control when we got too work-centric. (Lynds, Kelly and I used to work together and love swapping stories).

We eventually migrated to the downstairs pub in the basement of the Sly Fox restaurant. In typical Annapolis fashion, the hallways sloped and tilted from hundreds of years of settlement. The floors are completely brick, the ceilings are low, and the walls are whitewashed plaster. It feels like you're stepping back in time. Huge indentations are carved out of the walls where fireplaces used to be scattered around the room.

I don't know who was in our company, but it seemed like all of the Annapolis politicians were out and about. Drunk networking is so much fun to watch. I have to agree that it makes it less painful!

We all left the bar around midnight. I can't WAIT until it warms up so I can go out in Annapolis and crash at Kelly's. I love the change of scenery - the crowds, the bars, being in a water community with water people...so good. Sly Fox, I've missed you!

Irony

2009-02-27T17:37:00.001-08:00

This is a totally gross post, but it does revolve around food. Sort of.

Embarrassingly enough, I noticed mice droppings behind our faucet on the kitchen sink a few days ago. Joe kindly cleaned them up, and we vowed to keep an eye out for more droppings that would indicate we had an actual active mouse - not a one-time visitor.

Well, I found our dear mouse today when I pulled the trash bag out of the kitchen trash can. Oh yeah. At first I thought our trash just really stunk until I leaned closer to the actual can. Hmmm. Stronger. And wait...that's not a green pepper on the bottom of the trash can. Unless the pepper had a tail.

Uh huh, yeah. In a terribly ironic twist of fate, our house mouse appears to have been crushed by the very food that he tried so hard to reach. Tsk, tsk.

Of COURSE Joe wasn't home for my revelation, so I screamed bloody murder on my own and ran around like a totally spastic girlie-girl. I'M SO GROSSED OUT! I managed to carry the toxic trash can out our front door where it sits waiting for Joe to come home and dispose.

I am so thoroughly grossed out right now and want to bomb my apartment. Don't they do that for insects? That tenting thing? Must download music and distract myself.

Kudos to Woodberry Kitchen!

2009-02-24T16:20:00.000-08:00

I'm flipping through the January issue of Bon Appetit, and Woodberry Kitchen's got a callout and a page-dominating photo.

Hailed as one of "the new american taverns" in this month's "THE HOT 10" column, Woodberry is listed as a 'gastro-tavern' - "smart, casual spots serving excellent drinks and modern takes on American (and global) comfort foods."

Other contenders were from Seattle, LA, Chicago, Brooklyn, the usual suspects. Another sign Baltimore is earning some culinary nods!

Moonfish - Orlando

2009-02-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

On my final night in Orlando, we went out with another client and his family to a local restaurant they've fallen in love with. Unless you are some Disney palace or crazy faux Hollywood set, most restaurants in Orlando are set within strip malls and look pretty unglamorous. This one, however, was a diamond in the rough.

Moonfish is known for serving Orlando's freshest fish from around the world. The interior was quite a surprise given its humble exterior. The kitchen is open, so when you walk in the main entrance, you are staring straight into this multi-level grill with flames shooting everywhere. Copius bottles of wine line the backs of booths. (Always a good sign!).

Our gracious host ordered calamari, coconut shrimp, spicy tuna rolls and scallops to start. I chose the Macadamia Nut-Encrusted Mahi Mahi served with sticky rice, Szechuan green beans and mushrooms. To complement the fish, I ordered a flight of 3 Chardonnays for a little dining experiment. I liked the oakiest Chardonnay from Sonoma, whose name I, of course, cannot remember.

The fish was delicious. My fellow diners ordered filet mignon and ribeye steaks, which I'm sure were amazing for beef lovers but held no appeal for me. After dinner, our host ordered four slices of various cakes since we were all so indecisive about what we wanted. So we sampled coconut cake, chocolate heaven, Creamsicle cake, and cheesecake with baklava. All were ridiculously good. The slices were as big as my head!

It was a pleasant experience, and I was grateful for the chance to get off the conference resort. Orlando is much more fun when you're not working :) Back to Baltimore this afternoon. Goodbye 78 degrees!

Marie Louise Bistro - Mt. Vernon

2009-02-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

I'm about to go out for a client dinner in Orlando, but I wanted to blog about our recent brunch at Marie Louise Bistro, 904 N. Charles St. in Mt. Vernon. After Joe got home from the hospital this past Saturday morning, we went in search of a fun brunch spot. Our original goal was City Cafe, but on our way there, we remembered we'd recently been unsuccessful in our nighttime hunt for Marie Louise, and perhaps we'd have better luck finding it in the daytime.

Sure enough, we found it at the corner of Charles and Read streets right beside Spirits of Mt. Vernon Wine Shop. They haven't invested in an awning or flag to grab your attention on the street, but it's there. (When we told the management later about our trouble identifying it, they said awnings have been ordered and are on the way).

Long story short, we were enchanted by Marie Louise. The inside is delightfully French and airy with 25+ feet ceilings and a stone wall that makes you feel like you're in the countryside. Above the stone, walls are painted a creamy taupe, and French country pottery and furniture decorate the space. Every table had a glass bowl of red baby roses, and larger vases of full-size red roses were placed around the room. The front dining area felt like a cafe with the crazy espresso machine and gorgeous pastry display. A huge storefront window lets in ample light, but if that wasn't enough, two enormous antique chandeliers dangle from refurbished, shiny tin ceilings. Super classy.

Brunch is clearly their "thing", and I was ecstatic to find a favorite menu item in veggie condition - the Veggie Bennie is a vegetarian Eggs Benedict, served with potatoes. Really delicous Portabello mushrooms and peppers on the poached egg and English muffin. Joe got the Crab Benedict, which he says was great. We topped it off with two mimosas. Er, four.

Food was great. They have a full list of coffee beverages prepared to your liking, plus gorgeous teas, such as vanilla grapefruit. Doesn't that sound amazing? I asked to sit in the front dining room with all the natural light, but the back half of the restaurant is lovely too, just better suited for dinner. It has beautiful dark hardwood floors and lower ceilings, so it seems a bit more formal. Upstairs, loft-style, is a giant bar surrounded by high top tables and one private back room with a table for 10-12 guests. From the loft bar, you've got a beautiful view of the front cafe dining area and chandeliers. The whole place is so elegant. I seriously considered going back the very next day when we were on another hunt for a brunch place.

Universal Studios - Dinner in Orlando

2009-02-17T13:34:00.001-08:00

I'm down in Orlando, FL for a client conference this week, and it's pretty damn nice. The daytime highs have been mid-70s. We've been in a conference center around the clock, but I've been able to stick my head outside for brief, brief periods between sessions.

Last night my colleague and two conference attendees went to dinner at Universal Studios Citywalk! - the bar/restaurant scene at Universal. I'd forgotten how spread out Orlando is. You can drive for almost an hour and still be within Orlando city limits!

We tried to eat at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, but even in February, the wait for a table was an hour and 45 minutes. No thanks. So we rounded the pond to Hard Rock Cafe. A classic American choice. I'd eaten there with my family when I was 14, but I think this time I was even more impressed by the infrastructure it takes to support that restaurant. They can seat 1,400 people at a time, and they usually turn tables over 5 times during the dinner hours. That's almost 7,000 people a night! I can't imagine what the servers take home. (I think someone forgot to tell all of them that Goth is out. I've never seen so many piercings in one concentrated area).

The food is so-so, but of course that's not why you go there. The dome ceiling over the main bar is painted like the Sistine Chapel, but instead of heavenly cherubs, the "saints" are famous rock and roll stars with lines from their songs on tablets at the feet. Janis Joplin looks good in heaven.
A full-size 1950s pink Cadillac convertible rotates on a pedestal in the center of the bar. Gongs ring out when birthdays are announced. Horrible (aka, amazing!) rock videos are looping on the TVs.

Shockingly, a cheerleading convention was in town, or at least that's what we finally dubbed it. Hordes of 14 and 15-year old girls had taken over the top floor of the restaurant, and upon a trip to the bathroom, I found a group of them sitting on the floor of the hallway, hugging each other and crying as a group over something. Lost competition? First heartbreak? Cell phone got lost? Ugh. Way too much teenage angst for me. No pity from this former cheerleader.

Gotta run back to the conference now, but the night was really fun. Behaved myself and enjoyed the scenery.

Rusty Scupper brunch

2009-02-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

We were striking out on brunch options after church today. Our one staple, Regi's, had a wait, so we got back in the car to head to Little Havana. As we approached the Rusty Scupper on Key Highway I said, want to try here? I'd been for dinner once before, and Joe had never been. It seemed like the kind of place that would be likely to have a signature Sunday brunch. You know, something designed to feed the masses.

Boy was I right.

The wooden restaurant practically oozes cheeseball nauticism, but that didn't seem to mind the hundreds of brunch guests who packed the place. The restaurant was set up as one giant brunch buffet, and lines were twisting and turning from one banquet table to the next. Except for the omelette line, everything moved super quickly. We were seated at a great rear table right against a window facing the Ritz Carlton condos. Looking out our window, there was nothing below us but the Inner Harbor, so it made us feel a little bit like being on a cruise ship. Hehe.

The buffet was loaded with seafood options. Given our total bill, I'm guessing the buffet is about $30/person, which included all your cold salad selections, plus hot items, a custom omelette line, desserts, shrimp and scallop scampi, salmon, oysters on the half shell, steamed clams, everything you could want, sans crabs.

A grand piano was set up in the bar, and a pianist and bass guitarist were great background music. They have this duo every Sunday brunch. Every other evening during the week, it's just the pianist. We filed that away as a cocktail option for a great Harbor view and music.

The Rusty Scupper is a Baltimore staple and continues to get praised for its enduring strengths. We don't plan on having dinner here anytime soon, but I would recommend the brunch as a solid option for plentiful food and great views. They seemed able to accommodate very large family parties, too, so bring everyone!

Special dinner for Erika - Peking chicken amuse bouche

2009-02-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

My sister came up on Wednesday to see "He's Just Not That Into You" - a great movie for anyone interested in love stories with real life challenges. (Not all's perfect). It's so great having her in NOVA because we can jet back and forth to see each other during the week.

Joe had offered to prepare a special dinner for us while we were at the movie. I must say, after watching some less than ideal story lines unfold in the movie, I felt incredibly blessed to be coming home to a sensitive, thoughtful man who doesn't waste time with false hopes. While life doesn't always go the way you planned, it certainly goes a lot smoother with honest communication.

But enough about that. Check out this menu. (My 21-year old sister almost fell off her bar stool when Joe broke out the amuse bouche).

Amuse bouche: Peking Chicken on Fried Eggplant and Fresh Basil, Topped with Peach Roux

Pre-heat over to 425.
To create the roux, start by melting 1/4 stick of butter in pan.
Salt the butter.
Add 1 small onion, sliced.
Reduce onion to an Italion-style sauce.
Add 1/2 a peach, sliced. Crush the peach into tiny pieces with spatula.
Leave the fruit in the pot for about 45 minutes to allow the peach to break down.
Flash boil 1/2 chicken breast for 2 minutes until chicken turns white
Cool and soak in marinade of Tabasco, honey, soy sauce, and freshly squeezed lemon
Wrap marinated chicken in aluminum foil "Dutch oven". Sprinkle with fresh lemon and remainder of marinade.
Bake for 15 minutes.

Serve the chicken on top of one piece of fried eggplant with 2 fresh basil leaves, and drizzle peach roux over the top.

Now that was just the amuse bouche, but as usual, it was hard to move on after that and convince our palates that anything else could taste as good. But dinner came next - 1/3 of a baked sweet potato for each of us served with a small puddle of honey with cinnamon. Wilted spinach with garlic.

Poor Erika didn't know what hit her. She loved everything! It was a "tasty explosion," as I like to joke. Thank you, Chef Joe.

Food & Wine's Twenty+ Best Healthy Recipes Ever

2009-02-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

The March issue of Food & Wine has a gorgeous photo on the cover of "layered root-vegetable gratin with a rich Chenin Blanc." It's one of the issue's Twenty+ Best Healthy Recipes Ever. I'm making it later today for our Sunday dinner.

But last night I borrowed another recipe from this issue for our Valentine's Day meal. We had tickets to the BSO to see world famous tap dancer Savion Glover perform to Marin Alsop's direction. We needed to be at the BSO around 6:30 to enjoy a pre-show jazz band and cocktails - a special bonus for this specific concert and an ambiance that we planned to take advantage of!

We didn't allow much time to prepare and enjoy dinner before rushing off, so here's where F&W came in: Linguine with Red Cabbage. I've become such a fan of this nutrient-rich vegetable (grandma Goetz would be proud!), and prep time was only 50 minutes.

Here's the step-by-step recipe, or improvise this way:

Add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil to a hot skillet.
Over medium-low heat, saute 1 medium red onion.
Add 2 Tbsp diced garlic.
Slice 1 head of red cabbage into thin strips. Add to softened onions.
Saute vegetable medley for approximately 20 minutes or until cabbage is soft.
In the meantime, prepare your linguine.
Drain linguine.
Plate linguine and dress with onion/cabbage medley.
Sprinkle crumbled Greek feta over top.

Nutritional facts for one serving: 388 cal, 15 gm fat, 3.9 gm sat fat, 54 gm carb, 4.8 gm fiber.

It was so delicious and simple! According to F&W, red cabbage is "full of cell-protecting anthocyanins." This past October, a study was released in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that said red cabbage contains 36 cancer-fighting anthocyanins. It may also improve heart health and brain function. (And psst, it's yummy!).

We oohed and aahed over this for a few minutes before heading to the BSO for a sold out, fantastic performance. As we stood in the lobby sipping champagne and listening to the Brad Linde jazz band, we couldn't help but notice the average age of the attendees. Most guests were baby boomers, if not older. It makes me nervous for the future of arts establishments like the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Support the arts, people! Young 'ens, it's a wonderful concert venue. Don't be afraid of trying something new.

We had sweet seats just 5 rows back from the stage, and Savion knocked our socks off (and the media's!). It was also our first time seeing Marin Alsop in action, and we fell in love. She seems worth all the praise she's been earning. The orchestra was just eating up her enthusiasm and playful spirit. Her buzz has been priceless for the BSO. Now go see her!

Della Notte and Ol' Blue Eyes

2009-02-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

Joe's best friend, Ben, came down to Baltimore Friday night to get a change of scenery from his simulator flight classes. (He was in Delaware learning to fly a new plane for his company's fleet). I had spent the day cooped up in the back seat of a cab, riding around D.C., soliciting pedestrians to get in our free cab and tell us about their jobs. All in the name of a client conference video. Joe had just come off a 36-hour call night at the hospital without a wink of sleep.

Our sorry butts needed a good night out!

I'd passed Della Notte on the corner of President and Fleet St. a million times, and I'd always wanted to go. It looked slightly cheesy from the outside, but so do all the good Italian joints in little Italy! And I'd heard it had a piano bar!

Joe and Ben got there before me and, praise God, had a glass of Champagne waiting for me on the table. That was my one wish as I toppled out of my colleague's car and dragged my cab-smelling self inside. (Am I painting a pretty picture?)

The piano man was great! He immediately put me in a great mood, and the three of us became his biggest fans for the next two hours. Larry Scott played all our favorite Sinatra tunes, plus a little Dino and Buble to round it out. He even surprised us and threw in some trumpet for sass! I loved it!

By the time we ordered dinner, I was happy as a clam with my Champagne and live music. The never-ending Restaurant Week was still at large, but I simply ordered the Bucatini - Chanterelles, Royal Trumpets, pancetta, garlic, white wine, chicken stock, Mascarpone cream sauce, and truffle oil. To die for.

Ben came back to our place for a bit before hitting the road back to Delaware. We love our visits with Ben. He set us up on our blind date, so I'm forever thankful for having crossed his path one random brunch. Pretty soon we'll be visiting Ben, Melissa and baby Emma, so we've got to soak up all our quiet, uninterrupted visits until April :) In all seriousness, we can't wait to meet Emma Grace and see Ben as a dad. Here's to another great Dolan!

Amuse bouche and spinach pasta

2009-02-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

After a leisurely stroll around Locust Point yesterday (including an awesome pit stop at Thornton's Pub - a hole in the wall bar and home to sweet potato fries with honey cinnamon sauce), we spent the rest of the day cooking Sunday night dinner. True to Italian fashion, we prefer to drag the process out for most of the day, sipping on wine and enjoying tiny snacks along the way.

Joe lead the charge with an amuse bouche that I think was the most flavorful dish he's ever made. We never make meat, although sometimes we find ourselves missing the savory meals that only meat can truly provide. He had bought three small pieces of lamb - literally 2 oz. each - for a total of $2 as a teaser to our main course. Amuse bouche essentially means "to please the mouth."

Final product was kiwi-covered-sweet-wine-mushroom-cap-on-sea-salt-encrusted-lamb. The amuse bouche was literally only two bites, and small ones at that, but it was rich enough in flavor to make you feel guilty about eating anything else after it. We savored every bite until we couldn't wring any more flavor out of it. But isn't that how great food should really taste? You don't want to swallow it for fear of letting go of the flavor.

To make this, he'd cooked the lamb in a pan for 3o seconds on each side and then baked at 350 for three minutes. That's it! He'd sliced one whole kiwi and sauteed it down in a pot with a stick of butter, pinch of salt, and a final dusting of flour to thicken the texture.

We spent the post-amuse bouche hours preparing spinach pasta made from scratch with our new pasta machine. I boiled 1 cup of spinach in water, drained it, squeezed out the water with my hands, and patted it dry with paper towels. After all that, that fluffy cup of spinach was boiled down to half the size of my palm. I threw it in the food processor and gradually added 2 Tbsp of water to create a paste. I transferred the spinach puree to a bowl and whisked in 1 egg.

Meanwhile, Joe was making the pasta dough. When the dough was partially kneaded, he formed a "volcano" with the dough, and I poured the spinach puree into the center. Kind of like lava from a 7th grade science project. He kept kneading the spinach in, and after rolling, cutting, pressing and slicing the dough, we had perfectly colored light green spinach pasta! It's so fun cranking out the pretty noodles. I keep having this image of me sitting in front of a MOUNTAIN of green noodles. Ha!

I had lightly sauteed some sundried tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and eggplant, which we tossed with the pasta. Topped that bad boy off with a beautiful 2004 Cuvee Margot.

Hot damn! Homerun at our house! I think next time I want to try sweet potato pasta. Who wants to join us for dinner?

The Chocolate Affair

2009-02-05T18:44:00.001-08:00

I attended the Chocolate Affair, sponsored by Health Care for the Homeless, tonight at M&T Stadium. I was there on behalf of a client, but I got to have a little fun for myself! This annual event draws a LOT of attention, but I was there to work the media.

I learned from a staff member that they were expecting 1,600 guests. At $75/ticket (and up), that's a solid fundraising effort. Roughly 150 food vendors (restaurants, caterers, chocolatiers) volunteered their time and products to show off their sweet and savory wares. Three vendors in, I was already sick of chocolate. Whew!

It was a tasteful event. Attire was dressy business to semi-formal (I saw models sporting Victor Rossi ballgowns and other girls with hot pink pantyhose). Sampling was endless, and the bars were open. Live entertainment included bellydancers, a Caribbean band, Baltimore jazz singer, Maysa Leak, chef demonstration by "Top Chef" contestant, Jill Snyder, and guest appearance by Ravens tight end, Daniel Wilcox.

To prevent getting my hand slapped by NBC, let's just say that I had an opportunity to meet Jill Snyder. She and I had spoken several times over the phone, and it was great to finally meet and catch up. When I asked how Sotta Sopra was going, she said she's now at Woodberry Kitchen! Woo hoo! One of my favorite places! She was trained by owner Spike Gjerde, so I'm glad an opportunity came about for the two of them to reunite. I really enjoyed hanging out with her and look forward to sampling her contributions at Woodberry!

I wasn't too impressed by any of the savory vendors, but here are the sweet vendors that I cared enough to pick up info about:

Sweet Fortunes - a beautiful hand-dipped chocolate fortune cookie company. I had the strawberry kiwi cookie and the LoveBerry. You can customize fortunes for a special occasion. (Lots of people are doing this for weddings now. You can have fun with it). They have 52 flavors!
Dominion Ice Cream - They make ice cream out of fresh vegetables! I was in heaven! I tried the "Muscle Up" spinach ice cream and the "Sweet Tooth" sweet potato ice cream. They also had cardamom ice cream, but I was stuffed.
CakeLove - I hit up this table towards the very end of my visit, so my sweet tooth was starting to rot. But I talked with CakeLove founder, Warren Brown, for a bit. Super nice guy and very interested in talking and getting to know the guests. I like him even more after reading his bio.

Now can someone please show me the way to the gym?

Mid-week vacation

2009-02-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last night felt like a little taste of a vacation in the middle of the week. Our fridge is completely depleted, sans two cucumbers and a carton of sour whipping cream, so we went out to preempt our Black Keys concert.

The concert was at Ram's Head Live!, so we took a cab straight to Power Plant and went into Babalu Grill. We decided to grab dinner at the bar and just hang out til concert time. No one approached us for a good five minutes until finally the manager came over. We'd been watching him run around like a crazy man trying to work the bar by himself in his suit. When he finally came to us, he apologized for the wait. Apparently his bartender was getting sick in the bathroom. Poor guy. We softened up after that and were even considering jumping behind the bar to help him out.

Joe got the spring rolls and quesadilla. I got the chicken tortilla soup and salad. I thought I ordered the Cuban Style Salad, but I didn't realize until just now that I think they brought me something different. The greens were served inside a hollowed out pineapple. The salad was tossed with goat cheese and a light vinaigrette, and pineapple slices dotted the permiter of the plate. Nice presentation.

Chicken tortilla soup was ok, but I couldn't help but thinking it would be better if it didn't have chicken in it. Joe said the same thing about his spring rolls. They were chock full of flavorless chicken. Too bad.

After selling our extra concert tickets to a couple drunk and obnoxious women (who cares, they bought the tickets!), we headed to Ram's Head. It's been a while since I'd been there for a concert, and we had a good time. I wasn't familiar with The Black Keys, but Joe and our buddy Scott really like them. It's just two guys - a guitarist and a drummer. Their website describes them as rock/blues, but they were definitely banging out the rock last night. It's hard to go wrong with live music.

Ram's Head was packed. Looking around, I was so grateful not to be 17 anymore. (I'm sure one day I'll regret saying this). The high schoolers were lining the walls and chugging illegal beers as fast as they could and rubbing up all over each other. And the relationship drama definitely unfolded right in front of us. Man, drunk girls are obnoxious. Not that that's EVER been me...

Our buddy Ben is coming into town tomorrow night for dinner, so we're excited to take him out! And Joe actually has the entire weekend off, as in Saturday AND Sunday! I feel like we should fly to Europe or something with all that free time ;)

Pazza Luna

2009-02-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we went to dinner at Pazza Luna in our favorite neighborhood, Locust Point. We spent so much time house hunting there last year that it felt like coming home as we drove down Key Highway, past Domino Sugar and Tide Point, across the railroad tracks and through the residential streets.

We'd eaten at Pazza Luna during our neighborhood "research" last year, but the dining experience was totally different. We were pleased to find every table taken at the restaurant, so the host warmly offered us a seat at the bar and promised a table within five minutes. I ordered us two glasses of Prosecco while we waited, but the bartender informed me they were out. Instead, he gave us Champagne on the house. Oh darn. But that generous gesture set the tone for the rest of our evening.

The interior is deep and narrow like most restaurants in Baltimore rowhomes. We had a cozy table for two upstairs, which we hadn't seen before. Warm yellow walls, celestial decor, candles on tables. It almost felt like dining at someone's house - very welcoming and comfortable.

I had the artichoke salad with red onion (Insalata Pazza Luna), and Joe got the spinach bisque to start. My salad was great. The artichokes tasted like they'd been smoked. Joe's bisque was a shocking green color, not completely visually appealing, but really delicious. Tasted just like creamed spinach.

For my entree I ordered the Manicotti stuffed with butternut squash, spinach ricotta, butter sage and shaved parmesan. Delicious, and a very manageable portion. Joe was intrigued by the use of ossobuco in a stew, so he ordered the Pappardelle. We were envisioning an actual stew, but it was Pappardelle noodles (large and flat) tossed with ossobuco veal stew. He loved it.

He ordered the Tiramisu for his dessert while I ordered the Apple Streudel. Joe insists you can tell a good restaurant by their Tiramisu. According to him, the dessert should retain a blend of crunch and mousse textures. Pazza Luna's was exquisite, but he said it lacked a distinct crunch. My Apple Streudel had cherries in it, along with the apples, so I was in heaven.

Our entire dinner conversation revolved around Locust Point and how we can't wait to live there at some point. I asked the bartender if they've seen more traffic with the opening of Silo Point, and he credited that and the new townhomes across the street with the surge in popularity. Good! I'm glad things are going well at the neighborhood joint. Hopefully we'll be able to walk to Pazza Luna from our house one day.

Frank and Nic's comes to the Westside

2009-01-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day to celebrate! A new president, a new era! I had four different news mediums on all day long to soak up as much detail as I could. Twitter was my best friend and gave me the itty bittiest details of how people on the Mall were feeling, what the lines were like, how cool the presidential limo was in real life, etc.

So when I got home from work, I literally tackled Joe and said, we're going to go have champagne and dissect every detail of this inauguration! We walked to Frank and Nic's West End Grille, which just opened one block from our house. Finally, restaurants are coming to the west side! Frank and Nic's sits on the first floor of the Zenith apartment building at the corner of Pratt and Paca, across the street from the new Hilton.

Its website description took the words right out of my mouth - it's a "casually elegant destination" that leans a bit towards a sports bar. I wore jeans and a baseball hat and fit in just fine with the post-conference businessmen in suits. We sat on the bar side so we could watch their beautiful HD flatscreens. (I needed a clear picture of Michelle Obama's ball gown, which was lovely, I must say). They passed Joe's music test by playing artists like Thievery Corporation, Stone Temple Pilots, and a song from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack! I got so excited to hear this music somewhere other than my living room where I've been blaring it on repeat :)

I got a champagne split to complement my celebratory spirit. To start, we sampled the Asian dumplings and Seared Tuna Sashimi. The sashimi was served with an Asian slaw spring roll, and all was delicious. The Asian dumplings were pork fried dumplings served with soy and peanut sauces. Perfect as they were.

Our sever recommended the BLT 9, which was chock full of tomatoes, so I couldn't pass it up. They fried a red tomato and served it with crispy bacon, avocado, lettuce and mozzarella cheese on lightly toasted bread. It usually comes with mayo, but I passed. The sandwich was very good but was lacking the "glue" that ties all the flavors together, which I assume would have been the mayo that I nixed. In lieu of mayo, I spread a little ketchup on the toast to moisten it up. Never can have too many tomato products in one meal! Sandwiches come with fries, which were thinly sliced and totally addicting. Joe got the Roast Veggie Panini, but I didn't get a bite of it, so I can't comment.

CNN was just starting to cover all the inaugural balls, so we weren't in a hurry to leave the bar. To help pass the time, we ordered the Banana Bread Pudding served a la mode. The warm, gooey bread was the perfect ending to our celebration.

Our buddy Scott needed an outlet to celebrate too, so he joined us after dessert for a beer. He seemed to approve of the place, so hopefully we can convince other folks to come over to the west side a little more often. It's clear that Frank and Nic's money time will be baseball and football seasons. Sitting right next to Camden Yards can be a lonely place when there are no games. But if the restaurant can ride out the next three months til O's Opening Day, they should be set for a successful first year.

Visit with Uncle Dan

2009-01-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

My uncle Dan is in town for a few days to provide security for the inauguration. Last night he asked us to join him for dinner after his shift ended, so Joe and I met him at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore, supposedly Baltimore's oldest hotel. Ironically, I had stayed here with my family as a kid when we came up for our first O's game. At 11, 8, and 5, my brother, sister and I thought it was the most beautiful hotel we'd ever seen. I remember the circus came to town the day after the O's game, and we were able to convince our parents to stay an extra night and take us to the circus. God bless you, mom and dad!

I was so happy someone from the Norville side of the family got to meet Joe so they could spread the word that he actually exists! Some family and friends still think he's this phantom boyfriend I've made up since his work schedule rarely allows him to leave town with me. I've considered putting a picture of his head on a stick and taking that to family functions with me. Just kidding :)

We hung out in the Radisson bar, sipping day-old coffee and munching on a bucket of popcorn from this carnival-style popcorn machine, watching the Ravens vs. Steelers and waiting for uncle Dan's shift to finish. Then we headed to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in Harbor East. It had always seemed like a fun place to try, so we crossed it off our list.

The place was dead since the whole town was camped out at dive bars watching the Ravens make a run for the Super Bowl. We, on the other hand, were happy to take advantage of a quiet city. Roy's atmosphere is warm with purple and golden hues and soft lighting. It appears dressy casual, but I'll bet you can get away with pretty much anything.

Uncle Dan got the blackened shrimp served with polenta and spinach, Joe got the Roy's Classic Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi, and I got the Jade Pesto Grilled Hawaiian Ono, the fish special of the day. It was served on a bed of Bangkok noodles with shrimp and black bean stir fry. It was a very neutral, light-tasting fish, so the stir fry really had an opportunity to shine.

Dessert was Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle for uncle Dan, and the Caramel Macadamia Almond Nut Tarte for Joe and I, served a la mode. To say dinner was good would be an understatement. Roy's presentation was impressive, and the food was as flavorful as you could hope. Next time I'd like to try their sashimi and sushi, just for kicks.

Thanks uncle Dan for spending time with us in Baltimore! I love your visits. Good luck with the inauguration! The people are in great hands.

Jack's Bistro in Canton

2009-01-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

Jack's Bistro has been on our list of restaurants to visit, and last night we finally got to check it out. Our friend, Claudia, was visiting from NYC, so we used this as an opportunity to check out a new place. On our drive to Canton (which we never venture over to), we confirmed that Baltimore seriously has a bar on every corner between the Inner Harbor and 95. Wow. Great dives that I'm dying to check out like Ale Mary's (a classic I've heard), Bad Decisions (the stomping ground of my colleagues), and Jack's neighboring bar, Pickled Parrot. Mmmm, tasty. I should do a dive bar crawl one night. THAT would be a colorful blog entry.

I'd read a bunch of reviews of Jack's Bistro, so I was really looking forward to seeing what all the hype was about. Turns out, not much. The place is small and narrow like lots of Baltimore restaurants. But there was no place for us to stand while we waited for our table, so we huddled in a corner up against the bar, bracing ourselves every time the door blew open and frigid air blasted us. The bar takes up most of the space, and it was packed to the gills. Felt a little too much like a crowded college bar.

We were finally seated in a small booth still in the bar area, so we battled the noise of a dozen other conversations all night. It was hard to talk across the table, and I found myself eavesdropping on other conversations simply because they were unavoidable. Not a good place to go when you want to play catch-up with a visitor.

Drink was The Fritz, champagne with St. Germaine elderberry. Very good, but almost too sweet. Good summer drink. Nursed this the whole meal.

The menu had some interesting items, like crisp sea beans (?), but for the most part, it was fatty comfort food. So when in Rome...I ordered the Mac + Cheese + Chocolate appetizer because how can you not order something that sounds that blissful? Cheese and chocolate?! Joe got the toast + mushrooms + egg, which was served toast on the bottom covered by sauteed oyster and button mushrooms with a poached-looking egg on top. The egg had been cooked at 147-degrees for two hours, so when he stabbed it with his fork it wouldn't crumble. Interesting idea. Not sure if the egg was necessary though since it was just a solid yolk. Mushrooms were great. Mac + cheese + chocolate was good but certainly not the tastebud explosion I'd been hoping for. It was just really cheesy mac and cheese with cocoa powder dusted over top. The server described the taste as the savory experience you get from a chocolate-covered pretzel - a little salty and a little sweet, yet complementary.

Since my appetizer was the farthest thing from healthy, I chose the Lolla Rosa salad, which appeared very simple and clean on the menu. Sike! It was basically a plate of thick white salad dressing drowning beautiful red lettuce leaves. I was able to save a couple sundried tomatoes from submerging in the dressing pool, but the rest was unsalvageable. So long lettuce. Joe got shrimp fettucine. Pretty basic.

Dessert was a diabetic's nightmare - Fried 'Smores. It was served on a tray with three circles, so it presented nicely. In the middle was a scoop of Maggie Moo's Smores ice cream, and on each end was a ball of deep graham cracker crumbs with marshmallow on the inside and melted chocolate on the outside of the graham cracker. Shocker, the deep fried fat was wonderful. We practically licked the serving dish.

However, when the check came, I was left feeling like I'd seriously overpaid for a very loud, pre-atherosclerosis meal that completely lacked atmosphere. When we first arrived, Claudia pointed out a review from The Sun's Elizabeth Large who only gave the place 3 stars. At first I was shocked, but now I can see why.

Reunion at Paolo's

2009-01-16T06:31:00.001-08:00

Have I mentioned how much I love girls' night? I love it. I do.

Last night five girlfriends from my former agency got together and just gabbed, gabbed, gabbed. We sat in the bar, which we thought would be more "gab" friendly, but we think a booth of three guys actually "ssshhh"d us at one point. Ew.

We all get together every couple months or so, and it seems like everyone has so much going on. Babies on the way, weddings to plan, new jobs they're settling into. But somehow despite all the new developments, it's always so easy to pick right up where we left off.

We met at Paolo's in Towson since it's kind of in the middle for everyone. I think I've blogged about their sangria in the summer and their fabulous olive tapenade and breadsticks. Had some of those, plus fried calamari and bruschetta. But there was so much talking going on, the food was really an afterthought to essentially pay for our seats.

Cheers to great girlfriends! You never can have too many!

New twist on sweet potatoes

2009-01-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

I love eating sweet potatoes simply baked and sprinkled with a little cinnamon. But last night, Joe tried something new to fancy up this modest tuber.

It was getting late, so we wanted to make something quickly for dinner. I zapped a medium sweet potato for seven minutes in the microwave so that the skin just peeled right off the flesh.

In the meantime, Joe whisked a cup of cream with a half of a hand-squeezed lemon and a dash of pepper. I split the sweet potato in half and mashed each half separately in our bowls. He drizzled this lemon cream over top of the potato mound to bring it to life.

He was afraid it wasn't going to taste very good, but how can you go wrong with cream and lemon? The end result was DELICIOUS! The lemon flavor was very light and reminded me of summer. It was a welcome change of flavor from our recent winter recipes. It was all done in seven minutes!

Attempting to bleed purple

2009-01-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

My colleagues kindly informed me on Friday that I apparently live in a bubble. Everyone was wearing Ravens jerseys to work, so in a department meeting I asked, "Is there a game today?"

You've never seen heads swivel around so quickly. "Is there a GAME today? Are you serious? Haven't you noticed the city lit up in purple?"

Yikers. Friday had been deemed "Purple Friday" or something by the city in honor of the Ravens vs. Titans game on Saturday. I hadn't turned on the TV in days, I listen to a DC radio station, and I don't know two things about the Ravens, so I was clueless. (I'd be a great jury member if a team member was on trial).

So on Saturday, Joe and I attempted to be pro-Ravens by heading to Cross Street for a hearty beer and pre-game celebration. We settled on Ryleigh's, probably the yuppiest bar on the street. Shocker. But they had TVs set to sports, which was all the qualification we needed. At 2:30, no one was out pre-gaming yet. What?!

I got a Blue Moon (I like my beer like water), and Joe got something actually substantial. I am the slowest beer drinker ever because it makes me feel so full and gross. By the time I actually finished my glass, the beer was warm. Ew. I must have been more efficient in college.

I got the ham and grilled cheese sandwich that's layered with sliced apples. Why didn't I ever think of adding apples to a grilled cheese sandwich? The tart apples were the perfect contrast to the cheese and the saltiness of the ham. Joe got a regular old burger for a regular old guy drinking a regular old beer at a local bar. It was exactly what he was going for :)

We had stalled all we could stand by 4:00, which is precisely when the rest of Baltimore showed up for the 4:15 kick-off. We were "those guys" who asked for the check and walked out of the bar as the Ravens stormed the Titan's field. Oh well. We tried. And the Ravens won without us.

High-end restaurants planned for Baltimore

2009-01-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

The Daily Record posted some exciting new restaurants coming to Baltimore!

Personally, I'm ready for some new flavor. I like having new joints to check out, especially since a bunch of them are going to be on the west side of the city within walking distance to my house!

Pizza and pasta at the Dexter's

2009-01-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we went over to Dave and Lisa's and were joined by Ben and Adriana for homemade pizza and pasta night! It seems we're all trying to behave ourselves financially these days, so we each contributed pizza toppings and wine.

Dave and Lisa have every cooking tool known to man, including a pasta maker, er, cutter. He makes the pasta from scratch, and this machine slices it into linguine. The pizza dough was also made from scratch, and Dave had promised to teach me how to throw the dough up in the air like a real chef. I was told to knead the dough ball into a circle, curl my hands into fists, lay the dough over the tops of my knuckles, and shove my fists up into the air with a slight finish to the left so the pizza would launch, spinning, above my head. Uh huh. As my friends can tell you, my pizza went flying alright, but it did NOT stay in orbit directly above my head. Let's just say I'm very grateful that no wine glasses were toppled during this experiment. For the sake of the Dexter's kitchen, I had to step away from the dough.

He made a couple's pizza for Joe and I, so we each got two hearty slices of homemade pizza with our choice of toppings. Joe chose roasted eggplant, sundried tomato, homemade sausage, onions and fresh mozzarella for us. Well done!

I would not recommend homemade pizza-making for those who are short on time. The entire preparation, rising and baking time took about 7 hours, start to finish. Thank you Dex and Lisa!

We were happy to fill our waiting time with bottles of wine, baked brie, smoked salmon, and the lovely idea of playing Rock Band. Ha! I was all set to play the electric guitar and be the new Slash. Can I please tell you how mortified Joe was when I compared myself to the God that is Slash? His face was priceless. Alas, Rock Band was not cooperating with us, so everyone was spared my reenactment.

Of course, my performance could NEVER compare to Joe's star moments as Slash standing 10 feet in the air on our kitchen counter, headbanging to "November Rain." I'll have to video that for you.

Joe and I had to bail before they broke out the pasta and the great dessert Adrianna brought. She sent us home with her Mexican brownies so we could sample. I asked what makes them Mexican, and she said you include cinnamon and chipotle powder. They were delicious! The spice wasn't overpowering at all, and in fact gave it a much more interesting flavor. This wasn't her recipe, but here's one to try.

Anthony Bourdain's thoughts on Baltimore

2009-01-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

Friends were shocked when I told them Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations" was shooting in Baltimore. Here's a preview of his impression before the show airs.

Swordfish dinner

2009-01-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's a new year, and who isn't talking about being a little more health-conscious? We hit the gym after work last night, joined by a packed house of gym newbies. Isn't it fun to work out in January?

We made a very light, healthy dinner for us after our workout. Joe fried one small swordfish fillet in fake butter (gotta love it), chopped white onions and Thai Peanut sauce. He let the fish simmer for about 10 minutes before pulling it off the burner.

In the meantime, I pulled out a bag of brussel sprouts that I'd bought at the market over the summer and preserved for the off-season. I steamed about 10 sprouts for 15 minutes so they became bright green and tender.

We split the one fillet in half and added a handful of brussel sprouts to our plates. Great lean and green meal with lots of protein! And we didn't roll ourselves away from the table feeling stuffed.

A Very Murray Christmas

2009-01-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

My mom's family, the Murrays, got together on Saturday at my parents' house in Virginia. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and two 2-year old second cousins poured into the house. Joe was actually able to join me and meet my mom's family so they would finally believe he was a real live boy :) I was beyond happy.

His family gatherings are a little different from my family gatherings. While his Yankee relatives lay out course after course of Bon Appetit-style masterpieces, my family lays out God's gift to southern cooking. Between the aunts, we had baked beans with ham, North Carolina pulled pork barbecue with homemade vinegar sauce, coleslaw, K&W's legendary macaroni and cheese, sausage and cheese balls, macaroni salad, and honey cured ham. It was a beautiful feast, all buffet style and cooked from the heart.

Mass chaos ensued when we had to line up with our plates for the dinner assembly line. Wine and beer were flowing. And sweet tea, of course. We played our traditional games of bunco, a competitive gift stealing game that will work you into a sweat in no time! For the first time in years, I walked away emptyhanded.

It was so nice to be with family. No matter how crazy they are. And my parents' home is such a warm, welcoming contrast to the modern loft apartment we live in. At home, you can sit on the back deck and see every star in the sky because you're surrounded by a national forest. At home, you can walk outside in your bare feet with a cup of coffee and not worry about stepping on anything but gravel and grass. At home, you can look out the window in the morning and see a doe grazing beside your driveway. At home, we're reminded of what's most important above everything else. Love.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Joe and I rang in the new year with our friends Scott and Janell at Woodberry Kitchen. Our reservation was at 10:00, and we had a great table along the glass wall on the main floor. Since it was a special night, I ordered one of the featured cocktails, the Midnight Hour, which was made with cava and a sweet foam that I believe was made with elderberry. Delicious, sweet flavor and very interesting presentation as the light purple foam bubbled over the top of the flute.

Dinner for me was Ladyfinger Popcorn, Adolescent Lettuces, and Roasted Cauliflower. The cauliflower was served with warm cheddar, bacon, capers and raisins. Although I'm a huge fan of capers, I could have done without their contrasting flavor. The combination of cheddar, salty bacon and sweet raisins was complex enough, so the capers were almost a distraction.

At around 11:45pm, servers started passing out 2009 Bowler hats for the guys and 2009 tiaras for the girls. A DJ set up in the corner next to us and lead the countdown to 2009. On cue, a huge net full of black, gold and white balloons fell from the ceiling onto all the guests, and we started hugging and toasting!

The DJ started playing music in hopes of starting a dance movement, which I was busy doing in my chair, but when it changed from 70s and 80s classics to hip hop, we were out. Seemed odd for Woodberry Kitchen to be pumping out "bump and grind" music, as my sister likes to call it.

It was a wonderful celebration with great service and wonderful friends!

Dinner with the girls...and new additions!

2008-12-31T11:30:00.001-08:00

Every Christmas, myself and my girlfriends of 15 years, Erin, Diana and Ashley, and their sig others take turns hosting a holiday dinner at each other's homes. This year it was Erin's turn, but we had two new additions - baby Chloe and baby Payton! Payton is 3.5 months, and Chloe is almost 2 months.

Having babies around certainly added a new dimension to our happy crew. Good friends can always go with the flow though, and Chloe and Payton were passed around, coddled, fed and changed by every single one of us at some point throughout the night. As the 7 of us (Joe couldn't come) took turns on baby duty, I couldn't help but notice the truth behind the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." Holy handful. It would be a lot easier if Chloe and Payton had five "moms" instead of one and they all lived in one giant hut.

Erin and hubby, Grant, had anticipated the chaos, though, and as former servers at the esteemed Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, they broke out some old tricks to make dinner easier. The day before Erin had plated the tossed salad and wrapped each individual plate in saran wrap so it was ready to pull out and serve at meal time. She'd also pre-made a delicious Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette, which was the perfect winter dressing.

Grant prepared two types of creamy risotto - one with shrimp and one with sausage. He garnished each risotto with vegetables julienne to add simple color.

Dessert was peppermint sundaes served in Christmas mugs and topped with crushed candy canes and homemade glazed sugar cookies! Charming presentation, and a delicious, festive taste.

Kudos to the McElwains for pulling off a wonderful dinner and night of friendship while juggling baby Chloe. If I'm ever in their shoes, I can only hope to be as graceful!

Anniversary in Roanoke

2008-12-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 16, my parents celebrated 30 years of marriage. Their wedding reception had been held at the gorgeous Hotel Roanoke, and mom's anniversary wish was for our entire family to have dinner there on Christmas Eve to celebrate.

I'd been to the Hotel many times since it's close to Virginia Tech. We spent the day walking around Roanoke's downtown square, and grabbed lunch at Trio Bistro Bar Bottle off the main square. We sat in the bar, which was bright and airy with floor-to-ceiling windows on two walls. Trio had several dishes with fried green tomatoes! Ah! A fried green tomato BLT, Caribbean spiced green tomato soup, and fried green tomatoes as appetizers. Yep, I was officially back in the South. And loving it.

Back at the Hotel, we took a bunch of family pictures in front of the massive Christmas tree before we were seated for dinner. My brother, sister and I had given our parents a night's stay at the Hotel the night before, so they'd already staked out the good photo opps.

The Regency Room did not disappoint. For Christmas Eve, the chefs had prepared a gourmet buffet that was truly a feast for the eyes. Our family shared a bottle of wine and must have done at least three toasts over the course of our meal. The most famous dish, though, is the Hotel Roanoke's signature Virginia Peanut Soup. For those who've never had Peanut Soup, it is truly a Southern dish and is best made from Virginia peanuts. It tastes like pureed peanut butter. It's kind of a rite of passage for Virginia guests and hosts.

A pianist entertained us throughout the evening before we rolled ourselves out of the Hotel for the two-hour drive home. It was a beautiful afternoon and evening in celebration of our wonderful parents! Here's to another 30, mom and dad!

Monkey Bread dreams

2008-12-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

When I was in 6th grade, we rotated through various "exploratory" classes, such as home economics, agriculture, tech shop, drama, etc., for six weeks at a time to help us identify possible interests or future trades. All fall semester I had been looking forward to Home Ec because I saw all my friends making Monkey Bread during their six-week rotation. I remember smelling Monkey Bread wafting from Mrs. Lambert's Home Ec suite of rooms as I sat across the hall in computer class, and then my friends proudly guarding their final product so that the rest of us wouldn't ruin it before they got to take it home and show their moms.

Finally, December came, and I left my agriculture rotation and moved into Home Ec. Woo hoo! And wouldn't you know it, the week we were supposed to bake Monkey Bread, we got the biggest snow storm in five years and missed an entire week of school. We never got that time back in Home Ec, and my shot at a batch of Monkey Bread of my very own was lost.

Until this Christmas! My mom, never forgetting my disappointment and subsequent longing for Monkey Bread, bought me a Monkey Bread baking mold so I could make my own. I tackled it tonight.

Please note, the baking mold came with two recipes: one for the "Working Woman", which was meant to be quicker and simpler, and the "Gourmet Chef's" recipe. I had all the ingredients for the latter, so I thought I was up to the challenge.

Well. After four hours of mixing, rising, kneading, rising, rolling, rising, and finally baking, I finally got to taste my very own Monkey Bread. While my final product looks nothing like the delectable photo on the box, it does taste good. Simply put, Monkey Bread is sweetened bread dough rolled into 1/2 inch balls, stacked and caramelized with brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans. You cook the stacked dough balls in a sort of bundt cake pan, so it should form a tower that you can invert onto a plate when it's done baking. Mine just fell apart when I tipped the mold upside down to dump out the dough.

Next time I'll use the "Working Woman's" recipe, which calls for refrigerated biscuits instead of made-from-scratch dough and should save me about three hours. But today, with nothing but a collection of Gregory Peck classics and the smell of 6th grade memories, I owed it to my 11-year old self to start at the beginning.

Working Woman's Recipe (from Tumbleweed Pottery):

4 cans of 8 buttermilk refrigerated biscuits
1.5 cups light brown sugar
1.5 sticks butter, melted
1.5 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup pecans, chopped

On low heat mix butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts together until sugar is dissolved. Spray Monkey Bread Pan (or 9-inch tube cake pan) with non-stick cooking spray. Quarter biscuits and dip in sugar mixture until well coated. Place biscuits in pan and pour remaining sugar mixture over biscuits. Place in cold oven and turn to 350 degrees. Bake 45 minutes. After removing from oven, carefully release edges and center with a knife. Invert onto a serving platter and serve warm.

A cook's Christmas

2008-12-30T15:42:00.000-08:00

My mom always told us that kitchen gadgets/appliances are not acceptable gifts for birthdays or Christmas (too Betty Crocker/1950s housewife), but this year apparently was an exception. I got several much needed kitchen tools and gadgets, including a hand mixer (so I don't feel like I'm churning butter in 1827), salad spinner (which I'd stalked at the culinary class with mom and sis), a Monkey Bread baking mold, and four French presses. I have this vision of serving my guests coffee from their own little individual French press. It's very bed and breakfast of me, and slightly redundant to have four, I know. But they're so cute!

Along with a beautiful vintage pearl and diamond ring that has nothing to do with food (incredible!), Joe furthered my culinary promise with a subscription to Wine Spectator, and the 75th anniversary edition of "The Joy of Cooking", which he deems the true marker of any respectable cook. Guess that means he thinks I've got potential ;) I can't wait to get to know sweet cicely, irish moss, epazote, and more!

Since I had the whole day to myself, I decided to try out all my new gadgets without anyone around. Hand mixer - can I just say, what an upgrade. I treated myself to an after dinner coffee from my personal French press, which was as charming as I'd hoped it would be.

I currently am on the third and final rising stage of the Monkey Bread, but I'll do a separate post on that. There's a gourmet cooking store in Charlottesville that I like called The Happy Cook, and that's exactly how I feel! Cheers to cooking and wining in 2009!

Holiday Party 2008

2008-12-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

True to form, Joe and I sent out an invitation on Wednesday for a holiday part for Friday - two days notice. Our friends must think we're insane. But God bless them, they take us with a grain of salt.

Long story short, our attendance was more "compact", shall we say, than last year, but we love all our wonderful friends who remained flexible in their schedules and were able to attend. Mostly, we have a holiday part to show off our tree, courtesty of Whole Foods. How yuppie white-bread is that? Yikers. But it's easy to get to downtown.

This year Joe made a carrot and strawberry tart, topped with goat cheese and plum chutney. I made turnip fries (which I'm always struggling to perfect), assorted cheeses and olives, prosciutto and cantaloupe, french bread and olives, and endless rounds of champagne. As if that's a surprise.

It was an intimate group, but Joe and I always love to entertain our dearest friends and show them a good time. We thank all for coming, and since Joe is passed out on the sofa (post call and too much champagne), I'll thank all our guests for making our holiday special once again. Happy holidays to all from #105!

Hampden Hon

2008-12-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we drove to Hampden to see the lights on 34th St., but first we stopped for dinner at Rocket to Venus. This place is on the corner of 34th and Chestnut, directly across from the block of lighted homes. I didn't want to see the block of lights until after dinner, so I turned my head and shielded my eyes so I'd see it for the first time when we came out after dinner.

Rocket was awesome. It was nothing like I'd pictured. I had this kind of tried and true Hampden-style dive bar in my head, but the interior was very modern, and the ceiling reminded me of outer space. Fitting, I guess, if you're rocketing to Venus. According to the insert in the menu, in 1928, these three buddies built a machine that would launch them into outer space and, subsequently, Venus. The machine had 50 gallons of gasoline and no steering ability. Needless to say, they didn't get very far but showed plenty of bravado in their attempt.

The menu was a real hodge podge of cuisine, from southern style fried pickles (which we got) to gnocchi and olives (which we also got). I tried the Jo-fu, a Sloppy Jo made with tofu instead of beef. The sandwich was HUGE and came with fries. Way too much for one person to eat, but very good. Per our server's warning, the Jo-fu sauce was very sweet, but that's what I think Sloppy Jo's should taste like.

Although I didn't order one, I was was extremely tempted by their selection of warm drinks, like the flavored coffees with liquor. Note - great place for a hot tottie after walking 34th Street.

By the time we came out of dinner, they'd turned off the lights on 34th Street. I'd miss the whole thing! My girlfriend reminded me last night what a good example that is of how we should enjoy life as it happens and not try to hold on to something for a better time. My desire to "delay" the 34th Street revelation had resulted in me missing it entirely.

So we moseyed up Chestnut to the new location of Dangerously Delicious Pies. We heard music coming from inside, so we invited ourselves in. This duo was playing ridiculously awesome music - the kind of music that you know is going to launch them in only a matter of time - and then the store owner rocked out a few soulful tunes. A man dressed as Santa was sitting on the bench next to Joe, and the other guests looked like Hampden-lifers and punk 20-somethings. Beautiful mix of the people who make Hampden fun.

On our drive down 36th Ave. to go home, we saw a band playing at Golden West, so we hopped out to see what they were all about. Three folksy groups were on the board, and we caught the tail end of the first guy. Next up was Kira Kira, an Icelandic chick and her electronic band. She played the glockenspiel, ok? And a ton of other crazy instruments we'd never seen before! Her music was extremely Bjork meets The Postal Service. We went home and Googled her right away. (I had joked when she first came on that she was going to sound just like Bjork, and surprisingly, her middle name is actually Bjork!) Neither Joe nor I had ever witnessed electronic music like that performed live. It was sick. So refreshing.

Celebration dinner for little sis

2008-12-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

My sister, Erika, moved to northern VA yesterday - her first foray out into the real world on her own! She decided 21 years in Harrisonburg was enough, so she found her own place, a good job, and transferred schools so she can keep rolling. She doesn't really know anyone in NOVA, but that didn't faze her. I'm so proud of her smart choices and newfound independence!

My brother helped her move in yesterday, and I happened to be in DC for a client meeting, so the three of us were able to get together for a celebration dinner! Woo hoo! As the unofficial "halfway" point between Baltimore and Harrisonburg, Erika is so excited to do just what we did last night - get us all together in one meeting point, her place :)

She had a gift certificate to Carrabas, which she'd earned as Employee of the Month for Outback, a sister restaurant, and she very sweetly offered to pay for our dinner. I'd never eaten at a Carrabas before, but now I can see why one in three Americans is overweight or obese. The amount of food they served with each entree was ridiculous. Plus the bread before the meal and an appetizer...wow.

We had a great time together, and we were so happy to hopefully get Erika's new lifestyle off to a great start! She managed to survive NOVA rush hour traffic after dark and in the rain without having a clue where she was going. Major kudos for that, E!

Can't wait to have her show me around her little part of the world in a few more weeks.

My first potato leek soup

2008-12-10T06:22:00.001-08:00

Did anyone else ever thinks leeks were some sort of legume? I was shocked when a farmer recently handed me a bunch of leeks, and they looked like thick scallions. The word "leeks", to me, sounds like a bean. Apparently the rest of the world does not agree.

So I bought these beautiful leeks and Joe refused to let me use them for anything else besides potato leek soup. Soups aren't really my thing, but it's such a classic recipe that I decided to give it a shot.

I realized, during my two hours of mindless slicing, dicing and peeling, how therapeutic this part of cooking really is. When you've got the time and you've got good music, I could dice and peel all day. Now, for some reason I felt like being an overachiever and decided to make a double batch on my first try, so everything below got doubled. (Totally useless when you're only cooking for 2 people. We now need a small army to come slurp the gallons of soup out of our fridge).

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, white and light green parts washed and sliced into 1/4 in. slices

2 c chopped yellow onion

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 cloves garlic, minced (I cheated and pulled from a giant tub of garlic in our fridge)

2 large Yukon gold potatoes (1 lb.), peeled and cubed into 1/2 in. cubes (Note: it is IMPORTANT to actually peel the potatoes. I was dealing with little Yukons and didn't peel them, and their skins kept getting caught in my blender).

2 c vegetable stock

2 c chicken stock

2-3 tsp fresh rosemary leaves

Directions:

1. Heat soup pot over medium and add oil.

2. Add leeks, onion and sea salt. Saute for 5 minutes until onion turns translucent.

3. Add garlic and stir well. Cook for 1 more minute.

4. Add potatoes and stock, cover and boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 20 minutes.

5. Remove from heat. Blend soup with rosemary leaves until smooth.

I recommend serving warm with a hard, crusty bread, like a day-old French baguette.

Free happy hour at three restaurant on Sunday

2008-12-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

I went to three, the restaurant on the corner of Baltimore and Patterson Park last night, and our server filled us in on a free upcoming event. This Sunday, 12/14, from 1-4pm, three will be holding a happy hour with a free buffet from 4-8pm to thank all its customers for their support over the past year. They want to fill the place up, so stop by and watch the game and enjoy good food and fun! Parking is free and ample on the street.

Check it out: http://www.threebythepark.com/

Ladies' night for Erin

2008-12-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday night was a single lady's grand finale for my girlfriend, Erin, who's getting married this Friday. Her closest Baltimore gals met at Pazo and concentrated on inhaling plenty of carbs in anticipation of the night ahead. We were eating Fougasse, which I typically try to avoid because it fills you up, but it's this delicious pretzel-looking bread with sea salt and olive oil. Couple of the girls got beef tartare and mushrooms and pizzas. I pretty much stuck with the champagne.

Few new things about Pazo, which I was glad to hear help maintain the integrity of the place: no penis paraphernalia allowed, and no shots. (Whew! This was a bachelorette party I could handle). Way to stand your ground, Pazo.

We moved on to Meli where Erin let me try her signature Melitini - a honey-infused martini. They'd made hers extra strong in honor of her big night, so I didn't get an honest assessment. I'd try it again, though.

We ended the night at Slainte and discovered a new bar I didn't even know existed on the 2nd floor! It was gorgeous - dark wood, deep reds, Christmas decorations, views overlooking the Harbor. Loved it!

It wasn't a night of anything crazy, but the bride had a great time and we got all our girl talk in. Mission accomplished. Now on to the wedding Friday night at the Cloisters where Will Smith and Jada Pinkett got married. Can't wait to see it! Good luck Erin and Christos!

Getting in the spirit at the BSO

2008-12-09T09:22:00.001-08:00

Friday night we had tickets to see Handel's Messiah performed at the BSO to kick off the holiday season! Our tickets were in row G on the orchestra level, so we had a beautiful, undisturbed view of the upright bass section. We arrived at the last minute, and the show was sold out, so we didn't get a program, or I'd have lots more to tell you about the guest conductor and the choir.

Long story short, the performance was two hours long, and Joe made a great observation. Sitting through a music performance of that length reminds you of how it must have been not too long ago before radio and TV, when everything centered around live entertainment or the debut of a new painting at a salon. The fine arts were the crux of society, and opening night of a new performance was THE event of the season.

We headed across the street to Abacrombie for drinks and dessert after the show. We hadn't been since the renovation and appointment of a new head chef. We sat in the bar, which is below street level. Joe had escargot served in a small crock, baked in a puff pastry. Beautiful presentation. We shared a cheese plate of two cow's milk and one sheep's milk cheese from Italy and Spain. I had a glass of the Montrasell, and Joe had a Cab.

The service was great. Our server took a liking to us and brought us samples of one of their finest ports (and talked about chick flicks with me!) to sip on while we hung out.

Note to drivers. The University of Baltimore parking lot across the street from Abacrombie closes at 11:00pm on BSO show nights, 8:00pm other nights. Do NOT pull a Meghan and get your car stuck in there overnight. In addition to our tasty Abacrombie experience, I also accrued a $36 parking fee, plus an $8 cab ride to get my car out the next morning. Good times.

But thumbs up to the new Abacrombie!

Wine tasting at Silo Point

2008-12-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm stalking Silo Point. I WILL live in that building. We'd already taken an official sales tour of model units, but when a friend told me about a wine tasting party in the Sky Lounge, I pounced.

Last night, Joe and I and 49 other guests visited the Sky Lounge for a wine tasting party, co-hosted by Silo Point and Baltimore Style, with tastings courtesy of the Wine Market and proceeds benefiting the Maryland SPCA. (Was that thorough enough?). Our friends Ben and Adriana were there as well, which shouldn't have surprised us since they're as obsessed with Baltimore happenings as we are.

Silo Point is the country's oldest grain elevator, which they've just finished renovating into luxury condos with THE best views in town. Love it. Views from the lounge were ridiculous, and the wine was wonderful. I'm going to make another shameless plug for the Wine Market since I'm such a fan. I learned they actually prepare custom wine tasting dinners for you! Get a group together, contact the Wine Market a few days in advance, and they'll put together a menu and wines for your group! Can be 5, 6, or 7 courses, starting at $29 a person. Great deal on something new to do with friends.

And, shocker. We left Silo Point and went to dinner down the street at the Wine Market. It was inevitable.

Apparently some of my Twitter friends were there too, but a little Avatar does not do a real life person justice, and I couldn't match faces with icons. Doh! Here are some photos from @600Block, a Baltimore "scene" site. Catch me on Twitter at @sunnye03.

Butternut squash and spaghetti squash patties

2008-12-03T08:50:00.001-08:00

This recipe was ridiculous, and unfortunately I can't take credit for it. I spent Sunday afternoon baking all kinds of vegetables from the market so they'd be recipe-ready later in the week. I literally used up all our Tupperware storing prepped vegetables.

Joe took the flesh from the baked spaghetti squash and the baked butternut squash, mixed them with one egg and some oats, and formed six little patties. He fried each patty until they were lightly browned on each side.

Then he made a red wine sauce with a touch of cloves and flour to thicken the consistency. He drizzled this sauce over each little patty, and added a fresh mint leaf from our mint plant for color.

Voila! It was, hands down, one of the BEST things he's ever made. It was a great new way to prepare spaghetti and butternut squashes, which we usually serve as a pasta-substitute and soup, respectively. And the patties were the perfect snack size for later.

Out with the bro

2008-11-26T11:37:00.000-08:00

So like I said, my brother was in town this weekend, so I always like to take him places he doesn't have access to in Harrisonburg, which is basically everything.

I saw How the Grinch Stole Christmas - The Musical at the Hippodrome with my best buddy, Ginny, on Saturday afternoon, and Timothy was at my house when I got home. He and I headed to Pazo so he could people watch. And let's be honest, so could I. The place was packed, which I always like to see.

I remembered the bar at Oceanaire in Harbor East serves one of my favorites wines, Cat Amongst the Pigeons Shiraz, so we went there for rounds two and three. I have no desire to eat at Oceanaire, but the bar is always pleasant and the bartenders are super cool. By midnight, I was done, so we headed home.

Sunday morning we sprinted through the last 30 minutes of the farmer's market gathering odds and ends for the short week. Brunch was at Golden West in Hampden so Timothy could enjoy the visual stimulation. I could eat an entire meal there without saying a word. There's so much crazy stuff to look at on the walls and on people! I love it! Food was pretty despicable on Sunday, though, which has never happened before. Golden West consistently ranks as one of Baltimore's best brunches. Oh well. For us, it was all about atmosphere.

Spent the rest of the day showing the bro around Harbor East and letting him salivate his way down each aisle at Whole Foods. I can't blame him, though. We're regulars, and we still get excited about walking in there.

Dinner was at Lebanese Taverna in Harbor East. Cinghiale was on a Sunday prix fixe menu and Charleston was closed, so that's how we ended up there. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, I'd give the interior a 7, the food a 6, and the service a 4. It was a pretty forgettable dinner except for my wonderful company! Thanks for coming to visit, Dude!

Attempts at baking

2008-11-26T11:25:00.001-08:00

I didn't want to brave the outside on Saturday, so I stocked up on supplies and decided to tackle some easy baking recipes. My friend and cookbook author, Kerry Dunnington, had given me her latest book called This Book Cooks, so I dog-eared a few good pages, popped in "Love Actually", and got to town.

We had a large bowl full of "seconds" apples from the market (the tasty-but-not-so-pretty apples), which are great for using in recipes. My brother was arriving in town on Saturday, so I thought I could make some sort of coffee cake for us. I used these apples to bake an Autumn Apple Crisp, which turned out ok. I went a little heavy on the crisp instead of the apples, so it tasted more like a dessert than a breakfast cake.

I also made Kerry's Mango Cake with Cardamom. Yum! I fell in love with cardamom as a child when my mom would bake this beautiful braided cardamom bread. It's a seasoning that tastes like no other!

The mango cake called for fresh mangos and raspberry cherry juice, which I forgot to pick up. I used leftover Pom juice instead, and it worked just fine! Once again though, little heavy on the dough instead of the fruit.

I made these both on Saturday, and I still have leftovers in the fridge despite having two hungry guys in the house this weekend. Lesson learned. Baking is only necessary in my house if I plan to give it away, because otherwise it doesn't get eaten. Or should I take it as a sign that my baking wasn't as good as I thought?!

Cooking class with mom

2008-11-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

For our mom's birthday this past August, my sister and I signed the three of us girls up for a cooking class at The Seasonal Cook in Charlottesville. (We picked C'ville because it's just over the mountain from where my parents live). The theme for our cooking class was Fall Apple Harvest.

Our instructor was Ingrid Bergen, a renowned local cook and private chef. (She used to work for the Kluge family, if any of you are familiar with their wines).

The class was limited to 12 guests, and from 6-10pm, we enjoyed watching Ingrid prepare a gorgeous meal for us centered around Virginia heirloom apples, like the Black Twig, that she'd picked up at the Virginia Apple Festival the week before. So bummed I missed that, but it's on my radar for next year!

Apple and fennel salad with chives. So light and fresh!

Porkchop with apple mash and greens.
Apple crepe with creme fraiche. My wonderful sis, Erika.

Wines were from local Virginia vineyard, Rappahannock Cellars. We had a great girl time and even learned a few things in between chatter! The group instruction was a great setting for going out with groups of friends. Everyone was super friendly and seemed to be regulars. I guess The Seasonal Cook is on to something good!

Fall market menu

2008-11-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

We were finally able to make it to the market yesterday for the first time in many weeks, and boy were we shocked at what we saw! The selection was incredible, and we agreed that we were more impressed by this mid-November selection than a mid-July harvest. Maybe because the fall market had so many novelty vegetables that we aren't used to seeing. We asked a million questions of the market vendors, and bless their hearts, despite the blustery wind and chilly temps, they kindly answered all our silly questions. I guess we had them captive at least for a few hours.

So we stocked up on produce and once again spent ALL our cash in 30 minutes. Even though we always spend way too much money, we leave feeling giddy with our recyclable bags and sore shoulders. We cooked from 12:30-7:30pm.

We invited our friends Dex and Lisa over for dinner in repayment for two lovely dinners they've served us. We used them as our official testers for our upcoming holiday party (date TBD) menu. Check it out:

Cheese and pate plate with Sicilian olives
Marilyn Monroe cocktails (champagne, sherry and grenadine)
Sweet potato and apple bisque (inspired by a soup I recently had at the Wine Market)
One slice of fried green tomato served in the hollow of a red cabbage leaf, drizzled with a chive, dill and yogurt sauce, with turnip fries on the side
Portabello mushrooms sauteed in red wine
Red grape salad with fresh citronelle, red onion and olive oil
Single link of pork apple sausage served over sweet and sour red cabbage
Mulled raspberry wine and Glarus chocolates for dessert

Servings were small so we could enjoy a little bit of everything. My two favorites were the sweet potato and apple bisque (which I ate chilled for dinner tonight as leftovers. Yum!), and the sweet and sour cabbage.

I'd never cooked red cabbage before, but I couldn't walk away from this beautiful head at the market. I found a super simple recipe that called for vinegar (I used cider vinegar), melted butter, and a few tablespoons of sugar simmered with 12 cups of shredded cabbage. So delicious. My German grandmother would be proud of this near-kraut concoction ;)

We'll see what makes the cut for the holiday party, though. Food needs to be easily served and passed without utensils and lots of mess. I think that means the cabbage is out.

The night ended with a challenge: the guys had to cook the girls dinner, and then girls cook the guys dinner. We huddles separately and chose themes for each other, and Lisa and I decided the boys had to make us a dinner that is entirely blue WITHOUT using food coloring. And the boys had decided we had to make them an entirely RED Christmas dinner. Seriously guys? At least try to make it challenging for us! Ha!

Game on. But more to come on that as we start plotting.

Corks

2008-11-14T12:24:00.001-08:00

Life has been insane these past two weeks since my last post. Work piling up, babies being born, out-of-town guests, engagements, and so on. All these festivities have been accompanied by great dining opportunities, and I will eventually get around to sharing them all.

For now, I have to dish about Corks in Federal Hill. Corks recently got both an interior and a menu facelift. I never went to the old Corks, so I can't make a comparison, but I was very impressed with the new and improved Corks. The interior was designed by Baltimore designer, Patrick Sutton, who also designed Cindy Wolf's Charleston. Exposed brick walls, warm orange tones and dark wood with tall ceilings in the first dining room to make it feel larger than it really is.

Corks, as you can imagine, has an extensive wine list that focuses on small vineyards you've probably never heard of. Since we couldn't agree on a bottle, the five of us got glasses of our choice. I ordered the Hendry Pinot Noir, recommended by our server to complement the House Blend of cheese fondue that we all split with sauteed mushrooms, bison meatballs, bread, and apples. Both the wine and the fondue were delicious, and I think if no one had been watching, one of us would have tipped the fondue back and licked out the remaining cheese! SO good!

For dinner I had the salmon with shrimp and couscous. The plate was very simple, but nicely arranged and seasoned perfectly. Joe had the sweetbreads, which he insists were pancreas. Well, he should know. Friends got vegetable strudel, the grilled pleasant ridge (tomato confit and basil on wheat berry bread) and a beef dish with sweet potatoes and green beans.

I sampled the vegetable strudel and really liked it. It was quinoa, goat cheese and veggies wrapped in phyllo dough. We all took turns tasting each other's desserts. Chocolate mousse was too rich to eat much, pumpkin gelato was refreshing, but a little heavy on the serving size, and the PB&J with nutella was the clear winner. (Unfortunately it wasn't mine, so I couldn't go crazy).

The wine selection is interesting but very pricey. I would recommend taking advantage of their selection by ordering by the glass so you can sample more than one wine. Also to note - beyond the front dining room is a great bar in the back room. The interior is darker, but it looked like a great place to hide away.

Cheesin' over Breeze'n

2008-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, stop me now. The title of this post alone is too much. I completely cheese out when I find an opportunity to go to Bahama Breeze. I know it's a nondescript restaurant chain, but ever since my first Breeze revelation in Orlando, FL in 1997, I haven't been able to resist a dinner here.

So tonight, when my girlfriend and I were discussing where to meet to catch up between Owings Mills and Sparks, I volunteered Bahama Breeze in Towson. God bless her, she agreed. We ate "outside" on the enclosed porch with heat lamps and palm trees. (Mind you, this tropical oasis sits on top of a concrete parking garage adjacent to Towson Town Center. Not quite the white sand you would picture.) Outside you can listen to the reggae soloist croon away with his synthesizer and dreadlocks. Very island-y. Uh huh, right.

I've eaten at Bahama Breeze a blajillion times, but I still look forward to going. It's the perfect atmosphere for a cold winter night. I usually get the Roasted Cuban bread (tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, basil and cilantro) with the Breeze salad. Simple and light, but it's all about the atmosphere.

Need to warm up? Go here. But be ready for excessive cheesiness. It's great.

Beet salad for a farm day

2008-10-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

I spent all day Sunday at my clients' farm, hosting a foodies event for TasteDC. My client is a local high-end beef producer, so to emphasize the benefits of eating locally sourced foods, I volunteered to prepare a beet salad and fresh garden salad for 20 people, using only produce from the farmers market.

Saturday morning I schlepped down to the Waverly market in baseball cap and pajamas and gathered as many beets as I could find to make a new recipe from The New York Times food blog. I also loaded up on 6 heads of GORGEOUS Boston lettuce, grown hydroponically on the Eastern Shore. The farmer's table was nothing but Boston lettuce, and each head looked like a rose. It sounds totally cheesy, but the lettuce looked almost floral - like a table of green flower petals. I was entranced.

I spent the next 3 hours at home peeling beets in a white apron, and by the time I was done, I looked like a serial killer. My hands were stained red, and I had bright red smears all over my apron. Plus I was yielding a knife with much less respect than it deserved.

We served the beet salad and the garden salad on Sunday, along with copious amounts of gourmet beef, and the guests really seemed to enjoy it! I was anxious for feedback since this recipe calls for raw beets, and I always cook my beets before serving. I'll make it again, but on a smaller scale!

Champagne and lima beans. And brussel sprouts?

2008-10-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, we had them all last night. In an effort to consume existing groceries, we made lima beans with fake butter and Parmesan cheese, and brussel sprouts with peanut sauce. However, Joe couldn't resist a stop in Bin 604, so while I pulled the car around, he snuck in and grabbed a bottle of Cava and two bottles of red. Oh darn.

Apparently Bin 604 staff had never been asked for Champagnes that complement lima beans. No way! They seemed to find it shocking that someone would serve Champagne with JUST lima beans, so we shook it up a little and added brussel sprouts, just for kicks.

It was an odd dinner, candles and Cava with two of the most loathed vegetables out there, but we LOVE them, and I think Joe is considering being reincarnated as a lima bean. But only if he can swim around in fake butter and Parmesan cheese.

Football in Annapolis

2008-10-28T10:09:00.001-07:00

My girlfriend, Kelly, her hubby and I were going to scalp tickets for the Navy game on Saturday, but the pouring rain killed that idea. Instead, we went to a hole in the wall bar in Annapolis called Heroes, a favorite of Kelly's and the site of many a wild night for us.

It was almost 4:00, and I hadn't eaten all day, so I housed the West Annapolis Turkey Reuben - sliced turkey covered with melted swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing on rye bread. Plus fries. I don't know what got into me, but frankly I don't care. It was ridiculously good, and seemed to be the only bright spot as I watched my beloved Hokies tank against Florida State. Got me thinking about my freshman year watching Michael Vick (pre-dog killer) and the Hokies take on the stinking Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl...time does fly.

All afternoon I was sipping on Woodchuck Pear and Apple Draft Cider. For a non-beer drinker like me, this was an excellent compromise. Probably because it tasted like juice and not beer. Oh well, I'm a wine snob. At least I'm honest.

Best Buddies Halloween with a champagne finish

2008-10-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

Friday night I went to a Best Buddies party in Columbia with my buddy Ginny. Ginny was dressed as Harry Potter (for the third year in a row. Think she's a fan?), and I went as a surgeon, courtesy of the University of Maryland.

Best Buddies is a volunteer program that matches adult citizens, like myself, with intellectually, and sometimes physically, impaired adults. Think Special Olympics without the sports.

This was the third Halloween for Ginny and I, and buddy pair Jill and Amanda threw a great party! The house was TOTALLY decked out with ceilings full of balloons, an electric clown that decapitated itself, vampires, moving picture frames, the WORKS!

I'll post pictures soon so you can see for yourself, but the buddies thought I was a dentist, not a surgeon. Guess that's good that they aren't too familiar with surgeons!

After the party, Joe asked me to meet him at Pazo. I raced home to boost my flattened surgeon hair and lose the scrubs. He met me at the entrance to Pazo with two glasses of champagne in hand. Sigh. The hostess lead us upstairs to the best table overlooking the main floor, and there was a pink rose, a cheese plate, and blueberries for the champagne waiting for us. I'm going to spare you the mushy love talk, and I'll just say I'm such a lucky girl. What a great Friday night.

Joe Squared

2008-10-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

Last night a couple girlfriends and I went to hear Joe's band, the Aeroport Rocking Chairs, play at Joe Squared on North Ave. I think I've written about Joe Squared before, but this is the first time I've been since they installed the new coal-fired oven.

The new oven claims to cook pizza in 3.5 minutes, but it definitely took longer than that from the time we ordered til the time it arrived. Who's to say when they actually starting making my pizza though.

Regardless of timing, the end result was delicious. The menu is overwhelmingly long, so we took turns yelling new options for customizing orders as we read the menu over and over. I ordered a 10" pizza, which they recommend for one person, with rosemary baked INTO THE DOUGH! I wish you could have smelled it. Add tons of tomatoes, black olives and vidalia onions, and I had dinner!

My friend got the Irish pizza, but instead of corned beef, she substituted mushrooms to go with the potatoes and onions. Potatoes on pizza? Odd, but it tasted great! Pack on the carbs!

Be warned, though. This is no cheap pizza place. You pay for customization. My pizza plus two $5 glasses of wine came to $28, before tip! Yikers! It was good pizza, but I think I'll space out my visits and rely on Maria D's to get me through the hard times ;)

Pesto salmon

2008-10-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

Whole Foods kidnapped us after the gym last night. When will we stop being such suckers and develop the willpower to just keep walking past it? The MAC is becoming an expensive lifestyle.

Whenever I'm in Whole Foods, I catch my mouth hanging open, like a kid gawking in a candy store. I'm pathetic, I admit. How come I never see anyone else with their mouths hanging open?

We filled up a basket and had more fun than two sane people should at the self-checkout counter. (If surgery doesn't work out for Joe, I think he has a promising career as a supermarket cashier, and I make a mean bagger).

I have a philosophical issue with eating big meals after burning major calories, so we kept portion sizes super small and made the following:

Sauteed onions, snap peas and mushrooms, seasoned with minced garlic and soy sauce (very Asian)
Olives stuffed with sundried tomatoes (not so Asian)
Fresh salmon seared in butter and seasoned with pepper (Note - as Joe was walking out the door this morning at 5:30, he stuck his head back in to tell Sleeping Beauty that if I blogged about this recipe, I must clarify that it's important to mix the pepper into the butter first before pouring over the fish. Done, honey).
Homemade pesto made with soynuts instead of pine nuts, served over the salmon, plus a dallop directly on the plate for color

Our friends recently pointed out to us that our veggie-heavy diet probably doesn't provide enough protein, and we've been paranoid protein scavengers ever since. The soynuts provided DOUBLE the protein at HALF the calories, and were a THIRD of the price of pine nuts. Great alternative.

We popped a bottle of Marques de Riscal Tempranillo, 2004, which had an initial buttery flavor, followed by a peppery finish. This was the first of two Tempranillos we got at the Wine Market for a taste test. I loved this one, so I hope the Tierra de Vientos can live up to it!

J'aime Petit Louis!

2008-10-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Petit Louis for a much overdue "real" dinner. We've been trying to be super conscientious about eating what we have at home instead of going out, but it's so tempting! Joe suggested Petit Louis, and who am I to argue? Fine, twist my arm...

He took care of ordering the wine (a beautiful Chateau Cordet Margaux, 2004), and I manned the menu. There were so many gorgeous items to choose from, so I ordered a selection of small plates instead of entrees. (We were both hoping to be inspired for our own home cooking!)

We weren't disappointed. We shared the following (partially taken from the Petit Louis menu):

Pommes Frites (French fries served in a triangular basket. I saw them on someone else's table and couldn't say no).
Aubergines Croquantes (Crispy Eggplant Napoléon, Tomato, Chèvre)
Terrine à la mode Landaise (Foie Gras Terrine, Toast Points)
Salade de Betteraves (Beets, Chèvre, Mâche, Raspberry Dijon Vinaigrette)
Local salad special (Local lettuces and herbs, tossed in a house dressing)
Seared scallop special (No idea what was in this, but it was divine. None of the usual "fishy" smells that scallops often have).

We had one of our first dates at Petit Louis, and we've celebrated other events there too, but it was nice to be there on an average, nothing special kind of Sunday. The place was packed, so clearly the economy hasn't put a damper on high-end dining. Thank goodness!

Brilliant radishes

2008-10-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, Joe and I were tooling around in Middleburg, VA, the epitome of horse country/yuppie-ville just outside of NOVA. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful little restaurant behind Main St. called The French Hound. Sounded right up our alley!

It was. We had a champagne "snack" with our lunch. As charming as it was, sitting in the renovated sun room of that antebellum home, admiring the worn brick floors and original fireplaces, my favorite part was the small plate of Radis & Sel - or radishes and sea salt.

Radishes are another one of those root vegetables that I never know what to do with. But at The French Hound, they served up miniature, imperfect, clearly homegrown radishes in a tiny bowl filled with sea salt. The radishes were picked fresh and served uncooked so you just dip them in the salt. I must have said to Joe 5 times, they taste "of the earth". You know how mushrooms have a very earthen taste, almost like you can taste the soil? That's how these tasted. Pure vegetable.

I was ecstatic to see an elegant way to serve these colorful vegetables. I've conquered another root! Last Sunday I was so excited to pick up a bag of radishes at the store and actually have something to do with them! And they were my post-workout treat last night.

They'll be on our holiday entertaining menu this season.

Lucy's in west Baltimore

2008-10-17T04:04:00.000-07:00

Even though we have a huge apartment, I sometimes feel claustrophobic because it's a studio and we don't have any outdoor space. I was feeling the need to be around people, so we headed to Lucy's on Eutaw for a beer and some intentionally not-so-healthy food. (Sometimes you just need grease!)

Lucy's, formerly known as Maggie Moore's, is on the same block as the Hippodrome Theater. It's a solid Irish pub, and often attracts the before/after theater crowd. Joe's band used to play there a lot, and apparently it's a staple for UMD med students.

Lucy's has more than your typical bar food. Case in point, I got the fried green tomatoes with lump crab meat. Beats your average nachos. Joe got the crab dip with a French baguette and crudites. (It's addictive!)

Blue Moon on tap, and I was good to go with baseball playoffs showing behind the bar. (Not that I have any clue where we are in the series, but hey, it's all about the atmosphere).

Bucks County weekend

2008-10-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Joe and I were finally able to get out of Baltimore for some R&R in Bucks County, PA this weekend where his uncle was gracious enough to let us stay at his gorgeous home. We were in charge of dinner for his uncle and the two of us Friday night, so we decided to show off a little ;)

We took a bottle of one our favorite wines, Cat Amongst the Pigeons 2006 Shiraz, and we made homemade gnocchi with our own butternut squash sauce, served with steamed brussel sprouts and fresh apple chutney. It was a hit!

Saturday I went for a run on gorgeous back country roads while Joe had coffee and read on the porch. We headed into New Hope, a quaint little town on the PA/NJ border with a main street of boutique art galleries and commercial shops, and had lunch on a deck overlooking the Delaware river. The restaurant was Martine's, and it was nice for a simple lunch with great views. I had the pumpkin soup, and Joe got the crab cake with fries. The weather was perfect, so we took our time and honestly weren't too concerned with the actual food on our plates.

Saturday night we lit a fire, and Joe made champagne cocktails. Yummy! I'm no mixologist, but he made a to-die-for French 75, which is what Humphrey Bogart used to drink. (Yes, my Casablanca-loving boyfriend knew that). It's a mix of champagne, gin and lemon.

Dinner was homemade pesto tossed with noodles, and a fresh salad. Two of Don's friends joined us and brought a perfect fall dessert - fresh apple crisp with cranberries. To say we were stuffed is an understatement! I disappeared from the after dinner chatter to pass out from food coma!

FoodBuzz Publisher Community Launches!

2008-10-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

I'm a Featured Publisher on this awesome social network (hence the beautiful artwork on myright navigation bar!), and we officially launched the FoodBuzz Publisher Community today! Read the press release below to learn more:

Contact: Allison Costello

Ketchum

allison.costello@ketchum.com

Doug Collister

Foodbuzz

doug@foodbuzz.com

LAUNCH OF GLOBAL FOODBUZZ BLOGGER COMMUNITY

LEVERAGES REAL-PEOPLE, REAL-TIME POWER OF FOOD PUBLISHING

San Francisco – October 13, 2008: Foodbuzz, Inc., officially inaugurates its food blogger community with more than 1,000 blog partners, a global food blogging event and an online platform that captures the real-people, real-time power of food publishing in every corner of the world. At launch, the Foodbuzz community ranks as one of the top-10 Internet destinations for food and dining (Quantcast), with bloggers based in 45 countries and 863 cities serving up daily food content.

“Food bloggers are at the forefront of reality publishing and the dramatic growth of new media has redefined how food enthusiasts access tasty content,” said Doug Collister, Executive Vice President of Foodbuzz, Inc. “Food bloggers are the new breed of local food experts and at any minute of the day, Foodbuzz is there to help capture the immediacy of their hands-on experiences, be it a memorable restaurant meal, a trip to the farmers market, or a special home-cooked meal.”

Foodbuzz is the only online community with content created exclusively by food bloggers and rated by foodies. The site offers more than 20,000 pieces of new food and dining content weekly, including recipes, photos, blog posts, videos and restaurant reviews. Members decide the “tastiness” of each piece of content by voting and “buzz” the most popular posts to the top of the daily menu of submissions. Foodbuzz currently logs over 13 million monthly page views and over three million monthly unique visitors.

“Our goal is to be the number-one online source of quality food and dining content by promoting the talent, enthusiasm and knowledge of food bloggers around the globe,” said Ben Dehan, founder and CEO of Foodbuzz, Inc.

The Foodbuzz blogger community is growing at a rate of 40 percent per month driven by strong growth in existing partner blogs and the addition of over 100 new blogs per month. “The Foodbuzz.com Web site is like the stock of a great soup. The Web site provides the base or backbone for bloggers to interact as a community, contribute content, and have that content buzzed by their peers,” said Mr. Dehan.

Global Blogging Event

Demonstrating the talent and scope of the Foodbuzz community, 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs offered online food enthusiasts an international, virtual street festival of food and diversity. The new feature showcased blog posts from 24 Foodbuzz partner bloggers chronicling events occurring around the globe during a 24 hour period andincluded:

· Mid-Autumn Festival Banquest (New York, NY)

· The "Found on Foodbuzz" 24-Item Tasting Menu (San Francisco, CA)

· Aussie BBQ Bonanza – Celebrating Diversity (Sydney, Australia)

· The Four Corners of Carolina BBQ Road Trip (Charleston, SC)

· Criminal Tastes – An Illegal Supper (Crested Butte, CO)

· From Matambre to Empanadas: An Argentine Dinner (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

· A Sweet Trompe l’oeil (Seattle, WA)

“24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs” captures the quality and unique local perspective of our food bloggers and shared it with the world,” said Ryan Stern, Director of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community. “It illustrates exactly what the future of food publishing is all about – real food, experienced by real people, shared real-time.”

About Foodbuzz, Inc.

Based in San Francisco, Foodbuzz, Inc., launched its beta Web site, foodbuzz.com, in 2007. In less than a year, Fooduzz.com and its community of over 1,000 exclusive partner food blogs have grown into an extended online property that reaches more than three million users.

# # #

Picture this before you snack

2008-10-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

I just saw this super cool website in the Washington Post Lean & Fit newsletter. We've all heard that your lean protein (like a chicken breast or fish filet) should be the size of your palm, but here are some other mental images to help control portion sizes for foods that are often indulgent. (I'm terrible on the cheese portions).

A dinner to come home to

2008-10-07T04:01:00.001-07:00

I came home from work yesterday to the most delicious smells! Joe was post-call and in his own little world cooking a feast since we hadn't seen each other in 4 days. If they would only let him leave the hospital more... :)

He greeted me at the door with Gerbera daisies and then made us:

Steamed brussel sprouts with fresh apple chutney made with allspice, salt, pepper and cinnamon
Baked eggplant drizzled with soy sauce, ginger and baked sesame seeds
Baked swordfish with an onion, butter and dijon mustard sauce
A bottle of Sangiovese (just because we like saying it)

The food was divine, and as usual, his presentation was flawless. The eggplant was skinned and cubed, so it didn't take as long to bake since it was in small pieces. Both the swordfish and the eggplant were neutral foundations that allowed their respective sauces to shine.

Seriously, how lucky am I? We had our huge window open, so there was fresh, crisp air, and we lit all our candles. Bliss.

Taste of Thai

2008-10-06T05:35:00.000-07:00

I went to Harrisonburg this weekend for what was supposed to be a final "girls only" weekend with D, Erin and Ashley to hang out before Erin's little baby girl arrives next month. But, thanks to the wonder of adoption, D's brand new baby boy, Payton, crashed our party. (I guess we'll cut him some slack this time since he's only 3 weeks old). We were up to our ears in baby talk all weekend, but it was wonderful to see my friends in their new (D) and almost new (Erin) mom roles. (Surreal, but great).

Friday I drove straight from B'more after work to Taste of Thai in Harrisonburg to meet them. It was a looong drive, but the girls had saved me a garden roll, which was divine! We inhaled various versions of Pad Thai, (I had tofu and veggies), and then we split dessert.

It was JMU's parents' weekend, so the place was packed. I was glad to see people flocking there with their out-of-town guests. That says a lot about a place when locals (do JMU students qualify?) want to bring their guests there for a little something different.

Taste of Thai is a local hit for the cuisine, but if you're looking for an authentic Thai atmosphere, this it is not. The decor is very strip mall-y, with basic wallpaper and bad artwork. The servers are all eastern European, and the desserts are calorie-loaded American sugar bombs. But it's not a chain, therefore we love it.

Our server was trying to hustle us out the door since we were talking our faces off long after the bill arrived, but no hard feelings. When in town again, we'll undoubtedly return for a change from Applebee's nation.

More to come on the weekend.

October nights in Mt. Vernon

2008-10-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to be in sweaters and jeans at night now! We went to the final First Thursdays of the year last night in Mt. Vernon, and it was just cool enough for a turtleneck and jeans. And a little Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte.

We went to Brewer's Art for dinner after about an hour at First Thursdays. Something about body-hugging jeans season takes away my urge for a big meal, know what I mean? So I settled for the tomato soup and salad, Joe had the calamari and salmon flatbread with capers. And of course a bottle of wine - the Chateau Haut Surget 2003 Lalande-de-Pomerol, described as "an elegant alternative to your run of the mill Merlot." It was pleasant, but a little too dry for me to choose again.

We noticed something sad on our way up Charles Street to Mt. Vernon Square. There were hardly any diners in the restaurants between Fayette and Saratoga. We counted one couple in each restaurant on that block, and it was really unsettling. Is it the economy, or is that secluded block of Charles Street struggling on its own? Our friends had warned us a few weeks ago that no one was dining out there, but it was sad to see it first-hand.

However, at Brewer's Art, the only people there were students! Student loans are invincible in a failing economy :) Jealous.

BBQ by Andy Nelson's

2008-10-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

After a meeting yesterday out in Baltimore County, my client suggested a great local dive for BBQ - Andy Nelson's. So my colleague, Nick, and I headed there for a late lunch. It sits right on York Rd. just south of the Shawan Rd. intersection with the Wegmans.

Nick and I were in for a real treat. It looked like a hole in the wall when we pulled up, but aren't those always the best places? We each ordered the Express - a pulled pork sandwich with slaw, two sides and a drink. I got the potato fingers and a dill pickle, Nick got cornbread.

We took our trays outside and sat in this detached building, which looks like a former garage, that was filled with picnic tables and stocked with condiments. They were setting up for a dinner party, but graciously let us sit outside. What a great place for a party! You could probably fit 50 people in this outdoor dining area, and the walls opened on both sides for plenty of fresh air and natural light.

But back to the food. I haven't had a pork BBQ sandwich in a long time, and man, was it good! The potato fingers were a little dried out, but since we got there at 2:30, I think we caught all the leftover lunch fixings. I snarfed down that sandwich in no time.

My client, M, recommends Andy's ribs, ordered "dry", and then trying Andy's different sauces. M said most other ribs in the area have been boiled for hours, then baked with sauce on them. Apparently, Andy's is the only place in Maryland he will order BBQ since they slow smoke.

Turnip fries

2008-09-26T12:26:00.001-07:00

Now that fall is officially here, roots and tubers are turning up everywhere at markets. I HAD to find something to do with turnips. No one ever uses them, but they're a vegetable, so how bad can they be?

Try this for a quick, healthy finger food:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil
Peel turnips and slice like French fries
Toss in a large bowl with olive oil
Put fries in a one-gallon freezer Ziploc and generously sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dill (salt to your liking)
Bake for 20-30 minutes until crispy

WARNING! These turnip fries are addicting, so they're best shared with friends.

Or maybe I'll make some tonight as I indulge in my just-purchased Sex and the City movie...

Love was in the air

2008-09-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday my best friend surprised her parents with a 30th anniversary party and recommitment ceremony, so I went home to Virginia to help out. I was a little nervous about how they were going to react to the surprise nuptials, but everything turned out beautifully in the end. I'd never witnessed a vow renewal ceremony, and I was very touched by the celebration of two people who have actively lived their marital vows for 30 years. This wasn't doe-eyed romance - this was the product of for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, two kids and everything else in between. Very inspirational.

Saturday night I trained up to NYC for a Sunday wedding in Westchester, about an hour north of the city. Our Baltimore friends tied the knot at a gorgeous (albeit HOT) ceremony at a Japanese garden that you'd never know was there. The entire wedding was themed Asian with Chinese lanterns, a themed cake and bamboo everywhere.

These two are big foodies, too, and we knew they'd put a lot of thought into their wedding menu. Everything was delicious and chosen with such care, including a wide array of vegetarian options (!), but our favorite passed hors d'oeuvres were the zucchini patties with dill and the artichoke bruschetta. Dinner was stations of Caesar and Asian salads, pesto or butternut squash pasta, and steamed vegetables, potatoes and salmon, I believe. (Correct me if I'm wrong, lovebirds!)

But the star of the afternoon, after the bride of course, was the cake. Their good friend is a reknowned cake designer and created the most beautiful cake I've ever seen or, more importantly, tasted. The cake was decorated to look like a purple kimono to fit with the Asian theme. I had the raspberry creme layer, and it was heavenly. Apparently there was a chocolate peanut butter layer, too, and possibly others.

After the wedding, Joe and I headed back to NYC and had dinner at a Thai-French fusion restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. The sheer selection of restaurants in New York is enough to make you want to pack up and relocate on the spot. But we didn't. Back to Baltimore we went.

Home cooking

2008-09-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Finally got to be home all night and just unwind and cook. I found an entire bin in the fridge FULL of tomatoes. Again. And they needed to be used. So I made homemade marinara with eggplant, scallions and garlic. It was just ok.

Something I enjoyed more was taking baked sweet potatoes, mashing them and topping them with chopped peaches and tomatoes. Delicious! The warm mash with the cold, sweet fruit was just what I needed.

Joe also sauteed onion layers in balsamic vinaigrette and Herbs de Provence. Great for nibbling while you're stirring an endless pot of tomatoes :)

We made do with the random produce left in the fridge. We were totally out of olive oil, and I felt paralyzed! I had no idea how much we relied on olive oil to sauteed stuff or thin it out. Never again! I'm going to the store tonight!

New fall menu at Wine Market

2008-09-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

Got together with a few girlfriends last night at Lime, the tequila bar on Fort Ave. Unlike my friend who drinks tequila like water, I'm not a fan. Tuesdays are 2-for-1 night on all drinks, if anyone's interested. They had one Chardonnay, which worked for me.

Joe met us at the bar later in the evening, and he and I headed down the block to the Wine Market. For once, we weren't at the Wine Market on a Monday night!

We immediately noticed a menu overhaul - much more fall-ish recipes. For example, I had a cup of the sweet potato and apple bisque. It was deliciously simple, and I immediately starting thinking about how we could re-create this at home. I had the vegetarian special, which was spaetzle with spinach and melted goat cheese. Good, but nothing to write home about. Joe got the mushroom omelette with truffle oil, which smelled almost as good as it tasted. Truffle oil on anything is guaranteed to be fantastic.

We ordered the monthly flight of wines, three 3-oz glasses for $11.75. The featured flight was Rhone Reds, a blend of Syrahs, Grenaches and Mourvedres. Very good, but overall a little peppery for my tastes. The flights are a great deal if you want to try multiple wines.

The Wine Market menu hasn't been updated on the website yet, but I'm looking forward to working with a new selection on our next undoubtedly Monday night visit.

Bicycle and a farewell

2008-09-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

For the second time this week, we got together with our Italian stallion friend (ha!) and his lovely wife to say bon voyage to a UMMS attending who's leaving for a new hospital. After being little Betty Crocker inside all day, I was ready to do something civilized.

The five of us met at the Bicycle and were, I'm sure, the bain of our server's existence for the night. We were THAT table that, no matter how many times she came to take our order we were never ready, we returned the first bottle of wine because it wasn't what we thought, we never shut up long enough for her to offer us fresh pepper, and so on. However, I have no doubt her tip was good.

I got the chilled melon soup to start, and Joe got the sashimi tuna and avocado tartare. I know better than this! I should have gotten that too. It's the most incredible thing on the menu, hands down. We both got salads as our entrees, and before we knew it, two bottles of wine were down the hatch between the five of us.

Two things the Bicycle doesn't have: 1) mixed drinks and 2) espresso. For our Mexican friend, these were both travesties.

So dessert and coffee moved to our friends' house two blocks away. After two mottled attempts, we gave up on the vintage espresso machine and settled for multiple cups of coffee. Our friend opened this beautiful bottle of 10-year old Portugese Port. Very smooth.

Bonus! They had ripe figs growing on a tree in the back yard, so we did a little picking and had fresh figs and Port for dessert. That was my first fresh fig experience. What a gorgeous fruit - green on the outside and fleshy pink on the inside. Of course the Italian would have a fig tree in Baltimore. It's all or nothing, baby.

Stocking up for winter

2008-09-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Ravens traffic around our house today reminded me that I'm not going to be able to enjoy fresh summer produce much longer. We hit the market this morning, and I came home with a plan to start preserving stuff to freeze.

After much Googling, I learned you apparently can't just throw stuff in the freezer and expect it to come out tasting good in December. That worked for the mint leaves, but not the corn or peaches.

If anyone's interested in a little summer preservation, PickYourOwn.org is a great site that gives directions for how to freeze pretty much any type of produce.

We also bought our first Canary (aka, Juan Canary) melon today. The bold yellow color was too appealing to walk away from. According to the farmer I spoke with, this melon is almost a hybrid between a cantaloupe and a honeydew melon. I wasn't able to find too many recipes for using it, but fresh chunks are always a winner (maybe with a touch of cinnamon on top), or chilled soup.

Red Canoe - coffee and books in Lauraville

2008-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a ton about restaurants popping up in the Hamilton/Lauraville neighborhoods, but I had no idea where they were. So this morning, after referencing the September issue of Baltimore magazine, I jotted down directions to Clementine, and we hit the road seeking breakfast.

Long story short, I got distracted from my end goal when I saw Chameleon Cafe (another new restaurant I've heard tons about), so I parked and got out, only to find that they're closed on Sundays. Whoops. Fortunately, a bookstore and coffee shop called Red Canoe was next door and looked inviting.

Great find! The interior is super cozy, just like you'd imagine a bookstore and cafe to be. We decided to stay once we saw they had 1) breakfast burritos and 2) outdoor seating on a back deck. We pretty much had the back yard to ourselves, and we were happy to enjoy our accidental find. I would highly recommend the breakfast burrito with basil pesto. It gave a new flavor to a regular menu item.

I never did find Clementine, or Hamilton Tavern for that matter. But Red Canoe is worth a try. As we ordered, I could hear kids upstairs rehearsing music, and later a little ballerina came in for classes. Someone's making good use of all the floors of this rowhome.

Duel of the Italian stallions

2008-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Last night we went over to our newly married friends' house to do some long overdue catching up. I love these two, but I must say that whenever the new groom and Joe get together, I feel like I'm witnessing the battle of the Italion stallions. It's hysterical watching them challenge each other to see who knows the most Italian card games, who can pick the best wine, who can make the best Italian dish, etc, etc. They take themselves so seriously, but I was laughing to myself the entire time.

So not to be outdone, our friends made homemade ravioli with a mushroom sauce for dinner. The ravioli was completely from scratch and tasted just gorgeous. (I was supposed to be on recipe watch for my brother who wants to make homemade ravioli, but it was already done when we got there so I don't have any tricks to share. Sorry dude). To start us off though, they had a spread of olives, homemade red pepper hummus, baba ganoush and fresh pita bread. Joe was battling food coma before the real dinner was even served!

We were in charge of bringing wine and dessert, so we picked up four bottles on the way, including a 2006 Santa Margherita Chianti Classico that managed to survive our bottomless glasses and came home with us to enjoy tomorrow. During our last-minute scramble to come up with our end of the bargain (plan in advance? please!), we found a new bakery and cafe on Light Street named DeDe's across from Dangerously Delicious Pies. While I circled the block, Joe ran in and got four BEAUTIFUL individual desserts - a mango cake, traditional cream puff, strawberry shortcake and a chocolate mousse pie. The four of us took turns sampling. They weren't too sweet, so it didn't feel like dessert overload.

We wrapped up with a couple friendly hands of Spades and then went home. I will say, this round of the Italian stallion showdown had to go to our friend. But dinner's at our place next time.

My first First Thursdays

2008-09-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

My friends have been buzzing about First Thursdays in Mt. Vernon all summer, and last night I finally made it!

First Thursdays takes place the first Thursday of every month (surprise!) in Mt. Vernon Square from 5:30pm til whenever the crowd fades out. Although I didn't indulge last night, I hear that Brewer's Art supplies the booze, and different up-and-coming artists perform each month.

Last night I was intrigued to hear, or get a look at, more honestly, singer/songwriter Ben Taylor, son of James Taylor and Carly Simon. Sadly, despite all my Andretti moves on the beltway coming home, I missed dear Ben in his opening act. However, the guy that followed him sounded JUST like Ben's dad. So much so that I kept wondering when the second act was going to come on so they would stop looping James Taylor. Whoops! The guy had a great sound, although obviously it was not terribly original.

First Thursdays faux pas: I showed up empty-handed! I planned on just grabbing a glass of wine and food from a vendor on-site, but the entire square was packed with people who'd thought more ahead and packed food - including my friends!

Must-have list for First Thursdays (and probably any outdoor music festival):

Blanket or chair to sit on
Finger foods that are immune to grass from dogs digging nearby
Multiple bottles of wine

Like the dork that I am, I'd packed The Omnivore's Dilemma, thinking I could conquer a few pages to the soothing sounds of some folk music. Um, no. Clearly I live in some dream world where it's appropriate to read books in any setting. For instance, at picnics with your friends, or at a bar. That's right, Joe. A bar!

Maybe I should work on my social etiquette a bit more.

Last First Thursdays is October 2. Be there!

Going French

2008-09-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

After a quick workout last night, I convinced Joe that we had enough ingredients at home to bypass an expensive dinner splurge at Whole Foods. (Poor guy. I could see him salivating just thinking about fresh salmon).

Turns out, I think we did QUITE well for creating an ad hoc menu with random produce leftover from Sunday's farmer's market. For starters, I took our four-day old baguette and sliced in half lengthwise. I set the oven to Broil and then sliced up red peppers, tomatoes, white onions and eggplant. I layered each vegetable across the baguette halves and drizzled olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, basil and parmesan cheese. I put these bad boys on a cookie sheet and broiled for 8 minutes - just enough to soften the crunchy bread and blacken the tops of the veggies.

Meanwhile, Joe was manning the stovetop. He broke down whole yellow squash, zucchini and eggplant into a hearty soup seasoned with salt and fresh tarragon. Now here comes the French part. He served the soup in small bowls and placed one fried egg on top of each soup. The yolks were slightly undercooked, so they oozed when we cut into the egg. A really interesting combination of textures - pureed vegetable soup and chewy egg whites.

On a side note, I'd never paid close attention to how tarragon tastes independent of other flavors. To me, it was like eating licorice! I looked up how to make licorice in countries all over the world, but tarragon is no where to be found. I thought for sure they had to be cousins.

For a hastily compiled meal of straggling market produce, we were quite pleased with the results. Granted, we didn't start eating until 10pm, but isn't that what the French do anyway?

Zucchini steaks and homemade gnocchi

2008-09-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Joe had several hours to himself yesterday before I returned from my weekend away, and he whipped up a fabulous dinner to greet my return :)

True to our local passion, he used ONLY ingredients from the farmer's market. I love that he's embraced the local movement as much as I have.

We started with zucchini steaks (chunked zucchini that was breaded and fried), topped with a tomato and hot pepper salsa and drizzled with freshly squeezed lime juice.

Next was homemade gnocchi from Yukon Gold potatoes. (According to our friend Dex, these are the best for gnocchi. Makes for a sweeter taste). Joe had boiled fresh tomatoes and eggplant down to a thick sauce, and he topped the gnocchi with this.

It was amazing! Do I really get to eat like this all the time? We bookended the meal with a nameless Cabernet Sauvignon and Pink, a special rose that my brother chose for me from Sullivan Vineyards when he was in California. A delightful wine that added a sweet ending to our dinner. We'd been saving it for a significant meal, and last night was perfect.

Labor Day in the Valley

2008-09-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

I went to my parents' house in McGaheysville, VA, the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, for Labor Day weekend, knowing I'd feel a million miles away from Baltimore. And I did.

I met the fam for lunch Saturday at Earth and Tea Cafe in downtown Harrisonburg. I'm proud of conservative H'burg for supporting even this mildly exotic restaurant. (My home county is not the most "progressive", shall we say). The menu ranges from middle eastern dishes to South American and African bites. I started with the East African soup of the day and the chicken curried salad. The best part, though, is the tea menu. I had the Chinese Fine Ti Kuan Yin, which, according to the menu description translates as the "Iron Goddess of Mercy" with a mild, orchid-like flavor. A small pot gets you three cups of tea. The decor feels like an Indian lounge. Lots of warm colors and tapestries. There's even a corner bed with curtains to curl up and read on in one corner. The dining tables are framed by pawn shop chairs and vintage couches. Disheveled but totally inviting. Perfect place to go on a chilly day with a good book.

I guess we were feeling a bit nostalgic because after lunch we walked down the street to the Rockingham County Library to check out our favorite childhood stories and see if they're still as good as they were way back when. We had this specific collection of ghost stories in mind, but I wanted to find all my Beverly Cleary books. Anyone else a fan of Ramona Quimby? Ramona the Pest? Beezus and Ramona? I can vividly remember my second grade teacher, Mrs. Burner, reading Ramona the Pest to us as we sat on the carpet at her feet. The book's threadbare cover was mauve, and I can see Mrs. Burner's gnarly knuckles supporting its broken spine. She would turn the book around to show us pictures of the characters running through our imaginations. My Ramona! I found her!

From the library, we crossed the street to the weekly farmer's market, which was all but packed up. A Mennonite family had the most beautiful display of produce. Rockingham County is blessed to have a heavy traditional Mennonite population who take such pride in all their belongings. The produce was stalked perfectly by item so that no two types of produce were touching. I couldn't stop asking the farmer question after question about his gorgeous selection. We bought a patty pan squash and a carnival squash, neither of which I'd ever seen before but I had to have. And there's no rush to prepare them. These squash can hang around for months and still be good! (I like low maintenance vegetables like this!)

We had a hodge podge dinner on our back porch - ravioli with vodka sauce and portabello sausage for Timothy, fried okra for me, and canned corn for Erika. Maybe a nasty combination, but all comfort foods prepared with love. We took turns reading our long lost children's books out loud at the table. And yes, I still jumped at the scary stories as my brother read them.

Baltimore Hilton's Diamond Tavern

2008-08-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was so dreary and gross, and all day long I dreamed about going home and curling up with a good book or my seemingly infinite pile of magazines. Since the new Hilton on Pratt Street opened just a block from our house, I've been ogling the spacious lobby and overstuffed chairs that seem perfect for pouncing on with a pile of good reads.

We headed over to the Hilton for our first walk-through last night, and I liked what I saw. It's only been open for less than two weeks, so it was endearing to hear the staff reciting lines that had clearly been drilled into their heads. (They'll find their own interpretations of this script in a few weeks). Although a Ravens pre-season game was going on just a block away, the hotel seemed barely occupied.

The indoor color scheme is blues and oranges, and I expected to see water flowing floor to ceiling. No water, but still very soothing. The carpet near the ballrooms though was a little Vegas for me - very busy patterns that force the eyes up. I could do without the carpet, but the rest of the decor, and certainly the floor to ceiling windows everywhere, were gorgeous. And all the twinkling lights! A great gift to west Baltimore.

We will definitely be back to frequent the lobby bar, which is very approachable yet upscale. We meandered our way over to the hotel restaurant, the Diamond Tavern, in the building opposite the main lobby across the overpass. Diamond Tavern faces Geppi's Entertainment Museum on the ground floor.

Gotta say, we weren't very impressed with the location. I was hoping for something higher up with a view of Camden Yards or the skyline. Instead, the restaurant bleeds out onto the brick sidewalks outside of the Light Rail stop. I asked if they plan to add outdoor seating, and our server told me that was supposed to have happened a week ago! The holdup is they have to build some sort of barrier for the outdoor tables so that people don't skip the checks and hop on the Light Rail as a getaway. Seems pretty high drama to me, but I guess that's what hotel managers are there to anticipate.

As for the Diamond Tavern menu, prices were fairly reasonable, the wine list had decent depth and included the staples, and the food was decent. Not great. We split the caprese salad as an app, I got the Pesto Orecchiette, and Joe got the Mushroom and Shallot Ravioli. The Cellar 8 Merlot was rich and smooth for me. Joe got his regular gin and tonic.

Obviously as a new restaurant, they're still working out some kinks. The staff was super friendly yet over eager and borderline intrusive with their repeated check-ups. Once, Joe and I were talking about a serious medical topic and had these intent looks on our faces, and our server stopped by to make sure we were ok! "Actually, no we're not Kelly. We're breaking up right now." What? Of course we didn't say that, and we weren't talking about anything related to relationships, but what if we'd been talking about something sensitive, and here's our server, bless her heart, checking in to make sure we're happy as clams? Rookie mistake.

The restaurant has the potential to be elegant, but the large flat screen TVs blasting college and Ravens football games made it feel more like a bar. At one point I got so excited to hear them playing Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company" album, but the sound was quickly drowned out by TV sportscasters.

We both agreed though, give it a month and these small hiccups will be worked out. As Joe put it, "My dear, these are what you call the 'kinks'." But as west Baltimore dwellers with limited nearby dining options, we're more than happy to be patient with our new Hilton friends.

Post-workout dinner

2008-08-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

We joined the MAC gym in Harbor East, and let me tell you - it's ridiculous. I'd been warned by a colleague that it was going to feel like a spa and I was never going to want to leave. Kath, you nailed it. I spent 2.5 hours there my first day. However, between paying for parking and its really tempting location next to the Whole Foods, this gym could quickly begin to accrue costs greater than just the monthly dues.

Now after a workout, I'm typically not very hungry. However, since Joe and I worked out together last night, he needed something more substantial to eat. I only wanted a light dinner after working my tail off on the Mt. Everest machine (my name for this glute-working masterpiece where I feel like I'm going to climb through the roof).

Like the giant suckers that we are, we popped into Whole Foods AND Bin 604 (I swear the wine was screaming our names!), and Joe treated me to a perfect post-workout meal at home:

3 ounces of grilled sockeye salmon seasoned with basil, served over three crisp lettuce leaves and lightly drizzled with homemade blueberry/lemon rind reduction (God bless my boyfriend)
Thick slices of fresh heirloom tomatoes
Steamed asparagus lightly drizzled with fake butter
Heart-healthy Cono Sur Carmenere - a note on this wine. According to its website, Cono Sur is the first vineyard in the world to achieve global CarbonNeutral delivery status on all its global exports of Cono Sur and Isla Negra wines. This means CO2 emissions have been measure and balanced to net zero through Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction projects. Good for them! Cheers to drinking green!

Tell me this meal doesn't beat a protein shake.

Spending time at Gia's

2008-08-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last night two friends and I went to Cafe Gia's, a place in Little Italy that we'd been reading good things about. Joe was stuck in a pancreas operation (shocker), so the three of us went ahead hoping he'd be able to join us later. Twas not the case, but anyway...

While he was going on his 15th hour at work, we were loving life. You can read the Baltimore Sun's review to get a feel for the place. We found it to be super cheerful, and we got so excited to see that they had kept a couple sets of French doors open to the street. We got a table in front of those doors, and literally, we could have stopped there. Dining al fresco is perfection. I got the Misto salad (lettuce, grilled mushrooms, kalabata olives, tomatoes, balsamic vinaigrette) and homemade bruschetta for dinner. We shared a cannoli for dessert. Best cannoli I've ever had. They used lemon rind to sweeten it. Delish.

After reading a description of Gia's "chic, petite mom" in the Baltimore Sun review, I asked the lady who'd seated us if she was, in fact, the Gia's mom I'd read about. Bingo! She was charming, to say the least. She had very dry humor and was extremely self-deprecating, but in an endearing way. She joined us at our table towards the end of the meal and entertained us for a bit.

At one point, she learned that my two friends are getting married in 3 weeks. She jumped out of her chair, clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "I have something for you! They just came in. I'll be right back!" And off she ran to the kitchen.

Uh, ok... She returns and hands my friends two rubber duckies, one dressed as a bride and one as a groom. Too precious. She went on to tell us that someone put two rubber duckies on the back of her toilet one day, and they just kept spinning around the top of the tank lid with every flush, and she thought, what the heck are these ducks doing here??? For some reason she felt compelled to buy more rubber duckies, and she began using them as bargaining chips for kids who came to eat with their parents. If you behaved, she'd give you a duckie.

So yesterday she'd received her latest shipment of hundreds of duckies. Sports duckies, Hollywood duckies, bath duckies, you name it. And she said, "I got 5 or 6 pairs of these wedding duckies, and I thought, what I am I ever going to do with these. But then here you are today!"

She was so thrilled to give them to my engaged friends. I, being the tasteful, chic girl that I am, suggested the couple use the duckies as their cake topper. Ha! You should have seen the look the bride gave me. I think they're going to pass on the rubber duckie cake topper :)

Frederick Wine Trail. Or part of it.

2008-08-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I posted. Guilty as charged! Joe was in Australia for a good week, and to be honest, my nights were pretty predictable. Then I spent a few days in Virginia Beach doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with my family, which was bliss.

Joe and I had our first full day together in two weeks on Saturday. We had picked up some pamphlets on local wineries at Great Grapes in July, so I suggested we follow the Frederick Wine Trail. Frederick County has done a great job of trying to market their wineries, and we fell for it hook, line and sinker. Any semi-knowledgeable wine drinker will tell you that Maryland wines leave MUCH to be desired, but we are always on the hunt for nice scenery, so we hit the road.

First stop, Elk Run Vineyard in Mt. Airy. Tastings were $4 for 5 wines, so we indulged. Our favorite was the 2006 Liberty Tavern Reserve Chardonnay. Very warm and buttery, aged in oak barrels. We learned that the Elk Run Pinot Noir is produced from the only Pinot Noir grapes that are actually grown in Maryland! Pinot Noir is a very delicate grape to grow and is usually best suited to the Pacific northwest. It was a good wine, but not great.

Joe grabbed a glass of the champagne, I took the Chardonnay, and we went outside to sit on a picnic table overlooking 10 acres of vines. The grapes were still swelling on the vines, which we'd somehow never seen anywhere else. Gorgeous variations of green, blue, and purple grapes just fattening up for a September harvest. The backdrop was the Elk Run homestead, built in 1756. I talked to the teenage boy living there now and asked if it was haunted. He told me stories about how a man died dozens of years ago in his parents' room and they sometimes hear the floorboards creaking at night when everyone's in bed! Another night, his brother, who sleeps next to the 2nd floor porch, woke up to see a man standing on the porch outside his window! Ah! I love it!

But moving on. We knew we wanted to sit outside at our next vineyard, so we drove about 15 miles to Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Dickerson, outside of Bethesda and Rockville. The tasting room is attached to a beautifully restored red barn, and the fermentation tanks are completely visible inside a modern glass building with floor to ceiling windows. We did a tasting here as well, and then I got sangria and a fruit and cheese plate for us to share on the brick terrace.

We recently talked to Sugarloaf staff at Great Grapes, and they'd mentioned their plans to open this outdoor terrace for tastings and entertainment. It was great! They had about 15 wrought iron tables with umbrellas set up for you to enjoy their wine and listen to live music. People brought their dogs (including an ENORMOUS Great Dane and a Weimaraner), and we listed to an acoustic set with a guitar and upright bass. Had ourselves a little sing-along.

It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Until Joe, bless his heart, started falling asleep in his chair. Wine tasting when you're post-call maybe isn't the best idea :) He was exhausted.

So back to Baltimore we went and finished off the day with live blues at Bertha's in Fell's Point.

Tea time in Harbor East

2008-08-12T06:13:00.000-07:00

As my brother and I were walking around Harbor East this weekend, we saw Teavolve, the new tea lounge on the bottom floor of the Eden apartment building. Timothy fell in love with eastern tea during his tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, so we went inside to check it out.

Very cool space. Modern, minimalist design. Floor to ceiling windows with tables for groups or lounge seating for hanging out. Teavolve is a full restaurant and tea lounge, but we weren't hungry.

I was intrigued by the many teas I'd never heard of, including oolong tea. We called one of T's buddies who used to have tea shipped from China to Iraq when they were overseas. We figured he could help us decipher the menu.

According to this guy Will, oolong tea is a green tea that evolved as a light-weight alternative to Chinese green tea during long transportation routes. The oolong tea is fermented green tea that weighed less than transporting the entire green tea plant.

While Will's explanation was interesting and I'm sure contains merit, it seems that the origin of oolong tea is still to be determined, according to Wikipedia. Oolong is a tea that falls between green and black tea on the intensity scale.

Timothy got a black tea since they didn't have any Iranian tea, and we lounged for a while to Putumayo music. According to a brochure on the table, Teavolve will soon be opening a cocktail bar with fruit-infused teas. Nice.

I definitely plan to go back and curl up with a book come fall. Or maybe I'll be back this Friday for the all-natural happy hour where "acoustic soul meets herbal tea" from 5-9pm.

Country boy comes to town

2008-08-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

My brother, Timothy, was in town Saturday and Sunday to hit a local concert and do some biking. I love when he comes to visit because he's always up for trying new things and isn't content with just hanging out.

Joe left for Australia on Saturday for work, so T and I hit the Toby Keith concert at Nissan Pavilion. Not much to say about it. Just a bunch of drunk 15-year olds blaring country music in the parking lot and passing out on the lawn during the concert. Impressive.

But Sunday, after a morning of burning off crazy calories on our bikes, we hit the last 15 minutes of the farmer's market and stocked up on menu items for the week. T was totally in awe of the variety and volume of fresh produce. Rockingham County Virginia, while the proud poultry capitol of the world, isn't exactly overflowing with concentrated markets of resources. Instead, they're called Kroger and super Wal-Mart :)

We spent Sunday afternoon cooking and watching the Olympics. For me, this is right up there with cooking all day and watching Wimbledon. Even after hitting the farmer's market, T still wanted to visit Whole Foods and gawk. (He fell in love with a giant Whole Foods in Portland, OR, and I'm sad to say our Baltimore store was a little small compared to that one).

We spent three hours on our bikes in anticipation of the following feast:

Sotoccenere with truffles and Rancol cheeses to start, paired with slices of fresh starfruit
Grilled eggplant risotto
Carmelized broccoli with garlic
Turkish tomato salad with fresh herbs

That morning, we'd picked up the latest issues of Bon Appetit and Food & Wine for inspiration, although we improvised on our recipes of choice.

We ate early and he indulged me in a walk across town to Fell's Point. Being the good Irish boy he is, he bribed me into a Guiness at Slainte, followed by a Smithwicks at James Joyce. He assured me, after my thick Guiness, that I'd prefer the lighter Smithwicks. Ahem. Even still, I can't take credit for downing the Smithwicks. By 9:30 my eyes were drooping, and I passed it off to him to finish. I'm a beer pansy. Not going to lie. It makes me feel too full and sluggish. How did I survive college?

Thanks to T, I've got great leftovers to enjoy all by my lonesome this week. Thanks for keeping me company, Timothy! I loved showing you around town.

Dinner recipes to come later.

Thursday night's alright for hopping

2008-08-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

For anyone who's looking for new, artistic places to grab a drink, check out the Windup Space in the Station North Arts District, just north of the Charles Theatre.

Last Thursday we were grabbing cocktails at the super hip Zodiac (although soon to be no more, sadly), and when we asked for other cool, burgeoning bars in the area, some locals directed us to the Windup Space.

It was only about 7:30 on a Thursday night, so we had the bar and owner, Russell, completely to ourselves. Poor soul. But Russell had just the vision we were searching for. Polished, exclusive nightlife is fun every now and then, but what we often find ourselves searching for more regularly are edgy locals with passions that go beyond shopping and working out. Boring.

Russell designed the Windup Space to be an outlet where art and nightlife can merge in an approachable atmosphere. He took over an old department store building, refinished the cement floors, painted the walls a deep grey, and has turned the walls into an art gallery. The best feature, however, is the giant film screen at the front of the space. When we walked in, Russell was playing video games on it, but for our sake he switched it to an early 1900s silent film. He regularly features films for free, usually public domain films, which were made before 1960. Local bands are invited to play on a regular basis, too. (Don't think we didn't pitch the Aeroport Rocking Chairs. And Joe's art. Shameless, we are).

Russell designed a space that almost tricks bar-hoppers into thinking they're at an average watering hole where the focus is on booze; in fact, he's used the concept of a bar to people in the door, and then they're surprised to find a hidden art collection or vintage film or music scene that sucks them in and makes them feel very rocker-chic. Ok, I'm speaking for myself on that, but I'll bet you I'm not alone.

The Windup Space just opened May 17th, and it's right next to Tapas Teatro, Hexagon, Joe Squared, Club Charles, and Sophie's.

Homemade zucchini bread

2008-08-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

At one point this summer, I'd accumulated several large zucchini that I had no idea how to put to good use. I had a flashback to 6th grade when my friends were rotating through home economics, and they all got on the bus one day with warm, sweet smelling loaves of zucchini bread. I was so jealous I never got to make that bread.

So I called mom, and here's the zucchini bread recipe she shared with me. The following ingredients are enough for 3 loaves of bread. Divide accordingly for fewer loaves.

3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinammon
4 eggs
1.5 cups vegetable oil
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp almond extract
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl (no raisins or zucchini). Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl and add to dry mix until moistened. Fold in zucchini, pecans and raisins.

Pour into pre-greased and floured pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, remove and enjoy! Serve warm with vanilla ice cream for a subtley sweet treat.

My house runneth over...with tomatoes!

2008-08-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

Joe went to the farmer's market by himself on Sunday and stocked up on tomatoes, knowing how much I squeal over locally grown, juicy red tomatoes. But when I say stocked up, I mean potentially gallons worth of fresh salsa or marinara sauce coming our way! I think we must have about 15 tomatoes for the two of us to consume this week before they go bad. AH! Where are my canning skills when I need them? Yeah, right...(although I'm considering signing up for a canning course with SlowFood Baltimore at the end of the month. Am I going to have to invest my life savings in canning equipment, though if I want to do this on my own?).

So last night I made a fresh tomato and olive "sauce" for spaghetti. I say "sauce" because this wasn't your typical fluid sauce with a smooth consistency. This was a chunky, hearty sauce that showed off all the ingredients. I used a little too much olive oil to warm up the skillet, but the recipe was otherwise simple and tasty for a quick dinner.

Dice 2 medium ripe tomatoes
Slice 1 can of medium pitted black or assorted olives
Mince a handful of fresh basil leaves
Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat
Add sliced olives and heaping spoonfuls of garlic (to taste) to skillet and let simmer for about 5 minutes
Add diced tomatoes and minced basil
Stir and continuing simmering for about 10 minutes, or until your house smells like garlic and olive oil :)
Serve over 1/2 pound of boiled spaghetti noodles
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese to your liking

We topped this off with glasses of the Cat Amongst the Pigeons 1007 Shiraz I picked up the other day. Simple and savory.

My brother gave me Giada de Laurentiis' Everyday Italian cookbook for my birthday, and I'm excited to start mastering Italian sauces. Don't hold your breath, though. According to the Italians I know, it takes years to master the perfect sauce. Check back in with me when I hit 50.

A weekend of eating well...and getting older

2008-08-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my XXth birthday...ahem. My best girlfriends, Diana and Ashley, and I had planned a baby shower for our long-time friend, Erin, at the Millmont Grille in Charlottesville. We had a great turnout for the shower, and the three of us loved seeing Erin so happy.

Diana, who is completely perplexed at the content on this blog (her memories of my cooking include me burning canned ravioli and eating cookies covered in garlic) bought me a very thoughtful gift. As a fellow blogger, she knows the importance of capturing your thoughts while you're in the moment, so she treated me to a vintage Italian journal to record my culinary fancies when I'm out and about. And cocktail napkins for any drop-in visitors :)

We came back to my parents' house in Massanutten for a block party with all Elk Lane neighbors. I had NO idea who anyone was, but I will give major kudos for the hearty potluck buffet. Southern potlucks are to die for. I try to eat healthy all the time, but when the southern casseroles and creamy salads line up, I'm a complete sucker. Bowtie macaroni salad, broccoli-grape salad, homestyle green beans with ham, baked beans with green peppers, Amish potato salad, smoked pork and homemade BBQ chicken wings...and $300 dollar cake, courtesy of my mom.

My dad and mom had come prepared with birthday candles and matches, so they sang Happy Birthday to me in our neighbor's garage over mom's orange cake with butter cream icing and pecans. Random setting, but perfect outcome :)

But by 9:00pm, I was small-talked out. Baby showers and block parties had me spent. Today we're celebrating my sister's birthday, and we're currently preparing a feast of grilled shrimp with mango chutney over coconut rice with root beer floats for dessert. Can someone please roll me back to Baltimore?

Great sangria find

2008-08-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend, Lindsay, was unable to join us at GoG Wednesday night, so she and I made separate plans to grab a drink at Paolo's in Towson last night to catch up.

It's been a while since I've been to Paolo's, but they had just the after work cocktail I needed - a gorgeous light pink glass of white sangria. I'm usually a red sangria girl, but our charming server said a famed chef from DC swears the white is the best sangria he's had in a long time.

Ok, twist my arm. Ladies and gentlemen, it was delicious! Light and fruity, full of pineapple with a splash of grapefruit. Don't mind if I have another!

Just for kicks, Lindsay and I split the crispy eggplant served on top of marinara with a "puff of goat cheese", according to the menu, and the portabello mushroom bruschetta with roasted peppers, pesto and balsamic syrup.

But little did I know I had a pre-birthday dinner being prepared at home for me! More on that later...