Oven Overdrive

I've finally got a working oven!! In honor of the oven -- well, really to test it -- I baked brown sugar shortbread cookies. It's a recipe from The Washington Post. It's really quite simple. Blend two sticks (or 8oz) of butter, 1/3 cup of light brown sugar and 1/3 cup of sugar. Add a teaspoon or so of vanilla and a half teaspoon of salt. Mix. Then add 2 cups of flour. I actually used my hands when it came to the last cup of flour -- I'm sure a stand mixer would have been fine. Spread in a 13x9 inch pan and cook in a 325 degree oven for about 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan and then cut into squares.



It's definitely shortbread -- dense, buttery, dry but with a nice sweetness to it.

Now that the kitchen work is done, I also cooked some dinner. I stumbled on the Penn Quarter farmers market. I thought it had closed -- it does next week. I picked up some radishes, arugula, apples, and trumpet mushrooms. I sauteed the mushrooms and radish tops in olive oil and garlic. It was tasty!



An experimented with the radishes and apples. I keep seeing apple fennel slaws or salads on menus. I thought I'd try an apple-radish salad with a light lemon vinaigrette. Not really great - but the sweetness of the apple did balance the tartness and almost pepper-iness of radish. It was worth trying but I think I'll use the rest of the radishes in a salad!

No Bake Desserts

As you may or may not know, my oven hasn't been working. I'm getting a new one -- actually from the sounds of my landlord a new kitchen entirely -- soon. But I still tried to bake. As you can see -- the results haven't been good. The oven doesn't get too hot, it doesn't maintain the heat, but it manages to burn the top. That was a banana bread. The one that went straight to the trash. The other I covered with tinfoil. It took about 2 hours but I got something that was edible. My latest attempt were cupcakes -- pear and walnut with a cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes didn't work out, but I did manage to get some mini-cupcakes baked all the way through.
I've been experimenting with no-bake desserts. I've been using a chocolate ganache torte as my basis and done a couple of different variations. I got the idea form a chocolate peppermint torte I did a couple of years ago. I've made a gingerbread crust and then did a mix of milk chocolate and bittersweet for the ganache. It was good but really rich and heavy. I tried a new recipe -- this one has a layer of caramel. Now, I've not had luck with making caramel in the past, so I was a bit apprehensive. But I finally got the amber color you're suppose to get! The trick, I think, is not stirring. I just let it boil away. And seeing it turn that beautiful amber color was incredibly satisfying! After adding cream and butter and getting a caramel look and taste, I mixed in some chopped nuts. On the second try I salted the caramel a bit -- I really enjoyed that taste -- and then topped it with the ganache. I got second place at my work's holiday party dessert contest!

Peruvian Cuisine

It's taken me awhile to recover from Peru. For a vacation, it was exhausting, grueling, filled with highs and lows -- literally and figuratively -- but it was worth the cold, the numbness, the illness and the exhaustion. I finally got to see Machu Pichu! One of the things I was looking forward to was the food. It did not disappoint. When I was in Lima, I got some great food suggestions, one of which was Astrid and Gaston -- a local celebrity chef restaurant. I went for lunch and it did not disappoint. Because I was in Peru, I had to have chivche. It's suppose to be eaten in the morning and lunch -- never for dinner -- because the fish is fresh. I got the mixed catch of the day. It was spicy with good texture and flavors. My main course was fish -- cooked and topped with a parsley sauce over a bed of roasted quinoia and vegetables. I ate lots of quinoa on this trip and enjoyed it immensely. But what I remember most was picking at the sauce. It was rich and reminded me of barbecue sauce. I did not have room for dessert, but they brought me out some small bites of candy -- one was chocolate the other a gummy sweet -- which honestly I didn't enjoy much. I also got some local white wine which was wonderful. It was my main meal for that day and honestly one of the few meals I completely ate. I hadn't gotten sick at this point and was still enjoying food!
I felt bad about getting sick because the chef that traveled with us hikers did some really great meals in the middle of nowhere. We always got three courses and our lunch and dinners were wonderful -- pasta, a barley risotto, fish, stewed fruit (granted, I wouldn't have eaten them anyway -- and I was too sick to eat it. I was totally passed out when they had the local feast of cuy (guinea pig) but since I'm still in my year of vegetarianism, I would have had to pass. Well, I might have made a small exception. In fact, once we hit Cusco I didn't have much of an appetite. One dinner consisted completely of an appetizer for me. But it was pretty and good. They shape mashed potatoes into little cylindars and top it with avacado, tuna, and chicken. I got two avacados instead of a chicken. Hopefully the n ext time I go to Peru, I'll be able to enjoy more of the food.

Life at the Beach

It's been a busy couple of months. At the end of September I went to the Hamptons to run the Hamptons Half Marathon. It was a great run, especially compared to last year when it rained for the entire run. The weather this time was beautiful -- sunny and cool. ME and MP did not come out to run this year, so I ended up camping, which was something I hadn't done this summer and it was fun. I had my pre-race meal at Cherrystone's. The chowder and the fish and chips were just as good as I remembered. Then I went to Montauk and walked along the beach. On my way back to the campsite, I stopped for a lobster roll with large chunks of lobster meat. I was cold sitting outside the roadside shack, but full!
On my way back to NJ, I stopped by my great-aunt's house and she and my great uncle took me to their church bazaar for lunch. I had some good, homemade Korean food -- seafood pancakes and bibimbap! It was also great catching up with them. I'd show you pictures, but I had a camera snafu.

Comfort Food, Thy Name is Risotto

Risotto's got everything I love in it: rice, cheese, a creamy texture. It has fast become my favorite comfort food, especially when it's right. And I got it right this weekend. I don't know what I did, if it was the constant stirring, the heating up of the broth before mixing it in with the arborio rice, or if it was my decision to substitute some Allegash white beer for the wine (which I didn't have in the house), but it was a yummy, creamy masterpiece.....for me. I even had leftovers for lunch today and I needed it. It's been one of those days where I question everything I've done that got me to this point in my life, every decision I've made, doors that I chose not to walk through and where I would be had I had the guts, and whether I have the capacity to make good decisions at all. Cooking school or not? Buy or Rent? Stay or Go? Tastes great or less filling? I DON'T KNOW!!!! This is why the leftover risotto was good for me today. For about 23 minutes, I put aside all my nagging, angsty questions, went to the NYTimes online, read some interesting articles about old race horses and the revival of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and forgot about my problems, for a bit.

Food is Good....

Especially after a long run, which I did today -- I'm hoping it was 14 miles (my total was 2:40) but I'm thinking it was just over 13 miles. I enjoyed the run because I did a different route. I included a Haines Point loop instead of just lapping The Mall 3 times. I hadn't noticed this suburban part of DC right along the water -- I wonder where it is? Anyway, right after the run, I had to go help a friend move and pretty much just cleaned up, changed and drank water. When I got to the new apt I was beginning to feel light-headed. Luckily, as a thanks-for-helping-me-move treat, AM bought bagles for everyone! Needless to say, I made a pig of myself. Next time, I'll just pig out before I leave the house! Next week I'm shooting for a 3 hour run. I've got to build-up for Dublin!

Burrito Cart Heaven

I'm still going through a street food-phase. DC doesn't have the plethora of choices found in other cities, but one day, I was downtown around lunch-time and I saw the line for Pedro and Vinny's burrito cart which is actually run by John. I had first seen this cart on my morning walks to the Metro -- he was setting up -- it could be as early as 6 am and the cart would be there. In case you're wondering, it's never there on my walk home. I stood on line for a good 25 mins and it was worth it. I was told that the burrito is really a vehicle for the hot sauce. I think it's a tasty, spicy work of art. So when you're a few people out, you tell him what type of tortilla you want and if you want cheese. As you get even closer you can see the bottles and bottles of hot sauces or just sauces that can go on your burrito. The cart offers black beans, pinto beans, or the black and tan (a combo of black beans and pinto beans). I get the black and tan. Then you can get home-made salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Then comes your sauce choice: fruity vs. non fruity and the spicy scale with 1 being bland and 10 the spiciest you can get. I tend to go non-fruity and 7. Here is the result!



If I worked downtown, I'd be there at least once a week. It's probably a good thing I don't work downtown. I really would have to run every day.

Tri Again and NYC: 4th time the Charm

This past weekend I was in NJ and NYC. I came up to run the NYC Half Marathon. This was the first half marathon I ever ran and what started me down my slippery, race slope. I love this run. It's a loop around Central Park, you exit the park at 7th and Central Park South and run down through Time's Square, make a right onto 42nd Street, Left onto the West Side highway/Henry Hudson Parkway and run all the way until you hit Battery Square Park. Amazingly enough, this was the first year it was really hot. This leads me to what I don't like about the run -- that is is in August, in NYC. Still, some great runners were there -- Paula, Deena and Ryan. I think this is the only time I can say I ran with Paula and Deena (granted they were about 8000 people ahead of me, but still! Anyway, I couldn't help but think that in the 3.5 years since I started, how far (some might say obsessed) I've come.

I also realized that this was my first timed Half of the year -- not bad at 2:24:44. Last month's race was the NJ Triathlon with SM and KM. I did OK. It was nice that the course was flat, but I am a bit disappointed that I did not do the Olympic distance and opted to do the Sprint. However, considering how large the field was, it was for the best. Had I stayed in Olympic, I would have been the last wave to leave. SM and KM seemed to really enjoy it, so I'm glad (since I was the one that suggested they do try a tri in the first place).



This should give you an idea of how crowded it was. While I like the cross-training involved in a Tri, it's the transportation of gear that is the problem. Tris are something better served close to home, unlike running races where all I need to bring are sneakers.

I've actually done a lot of smaller races in NYC this year -- the mini 10k, the CPC run, and there are a couple in the fall that look fun. It would be nicer though if I actually lived in NYC instead of shlepping up from DC to do the runs.

Fresh From The Backyard

I haven't spent a weekend in DC for awhile. That included the weekend before I went to Morocco. I visited LG nee LR and her husband KG. They live in southern Virginia and every year we meet up somewhere in the middle to go hiking. This time I went a little further south and stayed with them in Lynchburg, VA. The hike we did was CrabTree Falls, VA's prettiest set of waterfalls. It was a nice hike with a lot of elevation -- good practice for Peru!

But the best part of the visit was going back the LG and KG's home. They have a great garden and we picked tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs and BBQ'd. It was a great feast!








LG sent me home with some of her herbs -- basil and mint -- which I made great use of!

I wish I had a yard. Hopefully my window sill garden will suffice.

Mouthwatering Morocco

I went to Morocco for about a week. I've been before -- Fez which is in the interior of the country. This time I was in Rabat, right along the Atlantic Ocean. Having grown up with the Atlantic to my east, having the Atlantic on my west was a little taste of Bizzaro World. And while I've had pangs and longed for a burger, this was the first true test of veggie year. It first started with my Air France flight. I had called the day before to request a vegetarian meal for the flight and the person on the other end of the phone said it's taken care of. Famous last words. It wasn't. The crew was really good about finding me a salad and giving me extra bread and cheese. After being on the back of the plane, surrounded by young kids who wouldn't sleep and a guy in front of me who had his seat back the entire time, except for take off and landings, we finally arrived in Rabat. It was beautiful. A nice warm day, probably in the low '80s. After we settled in at the hotel, our group wandered down to the medina to grab some dinner.

The Medina. When I hear people say a mass of humanity or the teaming masses of humanity, I think this person has been to an Arab medina. It was a river of people, shops and stall lining the streets, everyone trying to get you into their shop to buy rugs, pottery, leather goods, jewelry, wooden boxes, lamps or even a cellphone. Sometimes the tables are set up smack in the middle of the cobbled street. And the smells -- cooking meat, bread, people who need to shower. You get the picture. It was fun to wander. And we pretty much wandered the medina everyday after work. But the first night in Rabat, we had a Moroccan feast at a Riad. First was the "salads" -- cooked vegetables with some bread. Everything from beets to zucchini and eggplant.


Then there was the tagine, a Moroccan type of stew with braised meat and vegetables. The group couldn't decide between the lamb or the chicken, so they got both. I had two tasty olives from this course.



Now, I should comment on the service. It was excellent. Not only did they carry these huge dishes, the servers portioned out the dishes -- no take a plate and pass it. It did not go unnoticed by the servers that I passed on this course. One asked me in French if I was a vegetarian, so of course I answered him in Arabic and French -- "Nam (yes in arabic), Je suis vegetarianne." When they cleared the plates after the tagines, they brought in new plate and gave them to everyone but me. Now the next course was the couscous course. I was not a fan of couscous until I had it the last time I was in Morocco. Here it is add boiling water and let couscous steam for 5-10 minutes, add flavorings and vegetables and you're good to go. There it is an endeavour that can take hours (I know that because in Fez we had a cooking class on how to make couscous -- it started at 5pm and we ate at 9pm). Everyone was making jokes about how I wasn't getting anything else or how the 2 olives had filled me up. All of a sudden they came with a large dish of couscous and a small, beautiful plate of couscous for me. The large plate had meat under all the veg. Mine did not.



And if that wasn't enough, there was desert and mint tea!



We had variations on this meal throughout our stay in Morocco. I think the best dish I had was fish tagine. They served whole fish and the servers, again, new exactly how to portion it out and serve it was vegetables and the sauce. It was really good.

Aside from wandering the medina, I walked around the Kasbah. It was like a little piece of Santorini, Greece deposited along the coast with whitewashed buildings trimmed with blue. We also say the main historical sights like La Tour Hassan, the tower of Hassan. It's the background of my where's Lynn picture. We also went to Meknes, a historical city with, what is suppose to be, Morocco's prettiest gate entrance and, after setting out on my own, I did manage to get lost in the medina and we also Roman ruins outside of Meknes.



All in all a fun trip, and a great excuse not to be in the office.

Threadless Cake: The End

After running around, exchanging cake racks, looking for a cake box (the Whole Foods baker just gave me one), getting green icing and checking out some apartments, I finally finished the cake. But only after I had some dinner. All that running around made me tired. I got some take out -- a lobster roll and fries. It's such an outdoorsy meal that I grabbed a book and took my boxed dinner to the roof deck and ate outside. It was nice. Now onto the cake.

First off, I frosted the tree cookies. Then I made whipped cream and used that as the filling with some strawberries.




Then I made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never made a buttercream frosting that I like and tonight was no exception. It came out a little too sweet for my taste and that was using half of the powdered frosting that the recipe required. I'm going to have to play around with that still. But I put on my crumb coat and then stuck the cake in the frig to set.



Then I made my woodsman figure. I made him bigger than he should be but since this was my first time working with gum paste and, well, my first time making a figure. I'm happy with the way it turned out.





I frosted the rest of the cake. Then I made the face for the day of reckoning tree, laid out the tress and placed the man and his ax down. Here's the finished product!

Threadless Cake

I've started my entry for the Threadless Cake Contest. I thought it would be fun to do. I had a great idea for the "When I Was 5, My Career Choices Were More Interesting" but I lack the skill the execute it. Maybe in a couple of years. The T-shirt design that has inspired my cake is "The Day of Reckoning."



On Day 1 (yesterday), I made the cookie dough. I'm making the trees out of cookies and will decorate them with green store bought icing.



I wrapped it and let it sit overnight.



On Day 2 (today), I rolled out the dough and made the tree shapes free hand. I also made little cookie axes!




Then I made a 1-2-3-4 cake and flavored it orange with some zest and 2 Tablespoons of orange juice. It was actually really good.





The cakes have been wrapped and are in the frig awaiting Day 3: cake assembly and decoration!

I (Heart) New York Pt. 2

I was in NYC this weekend. I ran the Central Park Conservancy Run for Central Park with cousins, including their 2 year old son! The kids' race was really cute. The adult race was four miles. I did it in 39:18 and averaged a 9:49 mile, which for me was really good. I hate hilly courses and yet I still seem to do really well on them. Go figure. Anyway, after the race I walked around NYC with MP. We were headed to Koreatown because I was craving Korean food. Along the way, on 9th Avenue we passed by a small farmer's market. I had an apricot, one that had not been dried, for the first time. And it was good! The Farmer's Market maven used some of the ingredients that were fresh that day -- peaches, red onion, garlic, cilantro, tomatoes -- and made a peach salsa.



I also saw a tree sticking out of the terrace of a highrise. This is one of the things I love about Manhattan -- tress pop up in the most unusual places.



About 20 blocks later we made it to Chinatown. First, we went to Pocha 32. But it wasn't open for lunch -- it's apparently a 5pm-3am place. So we went a couple of doors down to BCD Tofu House. We split a pa jun (a seafood pancake -- which they had listed as a pizza, and frankly, that's soooooooo wrong. It was very good -- crisp on the outside and mushy (in a good way) on the inside! And the ban chan could have been a meal in and of itself!


But don't worry, I had room for a great kimchee chi-gae with tofu. MP and I then crossed the street so I could buy some kim-bap for my bus ride to DC. Kim-bap is Korea's version of a sushi roll except the meat is cooked. I got the veggie kim-bap though. Finally we started the almost 30 block trek back to Columbus Circle. We stopped at Bryant Park for a drink. They had this little eating area set up with Adirondack chairs and bench swings. It was really nice. All in all, a great NYC day! Thanks MP for the pictures.

Farmer's Market Meals

This weekend I managed to make it to the U Street Farmer's market. I picked up beets, squash, asparagus, blueberries, peaches, cherries, tomatoes, shallots and two types of cheese - a gouda-type cheese and a soft chevre type cheese. Since I'm still going through a sandwich phase, I took out my half loaf of farmer's market wheat bread and cut off two slices. I chopped out a shallot and sauteed it and asparagus in butter. I then spread some of the chevre cheese on the wheat slices, put on some tomato slices and put that in the skillet. Added the onions and asparagus and voila!



I tried the beet pasta again last night. The beets were boiled in some water. The beet greens were chopped and sauteed in some olive oil. I also added some shallots and mushrooms. I added the whole wheat pasta to the boiled beet water, which turned the pasta this magenta pink color -- it was definitely eye popping. (Of course, I don't have pictures of it). Drained the pasta and beets, added it to the greens mixture, topped it with some olive oil and then topped it with a lot of parmesan cheese. But tonight, after my work out which involved a short 30 minute bike and then a 4 mile run, I opted for a light dinner: cereal topped with blueberries!

Souper Comfort

When I feel a cold coming on, I like to hit it head on. I'll take off from work, drink lots of OJ, take some cold medication, run (sweat the bug out), rest, and eat lots of soup. Tonight it's Whole Food's Tomato Bisque. I know I could make a tomato bisque, but I actually like Whole Food soups and this tomato bisque is rich, not too sweet, and has some good basil flavor running through. When I was sick last winter (prior to the year of veggies resolution) I went through lots of WF Chicken Noodle, Minestrone, and Seafood Chowder. I did make my own squash soup though (I draw the line at some soups).

Speakeasies In The DC Area

In June I went to PX. It's a little speakeasy in Old Town, Alexandria. Last year, some co-workers and I went to eat at Eamonn's A Dublin Chipper for some fish and chips. Really great fish, cool assortment of dips AND they deep fry chocolate bars! Anyway, it's a small place and we could only find seating outside on the side street. While we eating and chatting we noticed people knocking on the door of the townhouse next door. What made it unusual was instead of opening the door, the guests spoke through a little peephole that opened at eye level. If you had a reservation, in you went. One gentleman didn't have a reservation and was quite perturbed about not getting in. Curious, I went and knocked to find out what was going on. Turns out the speakeasy is open when the blue light above the door is on and a flag (a pirate flag) is hanging above the door at Eamonn's. You make reservations (for parties no larger than 6). They're known for being creative with their drinks and making a lot of their own juices, bitters, etc. Anyway, after months of talking about going, the FTC (Finer Things Club) finally went. Before meeting up with FTC, I did stop into Eamonn's for a small fish. They're really good and I don't get to Old Town often and, let's face it, I was going to have some drinks, food would be good to have prior to that. The blue light was on. We knocked. The peephole opened and asked, "yes?" To which S answered, "We have a reservation." And we were promptly let in, ushered up some narrow steps into the bar. We sat across from it (and right next to the bathroom door). They brought homemade chips and the drink ordering began! All in all, I started with a drink that had strawberry and rhubarb. It had an ice ball in it the size of a small snowball. It was really quite unusual (and I admit I wondered how they got it that shape). Next I tried to see how creative they were. They had home made ginger-ale so I asked if they could make me something using that. They did. It had some pineapple and other assorted goodies. Then I had something, I recall not liking, so I ended on a drink involving beets. Everyone else got interesting drinks as well -- such as grog! Here's a sampling of the drinks we all had that night.





FTC had gone to The Gibson, a speakeasy in DC. It was also dark and by reservation. It specialized in prohibition era drinks. I wasn't really keen on their drinks menu to be honest. I'm not a drinks connoisseur by any means, but they were both fun nights and an excuse to dress up. But, I'd take Eamonn's or Marvin (the restaurant next door to The Gibson) any day. Marvin served my favorite cocktail of the summer -- the Lawnmower: lemonade with tea infused vodka and mint!