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.