I discovered a new food blog called Food Nerd tonight through another food forum. The site is hosting a contest called Blueberries on the Ceiling, concentrating on the mistakes we’ve made in the kitchen. Since I chronicled my lovely mishap with my opera cake, I thought this was the perfect way to turn tragedy into triumph and plan on submitting my post on the whole disaster. If you’re interested, head on over to Food Nerd and share your own hiccups in the kitchen.
Filed under Contests
I bet you guys were starting to wonder when I was going to get my ass back into the kitchen. Well, it just so happened this week was super hectic and it’s hard playing activities director to a newly formed cultural posse (the posse of culturality to be exact). But on Tuesday night, after a very, very busy day, I wanted something quick and something easy and light. My answer? Asparagus, of course!
Filed under Fast Food, Pasta, Vegetables
So Liz tagged me to answer some questions about myself…think of it as a blog forward. And since I have this silly superstitious fear about ignoring forwards, I am complying…that and she may send Horatio after me. So on with the inquisition (and nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!):
“The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.”
1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was a recent college (undergrad) graduate living with an ex-fiance in Georgia with no career direction. And I was a fairly new mommy to the Diva!
2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
For Friday: get tickets for the posse of culturality’s (yeah, we’re a group…and we’ve given ourselves a cheesy name…next up: matching shirts and leg warmers!) Shakespeare in the Park outing; finish up a dataset for some research (I’ll spare the exciting details); wash my hair (what an exciting life I lead); prepare fabulous outfit for the posse’s screening of Sex and the City on Saturday (got our tickets this past Monday!!!!) and uhmmm…can I put drooling over Nick Drago from “Step It Up and Dance” or is that just sad?
3) Snacks I enjoy:
Any berries, melons (although I’m allergic to cantaloupe and honey dew) or citrus fruit; anything involving a combination of any of the following: peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallows or graham crackers (hell yeah to s’mores!); and of course CHEESE!
4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay off all of my debt, split the money up with my sister, my mother and my aunt, give a huge portion to charities, buy an amazing home in DC, Tuscany, Barcelona and on some tropical island, take photography courses and travel around the world!
5) Places I have lived:
Panama (the country, not the city), Louisiana, Germany (Baumholder to be exact), Augusta, Macon and Statesboro (all in Georgia), Charlotte, NC and DC (by far my favorite).
6) Jobs I have had:
Call center supervisor, retail hell (Macy’s…in the children’s section…near a life size singing Barney…or in other words: HELL), customer service rep, communications specialist, graduate assistant and operations coordinator
7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better (I couldn’t bear to burden five people with a forward):
On a totally unrelated note, Emeril Lagasse has a new show taping in the DC metro area called Emeril Green. It is a part of the new channel Planet Green. They are currently casting about for people who need help with their most pressing kitchen dilemmas. If you want to get some camera time, go over to the casting blog and plead your case!
Filed under Uncategorized
You’re never too old to learn…and apparently the lessons I need to learn involve time management, coordination and reading comprehension. All of these valuable skills would have made my very first Daring Baker challenge go a lot smoother. But as the saying goes, you live, you learn…and then you have a margarita (what do you mean that’s not how the saying goes?).
Filed under Baking, Daring Bakers Challenge
We had so much fun at the neighborhood brunch, we decided to move it to the evening time. And with it being Memorial weekend, what better way to pass a lazy Sunday than on the roof with food, drinks and neighbors?
Filed under In Shaw, The Neighborhood
And this is one of the many things I love about DC: a 12 story building filled with visual art and theatrical, dance and musical performances…all for free! It’s called Artomatic and it’s running until June 15th. Bonus points for being VERY metro accessible (you can see the building where it’s housed – Capitol Plaza – from the train) and did I mention it’s free?
Filed under DC Events - Cultural, Free Events in DC
I have found the Holy Grail of pizza doughs…and I am a better woman because of it. This dough can take on any toppings and still come out crisp and sturdy. It can withstand my falling asleep slightly while waiting for it to cook in the oven and still come out tasting fantastic. And since I still had three balls of dough left from the original recipe, I decided a homemade pizza would be a good way to pass the time sick in bed.
Filed under Pizza
About a month ago, I hopped onto the metro and went up one stop to U Street (I’m not lazy…just really, really bad with directions), a neighborhood I know little about. I was meeting Jamie (not to be confused with my friend James…two completely different people, trust me) for dinner at Creme Cafe and Lounge and didn’t want to be late. I opted to take the metro instead of wandering around aimlessly in hopes of finding the restaurant (did I mention I was bad with directions?). When I walked in, I immediately got a good vibe from the place. Although it’s small, the seating is strategically placed to optimize the space. The lack of a drop ceiling and the sharp, earthy colors also contributed to an open feel. Even better, the placement of the seats actually made intellectual conversation possible. The atmosphere was great, but I’d “been there done that” with cool ambiance and poor food, so I reserved my judgment. Warning: these pictures were taken before I got the new love of my life, so they aren’t the best…
Filed under Restaurants
Okay, I have just finished watching this week’s episode of Top Chef and if you have TiVo’d it and don’t want to know the results, don’t read beyond the jump. But to say I am PISSED is an understatement…
Filed under Television Shows
I have eaten polenta numerous times at restaurants, but I’ve never made it before. So as I was trying to keep my sanity while quarantined, I decided to try my hand at a creamy polenta. When it was done, I decided to top it with some of the asparagus, roasted red pepper and tomato saute I had made a few days earlier. And let me just say, don’t even bother with the whole grains…go polenta all the way with this “stir fry”. The creamy polenta melded beautifully with the flavors of the springtime concoction I made the day before. See, it’s not always bad to revisit the past…unless it’s a psycho ex.
Filed under Vegetables
Stumble It!
Adventures in Shaw 