Guest Bloggers Ryan & Kate

First off- Congratulations to my Future- in-Laws Kate & Ryan!

This week Tom S. (my other fiance- shhh, it's a secret) came out with his Fall Dining Guide. On the list is Vermilion. Tim and I haven't been, but have been anxious to try it after reading that Anthony Chittum, the former chef of Notti Bianche, is its head chef. We had the best gnocchi ever during one restaurant week at N.B. Ryan & Kate went to Vermilion on Saturday night, and here's what they had to say:

Kate: "Well we started with the diver scallops with russet potato gratin, black truffle & leeks 2 ways – these were fantastic and I usually don’t even like scallops very much. Then we both opted for the roasted pork loin with garlic sausage, alsatian cabbage, pistachios & fig gastrique – we both liked it but weren’t big fans of the fig mixture inserted in the middle of the meat.
For dessert Ryan ordered the trio of sorbet (cranberry, green apple & d'anjou pear), which he thought was a little overpowering at first, but after a few bites he began to enjoy it. I thought it was pretty tasty myself. I ordered the nutella bombe (hazelnut anglaise, salted filberts & chocolate sorbet). I thought it was quite tasty, although a little too much chocolate on one plate (which I never thought could happen). The cake was very good – Ryan really liked it too – but it was very rich. I thought it would be better paired with one of the fruity sorbets instead of the chocolate. Although I guess I was a little biased from the outset because I am not a real fan of chocolate sorbet in general – I like my chocolate creamy and smooth.
All in all it was a good time. I was a little thrown off because the last time I was there the menu was different and had a few more mainstream items. Also, we didn’t get it on Saturday, but I have had the cheese plate in the past and would recommend it."
And Ryan added: "It was a good place. The fig insert in the pork was not quite what I expected but the pork was good. The center of the pork was much rarer than i think you are supposed to eat pork but the fig part might have made it tough to get to temperature. The ambiance and waitstaff was top notch. I felt a little out of place in jeans. The appetizer rocked! and the wine I picked which I have now forgotten was solid."

My Triumphant Return!

I'm still trying to figure out how to do everything I want to do. I've done so much good eating in the last couple of months, but my focus has been on getting my Brownie troop running for the year.
I'll start with a little bit about this weekend and see if I can hit some other highlights. Tim & I spent Saturday touring Richmond- we saw The Jefferson hotel (where Tim was a fancy pants waiter), toured the VCU campus, checked out the shops in Carytown and managed to work in a couple of meals. First stop- lunch at the 3rd Street Diner. Solid diner food- I had a grilled cheese with bacon and tomato.

After touring (and making some room), we had an early dinner at the Strawberry Street Cafe. I ordered the chicken pot pie to make up for the abysmal pot pie I had at the Birchmere during Henry Rollins (I really should have known better).

A few notes on what I've left out over the past couple of months. Hot as all hell Houston with gigantic-sits-like-a-brick Pappas burgers and then, Papas BBQ. I only wish I had a picture of the kolaches. Two weekends ago- our "cute" tailgate before the Georgia Tech-Maryland Game. Chik Fil-A nuggets and pimento cheese were highlights- along with Elizabeth's "Go Jackets" M&M cookies.
I don't want to breeze through dinner at Proof last week- anyone want to guest post about what we ate?

Something to Tide You Over

While there's still good produce available, why not whomp up a "Lazy Woman Cobbler." Yes, that's really the name of the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt one stick of unsalted butter, then pour it into a glass 13x9 baking dish.
Next, mix together the batter:
1 cup SELF-RISING (that's key) flour
1 cup of milk (skim works fine)
1 cup of sugar
Pour batter on top of butter.
Then, add fruit until it looks fruity enough. Last time I used 4 large peeled peaches cut into chunks, but a combo of peaches & blackberries is nice too-whatever your little heart desires.
Bake for 1 hour.

Finally, eat for dessert every night (reheated) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream until it's gone. If you have a two person household, this means at least 4 nights of cobblery goodness.

Alternatively, share with a larger group to avoid some of the guilt you feel by about the 3rd night.

A Low Key Weekend at the Neck in pictures

We made the food rounds at the Northern Neck this weekend- for fresh tomatoes, peaches & melon:At Faunce's we bought salmon for Sunday night's dinner & a pint of oysters:

This weekend's cheese- Grafton's maple smoked cheddar, which I had hoped would taste more like bacon or pancakes than it did- a mild smoky chddar which was tasty, but not a replacement for the smoked cheddar Erin & Tu used to serve from Eastern Market. Served here with Marcona almonds and Old Bay spiced Virginia peanuts we picked up at Sisson's produce.For dinner on Saturday, we went to the historic Tavern in Heathsville. I enjoyed my meal more than I thought I would upon seeing the menu- way too wordy! While I like to know about the secondary ingredients served with an entree, I don't want a full recipe. Everything from the garnish to the reduction was listed with each offering. It seemed that my entree doth protest too much, but surprisingly my hanger steak was cooked to specifcation and the fingerling potatoes had both a crispy exterior and tender flesh. For dessert, Rosemary and I shared a peach napolean, made with whipped cream, white peaches and crispy filo dough. On Sunday Tim & Ben rented kayaks at Westmoreland State Park.

After the park, we headed to Dairy Freeze for soft serve cones. Best of luck to Co Balderson!

Quarterdeck

Most of my big plans for this weekend didn't materialize- which was great. I was able to spend some time finishing up part of a project that's been hanging over my head for awhile now (the never-ending massive photo reorganization project). Tim thinks I'm a big dork when I scrapbook. One plan I kept was dinner at the Quarterdeck with the Watson sisters & friends. It's a borderline sketchy place in general. I wouldn't go there for any reason other than crabs- but that's something they know how to do well (especially when you can get the jumbo crabs that we ordered). Along with pitchers of Miller lite, melted butter & onion rings.

After dinner we headed to Carvel for a few Carvelanches (pronunciations may vary).

(PS- Scroll Down to see a recap from last weekend.)

Link Heavy List of Excuses

I still owe y'all an update from last Saturday night (with pictures!)- here's a list of my good reasons for being behind.
Monday night- bad mood. Wanted to read "Bust" instead.
Tuesday night- Old Town. First, we had dinner (finally) at Eamonn's where we each had cod & chips- with the Chesapeake & Kitty O'Shea's sauces (thoughts: good fish & chips, but how often do I really crave fish & chips? I'll go back again sometime, but no rush). Then, we saw Dave Ihmels play at 219 Restaurant, followed by drinks at O'Connell's.
Wednesday- my eyes were still dilated from my eye dr. appointment- so really, there was nothing I could do except watch "So You Think You Can Dance."
Tonight- Legg Mason Tennis Classic
Tomorrow- Arlington Yard Sale prep & Nationals Game
Saturday- Arlington Yard Sale and dinner at the Quarterdeck (woo!)
Sunday- Serious blogging. Just wait and see.

After All the Stops and Starts - Sparkling Toast at Erin & Tu's

Erin and Tu were generous enough to share the booty from their California wine tour last weekend (and toast our engagement at the same time!) I'll need to touch base with Erin to confirm the names of what we sampled- 3 sparkling wines from Mumm- but I know I liked the third one best. To pair with the wines, they offered a variety of appetizers- including proscuitto-wrapped melon and fresh summer rolls from Tu's favorite Vietnamese restaurant from Capitol Hill. The original plan was to head to Eat Bar after we had tried all of the wines, however, as is wont to happen at Erin & Tu's- they couldn't kick us out. We settled in for an evening of singing soft rock hits and later placed an order for room service for pad thai, satay & sushi.


Summer Rolls:
REO Speedwagon or Peter Cetera & Cher?
Room Service!

Busy Weekend Part One- Snow White Grill

The Snow White Grill completely lived up to my expectations. Tim insisted we eat inside to get the full experience, even if it meant waiting. Only a short wait was required before we were seated at the counter. The entire establishment, which opened in 1949, is about 12-15 feet wide- the width of the alley in which it was constructed. I had three lovely mini-burgers (2 with cheese, 1 deluxe w/ lettuce & tomato), some passable french fries and a birch beer.
As for the burgers, think White Castle or Krystal, but a few notches above. I know mini-burgers are pretty passe these days, but I still love them. Because I don't eat very much red meat (I virtually never prepare it at home)- a couple of mini-burgers hit the spot. Here's my current ranking of diminutive hamburgers:

1) Matchbox, 2) Eat Bar- tie, 2) Snow White Grill- tie, 3) White Castle, 4) Krystal. I'm up for adding more to my list if I'm missing anything. Suggestions? I'm embarrassed to admit that my visit to Eat Bar on Friday night with the Brownie moms included one last mini-burger for the day. It was completely different from Snow White Grill, but as I've mentioned before, I like the caramelized onions and truffle butter.

Early Weekend

Since we're taking off from work tomorrow to head to Winchester to have Tina Sparkles re-sized, now is the beginning of my weekend. Woo Hoo! Or maybe after today's lunch, I should say yee haw! Elise was in the Chinatown area for a meeting, and so Tracey and I met her for lunch at Capital Q. If I'd taken my camera with me, right now you'd be looking at the saucy pile of pulled chicken I devoured. Along with my sandwich, I had collard greens (with a few generous squirts of spicy vinegar) and black-eyed pea salad. Of course I also had sweet tea. Capital Q is one of the few decent purveyors of sweet tea around these parts.


On tomorrow's lunch schedule: The Snow White Grill - a Winchester institution I've never had the pleasure of visiting. Then, tomorrow night: Brownie moms (plus me) Night Out at Eat Bar. I predict hamburgers are in my future.

Unmotivated

I take back what I said about updating more often- at least for last week. A little too much working- so I had lunches from home and easy dinners. I have a pretty good food preparation arrangement with Tim- he makes coffee immediately upon rising and makes our lunches. I'm in charge of dinners and weekend breakfasts (when I'm so inclined- usually following a farmer's market trip). I do the grocery shopping as well (Tim hates grocery shopping with a passion). I generally don't mind it- actually rather like browsing. But sometimes I'm just not in the mood. Like tonight- we just ordered from "room service" instead - combo pad thai for Tim and I had veggie yaki soba. I'm feeling pretty low energy right now, but it's my own fault for staying up too late last night finishing Harry Potter. I was so afraid I'd overhear something about the end. No spoilers here, but I will say I enjoyed the last of the series.

Last week's dining highlight was definitely Elizabeth's 6th Annual Girls Movie Night.

Every year she picks a different girly movie, raises money for Arlington's Doorways for Women and Families, and puts out an impressive spread of candy for movie munching. I think the sugar high kept me energized for the midnight release of HP, too.

Crab Two Ways and Stilton Comparison

Goal for this week: update more than once.

There's too much to write about if I procrastinate until Sunday night. Before I get to my weekend re-cap I have a couple of noteworthy meals to report from earlier this week. (By the way, as I write this, Tim is attempting to use the ice cream ball for the first time. Except we don't have rock salt, and so we're experimenting with kosher salt. By the time I've finished my update, we may or may not be eating vanilla ice cream.)

Meal highlights for the week:

Monday

New hire lunch at McCormick & Schmick's. Nothing spectacular about the meal as a whole, but I did enjoy my appetizer. How much does this sound like something I'd order: Fried green tomatoes topped with barbecued shrimp & goat cheese. The tomatoes were actually a little too ripe, and so they didn't hold their texture like they should have, but the batter was extra crunchy and the barbecue sauce was nice and tangy (a good foil to the goat cheese.)

Tuesday

3 course dinner for $29.00 at Oya with Erin & Ginzee. I had a tuna tempura roll with 7 pepper sauce to start, followed by the best course of the night, seared scallops with truffle jus served with slim egg noodles and hen of the woods mushrooms. I tried the ice cream trio for dessert and was disappointed. The flavors (vanilla, espresso & rum raisin) were spot on, but it had the consistency of sorbet. I would have forgiven the iciness if it were limited to the rum raisin, but I expect much more from vanilla ice cream (they should try the decadent ice cream at 2 Amy's to see how it's done right.)

Friday

Lunch from Ella's. Pucillo pizza- prosciutto, arugula, tomato & smoked mozzarella.

(Update on the ice cream experiment: Ten minutes into the process and much cursing.)

A very good weekend for dining out. I think this week should be open for a little more (much needed) home cooking.

We spent this weekend at the Northern Neck. Sadly, it didn't involve any surprise jewelry. We hit up a local restaurant, Good Eats, for dinner last night and had a fabulous time in spite of some service "glitches". Let's just say the chef/owner is a tad on the arrogant & unpleasant side. (Breaking news: kosher salt = somewhat soupy ice cream. But even it has a better consistency than Oya's vanilla ice cream!) We had a considerable wait, but were able to spend it on some benches outside with our wine glasses.

Once inside we had rosemary focaccia rolls to start and then a variety of appetizers. I had Italian tomato bread soup with mozzarella & basil, while Tim had the crab pot stickers. Real, flavorful crab inside and served with a spicy dipping sauce. (Erin would like me to mention that the sauce was too spicy and overpowered the pot stickers- I can see that.) Most of us had soft shell crabs for our entrees. Choice of starch and slightly overcooked (and over-minted) veggies to accompany. I could have cared less about the sides - the soft shell crabs were wonderful (served with lime butter). Tim and I shared chocolate peanut butter pie for dessert.

The gorging continued today with more crabs. This time steamed.

Later, we had apple slices topped with smoked trout and watercress and then two stiltons for comparison. The first was traditional blue and the second was white stilton with lemon zest. The cheese monger at WF described it as tasting like the filling of a Danish- woo boy was he right. It made for a great dessert cheese and paired nicely with both a rose and pinot blanc.

Tour of Meats

I'm a little behind on updating this week. I feel like I have to confess that I've been reading indiebride forums until my eyes bleed, and less focused on what I'm eating this week, which I think will become pretty obvious when you see what I've been up to!

Isn't July the number one month for hot dog consumption? I'm definitely holding up my end of the deal. This past week has been a big one for grilling and eating some patriotic meals.

Tuesday- Tracey's Luau

Grilled hamburger & special cake (see wedding blog for more)

Wednesday-Happy Birthday America

A butter fried hot dog- really. It was as delicious as it sounds (because it rained on our grilling attempts, I decided to cook the hot dogs in my cast iron with a little bit of butter). I also had a few ribs.

Friday- Tim's Tour of "Irelington" Bar Crawl

Sadly no grilled meats. I did have a couple of wings, though, and I think that counts for something.

Saturday-Nationals Game

Italian Sausage w/ peppers and onions. They've changed the buns though, which I'm not happy about. Although they're bigger now, they're also flimsy and prone to sogginess.

Yum, but now I'm ready for a salad. Actually, tonight we'll be enjoying some farmer's market acquisitions- caprese salad on baguette with Mozzerella from Blue Ridge Dairy.

"Blue Ridge Dairy's farmhouse mozzarella was voted third best at the 19th annual conference of the American Cheese Society."

More Meadow Creek & Copper River Salmon

Tonight I grilled Copper River salmon on the grill pan with only a drizzle of olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. I use my grill pan so rarely that I don't think I've quite mastered the timing- tonight was probably my best foray into stove top grilling. I was able to maintain the filet's moisture even while achieving some nice charring (too bad that's carcinogenic), but coming off the pan a few minutes earlier probably would have been ideal.

Remember how I said I don't cook with butter? I think I lied a little. Both of tonight's veggies had a scant amount of butter. I steamed green beans that I then tossed with lemon zest, lemon juice and a small pat of unsalted butter. I also cut fresh corn off the cob and sauteed the kernels with butter, diced shallot and lots of Old Bay- not so much butter in either case, but enough of a flavor difference that I prefer it to olive oil with these particular vegetables.

Not so much cooking over the weekend because most of our eating revolved around Ryan's house-warming party- so much grilled meat (which Ben is doing a lovely job modeling)! My contributions were a crock pot of baked beans (McCall- do you remember when we went through a phase where we ate baked beans with rice for dinner our first year out of college? yum) and a cheese platter.

I decided to try Whole Foods' other local cheese (sadly, only two in the store), also from the Meadow Creek Dairy- this time Meadow Creek Mountaineer, which was firmer and more flavorful than the Grayson. I also had Maytag Blue cheese from Iowa (a Christmas favorite when I visit Grinnell for the holidays) and extra-buttery St. Andre triple creme brie. My first choice for the soft cheese was Brillat Savarin, but sadly they were sold out. So cheese of the week two weeks in a row, which means I can take this next week off!

Eat Bar and "lifestyle changes"

Last night Raina was nice enough to take me to Eat Bar to celebrate the engagement- woo hoo! Not only do I love the food and relaxed atmosphere of that place, I also love that I can walk there in about 5 minutes. First we each had a glass of dry rose (my favorite summer wine) and we then we shared some small plates:

- mini hamburgers with caramelized onions and some sort of truffle condiment

- one order of bacon-wrapped marscapone stuffed figs

- chickpea "fries"- a new menu item. Brian, our bartender described them as deep-fried hummus, but the shape and texture reminded me most of fried yucca. The fries were served with spicy horseradish mustard.

I then had a glass of Cabernet while Raina had proseco, and we finished the meal by sharing a butterscotch ice cream sandwich.

Eat Bar's proximity makes it really tempting when I don't feel like cooking. They also have mini chorizo corn dogs. Do I need to remind how I feel about corn dogs?
So all this good eating and wine drinking brings me to a bigger issue... how do I cut back a bit on both calories and food spending while maintaining my foodie cred? About every 6 months or so I talk big about making a "lifestyle change." In my fantasy vision of myself I become someone who wakes up early, goes for runs, eats lots of fruits and practices yoga. In reality I hit the snooze button about 5 times, watch the "Today Show," come home and drink wine, eat cheese and watch "So You Think You Can Dance." I know the answer is making choices, moderation, blah blah. It's all going to take a little more willpower than I care to exercise most of the time. So baby steps- I guess that means the next time I go to the Farmer's Market I need to walk on by the new bakery booth that sold me the pain au chocolat on Wednesday night.

Who out there has the magic solution to all of this? What exceptions and allowances do you make while still maintaining a healthy diet/lifestyle? Cooking healthily isn't my problem- I know what to do and generally only use a little bit of olive oil and use low fat meats (if any), lots of vegetables, etc. It's all of the extras that are my downfall: picking up treats, drinking and eating out. Also, while I know the low carb route works for some people (and in the past it has produced quick weight loss for me), I think Tim and my co-workers can attest that I am a PROFOUNDLY UNHAPPY person when I can't eat bread!

Maurice says: "I eat gravy with every meal and I'm still svelte."

Breakfast- Great Depression Style

The cupboard was bare. The only thing we had to eat for breakfast this morning: the two remaining heels of bread, toasted with peanut butter. I had mine with strawberry preserves, but TBC (should I just go ahead and call him Tim?) had his with honey. Tim's love for honey rivals that of Winnie the Pooh's.
Last night we ordered Cafe Asia for dinner. Because there are some things we just can't share, we each had our own order of steamed vegetable gyoza & grilled lime chicken. Erin and Tu aptly refer to Cafe Asia as "room service" - we probably order from them about every 10 days. You know what I discovered last night? I have a hard time eating grilled chicken and watching a zombie eat human flesh at the same time!

A mini- Whole Foods trip was in order- just a few basics until I can get some produce from the farmer's market tomorrow. One of my go-to easy weeknight dinners is a doctored-up Amy's Organic pizza. I sauteed a sliced red pepper in olive oil with a thinly sliced shallot to top the mushroom and black olive pizza. I made a quick salad to go with and called it a night. I think tonight will be the last night of engagement cake for dessert. I'm kind of relieved. While I don't plan to undertake a major diet in the time between now and when we get married (so weird to write that), we do need to start make some better eating decisions. Maybe that means I can't have both wine AND and an ice cream sandwich every night.

P.S. I almost forgot about today's food highlight. Tracey made chocolate cake pie (or "magic" chocolate cake pie, as I would like to call it.) Cake & Pie! At the same time!

Cheese of the “week,” monkfish and a side of proposal

Going into this weekend, I was looking forward to a relaxing sojourn at the Northern Neck with TBC and his parents, as well as the opportunity to sample a new cheese with a group of like-minded cheese lovers.

Who knew the cheese would be the least exciting part of the weekend?! Check out http://timandmelinda.blogspot.com/ for a play-by-play of what went down at 1:00 p.m. on the dock.

To celebrate our big news on Saturday, as well as TBC’s aunt & uncle’s Northern Neck house acquisition, we had dinner at Swank’s on Main Street in Kilmarnock with TBC's family and friends.

In all honesty, at my first review of the menu I expected a mediocre meal, albeit in a quaint setting. The appetizer list was all over the place: thai beef salad, fried catfish & dunk confit egg rolls among others. The entrée list was more focused on standard upscale American offerings: assorted seafood, pasta & meats.

I started with a Maker’s and Ginger and then shared an order of duck egg rolls with mango chutney.

The egg rolls had nice flavor, a crispy exterior that wasn’t weighed down by the peanut oil used to fry them and a slightly chewy texture. However, the mango chutney overpowered the eggrolls. The use of cinnamon in the chutney became the dominant flavor and disguised the subtleties of the egg roll's filling. The chutney would have been better paired with vanilla ice cream.

Isn’t it hard to concentrate on the egg rolls with all that bling in the way?

I had roasted monkfish served over caramelized onion mashed potatoes for my entrée. Monkfish has a texture and flavor that’s pretty similar to lobster. Another member of our group also had the monkfish and agreed that it was a knock-out dish. The few bites I had of TBC’s trout amandine topped with crab and served over stone-ground grits were also fantastic. In fact, all 9 of us that dined that night were pretty impressed by our meals.

Most ordered coffee after dinner, but TBC and I have a really hard time passing up a dessert menu. (After our first date at Firefly TBC said that my eyes lit up when he suggested we split a dessert!) There were only three options on the dessert menu- cheesecake, vanilla crème brulee and what was described as a chocolate “pate.” I’m sure you can guess what we ordered! The pate had the consistency and flavor of smooth semi-sweet chocolate fudge. It was topped, predictably, with whipped cream and raspberry sauce.

All in all, it was a great evening with a wonderful group of people. We were lucky to celebrate the day of our engagement with such good meal (thanks again to R & B for dinner!).

So, onto Sunday afternoon… the First Cheese in a Series of Cheeses. Deciding to try a new cheese every week might be a bit ambitious. Bi-Monthly Cheese perhaps?

The first cheese in my exploration of new and different cheeses is Grayson, made by Meadow Creek Dairy in southwest Virginia (shout out to the local cheese- woo).

It was a brand new cheese for the Whole Foods in Clarendon, straight from the farm as it finished aging in the last 1-2 weeks. The cheese monger described it as an American Taleggio.

Meadow Creek Dairy says: "Reminiscent of the Italian Taleggio or French Livarot, but with our rich Jersey milk and a longer aging time. A soft, finely textured cheese, very rich and beefy with a pungent aroma and a nutty, sweet overtone. Surface ripened with a thin reddish-orange washed rind."

For comparison purposes we also tried a traditional Taleggio. It probably wasn't the most scientific of processes. Who knows how long the Taleggio had aged, but I could see a few similarities. Also, I think we tried the Grayson a little too chilled (we were impatient to try it). Where it started out too mild for our tastes, the flavor intensified as it came to room temperature. Ultimately, I think we all preferred the Taleggio- but the Grayson is worth another try.