It's amazing what some people eat!

This morning there was a guy on the elevator in my building at work. He was carrying a plate of bacon (at least 6 pieces) and a bottle of chocolate milk. I can't even imagine that as my breakfast!

food for my life

That's the name of my new cooking blog. I'll still keep up with this one and will definitely still talk about food here. As the name implies, it will be food that I eat everyday which can include simple but tasty dishes but could also include fancy, hard to make ones. Hopefully you'll enjoy both types and might even get an idea or two for your own meals. Feel free to leave comments!

food for my life .

Enjoy!

Seen in SoBe

Guess who was there at the same time as us?

Easter 2005

I know that was a while ago but I was just cleaning off my cookbook bookshelf (which I know that I cleaned since Easter 2005) and I found the recipe of one of the items that I cooked that day. I had decided to do an Eastern Orthodox menu instead of the normal American one. The certainty is that we would have lamb of some type. I decided to do a little research online and found this wonderful recipe for fresh cheese and honey tarts from Santorini.

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Pastry
2 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup beer
Filling
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, drained overnight in a cheesecloth lined colander
1/3 cup honey, preferably thyme honey
About 1/2 teaspoon (2 pieces) ground mastic (I didn't have this in my pantry)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
Ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Make the Pastry
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with the baking powder. Add the oils and the beer and mix briefly with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until soft, oily dough forms. If it is too soft, mix in a little more flour. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Flatten the dough with your hands. Place it in a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press it evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Line with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the foil, prick the dough with a fork and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until set but not colored. Let cool.
Make the Filling
In a food processor (or using an electric mixer), combine the ricotta, honey, mastic (if using) and cinnamon. Process (or mix) for 30 seconds to combine. With the motor running, add the eggs one at a time, processing (or mixing) until smooth.
Pour the filling into the cooled tart shell and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown and set. Sprinkle with cinnamon and let cool before serving.

Variation
Instead of one large tart, you can make 30 individual tartlets. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and shape each into 10 1/2 inch long log about 1 inch in diameter. Cut each log into 10 pieces. Work with 1 piece of dough at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap.

On a lightly floured surface, pat each piece into a 4 1/2 inch round. Put 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each round and pinch the rim to make a star-shaped crown around the filling. Bake on baking sheets in batches for about 25 minutes, or until light golden.
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As I said before, I was planning to cook lamb to go along with the pastries. Therefore, I bought some fresh rosemary since that's the perfect spice for lamb. I even went to a gourmet grocery store to get fresh meat. When I got home, I read the label of the package that I had been given after pointing to the meat counter. It was veal! Well, unfortunately, that's not the first time I've chosen the wrong meat but I'll tell that story another time. The issue at hand was what to do with this veal. The rosemary would overpower it. I didn't know anything about wiener schnitzel. I don't remember exactly what spices we used but I do know that we put the meat on the grill and it turned out quite nicely. And, those pastries were wonderful for the rest of the week (30 pastries is a lot for 2 people!).

Once in a lifetime...

MTH and I just returned from a week long vacation to Florida. We were in South Beach the first few days for MTH's brother's wedding. We then headed to Key West for the last 3 days to enjoy some fun in the sun. Well, instead, we experienced two nights of record lows! There was a cold front that hit the East Coast and there were a few flakes of snow even down into northern Florida.

Of, we still had a good time together although probably not in the top 5 of our vacation trips. MTH had gotten a cold after the wedding so that made it even less fun (especially since I got it from him soon after). But, as I said, we did enjoy a few things while we were in Key West. Here's a sampling of a few:

- The Hemingway Home: MTH has decided that when we build our house one day, we will use it as the inspiration for our design. I have to say that I really liked the house so it wouldn't bother me to have the outside look similar to the Hemingway House but the inside would need to change quite a bit.

- The Shipwreck Historeum: An interesting small museum that told the story of how Key West used to make money. The main job in the mid-1800's was to be a "wrecker". A wrecker was someone who salvaged goods from a ship that wrecked on the reefs near Key West. There were huge warehouses built in the harbor area to hold the goods until they were auctioned.

- The Truman Little White House: Who knew that Harry S Truman spent almost 180 days in Key West during his presidency? This tour was actually quite interesting and has inspired us to want to read the David McCullough biography of him. I've read McCullough's bio of John Adams and thoroughly enjoyed it.

- The Lighthouse Museum and Keeper's Quarters Museum: MTH made it to the top of the lighthouse! I was very happy that we both got to see the view together. It's very interesting to be in such a flat place where you can see so far out to sea.

- The Original Ghost Tour of Key West: There were some interesting stories told on the tour but it wasn't worth 2 hours of our time!! Because it got out after 10pm, we ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe since no other places we knew were serving normal dinner food!!!

I don't really have any interesting stories about restaurants visited. None were terrible by any means but none were that memorable either. We were disappointed by that since one of the things that we enjoy most about our trips is discovering new foods and new places.

Our First Anniversary in Toronto

We had a great time in Toronto for our first anniversary. Here's what happened. We arrived around 1pm and headed to the hotel to check in and get lunch. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Toronto which is in the Yorkville neighborhood. We ate lunch at the Rooftop Lounge. Definitely a great view. We then talked to the concierge to get his recommendations for dinner that night. We told him we wanted seafood so he recommended a place called Joso's. The decor is very interesting (if you check out their website, you'll understand what I mean) but the food was awesome. Their specialty is fresh fish grilled whole. We started with a buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad. For our entree, we shared a rainbow trout, tiger prawns, a sardine (the most gigantic sardine I've ever seen) and some fried calamari. The wine was called Cockfighter's Ghost. It's from Australia. It was very good even if MTH did choose it because of its name. Since we had made our reservations at Joso that afternoon, they weren't until 9pm. So, we headed to the Gardiner Museum, a museum entirely devoted to ceramics. It is open until 9pm on Friday nights and is free. If we had been there during the day and needed a snack, they had a cute little cafe on the top floor who's chef is Jamie Kennedy.

On Saturday morning, we had massages at the spa in the hotel. It was a very nice spa and the massage was great. Then, we headed out to downtown Toronto to check out the city. We came back to take a nap so that we could stay awake that night for the theater. We had to eat at 6pm which is very early for us. The concierge again recommended a good place called Opus Restaurant. I had caribou for the first time. It was very lean and interesting but I wouldn't want very much of it. We then headed to the theater to see Wicked. MTH was funny. He bought the tickets before he knew that it was a musical. But, he still liked it although I agreed with him that music was not that memorable. The dancing and the story are lots of fun. I would still recommend this one to people who like musicals.

On Sunday, we had planned to go the Bata Shoe Museum but they didn't open until noon. So, we just walked around Yorkville is 30 degree weather with 30 mph winds trying to pass the time. Finally, it was noon so we headed to the museum but we only had an hour because we had to get to the airport to catch our flight.

It's been a while...

since I posted here. For some reason, I just wasn't in the mood for posting to my blog. Here's what happened since the last time I posted.

1. MTH and I went to Toronto for our anniversary - it was wonderful
2. I worked
3. MTH worked
4. MTH worked out a lot
5. I worked out a little
6. My birthday happened (I took a vacation day!)
7. My mom and sister were here for my birthday weekend

Right now, Phoebe (the cat) and I are sitting on the couch downstairs by ourselves. It's raining outside so it seems earlier than it really is because it's so dark outside. Mom, SM and MTH are still in bed.

I'll try to post more details about some of the things that have happened since my last post.

Shopping

I had to get my bridesmaids' dress altered. Of course, before I could do that, I had to buy shoes. The dress is espresso but I didn't want brown dress shoes. So, I got some burnished gold shoes by Betsey Johnson. Here's a picture:



And another:



Of course, while I was there, I saw some everyday shoes that I decided that I needed as well:



And, to show you the great thing about Cole Haan shoes, here's the soles:

Another Picture

Here's another one from our wedding almost one year ago.

Eamonn's, A Dublin Chipper

In a previous post, I mentioned that I'd be checking out Eamonn's in Alexandria a couple of weeks ago. Well, I did make it there but was out of town right after. I didn't have time to get a post onto the blog. Here's my review:

First, of all, the name is not 'ee-mahns'. I was corrected by my English friend, HS. It is 'ay-mahns'. Of course, when ordering, you never have to say the name of the establishment so there's no worry of embarrassing yourself. As a reminder, the specialty of the house is fish and chips with special sauces. But, according to HS, the only way to eat fish and chips is with homemade tartar sauce and malt vinegar. It turns out they're good together which I had never tried before. I got the small fish which was plenty for a meal. Both the fish and the fries were fried perfectly. This meal is definitely one you shouldn't have very often but is fun when you do. The other thing not to miss at Eamonn's is the candy. They have a wide selection of English ones. HS was ecstatic when we walked into the place because she hadn't seen these candies since she had arrived in the US over 3 months earlier. We bought a chocolate orange and another one I can't remember the name. I was much too full that night to eat them so we ate them another day. After dinner, we decided we weren't ready to head back home so we went to Restaurant Eve. That's the place that is owned by the same guy that just opened Eamonn's. They have the best sour apple martini I've ever tasted! So, that's what we had. We just sat there and talked and had fun. Then, we headed home and had to go to sleep since the next day was a day of work.

Our Anniversary

Our anniversary is coming up. In honor of the one year milestone, I'll post a few pictures over the next few days. Here's the first one that I think is a fun one because you can't really recognize anyone unless you know them.

Food Bank

I volunteered this past weekend at the Capital Area Food Bank through the Junior League. We first saw a video that explained what the food bank does and who it serves. It's definitely amazing. They have a farm out in Maryland where they grow organic produce and bring it to a market in SE DC to sell. There is only one grocery store in that area of DC. It allows those residents access to foods that they normally wouldn't be able to get. The food bank also does the more expected type of work like taking in donations from food drives and cash donations for buying foods. The other great thing that they do is they work with the grocery stores to salvage food. There is a lot of food that doesn't make it to the grocery store shelves because it's not "pretty" but it's still very edible. In the not so distant past, that food was thrown out!! But, now, the food bank is able to pick up that food from at least a few of the grocery store chains in the area. My particular job for the morning was to help create bags of foods that would be taken to Maryland for people to take home and cook. It was an assembly line. I put in two cans of vegetables and then sent the bag down the line. We put together over 600 bags in about 1 1/2 hours!! It was a great way to start the day.

He did it!!

MTH competed in his first triathlon. He has promised to update his blog soon. But, as a preview, here's a couple of pictures that I took while braving the cold :)

While waiting for the race to begin.

He's almost done swimming. The water was warmer than the air!

MTH is off for the run. Yes, he did ride his bike but this picture is better. Look at that great form!

He looks like he could go another 10 miles!

Another Week Has Passed

It's hard to believe that it's almost October. Life just goes by faster and faster. Although I do a lot of things, I still wish that I could do more. There's so many places I haven't seen, so many foods I haven't tasted, so many books I haven't read. I could go on and on. But, I won't.

This weekend will hopefully be a little relaxed. I may actually go shopping tomorrow. I have a facial appt at 4pm and MTH wants to go to the DC United soccer game in the evening. Sunday will be grocery and "cook in day". Then, the week starts again. I do have some excitement for next week. On Wednesday, at work, we're having a "fun" day. We're heading to Boar's Head in Charlottesville where we'll take a cooking class and then eat what we've prepared. We get to have 2 glasses of wine with our meal. Then we head to the Jefferson Winery for a tour and tasting. When I get back to Richmond, I'll pick up HS (girlfriend of BL). We'll be heading to a place called Eamonn's, a Dublin Chipper. As the name implies, we'll be partaking of fried foods! Fish and chips to be exact. They also have fried Mars bars on the menu. I'll definitely post an update after that meal. The guy who opened this place also runs Restaurant Eve. I've told some of you about this place. It's the one with the tasting room and the bistro and is quite expensive but awesome. Two very different places! He's Irish so that explains the second place. The food at the first place definitely has some Irish influence here and there. The interesting part is that Eve is the name of his daughter and Eamonn is the name of his son.

Crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay

I actually got a lot done this weekend even though I went crabbing yesterday afternoon. MTH got up at 6:45am yesterday to go for a 31 mile bike ride! I got up around 7:30am and straightened the first floor, washed all of my clothes, ran 3 miles, showered and packed for our trip to go crabbing. We left around noon to head for Annapolis. SM (MTH's friend) and JR (SM's girlfriend), called us and told us to meet them at Sandy Point State Park. We first tried crabbing from a pier but we had no bites. The reason we started on the pier is that the marina wouldn't rent us a boat because it was too windy. It didn't really seem that windy to us so we were confused. After 30 minutes of no bites, SM decided to go ask again about renting a boat. For some reason, they changed their mind. We headed out into the bay in our little dinghy. At our first stop, we brought in 3 crabs (none for me but 1 for MTH). At our second stop, we got several more of which 1 was by me. In the end, we had 10 crabs with only 1 coming from me. For some reason, I just wasn't very good at crabbing. Then, we headed back to SM and JR's place near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. Since we only had 10 crabs, we decided they would be our appetizer and then we'd go out to a seafood restaurant in Fells Point called John Steven Ltd. It was interesting cooking those things. JR and MTH just put them straight into boiling beer and Old Bay seasoning and covered them with a lid. They came out perfect. Then, the fun part - opening them up and finding the meat. We read on the internet that only about 15% of their weight is actual meat! Overall, it was a successful trip as we had a great starter of crab meat and then went to the restaurant for steamed shrimp, steamed scallops, steamed mussels, garlic bread and seafood quesadillas.

Girls' Weekends

I had a great time in Chicago last weekend. In the past, I stayed in the downtown area with the high rises. It's a great place to be and hang out but is definitely different from Lincoln Park where I stayed this time. My friend, AS, just moved there in early August. She finished business school in the spring. She's loving it so far. I met all the people who came to the weekend at some point during my career at my current job. 4 out of 5 of them I met in 1999. 4 out of 6 (including myself) are statisticians. It's amazing that we're all still friends and all still get together. We've been having these gatherings for 3 years now. There have been 4 in total. Two were at my place. The first one when we lived in the 625 square foot condo. The second one in our house so we had a little more room. The third one was in Boston. The only thing missing at this last one was MAK. She couldn't make it since she now lives in SF and travel is much more expensive. Usually the main items we focus on are: food, shopping and spa treatments. This time was no different. We had Chicago style pizza on Friday night. We went to the Urban Oasis on Saturday morning. And we hit the Magnificent Mile on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night we did something different. We went to the show put on by Second City. It was awesome. I definitely recommend that any time you're in Chicago, check it out! It's like being on the set of Saturday Night Live but much smaller with beer available throughout the show.

At the end of the weekend, we discussed where we'll meet next. We had two diametrically opposed ideas: Las Vegas or a yoga retreat. Hopefully, a year from now, I'll be updating you on that trip.

Things I Learned in Iceland

- Hot dogs (or pylsur as they are called in Icelandic) are not as ubiquitous as the guide books imply.

- Even the bathrooms in the national parks are clean!

- Buy beer and wine at the duty free.

- Renting an apartment instead of reserving a hotel is key.

- Just because an Icelandic word sounds like an English word doesn't the food it's describing is the same thing - beikon is not bacon (although it does taste good)

- Definitely rent a car to see the countryside.

- Put conditioner and a swimming cap over hair before going into the Blue Lagoon

- Definitely check out the black sand beach in Vik.

- Need to go back in order to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)

Chicago Follow Up

MKN finally got up at 10:45am. We went together to get coffee and a bagel at the Einstein's conveniently located near the AS's apartment. When we got back, the rest of the girls were getting out of bed. Not sure how they could sleep that long but to each his own. I definitely was missing MAK at the moment as she usually beats me out of bed.

Sunday Morning in Chicago - 10:20am Central Time

There's a cute cat named Chelsea who has decided to get up with me. Of course, her real reason for coming in the kitchen was to eat. She's actually quite hungry it seems. But, she did say hi to me before she started eating. A very polite cat :)

Ok, so I still haven't figured out how to get back in if I leave the apartment. I've decided I'm going to leave here by 10:45am Central time at the last because if I had gone to yoga, I would have been back here by 11:15am at the latest.

Probably will update again soon.

Sunday Morning in Chicago - 10:05am Central Time

There were no dish towels to be found so I used paper towels. It was a first in my life but it worked just fine and now I'm clean so I feel much better. On to my second task of the morning - figuring out how to get back into the apartment once I leave without waking anyone up. I'll check in again soon.