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It's been about 6 months so I thought I'd jot down a few of my favorite things about DC.
Activities:
- Cooking Class @ L'Academie de Cuisine
- Hiking at the plethora of parks/ nature centers
- Pole Class @ Chic Physique Fitness/ Balance Sport & Fitness
- Rock climbing @ Earth Treks
Food:
- Bethesda: Black Salt, Sushi @ Hinata, French Macaroons @ Cocoa, Georgetown Cupcake***
- DC: Dancing Crab***, Marina***, Hank's Oyster Bar, Rasika (Indian), Dukem (ethiopian)***
- Frederick: Volt (Top Chef Fame!)
- Rockville: Big Saigon Vietnamese, Taiwanese brunch @ Joe's Noodle House, Fractured Prune doughnuts***, Urban BBQ, emerald tofu dish and hot and sour soup @ Vegetable Garden, Lebanese Taverna, Roast duck/ pork @ Maxim, Hwaro (to try for Korean BBQ), The Vyne (to try)
- Riverdale: bulgogi bibimbop, fresh doughnuts and orange-aid at the farmer's market
- Silver Spring: Dimsum at Oriental East
Museums:
- National Arboretum
- National Building Museum: great for kids
- National Gallery of American Art and National Portrait Gallery
- National Gallery of Art: Calder Exhibit
- Natural History Museum (IMAX: Wild Ocean 3D)
- National Museum of American History: Julia Child's kitchen, Dorothy's ruby red slippers
- National Zoo: pandas
- The Phillips Collection: "Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens"
- The Textile Museum: Contemporary Japanese Fashion
- U.S. Botanic Garden
Neighborhoods:
- Frederick, MD
- Friendship Heights, MD
- Old Town Alexandria, VA
Tour:
- Segway tour of DC
I really miss my mom's cooking. I decided to try her braised sour bamboo and spare ribs. So, you know how cheese stinks but tastes so good - addictively good? M, opens up the fridge and was like, "what reeks?!" Mind you, the sour bamboo (bamboo pickled in salt) is vacuum packed. They still stink. But, braised with pork spare ribs and eaten over rice, it's all worth it. And LOADED with fiber.
Braised Sour Bamboo and Spare Ribs
- Half pound of pork spare ribs
- 1 bag sour bamboo (yes, mom, they are made in Taiwan)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
Wash bamboo thoroughly and cut into 2 inch pieces. In pot with cover, heat some canola oil and when hot, add garlic. When garlic flavor has released, add spare ribs and brown. Add bamboo, water to barely cover and braise for at least 1 hour (mine are going on 4 hours). Salt to taste. Enjoy over white rice.
My mom never cooked in the oven. Sure, she made the occasional cake (I can't wait to copy down the Hot Milk Sponge Cake recipe when I get home tomorrow). I wanted a roast chicken with drippings for gravy but I'm still squeamish about dealing with a whole chicken, let alone a turkey! Not quite feeling like brining today. Also, at the end, you have to carve the said whole poultry. Why not just have the chicken already cut up?
So I decided on baked chicken (curiously, roast chicken is a whole chicken in the oven and baked chicken is chicken pieces in the oven). My friend Zach told me about using Herbs de Provence and butter. A couple recipes I found called for stuffing the bird with lemon. So, I mashed everything together and came up with this. I've never baked a chicken before (ok, fine, there was one time with Italian dressing), so I welcome comments/ suggestions.
Herbs de Provence Baked Chicken
- 1 whole chicken cut into pieces (we like dark meat so I also get a package of legs and thighs - and you thought my chicken had mutated!)
- Kosher salt
- Fresh cracked pepper
- Herbs de Provence
- 2 lemons (sliced thinly on a mandolin)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray a baking sheet with canola oil and line bottom of pan with sliced lemons. Wash and dry chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Brush one side with butter, sprinkle with herbs and lay butter side down on pan. Brush other side with butter and sprinkle with more herbs. Place remaining lemon slices on chicken and pop in the oven for 20 minutes. Check every 10 minutes after that for a nice brown color, thickest meat cooked through and the juice runs clear. When done, remove from pan and lightly cover with foil to rest before serving.
Gravy
- drippings
- white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 fine diced shallot
- 2 tbsp flour
Take pan drippings from Herbs de Provence chicken and pour out fat so you have about 2 tbsp or so of drippings. Pour into a sauce pan and put on medium heat. Add pinch of salt, shallots. As shallots cook, whisk in flour. As shallots turn translucent and the pan starts to dry, add a splash of white wine and scrape up brown stuff. As that gets dry, add another splash. As that gets dry, add the broth and whisk. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until sauce is at desired consistency.
I saw some gorgeous manila clams at the Asian market and had a craving for my mom's Thai Basil Manila Clams. Unfortunately, I couldn't reach her on the phone so I did the best I could from memory (this post will be updated if I missed something). Firstly, I didn't use the clams right away. They sat in the fridge in a bowl under a wet paper towel. When I took them out, the paper towel was dry and they were all open with the meat spilling out all over. "M! M! They're dead! They're so deadski! Fix it!" So, M went over, poured water over them, agitated them and they closed right back up. She says, "why do you buy things that you are afraid to cook?"
Well, now that we've revived them, we can kill them.
1. Prepare half a thumb of ginger (sliced, julienned, whatever), crush 1 clove of garlic, slice 1 Thai chili, rough chop some Thai basil.
2. Heat oil in a wok. When hot, add ginger, garlic and chili.
3. Once garlic has released it's flavor, add clams, a splash of rice wine and a splash of soy sauce.
4. Saute clams until they are partly open
5. Add Thai basil and saute until clams are fully open and done. Optional: fresh cracked black pepper
M added a Cambodian twist by making a dipping sauce out of salt, fresh cracked pepper and lime juice.
I usually get an allergy triggered sinus infection from September to October so I take Zyrtec at night to deal with the symptoms. Zyrtec makes me very sleepy (I know, I'm already so sleepy) and gives me the weirdest dreams. I must've been whimpering in the dream below because M woke me up and was like, "Are you ok? What's wrong?" Little did she know...
In my dream, I was watching some reality make-over show (yes, what else is new) and in this show, female serial killers were getting made-up and given whole wardrobes furnished by major fashion labels. Specifically, this brunette named Karen Houser received a wardrobe provided by Seven Jeans. Thinking that I deserved a wardrobe, I went out to kill people. At an intersection, one of the road crew guys came over and resigned to me killing him. He lay down on a bench and I tried to cut his throat with my silicone spatula. When that wouldn't work, I tried a business card. That didn't work either and then M woke me up.
I am not surprised that the editors at Bon Appetit magazine declared an entire year the year of the braised short rib. For us, every year is the year of the braised short rib. I felt like doing some kind of short rib with red wine. M is eating her second bowl right now. I think next time, I'll add more tomatoes and some mini or large dice potatoes. I will also make 4 lbs instead of 1.
Herbes de Provence Braised Short Rib
Adapted from Short Ribs Provençale by Rick Rodgers, The Carefree Cook
- 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound individual short ribs (not cross-cut flanken)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1/4 large onion, finely chopped (recipe also called for carrots and celery but I didn't use any)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 tsp herbes de Provence
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup hearty red wine, such as Zinfandel or Shiraz
- 1 cup beef stock, preferably homemade, or reduced-sodium chicken broth (I am a fan of the condensed broth from Trader Joe's that come in little ketchup packets)
- 1/2 diced tomatoes (I'll use a whole tomato next time)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley for garnish
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300°F.
2. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium-high heat (I used my 3 qt Le Creuset). Season the short ribs with the salt and pepper. In batches, without crowding, add the short ribs to the pot and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the ribs to a platter.
3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pot. Add the onion to the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring often, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, herbes de Provence, and flour and stir until the garlic gives off its aroma, about 1 minute. Stir in the wine and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the broth, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Return the short ribs, and any juices, to the pot. Add cold water as needed to barely reach the top of the ribs and bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Cover tightly, transfer to the oven, and bake, stirring occasionally to change the position of the ribs, until the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender, about 2 1/2 hours. (for the future, during the last 15 minutes, add the baby carrots and potatoes).
5. Transfer the short ribs to a deep serving platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Skim off the fat from the surface of the cooking liquid, and discard the bay leaf. Bring remaining liquid to a boil over high heat and cook until the liquid is reduced to a sauce consistency, about 10 minutes (the exact time depends on the size of the pot). Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
6. Spoon the sauce with the carrots and potatoes over the ribs, sprinkle with the parsley, and serve hot.
For a few weeks I have been in a food funk. Nothing tasted good. My palate was BORED. I finally made it to the Chinese market and bought 2 pounds of pork spare ribs (they come in little 1 inch chunks but you can also use the 3 inch ribs as well). Mom's spare ribs never disappoint.
Simple Braised Spare Ribs
Put 2 pounds of spare ribs in a pot that has a cover and is suitable for braising. Pour in 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup soy sauce, 3/4 white vinegar. Add 2 large crushed garlic cloves, an inch of cut fresh ginger, 10 whole black peppercorns and 2 tbsp of agave nectar (mom usually uses sugar). Braise for at least an hour. Serve over rice or bachelor noodles (somen) and sprinkle with scallions.
For our generation, 9/11 is the "where were you when Kennedy was shot?" question.
I was in Greece. Specifically, on a beach made of sharp volcanic rocks in Santorini. It was overcast and I was not enjoying lying on a "beach" that jabbed, poked and drew blood. That night, we were waiting in the tiny airport for our flight to Crete when in the bathroom I overheard that planes had been hijacked. Great. I'm going to be on a tiny plane, flying at night over the dark Mediterranean Ocean and planes are being hijacked.
After a bumpy flight, we shared a cab with 2 Americans (a mother and daughter) to our hotel. The mother said that she heard there were bombs going off all over the U.S. "They bombed Chicago! New York! Washington, D.C!" I was really freaking out and it was only when there was a mix-up at the hotel and we had to sit in the lounge while it was sorted out that I saw the footage on CNN of the World Trade Towers being hit.
In a way, it was good for us to be in Greece (I was starting a new job in the Financial District in November) and pretend we were Asian tourists, cameras around our necks and all. Which is not to say there were any outright anti-American sentiments, in fact, Athens felt very quiet and in a state of mourning. We just felt that it was better to lay low. Obviously, we were unable to fly back to NY. Our hotel was kind enough to accommodate us at a reduced rate and we made a daily journey to the airline office to find out when we could get home. I was also fraught with worry over friends, family and loved ones in NY and DC. We didn't have access to a telephone or computer so we were pretty much glued to the TV.
We made it back 4 days later and thank goodness everyone was fine. There were a number of near misses. This person was late to work and her train was stopped and turned around. Both M and my uncle were on their way to the Pentagon. M remembers being stuck in traffic and seeing a large dark cloud of ash and soot envelope the car.
I look out the window at the rain while I write this and think that the heavens are shedding tears and remembering the lives lost along with us. This was a horrible tragedy and that out of the ashes we must be better to ourselves and each other.
Some couples get married. Some couples have babies. Some couples buy houses. No, it's not a magic carpet but close - we got a red Ninja 250.
I'm just going to be a passenger (please, I can barely drive a car). But, M will be heading off to motorcycle school and getting her motorcycle endorsement in a couple of weeks. Poor thing can't wait to ride her bike and sits on it whispering, "vroom, vroom."
Similarly to when I started to snowboard, preparing for riding has launched us into full gear mode. We've been searching for helmets, jackets, gloves and, of course, boots. We've gotten great advice from friends and have been tearing up the interweb. The fun part about the search is going to various bike stores and talking to people. We went to the local bike place and discovered Wednesday night bike night. All kinds of people who would probably have never spoken a single word to each other, ride in, eat free food (wings from Hooters!) and watch awesome stunts. Sometimes bike night even takes place at Hooters! This is going to be a lot of fun.
Fall, my favorite fashion season, is here! I love the structure and tailoring, coats and jackets (hello Burberry and my Jungal wool coats), cozy sweaters, and hot boots. Ok, I'm always obsessed with sweaters and boots.
Boots are impossible for me. They have to be the perfect combination of fit, comfort and style. Fit is especially hard because of my short, bird legs. I'm about a 13" shaft and 13" circumference. Most mid-calf boots are about 10" shaft and under and tall boots are 14 and up. Circumference seems to be 14 and up and I refuse to look like a pirate (otherwise, I'll have to get an eye patch and parrot as accessories). I also have no arch and other uncomfortable foot issues. Lastly, they have to be cute. It's hard to find a multi-purpose boot that one can wear with jeans and to the office but I try and maybe end up with a few boot options.
Go ahead and groan but I love my UGGs first and foremost. The Classic Tall boot is the perfect height and circumference and it is wonderfully warm and snuggly. The cuteness factor is debatable but I usually spend my summers in fitflops and winters in UGGs (keep office shoes to change into at work). I am making an attempt to wean myself off of the UGGs.
I love my Sacco boots because they are made of the softest yummiest lambskin, are made for short bird legs and pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, the 2 pairs I have are in really bad shape and Sacco is only in NY (their website bites). I will be dropping by during my sister's birthday weekend.
Another favorite brand is La Canadienne and I have 2 pairs from them. They are the perfect winter boot because they are waterproof, insulated, well, the Canadians know how to get through the winter. The boots come in a variety of heights and circumferences and the Lili (black patent) and Juliana (black suede) fit me beautifully. But, I'd like a more sophisticated styling of the toe area and plain black leather.
Local shoe shopping has been completely disappointing since not a single boot fits and online retailers hate me because I've sent every boot back (except for a pair of Reiker Sarina boots which are not totally cute but fit my calves, might be cute on the motorcycle).
I do have 3 pairs coming. The middle pair is the Corso Como Milan boot which will likely be sent back. It looked cute at first and there is an elastic panel in the back for a snug fit but upon further review, it looks tall and wide up top. Pepperlime grossly overcharges for their shoes but I wasn't able to find this boot elsewhere and will certainly take advantage of the free return option.
I'm excited about the top and bottom pairs because they are Born's. I had 1 pair of slides from Born and they were so deliciously comfortable. I have really high hopes for these. The top heeled low western boot (Allegra) would be for going out, wearing with skinny jeans and tights. The bottom pair is the Darcy which has a rounder toe than I would like but smooth sleek styling that could work for a variety of situations. Will let you know how it goes.
UPDATE:
The Corso Como Milan and Born Darcy were both too wide at the top. I have to say, I LOVE the quality of all 3 boots. Soft leather, padded footbed, beautiful styling. I am keeping the Allegra boots because I want a pair of Western boots, even with the heel it is so comfortable and surprisingly, the short shaft height makes my legs look so long! They are fabulous with skinny jeans, I'm so excited!
It's been about 6 months so I thought I'd jot down a few of my favorite things about DC.
