saf

Tonight I made pie for tomorrow. It is cherry. The juice all ran down behind the crust, and I think it is welded into the pie plate now. I am not sure what to do. Make another pie? Don't really have time for that - would have to be a very simple pie. Make something else? Chip it out of the plate when we serve it? I hate it when this happens. I also made pate for tomorrow. That seems perfect.

We get occasional deliveries from South Mountain. They used to come to the Columbia Heights farm market, and we miss them there very much. Delivery is NOT as convenient, as they have a different, more limited list of items for delivery. But there are some things... Ice cream! Now that they have bought Trickling Springs and added their ice cream recipes, they have added a few of my favorites, including gingerbread. So good. And we did manage to get a pint of that in the delivery a few weeks ago. I hope that some day they come back to the market.

Ran up here last Friday night, as the Obsidian Castle was on, and we needed to drink some on draft, and get a six for home. Beer as good as ever, and the service remains stellar. I can't wait until they allow seating at the bar again, but no other complaints. And I understand it, I just miss the bar.

Quarry House again last Friday. And again, heading out to Silver Branch to drink, but wanted better food. So, burgers etc. at Quarry House, along with some good beer (happy hour, so nice prices too). And whisky for the whisky girl. Really, the service, the beer list, and the whisky list are great. And for bar food, it's very very good.

Working on eating down the freezer, so that there is room for Thanksgiving stuff! So lots of repeats. Also, running around like crazy people, so making lots of simple dinners. Boring.

So, dinner at the bar here on 11/10. Birthday celebration. (Following a funeral for a friend. Ping pong birthday!) Service as perfect as ever. Started with cocktails. He had a wolfhound, El Guion for me. Apps were Oeuf en Meurette for me and La Ratte potato confit for him. Then the chicken (naturally). And the delicious delicious delicious parker house rolls. The wine was a Tortochot Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles (don't remember the vintage) on the recommendation of the sommelier. (We always go for the advice when we are there. So many wines, so little knowledge on our part. We are never disappointed.) Split a roasted white chocolate ganache tart for dessert. Well, I ate most of it. He was pretty full. Delicious dessert wine to go with it, but can't remember what. Again, on their recommendation. It was not a Sauterne, but done in that style. So good. Anyhow, I would eat a LOT of those desserts too. This place remains amazing. (I want to go here for Christmas eve. Planning to call tomorrow, but I think it is already sold out. Was waiting to see if our dinner companions were in for dining inside. Oh well. Next year.)

OK, so this was so cool. I want to go again, but don't have a super-highlevel membership, so I can't get more preview tickets. Will have to wait for it to open. The latest mirror room, lanterns, was just amazing. Everything was great, but I really wanted a LOT more time in that room. (Total aside. The boy has always been very traditional about candy canes. They must be peppermint, and they MUST be red and white. At Giant the other day, there were funfetti candy canes. White, with multicolored polka dots. We looked at each other, said "Obliteration candy canes!" And bought them.)

Where did you find the Foretal? I can't STAND the Nouveau but the boy loves it. And so at Rodman's the other day, I got him 2 - the Domaine Manoir Du Carra and Henri Fesse. He hasn't cracked them yet. He also has some Georges DeBouf, but I don't just dislike that, I find it revolting. Anyhow, he would enjoy another one to try.

More chicken tonight - this time with apricots and pistachios. This recipe is going in the rotation. Also, salad. And english muffins. Will be finishing the lemon blueberry cheesecake for dessert.

And finally, this is opening soon! We have preview tickets for next Wednesday. Can't wait!

I made a stop at Rocklands the other day, and noticed a new tea places next door. Moge Tee. Didn't get a chance to try it this time. Will have to plan a side to that side of town when I can get tea.

Once, I had a party to celebrate the beginning of spring training. We watched "Damn Yankees," and made and ate LOTS of baseball food. (Dogs. Caramel corn with peanuts. Pretzels. And beer too.) Once again, we've been cooking, but I keep not getting here to post! A friend has been staying with us while her house was getting renovated. So, she left. She does not like mushrooms. So tonight, chicken and mushrooms in a sour cream sauce over mashed potatoes. Very tasty. Also salad. Later, leftover lemon blueberry cheesecake that was made for a birthday party for a friend this weekend. So tasty.

I have made them at home, but the Pretzel Bakery is very very good. And a lot easier.

Tonight was another new recipe - Beans and sausage. Quite tasty. Also, salad.

Hung out here again on Friday night. Beer. Brats. Pretzels. Close to home, so walkable. Our usual 4, and the beer was tasty. The food was beer garden food, and we enjoyed it. They let you bring in outside food, but since that kitchen fire at Mr. Rotisserie, there aren't a ton of places along there we want to get food from. (Ah, how I miss the days of bring your own food at Aroma in Cleveland Park - Vace pizza for some, Spices sushi for others! With amazing cocktails. And you could get Chinese food delivered there. And if you picked up Rocklands and shared with Krishna, he was so happy.)

Brunch outside at Jaleo again, this time with the same 4 as above, plus 2 more friends. This time, on the way to Laurie Anderson exhibit at the Hirshhorn. We ate all the classic tapas, had a pitcher of the cava sangria, had desserts... All good. And as before, understaffed, so a little slow. But the service was pleasant and so it was all good.

I don't know about Michael. Nick is still around - or was before the pandemic. We ran into him at Quarry House. I wonder about Elliot. We still miss them. Hm.... the website says opening early spring 2021.

Today was a new chicken recipe - with broccoli and gochujang. We added some cashews. Was very tasty. Also, salad.

Rellenos tonight- guacamole, salsa, sour cream as sauce options. Stuffed the chilies with cheese and chopped leftover pork. Also, salad. Quite tasty.

Tonight was tortilla soup - salad before and chips and guac on the side. Used leftover chicken rather than making new chicken. Later, bubliana and buttermilk ice cream. Had chicken because Sunday was grill day. He did a beer can chicken, squash, brussel sprouts, Turkish eggplant (very interesting. It was ORANGE!) Also had salad and rolls. Apple bars for dessert. (Not my exact recipe. Mom's recipe has sugar but not butter on the apples. I don't put the sugar, and have never missed it. She has you dot the top with cold butter before baking. Also, I use unsalted butter.) Last night was pork chops and apples and onions braised in beer. Also, salad. Also, mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. And the end of the apple bars.

I do now. We spent the weekend at Bethany, and had dinner there one night. The food was amazingly good. The drinks were excellent.The service was polite, and wonderful. And rushed. Harrison waited on us, and was so pleasant. But kept coming back so quickly. And cleared plates as people finished. And asked if we wanted dessert before we had all finished dinner! But we would do this again in a second. SO good. The fritters were excellent, as were the sauces. The entrees were tasty. We did not do the tasting menu. And we all had apple pie fritters, add ice cream, for dessert. Would do that again and again and again.

Have you tried Buna at Georgia and Allison? I really like their espresso drinks, and my husband says they make very good drip coffee.

I have been cooking, but not posting, because life has gone insane. I think it is calming down a bit now. (Almost 3 weeks ago, some idiots were chasing each other up the block and hit my car and my neighbor's car. Both totaled. Hit and run. It's been a bit busy, dealing with the aftermath. But I have a replacement car now, and the insurance paid out better than feared for a 15 year old car, so aside from the fact that we now have a car note again, it worked out OK.) So, tonight is taco night. Leftover grilled hanger steak. Pineapple salsa. Beans. Guacamole. It will be lovely.

I will! If I see you. (I'm pretty recognizable - but I am not sure you are! Although, not recognizable from the photo of Mr Kitty I use here!) I believe our next tickets are November 4th. And yes, we very much agree with you about the Price. It was very good, and they did it very well. The boy really likes American music of that era, so it made it him happy. We ate at Tazza Cafe. It was OK. We may give them another chance, but not for a while. The service was very slow. Polite, but not very efficient at all. And they didn't seem to care. The pizza took half an hour, and was tepid when it arrived. It might have been better hot, but was just OK. There was no gelato - and the line to order was really long, so I probably couldn't have had it if it was there. One person running food. One person taking in-person orders, phone orders, and getting drinks. We were early, and it took 20 minutes to order. I know there are staff shortages everywhere, but... this wouldn't have worked had we been 10 minutes later.

This sounds so good. Please, let there be a few items without cilantro....