saf

It appears to have dried up. Did you get to eat outside?

Luckily, my potatoes did NOT go bad. So tonight we had salad and oven fries with tahini glop and spicy nuts. Second time around for this recipe, just as good as the first.

Counter. They were perfect. Then, they were NOT.

Well, back to eating outside. So, dinner Saturday. 2 of us. Split an app - they are making the zeppole with jalapeño and corn right now. Was VERY tasty. Then I had "roasted garlic casarecce with shallots, prosciutto, broccoli, and pecorino." He had "Fra diavolo risotto with scallops and calamari." Also good drinks. The drinks and apps are the best things here. The wine list prices have gone up too much I think but we found an affordable basic bottle.

So, I had some figs. They were perfectly ripe and ready to make into dinner when I left for work on Monday. They were gross and green and fuzzy when I got home. So all dinner plans had to change. So yesterday, rather than making pork with figs, I made pork with dried cherries. Also, dinner rolls and salad. It was good, but I was sad about the figs. Tonight, rather than chicken with figs, we had chicken with potatoes. Also salad. Again, it was good, but I was sad about the figs.

Vace and Pete's are the only 2 good ones I know of. I understand there are a few downtown but I don't work there any more.

Vace again last night. We had folks over, and didn't really feel like cooking. So, made a salad, broke out the wine, beer and seltzer. Got some gelato at Giant for dessert. Then some Vace pizza and some cookies. Easy and delicious. And I only got a little wet in the not-as-bad-as-expected thunderstorm on the pickup run! 4 folks, 2 medium pizza. Double cheese, garlic, sausage. Double cheese, garlic, pepperoni, half mushrooms. Gooey and delicious!

Wednesday, I experimented with chicken thighs with garlic, scallion, and lime. They were quite good, but made quite a mess of the stove. So, only to be made the day before the housecleaners come. I mopped up a lot of oil, but still... Will use a MUCH deeper pan next time. Also, salad and bread.

Will one of the rapid ones do? My husband got one at a CVS location in SW DC last week.

Another experimental pizza night! Tonight, blackberries. Also, salad. The pizza was quite nice. Later, ice cream.

Oooh I love Portuguese food. Wish we had a Portuguese grocery here. Caldo Verde is my solution to "crap, I have kale. I hate kale." Caldo Verde or Italian wedding soup.

After dinner in the Purple Patch streetery on Friday, we took a walk down the street to have cones. They had peanut butter, which was really good. I had it in a cone, with a little hat of chocolate. He had salted caramel. Friends had the orange, and a duplicate of my order. And it was good.

Friday night, the return to Purple Patch. IN PERSON! Our usual food group of 4. OK, outside, not back to the bar, sadly. But we ordered all the things that do not travel well. And it was sooooo good. Cocktails to start. Frozen drinks that were very tasty, and a very botanical gimlet for the boy. Lumpia and calamansi wings (that come with the delicious papaya salad) for starters. Tocino sandwich for me (with fries!) More calamansi wings for the boy. One friend tried the burger, and was very happy with it. Fried chicken adobo sandwich for the other. So many fries, and so tasty. It was lovely to get food fresh from the kitchen! Can't wait until we can sit inside at the bar again. It's one of the bars we really miss.

So, he got to grill twice this weekend. Saturday, we had folks over. Hanger steak (Rubbed with a "Butcher's Mix" spice mix), carrots, wax beans, corn on the cob, summer squash. And, of course, salad. A lemon blueberry tart for dessert. Sunday was just us. Pork chops, again, dry rubbed but with a pork-centric rub. Carrots. Summer Squash. Shishitos. And mashed potatoes. And salad. The end of the apricot cherry cake for dessert, with peach ice cream. I do love summer fruit. Tonight will be salad, leftover roasted red pepper soup, grilled cheese on raisin pecan bread (swiss for me, gouda, with fried pork roll for him). And the end of the lemon blueberry tart. (4 people at that dinner, only 2 small slices left!)

I am not surprised. I don't want to have to be masked over dinner. I really want the possibility of places with vax requirements and the ability to go mask free. But I will do what I have to. I will just go out less, sit outside more, and go back to more takeout.

Oh, that's a good idea. Thank you! I would also have pesto for YEARS if I did the pesto thing. We use a ton of garlic scape pesto when they are in season, and if I freeze it, we have it forever. Basil pesto, well.... we would really have it forever. So, not going to try to catch up on missed cooking posting, even though there are things I wish I could remember that we have cooked. But... Tonight was experimental pizza, and it was quite good. The boy saw the recipe as he was working through a backlog of NYT magazines. I didn't realize how far behind he was. This was from a year ago! It was quite good though, so I will do it again. The crust was very light, the cheese was delicious. We did not use any of the oreganoplosion, but we did use some of the basilplosion for garnish. Also, salad. Dessert will be the delicious apricot/cherry cake I made the other day. I was pleased there were still apricots at the farm market last week, because I hadn't had any yet this year. I used the last few sweet cherries I had in the fridge. Now to wait another year for more cherries. (Mt Pleasant farm market for the apricots. None left at my usual Columbia Heights market, but I had to go to Mt P anyhow, because they have 2 farms there that have lettuce when nobody else does!) Vanilla ice cream next to it.

Help? I have a basil-plosion in the backyard, and need ideas. I am already making pizza next week, and roasted red pepper soup, so some will go on top of both of those. I don't love pesto, although he does, so there will be some of that. Anyone got other ideas on a good way to use a LOT of basil?

I should learn. Their food is good. But... We didn't want to cook last night. So we ordered from Beau Thai. I really wanted Thai. And once again, the website says 15-30 minutes. So I plan to leave in 10. Then the text telling me it will be 50 minutes arrives. Delusional, I plan to leave in 20. Not 10 minutes later, the text telling me it is ready arrives. Again, they do not understand why this is a problem. The conversation is surreal. I point out the issue. They say, well, it's an estimate. I say, the first estimate was a lot closer. Why not just leave that? "We give the same estimates for delivery too." (And how is this relevant?) I just need to accept that it will always be about 15 minutes.

WOOO! BACK! I missed everyone here.

The boy did not get to grill this weekend. So, tonight was grill night. Chicken thighs, yellow squash, carrots, corn, experimental halloumi (quite tasty). Salad. Later, ice cream with raspberries!

Salad. Grilled cheese. Soup. But... watermelon came in this week at the farm market! So the soup was watermelon gazpacho. The grilled cheese was pimento goat cheese on italian bread. It was tasty. Black raspberries on the salad again. (I am annoyed at the bread. Apparently it is a new recipe this week. Very tasty, but dries out a lot faster than the old recipe. I want the old recipe back.) Then, raspberry chocolate ice cream with extra raspberries on top again. I like raspberries, and got quite a few this weekend.

Brunch, to say goodbye. 5 of us. Cider. Food. Croquettes, cheese and meat plate, meatballs, pastas bravas, olives (for everyone but me). So tasty. Such good service. Such lovely people. I will miss this place. I mean, Kennedy street is equally close, and the staff are all going there, and that makes me happy. But some things are never the same. We really do love these folks.

How have I never posted in this topic before? I love this place. We have spent tons of time here. It is 3 blocks from our house. So, Friday, 4 of us headed out to return to our favorite beer dive. And it was lovely. Saw Sasha. Got hugs. Met Joe, a new bartender. Drank beer. Ate bar food. (Burgers for 3 of us, with fries. A brat and an order of tots for me.) Tried the "peanut butter whiskey," because it baffled all of us. And... it was good! Boy we didn't expect that! (even whiskey snob girl enjoyed it.) So for dessert we each had a can of Young's Double Chocolate Stout and a shot of the Sqrrl peanut butter whiskey. Tasty. We were all traumatized to hear that Andre, our favorite bar manager/staffer, got a BAD case of covid very early in the pandemic. BUT, he has recovered, and while he is not back in person yet, he is doing stuff from home, and we are SOOOOOO glad that he is still with us.

Spent yesterday doing a whole bunch of work on produce. I chopped up watermelon - I LOVE watermelon! The boy pitted a flat of sour cherries for me for freezing. So, we wanted something easy for dinner. Pizza and drinks. He had his usual. I had a delicious pizza with buratta. A negroni for him, and aperol spritz for me, and then a glass of fizzy pink wine with the pizza for me, and a hop bomb IPA for him. Baseball on tv, as well as soccer. The only flaw, loud soccer fans. But so nice overall. I do love to be able to go OUT!

Thursday was leftover buffet. Frittata tonight. Got some very young gouda, fennel, onion, sweet red pepper and had a tasty frittata. Also, salad. Later, raspberry chocolate ice cream with raspberries on top. Oh, and there were black raspberries at the farm market, so there were black raspberries on the salad. I really love raspberries. REALLY.