Boulevard Woodgrill

I had lunch with a colleague and I got to pick the spot. Jac and I always mean to go to Boulevard Woodgrill, but we often end up somewhere else. I like the ambiance - it's got an open kitchen and it sits on a corner in bustling Clarendon. I'm not always in the mood for city chaos, but it was perfect for a long leisurely lunch.


I had the woodgrill steak salad. It's not often that I order something exactly as written but it was just as I'd make it - greens, steak, blue cheese and ranch (Is that even legal?) and what is that? freaking fried potatoes on top!

My dining companion had uhhh wrap that is not listed on their online menu. Do I have to start writing things down? It's not enough to subject everyone I ever dine with to photography of their meals now I have to write down what they are eating too? I think it was a tuna wrap but there's only a chicken and avocado wrap on the menu. It's purty in any case.

Desperate, I'll Say!

Yikes! I'm all for mature women in Hollywood getting lead roles. I don't know if it is the faces themselves, the makeup or the composition of this promo for Desperate Housewives, but they are looking downright scary. Is ABC turning the once (still?) popular show into yet another show about vampires? I thought only teen vampires were supposed to be sexy. 

I Got Buns Hon'

I would rather bake bread from scratch than go to a grocery store in the city on a Sunday. Fortunately these buns from AllRecipes are absolutely fabulous. I made them a few weeks ago and then again this week. They complement Jac's request for Sloppy Joe's perfectly.


Instead of actually following the recipe, I just melt the butter and throw everything into the bread machine to form the dough. Then I remove the dough, separate it into rolls and let it rise for an hour or so. Then I bake them as suggested. The leftovers are delish the next day warmed with butter and a drizzle of honey.

Das Vettest Oktoberfest

We had tickets for Das Best Oktoberfest this weekend. The forecast called for a 70% chance of rain during the day and a 100% chance of rain Saturday night. The forecast did not disappoint.

We've been to several events at National Harbor this year and I think Jac and I both give the notion of a day at the harbor two enthusiastic thumbs up. The event website said "everything is tented" which was encouraging if a complete and utter lie.


We met up with the lovely D and wended our way through OMG IT'S RAINING traffic to the harbor. We arrived and entered a long line for entrance, but were pleased that the organizers had their act together and it moved pretty quickly. Once we got in, we were pleased to see a lot of tents since it was raining by this point. Unfortunately they weren't linked in anyway so we got out our umbrellas and proceeded to begin juggling the desire for beer and food with the desire not to be soaking wet. That was pretty much how the day went. Fortunately people are very gregarious once sated with beer and mass quantities of German food (though it may have been the other way around.) We made our way to a big tented hall and made merry with strangers.


I take a lot of pictures of random people and scenery for Magniferous and my prodigious tweeting habit. I hate it when people catch me in the act. Then I come home with a picture like this where she is clearly thinking, "WTH are you taking my picture freak girl?"

Best Little Furniture House in North Carolina

Jac is a "make good time" kind of traveller. Even when we are walking around some new destination I have to remind him "This IS what we came to see!" We were headed to South Carolina for my cousin's beautiful wedding. I started perusing The Google for interesting places to go weeks before our journey. But Jac would have none of that. "It's already a seven hour drive, isn't it?" Also, we were going to have two fluffy but needy dogs with us so he planned an all business drive.


The day before we left, a funny thing happened. Jac said there was one place he wanted to visit on the way. I braced myself for the name of a comic book store. 


"I would like to stop at Red House Furniture in High Point, North Carolina." What? A furniture store? Then he showed me this: GO TO YOUTUBE. (Do it, you really need to.) I agreed it was good viewing, but wasn't too sure about the stop at the furniture store.


We walked in and headed straight to the counter. A couple of the guys from the commercial were there and they were happy to offer us tee shirts and other goodies for sale. We shook their hands. I wanted to buy a sofa, strap it on the roof of our car, drive it to South Carolina, attend a wedding and drive home. I liked the furniture store that much. Alas we had to settle for tee shirts this trip. Next time though.

An Afternoon in China

I confess to not being the most adventurous eater in the world, the house, or possibly even this chair. But this weekend I felt like branching out a bit and giving a new (to us) Chinese restaurant a try. I have very bizarre criteria for Chinese food. I am, as previously disclosed, obsessed with Chinese pancakes. I checked out Chowhound and perused the posts labelled "Authentic Chinese Restaurants" for somewhere new and discovered a mountain of praise for Hong Kong Palace in Seven Corners.


Hong Kong Palace is one of two Chinese restaurants in one small row of a strip mall. When we stepped inside all signs pointed to good food ahead. It was nearly two in the afternoon but the place was packed. The clientele was buzzing in Chinese. They had those zodiac calendar placemats.

The specials on the wall looked impressive if completely indecipherable to us. The specials wall is the most ornate decoration in the cozy restaurant. Our waitress nodded approval when we declined an offer of utensils and picked up the Chinese menu over the American take out version. 


I knew I wanted to try scallion pancakes. 

I'm always on the look out for good vegetable dumplings.

Jac is a wild and crazy guy so he'll order something like "Spicy Wonton" without any description. We're thinking pork. 

He does have a favorite dish though - Kung Pao anything. So he got Kung Pao Shimp & Chicken.

And then I discovered possibly the most incredible of all Chinese dumpling foods I've had in my life, the mythical Sesame Ball which I will now commit to memory by its proper name Jien Duy because when you hang with people like you guys you don't go around saying "I love Sesame Balls" lest you be mocked for all eternity with witless puns.

Our waitress asked if I'd had them before and then explained that they are served at New Years celebrations and told us how they are made with rice flour and white and black sesame seeds. I will try Stir-fried Green when we go back.


She also told us she is from the town in China "where pandas come from" which www tells me is Sichuan. I gave her ... oh hell, confession...


There are business cards for Magniferous.com. They were inconceivably cheap from Vistaprint.com. I give them to anyone who will willingly put their hand out. Panhandlers sometimes do not like this.


I gave her a Magniferous card which has yarn on it because in theory I am a knitter not just a clever observational humorist. (P.S. Wishing a speedy recovery to Garrison Keillor.) She asked if I knit and then told me that her mother used to make her panda sweaters which was about the cutest thing I could imagine. I told her that my mother made me panda cupcakes when I was little because of Ling-Ling and Sing-Sing who were the pandas at the National Zoo. She liked that a lot. There was a lot of bonding going on. Jien Duy will do that to you.

Nine Nine Oh Nine

Jac's mom had hip replacement surgery today. It was a repeat performance. Last winter she was put under for the surgery and had a major complication, heart failure. Fortunately they fixed her up and after many months of physical and drug therapy she was ready for Round Two. Early this morning they took her in and swapped out some parts. The surgery went quickly and smoothly and they'll try to have her walking this afternoon. We are all grateful and relieved.

Jac and his sister saw a blood drive at the hospital scheduled for tomorrow and they both signed up to "pay it forward". He is a heckuva guy. He's type A- but I'd give him an A+. Awww.

Back to Work

It was another glorious holiday weekend in the Northern Neck. We had friends down for a visit which meant floating in the pool and marinating in the hot tub and playing Foodie Fight and having general merriment.


We took the dogs to the Irvington Farmers Market. As usual, Lexi was delighted to be in the company of Brand. New. People. Kirby was, well, less enthusiastic. The highlight of the trip for me was just before we left as we stood at a booth and Kirby lay on the ground panting. Suddenly, children approached! With grabby hands. And he had nowhere to go! So he laid there and took it pretty much like a man. He got petted by little people! And he did not melt like the Wicked Witch. 


Now that is a good day in the land of the rescued Kerry Blue Terrier just after his second birthday.

Spectacular Flop: Kitchen Fail II

I have had a yen for plum cake all summer long. I suppose I've been seeing them on blogs. I'm pretty sure I saw one in Everyday Food this summer. Plums just sound heavenly, you know, atop cake and all that.

But I didn't have the wherewithall for cake making. Or even pie making. What I did have was a box of rolled pie crusts. Oh, I know, I'll make a crostada.

Before

After

I do not entirely blame myself though, for as this was baking my mother says, "Oh, a plum crostada. That sounds fattening!" So you can see, clearly, there was subterfuge at work.

A Book and a Cover: Kitchen Fail I

What are you making for dinner? My sister IM'ed. Simultaneously I said, "I'm making minestrone for dinner." I blame this meal, that Jac described as "interesting", on my Kolbe tendencies toward being a planner and a quick-start with poor endurance for solid follow through. (Really that's what it said! Right before it said I should be a creative organization's leader. Then I liked it again.)

I had garlic, carrots, onions and asparagus and broth. I had two kinds of beans and a couple cans of tomatoes. I picked up shell pasta especially for the minestrone (though it's not technically a requirement). The first sign of culinary laziness emerged when I decided to chop the onions and carrots in the food processor. I did at least pulse them and not process them into oblivion. The goal was to create an especially small amount - say 2.5-3 portions. That was the rationale behind using only a bit of the beans from each can. That is why I boiled what seemed like just a smidge of pasta... But then, just as the soup started to come together, I must have thought about updating my status on Facebook or catching up on Twitter because when I got down to business I found I had a too-small pot full of pasta, a tiny bit of beans, a gloppy sauce, indiscernible onions and carrots and uncooked asparagus. I attempted some remedy, declared it pretty, took a picture, gave it to Jac.

Interesting.

I admit I felt the same way. I carried the remainder of the heaving pot to the compost bin and willed it to break down quickly.