Wisconsin Wooing

I had so much fun in Wisconsin last year, I decided to make it an annual trip to visit my dearest friends in Madison. It was a whirlwind weekend, but some of the best fun I've had in a long time. This is a long post. Like, really long. But I want to remember every detail.

I arrived Friday afternoon, and we immediately commenced what we do best: eating. Elisa took me to the Old Fashioned, where we had salads (mine had salmon, bacon, cucumber, an amazing deviled egg, and tarragon vinaigrette) and shared a plate of shoestring fries with garlic aioli-- this fries and aioli thing definitely became a theme of the weekend.
Our next meal was a late dinner on Friday night at Graze. We went there last year, and I put in a special request to go again, since I still dream of that soft pretzel and cheese board. We ordered the same appetizers-- I made sure to get a picture this time and Matt snagged the cheese list for me. Our cheese board included the Moreso (goat), Pleasant Ridge Reserve (cow), Marieke Golden (cow), Bandaged Cheddar Reserve (cow), and the Little Boy Blue (sheep). I favored the Moreso and the Little Boy Blue. Our entrees followed: light and crispy fish and chips for Elisa, grilled sausages with truffle mashed potatoes for Matt, and top sirloin with cauliflower puree and mushroom leek hash for me. Yes. It was as amazing as it sounds. That sirloin was the most meltingly tender little thing.

 
 
 

The next morning, the weather was so moody, with a lovely mist settling in on Lake Minona. We began the most delightful brunch at Sardine with croissants and pain au chocolat, which will never fail to whisk me back to 7th grade French class. The pastries were flaky and airy, delicate while impossibly crisp on the outside.
So . . . brunch is super troublesome for me. I am an ardent supporter of waffles, french toast, and pancakes-- any carbohydrate delivery system for pure maple syrup, basically. But I just can't handle that amount of sugar before 6pm. I always end up ordering a savory, protein-heavy dish at brunch, and then I feel disappointed. So, when perusing the Sardine menu, I realized, hey! I'm on vacation. I get to do whatever I want! So I ordered two meals-- one to entertain my sweet tooth, and one to keep my pancreas in check. This was an outstanding decision on my part, if I may say so.

My sweet brunch was a buckwheat waffle with cinnamon orange butter, maple syrup, and fresh berries. Buckwheat has that King Midas effect, only more like cardboard instead of gold. Don't you find that when you try to be healthy by ordering buckwheat you feel a little sad inside while you chew that stuff? Not so with these waffles. These were light, fluffy, and airy. A flavorful and delicate crumb with the slight crispy exterior. I never knew buckwheat could induce visions of maple syrup-laden clouds. And the cinnamon orange butter was divine, creating a warm, Christmas-y vibe. Joy to the World!

I alternated bites of waffle with my second brunch: crab, bacon, and rock shrimp cakes in a chipotle beurre blanc sauce. Often seafood cakes are weighed down with Old Bay seasoning, and then mounded in a sort of soggy fry. These were honest-to-goodness fried little cakes, crisp and crunchy without even the slightest trace of excess oil. The inside was a perfect blend of the three stars, each flavor hitting individually and finishing with a perfect harmony of flavors. And the flavors were never overpowered with any particular spice, though perfectly seasoned. The dish also came with an egg, which I ordered over-easy on the waiter's recommendation. Perfect! And a lovely little salad with a bright and punchy dressing over mixed greens, fresh corn, tomatoes-- I wish I had room in my stomach for more than a few bites. This entire plate was my absolute favorite of the entire weekend.
 
(Numerous reports state that Sardine does nearly everything perfectly. So if you find yourself in Madison, this is my first and foremost recommendation.)


 Dinner that night was such an event. Matt, Elisa, Amanda, Spencer and I ventured out to Nostrano. It is nestled in this tiny little hip space-- we had high expectations. Our waitress was a hipster blonde version of Bryce Dallas Howard, and super helpful describing dishes to us-- it actually made me want to be a waiter, interestingly enough. You can help these people decide what to eat, and describe the food to them. Then, you get to see their joy when they enjoy the food. Clearly I am romanticizing this. At first the simple menu was intimidating me-- definitely took me back to my Mesa Grill experience where I had to remember that I was at a really nice place, so everything would be incroyable. First, one of the small plates was called Little Gem Salad. I think I had to order it based on name alone. It had candied olives and beets which is actually gross to me, but I couldn't not eat something called Little Gem Salad. The olives were not my thing, as predicted, but the beets combined with the softest goat cheese and perfect greens was positively delightful.

I was in the mood for something light as my entree, so I passed up the pastas, ragu, sausage, etc in favor of the Red Snapper, which I had never eaten before. It came with mussels, clams, and squid in a tomato broth with chile oil. I had just finished telling Matt earlier in the day that mussels did not appeal to me in the least. But I want to broaden my culinary horizons, and this seemed a safe place to do it. It was all wonderful. The snapper was perfectly cooked: light, flaky, with the crispest skin. I totally rocked those mussels and clams without a hint of squeamishness. I was pleasantly surprised by both the taste and my courage. And inspired by my air of gluttony earlier in the day, we all shared the orecchiette with housemade fennel sausage and brussels sprouts. And, I will never fail to be wooed by brussels sprouts, so even though I enjoyed my snapper, maybe I wish the orecchiette had been mine, all mine? We all shared three desserts in the end, and interestingly, none of them stand out. We all agreed they were just average. Kind of a let down at the end of an incredible night, particularly because the two owners are husband and wife chef, and the wife is a pastry chef, so we were prepared to be wowed.

 

 Sunday was the day for us to all come together and cook. We snacked on a beautiful cheese plate (arranged by Matt) for most of the day while Matt and Elisa worked on braised short ribs and mashed potatoes (mashed in a food mill! why have I not done this before??). I made lemon garlic and gruyere brussels sprouts (no such thing as too many brussels sprouts). Amanda brought over a delightful butternut squash puree and sauteed (I think?) swiss chard fresh from the farmer's market.

 

And thanks to Jessie, we had a perfect idea for dessert: Mississippi Mud Pie-- a flourless chocolate cake layered in an oreo crust with homemade dark chocolate pudding, topped with whipped cream. The six of us ate nearly half the cake, and I have thought about it at least twice a day since coming home, wishing I were at Matt's apartment with a fork, finishing it off.





Monday I had to return to reality. Elisa and I stopped at an awesome Indian buffet and Fromagination before heading to the airport. I picked up a nice little chunk of Humboldt Fog, which I've been dying to try since I read about it in Immortal Milk. I'm eating it now with a fresh baguette from the farmer's market, and that sharp chevre is seriously hitting the spot. 

Lest you think all we did was eat, we also went to two movies. And we talked a lot. I can't believe such a high number of my favorite people ended up in Madison, of all places. But I'm not complaining about having a reason to visit! Until next year!

Taqueria Poblano

When my sister Lindsay visited in March, we happened upon Taqueria Poblano in Del Ray. Just last week we needed a mid-day family outing, and remembered how much we had loved it.

Both times we've gone, Sam and I have just ordered a couple tacos each, so I can't speak for the rest of the menu, but the tacos arrive simply-- no frills. And the frills wouldn't be necessary; the tacos speak for themselves. Sam has tried the pork adobo, mahi baja, carnitas, and some of the specials. I've gotten the crispy "L.A. Style" veggie tacos and a crispy crab special, but the best is certainly the shrimp taco. Among all the tacos we have tried, we've yet to find a way you can go wrong.

Plus, there are two bonuses: the house chips and salsa are muy delicioso, AND Taqueria Poblano is across the street from Dairy Godmother, so you know you're all set.

The Big 3-0

This was a big birthday for Sam. He doesn't really want to talk about it (too much, anyway), but he has moved on to a new decade. On the Fourth of July, Sam turned THIRTY. It's very exciting (at least I think so!). For years I've known this needed to be a big deal (but birthdays are always a big deal to me). The tricky part of having a holiday birthday is that everyone leaves town and has their own plans-- it's not particularly conducive to partying. But I knew I wanted to have a small fete for him, so I schemed. I toyed with several ideas before settling on a last-minute, Saturday-before gathering. It had to be small because our apartment is miniscule, but it would be awesome.
So now comes the exciting part.  On Friday night before the party, there was a storm. I didn't even know it was supposed to rain until . . . oh hey! Our power's out!! It was about 10:30 pm, Sam was at work, and I was just happy I had already baked the cupcakes. I went to bed assuming the power would be back on when I woke up. But I was wrong. The next morning our power was still out, and the apartment was getting warmer by the second. The high for the day was over 100. Our cell service kept cutting out, but through a couple sneaky texts, my dear friend katie offered to let us bring the party to their powered house. That's a good friend who will offer up her house for a party with only two hours notice. (And not only that, we hung out there all day until our power came back on that night.)

Now, onto the spread.


Watermelon, strawberries, chips and salsa, and now the exciting things:

Fresh Corn and Avocado salsa

Chocolate malted cupcakes, the same as last year.


Ultimate fluffer-nutters: Sam has been dreaming about creating these for years. I want to Le Pain Quotidien and cleaned them out of brioche, then created a triple-decker of peanut butter, nutella, marshmallow fluff, and fresh strawberries.


Grilled Corn and Crema Mexicana Crostinis: sliced baguettes toasted then topped with crema mexicana, grilled corn, lime, cilantro, and chili powder. I'll post the recipe soon.



And, finally, 30 different root beers and sodas in glass bottles, for sampling.


My original vision was 30 root beers, but this proved difficult, as it is challenging to find single bottles of root beer, and I wasn't about to buy 30 6-packs. So I found all the root beers I could (which did include buying a couple 6- and 4-packs), and then I supplemented with other sodas in glass bottles. I found the most success at World Market, and then supplemented with finds from Giant, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Harris Teeter. And it was a huge hit! I had small plastic cups, and people just started opening bottles and sampling. It was such a fun way to party. One of the favorite root beers was called Pop Shoppe (though Virgil's and Sprecher were also favored), and some of the more interesting sodas included chocolate, cucumber, key lime cream, and coconut. Bria was on cloud 9, since even she got to join in the fun. She actually favored some of the darker root beers (I should not be surprised). We are still swimming in root beer (from those handful of 6-packs), but Sam is not complaining. It was a huge success!

Sushi Chefs

 We've been lucky to make some great, new friends in the last year, all of whom share my enthusiasm for a fine meal. When my friend Katie suggested we make sushi together sometime, I knew we would get along just fine. So we got together one night to roll ourselves some sushi. Katie and Glen prepared the sushi rice and the nori, and we used their mats as well (I totally need my own!), and we all brought a wide variety of fillings: smoked salmon, cucumber, shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, sweet potato, carrots . . . and plenty more. They modeled their rolling techniques for us, and soon we were pros. In the end, we had way more than the 4 adults and 3 kids of us could ever eat, even after stuffing ourselves to the max. Now my mind is reeling with possibilities for fillings I can't wait to try!

 

(Of course after playing long and hard [putting every possible clip in her hair] with her friend Ada, this old soul was thrilled to chow down on some sushi.)

 

*did you know this is my 200th post? I'm amazed this blog even continues to be alive. thanks to all, oh, four of you who read. you're the best.

food truck fest

 On Cinco de Mayo we celebrated by heading into a food truck fest in DC. We took a quick round of the trucks, examining lines, and stopping for a quick photo-op by a Hawaiian BBQ truck before settling in on our choices. I noticed some of the more well-known trucks and was a little bummed by the TaKorean truck that was a million miles long. I was jonesing for a treat, so Bria and I chose the Orange Cow for some ice cream cones. Sam needed a meal, so he chose Dangerously Delicious. He had the most amazing potato pie and chocolate cream pie. (The brick and mortar location is now at the top of my to-dine list.) Of course as we were winding down, Bria declared she was suddenly but overwhelming starving, so she chose an apple and gruyere grilled cheese from the Big Cheese. Overall we were very pleased with our choices-- I'm not sure we could have gone wrong. Now I need to hit up the next truckeroo to get another sampling.

(The only downside of the day came several weeks later when I received two speeding tickets in the mail from a photo radar on 295. Apparently I consistently sped on the way to and from the fest. So was it worth the $275 in speeding fines? Now that is a good question. Probably not. But I learned my lesson: next time I will metro.)

Time to Party

So my darling girl turned FOUR years old last month, and we had a party. It was delightful little event with plenty of Bria's friends running around. I tried to keep the food simple, since life was a little crazy last month, and it turned out just right. We had watermelon and strawberries, chips and salsa, pigs in a blanket, and sandwiches. I made the same ones as last year: cream cheese & cucumber and roast beef with horseradish mayonnaise, with the additional ham with brie this year. And at 10:30pm the night before the party, I decided to scratch the homemade bread and use baguettes from Target: one of the best time-saving decisions I've ever made.

The cake went much better than last year. Bria and I brainstormed the perfect cake, which mostly means she came up with crazy impossible ideas, and I steered her towards something I thought I could pull off. I used a vanilla buttermilk cake recipe (take a look at that thing-- you don't cream the butter and sugar first and then add the eggs. I double and triple and quadruple checked that thing before proceeding very cautiously. but it worked!). Then we layered it with vanilla pudding and macerated strawberries, all topped with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. And it was totally, completely awesome.

Once Upon A Time I Was A Book Worm

Remember last year when I posted about the books I read as a 25 year-old? I had the same goal last year-- to read as many books as I was old-- and I fell quite short, again. But, hey! I actually read one more book than the year before.

In chronologically read order:
1. Bossypants, by Tina Fey
2. Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck
3. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
4. Immortal Milk: Adventures in Cheese, by Eric LeMay
5. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger
7. Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell
8. How to Be Good, by Nick Hornby
9. The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone
10. Persepolis 2, by Marjane Satrapi
11. The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht
12. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, by Mindy Kaling
13. Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
14. High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby

My least favorite book was probably Water for Elephants or Her Fearful Symmetry. My favorite book was definitely The Poisonwood Bible. I remember my roommate Audrey recommending it back when we lived together-- that's how long it's been on my to-read list. At first it seemed daunting, and I wondered if I could get into it, but I once I settled in, I was so, completely absorbed. There were a couple chapters that I sat sobbing on the couch while I read. Some of the themes and messages were so poignant and perfectly articulated, addressing questions and doubts and fears that are very real to me. I am actually glad I waited this long to read it, because I don't think it would have meant as much to me had I read it when I was 19.
I already have a stack of books to read-- some gifted, some borrowed, some from the library-- yet I still always love recommendations. I'm starting on only my second book this year (Everyday Zen), which means I need to get a move on. So, yes, I will again set the goal. While I am 27, I aim to read 27 books. Sam is going back to working nights soon, so I think the goal could even be attainable this year!

Birthday Lessons and Links

My birthday was on Tuesday, and while I was checking Twitter on my phone, I happened to click on a link over to a post at Food 52. The tweet mentioned something about why there is basically no future for hopeful food writers. Ack! I'm not even starting on my career yet, and apparently it's over. Amanda Hesser kind of bummed me out (on my birthday!) about how and why food writing, at least as the 90s and 00s knew it, is dead. But then! She got inspirational. It doesn't mean you can't write about food-- in fact, food writing will always exist, since people will always eat (and enjoy it) and always write. But building a career around food writing period is the issue. There are so many other things to do to be involved with food, and writing about those experiences can be a by-product. It overwhelms me, honestly. It takes innovation and dedication and creativity, and aren't we all terrified we lack those things? In her advice, she said to never eat the same meal twice, and I laughed. I feel perpetually stuck in a rut of the same stir fry, the same pizza, the same curry, the same pasta every single week. I've started to feel like all I ever do anymore on this blog are post links, but I guess it means I'm doing different things in the kitchen, and that's important. So I may not be creating yet-- merely imitating-- but I hope that's a step.

Successes from this week: 
Barbecue Bean Tacos from Cheeky Kitchen. Simple, vegan, positively delish. (I used anasazi beans!)

Chopped Miso Salad from 101 Cookbooks. I found this recipe when I bought miso paste for the first time last fall. It seemed to simple to fill me up, and, I'll admit maybe boring? But I made it for lunch today and wanted more, more, more.

Sushi Bowls from 101 Cookbooks. Actually, a theme with this food blog could be me seeing the recipe and thinking, too simple? But then I am always, inevitably wowed. This made a delightful dinner that really tasted like a deconstructed California roll-- I might even add cucumber next time.

Try This Tuesday: Thursday Edition

One thing I've been known to do is open up approximately four million tabs in firefox with every righteous intention of "getting back" to whatever it is: articles, new blogs, amazon links, and, particularly, recipes. There's a chance this drives Sam batty. I've been trying to cut back-- deal with tabs within the same computer session in which they were opened. I've noticed a big difference; Sam has not. Truth be told, I have six tabs of recipes open right now, all waiting to be scheduled into our weekly menu plan. This is, apparently, a good way to use Pinterest-- to keep track of all these things without having to actually deal with them right away. But I'll admit I'm just not that into Pinterest. I get the appeal, and I have pinned a dozen or so things, but I just find the whole thing overwhelming. Plus my world is too small, in that I see the same thing pinned over and over and over (and not even just within the same social circle). So, I'm still figuring this out. How do you keep track of recipes and things you want to try?

I have tried some new things lately (though none from any tabs left open for days or weeks on end). Nothing in my dinner repertoire was sounding tasty last week, and among the several things I tried, this pasta with hashed brussels sprouts and pine nuts became the ultimate fighting champion. I read some recipe recently that bemoaned the now-outdated trend of hashed brussels sprouts, and I felt a bit silly, having never even tried it. But this recipe changed all that! It's a very simple and easy recipe, and Sam immediately declared it a necessary staple in the dinner rotation (Bria also ate three heaping helpings). I've made it multiple times in the last 10 days, and will continue to do so until the very last sprout disappears (I'm surprised to still be finding them at Trader Joe's). Do take note, the recipe says to hash them in a food processor, but I did mine by hand, which just takes a little extra time, but is nonetheless effective.

For pie day, I decided a banoffee pie would be the best piedea, but it came to late. After boiling the cans of sweetened condensed milk the requisite 3+ hours, it was already 8pm. Sam had a Irish-themed potluck at work the next day, and I ran out of time to make my original idea, so I sent the pie with him. Luckily I had a bit of filling and crust leftover, so I made a couple mini pies in our muffin tin for me and Bria. They didn't turn out as beautiful as the big pie, but they were just as tasty. It's so worth the work of boiling those cans.

I sampled Trader Joe's Dubliner cheese last week and was smitten. Nestled into a warm slice of their take-and-bake baguettes, it's just the perfect afternoon snack.

We babysat Sam's niece and nephews this weekend, which is always an adventure. They love the food I make for them, but their youngest is an especially picky eater, so I have to rack my brains for things that are either simple or easily adapted. Quesadillas fit the bill for both, and cooking them on the panini grill just made it a little more exciting. The picky kids ate plain cheese, and the rest of us ate ones filled with sauteed peppers and onions, shredded rotisserie chicken, and the cowboy caviar from costco. Served next to avocado with lime squeezed on top and a heaping pile of cilantro, I hardly think you can call this dressed up thing a quesadilla. I foresee this being a recurring cast member this summer.

richmond nourishment

We took a little getaway to Richmond last weekend for a bit of a breather from real life. We were there for about 24 hours and enjoyed two main meals (and a ton of junk food).
So, first of all, it's funny what a difference it makes between DC and Richmond-- Richmond was the capitol of the Confederacy, but up in Alexandria I do not feel like we are a part of the south. And I just have no authority on what that ("the South") even means. Anyway. On our first day, we went to Buz and Ned's for barbecue. I'm not really into all the specifics surrounding "real" barbecue (I think there is a lot of talk surrounding weather or not the meat is served in the sauce?), but for this barbecue novice, I declare it tasty. Bria was very excited to "eat farm animals." And demanded that her dinner include "chicken from a pig." I kept telling her it was pork, and she just fought back saying she wanted to eat a pig. I'm not sure where these carnivorous tendencies are coming from. I enjoyed what little I ate of our pork-- the right amount of sauce and not too spicy. And the mac and cheese was flavorful and smooth. I probably could have eaten my weight in hush puppies-- again, not an expert on this southern gem, but I thought they were awesome. I think Sam was just so happy about his spare ribs because he never eats meat anymore. It just made up for all those vegan experiments I serve for dinner lately. So I feel like this is a real Southern experience. 

And ice cream at gelati celesti was the best way to end our first night. 

For lunch the next day, we ate at The Urban Farmhouse-- a completely different experience from the barbecue. This is my absolutely favorite type of place to go: a seasonal menu based on offerings from local farms. My ultimate dream is to open a place like this some day. After the barbecue and eating all sorts of junk for snacks, my light salad and sandwich was practically perfect in every way. The carrots that came with my meal were the freshest carrots I have ever eaten. They were so crisp-- not crunchy, actually, but crisp. I had no idea carrots could taste that way. This was the type of meal you eat and wonder why you ever eat anything unhealthy. When it's so fresh, tasty, and satisfying, why would you want to? Alas, I forget quickly (I am eating brownies made from a box right now.) Sam had a simple caesar salad and Virgil's real cola. We've long been fans of Virgil's root beer, but had never had the cola-- this is what a soda should taste like. You can taste the vanilla and cinnamon; it tastes like a drink concocted from real spices and ingredients as opposed to chemicals. So even if you're not a big soda drinker, it's definitely worth it to invest in tasting some high quality sodas on occasion. Or at least steal some sips from your soda-drinking husband.