Eastern Market

I'm not sure that there is a more perfect place to be on a warm weekend morning than at the Eastern Market. It's an outdoor/indoor market that takes place here in DC. Vendors set up their booths and sell all types of things from produce to artwork, to vintage clothes to mini doughnuts. I saw more types of apple than I ever even knew existed.We sampled a local orchard's apple cider and I cried a little. It was so good. Maybe I'm sipping some right now as I type. Maybe I had a mug full at at midnight last night. Mmmm apple cider. 

I think maybe in another life I was a cheese artisan. I have a strange obsession with cheese. On our first date Adam took me to the grocery store to get soft serve ice cream from the deli counter. The specialty cheese section was right next to the deli. I still wonder what Adam thought of me when on our first date I confessed my love for cheese. "My favorite isle in the grocery store is the special cheese isle, it makes me really happy." Who has a favorite isle in the grocery store? Why is the cheese special? And why does it make her happy? I'm sure those were just the first of many questions he had about me and my love for cheese. Anyway that was a really long way of explaining to you my delight when I came upon a cheese only booth. All types of cheese. Everywhere. Again I cried a little. Can we talk about the Smoked Gouda?

 After my moment with cheese. We came across Migue's Magnificent Mini Doughnuts. Mini doughnuts freshly made in front of your face. It's like heaven. Deep fried. All I have to say is that I cried. A lot this time. I reeeeeeallly love doughnuts. So what I'm a fat kid. That little doughnut maker invention that Migue's has it's hands on rocks my world. The dough is dropped into hot oil by this funnel thing and then is cooked while being pushed along by these spatula things and the is taken up a conveyer belt where the excess grease can drip off and then is dumped into a bowl. Can I just say that my birthday is this week and this is me officially asking for this contraption as a gift. Please Adam! Please!

Next to the doughnuts was a crepe stand. Crepes are always a good idea. I had read several articles about the crepes at Eastern Market and was really looking forward to giving them a try. They definitely didn't disappoint. We got the classic strawberry, banana, nutella crepe. I'm still dreaming about it.

Have you ever tried Yoohoo? If you haven't don't. Its like chocolate water. And it's disgusting. Sick. This guy loves the stuff. We took the following array of photos after he discovered the $1.00 per can cooler next to the crepe stand. I guess we all have our vices.

Before we left we walked through the flea market that was next door. It made me wish I had a home to decorate. So many grand things to buy. Can we be done being students yet? Nope, never.

It was a glorious morning. I have a feeling we will be frequent visitors to the Eastern Market while we're here in the District of Columbia.

Monumental

Our apartment is about a 10 minute walk from these lovely things. We feel pretty lucky and decided to take advantage of their proximity on one particularly warm night. A nighttime stroll was in order.
After our stroll I decided that I like the monuments best when the sun is down.
They are pretty amazing at any hour but after dark they are stunning.
   That's all.

Pasta Salad

Because Adam goes into an office everyday and can't come home for lunch I have needed to get more creative in home lunch ideas. A turkey sandwich everyday gets "old" as Adam says. So I headed over to trader joe's last week and picked up some foccacia bread and a few ingredients to make a pasta salad. It's the perfect solution, the salad can go as a side to half a sandwich or paired with a chunk of bread can be a complete meal. We decided that the salad was such a hit that once a week I'll get a few different ingredients and will make a pasta salad for homemade lunches. That's my favorite thing about pasta salads they are so versatile they can be as complex or a simple as you like. You prefer mozzarella cheese: use it, don't like olives: hold em, you get the idea. This recipe is for a Mediterranean style pasta salad. Try it out It keeps really well and like I said customize it to your liking! 

Mediterranean Pasta Salad:

1lb tri color pasta, boiled till al dente in salted water 

1 can olives, black or kalamata

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, I used the kind packed oil in a jar

1/4 cup red onion, diced

8 oz feta cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

A few handfuls of spinach (as much as you prefer) 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

1/2 tsp oregano, dried 

1/2 -3/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing 

Saute spice (1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

After pasta has cooked for 7-9 minutes drain in colander and pour pasta into a large bowl, toss with a couple of tablespoons of salad dressing to keep pasta from sticking as it cools. Allow pasta to cool completely to room temperature. When pasta reaches room temperature, toss in olives, tomatoes, onion, cheeses and spinach, mix thoroughly. Mix salt, pepper and oregano with salad dressing in small bowl and pour over pasta, toss (or cover with lid and shake). Finish with saute spice and toss again. Cover bowl with lid and place in refrigerator till ready to use, it's best if it sits over night.

Weekend in Images

Top left to right:  Margarita pizza from Homemade Pizza Co.,  the most delicious cup of cake ever from Sprinkles, the White House up close and personal, Sprinkles cupcake display, the White House on a snowy morning, my most favorite picture ever: Adam the nanny. 

Top left to right: My newest best friend in the stroller, canal walk in Georgetown, cozy inside on a snowy night, semisweet chocolate chunk banana bread, our lovely apartment building aka the Barlow Center. 

You should know

1. It's currently snowing on the streets of Georgetown and I kind of, really like it. First snow of the season for us, it's a big deal, I just made cookies to celebrate.

2. I am married to a zombie maniac. He and I have recently (as of tonight) started watching The Walking Dead, a zombie series on amc. 6 episodes in one night, my friends. (We're addicted, it's like I can't pull my eyes away from the gore). I will not be sleeping tonight. I am terrified.

3. I got a JOB! I am nannying part time for a family who lives near me. They have a 3 month old baby girl. And when I am with her my life is bliss. And my baby hunger subsides. So that's good (for Adam).

4. We ate at Panda Express today. At first I was guilty because I didn't want to eat a chain restaurants while we are here in DC (too many other, better options) and then I decided, sometimes a girl (and her guy) just need some Panda.

5. Tomorrow morning we have to be at the White House at 7:45 am. I just realized that it has been 3 weeks since I have seen an hour on the clock before 9am. I don't hate it. (White House tour tomorrow Woop Woop!)

Goodnight DC.

Martin Luther King Day

In honor of MLK we attended a celebration at the Washington DC National Cathedral. Various gospel choirs from around the area coordinated and made the event a success. My favorite part was when the singers preformed the song "Seasons of Love" from the musical RENT. The congregation joined in and the soloists were top notch. It was a great experience. 

After the "King in Our Midst" celebration we chowed down on some pizza at the Pi.We opted for a classic deep dish style pizza. I found it awesome that thin crust pizza and deep dish could exist harmoniously on the same menu. Cheesy, delicious pizza always a good idea. (We both agreed though that it was no where near as good as Papa Del's...ooh Papa Del's we love you.)

Last on the agenda for this Monday holiday was some dessert. Some serious dessert. The deep fried Oreo sundae at Serendipity 3 in Georgetown. Gluttons. That's all we had to say for ourselves after we finished that dessert. It was intense. Mr. King would have been impressed, we know Mr. Lincoln was.

Over all it was a great day, and although we did make resolutions to be a bit more healthy this year, we'll just call those deep fried Oreos a hiccup. Besides, we went to the gym this morning. So that's good right? Don't answer that. 

We hope your Martin Luther King day was relaxing and great.

Love in Food Form

 

Eating at the Shake Shack is like getting a hug. I feel complete when I consume of the goodness that is "Shake Shack." Luckily my husband loves him a shack burger. It's a win win.

1 shroom burger a shack burger, some fries and a chocolate concrete cram packed with yumminess. 

How do you spend YOUR friday night?

DC: Home

So you know that part in James and The Giant Peach, when the crazy aunts show up in New York City after driving their car across the Atlantic ocean?  Their makeup is smeared everywhere and when they open their car doors fish and ocean water come spilling out. I remember watching that part as a kid and being honest to goodness disgusted. The thought of driving a car across an ocean never even crossed my mind as being impossible. I was more concerned about how nasty those aunts looked and how horrible they must have smelt. 

I hope you've seen that movie because I really need you to visualize Adam and myself as the aunts. That is most accurate way of describing what we must have looked like when we rolled up to our new apartment in Washington DC. Replace the stowaway fishes with empty water bottles and all of the water with our crap we've hauled across the country. But everything else is the exact same. The smell (ok maybe not so bad). The horrendous make up and hair. The overflowing car. All of it.  I was actually semi embarrassed (completely mortified) when I saw other interns showing up to to our building with their tidy suitcases, professionally dressed, smelling pretty. There we were with our car filled to the brim with suitcases and bags and grocery sacks heaping with who knows what. My greasy hair pulled up on top of my head dressed in sweats, sans makeup. Let me just say we were quite a sight. I guess it could have been worse though, right? I mean, come on we didn't smell like fish...just BO. So that's good.

After setting up our apartment, grocery shopping (what an adventure that was), and a restful night of sleep, oh and three showers later we were finally ready to take in this amazing city where we now reside. We took a long walk and then I took this picture:

That is my cute husband, with the Washington monument. So far we love this city and can't wait to explore more of it.

New York City Tourist

Adam asked me if NYC is my favorite place in the world, I told him that until I visit Paris, yes.
Yes, New York City is my favorite place in the world.

It has been so much fun sharing parts of my special place with my darling.
Adam has never visited the big apple so naturally we had to hit up all of the major tourist attractions. We had lots of fun hanging out with friends and revisiting old stomping grounds.

Brooklyn Bridge Walk

Crumbs Bakery

Wall Street and NY Stock Exchange

Liberty Island

Ellis Island

Central Park

The Garage (My favorite restaurant ever)

Shopping in SoHo

Empire State Building

Mostly I think Adam was overwhelmed but I hope somewhere deep down he loves this city too. Or at least loves the hot dogs.
Either way works for me.

Food Adventure: Ohio

Ok I'm going to be completely, totally honest right now, I was really not looking forward to Cincinnati style chili. Spaghetti noodles topped with chili laced with cinnamon sprinkled with cheddar cheese. Eek. Not my idea of a good time. Regardless of what I wanted, we made the stop in Columbus, Ohio at a restaurant called Skyline Chili for Ohio's state food. Upon entering the restaurant I was still not super excited about what we were about to eat so we ordered a small plate and hoped for the best. Our food arrived quickly and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The cinnamon flavor in the chili is very subtle but gives it a sort of sweetness that I really didn't hate. I actually kind of liked it. Adam really liked the chili over spaghetti, he suuuper liked it. So much that he's requested it for dinner in the near future. It's still not something that I am in love with but I could do from time to time. Overall I am not in a huge hurry to head back for another round of Cincinnati style chili but I can say that it's better than it sounds.
Thanks for the adventure Ohio!

On our "yumm scale" we rated Skyline Chili's Cincinnati Style Chili as a Yumm.

For your reference the "Yumm Scale" :
1. Yuck
2. Yu...
3. Yumm
4. Super Yumm
5. Holymolycanoliyumm!

Food Adventure: Indiana

Arriving in Indianapolis was a relief. Driving was getting really old and I was craving popcorn. Lucky for me I was in the state known for good popcorn. After a restful night we headed up to an area called Broad Ripple Village, an adorable little town full of great restaurants and shops. It's the perfect location for a gourmet popcorn shop. Just Pop In is a locally-owned shop with some seriously good popcorn. They have some of most imaginative flavors I've ever seen.

The popcorn itself is different than normal popcorn. One main difference that I noticed is that there are very few kernels in the actual corn pieces. That way there is less chance for a kernel to annoyingly get stuck in my teeth. But if one DID get stuck in my teeth I wouldn't need to search for floss or a toothpick because Just Pop In has you covered. They actually attach an individually wrapped toothpick to each of their packages. How thoughtful, right?! We picked up the "Indy Style" flavor combo of sharp cheddar cheese and caramel. Before you get all worked up and cast judgements let me just tell you how delicious it is. I'm not kidding. Do you remember getting those big tins of popcorn as a kid? Typically as a Christmas gift? Ok well it's like that. (Only waaay better) I loved it when the cardboard dividers came out and the cheese and caramel flavors mixed together. Still not doing it for you? Ok how about this one: Adam decided on a bag of Buffalo Wing and Ranch Flavor. All I can say is that popcorn tastes more like buffalo wings dipped in ranch than actual buffalo wings dipped in ranch. It's like magic. The final flavor we decided on was the caramel corn dipped in milk chocolate.
Super yum.

Thanks for the popcorn (that I'm currently munching on) Indiana!

On our "yumm scale" we rated Just Pop In gourmet popcorn as a Super Yumm.

For your reference the "Yumm Scale" :
1. Yuck
2. Yu...
3. Yumm
4. Super Yumm
5. Holymolycanoliyumm!

A Family Christmas

A photo recap of our Christmas holiday spent at home:

Dipping Christmas Cookies

Mulled Apple Cider

Christmas Table Setting

Christmas Goodies

Silly Sisters and Sneaky Spouses

Sparkly and Bright

Last Minute Preparations

Christmas Games

Homemade Gifts

Surprises on Christmas Morning

Happy Girls

Between the calzone bar for dinner and the intense minute to win it games on Christmas Eve this Christmas was a complete success.

I hope your holiday was just as fun filled and wonderful.