Excuses, excuses

I look for reasons to cook. It’s not that I don’t genuinely love my friends and family and want to see them often, but I must confess that my desire to host a party (or small get together, considering the size of el condo) stems from a need to cook, cook, COOK! Oh, and plan. I like to plan, plan, PLAN.
It’s not just groups, either. It’s every-days. 8 a.m. and we’re walking to work in 25 degree chilliness, and I immediately start thinking about what I want to make for dinner. It seems like it’s going to be a steak and sweet potatoes sort of night. I usually bake them, but tonight might be the night to try these. (It’s like desert with your main course!) And probably some red wine to go with.
But see what I mean? I haven’t even had morning coffee and I’m already thinking about my evening appetite.
I’m excited for Sunday. I’m part of a women’s writing group, courtesy of the fabulous Jackie, and I’ll be co-hosting this week’s event with Amanda. I left the content of the meeting to her genius, as my immediate questions were instantly about the menu. It seems like a brunch sort of meal to me, so I’m planning mini quiches, fruit kabobs, muffins (courtesy of Amanda) and the group’s signature drink, mimosas.
I’m still newly-married-enough to really look forward to using my wedding gifts (those that manage to fit in the condo…many are at my parents house, in my brother’s closet, just waiting to be used by his grubby hands…HANDS OFF JOE!!!) I’m thinking about silver platters for quiches and kabobs, crystal pitchers for orange juice and a glass tea kettle for straining green tea.
If you’re looking for a free meal, look no further. Come on down.

Holy Yellowfin Tuna, Batman!

According to this web site, Wasabi is opening a new place on 14th and U Street.

JACKPOT!!!

I've been waiting for sushi near the U Street metro for years now. My husband and I even joked about opening our own place (we, of course, know nothing about sushi except that we love eating it and enjoy watching people use chopsticks for the first time...te he he...)

A place opened next to (and is a part of) Sala Thai on U, but we've only visited once due to the fact that:

a) it was extremely hot in there!

b) it smelled fishy

c) we felt we paid more than the quality was really worth

So let's hope Wasabi is better! I'm heading to one of their other places tomorrow night, hopefully it sets the stage for many great dinners to come at Wasabi on U Street!

If at first you don't succeed...

...fry, fry again.This is my motto after this weekend’s potato chip letdown.
I followed this recipe quite literally, and the first batch came out reasonably crispy, but every subsequent batch was soggy and never got crunchy, even after time spent lying on wax paper….a lot of time.
I knew this recipe looked too easy.
It’s not that I don’t trust my microwave. It’s given me a tremendous amount of weeknight help, defrosting meat and fish at rapid speed after a day of work spent wishing I had remembered to take the damn thing out of the freezer the night before. I’m also a huge fan of cooking sweet potatoes in the microwave- wash, puncture the skin in a few places with a fork and cook for 7 minutes. All I do is add a little butter and brown sugar and viola- “baked” sweet potatoes.
I’ll also admit I’m a sucker for microwaving vegetables. The ease at which they cook (and likewise do NOT dirty a pan from the added EVOO used to sauté them…also adding calories) is great, and even a person like me who LOVES to cook (and enjoys the painstaking efforts to which I must often go) appreciates an easy veggie every once in a while.
I just have a feeling that oven-baked potato chips are the way to go. So I vow to dig my Kitchenaid shredder out from the depths of my under-the-sink cabinet once again to finely slice potatoes and cook them….all for the love of potato chips and this blog.
Speaking of the Kitchenaid, my love for it grows and grows. The slicer was easy to use and created the most perfect potato chips you’ve ever seen. It comes with two slicing attachments to make thick and thin slices, along with various shredders…I feel zucchini bread happening very soon.

Mmm...Bell pepper...

Your love of Top Chef may dictate your feelings about Anthony Bourdain, but I beg you – if you think he’s a jerk, check out his show, No Reservations. It completely changed my opinion. Last night I watched last season’s episode about China, and it’s got me very psyched for the series premiere tonight!
And if you can’t get enough cooking shows (and you’re awaiting Top Chef’s spring arrival as much as I am) I suggest also watching Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsay is a well-known Scottish born, English bred chef who travels Europe infiltrating kitchens, embarrassing chefs and getting restaurants back on track with basic menus, toned down décor and better waitstaff. He does it all in his hour-long show with much humor and great British curse words that only BBC would allow.
You’ll probably recognize Ramsay from Hell’s Kitchen…I’m telling you, this show is better.
If I had my own cooking show, who would I be? Probably Giada, with Ramsay’s wit, Mario’s love of wine and some of the guest appearances from Top Chef. Set to the tone of Iron Chef…the original Iron Chef, that is.

Is it weird that I've been dreaming about homemade potato chips all day? I'm at work, I'm busy, I've got deadlines and I'm getting a lot done, but I got chips on the brain.
My fabulous brother got me this for Christmas, and all I've been able to think about is how fabulous it would be to have homemade chips. Sure, I could do cole slaw too, or zucchini bread, but who can think about green vegetables at a time like this?
I can't decide if I want to use sweet potatoes or white potatoes; if I want to try an easy recipe like this one or something a little more creative and pretty like this. Although I'm not sure I'll be purchasing caviar for a laid-back weekend with my husband, the creme fraiche is a pretty fantastic idea.
What if I made my own homemade Old Bay chips? What if I did salt and vinegar? And you can't have chips without dip..homemade onion dip? Clam dip? The possibilities are endless.
So the real question here isn't about what kind of potato chips I should make, it's what would I be doing if I could spend all day doing something I love?

You smell that?

I’ve realized something about myself- I love scents of food (like vanilla, pie crust, bread baking in a hot oven, apples, really ripe peaches) but I don’t want to smell like food.
Whenever I’m in a cosmetic or bath/body shop, I hover around the perfume, lotions and potions that smell like food. I love them. I buy them and I take them home. I shower in them, cover myself in them afterwards, spray myself down with them. I dab them behind my ears
Then what?
Then I realize I smell like pie. Or like cookies. Or like cake. This is nice because I happen to love pie, cookies and cake.
This is BAD because smelling like food does 2 things for me:
1) It makes me REALLY hungry…usually for whatever food I happen to smell like
2) It makes me feel sticky. Aren’t sweets usually sticky? Maybe that’s just my perception of sweets
3) I think people think I spend all day in a bakery. And that’s not natural (unless you are a baker. I happen to be in marketing)
4) I feel like I’ve actually consumed a great number of sweets. I usually end up feeling really full.
I realize these feelings are probably not normal, but this is my blog so I’m sharing. People should not smell like food. They should smell like Chanel or Dior or Vera Wang. I don’t want to smell like food. That is, unless I spend all day in a kitchen, slaving over beautiful, sweet, warm food.

Absolute and Resolute

I’m making only one- one that makes sense because it makes me happy, is healthy, is attainable, is good for my future and head, maybe profession? All of it.
I usually spend my lunch break eating whatever leftovers I brought from home (or occasionally trying a new spot), wishing I had remembered to bring whatever book I’m reading (or actually reading the book I remembered to bring…although it’s rare) or picking up prescriptions from CVS (apparently I take a lot of medicine)
BUT…what I should be doing is writing…writing here, or in my hand-written journal. So, my resolution is to write more.
How did I come to this resolution?
I just spent the last hour and a half catching up with Stephanie Klein’s blog. When I discovered her blog about 3 years ago it consumed me for a whole day (yes, I was at work. Sue me.) It’s been some time since I’ve read it, but it always inspires me to be me…and to do more things that make me happy and make me, me. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to make it a priority to try to write every day.
I’d also like to lose ten pounds. Ha!