Hungry Times Two

Erin's out of town visiting a friend, so in my search through the cupboard and fridge, I came up with a quesadilla. (Cue the grandma in Napoleon Dynamite !) Yes, it's the unheralded Mexican grilled-cheese sandwich, which I embellished with homemade pico de gallo. (gotta' get rid that cilantro that's threatening to rot in the produce drawer) That, plus a dollop of sour cream. (or in our house, Chobani Greek yogurt, Erin says it's healthier than sour cream) Even for a quick, cheap Saturday night meal for one, there can be art/presentation, thus my cutting the quesadilla into quarters, then filling in the gaps with pico and centering it with sour cream. Looks kind of like the old Santa Fe railroad logo, yes? (Any variation on the Zuni sun is always cool!) The meal was cheap, quick to make and tasty - three winning factors. For a beverage, I took a cue from my down-the-street neighbor Brian and picked up some Modelo Especial from our neighborhood corner shop (...

It's a sign the Four Horsemen are clip-clopping our way: Breast Milk Ice Cream. I have no words for this. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Somehow I went to NYC and came back ONLY .5 pounds heavier. This, my dear friends, is a sheer miracle, considering all the deliciousness we consumed in four days' time. This was a trip of many food "firsts" for me, including: - A steak and eggs brunch at Steak Frites in Union Square - Matzo Ball Soup at Katz's Deli , where Sally enjoyed that orgasmic sandwich with Harry - Primativo wine and Panna cotta at Il Passatore , Brooklyn - Roasted grapes and truffled pate, Oak Wine Bar , Brooklyn - Spaghetti and clams, Mario's , The Bronx - Asian-style smoked brisket, yellow curry custard, curried black eyed peas, and whole mackerel at Fatty 'Cue in Brooklyn The Williamsburg eats in Brooklyn completely blew me away -- there is nothing like enjoying some drinks at this uber-precious Brooklyn bar , and then a few more at this low-key, quiet establishment , and then tipsily staggering your way to some lamb ragu, butternut squash pasta and Brussels sprouts...

We met our friend Gideon in D.C.'s Capitol Hill neighborhood for breakfast at Jimmy T's Place . It's a corner breakfast/brunch place that's been around since 1969, so as Gideon noted, it was around LONG before Capitol Hill gentrified! : ) For Erin and I, it was our second visit and first time eating there - we tried for it last October when my dad and sister were visiting from Georgia, but the staff ignored us as we patiently waited for a table. That experience was odd, and likely isolated, given that we were greeted today with a "Have a seat wherever you like" welcome. As for the food, it's standard breakfast fare if you're looking for that, PLUS D.C./Mid-Atlantic specialties, namely half-smokes and scrapple . Ben's Chili Bowl pretty much equals half-smokes, while scrapple even has a few mentions on The Wire from Baltimore's Jimmy McNulty . Erin had a spicy half-smoke with her breakfast (the sliced sausage near the edge of her plate). ...

Erin would have gotten this for me at Wegman's a few weeks ago, but it goes against our whole "tacky Valentines" aversion. Still, what man wouldn't want chocolates in a tough-ass metal non-skid box?

Warning: Valentine's Day-themed post. Continue at your own risk. Yes, it's that holiday tomorrow, the one with the flowers, the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, the ugly-ass, age-inappropriate teddy bears, and the Hallmark cards professing undying, oh-so-special, forever love, love that cannot be denied, love that won't fade away, Big Love, sloppy wet love, etc. (OK, maybe the sloppy kind is for another occasion entirely.) Don't get me wrong, I luuuuuv love. I just don't really care for the commercialized kind. Scott and I had our first date the day after Valentine's Day nine (!!!) years ago, and we've always much rather celebrate our dating milestone than to observe February 14. (Sidebar: our second date was to see The Vagina Monologues . My husband rocks, and is totally comfortable with all iterations of the terms for female genitals.) We're spending tomorrow night in, with a dinner of cod fillets fresh from our Eastern Market visit today, veggi...

Good grief, our mini-vacation can't come soon enough. Next week, we head out for NYC. Thus far, we have: - Cheap Bolt Bus tix secured. Pray for us that we don't wind up sitting next to the toilets, thanks. - " European style" Cheap hotel on the Lower East Side booked. Speaking of toilets, the setup is a shared bathroom. Hello, glorified hostel, here we come. Brush aside the bedbugs, pretty please. - A list of go-to places. We'll keep you waiting with bated breath, so don't hold it in folks. Exhale. One plan of ours is, for Valentine's Day gifts, to each come up with an afternoon itinerary that would please the other. We will divulge them on V-Day. I can't give my plans for a Scott-irific afternoon away, but I can tell you hunting down the Prada store or gawking at Times Square will not be on the list. (We may have to hit up Dean & DeLuca, though. For real.) In my use of the Google Machine, I discovered a pleasant treat - it will still...

TGIF, my friends, TGIF. What a long-ass week this feels like. Anyone else agree with me? I didn't accomplish very much in the culinary arena this week, as you may have determined from my earlier post on the evils of bad food. We were busy, we were tired, and I am more than just a little bit lazy due to the winter blues, so I need to work on my motivation. However, I did achieve one of my goals for 2011 , which was not super lofty, nor sexy, but it is what it is: roasting a chicken. (Crappy photos to come!)

Typically, yes, Scott and I are the picture of marital bliss. It's just our lot in life, to be perfectly happy and always on the same page. Okay, maybe I'm stretching it a bit. We're usually pretty swell with one another, and for that I am extremely grateful. Yet sometimes, certain things can ruin our happy little Adams Family (insert the TV theme here) thing we have going. It's called bad food.