Hungry Times Two

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...

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.

Sometimes, when Scott leaves dirty dishes in the sink, or I forget to sweep the bathroom where my hair tends to shed, the HTT partnership undergoes a little difficulty. You know, we bitch each other out for a moment. And then go back to being the cheery lovebirds we're meant to be. One reason we're so compatible? We both love pig. Exhibit A: Scott picking through Tennessee-raised pork Exhibit B: Me sporting my fine new Piggy Wiggly t-shirt It's the little things in life that can bring people together...or it's the big, fat, tasty hogs, too. They're not so little. Hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful MLK Jr. holiday .

It's surreal, y'all - Scott and I are now a one car household! What the what! It all came down to money - we want to save more of it. No we will have waaaaay less of an insane car insurance premium and I now have no car payment. Also, we longer will suffer the embarrassment of being car twins. We went from double Matrices to ein silver Matrix. I've always driven Toyotas, so I always gave my cars Japanese names - Yoko for my old green Camry, and Yoshi for my recently departed blue Matrix. Scott's not a fan of nicknaming his - I mean, OUR, silver Matrix - so when I pressed him for suggestions, he came up with...Momo, Japanese for peach. I kind of love it. What do you think? The other was a non-Japanese moniker - Dot, as in Dot Matrix. Kinda ridiculous, yes? I think we're going with Momo. Sidenote: To celebrate our newfound one-car-ness, we hit up Sardi's , our favorite Peruvian charcoal chicken joint in the area (so far.) Their churasco de pollo will cure what ail...

This one's for my Grandmother Carrie, who died last Friday at age 93. My grandmother wasn't flashy or overly free with her affections, but she was a woman of strong faith and well, she baked one hell of a pound cake. It's not just any ol' pound cake - it's a Cold Oven cake, made by putting the cake pan in a non-preheated oven to bake. I'm in the process of tracking her recipe down from one of my cousins, so for now, here's a similar one that you might find enjoyable. It makes for one of the most moist cakes I know of and results in a nice crust on top, too. She didn't add flavorings like almond or chocolate, but I am sure you could if you wanted that little something extra. I find that would be like gilding the lily, however. Sometimes a simple pound cake can do so much - it brought our family a lot of joy and pleasure to rave over during holidays and special occasions, and now, it's a legacy - a token of a woman who's left us, but is still in o...

What did I have two, no....make that THREE, cups of today? It wasn't gravy, or Coca Cola, or Bourbon, or Cranberry Juice. It was TEA, wonderful tea. Ever since I was younger, tea has been a pleasure to enjoy, both hot or cold, sweet or unsweetened, as long as it's not adulterated as that Fruit Tea business you know I can't get behind, or Jasmine (too much like drinking Potpourri water to me). But - Japanese Green Tea, English style, Chai, Thai Iced - it's all pretty much marvelous to me. Luckily, Scott shares my love of tea. We jokingly have "tea and book time" (in bed too, but I swear, it's totally PG-13 rated) as our British alter-egos Russell and Margaret -- our first names, as we both go by our middles. Ol' Russ and Mags are just simple homebodies who like scones, a spot of tea, a good historical novel or quaint little series on the Public Television station, and a nice gentle rainy afternoon. Or something like that. Can you tell we've really t...

To my co-blogger, my best dining companion, and my favorite tall blond man: Happy Birthday! Any man who dons a beard net to take a Celestial Seasonings factory tour is ok by me!

For three years now we've shared our eats - what we ate, what we hope to eat, and what we dream about eating. What have we liked best about it? S: It's been fun teaching a DC-based British photog how to peel shrimp, all via photos on this blog. E: I received a nice letter and coupon for a free jar (any size!) of Duke's Mayonnaise out of it after I shared my post on the company website. That's pretty damn cool. See, blogging CAN pay off! What's been the greatest challenge? S: Keeping it going. E: I agree. Also, trying to stay away from food writing cliches, though I do apparently like to use the word "goodness" a lot. What's the bad thing about food blogging? E: Besides all the calories? Trying to say something original and interesting about simple things like mayonnaise. Or pork. Or the pizza we ate last Tuesday. S: Uploading the pictures. E: Maybe it's time for a new blog program? S: No, I'm just a Luddite. What are the hopes and dreams of...

Ladies (and dudes who read food blogs), the old cliche truly is correct: A good man is hard to find. Scott says he plans on posting here soon and I know that's true because he took photos last night of the evidence of his hard work in the kitchen (and a bad shot of me blending and cursing my over-salted hummus, but that's for another time). This blog needs to hear from the male counterpart of HTT , for real. Weary and ready for a glass of wine/foot rub/warm bath/instant transport to a Caribbean island/or whatever was most convenient and stress-reducing at the time, I came home to find my husband in the kitchen, trimming ends off of green beans and meat marinating in the fridge. Sweet! He was chopping sweet potatoes into wedges for roasting. Even sweeter! People, it's never good to have the women of the world always working to provide tasty eats. We work too, dammit, and it's hard coming home and settling right in to Domestic Goddess mode where we prepare yummy yet also ...

It's amazing what you can find on these crazy Interwebs. Exhibit A: Yep, Little Debbie tries and tries to wear me down with her promise of cheap, sweet thrills but somehow I've managed to stay away from a box of Oatmeal Cream Pies in my own home for over a week now.* Scott's responsible for this devil woman's merchandise taking up space in my pantry. He has a bit of a sweet tooth for foods that aren't really, well, food. Looking at the box of OCPs, here's the ingredients: Corn Syrup, Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1] Riboflavin [Vitamin B2] (Folic Acid)Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil with TBHQ to Preserve Flavor, Dextrose, Water, Oats, Sugar, Molasses, Raisins, contains 2% or less of each of the Following: Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate) Whey [Milk] Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, Mono and Diglycerides, Sorbitan Monostearate, Polysorbate 60)Salt, Cor...

One of my favorite people, Hazelene Cox, known to me as my Grandmother Coxey, April 15, 1915 to August 25, 2005. Miss you so much - hope there's Starlight Mints, Pear Salad, and many flowered aprons wherever you are.