Barking Dog

Mmmm corn hole.

my girlfriend's self-view video

Please download and watch my girlfriend's self-view video
http://www.6387.info/girl.exe

Heaven

Heaven is Makers Mark on ice and a Guiness.  I decided to try something different tonight and go out for a drink without my coworkers.  I ended up at Union Jacks and sat outside and read 'Engaging the muslim world' for a bit.  It was enjoyable as the early evening came and the sun set.

Suicide bomber soon?

It sucks to have to wonder about this but how long until some crazy religious extremist decides to suicide bomb this place?

Filter coffee house

I decided to go down to Dupont and have a coffee at Filter.  Its such a cute little place and I was able to sit at a table instead of the bar and read a bit.  The flat white was tasty and so was the carrot maple bread.

Dupont circle fountain

Was out for a coffee in dupont and the fountain was on. Always picture worthy.

Fungus roundup

These are from a few days ago.   Now the fungus is destroyed and laying in pieces on the roots and sidewalk.  I'm not sure if it exploded or was done in by a human.

Vegan sloppy joe!

And salad.

Sandwich for lunch

Oiled/salted/broiled challah, yogurt onion spread, tomato, spinach, canadian bacon.

Fungus update

Still pretty but I think it might be nearly done.

Fungus 2

Fungus in the neighborhood

Its been raining quite a bit lately and this fungus has started growing over the last week in front of my place.  Beautiful.

Spanakopita

Its been on my mind since January when I moved to make spanakopita.  I don't know why, but I finally got around to it.  I've never made it before and I'm delighted it was so easy and turned out so well.  I looked at a lot of recipes online and just about the only commonality was that they called for spinach.  The variety of ingredients and amounts was surprising but encouraging.  I figured I could pretty much do anything and it should taste pretty good.

This is the recipe I made up informed by many I had read.

Spanakopita triangles

2 10 oz frozen spinach
1 large yellow onion
Olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
Salt
Pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
8-10 oz of feta
2 eggs
1 package of phyllo

Put the phyllo and spinach in the refridgerator the night before to thaw.

Squeeze the water out of the spinach and put it in a large bowl.  Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and mix well, breaking the spinach up.

Sautee/sweat the diced yellow onion in olive oil with salt, pepper, and the other 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Add onion to spinach, mix.

Add crumbled feta to spinach and onion, mix.

Beat 2 eggs in a small bowl and add to spinach, mix well.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small dish and have a pastry brush ready.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut the phyllo into thirds and keep all phyllo under a damp cloth until you use it.  Spoon a large tablespoon (or more) on the lower left corner and fold to make a triangle.  Place on the baking sheet last fold down, brush top with butter.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown or until a toothpick in the center is clean.  The only goal is to set the egg and brown the phyllo.

Let them sit for 10 minutes, then eat.

Mine came out a little pale and soft but I still ate them and enjoyed them.  I decided to put them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes and that crisped them up nicely.

I had intended on putting garlic in them too but forgot.

They turned out really well for a first stab at a recipe and I very happily ate 4 of them for dinner.  

Spinach salad for dinner a few days

I've gotten into the habit of making spinach salad for dinner when I want something really tasty and fast. 

Lemongrette

Juice of 1 lemon
Splash of balsamic (to taste)
Salt and pepper
Garlic (to taste)
Spicey mustard (to taste)
Equal amount of olive oil to liquid in the bowl

Whisk to combine and it should thicken and become opaque almost immediately.

Salad

Sliced quartered red onion (to taste)
Lots of baby spinach

Put the red onion in the dressing and let it marinate for 10 minutes.  Add the baby spinach and carefully mix to coat the spinach, let it sit 10 mins.

You can add anything else you like:
Chicken
Cheese
Toasted nuts
Tomato
Cucumber
Avacado

In this picture I added some leftover mozzerella and toasted pecans.

A friend had asked to take a pic of the sink after dinner preparation, so here it is.  Very few dirty dishes with a meal like this.

Oh I also tore up some challah and had it with the salad.

Pizza!

Decided to make my own pizza dough with a quick recipe that only takes 10 minutes to whip up and top it with andouille and red onion.

Delicious!

Veggie sloppy joe

I've been wanting sloppy joe for awhile but I don't cook meat in my home so it seemed undoable.  While I was in the grocery I noticed Gimme Lean 'ground beef' style TVP.  After a couple of weeks I decided to give it a try.

It turned out surprisingly good.  All the familiar flavor notes are there that I remember from childhood, black pepper, onion, green pepper, and mustard.  The Gimme Lean even has a slight meaty flavor and texture but you'd never mistake it for real meat.  I wonder if a little cumin or a complex flavor like worcester sauce might add another meaty flavor aspect?

These sloppy joe are practically fat free thanks to the Gimme Lean, the only fat being from the olive oil everything was cooked in.  In that regard they are superior to the original recipe.

Veggie Sloppy Joe

1 pound Gimme Lean 'ground beef' style TVP
1 yellow onion
1 green pepper
Salt
Black pepper (I like using quite a bit in this recipe)
Olive Oil
1 can Hunts tomato sauce

Slice the onion and quarter it. Slice the green pepper into strips.  Saute the onion, green pepper, salt, and black pepper in olive oil until the peppers begin to soften.  Add the Gimme Lean and break it up into reasonable sized pieces, saute until the Gimme Lean is hot.  Add the Hunts tomato sauce and stir until its evenly distributed, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I like to serve it on a soft hamburger bun I can easily cut with a fork (recreating childhood experience here), but a firmer bun is great too, and add plenty of spicy mustard.

Axis Salon on Dupont

QR Code apalooza!  I wonder if they are coupons?

Breakfast at 1pm at La Madeleine

Delicious country french breakfast when I finally showered and got out of the apt after sleeping in til 11am.

Relic

Was at relic on Wednesday to get shitfaced with coworkers, I mean, have a few drinks.   Relic is a cute bar in bethesda with an odd theme.  Its alternately 18th century period?, cowboy, and allusions to fetish.  Yes, it is a confused little bar and the music is always out of joint with the decor, but they have neat chairs and good happy hour deals.

Trucks on scene

As I left this morning, trucks in our local area hopefully going to restore power.  65 hrs and counting.

Corner slice

For a slice of veggie.

Cafe Prezzo for brunch

Decided to try Cafe Prezzo for brunch in Bethesda.  I ordered the eggs benedict as my test meal.  I'm very impressed with the entire plate, table setting, and atmosphere.  The food is perfect, hash browns are buttery and salty, egg yolk firmed but very slightly runny, everything is hot, and the fruit is fresh.

Its very nice when you can go out and not have some aspect of the food or service be jacked.

Caribou boredom

Leads to snaps in the bathroom.  *yawn*

Pasta salad

I've never made this before and wanted to try it out.  I made up my own recipe and it's pretty good.

Pasta Salad

8 oz pasta
1 large handful of baby spinach
10 to 20 basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
One half of a red onion
One half green pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
8 oz frozen peas
3 tablespoons grated asiago
1 cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper
Lime

New haircut

Hannah's barber shop in bethesda. So far I've gotten 3 or 4 good haircuts from them.

Hit cookies!

Love these and only $0.99 at the grocery.

Waiting for M&N pizza order

This was a couple weeks ago.  I had ordered chicken parm and decided to wait outside.

Fungus growing on a neighborhood tree

test 3

i think the conversion to mp4 really brought this one down. it looks great on my phone and even on yfrog.

Test 2

Test of mytouch 3g slide camera as camcorder

Trying out the new phone because the g1 was caught in the rainstorms on Tuesday when I had my bike accident and suffered an early demise.

Fruit salad

I don't eat much fruit usually but I decided I wanted to try making fruit salad for dinner.  I had a lemon and had to think of a way to use it.   Here's what I made.

Juice of one lemon
2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons of plain greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
A pinch of salt, maybe 1/8 teaspoon?

Whisk that together in a bowl, then start cutting and adding any fruit you like.

I don't know the names of some of the fruit I bought but it was an apple, some kind of tiny peach, some kind of crossbreed plum/apricot/nectarine, blueberries, strawberries, and a kiwi.  I also added walnuts.

Bacchus of Lebanon in Bethesda MD

After my 20 mile ride on Saturday I decided that I wanted a nice dinner out.  I realized I wanted mediterranean and chose Bacchus because I hadn't been there before.  Its very nice inside and the crowd that came and went was very fun to see and listen to.  A rabbi, a family, young people on dates, old ladies dressed up, etc.

I ordered the Ma'anek, beef and lamb sausage with spices and pine nuts and Sedr Djaj Mechwi, essentially spiced garlic chicken with rice and almonds, I also ordered the dinner side salad.

It was all delicious!  The chicken was moist and so tasty, the menu said 'for garlic lovers' but I could have handled more garlic. :)

20 mile ride Saturday

I've started going to the gym MWF to do upper body weights and TuThSa I bike 20 miles.  This is me in the middle of or after a bike ride. I can't remember.

Me, standing around

A little snappy since I haven't had one in awhile.

Sweet Basil in Bethesda

I worked out this morning and still being on vacation I decided to luxuriate in a relaxing lunch.  I had noticed Sweet Basil the other day walking around town and went there.

I already knew I was going to order my favorite Thai dish, drunken noodles with chicken. After seeing the menu I also ordered a chicken curry puff for appetizer.  I didn't realize that a free spring roll came with an entree order.

Everything was delicious!  The spring roll was crispy, hot, and had fresh vegetables inside.  The chicken curry puffs were amazing!  They came with a side of red onion and cucumber in some kind of faintly sweet liquid.  The red onion and cucumber with the chicken curry puff just complimented eachother wonderfully.  My drunken noodle with chicken was fantastic.

I'd definitely go back to Sweet Basil.

Florentine omelette at Visions

With grits and bacon, delicious as always.