Crabby Weekend

So, we finally got to drive out with our friends to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to git us some crabs! Well, only one of our party had Maryland crabs (the others had snow crabs, clams, and veg options), but the day's adventure was enjoyed by all.

We meet up, sans bikes, at a halfway point, and then drove to Annapolis to walk around for a little bit before heading out to eat. After finding parking (in a 2 hour zone, where we were promptly noticed by what was probably the local parking Nazi resident), we headed down to the harbor in the center of town, where we were amazed at the size of the boats that were looking to dock in the public slips. Then, we walked over to the Naval Academy (which you can get onto- you just need an ID), where we saw a wedding at the chapel (complete with swords and bride getting smacked in the ass with sword) and the crypt of John Paul Jones, which is both eerie and refreshing (on a hot day, it is lovely cold!). After gazing at the quad, we headed back into town for some drinks at Phillip's seafood restaurant- okay place, but the view over the harbor on the outdoor seating was the best.

Then, we headed off over the 50 Bay Bridge to the Kent Island Narrows- where we were to engage some sea arachnids (aka, crabs) :

in battle with wooden mallets and paper covered table-tops. We went to the Jetty Dock Bar- if the screen pops up with a chick in a bikini, they are advertising for some event next weekend, and you will get the feel of the place. It is on a dock (as you can see, our food was right next to the water!) with picnic tables along the edges, and a Tiki Bar, covered, in the center. They also have a "beach" area- sand with tables and chairs, as well as a small indoors. If you happen to be on the Chesapeake Bay for the day on your boat, well, they even have places to dock your boat so you can come and eat!

The clientele was mainly local- I could see the place being a biker bar at times, but it was just a lot of tattooed workers, young people, and older women (not all of whom were wearing underwear, as some of us had to see) who were chasing very young men. Interesting to say the least!
The food was good- nothing stellar, but good seafood. We stayed for quite a well, enjoying the sun and the water, until a big breeze started blowing in. Then, we ended our evening by heading back to Annapolis for a beer (or ice cream- whichever you were hungering after) at a pub, discussing tattoos of Euclidean geometry with a St. John's student. The only bad thing- we asked for Boddingtons, and were given something that was either not Boddingtons, or something that was flat Boddingtons. I don't know which is worse.

A good day!

The Cabbage Patch

So, I got this lovely savoy cabbage at the farmer's market this weekend:

As the girl who sold it to me said, "Looks like there should be a Cabbage Patch Kid coming out of there!"

No, there were no dolls bursting out, but it did make a tasty pasta with a bit of bacon, garlic, onion, and parmesan cheese.

Pork Stir-fry

Made this one up, using food from the market, a yakitori sauce I love, and the pork tenderloin in the freezer.

Sauce: Yakitori (a Japanese sauce, mainly used for street vendor snack food- chicken and scallions on kebabs, grilled with this sauce)
You can make a larger batch depending on the size of your stir-fry- I doubled, but I had lots of stuff in there.
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c sherry (or sake if you have it- I don't)
garlic- minced, 1 or 2- I didn't use it in this recipe, because of the garlic scapes below. But, if you have no garlic scapes, add the garlic to this sauce.
ginger- a use jar ginger, pre mashed- a teaspoon or so
red pepper flakes- adjust the heat as you like it

Put all ingredients in a pan- bring to a boil, boil for a few minutes, and it is done. You can reduce it until it is thick, if you are using it for the kebabs, but for this dish, I let it stay thin.

Pork Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
Pork tenderloin (or just pork)- sliced thinly
Corn starch
Yakitori sauce
Oil- whatever type you like best for stir-fry- not olive oil
Onions- I like bigger chunks, but chopped is fine
Carrots- slices, about 3
Celery sliced, about 2
Garlic scapes- about 3, sliced like you would scallions
Green beans- cut in half and blanched
Rice- if you like; we used brown basmati

After you cut up the pork, coat it with some corn starch, as you would with flour. This will make the pork brown better, as well as thicken the sauce later.
Heat up the oil- add the pork, and cooked until nicely browned. During cooking, add a scoop of the Yakitori sauce, just to add some flavor to the pork. When it is browned enough (not necessarily cooked through), remove the pork to a plate.
Reheat pan- add more oil if needed. Add onion, carrot, and celery- fry up a few minutes. I like the crispy and brown, so I do this over high heat. When they get a little cooked, add the garlic scapes. Spoon in a bit of the Yakitori sauce. Cook a few more minutes, then add the pork back in, mix it up, and then, add the green beans. Mix it up; finally, add the rest of the Yakitori sauce- cook for a few minutes, while it thickens.
Voila! Done- enjoy with the rice, or alone.

Somewhat Sticky Lemon Chicken

Here is a recipe from Gordon Ramsay's "Fast Food"- I adapted it a bit to my tastes, but great recipe! It has nice sweet and salty tastes all mangled up together.

Ingredients:
Chicken (I used boneless, skinless thighs- that's what I had. Use what you like. The recipe calls for a cut-up chicken)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Lots of garlic, smashed up (I used about 10 cloves- the recipe calls for a head of garlic)
Thyme sprigs- don't bother to take the leaves off. Leave them whole.
Sherry- one splash
White wine vinegar - a longer splash (real recipe calls for sherry vinegar- don't have it)
2-3 tbsp soy sauce- to taste
3 tbsp honey- just drizzle it when needed, don't measure
1 lemon, thinnly sliced, pits removed. Yes- keep the peel on.

Heat up the olive oil in a pan- add your chicken in, salt and pepper it (both sides when you turn it), throw in the smashed garlic, and the thyme sprigs. Cook- browning the chicken nicely. I used highish heat throughout cooking and it worked fine. When the chicken is browned, add the vinegar and let it cook for a few minutes. Then, add the soy sauce and honey- mix everything up so all pieces get a good coating. Add the lemon to the pan, cook a few minutes, then taste. Add more honey, soy, or vinegar, depending on your tastes. Leave cooking for about 10 minutes, or until you know the chicken is done and the sauce is reduced and "sticky"- or just thick.
Enjoy! We had potatoes and squash casserole (my family knows this one- squash/zucchini, cheese, breadcrumbs, milk- baked) to round out the meal.

Saturday Market- a Buckeye family tradition!

BrutusBuckeye and I enjoyed our Saturday morning ritual (when we are in town!)- we headed to the Reston Farmer's Market, which is about a ten minute walk from our home, through some wooded paths, along a lake (read: large pond).

The market is held on the Lake Anne Plaza- Lake Anne is a older (1960s), planned community, with a lot of condos surrounding the lake front, and shops and restaurants on the bottom floors. It is a neat place- I think it is meant to resemble a Mediterranean town center, but since it was built with 1960s materials of concrete and brick, it doesn't quite make you feel like you are in Italy, but it has a great vibe anyway.

There is a craft fair along the lake front every morning (some neat stuff- the coolest place has hand woven- on a loom!- towels and dishrags) and the Farmer's Market is held in the parking lot of the town center (better for the produce trucks to pull up to!).

We love going here- first, we get all local food, at prices that are cheaper than the grocery store (we already got everything we need for the week, except some milk, today), and second, the market is so vibrant and full of people, that it reminds me of all the markets we went to in France.

So, we usually walk over around 9am (we need to get there earlier now- the place is packed and some produce was already sold out!), and do our veggie shopping first. This week, the buzz word was berries! We got strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and cherries, all of much better quality than the crap from California (the strawberries actually have a taste- not just the weak sugar water flavor of Driscolls). There will only be a few more weeks for the berries, so we will gorge on them (Brutus is in the kitchen making a strawberry lemon tart as we speak).

We also picked up new potatoes, fresh peas, zucchini, squash, radishes, onions, green beans, and garlic scapes. What? Garlic scapes? Well- these are the sprouts for garlic plants, that usually come out for about 3 weeks, before they flower. Here is a good site about what they are, a picture, and recipes. I think I will make a pork dish with some of them, then make pesto with the rest. They are the green curly things next to the peas, in the picture.

We also picked up quite a bit of meat- there are many local animal farms that sell at the market as well. They come with big coolers of vacuumed-packed, frozen meats. Today, we shopped at a vendor called Cibola Farms, from Culpepper, VA. They seem to specialize, right now, in buffalo and pork. So, we picked up a buffalo flank steak, some pork cutlets, pork sausage, and bratwurst. At another vendor, Valentine's Meats, from Orange, VA, we got some oxtail- I have always wanted to try this! So, we are set for the week- and the prices were the same or less than grocery stores.

We ended our shopping trip in our favorite way- breakfast on the plaza! We go to the Lake Anne Pharmacy, which has a lunch counter. For about $14.00, we have a full breakfast with coffee. The place also has Ecuadorian specialties, so we want to try some of those next time- the Huevos Rancheros look good, and they have some sort of pork dish, the spelling of which I will not attempt here.

We sit outside, and enjoy the bustling town- there is a fountain right next to the pharmacy that children swarm with their parents- it is a walk-in fountain, so it is fine that they are all over it. It just looks dirty to me!

And yes, we did have our meat with us during breakfast. And no, we did not have a cooler. But, it remained frozen- I just wanted to gross out my dear sister (who will insist on refrigeration for transporting meat, even if a store were next to her house- love you!). And yes, if you visit, we will have a cooler.

Now, we are washing and prepping veggies- some will need to be cooked soon, even if we eat them later this week.

Gosh, I love Saturday mornings!

Spring Veggie Stew

I made a spring veggies stew this week, using fennel, tomato, and shallot as the base. It turned out quite lovely- I'm not a huge fennel fan, yet when it was cooked into the broth, it added a very nice fresh, light flavor. There are also peas, carrots, and asparagus, and I used a pre-made veggie broth (actually, Wolfgang Puck's, since it was the cheapest!).

It had very little broth, so I am using the left-over veggies to make breakfast frittata- just egg whites, one yolk, and heat up the veg. Throw in some cheese, if it is that type of day.

Florida or bust...

Looks like it is "bust" for the Buckeye family trip to Florida!
Husband's client screwed up the class they were supposed to take, so we won't be venturing down to Clearwater Beach for a week in the sun.
So, we decided to take a weekend trip in July to celebrate our first wedding anniversary instead. We were thinking of going to Annapolis, since it is a great, walkable place- but too expensive if you want to stay where you can walk! Maybe we will do that in late winter or early spring, when the inns have cheaper rates.
So, I looked out in the Blue Ridge Mountain area, focusing in on Charlottesville, VA. I figured we can hike if we want, go to vineyards, and go to Montpelier (James Madison's estate), or even just check out Charlottesville. We won't do Monticello, as we are doing that during the Williamsburg trip.
Again, everthing that isn't a Red Roof Inn or Super 8 motel is just crazy expensive! I finally found a very reasonable Bed and Breakfast in Waynesboro, VA (30+ minutes west of Charlottesville), where will we will- Tree Streets Inn. It puts us in a good locale, and I already found some dining- local, cheap joint- South River Grill and Wine Shop- for one night, and for the anniversary celebration- The Ivy Inn Restaurant in Charlottesville, which features locally raised food.
Hopefully, this won't bust on us!

A Visit to John Paul Jones

Today, I went to Annapolis to train a fellow SAT teacher in the Verbal sections- he is going to be teaching the entire SAT in Switzerland for a month (tough, eh?), and was only originally a Math guy, but now does all sections.
My fellow teacher is also a Naval officer, who teaches at the USNA, so, I got to have a little tour of the place and the surrounding town of Annapolis- it was quite lovely! He told me all about the traditions of the campus (the best- there is this obelisk on campus that the "plebs"- newbies to the Academy- have to get a hat off of as a class. Sounds easy, right? Nah- they grease the whole thing! Sometimes it takes them over an hour or two to get the hat down. That is something worth seeing someday), and showed me some nice walks to take when I come again. It was a gorgeous day- bluest sky, hot sun, and a nice breeze off the water.
I was in Annapolis once before with my parents, and I forgot how "old world" the town really is- brick everwhere, and colonial style reigns supreme. BrutusBuckeye and I will have to take a trip there someday (probably in conjunction with Crabbin' Weekend) to walk around and do the touristy things.

Experiment of the Week

I received some mushy papaya while visiting my Grandmother on Sunday- she doesn't eat them, so I took them with me.
I decided to make a Papaya and Lime Sorbet- but I didn't have an ice cream maker. So, after searching the web and not liking too many of the suggestions (one was getting two coffee cans- one big, one little. Fill the little one with the sorbet, cover, and put into the outer one, and fill with ice. Roll back and forth for an hour on the floor. Yeah.), I tried something myself.
I pureed the papaya and lime juice (with some zest) and a half a cup of Splenda. Then, I put the mixture into a metal pan, and left it in the freezer. I stirred it every 20 minutes or so for about 1.5 hours, then I took it out of the freezer, put the mixture in the blender, and creamed it. I put it back in the freezer, and left it until we were ready to eat. Then, I left it our for about 10 minutes to thaw. It was pretty good- not as fluffy as sorbet- more like a mixture of a granita and a sorbet. I will try again with other fruits- raspberry, blueberry, when the season is right.
BrutusBuckeye did not like it. He is not a fan of papaya.
I am also going to use the papaya seeds for a salad dressing- will let you know about that!

The Return of the Salmon

For some reason, I've been off salmon. Just some flavour or scent was causing the nose-wrinkling effect in me...

However, it was on sale, and it was time to give it a go.

My darling husband and I are big Gordon Ramsay fans- more into the "F" word than Hell's Kitchen- and we like his cooking. So, I checked out his book, "Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy" from the public library, and it had a DVD with a recipe for Crispy Salmon. We watched the recipe being made, and went to work!

Here is a view of the product:

And here is our recipe-

1. First, the salmon sits on some Muddled Potatoes- Ramsay used crab meat in his recipe, but we are unable to afford that luxury, so we did without:

Small potatoes (I used Dutch creamers)- as much as you want
Olive Oil
Scallions
Salt/Pepper
Tarragon- fresh or dry, as much as you want (Ramsay used cilantro- without crab, I liked the tarragon better)
Sauce- Olive Oil, Water, Lemon Juice, Salt- mix it up in a squeeze bottle- play with the amounts until you like the flavor

Boil potatoes until tender with a fork, drain. You can peel them, but I was not going to peel Dutch creamers. Then, in another pot (not saucepan), heat up some olive oil (enough to almost cover the bottom), and add the potatoes. Let them get warm, then add some chopped scallions- I used two. Cook for another minute, then turn off the heat. Add some salt and pepper to taste, as well as the tarragon (chop the fresh tarragon up- just shake on some dry tarragon, but use less). Then, using either a fork (ours was not up to the task) or a hand-help potato masher, muddle up the potatoes, just crushing them until they explode a bit- don't mash, just crush. Then, squeeze the oil-lemon sauce over, check flavor, and adjust seasonings.

2. We put roasted leeks and cherry tomatoes around the potatoes and salmon. Ramsay just uses tomatoes, but whenever I can use a leek, I do:

2 leeks- cut into thin slices and rinsed of grime
Cherry tomatoes (a handful) cut in half
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper

Mix the tomatoes and drained leeks with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put on a tray in the oven at 400 degrees or so. Roast until slightly charred, more or less, depending on your tastes (I like the more charred version).

3. Crispy Salmon- we followed Ramsay entirely on this. BrutusBuckeye did the cooking- I did the sides and washed the pans.

Piece of salmon fillet- enough for the under you are feeding, skin on, scaled
Salt
Olive Oil
Pepper

Heat up the oil in a pan (deep saucepan- you will splatter a bit on this). Before you put in the salmon, put some deep cuts into the skin side of the fish, about 1/2 inch apart. Rub salt and olive oil into the slits. Put the fish into pan, skin down. Add pepper and salt on the top of the fish. Leave it alone until you see that the salmon has cooked halfway or more up the side. Flip it once and let it finish cooking.

Plunk some potatoes on the plate, surround with tomatoes and leeks, and put the salmon, skin down, on top of the potato. Squeeze some more of the olive oil and lemon sauce all over and mangia pure baby!

Winds a'blowin' capt'n

Well, we had some weather fun today in the Northern Virginia region!

I was outside, ready to tie up some tomato plants and dump some compost juice on them, not really noticing the weather, even though the sky was a dark grey. Suddenly, the trees next to the building across the way become misty and faded- I realized, that it was a shower of rain so thick, that it blurred out the colours of the tree. Then, to the left of the balcony, the trees literally exploded! They looked like a bomb had gone off behind them.

Not having any red shoes on and not having an Aunt Em, I ran indoors. I turned on the TV and learned that it was a fast moving storm of 58mph average which was sweeping through the area- also, there were thousands of lightening strikes all over the place. I closed up all the blinds (to hamper any tree limbs that might want to shatter inwards), and just listened.

It was over in about 20 minutes- but the next day, we drove around town, and there were trees down everywhere.

Freak storms seem to be the trend around here!

Balcony Gardening

So, this afternoon, I am going to compost and finish staking up my plants for the balcony garden that we are attempting this year.
Our garden:
1. Herbs- basil, parsley, thyme, sage, dill, tarragon, oregano, rosemary
2. Lettuce- an experiment. We have little sprouts now, both red and green leaf
3. Cherry tomatoes- 15 plants (a nice farmer heard my husband was in the military, so my smaller order got doubled for free)
That's it. We only have a 6x12 foot balcony, which also holds two chairs and two tables, so we were limited in our yearly production.
All is well- we lost one purple basil plant (never took really well), but everything else is flourishing. We just need to put a little more soil in the pots and compost. It is nice to sit outside and be surrounded by things you will eventually harvest and eat.

So, about that three month hiatus...

I am back, with a new template on my blog, and everything s0rt of updated. I suppose I just lost interest in writing about mundane things, that weren't even that exciting to me. Now, I have a job lined up (teaching Latin, high school, in a district with tons of tech in the classroom!), have worked my last weekend at crappy part-time job (still a few evening classes to go), and have some great summer adventures lined up. Look forward to:

1. Crabs and Bikes Weekend- with some friends of BrutusBuckeye, we will be biking (not the crunchy kind of biking- we will be on Harleys) out in search of crabs, seafood, beer, and...vegetarian options (we have one in the group- I fear that coleslaw, hushpuppies, and iceburg lettuce is all that she may hope to find) at an authentic "shack." We will be heading out to Harris Crab House, across the bay from Annapolis (where we may have to stop as well), for some paper tablecloths and hammers (though I am looking for clams!). It should be a good time.

2. Week in Largo, Florida- with BrutusBuckeye's work. He will have to do some training, but I will be tagging along to sit on the beach all day and do a ton of nothing. Note: this is not Key Largo (a mistake we already made), but Largo, which is near Clearwater and St. Petersburg, FL. We are hoping to get a kitchenette suite room, on the beach (or within walking distance) of Indian Rocks or Clearwater, so we can drag down some pots and pans and cook dinner (hopefully, seafood), saving some money. We are, as you guessed (due to my distaste of flying), driving down- we will have to find some cheap joints to stop on the way up and down, and maybe see Charleston or other coastal places in GA and SC.

3. Week in Williamsburg, VA with BrutusBuckeye's parents. We will be staying in a condo, and touring the Colonial town, Yorktown, Jamestown, plantations on the James River, and Monticello. For a dork, this is heaven! Also, we want to stop at the Williamsburg Vinery- we sampled their wines at a local festival and it was lovely! We will be ending this trip at Busch Gardens, where we will hook up with my clan for:

4. Week in Emerald Isle, NC. The best vacation of the year! Beaches, good food, good company, and now they have a spa. Of course, walking on sand does wonders for your callouses, but so does a pedicure. Always a pleasure, and I don't have to miss out this year.

After all this, I begin work, but I am so excited about this job- I hope to settle into it for many years.
Look also for some posts on our travels of the past few months:

1. Loudoun County- vineyards, countryside, and beautiful views! Tarara Vineyards is rocking good- anyone who visits, must come here with us.

2. Cherry Blossom festival in DC and Indian food- good times and food had by all!

3. Great Falls National Park- where they may have found a body recently. Yikes!

4. Alexandria, VA- and an awful Spanish restaurant (that a Spaniard thought was delicious!)

5. Meadowlark Botanical Gardens- heaven! A good place to walk and smell the flowers (and watch the turtles- okay, I admit, I act like a 5 year old when I see wildlife)

6. Parents' Visit to DC- a walk from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, a dinner at a swank French-Alsatian restaurant, a picnic at Tarara, and why wine-makers need to talk less about themselves and more about the wine.

7. Reston Wine Festival and Penang, DC- houchie mommas reign supreme when you people watch in DC on a Saturday night- plus, why we all feel really old when we try to have a drink in a college bar.

8. Mt. Vernon Wine Festival- George knew how to construct a house- what a view! Oh, and we had some great wine too!

9. Mt. Vernon, take two- we toured the estate, watched some bad-tempered sheep get loaded into a pick-up truck, got pissed off about student tour groups, had dirt-covered feet by the end of the day, and ate at a Republican-favored Chinese restaurant (with dirty feet). Good day!

10. Reston Farmer's Market- okay, so it is set on a lake (small lake) and a piazza, it has craft booths, and great produce- this could be a French market! Except, the "piazza" was built in the 60s, and consists of brick and cubist concrete architecture. So, French ideals, American crap architecture, and fabulous food that will feed us all summer!