Redwood

DC Restaurant Week happens twice a year in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia, for those not from these parts), and as a bit of a foodie, it is one of my favorite things about late August.  We always try out a new restaurant and splurge a little on the $35 prix-fixe three course dinner. Some restaurants also participate in a $20 prix-fixe lunch, which is equally as fun.

This week we went to Redwood, and I am SO glad that we did. We've been meaning to try this spot for a very long time, so restaurant week was the perfect excuse. Also, we were celebrating my husband finishing up his psychiatry clerkship. Hallelujah! 6 down, 3 to go!

A few things stood out:

1) The happy hour. We arrived a little early for our reservation, so we went to the bar for a drink. The happy hour menu was very well priced and pretty extensive. We will definitely be going back for this.

2) Good service. We were seated outside (by choice), but never felt forgotten. The water glasses were never less than half full.

3) Unique and yummy food.  The menu was a mix of classics as well as more inventive dishes. Everything was delish.

4) Food allergies were labeled. Whether you are vegetarian, gluten-free or have a nut allergy, this restaurant had everything nicely labeled as such. Makes for easy ordering, and definitely a place I would take my in-laws.

The finale of the prix-fixe meal- chocolate peanut butter cake and chocolate mousse with strawberries.

Just lovely...  

Absentee Blogger Confessional

I have been missing around here for more than two weeks. I have a couple of really good excuses about where I've been, but first, I just want to reassure you that I'll do my very best to not abandon y'all without warning again. I'm sure my disappearance was traumatic for everyone.

One of the reasons that I was MIA was because my in-laws came into town a little over a week ago in order to celebrate my father-in-law's 60th birthday!! We had a blast hanging out with them in Bethesda and Washington, DC.  Here are a few of my favorite moments from our many celebrations together!

The Marine Corps Evening Parade is quite a spectacle, and it's a fun (and free) way to spend a Friday night in Washington, DC. Not to mention the fact that Eastern Market (the neighborhood in which the Barracks are located) is one of my favorite places in DC. Really amazing restaurants and fun shops line the main drag on 8th Street. We ate at Zest Bistro before the parade began, and I would definitely return. 

Another meal we shared together, however, was better than Zest. Founding Farmers was such a fun dining experience.  Their menu was so fresh (as their name implies) and inventive, but still reasonably priced... for this area, at least. The lively atmosphere and delicious Tinto Negro malbec we were drinking made us want to linger for quite awhile... so we did :)

Every birthday boy needs a cake, so for my Celiac-diagnosed father-in-law we had a dozen gluten-free cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake. Woah... those might have been better than their gluten-full counterparts. Unlawfully good... 

I will write a separate post about the National's baseball game (because they are SO much fun!) we attended, but we gave my FIL a t-shirt to wear so he could properly display his "natitude"!

There was also a very sad reason I've been missing for awhile... you can read about that here. 

Lunchbox Laboratory

Going to dinner at Lunchbox Laboratory was one of the last things we did in Seattle. This majorly retro burger place was fabulous! Not only was the food spectacular and creative, but Lunchbox Lab was gluten-free and vegetarian friendly. Why do I care, you ask? Although I am neither gluten-free or vegetarian, my father-in-law has Celiac Disease and I am a lover of veggie burgers (a leftover habit from when I really was a vegetarian for 7 years), so I am always on the lookout for both!

Now let me tell you why this veggie burger was the best I've EVER had... and I consider myself to be somewhat of a connoisseur! 

Most veggie burgers are veggie burger flavored- meaning that the usual suspects accompany said burger: lettuce or sprouts, tomato, onion, some sort of spread, various cheeses, and the occasional avocado slices. What made this veggie burger so remarkable is that I was able to have it with the accouterments of "The Tear Jerker" aka the spiciest burger on their menu. I LOVE mega spicy food, so a burger with some jalapenos, a little habanero mayo and "Satan's tears ketchup" was right up my ally. 

It actually hurt my mouth a bit to eat this magnificent veggie burger (it was that spicy!!!), but that is how I like things.  I'm a little wild sometimes...

My husband stuck with the traditional beef "Burger of the Gods," and I think he was nearly equally pleased with his selection.  

This is my main man with the yummy shake we shared for dessert!  Speaking of which, the shakes are why we ended up at Lunchbox in the first place. We came across this article and decided it sounded good enough to check out in person.

We ended up (at the suggestion of our wonderful waitress) getting the Boston Creme Pie shake with a shot of vanilla vodka... they call this 'boozy'! The small size was more than share-able for the two of us, but then again, I had just eaten the best veggie burger of my life. The shake was a great cool off for my mouth fire, not to mention extremely delicious.

To sum it up, this quirky (did I mention that most of their cocktails involve Tang? They take hipster/retro to a whole other level!) burger place exceeded my expectations.  Even the atmosphere- we sat outside in a sweet patio garden, across the street from a cute Lutheran church- was perfection. 

I wish Lunchbox Laboratory was on the East Coast!!!

Washington Things: Part 4

Last week I decided that I wanted to get something (food-wise) for my husband to take to the hospital for his 'team.'  People periodically bring things in for the group, and I think medical students should participate, too! Although, I was sort of using this as an excuse to check out cool local bakeries.  There was no way I was going to Taco Bell or Domino's Pizza to pick up my husband's contribution (although I'm sure they would've appreciated that, too).

After going online and researching cupcake bakeries and french pastry shops all around the Seattle/Tacoma area, I finally came across Top Pot.  Once I saw their tagline- "Hand-Forged Doughnuts", I knew this place was exactly what I was looking for.  What resident/intern/medical student/attending physician wouldn't want one of these bad boys at insert-ridiculous-time-of-day-here??

This was the top of the box... cute yet masculine. It felt like the packaging for a cool gift... and it was!

This was the precious cargo.  A dozen assorted 'hand-forged' doughnuts!  They have over 40 varieties that rotate through (I'm guessing they had about 20 different flavors available when I was there), so I spent quite a bit of time deciding on these. Aren't they pretty!?  Oh, and I heard they tasted amazing as well... the old fashioned salted caramel and the maple bar being two stand-outs. I think I'll pick some more up 'for the team' before we leave in two weeks!

This was the box of 'some more' that I picked up for my husband's last overnight call... I think they made the 27 hour shift a little more bearable!!

Washington Things: Part 3

In order to continue the theme of making our anniversary very true to our Seattle/Tacoma locale, I found some local 'champagne' (sparkling wine) to have with our cake.  In case you didn't notice from our first, first anniversary in February, cake and champagne together is one of my favorite things.

This 'champagne' comes from a division of Chateau Ste. Michelle, the quintessential Washington winery. It surprised me.  I paid $9 for the bottle at a local Trader Joe's, and at that price, I would definitely buy it again.  I am still partial towards Pommery (real Champagne), of course, but it is more than triple the price.

Also, I'm sure that our faux 'champagne' would've tasted better in actual crystal flutes. These are the glasses that are part of our kitchenette set-up. 

Anyhow, we really enjoyed having our cake and 'champagne' for breakfast!

Year Old Cake

In case you don't know, it is a tradition to save the top layer of wedding cake to eat on your first anniversary. It's supposed to be a sweet reminder of the wedding, and a chance to eat a full slice, rather than just a bite.

Usually, the cake is wrapped, frozen in the back of a freezer, and forgotten until the one year anniversary comes around.  Our poor top tier was not so fortunate.  Because of our transient lifestyle this year, our cake lived with my parents until this past week. Here is a little timeline of what this cake endured:

June 30, 2012- Cake sat out in a 90ish degree room for at least 5 hours (I'll do a throwback post about our      wedding day sometime soon) before being stored in my parent's freezer in Arlington, VA.

July 28, 2012- Cake moves from freezer in Arlington four hours away to my parent's new freezer in Norfolk, VA.

Novermber 2012- Cake moves 25 yards away to yet another new home/freezer at my parent's new home.

June 25, 2013- Cake arrives, semi-thawed in Seattle, WA. Box marked "fragile" is crushed in two places.

This is the end result of such trauma:

Big dent on the left, smooshed in various places across the top...

I had to explain all of that before I could talk about how it tasted because for having gone through all of that, it tasted pretty darn good.  However, it did not taste as good as it did in 2012 when it was one of the best cakes I've ever had in my life.  Almond cake with fresh raspberry buttercream gets a little soggy over time.  Who knew?

We shared a big slice and a bottle of 'champagne' for breakfast... it was the start of the perfect first anniversary!

Raspberry Pie

Yet another dessert I made last week! This is the last recipe, but one of the most special.  It's my husband's Grandma's recipe for raspberry pie.  I've taken a few liberties with her original recipe, though.  I hope she'd approve!

First of all, I start with a pastry crust instead of a graham cracker crust.  Just a matter of preference... I think pastry crusts hold up better to make pretty slices :)

Here are the other two ingredients I've changed.  Truwhip is a 'healthier' (everything is relative), gluten-free version of CoolWhip. Michael's Grandma had raspberry bushes from which she (or Michael) would pick fresh berries for her pies.  I don't have the same luxury, so I use frozen.  Just make sure to thaw them before folding them into the filling. The best part of using the frozen raspberries is that they make the pie a pretty pink color... my husband doesn't appreciate this marvel as much as I do...

Here is my/her recipe:

Ingredients:

1 prepared pie crust (pastry or graham cracker)

1 bag of small marshmallows (her recipe calls for 30 large ones, but I think the little ones melt easier)

1/2 Cup milk 

2+ Cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) raspberries

1 tub of Truwhip (or Cool Whip if you must) thawed

Melt the marshmallows with the milk over a double boiler....

This can take a little time, but again, the process is helped along by using the little marshmallows.

Keep stirring....

Oh thank goodness, my arm was cramping (just kidding... maybe)... 

Allow the melted marshmallows to cool.

Fold the Truwhip and marshmallows together. 

Fold in the thawed (if a lot of liquid comes from the berries, drain them a little) raspberries.

Pour the filling mixture into the baked pie crust.  Refrigerate for a few hours before serving cold.

Yummy!!

Key Lime Pie

Last week I also made a key lime pie. Y'all are probably wondering who ate all of the desserts (Rum Cake, Peach Cake, and Raspberry Pie) I made within the past few days.  Actually, you probably don't really care, but I'll tell you anyhow :)

Last weekend was the family reunion of my mother's paternal side, The Peeples. No family reunion would be complete without tons of southern food, so I happily handled most of the desserts. Others brought things like pimento cheese, boiled peanuts, and South Carolina BBQ. I was in food heaven... or maybe a food coma... what I'm trying to say is that I should probably be juicing more! Oh wait, I live in a hotel room... more on that later!

Getting back on track- This was the only dessert I made that didn't come from my own recipe or a family recipe, simply because I don't think it gets any better than Emeril's Recipe.  Its the perfect balance of creamy and sweet and tart and crunchy.  Here are a few photos from when I made this yummy pie!

Graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter mixed together

The crust before baking

The ingredients for the filling (it really doesn't get any easier than this!)

Sour cream mixed with powdered sugar

The finished pie! MMMMM!

Rum Cake

This is the other cake that I made today (my mother and I are trying to get a head start on cooking for our family reunion that is coming up this weekend). It's much simpler to make than the Peach Cake, but has even more nostalgia associated with it.

This is one of many original recipe cards written by my great-grandmother, ReRe. She became known for making this cake, and therefore transcribed the recipe (complete with the note about instant vanilla pudding mix: "the kind you don't cook") for many friends and family members.  I love this recipe so much that I baked about 100 miniature cakes to give away in the gift bags at our wedding last summer.  So, thanks ReRe for your awesome Rum Cake recipe.  I miss you!

Ingredients:

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix*

1 Box Vanilla Pudding Mix

1/2 Cup Rum

1/2 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Oil

3 Eggs

*the quantity in boxes of cake mix has decreased since ReRe first wrote this recipe, so I added an additional 1/3 Cup or so from another box of yellow cake mix I had on hand.  However, I think the cake would turn out just fine as is... I was just being cautious.

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees.

Mix the cake mix and pudding mix together in a bowl with a whisk.  Stir in the rum, water, and oil.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Pour the batter into a oiled (or buttered) and floured tube or bundt pan.  Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or when a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the rum glaze.

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 Cup) butter

2/3 Cup Rum

1/3 Cup Water

1 Cup Sugar

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a bubble over medium heat. Remove from heat.

After allowing the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, turn it out onto a sheet pan with raised edges.

Poke small holes all over the top of the cake using a toothpick.  Slowly spoon the glaze over the top of the cake.  Allow to cool completely before serving.

*Note: This cake only gets better with time.  I always make it at least one or two days ahead of when I want to serve it.

Peach Cake

Two things:
1) This was my most successful attempt thus far at remembering to take process photos throughout a recipe... enjoy!
2) This cake is so incredible... enjoy!

Peel about 10 peaches, savoring the scent as you go... this reminds me of summers at my maternal grandparents' home in Greer, SC.  There are many peach orchards nearby, so nearly every morning when I would walk into the kitchen the sweet scent of freshly cut peaches would welcome me.  Basically, if you have yet to experience the fragrance of fresh peaches, y'all are missing out big time! 

Anyways, cut the fruit off of the pits.  Reserve 1/2 Cup of the peaches.

Dice up the rest of the peaches (should yield about 2 cups, give or take a little).

Now you have all of your ingredients for this lovely cake!

3 Cups Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 Sticks (1 Cup) Butter

1 3/4 Cup Sugar

4 Eggs

2 Vanilla Beans (the caviar scraped out)

1 Cup Sour Cream

2 Cups Peaches

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Set the bowl aside for the time being.

Action shot alert!  Cream the softened butter in a stand mixer.

Add the sugar to the butter and mix until its light and fluffy.

*not pictured* add the eggs one at a time, mixing well with each addition

Slice the vanilla beans in half, lengthwise, and scrape out the caviar with the back of your knife.  Add all of the vanilla caviar to the egg, butter and sugar mixture.

See all the little vanilla specks?! That means it's gonna taste super yummy...

Alternate adding the flour and sour cream to the batter in small increments, starting and ending with flour.

The batter should end up smooth and thick and creamy and speckled.

Pour half of the batter into an oiled (or buttered) and floured tube pan (or bundt pan).

Sprinkle the diced peaches evenly on top of the batter.

Cover the peaches with the remaining cake batter.

Place the cake in the oven and set the timer for an hour.

While the cake is baking, you make the glaze to pour over the cake.

Take the reserved 1/2 Cup of peaches, and blend them in a food processor or blender until completely smooth.

Stir the puree through a mesh strainer to remove any excess pulp.

Place the peach juice/puree into a small saucepan with 1/2 stick (1/4 Cup) of butter and 2/3 Cup of sugar. Stir all ingredients together on medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.  Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 Tbs of pure vanilla extract. 

After allowing the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, turn it out onto a rack set over a sheet pan with raised edges.

Take your time brushing or spooning the glaze over the entire cake, allowing the syrup to soak in a little before spreading more.

Once the cake has cooled, it is ready to serve! 

Fresh whipped cream (only slightly sweetened) would make this even more decadent and beautiful.