My weekend
Well Saturday was the BACA clean up which Caryn over the BACA blog mentions the
turnout was low. Well I didn't help matters by not posting the announcement earlier, though I got it earlier. Also there were supposed to be fliers about it, but of a neighborhood of our size flier distribution takes a while. Yes, it doesn't seem like it but you never realize how many friggin' houses are just on one side of the street until you have to place a flier in every single one of those doors. Personally, I don't care for the stuff the flier in the fence method, as the wind can take those away. I took on the top triangular part of the TC till my bag got ripped. There wasn't much to do as we have a few neighbors who regularly clean the sidewalks.
Before I picked up my bag I was walking with Brett to 1st & P, where BACA normally starts these things, trying to explain the "Broken Window" theory and why clean ups are important. I'm hoping B. was playing Devil's advocate when he questioned the effectiveness of a clean up and the 'broken windows' theory. Quick summary, trash adds to the perception of crime and disorder.
After the clean up I ran my usual Saturday errands, one being the warehouse area on Florida Ave NE. At
US Beef I ran into
Ms. Frozen Tropics, Elise, who had a hunk of meat for carnitas. I had a bag full of drumsticks for curry, two pounds of butter, for making ghee, and a frozen boneless lamb. I mentioned that the frozen whole chicken there was rubbery, but the fresh chicken was quite good. Elise mentioned she was going to hit
Mexican Fruit next for limes. But there were limes near the register at US Beef and I had already been to Mexican Fruit, whose limes were lackluster that day, so we both picked up bags of lemons and limes. I was going to make marmalade, Elise margaritas. Somewhere in the middle of that a friend of Elise came up with a small tub of tofu from a nearby store. I expressed my confusion with the warehouse area of knowing which stores will sell to you. Apparently there is a tofu place between US Beef and Sam Wang, you go up to the window, you tell the guy you want the white tub, and for $4 you get a small gallonish tub of tofu. Half shopping experience. Half speakeasy.
Sunday, was chicken Sunday. Chicken stock. Chicken Marsala. Chicken Biryani. Buttery Chicken. And chicken curry. Somewhere in there I decided to clean 1/2 of my alley, with some help from a neighbor. The street was busy with open houses. The house that was under contract, is back on the market. Then a new neighbor has decided to move to the west coast and rent out his house so there were people dropping by to check the place out.
Labels: BACA, Capital City Market, food/dining, trash
Boundary Stone Tavern/Pub
Well Scott Roberts has
a much better description of the proposed pub for Bloomingdale because the man knows what questions to ask. All I asked about was noise, because the rear of the location backs up to several residential bedrooms. I was told that they expect to keep the noise on Rhode Island Ave., not a quiet street mind you.
You can ask what the heck is this photo I have attached here. Well, it is the cool looking tin ceiling that is hidden behind the dropped ceiling at 116 Rhode Island Avenue NW/Boundary Stone. What the owners would like to do (provided they get approved for the liquor license) is put in a mezzanine as there is about 10-11 extra feet in some spots. The building housing this proposed pub is in the former Sylvan Theater and the landlord for this building seems to be amenable to improving and adding value to his property (as opposed to some other commercial landowners who are crazy).
The pub owners are hopeful about when they may be able to make this come to life. But before any of that there is the ABC liquor dance between the ANC, the neighbors and the owners. The ANC will (regardless of support) protest the license, the owners will agree to a voluntary agreement, someone will go on and on about how there will be drunkards in the streets and that we don't need more liquor in our neighborhood.
PoP also has
a post on this too.
Labels: Bloomingdale/Eckington, business, food/dining
Can I boycott a place I'd probably never get to
Some of ya'll are aware of the
kerfuffle regarding U Street Girl and the owner of a wine bar
threatened legal action. She has recommended that others join her in not patronizing or promoting the 14th Street business. Okay.
I totally agree on principle, but honestly I haven't even gotten to the wine bars I actually want to go to, like Cork, so I don't know what use that would be. Also as a fan of redemption and forgiveness I hope that the owner of Du Vin Osteria, David Shott, will make an honest effort to undo the damage done.
Hopefully, we'll have none of that in nearby (to me) Bloomingdale. Tonight there is going to be an
open house Q&A for a proposed bar/pub/wateringhole at 116 Rhode Island Ave NW between 6 and 8pm. I guess it would be a good place to unwind after some
yoga 'round the corner. Seriously, I'm looking forward to the development, growth and appearances of all the small businesses in the Bloomingdale and eastern Shaw area.
Labels: blog, business, development, events, food/dining
Big Bear Beer II
Sometime after all the youth/school related stuff at the BACA meeting, about an hour into it, we finally got to Big Bear and their general ideas of pursuing an ABC liquor license. There were two persons from Bog Bear, one being Matt Sellers, the other guy a blond barista... now if it is a guy do you call them baristas? Not baristos?
Anyway. Big Bear is aiming for a
CR license. For those of you unfamiliar with the wonderful world of ABC licenses, a class C Restaurant license is one for places where at least 45% of revenues come from food sales. It is different from the class of licenses for bars or corner markets. The was one objection mentioned, coming from a Baptist minister, presenting his concerns about people getting drunk and hanging out in the park. This was countered by the Episcopalian church secretary reminding him of Jesus' first miracle at the wedding at Cana, turning water into wine.
There were questions about Big Bear expanding and the space they have. The bear is kind of landlocked and the space above is leased to tenants, so in the near future, nope. Maybe, years down the road. Another question was the issue of vagrants/ neighbor characters. Characters do drop by to get a glass of water and to use the bathroom and for the most part they don't cause a problem.
The idea is Big Bear has a vibe as a cafe, hang out and they have no intention of becoming a bar, they just want to expand their food service options. I asked the barista (m) if the idea is to offer something like Teaism, and he answered in the affirmative. As far as I can tell despite having a small park area and a restaurant/bar across the street, the Penn Quarter Teaism fails to produce drunkards rolling out of its doors.
Labels: BACA, Bloomingdale/Eckington, food/dining
Big Bear Beer?
I noticed this in the announcement for today's BACA meeting:
(b) Ms. Elizabeth Lyttleton, an Eckington resident who provides occasional consulting services to Big Bear Café, asked for time on our agenda to apprise our group of the status of the cafe’s current efforts to acquire a license from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. I am advised that Ms. Lyttleton developed a scheduling conflict that won’t allow her to attend Monday’s meeting in person; however, she plans to identify someone else to make her expected presentation and to answer any questions that it might generate.
TODAY! 7PM Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, in the basement cafeteria.
Labels: BACA, food/dining
Safeway at RI and 4th NE
Really I should stay of this. But the store that was closed for a short period due to a
rat infestation. It is a store at the top of the hill and about 1/4 of a mile from the Giant near the Rhode Island metro station. I've been in the Giant a few times. I know people hate it. I've been okay with it, but haven't been in enough times to say if it's any worse than the O Street Giant. I've been in that Safeway once and haven't felt any deep need to return.
So on the listservs there is this clamoring to keep the Safeway from closing. Harry Thomas has gotten involved. There is some sort of petition for a Harris Teeter.
Okay, someone enlighten me. Someone 'splain to me how the politicos are supposed to convince a private business to land on top the same old unprofitable rat's nest? As
Safeway said they aren't making enough money in that spot, how is a Teet supposed to make it work?
Anyway good luck with that, but since a
Harris Teeter is slated to open near the NY Ave metro, I don't see one popping up anytime soon 1 mile away.
Labels: food/dining, politics
News from other blogs or Friday Misc.
Over in Bloomingdale The Yoga District is having a mommy & me, but with a more inclusive title of
Family Yoga and Community Playtime.
The Great Scott Roberts also mentioned some
tasty info he got from a Bloomingdale restaurant hopefully to come at NJ & R.
According to WashBiz Journal, Beau Thai, a carry out, is due to open in March, hopefully, maybe, fingers crossed.
Speaking of restaurants on R, anyone know what's going on with 6th and R for the proposed
Toque Cafe? I've noticed a change of windows and the application of paper over the windows, so I hope there is something good going on behind the paper.
Over here in the TC, the
BACA blog tells that there will be a grand opening of the
Eckstine and Ellington Theatre at the Dorothy I Height Community Academy Public Charter Schools (CAPCS)school, also known as Armstrong, this weekend.
have a great weekend y'all.
Labels: Bloomingdale/Eckington, business, development, events, food/dining, kids
Waggamama
I'm thinking about lunch, and my lunch buddy just cancelled on me. We were going to check out one of the nearby places for Restaurant Week. It's cold and so I'm going to eat at the desk.
Anyway food got me wondering about Waggamama. The signs are still up on the windows on 7th Street, but so far no change.
Checked the website and it appears they will open Septemeber 2010.
Labels: business, food/dining
Say it ain't so- Vegetate Leaving
Oh no!
CCCA reports that Vegetate is leaving us. Their lease is up and they are investigating a new location. Where? Dunno.
It was about 4 years ago the neighborhood was battling for the restaurant against the protestations of Shiloh Baptist Church. In the years they have been on 9th Street I've enjoyed their veggie burger sliders. They've also been the go to option when I or friends of mine were abstaining from meat for Lent or other fasts, but we weren't abstaining from fine dining.
Labels: food/dining
Friday Misc pt 2
Now I remember that other thing, Painted Hand Farm, which has a booth at the Bloomingdale Farmers Market got a
write up in the Wednesday Food section (hey at least something survived the revamp). The article "Veal, cast in a kinder light," by Jane Black mainly talks about another farmer, but Sandy Miller gets some mention and a photo with two male calves. Also at her stall at the BFM she sells her neighbor's Keswick cheeses and pudding. As the weather cools I'll be making veal stock and I'll be needing Painted Hand's bones.
Labels: farmers markets, food/dining
Mo Thai?
Don't get me wrong, I do love Thai X-ing, but most of the time I lack the forethought to get my order in early enough before Taw gets too busy and stops taking new orders. So I turn to Royal Thai or Kanlaya in Gallery Place as both places deliver to my hood. Anyway quickly looking at the CCCA Agenda for October 27, I see something interesting.
Ralph Brabham will speak on behalf of the restaurateur planning to open Beau Thai, a new Shaw restaurant with outdoor seating on the 400 block of R St NW
However, isn't there an apartment under that proposed restuarant?
Labels: business, food/dining
Couple of weekend things
Several communities near and in Shaw will be having clean ups. In the Truxton part of Shaw on the 22nd is the Bates Area Clean Up to take place between 10AM and 1PM. One may gather at 1st and P. Now the thing about this clean up is you can join a group and clean up, over at 1st and P and work your way from that point. Or you can clean up your own street, sidewalk, front yard, whatever. The idea is to clean up and beautify the neighborhood.
From Anita:
Dear Neighbors,
This is a friendly reminder that our individual undivided attention is needed in front of our homes, the sidewalks, curbs and gutter, alleyways, treeboxes and flower gardens. Additionally, we can do "first-hand observation about the appearance and safety features requiring service in our community" -- areas missing grass, broken sidewalks, overrun tree boxes, inoperative fire hydrants, etc. Lets join together in the Neighborhood Clean up by giving whatever amount of time you can spare to helping to keep our community clean, safe and a great place to live for all.
Since I had mentioned canning this week and since I have a novice's idea of what I'm doing, may I suggest the canning lecture at the Historical Society (801 K Street, NW) at 1PM (yeah you can do it right after cleaning the community). Specifically it's called Family Urban Gardening: Cooking & Preserving Summer Bounties.
Labels: events, food/dining
Can Can
Yesterday at the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market I ran into MVSQ's Si and mentioned I was going to buy 20-some odd pounds of tomatoes to can. On the Eckington Listserv or was it Scotts Bloomingdale list there was an announcement that one of the vendors was selling a box of tomatoes for $12. I started talking about my plans for canning and Si said I need to blog about it. So, here's the first.
Supplies- I picked up my canning kit some time ago at the
5th Street Hardware store. They didn't have it in stock so they ordered it for me and I picked it up several days later. It's the Ball Canning Kit
item # 6096606 and it comes with everything you need for hot water canning and costs about $55 bucks. I also grabbed some 1/2 pint and 1 pint jars from the store as well. The kit comes with the Ball Blue Book Canning Guide, which is how I sort of figured out WTF I'm doing.
So that afternoon I had Mrs.
DC Education Blog, BL, come over so the near sighted could lead the blind. I had already canned a lot of strawberry vanilla fruit spread, some pineapples and some peaches. And so BL came to see how this canning thing is done.
I had already pealed and sorta quartered and sort of seeded the tomatoes when she came. They were of the seedy variety and at a certain point I gave up on trying to get all the seeds. I discovered I didn't have to wait long, or for the skins to crack, after letting them bob around in boiling water and then dunking them in ice cold water. Too long in the boiling water and those puppies cooked in their skins, scalding my hands when I went to peel, core and deseed them.
Okay this post is getting long, so I'll do a part two later.
Labels: farmers markets, food/dining
Shaw Homestead Report
No, that's not my yard, but the amazing front yard garden on 8th Street near the Giant. Comparatively, my yard is sort of disappointing. The tomatoes are just plants. A few sport some small green globes. So far I'm doing very well with arugula and I've been giving away the salad to friends and neighbors. Another salad item I've got going gangbusters in the yard is purslane. I saw it at the Mexican Fruit Stand and found out it is called 'Verdolagas'. But no need to buy it as I have tons of it. I just have to avoid steeping on it, and the arugula.
I also have growing cucumbers, beans, sage and a bunch of other herbs. The cukes are weird. I bought a particular variety of cucumber that formed softly furred baby cukes. The other plant (I swear from the same seed) has fruit with hard spikes.
I, like many it appears, have started experiementing with canning. My excuse is, I'm running out of room in my freezer and would like to remove the things that can be canned. I ordered a hot water canning kit from the
5th Street Hardware Store, then went back later to pick up the last set of 1/2 pint canning jars they had on the shelf. I'm hoping that if and when my tomatoes do come, I can can them. So far I've canned a banana rum jam and some peaches from a neighbor's yard. I'm still looking at the jars carefully to make sure I did it right. 72 hours and so far so good. I would can the cherries, but my favorite form of preservation is to soak them in vodka. I'm trying to see if the drunken cherries are somewhat shelf stable. Problem is I keep eating them.
Speaking of canning there are
a few articles in today's Post's
Food Section. One on 14th & U and Bloomingdale farmer's market vendor,
Stefano Figerio. Stefano's pastas are taking up space in my freezer, which is why I must can.
And some dissappointing news about food,
organic isn't as organic as we'd like. And if you really want to depress yourself (or not, depends on you) here's
a big ole organic agri-business chart. Last word, which makes this mess so sad, I was overhearing a conversation between a shopper and one of the farmers at the farmer's market. She wanted to know if the veggies were organic. The farmer tried explaining that he couldn't use that word "organic" because of the USDA rules and what not, but yes, no pesticides or unnatural fertilizers.
Labels: farmers markets, food/dining, gardening
Fringe Festival Item: A Tactile Dinner
Weird but good. I enjoyed it.
There was an announcement that went up on the
MVSQ blog about a preview for this... thing. So I went, not really knowing what to expect except that it was about food. I like food.
Food was deconstructed and the audience was the participant. No sitting back and just observing. It was a
futurist meal. We "ate" beef (or mushroom if vegetarian) air, had salad (locally grown) without the aid of forks and knives, had a sugar cube course, and ended the meal with a spray of coffee or tea. Throw in some dance, and wrap it in
futurism and a good time was had.
Labels: Art, events, food/dining
Fun with booze and farmer's market
I'm running out of "drunken cherries" for my chocolate ice cream with drunken cherries. My 'drunken cherries' are cherries that have been soaking in sugar and vodka for 3 months. The purpose of which is to make a cherry liquor. Depending on how it turns out, because the two batches I made several months ago tasted different. One tasted more like a cherry sugar syrup, the other like a upscale NyQuil. I blame the bottle and not so tight cap (and spill) and the off season supermarket cherries.
Anyway, this time around cherries from the farmers market! And Stoli! I have two new batches waiting to sit around for 3 months. I hope to make a small 3rd batch, using the farmer's market cherries, the organic vodka I got from Bloomingdale Liquors sometime back, and maybe some Florida Crystals, depending on how much those crystals cost.
The basic recipe, should you want to make some is:
1/2 pound of Bing cherries, unblemished and stems removed
1/2 pound of sugar
2 cups of vodka
Place cherries in quart (?) sized jar, pour sugar on cherries, pour in vodka. Cover, seal, whatever, and label. Leave on top of refrigerator for 3 months without touching or shaking or messing with.
If there are strawberries still available I will play with the idea of making a strawberry liquor. I have a blueberry liquor that I have yet to strain, and decide if it worth trying to make again when blueberries come into season.
Labels: farmers markets, food/dining
BFM on NPR's Morning Edition
This morning I awoke to the sound of thunder and went back to sleep. Then the clock radio clicked on, and I tried fighting not going back to sleep, and then a story caught my groggy attention. Listen to local resident and NPR reporter, Neda Ulaby's
report about our dear Bloomingdale Farmer's Market. You'll hear the voices of other locals Ted Mcginn, Robin Schuster, and Scott Roberts.
It is amazing how the area (though not in the TC I'm claiming it) got this wonderful market. It's got kids and dogs and so far so good with that. I've said it before the market has a great atmosphere, that I haven't experienced at some of the other DC markets. Dupont has a lot of great stuff, but OMG is it crowded. I ran into one in Georgetown it was rinky-dink, but then again it was closing down when I showed up. and the farmer's market (this was a while ago so it may have changed) near the Department of Ag, felt lacking. And Penn Quarter's farmers market, where I'm heading to after work, is good, but not the same.
I'm still loving the strawberries that are in season. I still have some waiting for turning into a strawberry spread, loosely based on
Copper Pot's recipe
seen on Fox 5. I halved all the ingredients, including the time but except the vanilla, and use the spread to make strawberry ice cream. The jellies Stefano Frigerio (Mr. Copper Pot) sells is firmer, more jell-y. Didn't see him last week at BFM, so I'll be keeping an eye out for him this weekend as his pasta sauces are wonderful.
Labels: Bloomingdale/Eckington, farmers markets, food/dining, media
Using Duck Eggs To Make Super Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
I blogged about how the duck eggs made my chocolate ice cream so rich it was like a brownie that melted in my mouth. Here's the recipe:
Adapted from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop"
Chocolate Ice Cream
2 cups of heavy cream*
3-5 Tbls of cocoa powder**
5 ounces of 100% Cocao/ bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup of milk***
3/4 cups of sugar
1/4 tsp of salt****
4 Mallard Duck egg yolks
1 chicken egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Warm 1 cup of cream in small pot with 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Try to eliminate or avoid clumps. Get it too a boil then bring down heat to a simmer for 30 seconds, while whisking. Remove from stove and add chocolate. Here is where I had problems where the mix refused to get smooth, separating into solid and oil, so I added more cocoa powder and cream, watered down with milk. Stir with spoon to get smooth. Transfer to a big heatproof bowl.
In that same pot heat milk, sugar and salt. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks. Slowly add heated milk mix to eggs. Start with a few tablespoons of milk and whisk, then move up to 1/4 cup of milk and whisk. Then take milk egg mix and pour back into pot. Slowly heat while stirring to make a custard. When it coats the back of the spoon, remove from heat and keep stirring.
Place a mesh strainer over the bowl with the chocolate and pour custard into bowl through the mesh. The mesh will capture big clumps of custard. Add vanilla. Take bowl and put in ice bath, or in my case set on top of ice pak. When decently cooled, place in fridge.
After about 12 hours has past, put in ice cream maker and churn.
* The first cup I used cream, the cream used later was more like half and half.
** original recipe called for 3, I added more later.
*** original recipe called for whole milk, I used 2%.
**** original recipe called for a pinch, I add more to keep my ice creams from being too hard and solid. Booze is better at this, but salt is more child friendly.
Labels: food/dining
Duck eggs
Sadly there were no duck eggs at the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market today when I showed up. They were available yesterday at the 14th & U market, but I didn't buy any there.
So what's the deal with duck eggs and how are they different from the chicken eggs?
When I first bought them all I was told was that bakers love duck eggs. Ok. When cooking with them, when I made scones, the only difference I noticed was they were bigger and seem to have more yolk. When I made straight scrambled eggs, I didn't care for them. But when I made ice cream, and I primarily used duck eggs there was a noticeable difference.
The ice cream recipe called for 5 egg yolks. I used 1 chicken egg and 4 duck eggs. When separating the white from the yolk, the egg was thick like a hair gel and the white didn't separate easily. I had to run my finger down the side of the broken shell to get the white to drop. After the duck eggs, I did the chicken egg, and it was like water. I followed the rest of the recipe and set the mix in the fridge overnight. When I took the mixture out and poured it into the ice cream maker it was like pudding. Really thick pudding. The finished product, chocolate ice cream, was like a frozen brownie that melted in your mouth.
Labels: farmers markets, food/dining
A mix of cheap and pricey
Maybe I would make sense to a marketer, or not. I love the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market (
this week's info at BACA Blog) and I will buy several items from the vendors there, even though they are more expensive than products I'd get at a regular supermarket. However, the quality most of the time is superior to the Giant or Safeway and neither of those places give me the experience of chatting with the producers.
On the other end, I shop at the messy and chaotic
Florida Market where I get items from the Mexican Fruit Stand. I complained to my roommate that the avocado I bought there cost me a whole $1. Last week it was 50 cents. It seems that avocados are supposed to be more than $1. I've been spoiled. The fruit stand is where I get my onions, garlic, potatoes, pineapples, bananas, mangoes, lemons and limes. I go through a lot of lemons and limes. Sometimes I do spot organic items at the fruit stand, most of the time, not.
Where quality matters I may go with the local and organic items. When I'm probably going to boil the bejeezus out of them or they will get lost in the background of other flavors, I'll go with the cheaper items. But the way I see it, the cheaper stuff saves me money so I can buy the higher quality items.
Labels: Capital City Market, farmers markets, food/dining
