Bento

I am not super familiar with making Bento boxes, but I do like rice, and this lunchbox.

Favorite Places to Eat

I was watching the Food Network show, "Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives", last night and thought I might start to chronicle some of my favorite places to eat in the United States. Here are some of my favorites. I will update them periodically:

(in no particular order)

In Baltimore:

Friends - Fells Point - best crab cakes in town, blackened catfish sandwich, best crab dip anywhere
Helen's Garden - Canton - good crab dip and overall a bright and sunny place to dine. Staff is super nice and give excellent wine recommendations
Dangerously Delicious Pies - Federal Hill - sweet and savories. The coconut cream pie here rocks.
Birches - Canton - awesome comfort food in a comforting setting
Waterfront - Fells Point - 15 dollar steak nights on Wednesdays
Holy Frijoles - Hampden - cheap Mexican
The Golden West - Hampden - good brunch, better tater tots
Blue Moon - Fells Point - the best cinnamon rolls and hash browns on earth

In DC:

Ben's Chili Bowl - near the 930 club - yummy chili dogs and cheese fries
Fogo De Chao - fancy neighborhood - this is a chain, but it serves up some of the best meat I've ever tasted

Other restaurants of note:

Slice of Pie - Rolla, MO - Sweet and savories. Try a slice of the Tahitian. You won't be disappointed
Dixie Diner - Texarkana, TX - previously reviewed
NOLA - New Orleans, LA - Classic southern. An Emeril's Restaurant
Jestine's Kitchen - Charleston, SC - The best fried chicken and pecan pie I've ever tasted
Magnolia Bakery and Sugar Sweet Sunshine - New York City - My favorite cupcakes.
Katz' Deli - New York City - homemade pickles, hot dogs, and corned beef
Zoe's Garden - Seattle, WA - Awesome place to eat dinner. Inventive and good tasting menu all around. Super nice staff.
That Vietnamese Place That Makes the Hum Bow - Seattle, WA Farmer's Market - These little rolls filled with bbq pork are awesome. I don't know if that's how you spell "hum bow" though.
La Panier - Seattle, WA Farmer's Market - awesome macaroons and lattes
Cafe Du Monde - New Orleans, LA - coffee and beignets
Michael's Pub - Omaha, Nebraska - good flatbread pizzas for lunch
Bangkok Cuisine - Omaha, Nebraska - You wouldn't think this would be a good town for Thai food, but it has some of the best hot soup ever!
Voodoo Donut - Portland, OR - interesting donut flavors like Captain Crunch and Pixie Stick

I'll add more as I remember more places. There was this bbq joint in North Carolina I went to last year that was totally kick ass. And, if any of you are going to Charleston, SC anytime soon, please bring me back some fried chicken and pecan pie. Thanks.

Kitchen Wish List and Tips

I spent most of this holiday weekend either preparing, eating, or thinking about food. May I just say that Wegman's is the best grocery store ever. Quality baked goods and meats at affordable prices. Thank you Wegman's store inventor. Thank you.

I also was reading my new cookbook, "The Best New Recipes". It was written by the people who write Cook's Illustrated Magazine and also produce the show, "America's Test Kitchen" for PBS.

While reading through this book, I realize there are still a few things I would eventually like to have in my kitchen. I also understand that this goes against my previous post about the minimalist kitchen, but not really. They are the following:

- A dutch oven, preferablly 6 quart
- An instant read thermometer
- A roasting pan with a V-rack
- Ramekins
- A large frying pan (not non-stick)

This cookbook is an education. I read through a fair amount of the book this weekend and have already discovered these helpful hints:

- When hulling strawberries or pitting cherries, use a drinking straw. It really worked for the cherries I pitted last night.

- When measuring shortening, line the measuring cup with plastic wrap, and then simply lift the shortening out of it.

- If placing flour into a standing mixer, cover it with a towel to keep the flour from gracing your countertops when you turn on the mixer.

Those were my favorite helpful hints. I'll let you know about more as I think of them.

Through the Looking Glass

The season finale of Lost aired last night. I find that I've been thinking about it all morning. Maybe it's because the makeup department did such a shitty job on Jack's beard, or because I can't figure out for sure who the hell was in the coffin, but they are taking this show in a different direction now. Things noticed/observed on message boards:

-The name of the funeral parlor was an anagram for "flash forward"
-Jack really crumpled up that obituary
-The symbol for the looking glass station is a bunny
-Kate wears alot of makeup in the present. It's like she's making up for not being able to wear it on the island.

My thoughts for the future:

-The boat was sent by Penny's Dad and includes original DHARMA members who are coming back to the island to reclaim it and kill the "natives".
-Kate was with Sawyer in the future. I'm guessing Jack did something to push her away.
-Jack's Dad is still dead, he was just to hopped up on pills to remember.
-Ben or Michael was the person in the coffin.
-Walt was still on the island.
-Locke doesn't leave the island.


I'm hoping that next season (which isn't for nine long months), they'll come back to the Libby story.

While I still think that the first season of Lost was the best, I have to admit to being intrigued by this season. I'm really liking the Alice in Wonderland angle. They won me back a little last night, and definitely did a good job playing the old switcheroo.

Hilarious

I am lucky to have HBO in my life. I didn't for a very long time. One Friday night, my husband and I stumbled upon the Louis CK special, Shameless. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a super long time.

It's coming out on DVD soon. You should watch it if you get the chance.

Read an article about Mr. CK's opinions of Barbara Walters and hear him discuss the cancellation of his awesome tv show, Lucky Louie here.

Cute Animals from Down Under

Deep under the ocean, that is...I grabbed these from this article in the New York Times. I don't know what any of them do, but I think it's cool that the one guy looks like he's wearing sneakers.

More images (including those of super scary fish not seen here) can be found in the book, “The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss” by Claire Nouvian/Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Another Fun Show Cancelled

I wouldn't call it brilliant, but the past few seasons of Veronica Mars sure have been a joy to watch. She's witty and smart, like Penny from inspector gadget, only sassy. I found out today that it's been cancelled.

I have been trying to get my friends to watch this show for a while now. Guess they'll have to wait for the DVD.

Homeowners

If you would've told me when I was 21 that I would eventually buy a townhouse in the suburbs, I would've laughed at you.

But, that's exactly what my husband and I did this week. We are the proud almost owners of a kick ass kitchen.

And other rooms too, of course.

Pics to follow shortly.

New Painting

I love to knit and paint (and play the piano when I'm around one). I've been painting since I was old enough to fingerpaint on my little picnic table. When I was in college, I painted alot of nature type subjects. I decided to take painting classes again, but wanted to get away from painting flowers all the time.

Enter my cd collages. I had been in a frenzy of making cd covers for the Christmas mixes for my friends. My husband suggested that I start painting my collages to help me start on a new path. I'm not the most prolific painter in the world, but I have made two pretty successful ones so far. Above will be my next project. I'm going to delete Superman out of it because I think it will look more interesting without him (also, I don't feel like painting him. This one is going to be difficult enough)

Below are my other two endeavors. I'm pretty proud of them. They've encouraged me to paint people more often, which I had never really done before.

"Not something the eye sees"




Untitled



I promise to keep my five readers updated on this latest endeavor. I haven't given up on my cupcake paintings,either. I figure they'll be a nice break from this latest one, when I need it. I finished another cupcake last night, as a matter of fact!

No-Frills Kitchen

I just read this article from the New York Times.

I'm a big fan of flipping through the Williams-Sonoma catalog each season, but am always asking myself "Who buys a 500 dollar panini maker?" I really like they're 1,000 dollar knife sets, but do you really need to spend that much on a bunch of things to cut your food?

This article made me feel better about using my old pots and pans (with a few new ones mixed in), and not feeling sad about not having an entire set of those fancy French ones. I do own a stand mixer, and I wouldn't give it up for all the counterspace in the world.

Now, if only I could find one of these restaurant supply stores in Baltimore.

American Girl Posse

I have been listening to the new Tori Amos for a little over a week now. If you are a Tori fan, and have given up on her over the last few studio albums, I encourage you to listen to this record.

But, I realize I'm preaching to the choir, so to speak. Because, if you like Tori Amos, then you forgive her for producing crap these past few years, as I have.

This is definitely her strongest effort in years, and my favorite since "Boys for Pele".

So, if you like her music, I highly recommend this record. And, if you don't like her, well, that's less people I'll have in front of me in line waiting to buy tickets for the concert.

Update

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy looking for a house without textured ceilings, enjoying the sounds and smells of spring, listening to the new Tori Amos record, and watching the Orioles win and lose baseball games.

I promise I'll have something interesting to say soon.

Terrible

This is why people don't like Americans.

Or (probably) fat, overweight, spoiled, dickhead, bmw driving, asshole judges.