Gazpacho mi casa

Earlier this week I was in the mood to cook.  I also was craving one of my favorite restaurants, Jaleo.   Thus, I decided the perfect remedy would be to recreate a little Jaleo in my own house. 

The Washington Post published José Andrés Gazpacho recipe and I discovered this about a year ago.  It is to die for!  I munched on olives from the Harris Teeter olive bar while I chopped and blended this cold Spanish soup.  Oh oh and since it’s mostly veggies its supurb for people watching their figure!

First, I peeled and sliced a cucumber, quartered 10 plum tomatoes, and diced a bell pepper.

 

Since I do not own a food processor (Mother’s Day gift idea?  hint hint!)  I used my trust blender I purchased from CVS in my single days.  I actually blended things in two batches to avoid decorating my kitchen with plum tomatoes.

Throw in some minced garlic, salt, quarter cup of water, and sherry vinegar.  If you are like me and dont have sherry vinegar, use 3 parts cooking sherry to one part vinegar and it tastes just fine. 

 

Blend blend blend!  This is also when baby girl starts screaming.  This is also when you add 3/4 cup of olive oil to the blending veggies, after you comfort your screaming child of course. 

 

When every last piece has been blended together, pour mixture through a strainer.  Or if you are lazy, just leave it.  The taste is the same but the texture IS more pleasing when you mesh it through a strainer.  Then place in the fridge.  Gazpacho is the BEST when it is cold cold cold.

Now onto the garnish!

 

Slice cherry tomatoes in half and cut cucumber in chunks.  Cut the pearl onions in quarters, and then separate each piece.  PLEASE do this unless you really really like onion.  I made the mistake of not and ate an entire piece of quartered pearl onion.  Very thankful the hubbs was not home.  Snip chives into one inch pieces.  These chives are from my own garden I am so tickled to say! 

The bread is the best part in this entire dish, but that’s probably because I am a carbaholic.  Brown a slice of very nice baguette in hot olive oil.  After it cools, break it into little chunks.  You could also buy unflavored croutons.

 

Assemble garnish in the bottom of a bowl.  This is where my creativity comes to a screaching halt.  I need a class in presentation of food.  I really have no motiviation though as at this point the hubbs is usually like “just give it to me! i’m starving woman!”

 

Spoon the gazpacho over your garnish and serve!  (At Jaleo, they bring out your shallow bowl with the garnish decorated neatly at the bottom, and pour your gazpacho at the table.)

 

When at Jaleo, I always order their signature Sangria.  The best drink ever created!  I didn’t feel like buying or making sangria on this particular night, so I did some research and found that sparkling wines pair well with Gazpacho.  My Prosecco was perfect with the gazpacho!  Although in retrospect, I should have purchased a bottle of Cava to keep in the Spanish spirit…

Hell-ish Texas Sun

Last week for Easter service I was wishing I had one of those big hats worn at the Royal wedding.  Victoria Beckham’s would have done the trick.  You see last Saturday I pulled the dumbest stunt ever at my parents house in Texas. 

I was trying desperately to transform my pasty white skin to any other color.  I had pushed a pair of sun glasses up on top of my head while laying outside.  Six minutes later (SIX.  Promise.)  it felt like someone had smacked me along my hairline.  The  sun through the sun glasses had made three huge welts on my forehead!  It looked like I had pressed my forehead up against a jail cell.  It felt awful and looked even worse. 

Thankfully the beastly marks have totally disappeared a week later.  The experience served as a nice reminder of protecting my skin against the sun,  aka the wonders of sunscrean.  Also thank goodness for the wonders of concealer.

Lunch hour

My boss a few months ago showed me an article that described my generation’s work ethic.  The article basically said that Generation Y folks are very productive when they are allowed to check Facebook, tweet, and read news sites/blogs OCASSIONALLY throughout the day.  I guess you can say it’s the gas that lights our fire?

To keep my work ethic at a maximum and myself ethical in general, there are a few sites I read every day while eating lunch.  My absolute favorite is Capitol Hill Style.  The author has a way of turning proper fashion and etiquette inside the beltway into the best witty humor I have ever read.

My second favorite is what I like to call my dirty little secret: Reality Tea.  This website is everything gossipy you could ever wish for about any one whose a reality star – from Bethenny to Janelle.  If you don’t know who they are, don’t worry.  If you do want to know, Reality Tea has EVERYTHING including pictures you could ever want to know or don’t want to know.  Yes, I am referring to Tariq Salahi. 

When I need to let the domestic goddess out, I visit Ree Drummond’s blog on cooking.  And her picture’s are beautiful.  Beautiful.  Her blog is also great to laugh those office blues away.  Check it out, you’ll see what I mean.

Some other blogs I enjoy are below.  I categorized them because… well I have the need to be organized.

Domestic Goddess-ish-ness:

http://adailysomething.blogspot.com/

http://etcetcblog.com/

http://www.postmodernhostess.com/

http://isabellaandmaxrooms.blogspot.com/

Fashion:

 http://domesticatedsophisticate.blogspot.com/

http://www.theyuppielady.com/

Cooking:

http://euroasianfare.blogspot.com/

http://www.howsweeteats.com/

Photography:

http://www.rebekahjmurrayblog.com/

http://talilarosephotography.blogspot.com/

Brunch is Beautiful

Last week I meant to write a post about a recent visit to Birch & Barley.  However I was just too annoyed with life last week I just didn’t feel like blogging.  I barely tweeted! 

First of all, I love brunch.  Lisforthewayyoulookatme Oisfortheonlyoneforme Visveryveryextraordinary Eisevenmorethananyonethatyouadore brunch.  DC thankfully is a most excellent place to live if you love brunch.  My wonderful, almost graduated from lawschool girlfriend decided to gather all her bridesmaids and go brunching.  If brunching isn’t a word, I just made it one.

She picked Birch & Barley, a Logan Circle/U Street  restaurant.  For beer connoisseurs, it is right below Church Key – a place I definately plan on taking the hubbs!  All the girls (except for baby girl quite naturally) got the “boozy brunch”:  Two cocktails, 3 gourmet donuts, and an entree.  Uhh, yes please!  The mimosa in the picture above is Bloody Orange just FYI.  You know you want one.

the Quiche entree

My secret agenda is to convince the hubbs to let me decorate his man cave exactly like Birch & Barley.  I think I have a shot. 

 

 

 

Old-School Ways Commence

Well, I did it.  I told comcast to install a landline phone.  It feels so weird to get something that’s considered so “old school” and almost unnecessary.  Almost unnecessary that is…

When our introductory Comcast rate expired (what a joke right?) I discovered that for the same price as  our new rate I could have a landline, faster internet and HBO.  Too bad Sex and the City went off the air years ago! 

I had been contemplating getting a landline since we moved for various, logical reasons.  As in the nanny won’t have to use her minutes when I call to check on baby girl during the day.  I won’t have to constantly remember where I set my phone down when the hubbs will be calling from “over there”.  And slight confession, I simply hate talking on a cell phone.  Give me a handset baby!

Now to find that handset.  Can you believe that its harder to FIND a real phone these days than it was to make the decision to have a landline installed??  For example, Target does not even have ANY in stores.  And believe me I walked up and down every aisle.  On Best Buy.com, the phones are listed under office supplies – not even under their own category.  And of course, Staples was sold out of the only cordless handset I wanted. 

I think I am going to go completely old school and buy an old phone.  You know like the one Lucy Ricardo uses.  Pottery barn and target.com actually have some great ones.  Who knows where this old school way of thinking will lead, especially since the hubbs is pretty dang old school at heart.  Next week you might find me sitting on my front porch in a rocking chair sipping iced tea.

phones from Pottery Barn

phone from Target.com

 

How to kill time efficiently 201

One of my earliest memories is sniffing a rose while wearing pig tails.  I also remember walking down a row of freshly cut grass behind my father pushing a mower, pretending I was walking down a trail in a secret garden. 

I decided to try and play grownup in my little city yard over the past week.  For starters I raked and pulled weeks in the small patch of bed beside the front walk.  I then sprinkled down two packs of wildflowers purchased from Target for $1 each.  I can’t wait to see what they look like!

Weeks ago I purchased a Groupon for $30 worth of whatever I wanted for $15 from Campbell and Ferrara Outdoor Living in Alexandria.   I finally visited the garden center this past Saturday and went home with 2 tomato plants, 2 bell pepper plants, 2 cilantro and parsley plants, rosemary, thyme, mint, oregano, basil, and a jalapeno plant.  I cannot wait to make salsa and mojitos!  (dont worry I will purchase the Rum.  i’m not making that in the basement). 

I planted some of the herbs in a drawer I got off Freecycle.  I just used a hammer and pounded out the bottom and viola: an urban redneck planter!  Now I just need to find a few pots off Freecycle for my tomato and pepper plants and I will officially have a potted garden in the city.

Having baby girl out there with me is so much fun.  She picks up so quickly on things.  When I was scooping dirt into my makeshift planter, she started carefully placing fistfuls of dirt on top of the plans.  So precious!  Maybe one of her first memories will be of being outside. 

Tapas

Friday night I had one of my dearest girlfriends over.  At her suggestion, we made tapas!  We made Stuffed Peppers from her Tapas recipe book and then we threw in a Bobby Flay recipe – Scallops with Avacado Corn relish.

Stuffed Peppers:

 Begin cooking 2/3 cup of brown rice.  Saute two small onions for three minutes.  Add 2 cloves garlic minced for about 2 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Combine cooked rice, sauted onions and garlic and add about 3 TBL of fresh chopped Parsley and a few shakes of red pepper flakes.  You can add raisins, chopped dried apricots, and prolly any other dried fruit you wanted… but we didnt.  Do however add about 1/2 cup of tomato paste AND almost the same amount of chicken broth and stir/smash/stir until combined beautifully.  We then added parmasean cheese.

Cut the tops of three bell peppers – the more colorful the better!  Stuff the rice mixture to the rim, and place the tops back on securing down with toothpicks.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. 

I won’t even try to re-do a Bobby Flay recipe – that’s just hypocrisy!  I will however note what I did differently.  I pasted it below from Food Network.com.

Avocado-Corn Relish:
2 Haas avocado, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 cup roasted corn kernels
3 tablespoons finely diced red onion
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sour cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
12 sea scallops
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 bag baked or fried flour tortilla chips
1/4 cup finely chopped parsely
Preheat grill. Brush scallops with oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill the scallops for 2 minutes on each side. Arrange tortillas on a serving platter, top each with a layer of relish and 1 scallop. Garnish with parsley.

** I did not use sour cream in my avacado relish. 

** I did not add parsley to the scallops, and I actually cooked them in my skillet on the stove top.  Yes I”m sorry I didnt feel like walking down the deck stairs to fire up the grill.  Sue me.

** For the tortillas, I bought a package of chalupas shells – the flat, already crips tacos essentially.

The stuffed peppers go well with a bottle of Cab Sav, and the scallops go great with a Prosecco.  Yes we drank both bottles.  It was a wonderful night.  :-)  How else were we supposed to spend the time waiting for the government to shut down??

Multitasking at its Finest

I had been waiting for Thursday night to roll around for along time.  It was the first episode of the new Real Housewives of New York.  Yes yes laugh at me – I’m obsessed with the Real Housewives shows.  That’s what happens when your first trimester of pregnancy has you sick as a dog. 

However I really needed to do some cardio and the night had already gotten away from me.  One of the things that has helped me begin this wonderful process of finally LOSING WEIGHT is Leslie Sansone’s walk DVD my Mom gave me for Christmas.  I ran into a logistics issue though – I couldnt play a DVD and watch Bravo channel at the same time…and my laptop refuses to play DVDs.  But my determined self came up with the brilliant idea of purchasing a different walk video via Amazon Instant Video! 

It was awesome!  I got my reality tv fix and burned calories at the same time.  Win!

Foodie at a Food Truck

Thanks to the tweet above, I made the spontaneous decision today to join the latest craze of Food Trucks!  I headed out (Washingtonian magazine was correct, it was gorgeous!) and found four trucks all within not even a 5 minute walk from my building. 

One truck – Pi Truck DC - had just sold out of food.  Definately need to catch them next week!  The restaurant Austin Grill had a truck out, but my mom had just treated me to brunch there this past Saturday.  Need a little variety right?  Big Cheese Truck was also out, but as amazing as a brie-honey sandwich sounded, I wanted something a little more… substantial I guess is the right word.

So I went to El Floridano or known on twitter as FLmeetsDC.  It was totally worth the long line.  And I didnt need to stress about having enough cash as they actually took credit cards!  I ordered a Chicken Chian Mai which was Kaffir lime chicken, perfectly charred tomato salsa, avocado, pickled onions, and my absolute favorite green: baby arugula – all served on a baguette.  Oiy vey so yum!

Cannot wait to try another food truck, and thanks to Washingtonian for posting real time food truck positions!

1 week down, 57 to go.

This morning I woke up and decided to take a mental health day.  Ok I admit I somehow must have hit the dismiss instead of snooze for my alarm and woke up a little too late.  But I think taking a day to just chill is exactly what I needed.

One week ago this morning, I said goodbye to the hubbs as he left for TDY.  Thankfully, it was 6 am and I was half asleep so it wasn’t that emotional.  I think I remembered to mumble something poetic, like “stay safe”.  As I felt the three tears, (yes only three!) on my face after he left the hotel room, I quickly rationed, “its 6 freakin am and you still need some sleep.  get back to sleep.”  Thankfully I found I Love Lucy playing on TV – hence my obsession with Hallmark channel lately – and fell back asleep.

It has been interesting how this first week of separation has gone.  No major breakdowns yet!  And I’m doing everything healthy to stay strong and positive.  And I’m trying to laugh at myself and understand myself more as I transition into this temporary stage of life.  Alright, not everything healthy as baby girl and I may or may not have just ate an entire third of an oreo package…

On the way home last week, baby girl and I stopped at Hobby Lobby.  We walked past an older couple and the man was telling his wife, “No!  No you may not buy that!  You don’t need that, you have something JUST like that at home!”  I swear I almost started bawling in the middle of the store because that’s exactly what the hubbs would say to me.  Thankfully, I quickly turned down an aisle that was nothing but mirrors and I was forced to look at myself dead in the face.  And then I look down at baby girl who LAUGHED at me.  Haha, ahh its even theraputic just thinking back to that moment.  :-)

Thankfully there are alot of resources for families in our situation.  Basically a brief summary of everything says to give yourself time and just be honest with yourself.  When girlfriends have asked how I’m doing, I take a moment to think and respond truthfully.  If I’m feeling annoyed with this situation, I respond “ugh!”

I vow to not pretend to be tough!  That’s too much trouble.  But I also refuse to be a basket case.