Pumpkin Pie Frozen Custard
(Yes, for those who don’t know it is in fact frozen vanilla custard blended with a whole piece of pumpkin pie inside).
Happy and Glorious.
Author: sfarrisyoung
Peewee Picnic
Friday night John and I heard that the City Market was showing Peewee’s Big Adventure for free. This is one of our favorite bicycle movies, so we decided to pack a picnic and go!
Sunset skies before the movie.
Pre-show picnicking.
Pre-Movie Tequila Dance-off.
Leaving on a Jet Plane Hotel Breakfast
Waiting for caffeine…
Nice and runny…
Eating in D.C.- Sunday Night Dinner
We ended up at this old, windy townhouse Italian restaurant, Trattoria Alberto, near Capital Hill for Sunday night dinner. Because we had to eat before Hamlet (Yes, we went twice! How often is the Globe in the US?) dinner was at 5pm. This is crazy early for us and apparently DC because we were the only people in the restaurant.
Why is it when you’re the only people in the restaurant you tend to talk more softly?
I started with fresh mozzerella, tomatoes and capers.
We mainly watched the restaurant get ready for their evening, which included peeking into the kitchen through a little door on the wall.
We were both in the mood for simple dinners.
John had a basic tomato sauce.
And I had a light olive oil, garlic penne with broccoli. I wish every Italian restaurant had a light option like this (ahem, by every Italian restaurant I mean Cascones. Johnny I hope you’re reading this).
It was a good way to say Ciao to Washington DC.
Eating in DC: A Surprising Smithsonian Lunch
The last time we visited Washington DC we were not really wowed by the tourist dining at the Smithsonian. It was mostly heavy cafeteria fare, not very veggie friendly, but it was usually named after a state or city like Wisconsin Mac and Cheese, Kansas City Baked Beans, which made it charming.
We were expecting the same situation at the National Portrait Gallery.
We were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful cafe/dining area.
And some of our most favorite things to eat. We both had grilled cheese (not greasy at all).
I had veggie chips- very unexpected and exciting. My whole meal was Whole Foods in feel which was surprising.
The best part– they had pudding cups!
Vanilla for me.
And chocolate for JY.
With American old timey folk music playing in the background and it was probably our most fun, relaxing, and favorite meal of the trip!
Eating in DC: Somona and a little bit of London
We joined the before-the-theater crowd and dined at a wine bar that also focused on local foods, Somona.
This is a picture of my Syrah headed toward me. After a crazy bumpy flight into town, I really needed a few glasses to settle my nerves!
We ate here a couple of years ago on our first trip to DC. We ordered the just greens salad then too.
Needless to say neither one of us remembered this until we took our first couple of bites. The salad has lets say a very “earthy” flavor….
John had a Parmesan and mozzerella pizza. Very cheesy good.
And I had the pesto, chard, summer squash pizza. I laughed when it showed up because I had been concerned about getting some greens. Ha!
This was my first pesto experience since the dreaded pesto Lyn and I made…
Yeah, the pizza was good, but I learned I’m still not ready for pesto (dang. When you make the worst meal of your life to really sticks with you!)
After dinner we walked to the Folger Theater to see London’s Globe players perform Hamlet.
The girls who sat next to us at dinner (they ordered a cheese platter and pork) sat near us at the show- tis a small globe after all!
Favorite meal from yesterday: plane food
We flew to Washington DC this weekend to see London’s Shakespeare Globe players do Hamlet on US soil (very exciting for Globe fans such as ourselves).
Our flight was smack dab at lunch time and we faced the age problem of eating in transit.
Usually we pick up veggie subs at a sub shop that end up smelling up the whole plane with onions and causing out fellow passengers to wrinkle their noses at us. To avoid the stinky food traveler stigma we decided to pack a lunch instead.
We both had peanut butter crackers (I had grape jelly on mine – something mom always did when I was a kid), chips (Cheetos and peanut butter are a favorite taste combo for me) and fruit.
The only annoyances we caused were some crumbs and when I was taking the above picture I accidentally bumped the flight attendant’s arm with my head. I got a warning but no wrinkled noses.
Sunday Night Dinner: Black Bean Burgers and Rosemary Fries (recipe too!)
John and I drove 10 hours on Saturday so for our Labor Day Sunday Night Dinner I decided to keep it easy and thaw out some of Lynley’s black bean burgers. She’d made them at our house months ago and we froze the extras- yay for Lynley and for the freezer.
I’ve started adapting a recipe for spicy oven fried and have turned it into a non-spicy rosemary (with a touch of garlic) fries. After years of the original I think I almost like the new version better. I always intentionally make too many so I can have leftovers for breakfast the next day…sneaky cook that I am.
Rosemary Oven Fries Recipe:
(for 4 or 3 with breakfast leftovers)
3 medium sized potatoes (russet or other)
2 1/2 tablespoons of Olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
Generous sprinkles of ground pepper
And garlic salt to taste
How-to:
Pre-heat oven to 450f
Grease baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray.
Slice potatoes thinner than a French fry, 1/2 inch thick or even a 1/4 inch.
Pile in a bowl.
Add rest of ingredients into bowl, toss to coat.
Spread potatoes out onto the greased baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes until edges start to brown slightly. Some edges may not brown at all, but the potatoes will have a cooked translucent-ish look. Stir potatoes once during cooking time.
Done!
We also had sautéed summer veg- mostly squash and zucchini with a little carrot, green onion and whole almonds thrown in.
Before cooking:
After:
I added smoked english seaside cheddar to the black bean burgers. Thank the cooking gods we had 3 in the freezer because Josh joined us for dinner.
Labor Day had always been the unofficial last day of summer to me, so I had to send it off with a lemon shandy ale. It only seemed right.
My plate with some sugar snap peas and watermelon too.
We talked about our trip to Indiana and the fire breathing dragon we saw along the highway, a cool comic book store in Bloomington (John’s childhood dream realized) and of course the Dr. Who season premiere.
For dessert it was chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches from a local dairy, Shatto.
After admitting that we all 3 had already had ice cream that day we dug into a true last day of summer treat.
Yeah, I wussed out and ate only half, BUT that means I have dessert for tonight too! See, that freezer thinking ahead really can pay off.
Pizza coming and going
John and I made our annual trip to Bloomington Indiana to visit his side of the family. This is John’s hometown so there are some places my honey has to eat or it’s just not a homecoming.
When we first started our trips we always ate at Noble Roman’s John’s childhood pizza place. They served breadsticks with nacho cheese dip- Then I thought this was the most decadent pizza dining idea…now it is a standard at our house. Sadly, Noble Roman’s is no longer in John’s side of Bloomington, so instead we go to Cafe Pizzeria on Kirkwood. It’s our tradition to eat there just after pulling into town.
It’s a total college pizza place and they also serve breadsticks with nacho cheese dip.
John got his standard cheese.
I got the veggie but swapped the banana peppers for pineapple (my favorite pizza topping).
However- I think they put the peppers on there then took them off because it was h-o-t.
But still tasty.
When we drove across several states on the way home our plan was to stop at this pizza place in St. Louis that we always see signs for- Stefania’s. Alas it wasn’t open, so instead we opted for the St. Louis classic, Imo’s.
Imo’s is known for their extremely thin crust pizza. What I was distracted by in the restaurant was a Army pilot mannequin standing in the middle of the booths for no reason.
I was so weirded out by it I had trouble ordering! I ended up with a salad made mostly of cheese with unwrapped saltines on the side.
And you guessed it- pineapple pizza .
I like the way the cut the crust like little crackers and it’s about cracker thin.
Needless to say, the mannequin was still distracting…
Young Family Breakfast at the Village Deli
Village Deli is my favorite restaurant in Bloomington Indiana. When we visit our family there I have to eat there for lunch (and get the vvd, Village Vegetarian Delight, with homemade potato chips) and for breakfast on our way out of town.
They serve giant pancakes (thank you pancake gods). I get mine with peanut butter chips and this time I added banana and a basted egg on the side. I thought the fruit would be on top, but nope, it was mashed in chunks inside- thank you Village Deli.
Hearty Eaters 