My Oyster

Invitation to visit...

to my father. 

He came down with the whole family in November and seemed somewhat distraught that I did not have a toaster.  I don't really eat much toast - so I did not get one for the new place.  Now I have a toaster.

Dr. David came over this afternoon for a late lunch and we headed out in the freezing rain to Best Buy to shop for toaster ovens.  I don't really need one.  I am not sure why I felt compelled to get one.  Today.  But I did.   So I did. 

And it's a beauty.  I think it has more bells and whistles than my car.  I am gonna make toast tomorrow morning - for the first time in years. 

So come on down Tut.  The toast is ready!

Iron hand in a velvet glove...

A red velvet one. 

That's me making red velvet cupcakes for some family and friends who came over tonight (see below). 

I am not a cook by any means, but even accounting for being a novice, making this dessert was a nightmare.  I blame DC.  It's not yet user-friendly.

I had to make 5 trips to 4 stores to get the materials needed to make cupcakes.  That is insane.  This is the US capital.  A global power center.  A metropolitan area of more than 8 million.  Why is it so difficult to get some red food color and baking pans.

I felt like I was in the Soviet Union during it's last days.  And of course, just getting to the store is not a simple thing in DC.  It takes 20 minutes at least - regardless of whether you are walking, cycling, driving, snowshoeing, flying.  It just doesn't matter.  You can't simply make a quick trip to the store. 

Well, with Sean's help, I successfully made some red velvet cupcakes.  They turned out well.

Pumpkins for dessert...

Pumpkins, originally uploaded by Jiffy Cat.

I will make one of these desserts for Thanksgiving. Not sure which one.   You can click on each to see the recipe.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
Gingerbread Pumpkin Moussecake
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Swirl
Pumpkin Cheesecake

I have never made a cheesecake, but how hard can it be?

And the answer is...

Mountain of Velveeta, originally uploaded by Greg McElhatton.

I don't really know.

Periodically, for giggles, I check how it is people find their way to my blog. Often it is random people who are doing an online search for something and stumble over here.

It's amusing to see the odd information that people, all over the world, are looking for and what is the connection of that oddity to me and my blog.

For some reason, I get more than a few hits from people who are trying to find out about the expiration date of Velveeta. I blogged about that when I was cleaning out my kitchen before my move.

I asked the question - "Does Velveeta ever go bad?". I did not answer the question. At the time, I did not think that was important.

Now I do.

Amazingly, the Velveeta website does not answer the question. Yes, Velveeta has its own website. So I did my own search. I actually could not find a definitive answer, but I was led to a survivalist's website (in case of natural or man-made disaster).

According to that site "The 1/2 lb. size of [brick] Velveeta cheese lasts for months beyond its expiration date, and even longer if refrigerated."

So there it is - the best answer I could find to the most pressing question of the day.

What to eat on Halloween?

Tonight I made a Halloween dinner for my parents.   Cranberry Salmon, Pumpkin Gnocchi in cheese sauce, and roasted veggies.

That is certainly an autumnal menu, but I am not sure if it is really a Halloween menu.  So I did some research...

One Halloween custom which persists in modern-day day Ireland is the baking of a barmbrack (Irish "báirín breac"), which is a light fruit cake into which a plain ring is placed before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year.

Other foods associated with Halloween:

    * Candy corn
    * Colcannon (Ireland)
    * Bonfire toffee (in the UK)
    * Toffee Apples or Candy Apples
    * Apple cider
    * Roasted sweetcorn
    * Popcorn
    * Roasted pumpkin seeds
    * Pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread

I dunno.  Seems like there should be something better for a dinner menu on Halloween than candy corn and corned beef.  Maybe next year I will start some new tradition.

Dinner on the Rocks...

I tried out another new neighborhood restaurant.  Columbia Heights is changing so fast.  Every day there is something new to explore.

Tonight it was Red Rocks for pizza.  Good pizza.  They are still working on the service. 

It was fun waiting for an outdoor table.  Watching neighbors strolling in for drinks and dinner.  It was actually not oppressively hot, but very pleasant - so the outdoor dining was perfect. Of course, such a diverse and ever changing neighborhood, the neighbors strolling were very interesting to watch. 

There was one obnoxious group of 5 that had to be asked to leave before they even ordered.  The guy sitting in the black shorts and the woman standing in the blue pants were 2/5 of the group.  I think he said something that offended her.  She stormed out.  A couple others at their table ran after her.  The guy in black shorts got in a fight with the waiter.

The rest of the tables on the patio actually applauded when the manager booted them.  Nothing like some local color to make dinner interesting! 

All in all - a very nice Friday night dinner.  More pics...

Dinner at the Heights..

The name is silly, but the food is good. 

I tried out Logan @ The Heights tonight.  My first time there.  It's been open for about a month now here in Columbia Heights.  Part of the massive gentrification of my new neighborhood. 

The changes in that stretch of 14th Street are mind-boggling to us long time residents of DC above U Street.  On the brief walk from my new pad to the restaurant I even passed a Starbucks at 14th & Irving.  When did that show up?!  I had to step in to check it out.  Nicely decorated - for a Starbucks.

So the Heights.  Same owners as the Logan Tavern.  Basically the same menu.  Unfortunately, they could not manage to be very creative with the name either.  Sticking "Logan" into the name of a restaurant in Columbia Height is dumb.  As though Logan is sooo trendy that it will make people in Columbia Heights rush in to try the restaurant.  Ummm.  There is one neighborhood separating Logan from CH.  You can walk in 20 minutes.  It's not like  - Paris @ The Heights.  or Saigon @ The Heights.  Those names would actually make some sense.

I had the:

* Seared Tuna, Baby Arugula & Spicy Slaw    $9.95
and
* Portabellas Stuffed & Grilled        $6.95

HELP...I need to shake up my diet...

I eat the same food.  Every day.   I eat a ton of these Trader Joe's chocolate covered raisins.  I eat tons of TJ's choco almonds, choco banana chips, and even choco covered clumps of ginger - yum.

Not the best diet though.

Cooking is hard and boring and too time consuming for me.  I am halfway through my life and I still don't get it.  Why or how.

I need help.  Advice.  Suggestions.  Inspiration.

This is an exhaustive listing of my current diet.

Breakfast:
Yogurt & fruit & granola or oatmeal & fruit or egg & cheese bagel sandwich.

Lunch:
Spinach salad with veggies and chicken or frozen veggies and meatballs from Trader Joe's.

Snacks:
nuts and cookies and peanut butter and vanilla soy milk.  Every day.

Dinner:
Rarely eat dinner - usually keep snacking or frozen rice bowl from Trader Joe's.

Help me.

Does Velveeta EVER Go Bad?

This is me...and the entire contents of my kitchen cabinets and fridge in twelve trash bags.  A chef, clearly I am not.

 

None of the food was salvageable.  All of it was grossly past its expiration date.  Emphasis on gross.

 

For example.  Above we have a can of baking soda that expired in July...1995.  That is twelve years ago.   That means seven years ago when I packed it up to bring with me to this house from the old place, it was ALREADY FIVE YEARS past its expiration.

Below I am with a bottle of balsamic vinegar.  Notice that it is not exactly pouring out of the bottle into my mouth.  Apparently vinegar can turn to stone if aged properly.  I think there is a Aesop's Fable about that...not sure.

 

Sean, bless his heart, came over tonite to help me clean out the kitchen as I prepare to move 10 blocks east and south.  I am sure that picking through my expired food could not be the best offer of entertainment he had tonight.  but he was here.  and he brought dinner.  Chili Cheese Dogs.  Yum. 

Speaking of cheese...we stumbled across a log of Velveeta that was more than 2 years old.  Come on now - Velveeta goes bad?  Huh?  Isn't it all just chemicals?

Here is Sean claiming victory over the contents of my kitchen.

And here is where the story takes a scary turn.  There was NO WAY that this twelve bags of spoiled, past dated, out of fashion foodstuffs was gonna fit in my one trash bin for pick up tomorrow.  While Sean was on lookout, I surreptitiously borrowed space in the bins of several neighbors for my goodies. 

This is me skulking around with bags of bad food in the alley behind my house. Shhhhh...

Not zuchinni, fettucini or bulghar wheat...But a big warm bun and a huge hunk of meat...

Cheeseburger in paradise.  Jimmy Buffett.  1978.

Tonight Daryl came over to help me set up for the big sale.  We took a dinner break for burgers and tater tots.

I have to admit, I like to have a cheeseburger at least once a week.  Not always beef.  sometimes turkey.  but i like cheeseburgers.  a lot.

The first cheeseburger was created between 1924 and 1926 by a chef named Lionel Sternberger in Pasadena, California, USA. The anecdote goes along the lines of a passing homeless man suggested Sternberger should add a slice of cheese to his hamburger order, Sternberger then added this to his main menu and the cheeseburger was born.