Urbana Washington, D.C.

I made a quick trip to D.C. last weekend for my friend's wedding.  My flight was delayed in Detroit so I missed a brunch reservation with another friend.  After dropping my bags at the Fairfax, I decided to find a lunch somewhere close.  The Fairfax dining rooms appeared to be closed.  Therefore, I started walking toward several restaurants near the Fairfax. 

The first one was Urbana and that was where I ate.  The restaurant appeared to be full but the bar was not.  I asked the hostess if I could sit in the restaurant's bar.  I often have sat at a bar especially a hotel bar when I have been eating alone. 

The defining feature of the dining room seemed to be the walls that were tiled in a dark green ceramic subway tile.  What struck me about the bar was the well-worn corners of the bar stools.  A vivid picture came to mind of a full bar with customers holding onto the corners while leaning over to give the bartender their order.  Or friends holding on and leaning down to speak to their friends on the stools.

The menu was full of standard lunch/brunch favorites of eggs, pancakes, and french toast.  I decided to get the shrimp.  The menu stated that it was "five fresh shrimp seared in a cast iron skillet with garlic olive oil and chiles, served with a salad of arugula, feta, and olives."  The arugula salad was great but it definitely got better as I ate my way to the warm wilty parts at the bottom of the skillet, where the greens and the other ingredients met in a heavenly combination.  Who knew arugula salad could be this good!

The bartender Eric was really nice, and he told me about their brunch special bottomless bellini.  Something I did not need right before a 3:30 p.m. wedding at the Cosmos Club.  The bride and groom were gorgeous and seemed very happy! 

Baby Food Sweet Potatoes

 

 

I made this baby food about a month ago.  I really lost my passion for making baby food when I had difficulty getting Sarah to eat any food.  Fortunately for us, her teachers are very experienced with children who do not want to eat.  I thought if she would eat anything, she would eat commercially prepared baby food so I bought some Earth's Best and Gerber Organics to get her started. 

 

Today, I thought I would try her on what I made last month.  I took out a cube that I had frozen in my Beaba freezer tray.  Then, I put the cube in my small All-Clad skillet on low and heated it, while stirring, until it had all melted.  She ate it so I may go back to baby food making. 

 

To make baby food from sweet potatoes, Scott actually baked them.  He put them in the oven on 400 degrees for about 1 hour.  After they cooled, I scraped the flesh from the skins and put it in our Cuisinart.  I had to add a lot of water to get it thin enough for a first food and thin enough to be about the same consistency of commercially prepared baby food.

 

What I really like a bout sweet potatoes is that very soon I will feel comfortable giving them to her without processing them with anything but a fork.  No additives like water will be needed.  I used two types of sweet potatoes that we bought at the local farmer's market.  One is yellow and the other one is more orange.

Sonobana Nashville, TN

 

This was the miso soup at Sonobana.  I like this style of miso soup. I think it is better when it does not have seaweed in it.  It was delicious.  Then we ordered a fairly standard sushi order except I created one of the rolls.  We ordered spicy tuna (asparagus and cucumber), bagel roll (smoked salmon and cream cheese), tuna roll, and the one I created--salmon and avocado. I took this picture while Sam was demanding I give my iPhone back to him. 

 

 

I think it may be a bit blurry.  Sam add plain rice and we ordered chicken yakitori for him but he wasn't really a fan.  The chicken was good even if Sam didn't think so.  Other than his protest about the iPhone, both of our children were very good for this lunch on Saturday.  

 

They play background music so that minimizes sound from any diners.  I hardly notice other diners when we are out because I am so focused on the food and our children if they are with us.  I did notice a couple of other diners this week.  Near us a woman seemed to be yelling what sounded like genealogical information to man who appeared to be over 80 years old.  Either that or she was talking about the cast of Romeo and Juliet because she was listing all of the Montagues.  I was heartened that our children could not possibly be the most disturbing element at this meal.

 

Thoughts on sushi at Sonobana: this is the best sushi I ever usually eat.  I regularly eat at sushi restaurants in Atlanta when I visit there a couple times a year.  I also eat at sushi restaurants in Lexington, KY although we recently had a bad experience that I will not share here.  I promised that I would only blog the positive.  The sushi is fresh and for some reason, better than what we usually have.  I question how there could be such a big difference in sushi quality so that this restaurant is much better than others.  But it is.

 

I have been eating here since around 2002-2003.  At that point, it was called Ben Kay.  Once in 2004, probably Veteran's Day, I went to Nashville to have my Volvo serviced at Volvo of Nashville.  I was alone so I ate at the sushi bar.  I sat next to a man who claimed to be Ronnie Milsaps's son and who told me that the man sitting with two women at the other end of the bar was Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.   I admit I was skeptical.  But I also have to admit that this would not happen anywhere else but Nashville.  You gotta love it!

 

As to why we were in Nashville this time. we came to Day Out with Thomas.  Sam was not as excited about Thomas the Train as he was when he went on the Durango, Colorado train.  We decided that maybe we should just go to Carbondale, IL one weekend morning and board Amtrak to Du Quoin or Centralia, IL because it would be cheaper and I think he would enjoy it as much.  We could then get back on the train around noon and come home.   Maybe we will take this trip this weekend.

 

We also went to the Nashville Zoo.  Sam seemed to like it and it was small enough that he could walk most of it.  I knew he was with one of his peers when he and another girl were looking at a lynx and both were repeating, "Big cat."  I was also encouraged but concerned that he is starting to understand spelling.  He pointed to the sign above the exit to the alligator viewing area and said, "Out O-U-T."  How much longer will we be able to spell words that he doesn't understand?

 

No trip to Nashville would be complete without a trip to Green Hills Mall.  It gets better everytime I go and gets progressively more high end like Lenox Square or Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.  Phipps is of course the most high end of malls in Atlanta but Lenox Square has a larger variety of stores.

 

We also ate at some wonderful chain restaurants that we don't have in our hometown:  Moe's (West End), Five Guys (Brentwood), and J. Christopher (Brentwood).  All were a good, consistent meal.  Most of the time we eat at these restaurants while in Atlanta or traveling to Atlanta.  Dalton, Georgia has a Five Guys!

 

El Valle Verde Restaurant, Cincinnati, OH

Doesn't a meal at Mexican restaurant always start with chips and salsa?  This week we were visiting Cincinnati and I decided to try for a recommendation.  It came with a 92% like rating.  You can't please everyone, right?  Only a few other Mexican restaurants had an over 90% like rating.  Most of them were further outside the city than we wanted to venture. 

For some reason, Scott was craving Mexican.  Additionally with our young children in tow, a family friendly Mexican restaurant seemed like just the ticket.  We seemed to be surrounded by other families with children, which made us fit right in. 

But on the other hand, we were the only folks there who were not Latino.  That is a sign that you have hit on a good, authentic restaurant when the type of food and the ethnicity of the diners could be the same.  I do not know what actual Mexican food is because I have never been Mexico.  I have been to New Mexico and the flavors of this restaurant reminded me more of New Mexico than some chain Mexican restaurants do.  They also had the interesting drinks that I saw in New Mexican restaurants like horchata (rice water).

I had my pretty boring usual Mexican selection two tacos a la carte.

I was sure to select the steak option as merely selecting beef might have caused me to get tripe or head meat.  See menu below.



For some reason, I can't get this photo to rotate.  How annoying.  Maybe someday I will figure it out.  Scott had mixed fajitas (chicken, steak, and shrimp) and Sam had the kid's meal taco and enchilada.  The refried beans on Sam's plate were really good.  Often, not much effort goes into the sides at Mexican restaurants but not at this place.

 

After our fine Mexican meal, we went back to Kentucky to go to the Newport Aquarium.  Surprisingly, Sarah enjoyed the fish more than I thought a six month old could.  Sam seems to be into sharks these days.  He really enjoyed seeing them.



Peach baby food

"Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot peaches."  We ate a lot of peaches this summer.  At the beginning of the summer, we bought a huge basket of peaches and shared it with some of our friends.  They then sang this line of the song, "Millions of peaches, peaches for free."  Thank you, The Presidents of the United States of America. 

I decided Sarah needed to have some of our peaches so I froze some peach baby food for her.

 

To make the peaches easy to peel, I dropped them in boiling water for 30 seconds- 1 minute.  Then I transferred them to an ice bath.  The skin pulls right off leaving all of the peach flesh.  I put the peaches in the blender and pureed them.  You can add water to thin them if you need.  But I don't think I needed to thin them.  We are still giving Sarah vegetables first according to our pediatrician's instructions but soon we will try our millions of peaches.  Until then, here is how they remain:

Making Baby Food from Organic LMU Community Garden Squash

Nana came to visit us last weekend for Sarah's baptism.  She brought us some yellow summer squash that she grew at Lincoln Memorial University's Organic Community Garden (here is the link to the press release for the start of it:http://lmu1.lmunet.edu/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?VIEW=/news/view_one.txt&newsid=737).  For more information about Lincoln Memorial University's community garden, see this website: http://growappalachia.blogspot.com/search/label/LMU

I thought beautiful organic squash should be the start of Sarah's baby food.  With Sam, I made most of his baby food from produce from the farmer's market.  To make the baby food, I put about 1 in. of water in the bottom of our pot with the steamer basket (shown below). 

I brought the water in the bottom pot to a boil.  Then put 2 or 3 squash cut in 1 in. rounds in the steamer basket and covered the basket.  I steamed the squash for about 9 minutes until they were tender.  Then I used my immersion blender to puree the squash.  All of the water used for steaming was put back in the squash to get it thin enough for baby food.  

After pureeing, I put it in my Beaba multi-portion baby food freezer tray and an ice cube tray.  Ice cube trays work just as well as the fancy Beaba freezer tray.  After freezing, I transfer it to plastic freezer bags.  When it is time for her to eat it, I will drop a few cubes in a small skillet and heat it on low until it melts. 

Baby food can be made several other ways.  I also have a Beaba cooker but it is better used for individual meals.  A food processor or a blender could be used.  Generally, blenders aren't as consistent as a food processor or an immersion blender.



Portofino Restaurant Lexington, Kentucky

On the last weekend in July, we visited Lexington, Kentucky for my great nephew's wedding.  We had Scott's parents (Moomaw and Pappadoo) who could watch our kids while we went out to eat.  I decided to go with an Open Table selection because it seemed easier for me.  Pappadoo doesn't use Open Table.  He just has his favorite restaurants programmed into his phone.  Our selection, Portofino, made his phone list. 

Portofino had a nice patio area.  The patio area was fenced with flowers boxes covering the walls.  Unlike Paducah in July, the temperature at 7 p.m. was about 80 degrees.  It bills itself as an Italian restaurant.  I had the soup of the day:  Vegetable.  For secondo, I had diver's scallops described on the menu as "coriander-crusted and dressed with a blood orange gastrique alongside root vegetable fries with jalapeno aioli and shredded pecan brussel sprouts."  Scott had the goat cheese and apple salad and Seared Sesame Tuna: "Yellowfin Tuna with chili plum sauce and steamed baby bok choy tossed in Asian viniagrette with basmati-almond rice." 

A trick I have learned is to take a picture of the menu that way I can quote it later.  As a copyright attorney, I would argue my quotation of the menu is fair use for a news-related article or critique.

Our entrees were as well-prepared as they were described although I did have a question about Scott's rice.  Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the food and promptly answered my question about was in Scott's rice: orange lentils.  I don't think I have ever had ORANGE lentils.

When I saw gastrique on my selection, I immediately thought about the television show CHOPPED on the Food Network.  It seems that almost every contestant makes a gastrique.  I wasn't sure what a gastrique was so I consulted wikipedia.  Wikipedia says that it is "caramelized sugar, deglazed with vinegar, used as a flavoring for sauces."  Blood oranges are a prettier color than regular oranges.  Maybe they also taste a little better or maybe I am just convinced that they are special by their color.

The meal was fabulous!  We finished it off with a wonderful chocolate torte. 

Garden: Feta-Dill Scramble

Sneaking away into our garden last Saturday morning was surprisingly enjoyable.  I never thought that photographing vegetables growing could be interesting.  Certainly, when I put my camera on the flower setting, the pictures turned out better.  I really need to take a photography class when I find the time.  Our garden only has peppers, tomatoes, and herbs.  We had lettuce but we tilled it under last week.  The lettuce had been bitter for awhile.

For annual herbs, we have basil and dill.  This morning I used the dill in a scramble.  I prefer the softer texture of a scramble to an omelet.  I mixed about 1 tablespoon of fresh finely chopped dill into about a 1/4 cup of feta cheese.  Then I added it to three eggs well beaten.  The eggs need to start bubbling before I know they are beaten well enough.  I melted two tablespoons of butter in an 8 in. non-stick omelet pan.  The stove was on a little below medium heat.  I vigorously peppered the eggs and then added the feta-dill mixture.  The feta and the dill were mixed together before being put in the eggs because dill tries to stick to itself and clump when added directly to eggs.  I stirred the eggs while they were cooking until they had a uniform consistency--no puddles.  I actually did not start writing this to write about my scramble (and the measurements are guesstimates).  If I had, I would have taken a picture of the scramble. On the other hand, my husband thinks omelets look better.  So the scramble may not have been that beautiful.

Ham Bar Southern Art and Bourbon Bar

Last weekend we visited Atlanta.  We rolled the dice on a place to stay and booked a Hotwire room in Buckhead.  The gamble paid off.  We stayed in a very nice four star room at the Intercontinental for $78/night.  The room had a beautiful marble bathroom with a garden tub and separate shower.  The view from one of the chairs in the room was straight down Peachtree Street toward Piedmont Road.  The hotel also had a new restaurant Southern Art and Bourbon Bar replacing Au Pied du Cochon.  I think that is the spelling.  French is not my forte.  I visited Bourbon Bar with a friend and we picked up a couple of ham selections.  We tried to order Col. Newsome's Ham from Princeton, KY but was informed that it was no longer on the menu and the above menu was the correct one.  Well, now there were only two Kentucky hams instead of three on the menu.  Who knew that their bar menu would be filled with not one but two of Kentucky's well-known exports bourbon and ham?  Well, it was named bourbon bar not ham bar.  We picked two hams.  One we liked and one we didn't.  I decided at the outset of this blog that I would only blog the positive.  So the ham we liked was the La Quencia.  It was a wonderfully soft prosciutto that was not too salty.  One of these days I am going to learn to take photos with my iPhone without taking the shadow of my own hand...I also have a photo of the ham bar but it was difficult getting the lighting right because it was lit up in a dark room.  Maybe I will charge my "real" camera before my next trip.  If there is any place that you can get away with looking like a tourist with your camera, it is a hotel bar or restaurant.

While in Atlanta, we also had croissants and donut holes from Henri's bakery; tuna sandwiches from Five Napkin Burger in Midtown (okay, we didn't exactly get burgers), sushi at Gekko, and fresh, calorie-controlled food at Seasons 52.  All of these restaurants were family-friendly enough to tolerate our little ones.  Booths are highly-recommended for two year olds who don't want to be treated like a baby and put in a high chair.  Being able to block the escape route of an adventurous, curious two year old is also key.  I realized that I had tuna at all three of these restaurants.  Paducah is too far in from the coast and a little too isolated for me to reliably get tuna. 

Di Fratelli in Paducah, KY

On June 9, 2012, we went to Di Fratelli for a belated birthday dinner for Scott.  It was only a month late.  Such is life when you have two children: one two years old and one three months old (now four months old).   Di Fratelli has a typical downtown Paducah decor with add-ons.  Exposed brick walls are a must for a downtown Paducah establishment. My office building even has an exposed brick wall.  The add-ons for Di Fratelli are beautiful cherry paneling and a walk-in wine room.  The tablecloths were black with burgundy colored napkins.  Seems like the napkin color is great idea for an Italian restaurant that serves red sauces.  On Saturday nights, Di Fratelli has a soprano sax player not visible from the main dining room but pleasantly distant enough so as not to be too overwhelming.  As you can see from the above photos, we had calamari, veal marsala, and a wonderful chocolate raspberry pie.  To my knowledge, it may be the only place in town to get veal.  You certainly can't get it at a grocery store or the butcher's shops that I have visited.  This is definitely a classic Italian meal but with a twist--rice instead of pasta.  The calamari also had a twist.  It had banana peppers mixed in.  I have to say this may be my favorite Paducah restaurant.  Maybe it is ambiance with the updated cherry paneling and the proximity to only two other sets of diners instead of being surrounded.  Or maybe it is because they are the only game in town for veal.

Lexington Farmer's Market

We love going to Farmers' Markets. This is in Lexington, KY.  Because I was traveling to a wedding, I didn't buy much but I did buy a strawberry rhubarb sorbet.  It was delicious.  Not sure if sorbet should be on the menu before 10 a.m.  It was garnished with an orange pansy and a piece of mint.  I asked if the pansy was edible and the sellers said, "Yes."  After trying it, I would now say, "No," if someone asked me.  I think it tasted like grass or some sort of weed.

This picture is of what I consider the traditional part of the farmers' market fresh fruits and vegetables. 
Some of the more interesting tables were stocked with olive oil (from Italy), honey, milk, and cheese.  Last weekend the longest line was for fresh strawberries. 

While strolling around, several musicians serenaded us.  A lady at another booth asked me to sign a petition to allow small farm animals like goats to be kept in yards (hopefully they aren't trying to keep them indoors) within the city limits.  I declined to sign the petition as I am not a Lexington resident.

Vacation food: Albuquerque, NM The Grove and Cosmo May 3, 2012

Yelp again helped us find The Grove--a great lunch spot that was crowded when we had a late lunch there.  I like that my salami and cheese sandwich came with fruit and sweet pickles.  I have never had a sandwich put right on a tray like this but it was delicious. 

For dinner, we ate at Cosmo. The owner greeted us and he was very welcoming. This was the smoked salmon cigar. Sam rearranged it before I took this picture. During the entire meal, he sat in my lap so my ability to be a photographer was limited. We had asparagus wrapped in beef, artichoke, chicken skewers, calamari, and tuna. These fairly standard tapas were jazzed up with chiles and other New Mexico flavors.

Vacation Food: Santa Fe, NM La Casa Sena and The French Pastry Shop May 2, 2012

I had quiche lorraine to go from the French Pastry Shop in Santa Fe.  The day before we had stopped by and gotten a biscochita.  From the travel book that we lost among Sam's book and we didn't find until today, I learned that biscochita is Northern New Mexico cuisine--a cookie with anise.  The quiche was good too. 

The meal at La Casa Sena was one of the best we had on our trip.  Mooma kept our kids while just Scott and I went to dinner.  Scott had trout that was wrapped in banana leaves and baked in clay the above picture is after the waitress took one swing at it.  It was clay the consistency of a thin bowl or plate.  The other pictures are the next two steps in the process of getting it to the plate.  I had salmon with a oven-roasted tomato sauce.  In addition to the great food, it was an interesting atmosphere.  We sat outside in a courtyard under an umbrella that was large enough for more than four tables to sit under comfortably.  Ours was the only table for two. Most of the tables had four or more people.

Vacation food: Santa Fe, NM Gabriel's April 30, 2012 and May 1, 2012

We ate at Gabriel's for lunch on Monday April 30, 2012 and we got take out at closing time on May 1, 2012. We decided to go to Durango, Colorado after lunch so we could ride the train from Durango, CO to Cascade Canyons on Tuesday. After our train ride, we went back to Santa Fe. I had quesadillas both times. Scott had Charro beans as a side dish to tacos. I admit that I had to use wikipedia to figure out what Charro beans were. Apparently, they are named after the Charro, a traditional Mexican horseman and are spiced pinto beans, like Cowboy beans. All of our food was great but the guacamole was the best I had ever eaten. It was made tableside with the usual ingredients: tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, onions, and garlic. They used a whisk and a large metal spoon to combine the ingredients.

Vacation food: Albuquerque, NM El Modelo April 29, 2012

After two weeks, I am finally getting around to posting about our vacation food.  While we did have some fast food and other food that was just okay.  I am only going to post about the places we really liked.  Yelp helped me find El Modelo.  It is takeout only but there are picnic tables outside.  Some tables were close to the other side of the building and some were across the parking lot on this side.  The ones across the parking lot in the shade were the ones we chose. The call-ahead line was longer than the walk-in line.  Both were not short on a Sunday when we ate there after arriving in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had a great bean burrito--it was spicier than the ones I have had outside of the Southwest.  It is shown below.

I also tried a watermelon drink from the fountain below.  I saw several people getting drinks from this fountain and I decided to try it.  But it tasted like what I remember watermelon Kool-Aid tasting like.  My memory could be fuzzy as I have not had Kool-Aid in more than 20 years.

Midtown Market

We went to the just opened Midtown Market. We hope it is successful because it is walking distance from our house. For the last couple of years, we have been getting grits out-of-town. Weisenberger is one that we often get in Lexington and is not sold here (or anywhere near here). We also have ordered or gotten at Whole Foods: Logan Turnpike Mill. We were excited that Weisenberger grits were sold at Midtown Market. While in there, I asked about veal. The butcher told me that they would be getting veal, lamb, and mahi mahi in a few weeks. Lots of the products were from Kentucky companies and had the Kentucky proud stickers. This seems like a great place to shop to support our state's economy. The biggest draw there seemed to be the prepared food in the deli. It looked like the food at Whole Foods and looked delicious.

Acid reflux remedy--pineapples and yogurt

Sarah has had quite a bit of spit-up.  Like any concerned mother, I called the doctor's office to determine whether I should have the doctor see her.  When I spoke to the nurse, she told me to change my diet because I am breast-feeding Sarah.  She said to have a bland diet with no milk, salad, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, chocolate, salt, and caffeine.  She told me to elevate her crib mattress and give her Mylicon gas drops. 

One potential diagnosis could be acid reflux.  But she said to see how it went before I came in to get medication.  I am generally against medication but gas drops seem harmless.  I imagine that if she were prescribed a medication, it might be omeprazole or "stomach medication."  Omeprazole seems like a familiar old friend because I spent a year of my life representing a generic pharmaceutical company who was later found to infringe Astra Zeneca's patents on Prilosec. Nonetheless, I don't want Sarah taking such a strong drug or any drug if there are other alternatives.

What is a diet that bland, I wondered.  I have struggled to find things to eat.  I hope corn is on the list of approved foods because I thought it would be a harmless vegetable (frozen corn that is heated with a little butter and a touch of salt), ho-cakes (cornbread made on a griddle or on the stove), and grits have been on my new bland menu.  I have also had some cod rolled in cornmeal and fried.

While watching "The Doctors" television program this week, they had a segment on the foods that cause acid reflux and the ones to prevent it.  Turns out, the foods were some of the same ones that were on the nurse's list: tomato sauce and chocolate.  They also mentioned orange juice, which I drink every day. 

The ones to prevent acid reflux were yogurt, pineapple, and figs.  Thus, I am now eating yogurt and pineapples together (see the picture).  I think I have some fig preserves that I have eaten with a cheese plate somewhere.  My guess is that Scott has relegated them to our overflow refrigerator in the basement because they are not consumed very often.  I am not sure figs, pineapples and yogurt together are a good combination.  But pineapples and non-fat, plain, Greek yogurt are surprisingly good.  I may try fig preserves in yogurt next.  Then work my way up to trying all three together. 

Well, you only live once so here I go to the basement.  The fig preserves are there.  Fig preserves and non-fat Greek yogurt are really good together.  Fig preserves, pineapples, and Greek yogurt are certainly edible but I am not sure if they are the right combination--it seems like the fig preserves and pineapples are competing.