Our favorite hobo, lounging on a cardboard box under some newspapers.
And so we're not playing favorites, here's the other baby, taken a while ago:
4.15.2008
Kitty Time
It's been a while since I posted pictures of this blog's namesake. Taken last night:
Our favorite hobo, lounging on a cardboard box under some newspapers.
And so we're not playing favorites, here's the other baby, taken a while ago:
Our favorite hobo, lounging on a cardboard box under some newspapers.
And so we're not playing favorites, here's the other baby, taken a while ago:
4.07.2008
Lazy Sunday
Hellooo Spring! It was a beautiful sunny weekend. Still a little cool, but I busted out my capris anyway. Yeah!
Took a nice afternoon walk around the neighborhood. I'm in love with our tree-lined streets. I came back smelling like the outdoors. :)
Dinner was homemade spanakorizo, garnished with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese, parsley and lemon, and baked barley (barley, pine nuts, parsley, onions, mushrooms in vege broth). Went very well with a hot cup of Moroccan mint tea.
Took a nice afternoon walk around the neighborhood. I'm in love with our tree-lined streets. I came back smelling like the outdoors. :)
Dinner was homemade spanakorizo, garnished with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese, parsley and lemon, and baked barley (barley, pine nuts, parsley, onions, mushrooms in vege broth). Went very well with a hot cup of Moroccan mint tea.
4.01.2008
Cherry Blossoms in DC
It's that time of the year again!
For our 4th consecutive year, we drove down to the capital for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Our hostess extraordinaire M moved from Manassas to San Francisco (which incidentally also has a cherry blossom festival), and we didn't want to impose on our non-single friends, so this time we stayed at a hotel.
(Funny story about getting there: we didn't decide to go until Friday night. E had a little too much fun at a wine and cheese gathering that night and, well, the red wine didn't stick with him very long. During the few hours that he was sprawled on the bathroom floor, he insisted on still going and I finalized the itinerary. By Saturday morning, hangover or not, it was DC or bust.)
Took a bunch of pictures, of course. As usual, I'll leave the cherry blossom pics for the finale.
Saturday
We drove straight into the city - first stop, Georgetown. A quick healthy snack at Sweetgreen and a visit to Le Pain Quotidien to pick up jam and pastries, then we waited in line for cupcakes at the local boutique Georgetown Cupcake. (We're still fans of our neighborhood bakery Dozen.) We browsed in a few shops along M Street too.
Dinner: Kaz Sushi Bistro
The sashimi was divine - E and I concurred that the fish just melted like butter in your mouth. Fresh and tasty. E got the bento specially created for the sakura festival, and the dessert course was sweet red bean paste in sticky rice wrapped in salted cherry blossom leaf, with a tinge of coffee. I had a sinfully rich ginger creme brulee. What a great way to start the trip!
Sunday
Packed our touristy things (camera, water bottle, map) and headed for the metro station. First stop: brunch! The DC experience isn't complete without Sunday brunch at the Ebbitt.
Old Ebbitt Grill: Historic oyster bar and grill near the White House
When in an oyster bar, get oysters!
I couldn't resist getting oysters - half dozen Rappahannock River oysters. 'Plump and buttery'. E indulged in the Eggs Chesapeake, a combination of poached eggs and crab cake on English muffins.
After brunch, we walked around the National Mall and Tidal Basin simply admiring the explosion of blooms. Even though it was chilly, it was a beautiful day. Pics in a bit.
We visited the Sackler gallery for the exhibition of Edo paintings, then the National Air & Space Museum.
Grumman X-29
When we walked past this baby, E cooed like a little boy. It was his favorite plane as a child, and he's flown it many times on his dad's flight simulator. The wings face forward; there was a video and writeup on why that kind of instability worked.
Took a break from museum-hopping and headed to ACKC Cocoa Bar between Dupont Circle and Cardozo. Got brioches, hot chocolate (lavender for me, orange for hubs), and took a long walk along Q street admiring the townhouses.
Dinner: Zaytinya
One of our earlier times in DC, we visited Jaleo, a great tapas place; this time, we went to another resto by the same chef, José Andrés. It serves a great selection of mezze, Mediterranean tapas, and even the wine list was authentic to the region.
We ordered the following:
* Ayran - cool refreshing yoghurt drink. Went very well with all the dishes.
* Fattoush and Portakal Salatasi (oranges, pine nuts, feta etc. in orange blossom dressing)
* Squash couscous with zucchini and tomato-lemon broth
* Havuç Köftesi - carrot-apricot fritters with pistachio sauce which E was over the moon about. Excellent.
* Midyes - fried mussels on skewers with walnut tarator sauce.
* Lamb Kleftiko - spring lamb in phyllo, almost like a spanakopita, with yoghurt dressing and feta. Unusually good.
It was one of the best meals I've had - and that's saying a lot! Finally, we rounded up dinner with Lebanese arak, a strong anise liquor. It's even stronger in flavor than Greek ouzo and Turkish raki, so we sprang for it.
Two tall shots of El Massaya arak
"Keshak!" (Lebanese toast)
The cool thing about arak is louching - like absinthe, the clear liquid turns cloudy when you add cold water to it. 2 parts water, 1 part arak, add ice and enjoy. (Video of arak in action)
All gastronomic adventures made possible by my favorite reservation system, OpenTable - food without a 2-hr wait is the best kind of food.
Finally but definitely not least, the beautiful cherry blossoms.
For our 4th consecutive year, we drove down to the capital for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Our hostess extraordinaire M moved from Manassas to San Francisco (which incidentally also has a cherry blossom festival), and we didn't want to impose on our non-single friends, so this time we stayed at a hotel.
(Funny story about getting there: we didn't decide to go until Friday night. E had a little too much fun at a wine and cheese gathering that night and, well, the red wine didn't stick with him very long. During the few hours that he was sprawled on the bathroom floor, he insisted on still going and I finalized the itinerary. By Saturday morning, hangover or not, it was DC or bust.)
Took a bunch of pictures, of course. As usual, I'll leave the cherry blossom pics for the finale.
Saturday
We drove straight into the city - first stop, Georgetown. A quick healthy snack at Sweetgreen and a visit to Le Pain Quotidien to pick up jam and pastries, then we waited in line for cupcakes at the local boutique Georgetown Cupcake. (We're still fans of our neighborhood bakery Dozen.) We browsed in a few shops along M Street too.
Dinner: Kaz Sushi Bistro
The sashimi was divine - E and I concurred that the fish just melted like butter in your mouth. Fresh and tasty. E got the bento specially created for the sakura festival, and the dessert course was sweet red bean paste in sticky rice wrapped in salted cherry blossom leaf, with a tinge of coffee. I had a sinfully rich ginger creme brulee. What a great way to start the trip!
Sunday
Packed our touristy things (camera, water bottle, map) and headed for the metro station. First stop: brunch! The DC experience isn't complete without Sunday brunch at the Ebbitt.
Old Ebbitt Grill: Historic oyster bar and grill near the White House
When in an oyster bar, get oysters!
I couldn't resist getting oysters - half dozen Rappahannock River oysters. 'Plump and buttery'. E indulged in the Eggs Chesapeake, a combination of poached eggs and crab cake on English muffins.
After brunch, we walked around the National Mall and Tidal Basin simply admiring the explosion of blooms. Even though it was chilly, it was a beautiful day. Pics in a bit.
We visited the Sackler gallery for the exhibition of Edo paintings, then the National Air & Space Museum.
Grumman X-29
When we walked past this baby, E cooed like a little boy. It was his favorite plane as a child, and he's flown it many times on his dad's flight simulator. The wings face forward; there was a video and writeup on why that kind of instability worked.
Took a break from museum-hopping and headed to ACKC Cocoa Bar between Dupont Circle and Cardozo. Got brioches, hot chocolate (lavender for me, orange for hubs), and took a long walk along Q street admiring the townhouses.
Dinner: Zaytinya
One of our earlier times in DC, we visited Jaleo, a great tapas place; this time, we went to another resto by the same chef, José Andrés. It serves a great selection of mezze, Mediterranean tapas, and even the wine list was authentic to the region.
We ordered the following:
* Ayran - cool refreshing yoghurt drink. Went very well with all the dishes.
* Fattoush and Portakal Salatasi (oranges, pine nuts, feta etc. in orange blossom dressing)
* Squash couscous with zucchini and tomato-lemon broth
* Havuç Köftesi - carrot-apricot fritters with pistachio sauce which E was over the moon about. Excellent.
* Midyes - fried mussels on skewers with walnut tarator sauce.
* Lamb Kleftiko - spring lamb in phyllo, almost like a spanakopita, with yoghurt dressing and feta. Unusually good.
It was one of the best meals I've had - and that's saying a lot! Finally, we rounded up dinner with Lebanese arak, a strong anise liquor. It's even stronger in flavor than Greek ouzo and Turkish raki, so we sprang for it.
Two tall shots of El Massaya arak
"Keshak!" (Lebanese toast)
The cool thing about arak is louching - like absinthe, the clear liquid turns cloudy when you add cold water to it. 2 parts water, 1 part arak, add ice and enjoy. (Video of arak in action)
All gastronomic adventures made possible by my favorite reservation system, OpenTable - food without a 2-hr wait is the best kind of food.
Finally but definitely not least, the beautiful cherry blossoms.
3.24.2008
Yarn-a-licious
As promised in my previous post - gorgeous yarn and a summer shawl in the making. It's a beaute! (Yarn: Colinette Parisienne, 70% kid mohair)
3.19.2008
Randomness
Hubs was tinkering away on his laptop while we were watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. He was thoughtful for a moment and said, if he had a blog, he would've written about how surreal (ed: and ironic) it is that the show was about stunting the development of AI and stopping robots from taking over the world, while he was doing... quite the opposite to that end. And since he does not have a blog, I'm obligated to document the moment. Note this, honey.
-------------------------------------------------
I have a new knitting project. Poking around my favorite knitting store, I was introduced to a gorgeous vivid blue-green mohair blend. Helloooo. It was love at first sight. Bought 3 skeins and turning them into a lacy shawl for the summer. Pics soon!
-------------------------------------------------
It's oddly reassuring to know that in a world of uncertainty, one thing I can always count on is the incubation of foreign elements in our refrigerator. We are so bad about keeping the fridge clean; gutting it of old leftovers and accumulated junk has become a ritual for us. It's a sensory experience - the colors, the speckling of white fuzzies and green stripes... and then the smell hits you (woof). Bags and boxes of unidentified goo are chucked into the trash.
We cleaned out the fridge last night. I can hear it humming happily, finally able to breathe easy again.
-------------------------------------------------
Going to Johnstown for Easter this weekend. I'll be making my Italian mother-in-law an Italian classic for the holiday: Easter pie. Apparently there are two versions, savory and sweet. Both involve something like 2 lbs of ricotta cheese; the question is whether pepperoni goes better than candied fruit. (I honestly wonder how this is going to turn out.)
Hubs is always funny about going home... I guess it's different. After 7 years of knowing each other, we still discover new and surprising things about each other's childhoods. For that matter, I am still discovering new and surprising things about my own childhood. The view is different from 20+ years later. Time is tricksy.
-------------------------------------------------
We walked past a candy store last weekend and just for kicks, I wanted to go inside. Looking at the buckets of gummies, I couldn't resist getting a little bag of each kind - worms, cola, regular bears. (Gummy bears, by the way, always make me think of those stop-motion videos on YouTube, like this one. And watching those videos always makes me want to eat gummies.)
Well... I don't eat candy. I only got them because I felt like it. Why do I do that? Now the bag's just sitting on the coffee table, adding to the clutter, picked at occasionally by Sweet Tooth Hubs. I'm terrible.
Okay, I guess I should go to bed so I won't be cranky tomorrow...
-------------------------------------------------
I have a new knitting project. Poking around my favorite knitting store, I was introduced to a gorgeous vivid blue-green mohair blend. Helloooo. It was love at first sight. Bought 3 skeins and turning them into a lacy shawl for the summer. Pics soon!
-------------------------------------------------
It's oddly reassuring to know that in a world of uncertainty, one thing I can always count on is the incubation of foreign elements in our refrigerator. We are so bad about keeping the fridge clean; gutting it of old leftovers and accumulated junk has become a ritual for us. It's a sensory experience - the colors, the speckling of white fuzzies and green stripes... and then the smell hits you (woof). Bags and boxes of unidentified goo are chucked into the trash.
We cleaned out the fridge last night. I can hear it humming happily, finally able to breathe easy again.
-------------------------------------------------
Going to Johnstown for Easter this weekend. I'll be making my Italian mother-in-law an Italian classic for the holiday: Easter pie. Apparently there are two versions, savory and sweet. Both involve something like 2 lbs of ricotta cheese; the question is whether pepperoni goes better than candied fruit. (I honestly wonder how this is going to turn out.)
Hubs is always funny about going home... I guess it's different. After 7 years of knowing each other, we still discover new and surprising things about each other's childhoods. For that matter, I am still discovering new and surprising things about my own childhood. The view is different from 20+ years later. Time is tricksy.
-------------------------------------------------
We walked past a candy store last weekend and just for kicks, I wanted to go inside. Looking at the buckets of gummies, I couldn't resist getting a little bag of each kind - worms, cola, regular bears. (Gummy bears, by the way, always make me think of those stop-motion videos on YouTube, like this one. And watching those videos always makes me want to eat gummies.)
Well... I don't eat candy. I only got them because I felt like it. Why do I do that? Now the bag's just sitting on the coffee table, adding to the clutter, picked at occasionally by Sweet Tooth Hubs. I'm terrible.
Okay, I guess I should go to bed so I won't be cranky tomorrow...
3.16.2008
Chinese New Year
Belated photo post of the trip home for New Year's.
Fancy red packets; peach blossoms for sale in bustling Chinatown
Kumquat plant at our apartment's entrance; homemade Yusheng salad
Giant pomelos, and the beautiful green rind of a 20 lb one my mum bought
Candies and snacks galore!
Trinkets and accessories too
Rows of steamed chicken at a hawker stall; abundance of lap cheung near People's Park
Hubs shaking the hand of a young God of Fortune (cai shen), in the produce section of Cold Storage (of all places) - we were milling around when a lion dance troupe came through the store to 'bless' it for Chinese New Year. The troupe graced every aisle of the grocery store, to the amusement of its patrons (with a good showing of foreign expats). Hubs waited in line with the little kids to get to the God of Fortune, and got a red packet and a piece of candy. :)
Fireworks by Singapore River
The hardest part about going home in the winter is coming back. I couldn't enjoy the last few days in Singapore just from the sheer dread of returning to Pittsburgh.
Two homes, a world apart
Winter has its charm and I think it's beautiful, but I simply prefer warmth and sunshine. Sigh.
Fancy red packets; peach blossoms for sale in bustling Chinatown
Kumquat plant at our apartment's entrance; homemade Yusheng salad
Giant pomelos, and the beautiful green rind of a 20 lb one my mum bought
Candies and snacks galore!
Trinkets and accessories too
Rows of steamed chicken at a hawker stall; abundance of lap cheung near People's Park
Hubs shaking the hand of a young God of Fortune (cai shen), in the produce section of Cold Storage (of all places) - we were milling around when a lion dance troupe came through the store to 'bless' it for Chinese New Year. The troupe graced every aisle of the grocery store, to the amusement of its patrons (with a good showing of foreign expats). Hubs waited in line with the little kids to get to the God of Fortune, and got a red packet and a piece of candy. :)
Fireworks by Singapore River
The hardest part about going home in the winter is coming back. I couldn't enjoy the last few days in Singapore just from the sheer dread of returning to Pittsburgh.
Two homes, a world apart
Winter has its charm and I think it's beautiful, but I simply prefer warmth and sunshine. Sigh.
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