Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

In a happy coincidence last weekend, we went to our local mall for lunch and to pick up a few things at Williams Sonoma, on the very day that Bobby Flay happened to be there signing copies of his latest book.  We didn’t plan on getting a book signed, especially since we already have one (an awesome gift from my parents) and there was a huge line of people waiting already.  So we enjoyed a leisurely lunch, and by the time we got to Williams Sonoma to do our shopping, the line had dwindled to less than ten people.  So we bought a book, jumped in line and just a few minutes later had an autograph and obligatory photo.  Celebrity-chef stalking at its easiest!

When we finished awkwardly standing there while he signed our book schmoozing with Chef Flay at Williams Sonoma, we purchased my new favorite kitchen gadget:  the julienne peeler.  One side of the tool is a regular vegetable peeler, and the other side is where the magic happens — the tiny serrated blade shreds veggies into perfectly julienned strips.  Although we already have a mandolin slicer (which is a better tool for bigger slicing jobs), this little peeler is perfect for turning a couple of zucchinis into “spaghetti” in a flash, without any of the fuss (or fear that you might accidentally slice off a finger.)  Simply cut off the bottom end of the zucchini (keep the top end intact to use as handle for holding the zucchini), cut a thin strip lengthwise off one side of the zucchini so it will lay flat on the cutting board, then drag the peeler from the top to the bottom of the zucchini to cut it into strips.  Wrap the zucchini “spaghetti” in a couple of paper towels and squeeze out the excess moisture, then saute the spaghetti in a little olive oil for 2-3 minutes and toss with the sauce of your choice.  We served ours with a tomato basil sauce (leftover from our latest pasta of the month club delivery — so good) for an easy, delicious and super healthy side.

Speaking of tomatoes, ours are on their way!  All of our plants have a few baby tomatoes just beginning to grow, in addition to tons of flowers that will hopefully mature into tomatoes as well.  Our crop last year was so good that we can barely stand store-bought tomatoes, and we’re hoping for more of the same this summer.

And speaking of summer, the Texas heat has yet to rear its ugly head, and we are more than okay with that.  In fact, we had record-setting low temperatures yesterday and last night.  It was actually cold enough for a fire in the fireplace — in May! — which is unprecedented for these parts, and we thoroughly enjoyed our final fire of the season.

Many thanks to my friend Paula for properly kicking off my birthday weekend (when your birthday is on a Saturday, celebration of the entire weekend is required) by treating me to a pedicure and introducing me to a restaurant that is sure to become one of our favorites:  Whiskey Cake.  Cool name, even cooler place, with an eclectic farm-to-table menu, innovative from-scratch cocktails and an awesome hip-meets-rustic-meets-comfortable atmosphere.  We’ll be back.  Thanks Paula!

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

Last football season, we made things a little more interesting (for me) by cooking a signature dish from each city whose team took on Dan’s beloved Steelers.  Given the varied and ecletic mix of food in D.C., we had a tough time coming up with a dish when the Steelers played the Washington Redskins.  We ultimately settled on wings in “mumbo sauce,” after discovering that many take-out joints around the District offer this unusual sauce with chicken wings.  We enjoyed our homemade version very much, and were more than delighted to find it as appetizer on the menu at a fun restaurant near our hotel when we visited D.C. last weekend.

Upon the wise recommendation of a friend (thanks Chris!), we went out of our way during our D.C. trip to stop at Ben’s Chili Bowl, in the U Street area.  We were not disappointed.  Order the “half-smoke” with everything, and you will not be disappointed either.  It was probably one of the best chili dogs we’ve ever had (even considering Dan’s award-winning chili!), and it was well worth the short metro ride to check it out.

Based upon the also wise recommendation of another friend (Hi Jim!), Dan brought home a few kolaches from a Czech bakery that was on his way home from a work trip to Austin.  The sausage kolaches were amazing, and the pepperoni version was so good that we wanted to drive back for more.  But the best part was seeing the bakery open and thriving, amid the devastation from the recent explosion in the little town of West, Texas, where it is located.  Which just makes us want to go back there even more.

We joined about 40-50 other people volunteering at the North Texas Food Bank today, for yet another rewarding experience.  Today’s task was portioning fresh tomatoes into bags to go to various food pantries.  As a group, we processed 12,800 pounds tomatoes in a little over 2 hours.  Learning that a few hours of labor translates into a healthy addition to more than 10,000 meals for hungry people in our area equals a pretty darn good end to the week.  If you feel similarly inspired to help the hungry — hungry kids in particular — you can vote for the NTFB to win $45,000 for their School Pantry program.

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Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

It feels a bit strange writing about favorite things amid tragic events that happened this week in both Boston and West, Texas.  But at the same time, one of the greatest comforts in the wake of tragedy is spending time with loved ones.  We’ve been so lucky to get to spend the past few days with some of our favorite loved ones — Dan’s brother, his sweet wife and their 2 amazing kids.  We met up with them in D.C., and sightseeing through our nation’s capital with our sweet, silly niece and nephew has been a joy, as well as a most welcome distraction from current events.

No matter how many times we’ve seen it, visiting the Lincoln Memorial never ceases to be a moving experience.  Even when the place is teeming with tourists, we have a quiet feeling of reverence when looking up at this massive statue of one of our greatest presidents and reading his eloquent and inspiring words inscribed on the stone walls.

A new movie theater just opened near our house that has ruined us for all other movie theaters.  “Look Cinemas” is more than just a place to see a movie, and they aren’t kidding when they boast about their “state-of-the-art theaters, acclaimed restaurants and enhanced concessions,” with “reserved seating in a spacious and luxurious environment.”  We saw the movie “42” there last weekend (great movie) and were blown away by the leather, fully-reclining seats; delicious food options (we had a sushi appetizer, chicken sliders and the famous “damn good” fries); and impressive full bar.  Our “dinner & a movie” Friday nights just got a lot more sophisticated.

For anyone interested in a feral kitten update:  we captured the 3 little wild ones and set them up in a luxury suite in one of our guest bathrooms for a few days.  We attempted to “work with them” to try to get them “comfortable with human contact,” so that they could be “tamed” and presentable for someone to adopt them into a forever home.  Let’s just say that our feral kitten makeover didn’t really go so well, mostly due to their tiny ringleader we call “Spitty,” who valiantly resisted pretty much all attempts at said human contact by hissing/spitting and making himself as ferocious as a little kitten could possibly be.  But, all is well — we found a (no-kill) clinic/shelter to accept them and properly prepare them for adoption, and our good friend Paula took one for Team Kitten, gathered them up and delivered them to the clinic while we are out of town.  Many thanks to her, and best of luck to our fuzzy little friends.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We found a new (to us) Thai place last weekend that we really like.  Malai Kitchen is probably still our favorite, but Thai Star is much closer to our house, and the food, service and atmosphere were good enough to warrant many subsequent visits.  The homemade dumplings were amazing, and both soups we tried were delicious, but the Tom Kha (coconut soup with lemongrass, herbs and chicken) was by far the best.  For our main courses, Dan had a gorgeous and delicious tilapia dish with tons of fresh veggies and a spicy tamarind sauce, and I had the spicy, savory sukiyaki noodle dish.  The menu is huge and there are many more dishes we look forward to trying.  We dined on their cute and cozy patio that was surprisingly quiet and relaxing, given that it overlooks the parking lot of the strip mall where the restaurant is located.  All the wait staff we encountered were attentive and knowledgeable.  I thought it was a particularly nice touch when the (I assume) manager brought out a vase with flowers for the table next to us that was clearly a group of women gathered for a girls’ night out.  Well done, Thai Star — we’ll be back!

Speaking of being back, one of our all-time favorite shows has returned!  Mad Men Season 6 started on Sunday, and we’re excited for another season filled with 1960s debauchery in the cut-throat world of Madison Avenue advertising.

In Crazy Cat Lady news, we found 3 kittens trapped near a vent for the crawl space under our house.  Somehow we will resist the cuteness, and will be working with an organization that has a cat “rescue and re-home program” to find them suitable forever homes, somewhere other than our own house.  I repeat:  We. Will. Resist. The. Cuteness.

We attended a surprise birthday gathering for a friend last night at, of all places, the Bon Jovi “Because We Can” concert.  Whether you’re a fan or not, the dude puts on an entertaining show, and it was a really fun evening.

We celebrated another birthday this week as well — Happy Birthday to our newest nephew A!!  He was born a little earlier than ideal, but he and his mom are thankfully doing well, and the world is a better place sooner, now that he is here.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend, as we did.  We boiled and colored eggs this year, and tried a new-to-us dish for Easter breakfast — Scotch Eggs.  Basically you take hard boiled eggs, encase them in a layer of sausage (we used hot Italian turkey sausage, casing removed), then lightly coat with flour, dip in beaten eggs, coat with breadcrumbs and deep fry.  Serve with mustard for dipping.  They were really good, and a festive way to enjoy our Easter eggs.

We planted the rest of our garden this weekend, including okra, several different types of peppers, Japanese eggplant, pickling cucumbers, mini watermelon, and some 1015 onions interspersed throughout.  We have a bunch of herbs growing in cinderblock “pots” along one side of the garden box (oregano, thyme, dill, mint, parsley and cilantro), as well as a little spinach seed experiment happening in the big pot containing our grape vine on the other side.  We look forward to seeing how everything turns out this summer!

We took a break from gardening for a little chips-and-dips snack on the patio at a nearby taco joint.  If you have one in your area, we highly recommend Torchy’s Tacos for deliciously inventive tacos and some of the best queso around.

Sometimes the smallest things can make my day.  I found a set of four little ramiken-sized, hard plastic bowls on sale at Target the other day and had to have them, despite the fact that we already have more than enough ramikens that we use for ingredient prep nearly every time we cook.  But the new bowls are pretty as well as functional, and add a nice pop of color to the narrow little bookshelf (actually an old CD tower) in the corner of our kitchen.

Some food-related (mostly) things we have enjoyed this past week:

We stayed at a hotel last weekend while visiting family in Brooklyn, and our room had the largest balcony/patio for a hotel room (especially by New York standards!) we have ever seen.  It may have been bigger than the room itself, and had cool city views.  It’s probably for the best that cold and rainy weather kept us from spending any time out there, since the priority of our visit was hanging out with the world’s cutest red-headed nephew.

Strictly for burger research purposes, we squeezed in a quick trip to Shake Shack while in Brooklyn.  Similar to In-N-Out and Five Guys, the eatery is famous for its legendary burgers, but unlike those other two, Shake Shack’s menu has more variety, including hot dogs and frozen custards.  We went with the basic cheeseburger, which was definitely comparable to that of In-N-Out and Five Guys.  But which burger do we ultimately prefer?  Inconclusive.  The Best Burger Inquest continues and will require more extensive investigation.

Not much makes Dan happier than when people enjoy his cooking, even more so when one of those people is his 2 year-old nephew.  We cooked our beef taco recipe (minus the cayenne pepper to make it less spicy), used ground turkey instead of beef (still delicious!), and told the little guy that it was chicken (per his dad’s instruction.)  I originally made the rookie mistake of spooning the taco meat over rice, which apparently is not very appealing to the toddler palate.  But our nephew tasted the “chicken” anyway, loved it and asked for more, but “no sauce.”  He probably ate four or five (kid-plate-sized) helpings, much to his aunt and uncle’s delight.

After an embarrassing number of failed attempts, we finally trapped a feral cat in our backyard, for purposes of getting her fixed and preventing future feral cats.  She was a trooper throughout the whole thing, and didn’t make a peep during the car rides to and from the vet.  Outsmarting an alley cat with some tuna and a spring-loaded wire cage feels like a far greater accomplishment than one might expect.  Take note, feral cats in our neighborhood:  have trap, will spay and neuter.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, we made homemade corned beef.  Quite a change from many, many years ago, when we marked the occasion by attending the annual local parade, then doing some serious day-drinking at the block party event that followed.  With age comes wisdom.  And less hangovers.

We took advantage of the recent warm weather (and hangover-free Sunday morning) by planting our tomatoes for the season.  We filled 3 big barrels with good garden soil and planted a couple varieties of grape/cherry sized tomato plants, along with a few basil plants.  Fingers crossed that we have as much success with them as we did last year.

I attended a lovely wine tasting with old friends (thanks for the invite, Sue!) the other night at a cool little venue.  The wines (from Benovia Winery) were outstanding, I had one of the best bites of lamb ever, and catching up with people I love but don’t get to see nearly often enough made my heart happy.

Also heart-happy, Lowly the Worm is super excited to be all packed and coming with us on our trip to New York this weekend to visit with our adorable (and adored) nephew T and his parents.  Can’t wait to see you guys!

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We’re always excited to try new Tex-Mex restaurants, and have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Boca Chica in an area of town where we often spend time on the weekends.  Boca Chica specializes in “modern Mexican food” in the form of tapas (small appetizer plates of food), so it’s sort of a hybrid Mexican and Spanish style cuisine.  But they also have guacamole, which is our go-to standard by which we measure whether a Tex-Mex (or Mexican/Spanish hybrid) restaurant is any good.  We only tried the regular guacamole, although they have specialty versions as well.  The verdict?  We’ll definitely be back.  The guacamole was super fresh, with just the right amount of tomato, cilantro and heat.  Dan also enjoyed the ceviche sampler, but it was a bit fishy for my taste.  In addition to tapas, they also have a nice variety of tacos, salads and tortas.  And an extensive selection of tequilas, of course.

Say what you will about Daylight Savings time (and if you’re like us, you will say a few choice curse words when the alarm goes off that first Monday morning), but having an extra hour of daylight in the evenings is a wonderful thing.  (At least until summer, when all we want is for the sun to go down so it will “cool off” to the high 80s already.)

We enjoy smoked salmon for breakfast a lot, usually served on a toasted English muffin with cream cheese and a little bit of chopped red onion.  We have that particular breakfast often enough that it gets a little boring.  I also tend to get bored with scrambled eggs.  So why not combine the two, top with a few dollups of creme fraiche (basically fancy sour cream) and add a couple slices of toasted homemade bread for an out-of-the-box, opposite-of-boring breakfast?  We did, and it was delicious.

We experimented with a new side dish this week — balsamic glazed onions over fresh spinach.  We used Mario Batali’s recipe from his book “Simple Italian Food” for the onions, which were good, but the recipe needs a little tweaking.  The onions didn’t get quite as soft as we would have liked, and the balsamic vinegar turned into more of a sticky paste (stuck to the cookie sheet) than a “glaze.”  But we salvaged the onions, placed them on top of a bed of fresh spinach drizzled with olive oil and more balsamic, seasoned with salt & pepper, then squeezed a little lemon juice over all of it to brighten up the flavors.  Once we get the technique down for the onions, this side dish will be a keeper.

Something else we’re experimenting with this week:  trapping a feral cat so we can take it to the vet for a little procedure to help prevent future feral cats.  Cue the Crazy Cat Lady jokes in 3, 2, 1…  We have a couple of stray cats that hang around our backyard for some reason (perhaps to drink from our pool.  But more likely because we I feed them.)  So we are attempting to do the right thing by working with a “trap, neuter, release” organization to help reduce the feral population, one kitty at a time.  To do this, we have to lure the cat into the trap, keep it in the trap overnight and take it to the vet the next morning.  Apparently our technique of “luring the cat into the trap” needs a little work, as our first attempt was hugely unsuccessful.  Not even close.  But we’ll keep trying.  In the meantime, I should probably also begin working on my “kittens: free 2 good home” poster.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We kicked off last weekend with a martini (dirty of course) and rental of the movie “Skyfall.”  We’re not huge James Bond fans (I think this is the first Bond movie I’ve seen start to finish), but it’s an entertaining and fun movie, perfect for a Friday Movie Night.  Plus it provided an excellent excuse to indulge in a martini.

Dan has perfected his homemade pizza dough recipe.  We think.  Maybe.  Dough can be tricky — sometimes it gets too done while the toppings are still cooking, other times it’s not done enough.  But the dough we made last weekend, using a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, was perfect.  Whether it will turn out perfectly the next time we make it remains to be seen.  We definitely found the perfect-every-time pizza sauce recipe, also from Cook’s Illustrated — blend the following ingredients in a food processor:  1 (28 oz) can whole peeled San Marzano (or other good quality) tomatoes, drained; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.  No cooking required!  We also discovered (thanks Steve!) a genius method for re-heating leftover pizza — place it in a dry non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cover just the pizza loosely with a sheet of foil and cook for about 5-7 minutes.  The cheese and toppings will get warm and the crust will be crispy — just as good as fresh from the oven!

We stopped by Whole Foods last weekend to pick up a few groceries and these branzino fishes were so beautiful that we had to bring them home for dinner, even though we had planned on an entirely different meal.  Branzino (or “branzini” — tomayto, tomahto) is the least fish-y tasting fish I’ve ever had.  Stuffed with slices of lemon and shallot, drizzled with olive oil and grilled whole — branzino is our favorite fish dish by far.  I don’t even mind it looking at me before I eat it, it’s that good.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week: One of the earliest signs of Spring in our neighborhood is a tree with beautiful, big pink and white blooms that we can see when driving through our alley.  The tree is unremarkable (and goes un-noticed) all throughout the rest of the year, but when I see the blooms appear on those bare branches in late February each year, it makes me happy that my favorite season is just around the corner. Something that makes Dan happy is the acquisition of a new kitchen toy gadget, even more so when that particular device is related to and interacts with his baby iPad.  He has long been on the hunt for a reliable remote thermometer for grilling purposes — the kind where you place the thermometer in the meat while it’s on the grill and can monitor the temperature from a separate device away from the grill.  Lo and behold, the iGrill.  This extremely handy tool syncs with your iPad (or iPhone or iPod) and allows you to do cool things like research and program the correct temperature for whatever kind of meat you happen to be grilling (and I’m sure it does countless other really awesome things that justify its purchase.)  You just insert the thermometer into the meat, set the desired temp on the iPad, then keep an eye on the screen to notify you when the meat reaches that temperature.  You can even set an alarm (with a variety of ringtones!) to sound when the meat is done.  Technology continues to amaze.  On a related note, Dan requested that I issue a bit of a PSA here for grilling novices that meat will continue to cook for a bit, even after you remove it from the grill, sometimes increasing in temperature up to 10 degrees.  So be sure to adjust your desired done-ness temperatures with that fact in mind, and happy grilling.

We try to eat breakfast every day, and we’re big fans of the Kashi brand of cereals (annoying commercials aside), since they have a lot of fiber and protein but don’t taste like cardboard.  Mixing the “Go Lean” cereal with Greek yogurt is one of our favorite on-the-go quick breakfasts.  Recently we discovered that Kashi also makes frozen waffles, so we had to try them.  With 150 calories, 5 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein, and 24 whole grains per serving (2 waffles), they are a relatively healthy alternative to the usual breakfast routine, especially when craving something a little on the sweeter side.  They’re also quick and easy to make — straight from the freezer to the toaster to your plate.  With a little butter and maple syrup, these waffles are an easy, yet decadent way to start the day.

Based on the recommendation of a friend in Chicago (Hi J.M.!), we watched the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” this week and thoroughly enjoyed it (subtitles notwithstanding.)  The movie tells the story of Jiro Ono, a master sushi chef (some consider to be the best in the world) in his 80s, whose 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant in a Tokyo subway station was the first of its kind to receive 3 Michelin stars (the restaurant/hotel guide’s highest rating, given to eateries “worth a special journey.”)  The film is about more than sushi, however, in that it also explores Jiro-san’s incredible work ethic and drive for excellence, as well as touching on his relationship with his sons, who have followed in his footsteps, becoming sushi masters themselves.  If you’re into food, like sushi even a little bit and appreciate excellent documentary filmmaking, we highly recommend it.