Happy Valentine’s Day!

This year for Valentine’s Day, Charlie made breakfast with a waffle maker we got as an engagement gift from my cousin, Kalorik WM-17885 Heart-Shaped 1000-Watt Nonstick Wafflemaker:

Heart Shaped Waffles!

I made dinner with lobster my mom and step-dad brought up from Florida:

Lobster

And Coco got to go to the dog park:

Couldn't be happier

Consumption Reports: Saturday Morning Joe

Last week, when we were flying out of LAX at 7am, all we wanted was some coffee.  Our choices were Starbucks, that had a line 20 people deep, or Burger King, that had 3 people in line.  Scoffing, I jumped in the BK line and thought, “oh hell no, Sbux” and also, “bonus crossanwich!”  Is Starbucks coffee really worth a 10 or 20 minute line, when your plane is boarding in 25?  On Saturday morning (noon) we decided to find out!  Were those people standing in line for Starbucks victims of a good marketing department, or just running-through-an-airport-terminally-dedicated to their superior java.

We picked up a cup of coffee from Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.   And since we were conducting a serious scientific study, we required a control group that we knew we would like: Cuban coffee in the form of Caffe Americano (hot water and espresso).

I know what you’re thinking, “Jennie, it’s 40 degrees outside, how are you going to keep the coffee warm while you drive around from location to location without the coffee getting cold?”  Don’t worry, Charlie is a man of many solutions.  He  decided to boil water in a pressure cooker and then bring the pressure cooker along for the ride to pick up the different coffees.

Pressure Cooker in a Blanket

The pressure cooker would then be wrapped in a blanket and seat belted.

Safety First

Then the plan was to pour the different coffees into plastic water bottles, and place those in the pressure cooker. My only contribution to the conservation of heat effort, with my two graduate degrees, was to crank the seat warmer.

Charlie Carefully Pours

Coco, always the micromanager

You can see how the coffees varied in colors.  It seems obvious in hindsight, but it turned out they tasted (and smelled) better the darker they were:

Starbucks, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts

Before we could taste the street-bought coffees, we had to make our cafe con agua.

Too bad this picture isn't scratch-n-sniff

The only Cuban espresso sold in Virginia grocery stores.

So we poured the coffees into tiny thimbles and proceeded to taste.

Chinese character for "You are going to need a mint for that dragon breath after you drink all of this coffee"

Artsy Fartsy

In the end, the Caffe Americano that we made at home tasted best.  Part of me was sincerely hoping that somehow the McDonald’s coffee would stun me by being the best tasting, but Starbucks won out over the other store-made coffees. McDonald’s coffee did taste good in comparison to the cup of Dunkin’ Donuts, which didn’t even smell good.   The best part of the whole exercise was pouring the remaining Caffe Americano into a mug with warm milk, the left over espresso and sugar… then crashing for a nap.

Big bad Starbucks wins.

California Dreaming

This weekend we flew to Los Angeles to visit Charlie’s brother, Chris, and his girlfriend Tanya.  Every year Tanya’s family has a huge Superbowl party, so this year we were really excited to go… and defrost. The true winter wonderland is a place that doesn’t involve butt-clenching ice patches and has an extended forecast that looks like this:

Paradise

True Story

As the trip approached Coco definitely knew something was up.  She started to follow us everywhere in the house.  And the morning of the trip, she plopped herself down by the front door and pulled out all the stops.

Daddy don't leave

Pre-Trip Depression Obsession

Mascot Melodrama

You would think that we were leaving all weekend to play at the grandest dog park in all the land and swim in pools of milk-bones and chicken stock.

So, we headed off to the airport and left Coco under the watchful eye of my cousin Mary who did great as Coco’s substitute mommy.  We flew Virgin America, which felt like more spaceship than airplane with its fancy TVs and European discoteque feel.  I was expecting something like the JetBlue experience with the TVs, but it was better.  Much better.  Virgin is like JetBlue’s hot older brother who is in high school already and tall, and dreamy, but you’re hoping he’ll notice you anyway even though you’re an awkward pubescent 8th grader with braces who uses a Clinique bag to hide your super sized maxi pads because you haven’t discovered tampons yet.

You're welcome Mr Branson

You're welcome, Mr. Branson

Next Stop, Geostationary Orbit

Next Stop, Geostationary Orbit

But I digress… we were going to Los Angeles, the land of respectable temperatures and good times. We landed late, but the view from Tanya’s parent’s house, where we were staying, in the morning was phenomenal. As was the view from Chris and Tanya’s apartment.  Prepare to relinquish your breath:

Pacifico

Pacifico

Gasp

Gasp

Charlie, Chris, Pop

Charlie and Chris Kayaking

And that's just the beer.

The refrigerator was ready for some football

It was exactly what we needed after a few weeks of weather-report guided living and shivering our timbers.

Dinner With Our Gracious Hosts

Dinner With Our Gracious Hosts

A Dream Within a Dream

A Dream Within a Dream

At In-N-Out Burger

At In-N-Out Burger

Blue!

Blue!

Chris and Tanya

Chris and Tanya

Happy Pale Northerners

Happy Pale Northerners

Bangs a-la Bieber

Bangs a-la Bieber

A Tale of a Hot Chocolate Break Foretold

Apparently there is an upside to all of this “holy [expletive deleted] it’s cold outside!”  Last weekend we went skiing/snowboarding at Whitetail ski resort, the closest ski-slope to the DC area.  Sure half the mountain was taken up with kids, rookies, and people skiing in their jeans, but it was so much fun, and totally worth the drive.  Absent was the snobby air present at other ski resorts where the “expert ski people”  despise the slow poke pizza-wedging their way down the mountain who was not born with the go-faster-gene, i.e. me.

On the way

On the way

Obligatory Goggles-on-the-Forehead Shot

Obligatory Goggles-on-the-Forehead Shot

Obligatory Hot Chocolate Break

Obligatory Hot Chocolate Break

Happy Charlie

Happy Charlie

"It's not that cold. It's not that cold. It's not that cold."

"It's not that cold. It's not that cold. It's not that cold."

The view from the hot chocolate spot

The view from the hot chocolate spot

American cars for the win?

Last week DC had a snow storm that was minimal when you compare it to the blizzards we had last year. The fact that this storm came right at rush hour, though, made the DC metro area crumble to its knees with traffic and furious drivers (who failed to top off their gas tanks before the storm hit) ditching their cars on the sides of roads, playing the blame game. Some people sat in traffic for up to 12 hours. Streets were completely gridlocked as the ice fell followed by inches of snow with thunder and lightning all over town. Google maps at 4pm looked like this.

Ay Dios Mio!

Ay Dios Mio!

Google maps at 11pm looked like this.

Euw.

Euw.

It was all sorts of no-bueno for many DCists.  But, while the city collectively pounded on their steering wheel, Coco and I played “catch the snow ball” because I had worked from home.

I've got this.

I've got this.

And while the city groaned, and Coco loved life, Charlie was stuck at work, because the city was completely gridlocked. He and a coworker (with an AWD Explorer) found ways to keep entertained, though. Consumer Reports may have rated Charlie’s Jeep one of the worst vehicles, but on snow-storm day, it’s Charlie’s time to shine. Notice the traffic not moving an inch in the background:

Happy Birthday Coco Maria de las Galletas!

Last week was Coco’s first birthday, yay!!  Last year Coco was born during one of our monumental blizzards, and this year wasn’t much different.  Charlie and I both worked from home that day, because of a snow storm that had hit the night before.   So, we celebrated by showering her with treats and socks.

I like socks!

I like socks!

Then went to the dog park, but I guess because of the snow storm, no one was there. She didn’t seem to notice that no one came to party for her birthday. She was happy to play catch the snowball.

Almost!

Almost!

Wiiiiii!

Wiiiiii!

Good Girl!

Good Girl!

Got it!

Got it!

Coco on the rocks

Coco on the rocks

¡Que Viva España!

When we were in Miami for Christmas Charlie picked up a 2 lbs chorizo.  At first I was all, “yess!” But then I realized I had to do something with all of that chorizo because if we just ate it all with the wheel of manchego cheese he picked up, we would never poop again it wouldn’t be that healthy.  So I decided to make two spanish-style tortas (omelets) with it.

The first one would be a tasty one, with chorizo and potatoes.

Prep included cutting two red potatoes and about 1/2 cup of chorizo into cubes.  I also whisked 7 eggs with a couple pinches of paprika, salt and freshly ground pepper.  First, on the stove-top I simmered (on medium heat) the potato cubes in olive oil, salt, pepper, a pinch of cumin, and garlic powder until they were about half-cooked.  Then I added the chorizo to the simmering taters and watched the chorizo cubes ooze grease.  Looked gross, but the ambrosial smell tickled all the cave-person parts of my brain that detect calorie-rich foods that are perfect for storing fat for the winter, also known as “the french fries spot.”  Anywho, after the chorizo simmered for a couple minutes I added the whisked eggs on top of the already simmering chorizo/potato mix.

Chorizo-grease ambrosia

I stirred it a bit, and then set the oven’s broiler, so that once the bottom side of the torta cooked, I could pop the pan in the oven to cook the top of it for a few minutes until it turned golden brown.  So easy, so delish!

Coco is totally down to try some!

Overcome by guilt, I wanted to try the recipe again, but try to make it at least a little healthier.  So I took a chance and used just egg whites and chorizo (we ran out of potato, so I didn’t include any).  I wasn’t sure how this was going to go.  Chorizo is tasty, but tasty enough to just hang out with egg whites… we’ll see.  I cooked it the same way.  I’m not going to lie, it didn’t smell that good, and I contemplated just eating the simmered chorizo, but it ended up working out in the end, and was pretty good.

Egg-white Torta

Consumption Reports: Northern Virginia Grocery Stores

I found another excuse to put together a spreadsheet! We just moved to a new area, and there are several grocery stores within 5 miles of the house.  In an effort to decide which grocery store to go to, I started keeping track of different basic items we were buying (spreadsheet below).  This is hard to keep track of because sometimes the grocery stores had specials on particular items, which made comparing more difficult.  I’ll keep adding to this list as I go, but I figured this may help all three of you anyone who may be reading this who lives nearby.

Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies and Donuts

If you’re anything like me, you’re wondering what to do with the gallons of leftover eggnog you purchased before the grocery store took the heavenly manna off the shelves.  This weekend I made eggnog cookies that came out ridiculously good.   The recipe came from combining the sugar cookie recipe from here and the eggnog cookie recipe from here.  As far as the spices, I included ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tea bag of black chai tea leaves.  The dough was very thick, so I filled up one cookie sheet, and put the leftover dough in a donut mold pan.  The donuts came out better than the cookies!  Sounds good right?  Do it!

Here Comes the Hotstepper

In emailing with an old friend from high school, I found out that Signature Gardens closed its doors forever in December.  Here is the story I found about it in the Miami Herald.  For those of you who don’t know, Signature Gardens was the banquet hall in what was referred to as “West Kendall” (which these days probably referred to as midtown Kendall), that housed most of the area  high school dances, birthday parties, bat mitzvahs, and bar mitzvahs, and most notably, in my friend Jen’s case, weddings.  For the RHoNJ fans, Signature Gardens was the Brownstone of South Florida.

Every single dance I went to between the years of 1995-1999 was held either at a hotel ballroom or Signature Gardens.   I can’t remember the décor, but two things are for sure: the air was full of pheromones mixed with Cool Water for Women and the walls had been witness to many-a-first kiss and first slow-dance.  This was the place where we thought we invented “Did you see what she was wearing?” and “I just want to dance in a circle with my friends.” High school was horrible with all of the “Who is that girl he’s talking to?” and “Why won’t my mom let me pluck my eyebrows?”, but Signature Gardens was great.

So tonight I tip my hat to you Signature Gardens, “heroes get remembered but legends never die.” Good bye old friend.  143-123