Duck House

Last night Grandpa and Mimi took the kids for a sleepover, and Ali and I decided to get some dinner at Mark's Duck House. It's a Hong Kong style Dim Sum place that has great food and that we haven't been to in a couple of years. So we arrive at 6 and the place is empty and we realize we're still eating at kid-dinner-time, even though we're kid-less for the evening. So we take our time reading the menu and wondering what to get. The waiter comes over and Ali orders the Duck Moo Shoo which is the best I've ever had, and I ask for advice, since the menu is 15 pages and mostly in Chinese. He says they have some "very special, very special oysters from Pa See Fic Ocean in ginger garlic sauce" so I follow his advice. The oysters were great, and bigger than any oyster I'd ever seen before. They were the size of soup bowls.

Ali's Duck arrived and they prepare each pancake for you at the table and we chatted with him a bit about the food:

"So, how many ducks do you roast a day?"
"About 200."
"Wow! 200?!"
"Well, we duck house"
"Oh, right"

Saturday in Falls Church

We started the day off with a trip out to the Falls Church farmer's market. With summer over, there weren't many tomatoes, but we saw at least a dozen varieties of apples and pears, tot soi greens (look it up, I had to), and these beautiful squash blossoms. For dinner, I stuffed them with homemade ricotta and some leftover pulled pork, then dipped them in a light batter and fried them. Jake didn't like them, but Ali and I fought over his leave-behinds. They were awesome.

After the farmer's market, we played on the playground and went on a "spooky adventure" in the woods (Jake is already in Halloween mode), and then went over to the Father & Son Barbershop for Jake's haircut. It's still one of my favorite images of Jake. He takes it very seriously and sits very still, but every once in a while sends a little smile your way to let you know he's ok.

It wasn't quite naptime, and everybody was hungry, so we went over to Elevation Burger for lunch. We hadn't been there in a long time. It's a really bright, cheery counter-service restaurant, but last time we went the burgers just weren't that great. They used to advertise that they used some kind of "kobe" beef, but now they just say it's beef from "grass-fed free range" cows and they tasted much better. Plus, they have three different kinds of root beer so Jake loves it. This may be a new regular spot for us.

On our way to Elevation Burger, we saw signs for the Falls Church Obama/Biden headquarters. I pulled in and picked up a lawn sign. We aren't lawn sign people, but our neighbors recently put up a big McCain/Palin sign that stares at us every day. I couldn't let them claim the whole cul-de-sac for McCain and the hockey mom. But the funny thing is, when we got home from lunch we saw that our other cul-de-sac neighbors had put up an Obama sign. So now the cul-de-sac is 67 percent Obama.

Goodbye Madison

Enjoying a fantastic brunch at a place called Sardine, overlooking one of the lakes.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Milkman

The milkman delivered our first batch of fresh milk this morning. One-half gallon of whole milk for Sadie and one-half gallon of skim milk for Jake. Each came in a heavy glass bottle that feels nice and cold in your hands. South Mountain Creamery, a small family-run farm in Middletown, MD, finally added Falls Church to their delivery area this summer and we were so excited to sign up. Their cows are all hormone-free and roam around on their farm eating whatever cows eat when they're not being milked. They're open every day for visitors and I can't wait to take the kids there to see where their milk comes from.

I got the idea from Ali's folks (aka Gram and Poppy) who usually pick up some fresh milk from their local dairy, the Homestead Creamery, when we come to town. Although they don't deliver, we did take a tour of their little bottling facility, and I got really excited about the idea of a small, local operation selling quality dairy products without the factory feel. Jake was sold on the idea as soon as he tried their strawberry milk, which pretty much tastes like melted strawberry ice cream.

South Mountain Creamery also has partnerships with other small local farms that produce eggs, cheeses, jams, breads, honey and juices. They also offer pork, beef and chicken that have been raised humanely and without antibiotics or hormones.

It costs a little more, but not much. And at least I feel like I'm getting something for the extra cost, unlike the gas that goes into our car.

Cheers!

Happy Leap Day

You might have woken up this morning feeling like it was March, but thanks to leap year we get one extra day of February this year. I just read that the extra day every four years isn't quite accurate, and that the year 4000, which should be a leap year, will not be a leap year, so that we can re-adjust and make sure we're back on track with the actual year which is 365.242374 days long. Ok, enough trivia.

I got back from a work trip to Florida and brought the kids a surprise that got me some funny looks from the TSA guys at the airport. On my way to the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, I noticed that my taxi driver had a tree branch in his trunk with about 5 or 6 big green coconuts still on it.

He could tell I was impressed and offered me one, which I gladly accepted. So, there I am at the airport, suitcase in one hand and coconut in the other. Anyway, we cut it open today and Jake was really excited to see what was inside. I was kind of curious what I'd find, too, since I hadn't seen a green coconut before. Turns out it had a good two glasses of coconut water in it, but the 'meat' hadn't ripened yet and was too fibrous to eat. Here's Jake at the table, scraping out the sweet jelly-like interior:

Cheesy

The other night we made ricotta cheese and anyone who enjoys food should try this. It was fun, easy and yum. Here's the story:

Heat 1 quart whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream and 1 tsp coarse salt in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the milk starts to simmer (little bubbles all over) turn off the heat and pour in 2 TB white vinegar. Just let it sit quietly for 1 minute, then stir gently for about 2 minutes until you see the curds and whey start to separate. Pour the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth (oh, that's why they call it that) that is set in a bowl to collect the whey. Wait a minute and pour out the whey. Then, let the curds drain for another 15 minutes and you, sir, have some homemade ricotta cheese!

What will you do with this ricotta cheese?? Well, you can use it to make complicated things like lasagna or cheesecake, but I suggest something more simple like drizzling it with some nice olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, maybe some fresh herbs if you want to get fancy, and then spreading it on some crusty bread. Or maybe just drop a few spoonfuls in your mixed-greens salad. Or, sprinkle some sugar, cinnamon and chocolate shavings on top for a simple dessert. Leftovers will be happy in your fridge for a week, so you have plenty of time to enjoy your homemade treat.

Thanksgiving Menu

We had a few requests for our Thanksgiving menu this year:

We started off with some raw oysters on the halfshell, and some that had been cooked a little in a champagne beurre blanc. We served those with a carrot soup with chestnut cream.

For the main event, we used a Trader Joe's all-natural 13lb turkey, rubbed with diced pancetta, butter and herbs. The juices were reduced down with some mushrooms to make a nice brown gravy. On the side we had ciabatta chestnut stuffing, sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic, and good old mashed potatoes and parsnips. For dessert we had homemade pumpkin, apple and sweet potato pies. Yum!

A Boy and His Salad Nicoise

Ok, this one's for Cara, one of our most loyal Tripdub readers. Here's Jake thoroughly enjoying his Salad Nicoise from his new Ratatouille cookbook. Capers, tuna, boiled eggs, green beans, cherry tomatoes, this kid was in heaven. Ok, he didn't touch the lettuce, but he'll get there....

Homecoming and Busy Weekend

I was away all last week for work, and coming home I noticed that Jake's vocabulary had grown, that he'd become more skilled with his pronouns, and that he just seemed older than when I left him. Sadie seemed more than a week older, too. She's doing this shy smile thing where she smiles and turns away when you say her name or coo at her. And physically, she's crawling around like a pro and pulling herself up onto whatever she can get a grip on. Leaving for a week reminds me how quickly they're both growing up. When you see them every day, you notice little things, but when a week goes by, you see the growth.

Here's a shot from their week down at Smith Mountain Lake. Mike and Pat's neighbor, Wes, volunteers at the local fire department, so the kids got to play around on the vehicles
On Saturday, we went out to the Homestead Farm in Poolesville, MD to pick apples. This farm was interesting, because to get to it, you passed mansion after mansion, after gigantic mansion after gigantic mansion. There were so many country clubs, it seemed like they must have all decided that 180 holes of golf in a 5 mile radius was enough, and that one farm would be allowed to survive. Once we were on the farm, we heard all kinds of foreign languages and I'm sure it was the most international "farm" outside of Luxembourg. Jake loved it, but when we went on the hayride, he was more interested in the tractor's tires than the pumpkins. Here he is, checking out the tires:On Sunday, we drove out to Leonardtown, Maryland for the U.S. National Championship Oyster Shucking contest and festival. This was our second trip, and we thought Jake was ready to try his first oyster. I was holding him up as we watched several Oyster Shucking hopefuls practice their craft when one of them saw Jake and offered up a freshly shucked oyster to him. Jake opened his mouth wide and chewed while we all waited for his reaction. "It's good," he finally said, so we got a dozen and sidled up to the plywood tables to enjoy our "special treat." Jake somehow knew just what to do - he held the halfshell, and slurped the oyster right out. He had a little pile of empty oyster shells in front of him before he asked for his apple juice and declared, "we LIKE oysters!!"


More pictures over there (--->) under the Photos section...

Capers

This afternoon, Jake picked up a little bowl we use to give him snacks and walked it over to me and said "chocolate poooooding??" I told him we didn't have any chocolate pudding and he thought about this for a minute and then said "capers?" Yep, this kid loves his capers. "They're little flowers," he mumbles, while stuffing 10 into his mouth all at once. I told him they were little un-opened flower buds about a month ago. It sure is funny what he remembers.

Happy Birthday Ali/Mommy!

We had a fun fun birthday weekend. On Saturday, we had breakfast at Ben's Chili Bowl in the old 'hood, and then did some shopping downtown. Then Mimi and Grandpa watched the kids while Ali and I scooted back downtown to catch the Hopper exhibit, a pit stop at Brasserie Beck and then dinner at Central (when you don't get out much, you have to cram a lot in). All three got thumbs up from both of us. Brasserie Beck is a really cool space with a great looking menu and about 150 Belgian beers to choose from. Dinner at Central was really great. Ali got the lobster "burger" - a patty of big chunks of lobster held together with scallop mousse, on a homemade brioche bun with a thin round of crisp potato to give it some crunch. I ordered the Pied de Cochon, aka trotters, aka pig's feet. They take the meat out, saute it with aromatics and mushrooms, then cure it like a sausage. Then to prepare it, they take it out of the casing, put a light batter on it, and deep fry it. It was served on top of some amazingly creamy mashed potatoes and a mustard sauce. I think we were both more impressed with this dish than the lobster burger. Pig's feet - who knew?

Sunday, we hiked around Teddy Roosevelt island (see pics here) and then had lunch at Eammon's, the Dublin Chipper, to satisfy Ali's request to do something Irish on her birthday. We had a delicious dinner at my folks last night and then this morning I went in to get my cholesterol checked. I'm not kidding. Breakfast at Ben's was probably enough to tip the scales, nevermind the fried cod and french fries at Eammon's. Oh well.

Farmer's Market

Here we are at the Farmer's Market this morning. Jake is sporting his new fall collection, as well as a little pumpkin he picked out for Sadie. He said it was for Sadie, and he kept showing it to her, but he never actually gave it to her. Anyway, it's the thought that counts. We picked up some fresh basil and big juicy tomatoes. One last gasp of summer....

Here's Sadie snoozing in the wagon. That's the life.

Date Night

Jamie and Heidi offered to watch the kids Saturday night so we could go out to enjoy a dinner with no food throwing or crying or time outs. They know the value of this offer - they have three boys. On Jamie and Heidi's recommendation, we tried an Italian place we'd driven past but never been to. The food, service and ambiance all reminded us of the New Jersey Italian-American restaurants that Ali's pretty familiar with. The menu listed all the standards, plus some interesting specials (Salmon in phylo with ginger sauce). The servers seemed to all know their customers - ours grew up in Falls Church and had her high school graduation party here. It was definitely a neighborhood favorite. And we loved it. I had that salmon special and Ali and a pasta with seafood fra diavolo. Both were great. The cannoli got two thumbs up from Ali, and she's used to little Italian bakeries that sell the cannoli filling and shells separately so you can fill them yourself at home to keep them fresh. The food was great, but just relaxing over an unhurried dinner was something special. Thanks Jamie and Heidi!

Two wines

Two selections from our wine cellar

Dinner Improv

We're big fans of no-cook, one-dish meals and last night's dinner turned out pretty well. It was basically a salmon salad with a long list of ingredients made up of whatever was in the fridge or pantry:

can of red salmon
bunch of dill
half bag of romaine salad mix
corn salad from last night (fresh corn, diced orange bell pepper and red onion in vinaigrette)
some toasted pine nuts
sauteed yellow squash
two sliced, boiled russet potatoes
handful of sliced cherry tomatoes
and a dressing of olive oil, juice of 1 meyer lemon, S&P and chopped parsley

Chez Ali

We don't get out to eat as much as we used to, but we still love reading restaurant reviews and keeping tabs on what our favorite chefs are up to. If Tom Sietsema dined at our house tonight he would have had to award three stars to the meal Ali prepared. Jake and I came in from our evening trampoline jumping activites and were treated to Shrimp and Orzo with Feta, a perfect complement to a beautiful spring day. Warm rosemary focaccia was the accompaniment. The ambiance was just right, and the service was impeccable. I plan to dine at this establishment often.

pizza!

When we picked Jake up from daycare today he didn't really want to leave so we used an increasingly effective bribery technique: Pizza. I'm not sure he knows exactly what pizza is -- I think to Jake, "pizza" covers a group of cheesy dinner options including quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches. In any case, he gets pretty excited and his excitement is contagious. His chants of "Pizza Pizza Pizza!" bring out the copycat kids in his class. They may or may not know what pizza is, but they love a good chant and some of them start jumping up and down while others stop picking their noses to see what all the commotion is about. Ali and I started to get excited, too, thinking about delivery pizza and the lack of preparation and cleanup required.

We decided to try the Mexican pizza from zpizza. It's not exactly Two Amy's, but they do a good job with their non-traditional toppings. The Mexican pizza comes with fresh cilantro which I think is one of those flavors we're all genetically programmed to either like or hate. So, in the interest of science I was curious to see Jake's reaction. He ate some, and put the rest in his milk cup, which is where most of his food ends up these days. So, jury's still out on Jake v. Cilantro. He did have fun trying to fold his little piece of pizza just like daddy.

After dinner I got out the camera trying to capture Jake's emphatic "PIZZA PIZZAAAA!!" on video. I didn't get that, but like any good actor, sometimes their best work is unscripted. Enjoy.