When worlds collide...

Since I've started this blog I've secretly been hoping that my love of baked goods and my professional life would come together seamlessly. Earlier this week, it finally happened.

I'm a consultant for the Navy. I never foresaw baked goods as an area of national security interest, but apparently this was extremely short sighted. NPR reported that the Pentagon has turned a simple brownie recipe into a 26 page document. Recently, the Pentagon streamlined and expanded the process to cover other baked goods, bringing the page count to 31 without doing anything to improve the taste of the baked goods. Clearly this issue needs analysis and probably a study about how to improve the results of the baking process.

Not exactly how I envisioned merging my love of food with my career, but someone's got to do it.

Make it pretty!

My mom knows how to cook, she just prefers to avoid it. One time I called her in college saying I wish I had a homemade meal and she informed me that it was buy-one-get-one free pizza night at Domino's. Nevertheless, my mom was raised by my grandmother, a woman who lives by two rules in the kitchen:

1) Always make three times the amount of food you think you'll need (God forbid someone goes hungry),
2) Whatever you are making, make it pretty.

The last rule has been drilled into any person who has been within a 50 mile radius of my grandma's kitchen, but somehow it's been lost on me. As my bourbon ball odyssey at the demonstrated, I can make the most popular dessert at the Christmas potluck, but I cannot make it pretty. There was no getting around this embarrassing truth when I made Derby Pie for my family while in Oklahoma. My mom gasped in horror when she saw the pie crust, leading to the following conversation -

Mom: What are you doing??
Me: Making pie.
Mom: With crusts like that! Your grandma would be so ashamed!
Me: What?
Mom: Your pie crusts aren't pretty. You're supposed to crimp pie crusts. Haven't I taught you anything?!

This life lesson stayed with me all of three weeks. Fearing that I would shame my family, the next pie crust was a masterpiece. On a roll, I offered to make another Derby Pie for my coworkers. But I was exhausted when I got home tonight and did what any rational person would do in this situation - I called my mom for permission not to crimp the pie crust...

Me: I'm making an ugly Derby Pie. I can make the pie, but crimping the crust is just too much work.
Mom: You have to!
Me: Why? No one will even notice, they'll be too busy eating.
Mom: Because you have to show that the pie is loved.

Who can argue with that?

Maybe Mom is right...

(A loved pie)

Why should you go to H Street NE?

Recently, H Street NE has come into its own as a foodie destination. In 2006, the Palace of Wonders opened and jump started the bar scene, followed by Granville Moore's putting H Street on the map as a foodie destination. Since then, the area has exploded with excellent, reasonably priced eateries and nightlife (Taylor Gourmet, H Street Country Club, Sticky Rice, and Rock n' Roll Hotel).

The most recent newcomers on the scene are Dangerously Delicious and the Star & Shamrock.

I have mentioned Dangerously Delicious a few times before and couldn't wait for it to open. The shop is a Baltimore import that was recently featured on the Food Network show, "Best Thing I Ever Ate." Rodney Henry established Dangerously Delicious to support his music career, and it has a rock and roll vibe that includes live music performances. More importantly, it has an impressive selection of sweet and savory pies. I tried the Food Network-featured Baltimore Bomb pie, while my friend Emily enjoyed the Chocolate Chess pie. The Baltimore Bomb is made of Berger cookies (a Baltimore delicacy) mixed with vanilla chess filling - it has a great texture and I think it tastes best when heated. But I was more impressed with the Chocolate Chess pie, which has a nuanced, smooth chocolate flavor that melts in your mouth. I have yet to try a savory pie or any of the fruit pies, so several more trips are in order to fully experience the awesomeness that is Dangerously Delicious Pies.

Star & Shamrock is a brilliant blend of a Jewish deli and Irish pub. The sandwiches were delicious and I was impressed with the selection of reasonably priced beer, bourbon, and whiskey lists. (Any place that carries Kilkenny beer and Bakers bourbon is clearly a cut above the rest.)

H Street may not be metro accessible, but its restaurants and bars make it well worth the trip, so check it out!

Oklahoma City Highlights

In the midst of my move, I jetted out to Oklahoma City to visit my parents and explore the local restaurants I'd heard so much about.


We went directly from the airport to the House of Bedlam. From the name, I was expecting a rowdy roadhouse, but instead walked into an unassuming diner/sporting paraphernalia store. I was pleasantly surprised by their delicious chicken salad sandwich and their amazing fries. My parents are obsessed with their tuna salad.

That evening, we wen to La Baguette Bistro. The food was excellent, particularly their baked brie with berries. Next to the restaurant they have an impressive gourmet foods selection and patisserie. It was beautiful.

Later in my visit, we stopped by Ingrid's Kitchen for breakfast. The restaurant was featured on the Food Network and my parents have been talking about it for months. They have phenomenal German cakes and cookies as well as a very good breakfast buffet (and this is coming from a person who is morally opposed to buffets). Ingrid's lived up to its reputation and got the day off to a great start!

Moving Tips

I have to apologize - I was moving for what seemed like forever and fell way behind on the blogging. If you are moving in the near future and plan on asking for friends' help, here are some tips:

If moving in the morning, always provide doughnuts. I'd recommend Heidelberg Pastry. In addition to an amazing array of German pastries, they make phenomenal doughnuts.

If moving in the afternoon, take friends to get frozen custard or fro yo (depending on the crowd). Dairy Godmother is amazing and I've never quite gotten over my Tangy Sweet fro yo obsession.

If moving in the evening, buy dinner. My friends and I ended up at Los Tios in Del Ray. We loved the food selection, jumbo margaritas and sangria and the service was very excellent. It seemed like Heaven, but at that point, anything would have.

One or any combination of these should help rebuild/maintain (depending on the severity level of your move) the post-move friendship.