02.09.10
Posted in food & drink, wedding planning at 3:16 pm by eighty5original
Since I haven’t been doing the best job of writing anything about our wedding in October, I figured I would tackle it in sections… I’ll start with the catering company, The Classic Catering People and the amazing food that they prepared for us!
We were beyond pleased with the setup of our wedding. Classic and the Aquarium did an amazing job preparing our cocktail hour and reception, from the table settings to the food, it was fantastic! I owe a huge thank you to the amazing Kelly Girard, as well as the wonderful Larry Frank, who picked up the pieces after the Account Executive I had been working with up and quit the company in the middle of my wedding planning. They worked with me through so many obstacles, and really created the most perfect wedding day for my new husband and I.
Our cocktail hour was complete with a delicious spread of yummy cheeses (Chris and i love cheese!) and an abundance of gourmet crackers to go with it. There was also lots of fruits and veggies with a few different dips to dunk everything into. It was the perfect amount of snacks to get the party started in preparation for the reception. Oh, and of course, cocktail hour isn’t cocktail hour without cocktails! Classic had the open bar set up in the beautiful Knott Harbor Room as well.
Now, on to the reception food. It was nothing other than perfect.
Both the meat-eaters and vegetarians were served a salad of Mesclun Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette, with roasted red and yellow peppers, feta cheese, and toasted walnuts. The salad was my favorite, i loved loved loved the toasted walnuts with the feta!
The meat entree was amazing! Our guests couldn’t stop raving about it. It was Grilled Chicken Breast marinated in white wine, olive oil, fresh thyme, cracked black pepper, and garlic. That was teamed with Peppercorn and Bread Crumb Encrusted Tenderloin rubbed with infused olive oil. The entree was accompanied by Fresh Matchstick Vegetables; yellow squash, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, and asparagus, along wih Oven Roasted Potatoes tossed in herbs and olive oil. I was very pleased with the quality and taste of everything. I had to keep reminding myself to eat, but with all that was happening, I didn’t have much. I especially loved the potatoes. Chris enjoyed the clever placement of a large crouton under the steak, so that the juices from the meat didn’t run all over the plate.
The main course for the vegetarians was a Mushroom Strudel made with individual porcini mushrooms and boursin. It was served with Beet Risotto; fresh roasted beets and creamy rice risotto prepared wih mushroom au jus. The veggie entree also came with Bok Choy. I didn’t hear from many vegetarians about their food, but it sounds yummy to me!
The servers and staff at Classic Catering did a stellar job with catering our wedding, we were so pleased with how it all turned out. I can’t say enough about how many compliments I have gotten from friends and family about how great the food and drink were, and how wonderful the staff was. I especially appreciated the fast service from the bartenders, they always knew what I wanted when I walked up and had it ready for me, and i’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I had a neon white dress on! 
Here I am with Larry Frank, Partner and VP of Classic, checking things out before guests arrive.
The Classic Catering People can be found on Facebook and Twitter, if you’re looking for a caterer, go check them out!
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04.09.08
Posted in food & drink, green living at 10:57 am by eighty5original
This morning I was watching The Today Show while at the gym, and a segment came on that caught my ear. It was about water bottles and how a chemical called Bisphenol-A that is in the plastic they are made out of is seriously harmful to your health. Apparently, if you reuse regular plastic water bottles and do things like put them in the dishwasher or microwave, a chemical leaches through the plastic and can be ingested. But it is at such small levels that people shouldn’t be too concerned. However, in Nalgene bottles and other similar plastic bottles, the leaching is more dangerous. It can cause developmental disorders in children, type 2 diabetes, and infertility. If the bottle is labeled on the bottom with a 7, it is more likely to leach BPA into your water. You can read more about this issue at The Green Guide. They offer some advice for people that already own bottles of this type. They say that you should “wash them by hand with mild dishwashing soap, not in the dishwasher, to avoid degrading the plastic and increasing leaching of BPA.”
I think that I am going to replace my Nalgene and other similar bottles altogether. I have my eye on a Sigg bottle, that is made from aluminium (so it’s light) and is non-leaching. They have tons of different styles and colors on their website. And I will absolutely be using glass bottles when I have children. Happy sipping!
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01.31.08
Posted in food & drink, randomness, travel at 4:39 pm by eighty5original
It’s been a little over a year since I was in Lesotho and South Africa. There was an article today in the New York Times about ongoing electricity outages in South Africa. Apparently the company that powers the country doesn’t have enough power grids, so they are scheduling rolling blackouts where each town takes a turn without electricity. Lesotho, which is an independent country within the borders of South Africa, is most likely effected by this situation as well. I emailed my host family to find out more about the situation. Ironic though, considering they might not get the email since they don’t have power!
This article got me reminiscing about my trip. I was actually able to find the town that my host family lives in on google earth. None of the roads or neighborhoods are labeled (not that I would recognize them anyway), so I just searched for landmarks that I recognized. I wasn’t able to find the actual house that I stayed in, but here is downtown Maseru. I recognized it by the distinctive shape of an art museum roof, that is large and round and made of straw material.
Location of Maseru within South Africa
Downtown Maseru, Lesotho, Art Museum is marked
There was a lot to do in South Africa for the few days that we were there. One night we went to a 24 hour bar called The Cat’z Pyjamas. Another night, on my birthday, we went to a restaurant in Sandton that was amaaazing. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name and can’t seem to find it online. I do remember that we all signed the guestbook and basically got all of our food for free! Here is a photo of us with the chef.
It was basically the best night ever!
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Posted in food & drink at 1:38 pm by eighty5original
I know I know, i’m two weeks late. But I still wanted to put in my two cent review on Restaurant Week! This event is great; for a week, restaurants in the DC metro area put together a special Prix Fix menu for restaurant goers for a steal. This year, it was $20.08 for lunch, and $30.08 for dinner. So, I made three reservations:
On Wednesday I went to The Caucus Room which is a steakhouse by the capital. I went with my friend Jacki who works in Georgetown, so she likes the DC scene. Apparently this place is known to have politicians since it’s so close to the capitol. We had dinner reservations at 730 on Wednesday. I had read reviews on the place and they had said that they might treat us rudely because we are there for the (cheap) restaurant week. But actually, we were treated very nicely and our waiter was great.
- We both ordered the split pea soup for the first course. It had maple smoked bacon and garlic croûtons and was absolutely delicious. I’ve never had split pea soup before, i thought that the pea flavor would be really strong but it actually wasn’t at all.
- For the second course I ordered the salmon and Jacki ordered a steak with a bleu cheese and peppers. Then the waiter comes to tell us that they are out of salmon! He is really nice and not rude at all, he was joking around about how the restaurant didn’t even warn the staff that they were running out when they still have three more days and are already out of the fish choice. It was no big deal though because they were subbing crab claws for the salmon. The crab was very good but of course took forever to get the meat out of the shell, although they were already broken open so that was nice. Jacki didn’t like her steak that much but I tried it and thought it was yummy.
- Then for the third and last course I got a Mango Sorbet dessert inside of a dark chocolate shell with raspberry sauce. It was delish. Jacki got a fruit tort. Mine was better.
- All in all I would say that I liked the pea soup the best. Just because I’ve had crab before so I wasn’t blown away. I thought that the service was great, unlike the reviews i read. The atmosphere was not my style. It was dark, and most of the customer’s were over 40. I was pretty much the only person in the restaurant wearing color. Apparently DC is only black and white. I would not go back again. I would recommend it for a business lunch or dinner where you want to impress them with a professional political atmosphere.
Then the very next day I made a date with Gaby for Ceviche, which is a Peruvian place in Silver Spring. I had read up on their menu online and it sounded great. I am usually not a very adventurous eater so I was taking a chance. Their main specialty is raw seafood marinated in lime or lemon juice, which “cooks” the fish without heating it. The small squares of marinated fish (or shrimp or mixed seafood) are mixed with other ingredients to make a “fish salad.” This didn’t sound very appetizing to me but Gaby says it’s good!
- For the first course I ordered the Causa de Pollo, which is a Peruvian potato salad seasoned with Aji amarillo and served with chicken salad, avocado and tomato. It was delicious. The potato was really good I don’t know how they made it the way the did. And the chicken salad was good too but nothing special. We also ordered fried plantains, or Chifles.
- The second course was also very very good. I asked for the Papa rellena de Aji de pollo. That is a stuffed potato with pulled chicken in an aji cream sauce. I don’t know how they made this but wow was it great. I must find someplace close to me that I can get this dish again!
- For the third dessert course I ordered the Mis dos Chocolates. It was basically a rich chocolate cake. Gaby ordered the Tres Leches, which is a soft cake soaked in three kinds of cream or milk. I have tried this dessert before and I didn’t like it.
- This place was really, really good, I would definately go back again. The atmosphere was great, lively, bright, and young. It’s a good thing it’s a bit of a drive or I would be there every weekend. The service was also really great. If you are looking for a fun dinner with friends and good food and drink, this is the place to go. I couldn’t find a photo of the interior, but this place is definitely very cool!
On Sunday we had made lunch reservations for four at Bistro Bis, a French restaurant at The Hotel George in DC. Chris and I were going with his cousin and his wife (David & Missy), but unfortunately I had to cancel. It was the day after my birthday, and needless to say, I wasn’t awake. It’s a shame though because David & Missy didn’t end up going either, we had read reviews on the chef and he is supposed to be really good. Maybe we will go back another time.
Yum just writing about all of this food is making me hungry for lunch. Oh and, don’t wait up for a review of restaurant week Baltimore because we are trying to cut back, haha.
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12.17.07
Posted in food & drink at 6:17 pm by eighty5original
So I signed up for this wine and food newsletter last week called Tastings Journal. It’s really cool. They organize half price events monthly at amazing restaurants in the DC area. This month it’s a special two week holiday event in DC at the Hotel Palomar. Their restaurant is called Urbana and it looks super hip. I asked Chris if he would go and he agreed that it looked delish. So we’re going on a date where we can actually dress up! I know exactly what i’m going to wear, but I have no idea what he is… He grew out of the pinstriped dress pants I bought him awhile back (i’m pretty sure he never wore them either). We even invited along another couple, so it’s a double date. Oh and the cherry on the sundae is that it’s on Saturday, December 22nd. Which is the anniversary of our engagement last year!
Not only is it half price for a five course dinner (!) but we get a paired wine with the entree. This will be a good lesson because we’ve been wanting to learn what wines to pair with different dishes. Check back for a review.
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11.14.07
Posted in food & drink at 6:31 pm by eighty5original
This year the crew and I went out to The Green Turtle in Fells Point for some drinking fun. We arrived around 9:30pm and the place was packed. Lines for the bars were miles long, but we didn’t have to wait. A friend of ours DJ’s at the bar so we just tapped on the window and he came out and got us in! We would’ve had to wait in line all night!
Anyway, the night was a huge success- meaning I got completely sh*itfaced. Scroll down for some crappy pictures from my camera phone.
view of the huge ass crowd from the 2nd floor of the Green Turtle
Dorothy hangin out with the security horsies.
Cat in the Hat, Legends of the Hidden Temple Contestants, Brittany Spears, and some pirate wench.
UPDATE: A Better pic of all of us at my place before going out (stolen from Jax of course)
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10.31.07
Posted in food & drink, randomness at 3:27 pm by eighty5original
Check out the Eerie Eyeballs that I made for our Halloween office party today! They were super fun to make. They are made of lemon jello, marshmallows, pineapple juice, and cream cheese. You can get the recipe here. I would recommend tracking down a truffle mold, because the melon baller technique produced irregular and sometimes broken eyeballs! Also, be sure to use an electric mixer, my old school whisk is what made these eyeballs chunky-looking.
Happy Halloween!
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09.19.07
Posted in food & drink at 5:02 pm by eighty5original
For Chris’s birthday last night, his mom took him (and me by extension) to Le Crepes Cafe, which is a small cafe located inside of Cafe de Paris in Columbia. They only serve Crepes and beverages, but the Cafe de Paris has a full menu, although extremely expensive- think $27 as the cheapest entree. I have never had crepes before and I must say they were delicious. For dinner I had a smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers crepe, as well as some bites of Chris’s smoked turkey and goat cheese one. They were amazing.
But then came dessert, when I got the chocolate hazelnut crepe. I must say that this is my new favorite. They will be seeing me again that’s for sure.
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